Good morning. I once spent an excellent summer day cooking in a Montauk condominium with the Korean cooking star Maangchi, who had rented the place for a vacation but still found time to help me understand the intricacies of cheese buldak, or fire chicken.
It’s a recipe that I love and that I commend to you always, but it’s not the Maangchi recipe I turn to most often in the summer months.
That would be her instructions for bulgogi (above), the beloved Korean barbecue dish that you can make inside or out and either way deliver deliciousness to the table, to serve with lettuce for wrapping, herbs, ssamjang, kimchi and steamed rice. I especially like it on Sundays, when I can slice the meat in the morning after breakfast and keep it in the marinade all day.
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As for the rest of the week. …
Monday
Hetty Lui McKinnon’s recipe for Chinese-style soy-braised tofu with bok choy is an ace of a weeknight supper, with crisp shards of tofu that are beautifully soft inside and a wonderfully pungent sauce napping them and the tender vegetables. Too little sauce? Some readers double it. You do you.
Tuesday
I like Alexa Weibel’s recipe for chicken Milanese for its precision and bravery: Lex adds onion powder, garlic powder and grated Parmesan cheese to the breading on the pounded-out breasts, which rewards the home cook with an amazing punch of flavor that many Milaneses don’t have. Serve with a super-lemony green salad and see if that doesn’t make it into your monthly rotation.
Wednesday
Cauliflower pasta with anchovies and bread crumbs is Anna Francese Gass’s adaptation of a classic Sicilian dish, pasta alla Paolina con cavolfiore. Start by melting oil-packed anchovies in a hot pan, then combine them with tomato sauce and the cinnamon and cloves that are staples of the Palermo pantry, mix in your cooked pasta and finally top the whole with a crunchy, almond-aided bread crumb mixture. Don’t like anchovies? Substitute capers instead.
Thursday
There aren’t many ingredients in Ali Slagle’s recipe for a spicy shrimp and mushroom stir-fry, but each one brings a lot to the outcome: loamy, meat-textured mushrooms; sweet, saline shrimp; the fiery crunch of chopped kimchi. Tasty, quick and excellent served over noodles or rice.
Friday
It makes for a late dinner if you’re not working from home and able to get started in midafternoon, but cheese and olives at sunset will do much to ease the wait for Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli’s recipe for pork braciole. Lighter than the Italian American classic cooked in gravy with sausage, spare ribs and meatballs, it makes for a beautiful start to the weekend alongside a green salad and torn bread.
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Now, it’s a far cry from anything to do with coddled eggs or how to make a martini, but T Magazine has a fascinating examination of what it calls “The 25 Photos That Defined the Modern Age.” Lots to discuss there, and to debate.
Closer to the kitchen, Ruby Tandoh, in The New Yorker, has taken a stand on what she calls the Maillard overreaction, a terrific read.
A.O. Scott didn’t exactly love Joseph O’Neill’s latest novel, “Godwin,” but he wrote about it so well in The New York Times Book Review that I’m going to read the book all the same.
Finally, here’s Alan Jackson, “Rainy Day in June.” Listen to that while you’re cooking. I’ll be back next week.
