Latest news with #MelissaClark
New York Times
3 hours ago
- General
- New York Times
I'm All Ears
We are hitting peak corn, and my love of this singular summer ingredient means I want to use it in all my cooking, going far beyond eating it straight off the cob. So, without further ado, here's my almost-annual Five Weeknight Dishes: Corn Edition. As always, I've got five simple dinner recipes for you below, all of which incorporate corn. But I also need to tell you about these arepas, which are easy to pan-fry and are so excellent for dinner with an avocado salad. Corn salad is a recipe to memorize; here's a simple one with tomatoes, feta and mint. Do not forget corn risotto! Or elotes! Jerrelle Guy taught me that you can use corn kernels in the topping for a cobbler, as she does in this recipe. And corn ice cream is one the greatest treats. If you see it at a scoop shop, order it — or make Melissa Clark's recipe. Questions? Suggestions? Want to tell me what you're making? Email me anytime at dearemily@ I read every note and reply as I can! Pierre Franey's recipe is a simple chicken dinner with a French accent, which, as with many things French-accented, makes it seem a little more sophisticated. Think white wine, shallots, Dijon mustard and cream. View this recipe. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Nigella Lawson's Blueberry Polenta Upside-Down Cake
Hello, thank you for coming to my dessert dissertation defense. Let's begin: The best cakes are upside down. There are several reasons for this. Upside-down cakes highlight fruit, whether fleetingly seasonal or, in the case of canned pineapple, pleasingly and perfectly circular. They're easy to make and don't call for much equipment beyond a mixing bowl and a cake tin. Because they don't have any frosting, upside-down cakes are usually not too sweet. And they look stunning, with the fruit forming a mosaic on top of the cake, which, when you cut into it, has a beautiful ombré effect from top to bottom. Nigella Lawson's blueberry polenta upside-down cake is a perfect example of the form. It's simple to pull together; just tumble blueberries over sugar in your greased cake pan, pour over your batter (no mixer or butter softening required) and bake. The polenta adds a subtle crunch to the tender cake, and the blueberries form a juicy, inky indigo topper. Serve with vanilla ice cream or nothing at all. Again, upside-down cakes like this are perfect as they are. Featured Recipe View Recipe → Shrimp fra diavolo: Oh, another entry for the spicy tomato seafood rotation! Plump, sweet shrimp, diced Calabrian chile and lots of garlic punch up your go-to tomato paste and purée in this Anna Francese Gass recipe. It's just the sort of satisfying but speedy dinner to cap off a busy summer weekend. Vegan potato salad with tahini: I came across this Melissa Clark recipe while clicking around New York Times Cooking and made a mental note to save it. It sounds so delicious — tender yellow potatoes tossed in a flavorful dressing of charred scallions, cumin, lemon, garlic and lots of tahini. So I'll save it here, in this newsletter, in case you would also like to make it. Chicken tenders: These, with a crisp slaw and a carbonated beverage, would be a fantastic dinner for anyone of any age. Go ahead and double this Millie Peartree recipe — which has you pan-fry, rather than deep-fry, your chicken strips — so that you have leftovers for salads, rice bowls and wraps throughout the week. I'm not much of a camper. It's not that I don't love the outdoors — it's more that I've hit that age where if I don't sleep with my pillows in a very particular arrangement, I'll feel it in my upper back for the next five days. But this new video of Ali Slagle answering your campground-cooking questions has me looking at tent recommendations. I want cheesy chili beans cooked over a campfire! Pour-over coffee and morning birdsong! Read more and watch the video by clicking here or the image below: Thanks for reading!
New York Times
13-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
Get Some Halloumi and Get Griddlin'
Good morning. I put a griddle on my propane grill a few years ago and haven't looked back. The flat surface is perfect for smash burgers and fillets of fish, for breakfast pancakes cooked alongside bacon and fried eggs, for seared lamb chops, for a butterflied pork loin and cut peaches. One other great use of the outdoor griddle? Melissa Clark's recipe for halloumi with corn, cherry tomatoes and basil (above), or indeed any halloumi recipe that strikes your fancy. You could absolutely make it in your kitchen, in a pan. But I love the theater of making it on a sheet of steel instead, under lights strung up between trees, and using my spatula to pile the cooked ingredients onto a platter warmed by the heat of the grill. The cheese gets crisp and browned (and deeply melty within), and plays beautifully with the corn and tomatoes. A little jalapeño and some raw sliced red onions add zing. Featured Recipe View Recipe → That's my plan for Sunday night, anyway. As for the rest of the week. … There's perhaps no simpler meal to prepare on a weeknight than Eric Kim's recipe for gochujang buttered noodles, which scales up or down beautifully. (It's a perfect meal for one person.) A charge of garlic infuses the bright red and spicy sauce, and honey and sherry vinegar round out the heat. So good. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
West Australian
12-07-2025
- General
- West Australian
The New York Times recipe: Roasted white fish with lemony almondine
Sole meuniere is a time-honoured classic, the dish that made Julia Child fall in love with French cuisine, so the story goes. A combination of butter and lemon poured over sauteed fish, it's one of those sublimely simple recipes that needs no embellishment. Yet variations abound. Eggplant, grapes, cucumbers, even radishes and beets have elbowed their way into what is otherwise a minimalist recipe. Sensibly, the French culinary bible Larousse Gastronomique gives these frills a thumbs-down, declaring, 'This kind of ornament is quite useless and not at all in keeping with the recipe'. But there's one meuniere spin-off that has broken out of the pack, becoming a classic in its own right: fish almondine. It starts with the same basic preparation as meuniere. Fish fillets are dusted with flour and sauteed in butter (clarified or regular). More butter is added to the pan to brown, then a squeeze of lemon and pinch of minced parsley finish things off. To make almondine, you toss a handful of sliced almonds into the butter to toast just before the lemon juice. The almonds lend crunch and intensify the nuttiness of the brown butter. Usually, almondine is spooned over trout, but any fish works, particularly lean flaky fillets, which benefit from the richness of the sauce. For this recipe, I made two small but significant changes. Instead of sauteing the fillets, I roast them. This lets you skip the flour, lightening things ever so slightly. I also find roasting fish easier and more forgiving than sautéing, and nearly as fast. As a bonus, fish cooked in the oven also tends to be less, let's call it, aquatically aromatic than fish cooked on the stove. My second tweak is that, in addition to the lemon juice, I grate in some of the zest, which makes the flavour a few shades brighter and accentuates the citrus character. If you wanted to mix things up, you could substitute lime for the lemon, or use a Meyer lemon with its gentle perfume. I've even combined lemon and grapefruit, and it was lovely. A dish this simple calls for an equally bare-bones accompaniment, maybe some roasted or boiled potatoes next to a mound of steamed broccoli or green beans, which work perfectly with the nutty sauce. Or serve your fish almondine the way Julia Child had her meuniere — by itself, in all of its buttery, pristine glory. Fish almondine, a variation on a classic meuniere, combines toasted sliced almonds, brown butter and lemon juice as a sauce for sauteed, flour-dusted fillets. In this easy, weeknight-appropriate version, the fish is roasted, skipping the flour, for a more delicate result. Then, the sauce gets extra citrus intensity from a bit of grated lemon zest. Flaky white fish, or trout, is most traditional here. But the winning mix of brown butter, lemon and almonds is equally good on any kind of salmon, prawns, green beans, asparagus — even roast chicken. And it comes together in a flash. Recipe Melissa Clark 4 (170-225g) fillets flaky white fish, such as hake, cod or flounder, or trout Fine sea or table salt and black pepper 7 tbsp unsalted butter ½ cup sliced almonds 1 lemon, zest finely grated, then fruit halved 1 tbsp minced chives, plus more for garnish Step 1 Heat oven to 230C. Place fish on a rimmed baking tray and season fillets lightly with salt and black pepper on both sides. Cut 1 tablespoon butter into small pieces and scatter on top of the fish. Roast for 7 to 11 minutes, or until the fish is tender and cooked through. (Thin fillets will cook more quickly than thick ones.) Step 2 While fish roasts, in a large frying pan, melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan, until the foam subsides and the butter turns a deep nut brown, 3 to 7 minutes. (Watch carefully so that it doesn't burn.) Step 3 Add almonds to the pan and turn off the heat; the nuts will immediately start to brown. Toss them in the hot butter until golden, about 2 minutes, turning the heat back on to low if the nuts need a little more colour. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the pan and stir in half of the grated lemon zest, the chives, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Taste and add more lemon juice and salt, if needed. Step 4 Pour the sauce over the fish and garnish with more chives and lemon zest. Serve warm, with the remaining lemon half on the side for squeezing. (You can cut it into wedges, if you like.) Serves 4 Total time: 20 minutes This article originally appeared in The New York Times . © 2023 The New York Times Company
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
7 Ways to Take Cucumber Salad From Summer Side to Star
Its juicy crunch cuts through the smoky char of so many of the season's mains, but these tips let it shine in its own right. Refreshing, savory cucumbers are an excellent centerpiece in all kinds of salad combinations. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Published July 3, 2025 Updated July 3, 2025 What's a good side for barbecue ribs? Hot dogs? Cajun shrimp boil? Bulgogi? Tonkatsu? Tandoori chicken? The answer — for these or any summer main — is a cucumber salad. That's because cucumbers are a cooling counterpart for hot food and hot weather. Their juicy crunch cuts through char, spice and richness, and mixing them into a salad doesn't take much time or even any cooking. But there are just a few tricks to ensure they're utterly refreshing. Here are seven ways to take your cucumber salads to new, more exciting heights. Melissa Clark salts the cucumbers in this avocado-shrimp salad. Doing so draws out the cucumbers' moisture, intensifying their essence. Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Cucumbers' high water content — about 95 percent — makes them hydrating. But it has a downside: It can turn dressings or sauces into puddles. Sprinkling cucumbers in a colander with a big pinch of salt draws out their liquid, leaving them crunchier, sweeter and more concentrated in flavor. Top cucumbers with an ice pack to push out their liquid as they chill for a perfect foil to hot, seared halloumi and crispy croutons. | Recipe: Cucumber-Tomato Salad With Seared Halloumi and Olive Oil Croutons Draining cucumbers makes them especially snappy, and a great textural complement to shrimp. | Recipe: Smashed Cucumber, Avocado and Shrimp Salad Salted cucumbers don't risk diluting a velvety peanut sauce that's bold with soy sauce and raw garlic. | Recipe: Cucumber Salad With Roasted Peanuts and Chile Running the tines of a fork along cucumbers exposes their flesh, so they can soak up more sauce while maintaining their structure. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Peeling cucumbers in alternating strips keeps them from getting mushy, while the exposed area can soak up seasonings. It's a win-win. Dressing striped cucumbers with vinegar, red onion and dill gives them the flavor of a pickle and the crispness of a salad. | Recipe: Cucumber Salad Peel the Persian cucumbers in stripes here, and the salad will keep for up to two days in your refrigerator. | Recipe: Salad-e Shirazi (Persian Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad) Instead of using a peeler, you can run the tines of a fork along the cucumber's skin to create thin channels for a spicy lime dressing to drip into. | Recipe: Tomato Salad With Cucumber and Ginger The craggy edges of smashed cucumbers easily soak up sauces and seasonings. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Smashing cucumbers with the side of a knife or a rolling pin is a classic technique throughout Asia. It's not only fun, but it also makes for a better end product, as the craggy surfaces better soak up more dressing than smooth, slick and slippery slices. Take a cue from the many cucumber salads throughout China, and dress rough-edged pieces with soy sauce, rice or black vinegar, garlic and sesame oil. | Recipe: Chinese Smashed Cucumbers With Sesame Oil and Garlic Kimchi brine quickly soaks into smashed cucumbers, lending funk and flavor. | Recipe: Smacked Cucumber 'Quick Kimchi' While you're crushing cucumbers, smash some raw green beans. After salting and draining, they'll be crisp-tender — not at all fibrous, waxy or stringy. | Recipe: Classic Chicken Schnitzel With Smashed Cucumbers Tart, juicy pomegranate seeds are an excellent complement to fresh cucumbers. Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Even though they aren't always treated like one, cucumbers are a fruit, so pair them with brighter, tangier and sweeter fruits. Cucumbers' subtle savoriness and not-so-subtle crunch accentuate plush summer plums, cherries, peaches, melons and more. Incorporating cucumber into the classic Mediterranean watermelon-feta salad heightens the dish's sweet-savoriness. | Recipe: Cucumber, Melon and Watermelon Salad Tart pomegranate seeds play well with tiny pieces of cucumber. | Recipe: Cucumber Pomegranate Salad Temper the intense flavors of peaches and a gochujang dressing with cucumbers and mozzarella. | Recipe: Peach, Cucumber and Mozzarella Salad With Gochujang Vinaigrette Tomato and cucumbers play well together, with cucumbers tempering tomatoes' tang. Yossy Arefi for The New York Times (Photography and Styling) Tomatoes and cucumbers, a summertime power couple, have been cooling us off forever in dishes including Greek salad, Persian shirazi or Indian kachumber. Their strength is in their complementary attributes: Tomatoes' acidity brightens the cucumbers, while the cucumbers tone down tomatoes' sharper edges. Balance the caramelized char of seared cucumbers, corn and shrimp with fat wedges of fresh tomato. | Recipe: Spicy Shrimp With Blistered Cucumbers, Corn and Tomato Here, the sweet-tart juices of cucumbers, tomatoes and lime marinate raw fish. | Recipe: Ceviche Olives, capers and feta add briny pops and heft to a salad of raw tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. | Recipe: Greek Salad Buttermilk and yogurt add a silky texture and tart flavor to mellow cucumbers. Dane Tashima for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. For a salad that's soft and luxurious rather than all crunch, add something creamy. That might be a dressing rich with buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream or coconut milk; a milky cheese like burrata or ricotta; or slivers of silken tofu or avocado. These chile oil-dressed cucumbers might be too spicy on their own but not when swiped through an herby yogurt. | Recipe: Spicy Cucumbers With Yogurt, Lemon and Herbs Buttermilk, yogurt and lemon come together in the tangy dressing that coats this salad. | Recipe: Creamy Cucumber Salad When cucumbers pair up with avocados, little else is needed. | Recipe: Cucumber-Avocado Salad Chopped parsley finishes this black-eyed pea salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Soft-stemmed herbs like cilantro, parsley and dill are exactly what laid-back cucumbers need — bursts of summer-fresh flavor — so add them by the fistful. When it comes to adding greens, skip lettuce in favor of a punchier mix, like cucumbers, cranberries and roughly chopped dill. | Recipe: Roasted Salmon With Dill and Cucumber Salad In this make-ahead, cook-out-ready salad, finely chopped parsley softens into the vinaigrette so there's no worry of wilting. | Recipe: Saladu Nebbe (Black-Eyed Pea Salad With Tomatoes and Cucumbers) Make a salad version of sabzi khordan, the abundant platter of fresh herbs, radishes, walnuts and feta found at many Persian meals. | Recipe: Herb and Radish Salad With Feta and Walnuts Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram , Facebook , YouTube , TikTok and Pinterest . Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice .
