I don’t know if crostatas are any simpler to make than pies or tarts, but the relaxed, unfussed feel of the pastry makes them my preferred summertime dessert. I don’t peel the peaches for this; if you prefer to, I recommend you add a little extra cornstarch to the filling so it doesn’t wind up too juicy. I cool all crostatas on a wire rack to prevent the crusts from steaming and softening. Note: This recipe calls for only 3/4 cup of the crumble, but I make the whole batch and freeze the rest for later.
FOR THE SHORTCUT DAN DAN SAUCE (makes 2¼cups sauce, enough for 18 servings):
Tempering the toppings in hot oil, a technique known as making a tadka, brings out their flavors and is the perfect counterpoint to the cooling yogurt in this simple, comforting dish. Be sure to use plain whole-milk yogurt, not a strained, Greek-style yogurt, for the creamiest porridge-like texture. Food & Wine restaurant editor Khushbu Shah makes this comforting yogurt rice whenever she needs some self-care after a long trip.
Nicole Taylor highlights one of her favorite spice blends from her book Watermelon and Red Birds in this weekend hash. It makes two cups of seasoning, but if you’re anything like Nicole, you’ll have a jar of this on the counter for everyday use. As an intuitive cook, she recommends vibing how much spice to use when cooking the hash. Want more after it’s cooked? Feel free to sprinkle more- we certainly did!
INGREDIENTS
This hot and fiery soup is seen only in the Indo-Chinese restaurants of India. When the weather is cold or I’m feeling unwell, I often make this soup. To boost the protein, you can add bits of leftover rotisserie chicken or tofu. Serve this with rice wine vinegar, Chilli-Soy Vinegar Sauce, or Indo-Sichuan Sauce on the side.
This is a meatless riff on one of my all-time favorite sheet pan dinners: a spicy harissa-slathered chicken loaded with lemony leeks, crispy potatoes, and a salty, garlicky yogurt topping. Here, roasted cauliflower stands in for the poultry, and almonds are tossed in for crunch. Added bonus: without the chicken, this lively, highly festive meal comes together in a flash.
Toum, the fluffy, garlicky, tangy condiment, originated in Lebanon but is found throughout the Middle East. It is the mandatory condiment for chicken shawarma. Accept no substitutions. Usually, toum means you need to spend loads of time peeling and degerming garlic, juicing lemons, and lugging your food processor onto the counter. This method sacrifices some of the fluffiness for ease. Using an immersion blender to create the emulsion, you can skip the delicate drizzling of oil and blend your way to toum town in a matter of seconds.
I first made this soup on a camp stove in my camper van during a six-month road trip, and then again and again and again as the nights grew colder, snowier, windier, darker. It starts with instant soup noodle mix—never leave home without it!—and then follows along the tradition of stracciatella, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup, and sopa de ajo, which are all cloudy with ribbons of egg. As the soup mix simmers, beat an egg in a soup bowl (the warm soup will cook any egg stuck to the bowl). Tear vegetables with your hands to save a knife and cutting board. Add the vegetables towards the end of the soup simmering, then stream in the egg. In a few seconds, what appears resembles clouds, or maybe rags (straccetti means “little rags”), or flowers (the direct translation of the Chinese name for egg drop soup is “egg flower soup”). In one pot, in a few minutes, on a stovetop or campfire, this soup is there for you: starch, vegetable, protein, warmth, comfort, and all.
Gai mei bao is my favorite baked bun. There, I said it. I love a good pineapple bun as much as the next person, but I’m in the minority that enjoys a buttery, coconut-heavy cocktail bun a little more. Cocktail buns originally were created as a way for bakers to salvage day-old buns. The stale buns were ground into crumbs, then mixed with sugar and shredded coconut as a filling for fresh dough (like a“cocktail” of bakery leftovers). Nowadays, bakers make the filling fresh.