Autumn will be here in a week. The temperatures should be dropping and we should go from easy cooking to more complex recipes. Luckily the New York Times Food section online has some good ideas to kickstart the season. They'll be even great to make and bake well into the holidays.
The offerings are varied. There are main dishes and desserts, each interesting and flavorful. Tejal Rao gives us a really intriguing one - warm tofu and fresh soy beans cooked in salted French butter with a celery seed gastrique. This last is a savory caramel (!) sauce that's punched up with apple cider and chili flakes. This may be labor intensive because the soft tofu is made from homemade soy milk. A less intensive dish is Eric Kim's Ritzy cheddar chicken breasts.. This is mixing crumbled Ritz crackers with sharp cheddar shreds and garlic and onion powders coating sour cream marinated chicken breasts. This seems like a fun dish with homemade fries on a Friday or Saturday night. There's also a buttermilk brined chicken from chef Samin Nosrat that has just three ingredients, the chicken, buttermilk and salt. It's the perfect Sunday dinner complete with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies.It's not listed but yesterday's Food section featured an easy but filling pasta recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi. This is a simple but filling blend of any kind of pasta mixed with white beans and pesto. Add anchovies for kick or pancetta for mellowness. You could also sub in kale or spinach for the basil.
Another simple but filling dish is a Dijon and cognac beef stew by Regina Schrambling.It was first published in The Times after 9/11. It was comforting then and is comforting now when being with family is important. Beef chuck is mixed with salt pork along with carrots and mushrooms. Two kinds of mustard are added, Dijon and Pommery mustard. The half cup of Cognac pulls everything together. Another comfort food is the pressure cooker chicken with dumplings. Melissa Clark created this yummy mix of drumsticks and thighs - dark meat and dumplings made from a mix of all purpose flour and cornmeal. Chives give them zing. They're cooked in the broth the chicken is cooking in. You can add peas for color and more flavor. Another comforting dish is a savory mushroom bread pudding. This is Susan Spungen's take that has buttery brioche torn and cooked up with porcini mushrooms along with such fresh ones as cremini or shiitake. There are also leeks added for more flavor and six eggs give it a custardy feel. This is a great holiday side but also the perfect vegetarian dish too.
Fall is fast approaching. It's time to delve into more complex recipes for heartier fare.Use these recipes to jump into autumn cooking.
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