Good Bread Good Meat Good God Let's Eat : November 2015

Monday, November 30, 2015

Taste of Home Recipes

"Coconut lovers will have extra reason to celebrate when they taste these cake-like drop cookies. The generous frosting and coconut topping make them a hit at holiday cookie parties."
—Donna Scofield, Yakima, Washington

Get Recipe

The Secrets to Making the Perfect Cookies

Your Guide to the Holidays

Yesterday's Recipe

Marshmallow-Topped Sweet-Potato Tsimmes

FOOD / JOAN NATHAN

Family Feast

Turkey anchors all Thanksgivings, but families flavor the meal with preparation and sides—like my mother's marshmallow-topped sweet-potato tsimmes

New York Times Recipes

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Eat Like Winston Churchill

SAM SIFTON

Good morning. Winston Churchill was born on this day in 1874, and though his obituary in The Times doesn't say it, he was finicky about his dinner. We'll cook in his honor tonight.
We'll start with Champagne, obviously. It was Churchill's drink of choice. (Pol Roger Champagne, if you want to be historically accurate. "My tastes are simple," he reportedly said of it. "I am easily satisfied by the best.")
Then Martha Rose Shulman's recipe for porcini consommé, since he liked a clear soup but not a cream-based one, followed by roast chicken. We'll use Lawrie Colwin's recipe for that because the two of them may have gotten along. On the side: some Vichy carrots he may have raised an eyebrow at, at least until he tasted them. And then cheese.
Or, look, it's his birthday: ice cream, which you can buy if you don't want to make Julia Moskin's absurdly easy recipe for it, adorned withmolten chocolate ganache. No brandies or cigars. It's a work night.
Don't want to play this game? Cooking has loads of other recipes for tonight and coming days. We'd be into David Tanis's recipe for sake-steamed kabocha squash with white miso for dinner ourselves. Also, Florence Fabricant's recipe for poached fish with shiitakes (above).
This could be an excellent week for making David's recipe for North African meatballs. And for knocking down Julia's recipe for a foolproof tarte Tatin while you're at it. Maybe you'd like to read aboutthese awesome soy-pickled eggs?
Finally, and not to put too fine a point on it, there are only 31 days left before the end of the year. If this is going to be the one when you finally and forever learn to make pizza, this is the week to start. We'll help you. It's as easy as clicking this link.
Even more inspiration for weeknight cooking is on our site. Save the recipes that interest you to your recipe box, and rate them on a scale of one to five stars once you've cooked them through. (Check out my recipe box, if you like.) Leave notes on the recipes to which you'd like to suggest emendations - this one works great with a splash of vinegar, for instance, or this other one freezes well.
If you run into any problems along the way, let us know. Our crew atcookingcare@nytimes.com is ace, and stands by to help. (If you have a philosophical issue, however, or just have something really mean to say, take it straight to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com.) Here's hoping all that you cook this week is delicious, and that December dawns for you bright and happy.
Now, check out Cody Townsend skiing this incredible line last winter up in Alaska. It reminds us of nothing so much as our Thanksgiving dinner last week, frankly. See you on Wednesday.

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Dried Porcini Consommé

MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

About 1 hour 30 minutes, Makes enough for 10 to 12 shots or 4 to 6 bowls.

Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

Laurie Colwin's Roast Chicken

PILAR VILADAS

2 hours 15 minutes, 4 servings

Sabra Krock for The New York Times

Vichy Carrots

SAM SIFTON

25 minutes, 4 servings

Evan Sung for The New York Times

Chocolate Ganache

JULIA MOSKIN

5 minutes, About 1 1/2 cups

Evan Sung for The New York Times

Sake-Steamed Kabocha Squash With White Miso

DAVID TANIS

About 30 minutes, 6 servings

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

North African Meatballs (Boulettes)

DAVID TANIS

1 hour 15 minutes, 4 to 6 servings, about 36 meatballs

Foolproof Tarte Tatin

JULIA MOSKIN

1 1/2 hours, plus 1 to 2 days' aging time for apples, 8 servings

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Fish with Shiitakes

FLORENCE FABRICANT

40 minutes, 4 servings

REINDEER THUMBPRINT ORNAMENTS

Courtney Luper

Don't forget to date it on the bottom so you will remember your child's age when you did it! heart emoticon

What a simple little project that will create a lifetime keepsake!!!

heart emoticon REINDEER THUMBPRINT ORNAMENTS heart emoticon

What you need:
black permanent marker
ornament (matte finish works best)
brown and red acrylic paint

Paint child's (or your own) thumb with the brown paint and place thumbprint on ornament. Allow paint to dry (about 15-20 mins) then using the permanent marker make the antlers and eyes, we used the tip of a paintbrush and the red paint for the nose, but I am sure it could be done with a marker as well.

Don't forget to date it on the bottom so you will remember your child's age when you did it! heart emoticon

Sunday, November 29, 2015

King Arthur Recipes

Back to basics

It's that time again: time to get out the reindeer and star cookie cutters, the jars of colored sugar and sprinkles and, most importantly – your recipes. Got Mom's "secret" gingerbread cookie recipe? Go for it. Need suggestions for tried-and-true rollout cookie recipes? Here they are. Let's roll!

P.J. Hamel,
King Arthur Flour baker/blogger