The New York Times Recipes

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016 Recipes for Early Spring SAM SIFTON Good morning. We're gearing up for tomorrow's amateur-night high jinks down at the bar, all the green-for-a-day knuckleheads looking green on the sidewalk outside, everyone jostling toward the last train home, our playlist running "Streams of Whiskey" into the inevitable "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" at the end of the night. Immigrants: We get the job done! If you must go out, prepare yourself with a big dinner. How aboutseared lamb chops, mashed mint peas (pick up the recipe at step 6) and an Orangeman's colcannon? Meanwhile, over in the Food section we dropped on porches across the nation this morning, we're thrilling to Melissa Clark's ace new egg-centric recipes: a chocolate pavlova; some Portuguese egg tarts; and a beautiful angel food cake with lemon curd (above). There's a weekend project in there for all of us, no? (That is, if we don't catch a cheap flight down to Pittsburgh, where Jeff Gordinier was recently to report out his terrific article on how food is helping to lead the city's comeback!) For dinner tonight, perhaps you could join us in our Wednesday tradition, and cook without a proper recipe, relying instead on the story of a meal? This week's is about salmon, which, no matter its heritage, you can cook to crispness in a big, oil-sheened pan. Melt a little brown sugar into the pan juices when it's cooked through and hit that mixture with a few splashes of fish sauce and an absolute riot of black pepper. Pour the sauce over the fish and scatter a handful of torn mint leaves on top. Serve it with rice. It could be your midweek recipe for the next six weeks. If following sheet music is more your game, that's O.K. as well. That's what Mark Bittman's recipe for shrimp in green sauce is for. It's why we love Julia Moskin's recipe for a classic marinara sauce. And have you made David Tanis's recipe for vegetarian mapo tofu yet? This could be your night. You can find other ideas for what to cook in coming days on Cooking. (Here's our recipe for Irish soda bread, if you need one to take to work or to send to school.) Save the recipes you like into your recipe box, wherever they come from – on our site you can save recipes from anywhere on the web. And if you run into problems, either with the site or the app, just reach out for help: cookingcare@nytimes.com. We are here for you. Now read William Butler Yeats's "Easter 1916," even if you've read it 10,000 times, and especially if you haven't. And we'll see you on Friday.

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Seared Lamb Chops With Anchovies, Capers and Sage MELISSA CLARK 35 minutes, 2 servings

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Carrot, Parsnip and Potato Colcannon MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN 45 minutes, 6 servings

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Chocolate Pavlova With Chocolate Mousse MELISSA CLARK 4 hours, 8 servings

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts MELISSA CLARK 1 hour, 48 tarts

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Lemon Angel Food Cake With Preserved Lemon Curd MELISSA CLARK 1 hour, plus 2 hours' chilling and cooling, 12 servings

Suzy Allman for The New York Times Mark Bittman's Shrimp In Green Sauce MARK BITTMAN 30 minutes, 4 servings

Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times Classic Marinara Sauce JULIA MOSKIN 25 minutes, Makes about 3 1/2 cups, enough for 1 pound of pasta

Evan Sung for The New York Times Vegetarian Mapo Tofu DAVID TANIS 30 minutes, 4 to 6 servings

Danny Ghitis for The New York Times Irish Brown Soda Bread DAVID TANIS About 1 hour, 1 loaf