Papa Ed’s Shrimp and Grits from Marcus Samuelsson’s ‘The Rise’
Let’s skip the pleasantries and cut to the chase: Here are the dishes that have thrilled us the most over the last year. They’re the recipes we were excited to share with you first time around, and jazzed to round up for you now. They’re the recipes we’ll be returning to again and again we’ve fallen permanently in love with them. They’ve changed our lives for the better.
Most are new, whether developed this year in our test kitchen or adapted from cookbooks published this year.
Because it feels so important to find joy in the kitchen these days, we’re assigning each of them a “Fun Factor” — how much fun they are to cook. Our scale is 1 to 10, 10 being the most fun.
They’re listed in alphabetical order.
1. Anjali Pathak’s Charred Baby Eggplants
These melty-soft baby eggplants with a coconutty, spicy filling come from Anjali Pathak’s 2015 book, The Indian Family Kitchen: Classic Dishes for a New Generation. Sizzled fresh curry leaves make it really special. We spotlighted this dish — finished with dabs of yogurt — in an an August story about eggplants.
Why we love cooking them: The topping is really fun to make, beginning with cooking the mustard seeds in oil till they jump out of the pan, and using the curry leaves (which freeze really well, so if you get your hands on some, buy extra). Definitely fun to plate.
Fun factor: 10
2. Baba Ganoush
We took a deep dive into our favorite eggplant dip beginning just as the year started — chasing optimal smokiness, perfect balance and the creamiest texture we could conjure. We wrote about it in late February. Please help yourself to our Baba Ganoush recipe.
Why we love cooking it: Because you get to burn the hell out of the eggplant in the bottom of a charcoal grill (or in the oven), and then pull it apart with your hands; it’s very primal. Whisking tahini and lemon juice to fluffiness has its charms as well. And then, of course, it is meltingly, classically delicious.
Fun factor: 8
3. Camille Fourmont’s Rose, Cumin and Apricot Sablés
Crushed rosebuds and cumin bring a beautifully fragrant and savory aspect to Camille Fourmont’s spin on the classic French sablé cookie; dried apricots add a delightful chewy high note. Though Fourmont credits pastry superstar Pierre Hermé with having dreamt up the flavor combo, it is she who put them together in a sablé. Super buttery and tender, they are exquisite. We reviewed the book they’re from, La Buvette: Recipes and Wine Notes from Paris, in August.
Why we love making them: Playing with dried flower buds is a treat, and it’s always fun to slice and bake dough that’s been chilling in a log in the fridge.
Fun factor: 6
4. ‘Falastin’ Chicken Musakhan
The national dish of Palestine dish is our favorite (so far!) in Sami Tamimi’s Falastin, which we reviewed in July. To make it, toss a whole quartered bird with plenty of cumin and sumac and other spices, then roast it and layer it on crisped pieces of torn pita with a lot of long-cooked, sumac-and-cumin-loaded sliced red onions, fried pine nuts and parsley. Spoon over with the roasting juices from the chicken, drizzle on more olive oil, dust with more sumac, and invite everyone to tear in.
Why we love cooking it: All those spices! Three tablespoons sumac! A tablespoon of cumin! You eat it with your hands! And it’s super-easy to make.
Fun factor: 7
5. Fried Chicken LudoBird Style
During early pandemic, we had a blast watching Ludo Lefebvre make his famous Fried Chicken LudoBird Style on his IGTV live channel. We pieced together a recipe, conquered our fear of deep-frying and triumphed.
Why we love cooking it: Because with our trusty Thermaworks instant-read thermometer to keep us in the right zone, we found we could fry with the best of ‘em.
Fun factor: 5
6. The Greenest Gazpacho
Vegan and gluten-free, this is the green gazpacho of our dreams. Here’s to hoping that either our ancient Waring blender holds out through the spring, or Santa brings us a Vitamix.
Why we love making it: It’s so easy — throw everything in the blender and give it a whirl — and so very green.
Fun factor: 2
7. Half-Whole Wheat Pita Bread
We love whole grain breads, but the whole wheat pitas we were finding — even at our favorite Lebanese bakery — were kind of like eating cardboard. So we took matters into our own hands and developed a recipe using half whole-wheat flour and half white flour: perfect!
Why we baking them: They may take a little practice, but when you nail it, they’re super-fun to roll out, squish and bake. Watch them puff up in the oven!
Fun factor: 8
8. José Andrés’ Dancing Eggplant
Whip up this Japanese-inspired sauce, slather it on microwaved eggplant, top with katsuobushi — bonito flakes — that “dance” on top, and you’ve got a quick and entertaining appetizer that’s great with beer or sake. We found the recipe in José Andrés’ Vegetables Unleashed , but skipped Andrés’s instruction to wrap the eggplant in plastic film before zapping. (We don’t believe in cooking plastic into food.) It works fine when the eggplant is naked. We keep meaning to grill the eggplant instead of zapping, but it’s just so damn great to have a fabulous app you can pull together so quickly — and just another reason to keep bonito flakes on hand at all times.
Why we love cooking it: Instant gratification, with a beat.
Fun Factor: 8
9. Josef Centeno’s Carne Guisada with his Tía Carmen’s Flour Tortillas
Making this dish, a favorite of L.A. chef Josef Centeno from his childhood in San Antonio, Texas, made us feel like we were part of his family. (We reviewed his latest cookbook, Amá, in September.) The Carne Guisada — long-braised beef — is wrapped in the warm tortillas and eaten tacos. My French husband Thierry proclaimed it “better than beef bourguignon.” Hard to say — but it’s up there, and you don’t get to eat home-made tortillas with the French dish.
Why we love cooking it: The slow braise makes the house smell great, and there’s primal joy in forming and griddling the flour tortillas.
Fun factor: 6
10. ‘Jubilee’ Pickled Shrimp
This was the first dish that caught our eye in Toni Tipton-Martin’s fabulous cookbook, Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking. We made it in and previewed it in early May, then reviewed the book in June, just as it won a James Beard Award. It went on to win two International Association of Culinary Professionals awards, including Book of the Year. We’ve made the dish — which makes a great gift, by the way, as you can deliver a jar — four or five times since.
Why we love cooking it: It feels like a cool science project and art project in one, as you pack the shrimp in a jar with all the gorgeous herbs and aromatics.
Fun factor: 5
11. Leela Punyaratabandhu's Green Papaya Salad
We were delighted to learn that mere mortals can make excellent som tam — Thailand’s famous green papaya salad. Leela Punyaratabandhu’s splendid recipe makes it seem like a miracle every time. We love that
Why we love cooking it: It’s rare to get permission to pound vegetables and fruit together, and in this case the resulting flavors are insanely vivid and transporting.
Fun factor: 7
12. Miso-Butter Sweet Potatoes
A friend told me a few years ago about a sweet potato filled with miso-butter he had swooned over at our mutually favorite Japanese restaurant in Dallas. I don’t know who invented the idea, but I knew I had to try it at home; it blew me away. (Then again, I can be blown away by a simple, plain sweet potato roasted to caramelly sweetness.) This year, I had the idea to add scallions, furikake and togarashi, and wow — it’s spectacular. Insanely good. I’ll be making some this weekend.
Why we love cooking it: It’s more like dressing something up than cooking it. You just roast that sucker whole, split it open and go to town. Mushing the miso together with softened butter is pure pleasure, and makes for better utensil-licking than even cookie dough.
Fun factor: 8