We’ve had a few glorious days of faux spring here in New York City, a balmy omen of sunshine to come. Only a few short weeks of winter to go!
So let’s get our cozy on while we can and cook a few more hearty, warming meals to see out the last of the cold winter nights. Crank up that oven, pull out that sheet pan and let’s bask in the oven’s radiant beneficence.
There are hundreds of sheet-pan wonders in our New York Times Cooking archive, but my chicken with potatoes, arugula and garlic yogurt usually finds its way into my regular rotation. Roasting the chicken on top of the potatoes allows the spuds to soak up the rendering chicken fat seasoned with harissa and cumin. Sliced leeks are added halfway through cooking to turn golden and sweet. Right before serving, everything is topped with a mound of fresh arugula and a drizzle of salted, garlicky yogurt for a sprightly garnish that leans toward spring.
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Sheet-Pan Chicken With Potatoes, Arugula and Garlic Yogurt
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Here’s another marvelous use for a sheet pan: Millie Peartree’s jerk chicken meatballs with barbecue pineapple glaze. I love the way the pineapple juice sweetens the glaze, adding a fruity zing to the Worcestershire sauce, onion powder and chile flakes.
Hana Asbrink’s mushroom wafu pasta is just as satiating on a cold night but leaves out the meat. Wafu, which means “Japanese style,” refers to the Japanese flavors incorporated into this complex and umami-rich spaghetti. Shiitake mushrooms are seared until deeply bronzed, then mixed with butter, soy sauce and garlic to reduce into a glossy, flavorful pasta sauce. A sprinkling of nori at the end adds the perfect oceanic hit.
Hetty Lui McKinnon has a new recipe that’s made for lovers of crispy, breaded cutlets such as schnitzel, tonkatsu and Milanese (i.e., everyone). But instead of veal, pork or chicken, Hetty calls for slices of halloumi cheese with their characteristic salty, tangy chew. She also tweaks the breadcrumb coating, adding cornstarch to the flour and oil to the eggs, which results in the crunchiest crust imaginable. A quick cabbage slaw on the side provides a tart counterpart to the cheesy richness.
Speaking of all things caseous, I once heard salmon called the cheese of the sea, thanks to its silky-soft flesh that practically melts when cooked right. Ali Slagle’s olive oil baked salmon yields exactly that spoonable texture, and you can flavor it however you like by spiking the oil with garlic, lemon, chiles, herbs — you name it. Cooking it low and slow guarantees gorgeous results.
For a dessert that doubles as a teatime treat, I’ve been eyeing this tender poppy seed loaf cake, a recipe from the Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, N.H., adapted by Joan Nathan. The poppy seeds are plumped in milk, which brings out their deep nuttiness. The recipe calls for a lot of them, so every bite is delightfully suffused with their musky flavor (and rounded out with plenty of vanilla extract). The cake freezes well, too, so you can stash slices to bring cheer to a gray afternoon.
Naturally, you’ll want to subscribe to get all of the recipes at NYT Cooking. (Thanks to you if you already do.) If you need any technical assistance, you can send an email to the genius minds at cookingcare@nytimes.com. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi.
Finally, I’ll leave you with Sue Li’s five-star lemony shrimp and bean stew, an easy, velvety one-pot meal of shrimp and canned white beans enlivened with lemon, paprika and sautéed leeks. You won’t regret saving this one to your recipe box. As Andrea, a reader, wrote in the notes: “Made this exactly according to the recipe and it may be the best thing I ever cooked in my life — I’m 71.”
