Good morning. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all those who celebrate. I like corned beef and cabbage myself for the holiday — Irish American food to ship up to Boston with, soda bread on the side.
But I get it if that’s not in the cards, either for reasons of memory (the dank, humid scent of boiling cabbage at Mom’s) or situation (not Irish, no interest in the meal).
For you, then, this incredible bourbon-braised beef (above) that Vallery Lomas developed for us. The whiskey adds a fantastic complexity to a cheap cut of boneless beef chuck burbled with maple syrup, caramelized tomato paste, thyme, bay leaves and hints of both soy sauce and lemon juice. It’s as Irish as Carmela Soprano, but I’d serve it to your ma tonight with no misgivings. (Save the leftover braising liquid to make French onion soup.)
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Bourbon-Braised Beef
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Once you’ve got it cooking, you’ll have plenty of time for mischief. Say, a French icebox cake from the inimitable Dorie Greenspan? That would make a great dessert after the stew.
Which means Sunday’s sorted. As for the rest of the week. …
Monday
You can’t beat my recipe for Irish tacos if you’ve got leftovers, and I’d warrant that’s the case if you made the bourbon braise on Sunday instead of the corned beef. Just shred the reheated meat onto warm tortillas and top with slaw. You’ll see.
Tuesday
Eric Kim excels at weeknight pastas with big, big flavor and shows it plain with his fiery, awesome ricotta pasta alla vodka. The cool cheese against the hot penne is a revelation. “Wow,” one subscriber wrote. “That was so good.” Yes, indeed.
Thursday
A perfectly composed wedge salad is a marvelous thing. St. Anselm in Brooklyn prepares a superior version. But sometimes the ratio of toppings to lettuce doesn’t work out, and you’re left with undressed greens. Ali Slagle’s ace new recipe for a chopped wedge salad avoids that problem, whacking everything together in a bowl so that every bite is fully dressed for dinner.
Friday
And then you can head into the weekend with another new recipe from Ali: a mortadella carbonara. It’s silkiness squared. Could you add a handful of chopped pistachios for texture at the end? You could! I will.
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Now, it’s a far cry from anything to do with making roux or shelling hull peas, but if Dwight Garner’s rave review of Percival Everett’s new novel, “James” — a retelling of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” from the point of view of the enslaved Jim — doesn’t make you run to the bookseller or the library, I’d be very surprised. That’s what it did for me.
Big crab alert. Extinct. But really, really big.
If you haven’t seen the Amazon Prime reboot of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” I’d urge you not to binge, but to stretch your viewing out over at least a few days, ideally a week. It plays better that way.
Finally, here’s a new track from Hannah Frances, “Keeper of the Shepherd.” Listen to that while you’re cooking, and I’ll be back next week.
