Good morning. I took a fantastic drive the other day across the top of Connecticut, from Simsbury over to Kingston, N.Y., through old tobacco fields and cow pastures and apple orchards and into the Hudson Valley under a bluebird sky.
There wasn’t much to eat along the way save the half-bag of Combos I found under the seat and a buttered roll at the Stewart’s just over the state line, so my thoughts ran staccato as I considered what I’d cook when I eventually got to a stove.
Slow-roasted salmon with salsa verde? A spring minestrone with kale and pasta? I settled on artichoke carbonara (above), with bucatini and a garnish of raw egg yolk, to almost literally gild the lily. I drove over the bridge from Rhinecliff in afternoon sunlight and could almost see the dish glimmering below me on the river. I like it on any Sunday, but if you’re in need of a fantastic Mother’s Day meal, it’d be extra nice this evening.
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Artichoke Carbonara
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As for the rest of the week. …
Monday
Pad woon sen is a dish from northern Thailand, stir-fried glass noodles with soy sauce, garlic, eggs and vegetables. Some add cubed meat, but Ham El-Waylly’s new recipe for the dish focuses on the eggs and vegetables to deliver a meal that’s as delicious as it is adaptable to your timetable. It’s just as fantastic hot, room temperature or cold from the fridge.
Tuesday
I discovered Rishia Zimmern’s recipe for chicken with shallots a decade ago when social media was fantastic and her then-husband Andrew Zimmern posted it on his account: “Brown 8 thighs, 3 C shallots. Add wine, tarragon, Dijon, sim 30 min covered. Remove lid, reduce. Add 2C cut cherry toms.” You’ll see!
Wednesday
Kay Chun’s recipe for black pepper stir-fried tofu and asparagus is a seasonal delight, soft, crunchy and textural over rice. Could you slide a few poached eggs onto the top for a glossy sauce? You could and you should.
Thursday
Here’s a simple weeknight dinner of remarkable flavor: Romel Bruno’s curry chicken fried rice, made with chicken thighs, sweet red onion and fragrant curry powder bloomed in hot oil, mixed with that bag of leftover rice I’m always onto you about keeping in the freezer for just this sort of meal. Romel uses a mild dry curry powder, but I’ll swap it out for a spicier blend.
Friday
And then you can round out the week with my no-recipe recipe for ham and cheese pasta with a handful of peas, pantry cooking for people exhausted by the workweek and eager for dinner on the quick. It’s forgiving and fantastic. If you’ve got access to a country ham steak, so much the better, but I’ve made it with shredded deli slices and still received raves.
There are thousands more recipes to cook this week waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You need a subscription to read them, though. Subscriptions are the wind in our sails, the electricity in our stoves, the gas in our hybrid vehicles of deliciousness. Please, if you haven’t taken one out yet, would you consider doing so today? Thank you.
If you find yourself flummoxed by the technology of all this, please reach out for help. We’re at cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. Or, if you’d like to complain about something or compliment anything, you can write to me. I’m at foodeditor@nytimes.com. I cannot respond to every letter. But I read every one I receive.
Now, it’s nothing to do with huevos rancheros or marry me chicken, but you should take some time today to listen to the Irish novelist Colm Tóibín on The New York Times Book Review podcast, discussing “Long Island,” a sequel to his 2009 novel “Brooklyn.” (You may have seen the 2015 movie version of that, with Saoirse Ronan.)
The Cut’s “How I Get It Done” column turned to our Sohla El-Waylly last week. She’s so great.
Sylvia Legris has two new poems in Granta, both worth reading (won’t take you long).
Finally, here’s new music from Jessica Pratt, “Life Is,” off her new album, “Here in the Pitch.” Happy Mother’s Day. I’ll be back next week.
