Good morning. The birds are back in town, chirping at dawn, flitting to and from the feeders set up out back, firing up the cat at the window. There’s no languorous idyll in bed before breakfast these days; there’s much to be done. Daylight’s burning. Time for spring cleaning.
Start with your fridge and your pantry. Odds are they’re in need of sorting, an edit, a reset, almost certainly a deep clean. Taking some time today to do that will yield satisfaction for weeks to come — when you’re cooking, or simply admiring the organization you’ve brought to the spaces.
Lay in supplies to replenish your stores: peppercorns and brown sugar, cashews and ramen, a new bottle of hot sauce, some rice wine, cider vinegar, a jar of preserved lemons, a fresh sack of flour. Imagine what you’ll cook for the next few days and weeks and get yourself set: chicken thighs for the freezer, tofu for the fridge, a honking big cabbage for stir-fries and slaw.
Tonight, try Eric Kim’s new recipe for bacon and egg don (above), a comforting bowl of soft-scrambled eggs cooked with mirin and soy sauce in the salty rendered fat and set over furikake-laced rice. Some readers substitute Spam for the bacon, in the style of Hawaii. I do it because it clears another can from the pantry, making room for the tinned fish I’ll want for a picnic in June.
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Bacon and Egg Don
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As for the rest of the week. …
Monday
I love Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe for mushroom risotto with peas this time of year for how it marries the loamy richness of mushrooms to the bright, sweet pop of the peas. I like the salty bite of Parmesan added at the end, and I generally augment it with a pat or two of butter because, well, it’s a risotto. Risotto loves butter as dearly as George loves Martha.
Tuesday
Carolina Gelen’s new recipe for a one-pot cabbage roll soup is a revelation: all the deliciousness of cabbage rolls without the hassle of stuffing and rolling, and a lovely zing of sauerkraut complexity stirred in at the end.
Wednesday
You can make patties with just about any kind of spiced minced meat or fish, but I especially like Zainab Shah’s recipe, which pairs sweet shrimp with spices from the Desi larder: chile powder, cumin, garam masala, ginger and garlic. Grilled or fried, it’s a lovely weeknight meal.
Thursday
Ali Slagle’s recipe for cauliflower adobo takes a national dish of the Philippines and renders it vegetarian, with deeply caramelized florets absolutely drenched in a pungent, salty-sweet sauce. I like it with rice — and, ideally, bibingka for dessert.
Friday
And then you can round out the week with Yossy Arefi’s recipe for miso-honey chicken and asparagus, a simple sheet-pan dinner that’s broiled rather than baked, which nicely chars the marinade and can help you get dinner on the table in under a half-hour.
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Housekeeping: In Friday’s newsletter, I managed to bungle the name of the French city west of where Les Grands Buffets is located. That is Toulouse, of course, not “Touluse.” Une faute de frappe!
Now, it’s nothing to do with kumquats or candied pecans, but The New York Review of Books has finally rendered its judgment on Barbra Streisand’s memoir, “My Name is Barbra,” with Daphne Merkin on the keyboard. The verdict: “There is something parodic about the scope of the enterprise, as if its author had lost sight of her own significance — or, rather, her relative insignificance in the scheme of things.” It’s a fun read.
In case you missed it, Jason Farago had a smart dispatch from Berlin in The New York Times, about how the war in Gaza has dimmed the city’s beacon of artistic freedom.
“Scoop,” on Netflix, takes viewers along the road to Prince Andrew’s disastrous 2019 interview with the British current affairs show “Newsnight” about his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Rufus Sewell as Andrew is great casting.
Finally, a dance to spring. Here’s “I Like Birds” from Eels. I’ll be back next week.
