Go for the gold: February 2021

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Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Sunday, February 28, 2021

What to Cook This Week

Sam Sifton

Good morning. The Golden Globes will be awarded this evening in a ceremony that will not resemble earlier, boozier incarnations of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual recognition of the shows and films its members were lobbied to herald. Amy Poehler will anchor the broadcast from the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, with Tina Fey joining her from the Rainbow Room in New York. The nominees will join via screens in their homes. (Stars, they’re just like us.)

In search of normalcy and silly-season fun, I’ll watch with a platter of loaded nachos, potato chips, clam dip and spicy party mix, then maybe bring my laptop into the kitchen later in the show to follow along live with The Times while I cook these ridiculous crispy fried tofu sandwiches in accordance with the teachings of Brooks Headley of Superiority Burger in New York. Hollywood’s about escape, and I could use a little of that these days. I’m sure the same is true for you.

That’s Sunday’s eating, at least if I don’t avail myself of this amazing collection of 20 surprising, delicious recipes for sheet-pan dinners. (You’ll like this, too: our Genevieve Ko on how the unflashy sheet pan became a kitchen star.)

On Monday, I think I might turn to pasta with fresh herbs, lemon and peas (above), a kind of promise to myself that spring is coming, that soon enough trees will bud and we’ll be able to take long walks before dusk.

For Tuesday night, how about spicy sesame noodles with chicken and peanuts? (Here’s a meat-free version for you, if that’s preferable.)

On Wednesday, I like the idea of these little butternut squash steaks with pecans and currants, which would go nicely with mashed potatoes or this brown rice and farro salad.

For Thursday’s repast, I want to turn to the wok for this spicy beef stir-fry with basil. You may prefer roasted salmon with brown sugar and mustard.

And on Friday, maybe we can all make these shrimp burgers that Matt Lee and Ted Lee picked up in the Charleston kitchen of South Carolina’s perfect and now closed Hominy Grill.

Thousands and thousands more recipes to cook this coming week await you on NYT Cooking. Go noodle around over there and see what strikes your fancy. Save the recipes you like, something you can do even if they don’t come for our site — here’s how to do that. Rate the ones you’ve made. And please do leave notes on them if you’ve discovered a cool shortcut or ingredient substitution, or if you have an observation about the recipe that you’d like to remember or share with fellow subscribers.

Yes, fellow subscribers. You need to be a subscriber to enjoy all the benefits of NYT Cooking. Your subscription is what makes NYT Cooking possible. Please, if you haven’t already, I hope you will consider subscribing today.

We are meanwhile standing by to help, should anything go wrong while you’re cooking or using our site and apps. Just write cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you, I promise.

Now, it’s nothing to do with lobster thermidor or blistered grapes, but the Hold Steady have a new album, “Open Door Policy.” There’s some epic lyrical speak-singing from Craig Finn on it, “Me & Magdalena.” (Different song from the Monkees one with the same title I mentioned a while back.)

Nicholas Kulish’s excellent story in The Times this week introduced me to the Instagram account Influencers in the Wild. I’d unfollow but I can’t.

This is a difficult, fascinating story about a big-mountain skier named Dean Cummings, whose mental illness led to his death, by Devon O’Neil in Outside.

More music: Boubacar Traoré, “Hona.” Let that wash over you as you cook.

Finally, I botched the Purim story on Friday and said that Esther was Haman’s cousin. Of course she wasn’t. She was Mordecai’s cousin, and married to the King of Persia. Apologies. I’ll be back on Monday.