Go for the gold: What to Cook This Weekend

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David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Friday, March 12, 2021

What to Cook This Weekend

Sam Sifton

Good morning. J. Kenji López-Alt has been up late lately, experimenting with techniques for making airy, Viennese-style schnitzel. He went deep on pounding, on eggs, on bread crumbs, on fat and, crucially, on vodka and swirling. The recipe (above) that resulted from his labors will deliver a terrifically puffy, shatteringly crisp crust, with a perfectly done, moist interior, whether you use pork or veal.

Just in time for the weekend! You could serve your schnitzel on Saturday night with a salad of Boston bibb lettuce dressed in a simple vinaigrette. Maybe with some potato salad, too? If you really want to lean into the vibe, make a Sacher torte for dessert. (And here’s your soundtrack: Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio, K. 498, with Martin Frost on clarinet.)

Me, I’m going to make the breakfast cookies with oats and dried cherries that Melissa Clark picked up from Frenchette Bakery in New York and adapted into bars. Also, a big vat of the best black bean soup. And for dinner on Sunday night, a caramelized onion galette — a dish Sue Li made for us in a YouTube video that I hope you’ll find as delightful as I did.

Should I make bagels, too? Tejal Rao got me thinking about them this week, with her article about California’s bagel boom and how the state’s now producing bagels that are perhaps better than those in New York. (You’ll want to read the comments!) I’d like to aspire to those California bagel heights. Claire Saffitz’s extensive recipe guide will help.

Will there be good weather and time for huli huli chicken on the grill? A call from a loved one for peanut butter-miso cookies? Waffles for breakfast? An Italian-style tuna sandwich for lunch? I certainly hope so.

There are thousands and thousands more recipes waiting for you on NYT Cooking. Go take a look and see what you find there. Save the recipes you like and rate the ones you’ve made. You can leave notes on them, too, if you’ve come up with a hack or substitution you’d like to remember or share.

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Now, it’s nothing whatsoever to do with cupcakes or lamb, but in advance of the Grammy Awards on Sunday, you should absolutely check out our latest “Diary of a Song,” devoted this time to the question of who will win Record of the Year. Who’s talking? Jon Caramanica, Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz, Wesley Morris and Jon Pareles — basically the starting lineup of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, but in the form of pop music journalists.

I’m late to it, but you should also read Soraya Nadia McDonald on Billie Holiday, in The Undefeated.

And, while you’re at it, Declan Ryan on boxing, in The Baffler.

Finally, here’s Japanese Breakfast, “Be Sweet,” to listen to while you cook. See you on Sunday!