Go for the gold: What to Cook This Week

October 10, 2021

Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

What to Cook This Week

By Sam Sifton

Good morning. They're prepping for Thanksgiving in Canada today, brining birds and peeling spuds for the feast on Monday, getting the butter tarts ready, dripping maple syrup into the cranberry sauce, setting tables, engaging in holiday cheer. It's amazing to think we'll be following them in just a little more than a month.

Meantime, though, we're still in the early days of fall agritainment here in the United States: getting pumpkins and mums for the stoop or front porch; roasting corn; making baked apple cider doughnuts to share with friends after a walk through a sunflower maze. Me, I'd like to spend the afternoon making white borscht against the mild chill in the air, to eat with soft bread and soft butter. (And if that's not for you, here's a fine roundup of other vegetarian soups and stews.)

On Monday, I like the idea of cauliflower piccata (above). The roasted florets soak up the tangy, buttery sauce, and the addition of chickpeas makes it a hearty vegetarian main course. I'll serve it next to pasta, with a parsley salad on the side.

For Tuesday's meal, take a look at these sesame salmon bowls. There are a lot of elements, but none are particularly difficult. And subscribers seem to love it: "My partner said it's the best thing I've ever cooked," one wrote in a note below the recipe.

Riff on this no-recipe recipe for savory French toast with cherry tomatoes and basil on Wednesday. You might add some mozzarella to the mix, for instance, or a fried egg. Or both!

Then on Thursday, turn toward these mushroom chicharrón tacos, or these slow-cooker pork tacos with hoisin and ginger, or these simple, exquisite avocado tacos that Jeff Gordinier picked up from the chef Enrique Olvera.

And on Friday? Pressure-cooker Vietnamese caramel pork and eggs for me, I think, though I'd understand completely if you wanted to stick with Friday tradition and roast a chicken. If so, plan ahead so you can marinate overnight Thursday: this buttermilk-brined roast chicken is just sublime.

Thousands and thousands more recipes you could make this week are waiting for you on New York Times Cooking, though you will need a subscription to access them. That's a fair deal, in my mind: You get the recipes, and we get to keep providing more of them. And there's even more inspiration on our Instagram page and on our YouTube channel. Like and subscribe.

We're standing by to help, should you find yourself in a jam in the kitchen or confused by our technology. Just write cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. (And you can always write to me directly: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I can't respond to everyone, but I can take a punch and I read every letter sent.)

Now, it's nothing to do with crepe pans or bamboo steamers, but it's the British painter Chris Ofili's birthday today. He is 53. Here's his "Triple Beam Dreamer," which goes up for auction on Oct. 15 at Phillips in London.

Pop-culture cookbooks are all the rage, Priya Krishna reports for The Times.

Here's a view from inside Hurricane Sam when it was barreling through the Atlantic last week as a Category 4, courtesy of a cool new unmanned 23-foot vessel with a camera. It's called a Saildrone.

Finally, here's K. D. Lang to play us off: "Constant Craving." Play that while you're cooking, and I'll be back on Monday.

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