New recipe, October 29, 2026

Sheet Pan Chicken Caesar Salad from Ottolenghi’s new book, Simple Too. Boning the chicken thighs, since you are supposed to keep the skin, is a bit less than simple, but it is quite tasty and satisfying. We give this a 4.

New recipe, October 28, 2026

Gypsy Queen from Food and Wine. This has a great herbal flavor from the Benedictine. Quite tasty—we give it a 4.

New recipe, October 27, 2026

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Sausage and Greens from NYT Cooking. This is a rich, complex and delicious dish. We loved it — it gets a 5!

New recipe, October 26, 2026

>> >> Vegan Mapo Tofu from NYT Cooking. Quite fun, especially with the mild tongue numbing from the Sichuan pepper. This gets a 5! >>

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New recipe, October 25, 2026

>> Slow Cooker Chicken Jook (Rice Porridge)from NYT Cooking. This is comfort food, good and warming. Chili crisp and olive oil jazz it up a bit. It gets a 4. >>

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New recipe, October 24, 2026

Simple Lentil and Mushroom Soup from Food and Wine. Simple and quite tasty, with touches including anise, sage and butter. We give this a 4

New recipe, October 23, 2026

Fragrant Coconut Chicken and Sweet Potato from NYT Cooking. Sounds like it will be sweet but it is actually savory and a nice combination of flavors. We give this a 4.

New recipe, October 22, 2026

Extra Crispy Brussels Sprouts from NYT Cooking. Oil, salt and a hot oven. Very simple. They are quite tasty as well as crispy. We give them a 4.

New recipe, October 21, 2026

Araceli Ultimate Gin and Tonic from araceliliqueur.com. We got a bottle so we are trying some of their cocktails. The Araceli gives it a bit of sweetness, and softens the drink a little. We give this a 3.

New recipe, October 20, 2026

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup from NYT Cooking. This is rather good, with a good selection of complementary flavors. We give it a 4.

New recipe, October 19, 2026

Araceli Strawberry Dream, from araceliliqueur.com. A fun cocktail using the marigold liqueur. We give it a 3–a touch sweet. We would use less simple syrup

New recipe, October 18, 2026

One Pan Dumplings with Greens from NYT Cooking. Easy and pretty tasty, especially with the optional scallions and chili crisp. We give this a 4.

New recipe, October 17, 2026

Ancho Problem from punch drink.com. A fun cocktail kind of a margarita with the addition of Ancho Reyes chile liqueur. We give this a 4.

New recipe, October 16, 2026

Stuffed and Seared Duck Breasts from NYT Cooking. Stuffed with fennel, rosemary and Parmesan. Just awesome! These get a 5!

New recipe, October 15, 2026

Lemony Shrimp and Bean Stew from NYT Cooking. This is a pleasant recipe, we give it a 3.

New recipe, October 14, 2026

Seared Chicken Thighs with Cherry Tomatoes and Olives from NYT Cooking. The olives work so well with the tomatoes, and the tarragon takes it all up a notch. We give this a 5.

New recipe, October 13, 2026

Warm Weisswurst and Farro Salad from Food and Wine. The sausage has a nice set of balancing flavors with apple, onion and squash. A pleasant dish. We give this a 3.

New recipe, October 12, 2026

The Godfather from Food and Wine. Just blended scotch whiskey with a little amaretto, but it is very nice. The amaretto is subtle and softens the scotch. This gets a 4.

New recipe, October 11, 2026

Tomato Salad with Dates, and Ottolenghi recipe from NYT Cooking. Cooked tomato in the dressing with fish sauce and lime, on top of ripe tomatoes and basil. Simple and stellar. This gets a 5.

New recipe, October 10, 2026

Grilled Broccoli and Lemon with Chile and Garlic. This is an Ottolenghi recipe from NYT Cooking and has a lovely mix of flavors and textures. We give this a 4.

New recipe, October 9, 2026

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup from ZNYT Cooking. This is delicious, with sweetness and balancing spiciness and a hint of acid. We give this a 5!

New recipe, October 8, 2026

Seoulside from Food and Wine. Similar to a Southside, but uses Korean Sujo instead of gin. Pleasant and refreshing. This gets a 3.

New recipe, October 7, 2026

> > Quick Jambalaya from NYT Cooking. This is quick, and nice. It lacks the depth of a longer more complex cook, of course, but made a nice dinner. We give this a 3. >

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New recipe, October 6, 2026

Lemony Miso Cabbage from NYT Cooking. This called for green cabbage but we had red. The butter, lemon and miso give it a nice round flavor. Since red cabbage tends to be a little sharper than green, this would likely be better with green cabbage. As we made it, it gets a 3.

New recipe, October 5, 2026

> >>> Harissa Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Red Onion from NYT Cooking. Served with leftover lamb. The harissa adds a nice zippy note to the sweet vegetables. We give this a 4. >

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New recipe, October 4, 2026

Buttery Gochujang Tofu and Broccoli from NYT Cooking. Sauteeing the tofu after coating with corn starch creates a great texture, and the sauce is fabulous—I find Gochujang can be domineering but here it is tempered with butter, soy and maple syrup and it is magical. This gets a 5!

New recipe, October 3, 2026

Maple Dijon Roasted Vegetables from NYT Cooking. Just delicious. The maple and Dijon complement the vegetables perfectly. We give this a 5.

New recipes, October 2, 2026

Missed the photos. Two Ottolenghi recipes, Jerusalem Lamb Shawarma from NYT Cooking and Cauliflower Pomegranate and Pistachio Salad from Kitchn. The lamb is delicious but our oven cooked it faster than expected so it was overcooked. Thus made it a 3, but if cooked to med-rare to medium I am sure it would be at least a 4. The salad is great fun and gets a 4.

New recipe, October 1, 2026

Shrimp and Potatoes Pil Pil from NYT Cooking. Butter, garlic, Fresnos with shrimp and potatoes. Definitely greater than the sum of its parts. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 30, 2026

Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Dates from NYT Cooking. Nice combo of flavors, including lemon, tahini, Aleppo pepper, and those dates. Yum! It gets a 4.

New recipe, September 29, 2026

Death in the Afternoon from Food and Wine. Champagne and absinthe, apparently from Ernest Hemingway. Simple and tasty. It gets a 4.

New recipe, September 28, 2026

Rome with A View from Food and Wine. Another spritzer with Campari, dry vermouth and lime. Pleasant, we give it a 3.

New recipe, September 27, 2026

Seared Chicken and Figs with Olives from NYT Cooking. This is quite easy, and the figs, olives and lemons over the marinated chicken elevate this recipe to great heights. We give this a 5.

New recipe, September 26, 2026

Seared Scallops with Jammy Cherry Tomatoes from NYG Cooking. They describe this as an easy but fancy seeming dish. That seems right in. Anything with scallops seems fancy to me, and the jammy tomato sauce is a lovely companion. We give this a 4.

New recipe , September 25, 2026

Caramelized Cabbage and Walnut Pasta from NYT Cooking. The sweet cabbage with the pecorino, lemon and walnut is an unexpected and tasty combination. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 24, 2026

Cashew Butter Chicken Korma from NYT Cooking. This may look a bit plain, but it is packed with wonderful spicy and complementary flavors. We give this a 5! It is well worth making.

New recipe, September 23, 2026

Citrus Shrimp with Capers and Celery from NYT Cooking. We served it over fonio, an African grain. This had a variety of complementary flavors that work together really well. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 22, 2026

Crustless Zucchini and Feta Quiche from NYT Cooking. This is a good quiche, but doesn’t really stand out. It gets a 3.

New recipe, September 21, 2026

Kaddu (Sweet and Sour Butternut Squash) from NYT Cooking, served with some pork tenderloin. The Kaddu is spectacular. Stunning flavor combination. We give this a 5.

New recipe, September 20, 2026

I got excited and forgot to snap a picture before I started to eat. Broiled Peaches with Feta and Pistachios from NYT Cooking. Some commenters on the NYT site thought the feta was a bit dominant. We thought this was perfectly balanced. Since I had perfectly ripe Palisade peaches, I only put a little brown sugar on top before broiling. With less sweet peaches a little more sugar and the honey might make sense. We give this a 5!

New recipe, September 19, 2026

One Pot Lamb Meatballs with Tomato Fennel and Orzo from NYT Cooking. This makes use of every part of the fennel! It is very flavorful. If you have very fatty lamb I might pour off a bit of the fat before cooking the fennel—it was delicious but seemed a bit heavy since I did not pour off any if the fat. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 18, 2026

Black Rice Bowl with Bok Choy and Mushrooms from NYT Cooking. We felt like the flavors came together a bit better on the second day. It also needed a bit more salt. We give this a 3

New recipe, September 27, 2026

Cauliflower Chaat for One from NYT Cooking. This is a pleasant dish. We give it a 3

New recipe, September 16, 2026

The Scofflaw from Food and Wine. This was apparently created in Paris by American bartenders as an insult to Prohibition. They did a good job! This has a great balance of sweetness and acidity against the rye base. It gets a 5.

New recipe, September 15, 2026

Individual Beef Wellingtons from NYT Cooking. These have all the flavors of the original, and are delicious. It is a very rich dish! We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 14, 2026

One Pan Zucchini Pesto Orzo from NYT Cooking. I confess I wasn’t sure how well this would work, and I was very pleasantly surprised. There is a variety of flavors and textures that play together very nicely. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 13, 2026

Butter Beans alla Vodka from Food and Wine. This is a classic sauce for a reason and it complements the butter beans beautifully. We give it a 4.

New recipe, September 12, 2026

Grilled Hoisin Pork Tenderloin from NYT Cooking. The flavors are good, with a strong presence of hoisin. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 11, 2026

Crunchy Mango and Avocado Salad from Food and Wine. This got better overnight. It has a nice combination of textured and flavors that melded together especially with a little time. We give it a 4.

New recipe, September 10, 2026

Smoky Shrimp Saganaki from NYT Cooking. It is an Ottolenghi recipe, and is a fabulous combination of spicy and smoky flavors, melted feta, shrimp. A total 5!

New recipe, September 9, 2026

Enfrijoladas Pintos from NYT Cooking. Who would have believed you could get such a rich dish by dipping tortillas in blended pinto beans? The beans themselves (with some chipotle) are delicious, and the toppings including pickled red onion and avocado are incredible. This gets a 5!