Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
Your recent cooking victories, plus an excellent week of supporting Brooklyn restaurants
Hi friends,
Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a weekly newsletter about cooking, dining out, and making the most of it. There’s no snow outside and spring is less than three weeks away. Let’s dive in.
Something to Cook:
I definitely want to try this peanut sauce recipe with tofu. Will report back.
Quesadillas are one of my quick dinner go-tos and they’re totally acceptable for company. I made some for Julia and Julianne for a cozy hang last week. My secret ingredient is refried beans, which are so good and make them more substantial. Here’s the method: Saute 1/2 of a diced onion in a little bit of olive oil, add one can of refried beans (look for the ones without a lot of salt or Ducal brand) and stir until the beans have softened. Add spices to taste (I always do a generous shake of cumin, coriander, cayenne, and chili powder), plus a little salt.
To assemble quesadillas, heat a dry non stick skillet over medium heat. Place one flour tortilla in the pan and use a spoon or spatula to spread a thick layer of beans across the entire tortilla. Cover the beans with shredded cheese and top with a second tortilla. Let the cheese melt a bit and flip your quesadilla. I like them to be nice and toasted, but it’s up to you. Remove from the heat and cut into quarters with a sharp knife. Serve with slice avocado, salsa, and hot sauce.
We also made a purple slaw to go alongside the quesadillas. It’s nice to have something citrus-y and acidic alongside the cheesy quesadillas. No recipe, but combine thinly sliced purple cabbage with scallions, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, salt and spices to taste (cumin is really good). If you don’t like one of these ingredients, just skip it!
I also tried sumo citrus this week, a type of orange from Japan, that’s similar to a Korean tangerine. Eva Chen has been very into them on Instagram so I picked up a few. They’re expensive but as we’ve discussed, citrus is a form of self care during the winter, so try one if you can find them (Whole Foods has them and I’ve heard rumors they’re at certain Trader Joe’s).
Something to Order:
I went to a lot of restaurants this week and hit on some real gems. As we discussed last week, dining out (usually) makes me so happy and I’m so appreciative of the wonderful businesses I get to support and of my beloved dining companions.
Taco Tuesdays at Calabrije’s is one of Bushwick’s best deals. Tacos are 2 for $4 all day and happy hour goes till 7. If you arrive at 6:50, you can get a spicy pineapple margarita (my favorite flavor) and two tacos (the veggie ones are full of nopales) for $11. See you next Tuesday? I wrote about Calabrije’s over the summer and it’s really such a great spot, any day of the week. Their gorditas and guac are also very good.
I stopped at Win Son to meet Julia for a drink on my way home and got to congratulate them for being James Beard Semi Finalists! I’m so proud of them and so lucky to live so close by. If you haven’t been to Win Son, what are you waiting for? My favorite bartender, Jeffrey, is a This Needs Hot Sauce reader so please tell him I sent you.
In a classic case of escalation, Dale called me just before 5 on Friday to see if I wanted to get pasta later. We were thinking of Le Fanfare, which has a $10 pasta special Monday-Wednesday. I mentioned Lilia in a “oh we couldn’t possibly go there” way and a few minutes later, Dale was out the door to put his name on the list as they opened (he lives nearby). We wound up with bar seats at 7 and had a great time. My favorite dishes are the bread (it’s always some kind of focaccia with herb butter that melts in your mouth) and the mafaldine with pink peppercorns. I also love the gnocchi with broccoli pesto. If you sit at the bar, they have special (free) potato chips and rosemary peanuts for a little treat. It’s a gorgeous space and the staff is lovely. The bar seating is only for parties of two and I’ve had good luck arriving before 6 and getting seated between 7 and 8. For reservations, call at 10 am a month out, which is what I did for Dale’s birthday.
Tilden and I grabbed brunch at Hunky Dory, a new spot in Crown Heights. I don’t often go out for brunch because I work on Saturdays and don’t love spending money on egg dishes that I could make myself. But this brunch menu was really interesting and the space is so well designed. They had a mix of small and large dishes, starting at just $4, so we ordered a bunch of stuff to share and spent only $20 each. The highlights were the kabocha squash oatmeal (need to recreate this), the celery root sandwich with cabbage, the pickled cucumbers, and the sourdough toast (I didn’t love the cardamom in the jam, but the bread was really good topped with eggs). They don’t take reservations so try to go at an off peak time.
Finally, Julia and I ended with the weekend with a cozy dinner at Five Leaves. I texted her that all I wanted was a big salad and a glass of wine and Fives Leaves delivered. It’s in the same category as Allswell and Lighthouse, a neighborhood restaurant with a good wine list where you can get a burger or lots of vegetables or both. My salad had lots of bitter lettuces and delicata squash and Julia gave the burger high marks. The space was packed even on a rainy night and the lighting and antique mirrors over the bar give a Parisian vibe.
Coffeeshop of the Week: City Bakery
Tuesday was my half birthday and I decided to honor a childhood tradition of marking this occasion with a cookie. City Bakery’s chocolate chip cookies are legendary. They have caramel crispy edges, large pieces of chocolate and a tiny salty crunch. The bakery is also a great spot to hang. They have a fully stocked salad bar, wifi, lots of seating, and the friendliest staff. Consider it next time you have some emails to answer with the help of a cookie.
Something to read:
Eater did a great package on the state of Chinese restaurants in New York and this article about We Chat influencers is a great place to start.
Clearly I’ve got Lilia down but I still haven’t tried Misi. Here are some tips on how to get a table.
Joe interviewed the authors of the home cooking study I linked to a few weeks ago. Their research about how home cooking won’t solve people’s problems is super interesting and I want to read the book.
The future of the veggie burger should include more lentils and less lab grown “meat.” I agree.
This dinner party/wine bar in the West Village looks like a lot of fun.
Jenny from Dinner: A Love Story on using a few ingredients to make many meals.
What happens when your child’s daycare goes vegan.
A case for traveling (and living) like a tourist. I’m going to Paris in May and zero people will think I’m French, which is fine.
Why being drunk is so rarely mentioned in writing about cocktails, wine and spirits.
This podcast interview with LA restaurant legend Nancy Silverton is full of great stories and advice (her early schedule sounds insane!)
Wow, there’s a kale festival in Germany that involves treks through the woods and a kale Queen.
Soleil Ho is IN as the new SF Chronicle restaurant critic and she shared the words she’ll never use in her reviews.
How Netflix became the new Food Network.
It’s okay to eat pasta for breakfast.
The morning coffee routines of four New Yorkers.
Emma sent me this interesting article about the company behind Sriracha. They definitely do things differently.
Loved Priya Krishna’s piece (featuring her dad!) about the South Asian tradition of yogurt making.
Two updates from me:
I wrote about the first reader to complete the Passport to Bushwick. You can get yours here, it’s really a lot of fun.
In honor of International Women’s Day, Cojolya, the nonprofit I worked at in Guatemala, is hosting a fundraiser for the daughters of our artisans. You can donate here and I can confidently say that any amount will go far.
Now, let’s talk about your recent cooking victories! The answers were hugely inspiring and they’re helping me put together my grocery list.
Hayley: The best thing I baked recently was Alison Roman's Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies. I was hesitant to make this recipe because I had heard great things but am personally not a fan of shortbread cookies or hard cookies in general. I decided to give it a go because of all the hype surrounding the recipe, and boy was it worth it! The flavor is definitely more complex than your traditional chocolate chip cookies because of the salted butter and sprinkling of Maldon Salt on top. My one note would be to cut the cookies at room temp instead of straight out of the fridge as the recipe suggests. 10/10 would recommend!
Anna Claire: For an exciting baking challenge, this guy.
Made it for my birthday in December and it was, like Deb said, easier than I thought it was going to be, and so wonderfully decadent. I used a sheet pan to bake all the layers at once -- it was a little uneven, but nothing a metric ton of frosting couldn't fix. Didn't do the caramel layer because of time and lack of ingredients, but really wanted to!
Hilary: Like many times before, I recently made the hot and sour soup from the Lucky Peach cookbook (leaving out the pork and using whatever kind of mushroom I have). Yum!
I have also been making the Smitten Kitchen brown butter rice Krispie treats for any and every possible occasion and nobody is sad about seeing them frequently!
In the less craveable but still delicious category, I recently made my first whole roasted cauliflower (with lemon and capers), which was easy, beautiful, and delicious- especially the leftovers.
Julianne: Best thing: Ian got a KITCHEN AID for his birthday!!! He's an only child and that is the only explanation for such a wedding-registry gift LOL. So I've just watched him frolic around the kitchen making various doughs. In one night, he made both a pizza dough and a chocolate chip cookie dough. I guess this isn't me cooking but I am just in awe at how happy he is and how happy I am to eat these things when baked!
Hanna: This is neither cooked nor baked, but I made 4 quarts of pickled smelt fish and I feel like a super accomplished fish dad. I eat them on toast, flaked into pasta sauce, in lettuce wraps, and even once on yogurt. I cleaned tiny smelt fish, cut off their heads, and brined them for 24 hour in a 5% salt concentration. The pickle brine I made was a 1:2:3 of white vinegar, apple vinegar and water. I added half a cup of salt and 2 Tbs of sugar, and handfuls of spice (bay leaves, caraway, mustard seed, dried hot peppers). I stacked the fish and slivers of white onion in a jar, poured in the cooled liquid, and put a saucer on top to hold the fish below the water level. It sat for two weeks and turned into a delicious snack! My extended family is Korean and central European, and both sides were equally excited for me.
Carolyn: We made this tonight and it was amazing! It will definitely get you ready for spring! And it would be so good with basil too!
I also do this often, and love how they presented it here.
Isa: here's the latest that have been keeping me excited:
- After almost two months of being lectin free (ugh), these gluten/dairy/sugar free lemon blueberry muffins have been giving me life. The almond meal makes them a little savory and they're nice and moist. big fan of dunking them into my coffee.
-Noah, aka king of making amazing food even when it feels like I can't eat anything good made some green curry mussels last week which were out of this world good. Adding the recipe in case you're in a bivalve mood:
Thai Green Curry Mussels
1tbs Vegetable Oil (or Avocado Oil), 1-2lbs Mussels, 3 cloves garlic, 1 shallot, 1tbs ginger, ½ jalapeño, 1.5tbs cilantro, 1 stalk lemongrass, 2 Tbsps green curry paste, 1 c water, ½ c seafood stock, ½ lime, 2tbs Coconut fat
Mince garlic, ginger, jalapeño, shallot. Cut up lemongrass stalk into 4-6 chunks. Smack the lemongrass with the back of a heavy knife to get the juices flowing. Saute garlic, ginger, jalapeño, shallot in a pan over medium-low heat to sweat - do not brown. Once the aromatics are sweated, add the green curry paste and the lemongrass and pump the heat up to high. Keep stirring the aromatics so that they don’t burn.Once the pan is hot, add the mussels. Stir around for a few seconds, then add the water and seafood stock, cover the pan, and lower to medium heat.Watch the mussels - they don’t take long to cook at all. After ~3 minutes, they should be fully open. Do not overcook the mussels! Leave them in for an extra minute after they open. Once the mussels are cooked, remove from the pan and put in a big bowl. Throw the bowl in the fridge for 3-5 minutes to cool the mussels down and stop the cooking process. Meanwhile, reduce the remaining liquid by ~½. Once reduced, add the lime and half of the cilantro. Let that cook for 30 seconds then add the coconut fat. You want to stir the sauce when the fat goes in so that it becomes thick and glossy (similar to mounting a sauce with butter).
Take the mussels out of the fridge. Dump the hot sauce on top and toss to incorporate. Top with the remaining cilantro.
Thank you so much for sharing! I’m in awe of your creativity and generosity! This week, let’s talk about your favorite Trader Joe’s products. We’re hosting book club this week and putting together another snack dinner, so I’d love to try something new. Reply to this email and let me know!
Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo, Abigail