The Secret to Shakshuka

Plus your favorite toast toppers and other things to eat this week

Hi friends,

Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a newsletter about cooking, dining out, and making the most of it. If you’re in New York, mark your calendar for our potluck with She Spends on November 29th. It’s not Thanksgiving themed so you can bring anything you’d like. In other news, I’m watching Game of Thrones for the first time and saw the Red Wedding yesterday so very much still processing that.

This also made me laugh in the New Yorker.

Now, let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

I made Shakshuka with some Israeli teens at the temple where I teach Hebrew school and learned so much from them. I’ve always make shakshuka with canned tomatoes and finished it in the oven. They did the entire process on the stove and used a mixture of canned and fresh tomatoes, a total game changer.

How They Did It:

(these measurements are approximate and work for one skillet with about 8 eggs). First, you sauté chopped onions (1-2 medium sized white onions) in olive oil, then add some minced garlic (3 cloves) and then the tomatoes (1 12 oz can of sauce and a small box of fresh grape tomatoes). Season with salt and paprika as it thickens. Add in the eggs one at a time (crack them into a measuring cup so they can slide in more easily) and then cover the pan as it cooks. The eggs that go in first will be more firm in the center. Top with parsley and serve with warm pita. Try this over the holidays and let me know what you think!

If you’re looking for Thanksgiving recipes, check out the round up from a few weeks ago.

I made a fall salad for a friendsgiving that I want to put on repeat. It’s flexible so make substitutions based on availability/stuff you like. Combine spicy roasted butternut squash (like in this recipe), goat cheese, dried cranberries with spinach and sort of candied pecans (I toasted them in the oven and then coated them in a mixture of coconut oil, sugar in the raw, cayenne, and salt and put them back in for a few minutes). Toss with your favorite vinaigrette (I used this dressing from Gwyneth Paltrow’s first cookbook) and serve. It got rave reviews in a sea of starches.

I also made apple crisp, with much assistance from Jill. I didn’t follow a recipe but the filling is apples, chopped but not peeled, combined with lots of lemon juice (to prevent browning), cinnamon and a bit of ground ginger and nutmeg. Mix this in a large bowl and taste as you go to make sure the seasoning is right. The quantities depend on the size of your pan but I think I used 10 apples. I made a streusel topping with butter, oats, flour, salt, brown sugar, and more cinnamon and baked it for an hour at 350. Selecting the apples is the most important thing—I got a few types and looked for firm ones that wouldn’t get mushy. Granny Smiths are always a safe baking bet and Jonagolds are good too. This came out of the oven after 11 pm so I took a really bad photo but we are keeping it real.

Julianne took the LSAT(!!) and Julia and I took her out to celebrate. We made dinner first though, a baked brie (see the before after below) topped with jam, pecans, and cranberries (How to feel fancy: bake brie at 350 for about 15-20 minutes and then let it cool for a sec before eating) and chickpea pasta with roasted broccoli. If you haven’t tried chickpea pasta, it’s the perfect quick fall meal. We always add some spinach right before it’s done.

If you want a big refreshing lunch that tastes nothing like most Thanksgiving foods, make your family or friends some thai peanut quinoa salad.

Something to order:

I love a brunch spot that belongs to a neighborhood and Enid’s is a great example. It’s right off McCarren park and just super chill. The interior is very homey, the service is great, hot sauce is already on the table, and you can order one pancake (honestly, every brunch restaurant should offer this). Leah, Dale and I enjoyed brunch there, especially the apple cheddar pancake and huevos rancheros.

Lots of bars and restaurants consider Instagram when designing their spaces and menus but Yours Sincerely does something really cool. If you mention them on a post or a story, you unlock a secret menu that you can read with a tiny blue light. All of their cocktails are really good but it was fun to have so many new options, including a spicy cucumber margarita. This is a well priced cocktail bar perfect for dates or catching up with a small group.

Three Diamond Door’s dance floor is certainly a fun place to be and about an hour later you’ll want to be eating pizza at Archie’s, which is packed at 2 am.

I went to Spuyten Duyvil, the bar next to St. Anslem, and it’s so cool. They have a huge beer menu including lots of sour options and the space is very inviting and large, even when it’s too cold for the backyard.

Something to read:

I’ve read so many versions of this story but I still see more and more cashless restaurants: Why cashless restaurants are a problem.

Three New York Baristas spill the tea on oat milk and more.

Proud member of the chile crisp cult.

Dating when you and your partner have completely different diets.

What happens after you name the best burger in the country.

Last week, I asked you about toast and truly the answers made me want to buy some fresh bread and spend a week eating toast.

Nicole did a double feature toast this weekend with avocado toast and a delicata squash walnut combo. If you’re in LA, she recently had the best toast in a long time at Sawyer: labneh, kabocha squash, brown butter, and hazelnuts. All on top of a really thick, perfectly toasted slice of bread.

Zeke discovered kaya toast on a layover and has never been the same:

During an early morning layover in Singapore, I had kaya toast and it was a revelation. They slather two pieces of toasted white bread with kaya (a coconut jam) and then put a big slab of cold butter in between. It's served with soft boiled eggs and dark soy sauce to dip the toast into. The combination of the warm bread with the cold butter, and the sweetness of the jam with the salty and umami of the egg, makes it a perfect comfort food. It was so good I came back 20 minutes later and ordered it again (and only stopped myself from ordering it a 3rd time so that I would have room to try other foods).

Sarah sticks to the classics: nutella with banana. So good.

Kaitlin knows that Sqirl is where it’s at: Aside from the lazy massive schmear of peanut butter i tend to lean toward, hands down the best toast i've ever had is the ricotta + jam from Sqirl. the kofflers know this all too well am i right? :) Sacramento also just got a new shop called toasted which has the most delicious variety of toast toppings!

Not surprisingly, the toast game at Isa and Noah’s is strong: Noah and I recently made toast with fresh baguette from our favorite neighborhood bakery, goat cheese and homemade harissa, topped with a dash of olive oil and bit of pink salt. It was amazing!

On the sweet side, one word: cajeta 

Make yourself some toast that makes you happy this week! And have a happy Thanksgiving. Reply to this email with any last minute Thanksgiving questions and send pictures of your meals/favorite recipes! I’d love to hear how you’re celebrating the holiday.

Happy eating and thanks for reading.

xo, Abigail