No recipes, just apocalyptic vibes
Lots of recs, though, including the best grilled pork chops & a summery sweet pie.
This is an installment of Like Gold, a food newsletter written by Dayana Sarkisova. If you’d like to subscribe and stay a while, click the button below.
Greetings from my delinquently late newsletter. I never intended to take so long between installments, but a lot has happened since I published my last recipe.
In April I wrote about lamb meatballs and labne, and with vaccinations on the horizon, I hoped I’d soon be able to make them for a crowd. Since its publication I’ve cooked them for friends visiting D.C., I’ve cooked them for a bachelorette party in Sedona; I’ve cooked them for my family in Grand Rapids — and I’ve fielded more photos of others cooking the meatballs than I have for any recipe I’ve ever published anywhere before. I suppose if I was only going to share one dish for the season, I made it count.
Like so many, I rode the euphoria that several weeks this summer allotted us. I no longer felt a deep guilt over seeking out interactions that brought me joy in the past. I returned to my favorite restaurants to dine in person; I threw brunch parties with endless bottles of wine; and I crossed the country to be with loved ones again, my mask often a distant memory. But if I’m being honest, I think deep down I knew to savor the moment. It was clearly too good to be true.
The blissful intermission is over, and like any high that you know you probably shouldn’t have been on in the first place, you’re left feeling worse and more dejected than before.
Not exactly a cheery note for what’s supposed to be a recipes newsletter, I know. Arguably I’ve cooked more during the past couple months than I have at other points in the pandemic, but something about snapping an aesthetically-pleasing photograph to share with others felt as dull as the recent state of my chef’s knife.
Instead I leave you with several recommendations I’ve compiled through the fog over the last couple months — and a promise that the next dispatch is on the heels.
Pick up my tab
Cooking: Jalapeño Grilled Pork Chops from NYT Cooking. I feel pretty strongly that many marinade recipes are scams. So often they impart a whisper of flavor, rather than the punch I was promised. Hooo boy is that not the case with this one. I wish I had tripled, even quadrupled the marinade and kept it sealed to eat with everything. These pork chops turn out wildly juicy while the sauce chars to perfection on the grill. This recipe is by Eric Kim, who was my editor on a piece I penned in Food 52 a few years ago. He simply doesn’t miss.
Baking: I guess I’m really lovin’ on NYT Cooking today but I really think you shouldn’t let summer pass without making their Peaches and Cream pie. I’m not really a pie gal, so I bought a pre-made crust, followed the filling recipe to a T, then added mint, lemon zest and raspberries to my peaches. It was heaven on (a very humid) earth.
Tossing together: Blister a few cobs of corn on the grill, slice the kernels off, toss with diced onion, avocado, tomatoes, herbs, salt, vinegar and olive oil. | Put a fat marshmallow in the microwave after everyone’s gone to sleep. Several seconds later, sandwich it between chocolate and a graham cracker. Burn the roof of your mouth. | Take advantage of peak summer tomatoes by, yes, eating them on toast, but also by roasting a whole chicken low and slow with halved tomatoes tucked around the sides to soak up the schmaltz.
Drinking: Basically any chilled red I can get my hands on. I’m a creature of habit. The La Boutanche Trollinger from Domestique has been on repeat.
Reading: Across the River: Life, Death, and Football in an American City. Our colleague and dear friend Kent Babb spent the 2019 football season with the Edna Karr High School football team in New Orleans, reporting on the lives of the coaches and players as they navigated the danger of gun violence in their community and sought to win a fourth straight state championship. It’s a follow to the feature he and Jeff worked on for The Post three years ago.
Reading online: I started a new job! It’s incredible, but it means I’m fully immersed in news and studies of our climate crisis during most waking hours, which might have something to do with today’s somber newsletter tone. Anyway, here’s a small sampling of some recent edits I loved and think you should check out:
