Good morning! Today we have for you:
Let it snow (cheese on top of meatballs)
I’ll come out and say it: Ground turkey is great. I know it has a reputation for being too lean, maybe a little flavorless, not bouncy like ground pork or savory like ground beef. But I see those minuses as pluses. Using ground turkey opens up options for adding in more richness and flavor, whether that’s through ricotta, oyster sauce or spiced mayonnaise. Ground turkey’s blank canvas-ness makes it especially good for saucy meatballs, I think — those turkey meatballs absorb the flavors of the sauce, and let that sauce shine without turning it greasy. Melissa Clark’s turkey meatballs in tomato sauce make this deliciousness clear. Grated Parm in the meatballs adds flavor and fat; grated Parm on top of the meatballs adds happiness. My only notes here: I don’t think the red pepper flakes are optional — you’ll want that bright hit of spicy, no matter how small. And flat-leaf parsley is a fine substitute for the basil or chives. (Even curly parsley, which would look so perfect garnishing this dish, could work, but I’ll save my Stop Being Mean to Curly Parsley essay for another time.) Featured Recipe Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
Today’s specialsChicken ragù bianco: My copy of Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg’s “Six Seasons” is well loved, to put it lightly — so many pages are stained, scribbled on and stuck together. So I was very excited for their new cookbook, “Six Seasons of Pasta,” one of our favorite cookbooks of 2025 and the home of this brothy, comforting dish. (One reader calls it “chicken soup meets pasta.”) Like most ragùs, this is even better the next day, so plan for leftovers. Wild rice salad with frizzled leeks and peppers: Speaking of leftovers, I would absolutely make extra of this Paola Briseño-González dish for lunches and brunches. (I think it would be nice next to some fried or brown butter scrambled eggs.) Paola calls for chiles güeros or Hungarian or Fresno peppers, and advises swapping in milder sweet mini peppers or cubanelles if you’d like things a bit less spicy. Pumpkin bread: As long as the farmers’ market near me keeps selling fat red kuris at two for $7, I will keep carrying them home and making the cool joke about that being my arm workout for the week. Last week, I made this pumpkin bread pudding with my roasted pumpkin flesh; this week, it’ll be a loaf of Samantha Seneviratne’s classic pumpkin bread to go with my morning coffee and afternoon, uh, coffee.
And before you goMy go-to party trick, especially during the holidays, is a batched cocktail. (Though if you’d like to bring a bottle of wine, my friend and colleague Eric Asimov has some excellent recommendations for you.) So I’m bringing a frosty bottle of Rebekah Peppler’s batched Boulevardier to a shindig this Saturday — that ruby color is so inviting, and I think of Boulevardiers as the deeper, cold-season sister to Negronis, my absolute favorite. I love watching guests’ eyes light up as they realize they can just pour themselves a perfect cocktail straight from the bottle, with or without ice. It’s always the first thing to go from the bar setup, a distinction I note with pride. Not keen on Campari? Here’s Rebekah’s batched 50-50 martini, and David Wondrich and Melissa Clark’s batched rye manhattan. Cheers!
Thanks for reading!
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