Good morning! Today we have for you:
Grilled chicken loves za’atarGreetings from the road, where I’m scouting for this year’s iteration of our national restaurant list (here’s last year’s). Even though I’m eating three to four restaurant meals per day, home cooking is always on my mind. In every bite, I look for inspiration — flavor combinations to play with, techniques to steal. I keep a running list, jotting down the clever way a chef might pan-roast a fish, or toss fresh marjoram into a salad for an unexpected herbal bite. It’s all good fodder for the recipe-developing part of my brain. About that marjoram, the salad did make me wonder why I don’t use the herb more often. It’s such a special flavor, a little like oregano crossed with mint. Marjoram is one of the herbs often found in za’atar, the Middle Eastern seasoning mix, which is a classic way to flavor grilled chicken. In my recipe for grilled za’atar chicken, I pair the meat with a yogurt sauce spiked with garlic and lemon zest. It’s exactly the kind of thing I can’t wait to go home and cook. Featured Recipe Grilled Za’atar Chicken With Garlic Yogurt and CilantroAlso on the menuSalad-e Shirazi: This cucumber, tomato and onion salad from Samin Nosrat is a ringer with any grilled chicken, za’atar or otherwise. The lime juice and dried mint dressing make me swoon. Homemade pita bread: This is the kind of baking project I love on a Sunday afternoon; the way the pitas puff up in the oven is always a thrill. And, of course, David Tanis’s instructions are simple and clear. Lemon-buttermilk sorbet: Amanda Hesser writes that eating this citrusy, vanilla-flecked sorbet “is like stepping into a cold shower on a hot summer day.” If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can turn this into a granita by pouring the buttermilk mixture into a metal pan and freezing it, stirring it up every half-hour or so until it sets. Easy and utterly delightful. For a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. Reading and eatingThere’s so much lusty Italian food in Sarah Winman’s novel “Still Life”: the big bowls of pasta, the braised rabbit and bottles of red wine, the lampredotto (a spleen sandwich that is a traditional Florentine street food). It’s a book that constantly made me hungry — for food, yes, but also for sipping espressos at a bar in Florence, people-watching until aperitivo time (biciclettas are a favorite). In one scene, one of the characters, Cressy, learns how to make gnocchi, which he serves with butter, a snowdrift of Parmesan and sage. Reading about it makes me want to whip up Mark Bittman’s pillowy ricotta cheese gnocchi and pretend to be in Italy. Not a bad way to spend an evening. What else do you have for me? Let me know at hellomelissa@nytimes.com. I’m always on the lookout for a good read. I’ll see you tomorrow.
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