By Christina Morales, The New York Times In 2015, the first year Héctor Arguinzones celebrated Christmas in the United States, he longed to share his mother’s hallacas with his wife, Niurka Meléndez, and their son, Samuel. Hallacas, similar to tamales, are a signature dish of the holiday in Venezuela, where he and his family had … Read more
By Melissa Clark, The New York Times It’s not a big deal making eggs and toast to feed one or two. It’s when you try it for a crowd that things start to get tricky. The eggs or the toast always wind up cold, which is bad enough on a weekday, and even worse on … Read more
By Melissa Clark, The New York Times As savory and alluring as a pot of stew can be, it’s rarely charismatic enough to hold its own as the centerpiece of a blowout holiday feast. There’s no amount of chopped parsley on top that can adequately dress up that long-simmered brown underneath; a stew, by nature, … Read more
By Genevieve Ko, The New York Times There’s an undeniable urge to roar — or at least growl — when setting a thick steak into a ripping hot pan. Hearing the hard hiss of the sizzling fat is satisfaction enough, but then the smell of charred meat follows fast, and it’s pure pleasure from there. … Read more
By Yewande Komolafe, The New York Times As a young pastry cook in the early 2000s, my 2 p.m. shift at the restaurant Tatin in Baltimore would begin with a list of doughs to prepare for the next morning. I would start with ciabatta, a wet, almost runny dough with a seemingly endless pull. It … Read more
By Emily Weinstein, The New York Times It’s Cookie Week, haven’t you heard? We just published seven new cookie recipes with videos on New York Times Cooking, and there are many more from years past on our YouTube channel, in case you want to revisit Eric Kim’s frosted sugar cookies or Vaughn Vreeland’s eggnog snickerdoodles. … Read more
By Rebekah Peppler, The New York Times Holiday party drinks can take many forms: punch bowls, batched cocktails, a bathtub of bubbles, a tray of shots. What unifies them is a festal shared experience for guests to gather around. This year, keep the communal theme, but drop the one-drink-fits-all approach. “To me, hosting parties is … Read more
By Melissa Clark, The New York Times The Yiddish word tsimmes, or tzimmes, means to make a big fuss over something. It’s also the name of an Ashkenazi dish of sweet potatoes, carrots, dried fruit and sometimes flanken or brisket, traditionally served at Jewish holidays. You’d think, with a name like tsimmes, it must be … Read more
By Joan Nathan, The New York Times For the members of New York’s Aleppan Jewish community, the tinier the meat- or cheese-filled pastry, the better the cook. At Hanukkah, which this year begins Thursday evening, they take as much pride in their distinctive tradition of using two candles rather than one to light the menorah … Read more
