New York Times Cooking

Step 1

For the seasoning mix: In a bowl, whisk all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use; it will keep indefinitely.

Step 2

To make 1 cup dressing: In a medium bowl, place 1 tablespoon seasoning mix. Add sour cream and buttermilk and whisk together until smooth. Taste and add salt if needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days (or up to 2 weeks if made with mayonnaise).

1. Step 1

   For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

2. Step 2

   In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

3. Step 3

   For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

4. Step 4

   Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

TIP

• The recipe for this cake in Nigella Lawson's cookbook "Feast: Food to Celebrate Life" (Hyperion, 2004) calls for 18 tablespoons (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Here's the prompt: bulgogi-style tofu. It’s simple. Press some firm tofu to extract as much liquid as you can. Make a marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, a spoonful of gochujang, a splash of neutral oil, some sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Slice the tofu into bite-size cubes, and slide them into the marinade. Let that sit — a half-hour works; a few hours works better. Then roast them in a hot oven on an oiled foil-lined pan until they’re crisp. Serve with bibb lettuce cups to wrap them in, with rice, kimchi and a dipping sauce of ssamjang and a little bit more gochujang thinned out with neutral oil and sherry vinegar. (If not, go with sesame oil and ground white pepper.) That’s a fine dinner.

Step 1
Place salmon on a platter. In a bowl, combine salt, sugar and one tablespoon of the cracked pepper. Mix well, and coat both sides of the salmon with mixture.

Step 2
In a food processor combine coriander, parsley and shallots. Puree until smooth but not watery. Coat both sides of salmon with mixture.

Step 3
Cover, and refrigerate salmon for 2 to 3 days.

Step 4
Scrape marinade from fish, and discard. Dry fish with paper towels.

Step 5
In a saucepan, combine molasses, cayenne and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, and simmer for one minute. Allow molasses mixture to cool slightly. Using a brush, paint fish on both sides with the mixture.

Step 6
Sprinkle paprika, coriander, 2 tablespoons of the ground black pepper and the cracked pepper on both sides of fish. Refrigerate salmon overnight.

Step 7
Cut salmon widthwise on a bias into thin slices. Serve with mustard oil and rye toast

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium saucepan, whisk miso with 2 1/4 cups water until dissolved. Stir in rice and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until all of the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork (it will be a little sticky).
On a rimmed baking sheet, rub salmon all over with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and arrange skin-side up. Roast until fish is just opaque and cooked to medium, 8 to 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, scallions, vinegar and ginger, and season with salt and pepper.
Divide miso rice and cabbage among bowls. Top with salmon, ginger-scallion vinaigrette and sesame oil.

1. In a measuring cup or small bowl, stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise, chives, dill and garlic powder; season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper. 

If the ranch in the measuring cup is too thick, add a little bit of water to loosen it. (You should be able to drizzle it easily.)

Instruction

1. Step 1 Prepare the tofu: Cut the tofu into ¾-inch cubes and put into a bowl. Bring a kettle of water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and when the boiling subsides, pour hot water over the tofu to cover. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Step 2 Meanwhile, in a large (14-inch) wok or (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, toast the peppercorns for 2 to 3 minutes, until super fragrant and slightly darkened. (A wisp of smoke is normal.) Let cool briefly, then pound with a mortar and pestle, or pulse in a spice grinder.
3. Step 3 Set a strainer over a measuring cup, then add the tofu to drain; reserve 1½ cups of the soaking water, discarding the rest. Set the tofu and reserved soaking water near the stove with the peppercorns and other prepped ingredients for swift cooking.
4. Step 4 Reheat the wok or skillet over high. When hot — you can flick water in and it should sizzle and evaporate within seconds — swirl in the oil to evenly coat, then add the meat. Stir and mash into cooked and crumbly pieces, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Step 5 Add 2½ tablespoons doubanjiang, the douchi (if using), ginger and red-pepper flakes (if using). Cook about 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until things are vivid reddish brown. Add the soy sauce and sugar, stir to combine, then add the tofu. Gently stir or shake the pan to combine the ingredients without breaking up the tofu much.
6. Step 6 Add the reserved 1½ cups soaking water, bring to a vigorous simmer, and cook for about 3 minutes, agitating the pan occasionally, to let the tofu absorb the flavors of the sauce.
7. Step 7 Slightly lower the heat and taste the sauce. If needed, add the remaining ½ tablespoon of doubanjiang for heat, a pinch of salt for savoriness, or a sprinkle of sugar to tame heat.
8. Step 8 Add the scallions and stir to combine. Stir in the cornstarch slurry, then stir in enough to the mapo tofu to thicken to a soupy rather than a gravy-like finish. Sprinkle in the ground peppercorns, give the mixture one last stir to incorporate, then transfer to a shallow bowl. Serve immediately with lots of hot rice.