| Good Saturday, everyone. I hope you're having a restful morning so far and have some time to do something just for you this weekend. For years, my recreation of choice was baking, but between an increasingly busy work schedule and a burgeoning list of activities for my son, free time is in short supply. Whipping up a cake or batch of cookies on a whim happens a lot less often now. Thankfully, I have plenty of opportunities to scratch that itch because of my job. I'm always eager to test our new baking recipes, so I jumped at the chance to try Ellie Krieger's Cherry Walnut Mandelbread, especially because it reminded me of a treat I grew up eating. My mom has been making our rendition of mandelbread for decades, based on a recipe from her parents. My perception of this sliced and twice-baked cookie, often described as Jewish biscotti, was shaped by her version, but I was eager to see how Ellie would put her own more healthful spin on it, thanks to whole-wheat pastry flour, olive oil and a restrained amount of sugar. Orange zest, dried cherries and walnuts bring granola vibes in terms of both flavor and texture. I made sure to save some of my test batch for my mom, and I was only slightly nervous about her reaction. You know what? She really liked it. Not the same as hers, but enjoyable nonetheless. It was a refreshing reminder that recipes, and interpretations of the same food, are not mutually exclusive. Trying a different approach is not an affront to a family-favorite dish, and a homemade version of something you'd otherwise go out for isn't pointless or inferior either. Take Joe Yonan's Domino's-Style Thin-Crust Pizza. We excitedly gobbled up every last bite of this crispy-bottomed pie intended to capture the spirit of the delivery pizza with a cult following among chefs (and members of The Post Food team). Does that mean we're saying you should never order it again? Of course not. There's a time and place for both. "This is a unique twist on thin crust pizza, creating something along the line of 'pizza crackers,' which we greatly enjoyed," according to one early review. Similarly, nothing will replace the convivial, bounteous nature of an outdoor shrimp boil. On those busy weeknights when you don't have the time or proper setting for that, you can turn to your trusty sheet pan. Aaron Hutcherson shared this 45-minute Sheet Pan Shrimp Boil recipe from Barbara Costello, a.k.a. TikTok's favorite grandma, @brunchwithbabs. It features chunks of potatoes and sausage, along with corn on the cob and tail-on shrimp, all of which are dressed up with Old Bay seasoning and an herb butter. The feast feeds up to six people, making it an ideal family dinner. Olga Massov shared one of her family's go-to weeknight meals this week, too. The Celery and Ground Beef Stir-Fry from cookbook author Fuchsia Dunlop is a great way to use a bunch of the oft-maligned vegetable. While the recipe calls for ground meat, you can swap in any similar option, including pork, turkey, chicken or a plant-based alternative. Regardless of what you pick, this dish will be on the table in 25 minutes, preferably with a bowl of hot rice. In this week's chat, Aaron and I helped readers solve dilemmas about what to do with a surplus of chocolate chips, how to choose the right apples for pie and how to deal with bacon that went in the freezer before it could be separated into individual slices. Have your own questions? Submit them now for our next session Wednesday at noon Eastern. We're looking forward to seeing you then. Until next week, happy cooking. |
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