My New Favorite Tofu

There are very few people in this world who can make tofu as exciting a topic as Samin Nosrat. I felt that keenly this week when I got to chat about vegetarian cooking with Samin and Tejal Rao, our California restaurant critic and the author of The Veggie newsletter, at a New York Times Cooking…

Clam Dip, but a Little Hot and Spicy

Most of the time, canned clams are a fallback measure, something to reach for when you’re craving spaghetti alle vongole or a steaming bowl of chowder but fresh bivalves are just not in the cards. Not so for clam dip, which was, quite specifically, made for canned clams. The recipe’s heyday was in the 1950s,…

How to Pair Food and Wine

The point is, experience overcomes fear. It’s Hard to Go Wrong This is critical to understand. If you’ve chosen a wine that you like with a dish you enjoy but they do not harmonize beautifully, how bad is that, really? You are left with good food and good wine, and you can savor both individually.…

Savory Rhubarb, and Tofu Two Ways

I’m used to rhubarb baked into cobblers, crisps and crumbles, but it also shines when it’s treated as a savory ingredient, like in Naz Deravian’s khoresh rivas, a vegetarian version of the big, comforting spring stew often made with lamb. Here, rhubarb cooks down on a bed of beans simmered with fried parsley and mint,…

Riffing on a Classic Roman Pasta

Good morning. Pasta alla gricia is one of the all-stars of the Roman pasta canon, a simple preparation with guanciale, Pecorino Romano and black pepper. But if you don’t have guanciale (and don’t have a few days to prepare your own), you might make salami pasta alla gricia (above) instead. There’s something delightful about how…