Some cutting-edge appliances like the air fryer may have risen in popularity lately, but the simple sheet pan has become as essential as a cast-iron skillet. In the past what was often called a rimmed baking sheet and used for the cake that would become a chocolate roulade, the sheet pan, always a restaurant workhorse, is now all you need for a meal. New York Times Cooking lists nearly 1,000 sheet-pan recipes, many of them dinners. As Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine demonstrate in their new, cheekily titled cookbook, “Hot Sheet,” you can make just about anything but soup on a sheet pan. They take you through breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert using mainly half-sheets (18 by 13 inches) but also quarter sheets. They discuss materials but, oddly, never mention the issue of warping, which cheaper unreinforced pans are prone to do. The all-in-one recipes like fish over cabbage; chicken with olives, dates and preserved lemon; and also sheet-pan fried rice; roasted carrots; and granola, are the best. Though you can use a sheet pan to roast a whole chicken, duck or rack of lamb, other implements could do the job as well or better, especially when a recipe requires two sheet pans, which seems to miss the point. As for a clafoutis, a pie plate works just fine. Photos of well-used pans with their smudges of dark residue might resonate with home cooks.
“Hot Sheet: Sweet and Savory Sheet Pan Recipes for Every Day and Celebrations” by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine (Harvest, $32.50).
Teas Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright
Tea Forté, the whole-leaf tea company with signature pyramidal packaging, is paying homage to the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In collaboration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, it has introduced five teas inspired by the architect, who would have tea with apprentices in the afternoon. There are also tea wares in burgundy-brown stoneware, a cup and saucer and teapot that reflect the architect’s designs. The teas include Ceylon gold black tea, dark oolong, and honey hojicha with citrus notes. A gift set of the teas with a cup and tea tray is $65. The cup and saucer is $30, the teapot is $45 and the teas start at $28 for 10. A portion of the price supports the foundation; and Mother’s Day is coming.
Tea Forté’s Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, teaforte.com.
The Pasta Queen’s New Empire
Nadia Caterina Munno, known as the Pasta Queen on social media, has introduced a line of jarred sauces. Hers fit right into an already crowded field where the trend is toward products with brief and recognizable lists of ingredients, no sugar or additives. The red sauces, Marinara, Spicy Arrabbiata and Spicy Vodka, are easy to like combined with pasta or over dishes like eggplant Parm. More unusual are white sauces, a rich four-cheese option that can shortcut your mac and cheese when mixed with cooked penne and baked with a crumb topping, and a creamy lemon sauce with Parmigiano-Reggiano that’s lovely mixed with tagliatelle or warmed to spoon over seafood like crab cakes or sautéed flounder.
Pasta Queen Marinara, Spicy Arrabbiata and Spicy Vodka, $6.47 for 24 ounces; Lemon Temptress, Four Cheese, $6.47 for 14 ounces, walmart.com, thepastaqueen.com.
