Hi, Julia Moskin here in your inbox today, filling in for the irreplaceable Melissa Clark once more.
It comes at the end of citrus season, but lemon desserts and dishes seem to bloom in early spring along with other bright yellow things — daffodils, the sun, Peeps — that return to us this time of year.
I’m a superfan of Melissa’s fried lemon pasta and our classic spaghetti al limone, so this new pasta with a creamy Meyer lemon sauce (above) from Cristian Reynoso is right in my wheelhouse. It uses the entire lemon! (I will always choose a recipe that uses lemon peel as well as lemon juice, because the essential oils in the skin are just as fragrant but less sour.)
Yossy Arefi’s clever new combination of lemon tart and lemon cheesecake is easier than either of those more traditional desserts. (And as a confirmed lover of devil’s food cake and black cocoa, I can’t wait to make her new version of mocha icebox cake, with notes of espresso powder and nutmeg.)
Before chickens were domesticated, they generally didn’t lay eggs during the dark months of the winter: That’s why eggs are celebrated in so many traditional spring holiday dishes. Joan Nathan brought us a new one for Passover, which starts next week: eier mit tsibeles, eggs with onions, wonderful on matzo or any crackers you have in the pantry. (Speaking of which, I am deeply mourning the loss of Stoned Wheat Thins, the best cracker known to humanity.)
It’s a bit like chopped liver without the liver: just caramelized onions and hard-boiled eggs mashed together with lots of pepper and enough savory onion oil to bind. Deviled eggs are a pretty favorite at my spring table, and there is no time of year (or day) that I won’t eat huevos rancheros, or just plain sunny-side-up eggs with avocado and salsa.
Perhaps your seasonal dreams are turning to strawberry shortcake. May I suggest this new recipe for buttermilk sugar biscuits that Eric Kim adapted from the baker Briana Holt of Tandem Coffee + Bakery in Portland, Maine. He describes them as different from Southern biscuits, like “sturdy, salty-sweet Tempur-Pedic pillows that bounce back when you press into them.”
On a different seasonal note, J. Kenji López-Alt’s new recipe for a classic tavern-style pizza comes from the Midwest bearing giardiniera and sausage, takes a few days (mostly hands-off), and is perfect for Final Four weekend. Start gathering your ingredients now.
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