Good morning! Today we have for you:
A gentle chickpea stew to linger overOf all the places where people connect, as Michael Shaikh learned during his time as a human rights investigator in conflict zones around the world, the table is one of the most profound. The meals his sources shared with him were moments of solace, understanding, and friendship. He describes these experiences in his new book, “The Last Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found,” which Eric Kim recently wrote about in The New York Times Magazine. It’s a beautiful reminder that even when life seems beyond our control, making dinner opens a restorative space, “an intentional oasis.” Accompanying the story is a recipe for saland-e nakhod, a golden chickpea stew that Michael learned to cook while working in Afghanistan. Richly spiced and thickened with creamy yogurt, it belongs to a family of chickpea stews cherished worldwide. The technique itself is meditative: a gentle progression that begins with cooking down onions until they turn into a silky gravy, then adding chickpeas and spices, and finally letting everything simmer until the kitchen fills with a warm perfume. Canned chickpeas work wonderfully, but starting from dried gives you a deeper flavor as well as time to linger, perhaps with family or friends. Then let the connections deepen over dinner. Featured Recipe Saland-e Nakhod (Chickpea Yogurt Stew)
More food for thoughtLemon-garlic brisket: It’s Hanukkah this week, so along with the requisite latkes you might be thinking about braising a brisket if you didn’t already do so over the weekend. May I recommend my mother’s recipe? Seasoned with minced garlic and plenty of lemon juice and zest, it leans savory rather than sweet. Like all great braises, it only gets better as the flavors mingle and develop, so if you can make it a few days ahead, so much the better. Slow-cooked chipotle-honey chicken tacos: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs slowly stew in Sarah DiGregorio’s soul-satisfying recipe, boldly seasoned with canned chipotle chiles, onion powder and cumin. Piled into warm tortillas along with pickled onion, cilantro and buttery avocado, it’s an easy, set-it-and-forget-it recipe with plenty of panache. Spicy noodle stir-fry with salt and pepper tofu: More one-pot brilliance is to be found in Nisha Vora’s vegetable-laden noodle stir-fry, which is packed with slabs of crispy tofu and coated in a winy, garlic-chile sauce that’s tangy-sweet and deeply complex. Snickerdoodles: How’s your holiday cookie frenzy going? Mine’s totally under control, I swear, and now I’ve got my eye on Samantha Seneviratne’s chewy cookies to add to the fun. Heady with vanilla and cinnamon, these classic beauties stay soft and chewy for a few days, giving you plenty of time to pack them up and hand them around. Make sure to keep a few for yourself; just maybe not all of them. That’s all for now. If you need any help with a technical issue, reach out to cookingcare@nytimes.com. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to get in touch. I’ll see you on Wednesday.
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