Monday, April 7, 2025
Good afternoon!
Inside the Rise of Big Butter [Elle Decor]
Steak Fries: Deservedly Reviled or Underappreciated [NYTimes, unlocked]
There are few things that send panic into menu planning like the prospect of an entire eight days without bread or bread-adjacent ingredients, presuming this isn’t already your diet. Or so it appears from my emails and DMs, which usually kick into a pre-Passover frenzy about one month before the holiday begins. I suspect it has a lot to do with planning the big seders, as there are so many elements involved plus the weight of family-specific traditions, hosting a hoard of people, and also, ahem, the mandatory four glasses of wine apiece. So let me introduce to you the brisket I’ve been secretly cheating on all of my other brisket recipes with for the better part of the last decade. The ingredient list is short and simple, you can make it in an InstantPot, slow-cooker, or a regular oven, and you can even make it 2-3 days in advance and it will be better for it. In short: You cannot mess it up, and this is always music to my ears.
Plus, I’m sharing many of my other Passover favorites, including the vegetables I’m always hoping to see on the table and the desserts we cannot live without. I hope this helps get you sorted for the holiday that begins this weekend, and even if you’re not taking part in it, I see no reason to miss out on a perfect bowl of matzo ball soup on a day as rainy and cool as this one.
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers now that flowers are budding and the air is warming? I thought you’d never ask! Try the pea, feta, and mint fritters, toasted ricotta gnocchi with pistachio pesto, baked orzo and artichokes, and fettuccine with white ragù. To finish, I recommend the bee sting bars and the carrot cake with brown butter and no clutter. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
simplest brisket with braised onions
New: The 5-ingredient brisket I’ve been cheating on all my other brisket recipes with for many years. Deeply flavorful, with an aroma so heady you will know instantly that you’re in the right place, I hope it’s the last brisket recipe you’ll ever need.
“One of the winning elements of ‘The Recipe’ is that it’s not prescriptive — rather than settling on one universal ‘perfect’ recipe, the chefs explain their personal preferences, then give listeners the information they need to make their own adjustments. By breaking their recipes down ingredient-by-ingredient, digging into what each one is doing, they make the science of cooking approachable and fun.” — New York Times, 7 Podcasts to Inspire a New Hobby
“J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman’s new podcast gets to not only the heart of how they make their recipes—but also the why behind each decision, too.” — Esquire, The 26 Best Podcasts of 2024
The latest full episode of my podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, is all about Hummus! You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts, such as Apple, Spotify, and more.
matzo ball soup
The best thing since chicken noodle soup, I'm going to (humbly, so humbly) assert that this is the only recipe you'll ever need for perfect-every-time matzo ball soup that your local deli could only dream of. Make your bubbe proud and your belly happy.
chicken liver pâté
Today is the day I get to spill all of my chicken liver secrets for all five of you who haven't run screaming from the room at the mention of offal. Everyone who is left is in for a treat -- a thoroughly Seder- (and once, a holiday party) tested version that I think gets everything right. I hope you agree.
wild mushroom pâté
A hunt for vegetarian chopped liver led me to the land of earthy, luxe and flavorful mushroom spreads. But don't get stuck on the word pâté, I find a jar of of this in the fridge useful in a dozen ways: tossed with angel hair pasta and parmesan, as a sandwich spread with greens and sharp cheese, and folded into a crepe or risotto, or as shown, on crackers or matzo with all sorts of bright fixings.
snacky asparagus
Asparagus, the easy way: Perfectly cooked, crisp-tender, bright green asparagus doused in olive oil, lemon juice, crunchy salt, pepper flakes, and swooped through mayo (but you can use any dressing you like) is my favorite way to accidentally inhale a pound of spears. I can't stop making it, so I have to pass it on.
cauliflower salad with dates and pistachios
A clean-out-the-fridge roasted cauliflower salad, the kind of thing I crave endlessly. This one has charred scallion segments, salted pistachios, chopped dates, and a sharp lemon dressing and it's so inhalable that forkfuls were walking off as I tried to take photos.
potato kugel
Basically a massive hash brown (or mega-latke) with profoundly crispy edges and steamy-soft insides. It's the show-stealing complement to breakfast eggs, a dinner or Seder roast, or even fancy party things like crème fraîche and caviar.
tangy braised chickpeas
"Brisket"-braised chickpeas -- that is, with all of the flavors of my favorite meaty braise -- with not a speck of brisket involved. This vegan dish is a perfect cozy and hearty holiday main, or apparently for eating straight from the fridge, as we can never seem to stop doing with leftovers.
chocolate caramel crackers
Salty, buttery, chocolaty, crunchy, and habit-forming, these are so easy to make, well, I know exactly what I’m doing with the unused box of matzo I just found.
raspberry coconut macaroons
If you think coconut macaroons are terrible, well, I think it's because you're not making these, which are marbled with fresh raspberries and such a cinch to make, you're going to want to do it pretty often.
heavenly chocolate cake roll
My family has been making this featherlight flourless chocolate cake rolled with lightly sweetened whipped cream since 1975 (!). It manages to be decadent but unheavy, plus, it looks like a giant Yodel. There's nothing not to love.
chocolate raspberry pavlova stack
A wobbling centerpiece of a three-tiered chocolate pavlova with crackly edges and pillowy centers, plus an unforgettable raspberry curd, drizzle of chocolate sauce, whipped cream, fresh raspberries, and a dusting of sugar, almost as pretty as what was outside my window this morning. It's here to generate and distribute decadent joy, so please drop everything to make it, you will have no regrets. [Video below!]
lemon cream meringues
Crisp outside and pillowy within meringues, puddled with lemon curd and finished with a dollop of whipped cream, are an absolute favorite this time of year for both Passover and because they look a bit like sun emerging from behind the clouds. We're ready.
chocolate raspberry pavlova stack
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes, including the the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser (which is back in stock!). For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
