Ham El-Waylly

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

After laborers flocked from China to Peru in the mid-1800s, a blend of Chinese and Peruvian cuisine known as Chifa was born. This simple version of arroz chaufa (fried rice) focuses on chicken thighs and red bell pepper, but other varieties might embrace sliced hot dogs, shrimp or strips of meat. The key to this recipe, and other fried rice recipes, is keeping the cooking surface hot. This is easy to achieve when using a powerful wok burner in a professional kitchen, but at home, this means cooking things in smaller batches. If you need to serve more people, multiply the recipe as needed, but make sure to cook the rice in several batches to allow it to crisp rather than steam. (You can hold the prepared rice covered in foil in a warm oven.)

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This potentially controversial recipe takes a few steps away from traditional Buffalo wings: It starts with boneless chicken breasts, pan-fries them, and then serves the Buffalo sauce on the side for dipping instead of coating the chicken. But it’s got a goal: This ensures all the hard work of securing a crispy piece of chicken doesn’t go to waste. These boneless wings are crunchier, and, without the pesky bones, they’re arguably more snackable. The elusive texture of wet-crunchy is in full effect here when chunks of crisp chicken breast and celery get dunked into the zingy Buffalo sauce.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Traditional pommes aligot, from Aubrac, France, add enough cheese to mashed potatoes until they stretch like fondue. If you aggressively stir mozzarella cheese into a luxuriously creamy broccoli purée, you can get the same effect. This decadent side is a great accompaniment to a fancy steak dinner or your next holiday spread, and makes an indulgent filling to a baked potato. For best results, be sure to use only the deep-green tops of the broccoli florets. Using too much of the watery, light-green stem yields a purée that’s loose and lacks lusciousness. The rest of the broccoli can be used in an entire other dish: seared into steaks, shaved into a salad, chopped and tossed into stir fries, or employed in almost any recipe that calls for a head of broccoli.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Charred cabbage brings a complex combination of flavors, from savory to bitter to sweet, to this simple but satisfying weeknight pasta. As it cooks, the cabbage also turns silky, clinging to the bucatini like the most delicious of frills. The pecans play off the natural nutty notes of the charred cabbage and brown butter. Like cacio e pepe or other pastas that fuse melted cheese with pasta water, this dish tightens up quickly, so make sure to have plenty of pasta water on hand to loosen it as needed.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Pulling from the greatest hits of chicken salads, with crunchy walnuts, crisp apples, sweet raisins and a spiced mayo-yogurt dressing, this best-of-all-worlds sandwich subs out the chicken for cauliflower. The aggressively roasted cauliflower serves as a sponge, soaking up all the flavors of the dressing while adding layers of bitterness and earthiness. This salad only gets better as it sits, allowing the flavors to meld and the cauliflower to soak up even more dressing. Even once it’s built, this sandwich improves after it has sat for a few hours. Do you plan ahead? This makes an ideal picnic dish. Not sure when you’ll get a chance to eat or where the day will take you? This cauliflower salad sandwich is here for you.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Labneh makes the ultimate dip for any season or occasion. Labneh topped with chunks of roasted squash and fried pumpkin seeds can keep the winter blues away. Labneh topped with finely minced shallots, chives and caviar is posh enough to anoint any New Year’s table. But only one garnish deserves the labneh throne all summer long: bright cherry tomatoes simmered in olive oil — with whole garlic cloves — until plumped, slumped and soft enough to burst. It is the perfect combination of creamy, savory and sweet. Serve alongside warm, fluffy pita, crusty bread, or ice cold crudités when battling a scorcher of a summer. The leftover olive oil is a bonus ingredient that can be used to dress salads, cook vegetables or finish a pot of beans or pasta.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This Brazilian stroganoff is a riff on the classic Russian-American beef, mushroom and sour cream stew that was considered peak haute cuisine in the United States during the 1950s. In Brazil, stroganoff is often made with beef, chicken or shrimp, but with a tomato base, and heavy cream instead of sour cream. The biggest difference is in the accompaniments: The stew is served with rice and topped with crispy potato sticks. Do not omit the crunchy potato; it may be a garnish, but it is essential. If sticks are hard to find, replace them with lightly crushed chips. Straying from tradition, this recipe opts to poach the delicate chicken breast at the end, for more tender results, rather than to sauté it at the beginning.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Celery is one of those vegetables that has a lot of unrealized potential. It is usually served raw to accentuate its crunch, or used as a flavor base in stocks then plucked out and discarded. But braising celery, as this recipe does, awakens another texture, creating a silkiness that is often overlooked but deserves to be prized. Celery’s fibers — which go from stringy to silky when simmered — are also great for absorbing flavor. Here, the celery slowly tenderizes in the flavorful broth, absorbs the briny richness of clam juice and coconut milk and turns positively lush. Since the celery is the star of the show, you can swap out the cod for shrimp or tofu.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

The interplay between the crunch of the celery, the chew of the pasta and the pop of the corn kernels makes this (potentially vegan) pasta salad a textural pleasure to eat. Pasta salads that you can easily eat with a spoon reign supreme, and ditalini’s petite shape — which mimics the size of fresh corn kernels — makes it the perfect pasta candidate. Miso adds savory notes and deep umami flavor to the mayonnaise dressing. This recipe calls for Calabrian chile, but the miso-mayo mix is versatile: You can substitute anything from chopped chipotles in adobo to a spoonful of gochujang for a hit of heat.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Char your vegetables. Its brings the best out of many brassicas, like broccoli and cabbage, but also summer squash like zucchini. All too often zucchini can fall a little flat, but charring caramelizes the natural sugars that are present in the zucchini, enhancing their sweetness and adding a hint of smoky flavor. This is the perfect, punchy weeknight dinner, as the pumpkin seed dressing comes together entirely in the blender while the chicken finishes cooking in the oven. Save this sauce in your back pocket, as it does everything a green goddess dressing can do, but is much lighter — and equally great on a wedge of iceberg or as a dip for potato chips.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Tuna noodle casserole went on vacation to Italy and returned as this fresh weeknight pasta. The traditional egg noodles are swapped for chewy gemelli, with ridges that capture all the bright dill pesto that replaces the classic creamy sauce. Cubes of celery bring crunch, peas impart sweetness and the tuna positively melts into the pasta, giving it deep savoriness. Cheesy, buttery and spiked with smoked paprika, the crumbled cracker topping may be the true star of this recipe — and it’s equally delicious dusted on top of other pastas, braises and salads.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This baked pasta highlights caramelized onions in a riff on French onion soup. French onion soup is about slowly caramelized onions with deep flavor. Always make extra caramelized onions and store them in the freezer for whenever you need to add more oomph in a flash. Coaxing the onions to caramelize does indeed take time, but shortcuts don’t create the same depth. The onions really need to spend time slowly sweetening over a low flame. If you feel like the bottom of the pan is scorching before the onions have caramelized sufficiently, add a splash of water to release the fond and incorporate it into the onions before continuing.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

The influence of Italian immigrants is apparent in Argentinian pizza culture: Immigrants brought focaccia with them, which morphed into a focaccia-pizza hybrid known as fugazza, a thick pizza topped with cheese and shaved onions. This got dialed up a few notches to become fugazzeta. In a fugazzeta, two pizza crusts are sandwiched around cheese before being crimped shut and topped with a heap of thinly sliced onions. The onions may initially seem like overkill, but don’t skimp: They soften and char, providing a nice reprieve from the copious molten cheese.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Gingerbread housing is challenging work, with the cookie baking, precise cutting and delicate building — and that’s before you even get to the most important part, the decorating. Icebox cakes are much easier to assemble and much tastier than a gingerbread house could ever be. This icebox cake is disguised as gingerbread with its spiced whipped cream and gingersnap cookie base. Simply dressed with crumbled cookies, this cake is a blast of a blank canvas for decorating (see Tip), especially with little ones. But don’t deny yourself this holiday treat if you aren’t into decorating; it’s also a showstopper of a dessert.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

It’s tough to highlight peak summer tomatoes in pasta. To make the most out of their bright flavor, summer tomatoes should be minimally cooked. This recipe gently warms the fruit, so they keep their acidity and succulence. Since the tomato hasn’t had the liquid cooked out, it doesn’t cling to the spaghetti the way a cooked pomodoro would, but this keeps the dish light and bright, and makes it perfect for a hot summer day. Be sure to serve with plenty of bread to sop up the cheesy sauce that is left behind at the bottom of the bowl. If juicy, ripe tomatoes aren’t around, swap out for cherry tomatoes and blend them instead of grating to get a similar effect.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Thinner and creamier than most, this quiche embraces the best parts of the ideal croque-monsieur, the perfect mingling of cheese, ham and Dijon between slices of bread. The Gruyère melds with the custard into a pseudo Mornay sauce, while the buttery, crisp puff pastry replaces toast to rich effect. The zippy acidity of the Dijon is essential to balancing the richness of this quiche; it cannot be skipped. The ham is equally non-negotiable, providing a meaty heft that grounds all the creamy, cheesy goodness. Assembled on a baking sheet, this dish is built for entertaining, but you don’t need to wait for a group to enjoy this. After it cools, slice it into slabs and store it in the fridge, if you’d like to savor it for one. It is delicious cold for a quick afternoon snack, but be forewarned: You might end up indulging in multiple slabs and ruining your dinner.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Fiery from dried chiles, tingling with Sichuan peppercorns and studded with peanuts, this kung pao tofu recipe is a vegetarian take on kung pao chicken, the classic Chinese American restaurant staple. Though variations on this dish abound, this version swaps in tofu for chicken, treating the tofu similarly. Pressing the tofu removes excess moisture, leaving more room for flavor to penetrate and giving it a denser, chewy texture. The cornstarch coating helps the tofu brown, makes it crisp and acts as a sponge for the savory, spicy, tingly sauce.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

In classic preparations of barbacoa, large chunks of meat are coated in a chile-and-vinegar marinade, topped with avocado leaves, wrapped in banana leaves and buried underground in a pit to roast gently. It’s found throughout Mexico, with different seasonings and accompaniments. Geared to home cooks, this recipe roasts the lamb gently in an oven. Wrapping the meat with banana leaves is optional, but they add an earthy aroma that will fool you into thinking you just pulled your barbacoa out of an earthen oven. Serve with warm corn tortillas, minced onion, cilantro and lime wedges, plus a bowl of the cooking liquid set alongside for dipping.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This lobster mac and cheese harnesses the deep lobster flavor found in the head and shells to infuse the milk used to make the cheese sauce. As a result, a delightful undercurrent of intense lobster flavor runs throughout the dish, instead of just in random morsels. The lobster is very lightly cooked, ensuring that it doesn’t turn rubbery while it bakes in the cheese sauce. Though many lobster-studded mac and cheese recipes bake for an extended period of time, in this recipe, the cooked pasta, cream sauce and lobster are tossed together, topped with a seasoned panko mixture then briefly broiled just before serving. Perfect for company, this dish can easily be made ahead of time as part of a larger holiday spread; just ensure that the cheese sauce, pasta and lobster meat are cool before combining.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Derived from a Quechua term for a hearty soup-stew hybrid, locro originated in the Andes mountain range but today encompasses a glut of South American soups that vary from country to country, and household to household. Originally made with varying combinations of squash, corn, beans and potatoes, locro has transformed regionally, with some even including ingredients like poached eggs and thinly shaved brisket. Inspired by versions found in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, this recipe starts with chicken broth seasoned with turmeric, paprika and annatto seeds, and uses squash, plantains and yuca, but feel free to use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge. Make sure to keep the pieces large so they don’t disintegrate into the soup as it simmers; cutting them with your spoon as you eat is part of the experience.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Forget the beach, summer melons are the biggest reason to look forward to hotter temperatures. Run by husband and wife team Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh, Norwich Meadows Farms in upstate New York grows some of the best local produce using traditional techniques from Egypt. Their melons burst with sweet, floral nectar that plays off the basil perfectly, and the dukkah is a nod to the Egyptian farmers that work on their farm. But don’t worry if you can’t get a Norwich melon, this dukkah can exalt any supermarket fruit. A crunchy, nutty spice blend typically made with a widely varying variety of pounded nuts, seeds and spices, dukkah can be found throughout Egypt, sold in tightly wrapped newspaper cones as a quick snack. Be sure to hold onto any leftover dukkah; it’s great with crudités or mixed with olive oil to make a quick dip for warm bread.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

As textural as it is colorful, Thai pad woon sen (stir-fried glass noodles) builds deep, nuanced flavor, one component at a time, but comes together quickly enough for a weeknight. Delicate, springy glass noodles get stir-fried with garlic, eggs and vegetables, and readily absorb the punchy flavors of this simple sauce (oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce and a pinch of sugar). Though you’ll often find meat or seafood variations, this recipe omits the meat and focuses on the vegetables. (If you want to add meat, cube whatever you use into small chunks, stir fry them until golden brown and cooked through, then incorporate into the noodles with the vegetables.) The convenience of this dish is that it can be eaten at any temperature: hot, room temperature or cold, straight out of the fridge. For authenticity, be sure to source a glass noodle where the main ingredient is mung bean; check the ingredient list on the package to be sure.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Pastel de choclo is found in many different forms throughout South America — cake made with corn, baked corn pudding or a layered casserole. This recipe is inspired by the Chilean version, a beef-and-corn casserole, which consists of pino, a flavorful beef mixture often studded with black olives, raisins and hard-boiled eggs, topped with corn pudding. It’s reminiscent of shepherd’s pie, but with rich corn pudding in place of mashed potatoes. In this interpretation, the pudding is slightly sweet and cheesy, the way my mom Silvia used to make it. It also swaps out black olives for meatier Castelvetrano olives, and frozen corn can be used when fresh is out of season. The pudding is mixed entirely in the blender and can be baked on its own as a rich, cheesy side dish in a well-greased cast-iron pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Pollo asado, Mexican marinated and grilled chicken, uses pigmented annatto seeds to get its signature brick red color. Annatto seeds can be found in Latin supermarkets or online, but a cube of prepared achiote paste is a suitable sub. This recipe uses two types of dried chiles, for which there are no substitutes; however, if they’re hard to come by, swap them out for a can of seeded chipotles in adobo for a different, but still delicious, smoky vibe. The acidity from the citrus in the marinade helps tenderize the chicken legs, but a limit does exist; keep it under 12 hours. Serve the chicken alongside pickled onions and warm tortillas for quick tacos, or beans and rice.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

While masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, is mostly associated with Mexican cooking, there are other countries in Central America that utilize it for regional specialties. Pupusas, a stuffed and griddled corn cake hailing from El Salvador and Honduras, is one of these dishes. This version is stuffed with a quick bean and cheese mixture, but pupusas are a great home for leftovers; winter squash, braised meat and pressed, wilted greens all make exceptional fillings. As long as it’s fully cooked, not too wet and small enough to be flattened into the cake, anything can go inside. To dial up the authenticity and add some brightness, serve the pupusas with curtido, a pickled cabbage slaw traditionally served alongside.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This easy roasted chicken dinner packs a bright, puckery blueberry punch. The whole-grain mustard gives the sauce spice and a satisfying pop that plays off the jammy blueberries. Patting the thighs dry and starting them in a cold pan allows the skin plenty of time to render brown and crisp. The most important thing is to ensure the skins are getting full contact with the skillet’s surface. (If your thighs are large and crowd a medium pan, use a large skillet instead, so they brown rather than steam.) Save any leftover sauce as a mustardy sandwich condiment.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Summertime is the season of the tomato sandwich, and few are more revered than the BLT. Smoky bacon, mayonnaise and juicy, umami-rich tomatoes make it as close to a perfect sandwich as possible. Changing out the bacon for smoked mackerel results in an entirely different experience, albeit just as satisfying. The richness and smoke of the mackerel are both excitingly novel and familiar enough to prompt you to pop cans of tinned fish any time you procure fresh tomatoes from the farmers’ market.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This potent garlic rice recipe is for anybody who believes that there is no such thing as too much garlic. Finely chopped garlic toasts in butter, infusing it with its intoxicating aroma and flavor. The rice is also topped with store-bought fried garlic — in an ideal world, you would use a variety, ranging from thick fried slices to finely chopped bits and feathery pieces, but any crispy, store-bought fried garlic will do. The different kinds — and shapes, and sizes — bring a variety of crunch and a range of garlic flavors to the already intensely garlicky rice. Loudly garlicky, this dish is great alongside any saucy mains, or as a side for grilled meat or fish.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

When I was a teenager, I remember getting freshly baked akkawi cheese manakeesh with sides of cucumber and beet-stained turnip pickles and little plastic containers of toum for dipping at a Lebanese bakery in Doha, Qatar. Cheese manakeesh, a topped flatbread found throughout the Levant, is delicious with toum, a sauce made by combining garlic, lemon juice, salt and oil. This grilled cheese hits those notes, skipping a trip to the bakery. Slathering the bread with toum instead of butter instantly gives it garlic bread vibes. Though you can purchase toum at many supermarkets and Middle Eastern specialty stores, making it at home gives it a more vibrant punch. It lasts for months and can be used anywhere a tangy, garlicky wallop is needed. Use in salad dressings, as a rub on roasted meats, as a sandwich condiment, or even as a dip for crudités.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

This vegetarian spin on tortilla soup gets its savory flavor from deeply caramelized cabbage, which brings sweetness, bitterness and earthiness. It uses tortillas in two ways: Pulverized tortilla chips add body and a delightful undercurrent of nutty flavor. (Grinding the tortilla finely ensures that it integrates into the soup without needing a final blend.) They are also sprinkled on top, adding a satisfying crunch while echoing the soup’s corn flavor. Treat this recipe as a template, and add whatever other vegetables you may have. As with other tortilla soups, the final garnishes are key to balancing the complex flavors. Don’t skimp on the lime, as its bracing acidity lifts all of the elements.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Creamy labneh produces a pasta dish with the texture of an Alfredo, but with a bright tang that brings levity. A Middle Eastern yogurt that is strained or hung until the texture of soft cheese, labneh provides a rich, luscious texture, but strained yogurts, like Greek yogurt or skyr, are suitable substitutes. Be sure to add the dairy at the end, and don’t let it come to a boil while you stir. Boiling will cause the yogurt to break, leaving you with a sauce that isn’t creamy or rich. If the pasta sauce tightens up and breaks from sitting for too long, there’s a simple solution: Add some reserved pasta water and stir vigorously over medium-low heat until the sauce comes back together, lusciously smooth, saucy and glossy.

Ham El-Waylly · NYT Cooking

Raw zucchini deserves to be a summer salad staple. With just time and salt, sliced zucchini softens into tender bites that absorb any dressing that graces them. This easy salad pairs thinly sliced zucchini coins with sweet, juicy, ripe peaches in a loose, creamy, lime-forward dressing. It’s a full-on journey, in just a mouthful.