Recipes

Mark Bittman · NYT Cooking

While this salmon dish evokes pure summer in California, it’s easily done almost anywhere. The salmon is king salmon, and its season is summer, which coincides perfectly with the ripening of figs in all but the northernmost parts of the country. There is nothing better than a good fig, but for this recipe, incorporate the underused leaves, which make a perfect package for the fish, contributing a kind of nutty flavor to it. Mark Bittman

Mark Bittman · NYT Cooking

The renowned chef Alice Waters makes her aioli in the most inefficient and old-fashioned way possible: using a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic, a fork to whip up the emulsion and no lemon juice, vinegar or any other acid at all. It was the best mayonnaise I've ever tasted, but then again, she did use a wonderfully perfumed olive oil. For this recipe, you should do the same. Mark Bittman

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Whether it takes place in a city park or country meadow, the summer picnic can be a laid-back affair. Make this easy but luxurious dish earlier in the day, and keep it cool while transporting. The aioli can be made up to two days before. All this dish needs to accompany it is a green salad (choose robust leaves that won’t wilt too quickly) and perhaps a small jam jar of salad dressing. A crusty loaf wouldn’t go amiss.

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

This ice cream sundae is born of both Vietnamese cà phê sữa đá, or dark roast coffee dripped over condensed milk, and Italian affogato, or espresso poured over ice cream. Here, a sort of granita made with very strong coffee is layered with a sweetened cream mixture, and then doused in a chocolatey coffee syrup. It’s a relatively lengthy endeavor, but one well worth doing. The individual parts must be made ahead of time, so plan accordingly.

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alice Hart · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Here's an absolutely lovely weeknight pasta dish that's a triple threat: It's easy, it's quick and it's delicious. Here's what you do: As the spaghetti boils, simmer some green peas with a little water until they're hot (or just dump the frozen peas in with the boiling pasta a couple minutes before the timer is set to ding). Drain the pasta and return to the pot with a button of butter. Add peas, prosciutto and cream and toss to coat. Season well with salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. Toss some more. Serve and swoon. Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

This recipe is adapted from the great Chinese-American chef Ken Hom, for a Sichuan stir-fry is made with chunks of boneless chicken (breasts or thighs, though we prefer thighs), peanuts, chile peppers and plenty of garlic, scallions and ginger. Making it is not at all difficult, but it does require one fussy step: The chicken takes a dip into a combination of egg white, salt, sesame oil and cornstarch before it goes into the hot wok. This step creates a lovely crust on the chicken that sears in moisture and later serves to hold onto the savory-sweet soy-sesame sauce. The dish is quite spicy, so serve it over rice or plain pasta to foil the heat, alongside an ice cold beer. Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

In the 1940s, Robert E. Rich, an independent-minded son of a successful dairyman, introduced RichWhip, the first nondairy topping, to the world. It took off. This recipe can be made using RichWhip, which is still available at many kosher supermarkets, or heavy cream.

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

Alex Witchel

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

The men who ruled the world in the late 1950s, or at least six of the men who ruled publishing, rejected Peg Bracken’s manuscript, “The I Hate to Cook Book.” It would never sell, they told her, because “women regard cooking as sacred.” It took a female editor to look at the hundreds of easy-to-follow recipes and say, “Hallelujah!” Since its publication in 1960, Bracken’s iconic book, which celebrated the virtues of canned cream-of-mushroom soup and chicken bouillon cubes, has sold more than three million copies. This simple chicken dish, adapted from Ms. Bracken, is as no-fuss as one would expect. Just sear the chicken in a bit of butter and transfer it to a baking dish. Scatter artichoke hearts (from a can, of course!) across the top. Make a quick sauté of mushrooms, flour, broth and a little sherry and pour it over the chicken. Slide it into the oven and bake for about an hour. Ms. Bracken recommended serving it with baked potatoes, but we like it best with a pile of rice to soak up

Alex Witchel · NYT Cooking

This recipe is adapted from the “I Hate to Cook Book” by Peg Bracken, the 1960 iconic bestseller that had the nerve to say then what so many women felt: They liked cooking fine, as long as they didn’t have to cook all the time. As her recipes were meant to do, this bread comes together fast, and you don’t need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. It will also keep for a long time, especially if it is soaked with a little whiskey every now and then. The first step is up to you.