What I Cooked This Week #2
unfortunately not every night can be 5 stars
On Saturday we went to Costco (the craziest day to go to Costco, I don’t know why we do this to ourselves) and on our way in we passed an older woman. All she had purchased was a huge box of Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars. She was barely out of the store and she had already opened the box and was walking through the parking lot, eating an ice cream bar.
I aspire to be more like this woman in 2025.
So in that spirit! Here’s what I cooked this week, and at the end, some really tasty things I ate while out and about. All driven by what sounded good, what felt doable with work ramping up post-holidays, and what I truly was excited to make and eat.
(also if you’re here for sourdough starter updates: I think it’s doing ok?? I named this one Eleanor, she seems to be doing fine? Will attempt bread soon)
Sunday
Tyrone and I were lucky enough to eat at Dishoom when we were in London on our honeymoon a year or so ago. The design of the restaurant was so cozy, and it felt like every detail had been thought through. I already owned the cookbook but hadn’t made anything out of it, so getting to taste some of the things I was excited about was so fun. We ordered so much food, but a standout was the Chicken Berry Britannia, a biryani with a little bit of sweetness from dried cranberries. Now I make it with some regularity - this is often a weekend only dish for us because the longer the chicken marinates, the better the dish is. I have a really low spice tolerance, so I usually use half of the amount of chilies the recipe calls for. I also made raita to tone it down for my lil whimpy stomach even more (whole milk yogurt, salt to taste, chopped cucumber, cilantro if ya feel like it).
Anyway it was delicious and everyone should make it. If you’ve never cooked Indian food, I think this is a fairly easy and familiar entry point!
Monday
I wanted something a bit light and fresh, so I made the Crispy Chickpea and Avocado Salad from Salad Freak. I love this cookbook because it’s categorized by season! For this one, I do the chickpeas in the air fryer, the rice in the instant pot and everything comes together really quickly. I like a kitchen gadget, what can I say? AND we eat a lot of rice in this household, so the instant pot is essentially a huge rice cooker.
Tuesday
When I make spaghetti sauce, I make SO MUCH SAUCE. I had some in the freezer from a few weeks ago and defrosted it for an easy comforting dinner. The recipe for this is a version of the sauce my mom made growing up. It’s nothing fancy, but always hits the spot. I remember emailing her to ask for the recipe while I was in college - it was probably the first time it actually got written down.
Wednesday
We had to go to the Indian grocery store to get a few things for the biryani, so while we were there, we also got supplies to make the Dal Makhani from Amrikan. I was so excited about this cookbook I preordered it last summer, and I love the way the author, Khushbu Shah, talks about the role food played in her house growing up. She’s a funny Instagram follow too! This is only the second recipe I have tried from her book, because the first one didn’t turn out and tbh…neither did this one.
This dal and the rajma I tried a few months ago had waaaaay to much liquid to cook off in the amount of time she recommends. I’m not sure if her instant pot is more powerful, or if she always lets it naturally release the pressure (which would take ages! and the recipe should say!), but on a night where I was excited to try something new, this was a womp womp.
Also, now that I’m writing about what I’m making, it feels so weird to publicly admit in only my SECOND POST that I made something that was not good. The perfectionist overachiever in me wants to omit it completely. But I also think that if we all shared our mistakes and messes more often then no one would feel like it was a big deal to have something go wrong. AND now I’m inspired to try another recipe for Dal Makhani to be able to share one with y’all that does work.
Out and About
Tyrone has been dying to take me to his favorite taco truck, and we were finally in the right neighborhood with enough time to stop by Mariscos la Chalupa. It was soooooo tasty - highly recommend. I think I have a new favorite fish taco in town
During a walk I passed a Stella Jean’s and treated myself to a scoop of mango sticky rice even though it was barely noon
We celebrated a friend's birthday at Cellar Hand this week. I love this spot because they credit the farms where they buy their produce from on the menu! (You can also often spot the chef shopping for fruit and veg at the Sunday farmer’s market around the corner. Feels like a little celeb sighting)
photo courtesy of chad evans
Looking Ahead
Besides her sourdough, I really want to make the Ripple Bread from Justine’s website and cookbook. It’s just so CUTE
Something with salmon…I have a favorite salmon recipe from Alison Roman but I’m looking to expand my repertoire with fish. Recommendations welcome!!
The Korean Beef Bowl recipe from Damn Delicious. I’ve honestly had this bookmarked for about 8 years - I used to make it all the time back in Berkeley but it hasn’t made an appearance in a while. Sounding really good right about now
Thank you, friends, for subscribing and following along! Til next time!
Val
I love these posts!