Saturday, February 3, 2024

Our five-star French onion soup is worth the tears

"Awesome recipe. Works well. Always impresses."
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Cooking

February 3, 2024

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.

A French onion soup that's worth the tears

By The New York Times Cooking

We here at New York Times Cooking love a good cry, whether we're attending a wedding, watching that one episode of "The Last of Us" or chopping three pounds of onions for French onion soup. As Sara Bonisteel notes in her recipe, which has five stars and over 5,000 reviews, you'll spend a good bit of time caramelizing all those onions, but it's always worth the wait (and tears). A deeply flavored, savory-sweet bowl of sable-brown French onion soup on a cold winter weekend? With thick slabs of toast blanketed in melted cheese? We're misting up a little just thinking about it.

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French Onion Soup

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Considerably quicker to make is Lidey Heuck's sheet-pan chicken and potatoes with feta, lemon and dill, which comes together in weeknight time (45 minutes, plus whatever marinating time you can manage) but looks and feels weekend-fancy. The feta and lemon provide necessary acidity to level out the luscious potatoes and crisp-skinned chicken thighs; all you need to add is a simple green salad.

Colu Henry's pasta alla vodka is similarly speedy and balanced in flavor, with its salty (but optional) pancetta, sweet tomatoes and onions, piquant vodka and savory cheese. As Colu encourages, open up a bottle of red and put on some opera — something hopelessly romantic and tearjerking.

If you're searching for a showstopper, a whole roasted branzino — or any whole roasted fish, really — never fails to impress and is fantastically easy to put together. If you can preheat the oven and slice a lemon, you can handle Lidey's foolproof recipe; the skin and bones insulate the delicate flesh and keep it from drying out. If there's no branzino at your fish counter, our resident fisherman (and Cooking newsletter captain) Sam Sifton offers the following substitutions: "I'd go with black sea bass, or maybe red snapper if I could find small ones. That recipe wouldn't be terrible with rainbow trout, either."

Zainab Shah's bagara baingan — creamy spiced eggplant — will also elicit oohs and ahhs, especially if you make it with those adorable, plump little Indian eggplants. (You can easily swap in Japanese or Italian eggplants; simply slice them into generous slabs.) Don't be scared off by the longish ingredient list, which is mostly spices and shelf-stable pantry staples. Aside from a single red onion, this recipe requires no chopping and is on the table in under an hour.

Lastly, if you love all things bright and spicy, here's Pati Jinich's new recipe for tomato-habanero salsa. Prepared as is, with a single habanero roasted alongside tomatoes and onions, you'll have a condiment with a subtly smoky flavor and a light kick that's perfect for huevos rancheros and quesadillas. But feel free to add more chile if you like your salsas eye-watering.

Love those leftovers

Shred leftover chicken and slice those last few potatoes for a filling cheesy frittata. With the remaining roasted fish you could go citrusy (this lemony fish and orzo soup) or savory (hello, miso fish chowder). And we don't need to tell you what to do with salsa — burritos, taquitos and a huge bag of chips all beckon — but we will leave this seven-layer dip right here.

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David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Sheet-Pan Chicken and Potatoes With Feta, Lemon and Dill

By Lidey Heuck

45 minutes, plus at least 30 minutes' marinating

Makes 4 servings

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Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Ali Slagle.

Pasta Alla Vodka

By Colu Henry

30 minutes

Makes 4 to 6 servings

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Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Whole Roasted Branzino

By Lidey Heuck

40 minutes

Makes 4 servings

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Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Roscoe Betsill. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.

Bagara Baingan (Creamy Spiced Eggplant)

By Zainab Shah

45 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Article Image

Kerri Brewer for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Tomato-Habanero Salsa

By Pati Jinich

30 minutes

Makes About 2 cups

Fresh, delicious dinner ideas for busy people, from Emily Weinstein and NYT Cooking.

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Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties.

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Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties.

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