All-purpose biscuits for every weekend

"I'm 78, Southern and these were the best biscuits I've ever made."

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story March 24, 2024 Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Practice makes perfect makes delicious By Sam Sifton Good morning. If you make biscuits (above) today — and you ought to — they ought to be terrific. But if you make biscuits today and do so again next weekend and the weekend after and the weekend after that, they will be terrific, the best biscuits ever. This is a matter of practice related to what martial artists call kata — a set pattern that rewards repetition with excellence. The same goes for pizza dough — whether for pan pizza, Neapolitanish pizza or Chicago tavern-style pizza. "You've got to keep your hands in the flour," the pizza lord Anthony Falco once told me, a reminder to always be making pizza dough, to be attuned to its particulars, to keep up the practice. Probably this is true of jam making and cake baking, too, and of making pasta and tempering eggs. It's certainly true of making hollandaise sauce. Indeed, regular repetition of any cooking technique will make you a better, more confident cook. So let's start with those biscuits. Make them this afternoon to accompany dinner (I'm thinking pork chops with onion gravy) and see where you find yourself. There's pleasure in the practice, no? Featured Recipe All-Purpose Biscuits View Recipe → As for the rest of the week. … Monday I love Melissa Clark's recipe for cauliflower shawarma unreservedly. It's light and flavorful under a drizzle of spicy tahini, with loads of chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. I serve the dish with warm pita, lots of olives and hummus. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Cauliflower Shawarma With Spicy Tahini By Melissa Clark 45 minutes Makes 2 servings Tuesday I've been cooking picadillo for a long time, but never in a slow cooker. Sarah DiGregorio's new recipe for the beloved Cuban dish provides the instruction, so I'll let that go in the machine all afternoon, adding raisins and olives toward the end for a sweet and briny pop. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Slow-Cooker Picadillo By Sarah DiGregorio 5 1/2 hours Makes 4 to 6 servings  Wednesday Mazemen is a brothless Japanese ramen dish with an intensely savory sauce. Hetty Lui McKinnon developed a spicy mushroom and tofu version that's perfect for weeknight cooking. The dish is vegan, but I'm going to add a soft-boiled egg to the mix. I'm not vegan. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Spicy Mushroom and Tofu Mazemen By Hetty Lui McKinnon 30 minutes Makes 4 servings Thursday Julia Moskin's adaptation of Mark Usewicz's recipe for pan-roasted fish fillets with herb butter is a game changer, a recipe to bring the preparation of fish into even the smallest and least ventilated of kitchens. You can make the dish, quickly, with whatever fish is freshest at the market, so long as the fillets are not too thick. Melina Hammer for The New York Times Pan-Roasted Fish Fillets With Herb Butter Recipe from Mark Usewicz Adapted by Julia Moskin 20 minutes Makes 2 servings Friday And then you can head into the weekend with Farideh Sadeghin's new recipe for smothered chicken, one of the great dishes of the American South. You could make like Craig Claiborne and add onions and mushrooms, but either way, the gospel of cooking low and slow is key to achieving maximum smother. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Smothered Chicken By Farideh Sadeghin 1 hour Makes 4 servings There are thousands more recipes waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You need a subscription to read them. Subscriptions support our work and allow it to continue. If you haven't taken one out yet, would you consider doing so today? Thank you. Write for help if you find yourself stuck on a technological ledge. We're at cookingcare@nytimes.com. I promise someone will get back to you. Or you can write to me if you'd like to say hello, tell me what-for or offer a compliment to my hardworking colleagues. I'm at foodeditor@nytimes.com. I can't respond to every letter, but I read every one I get. Now, it's nothing to do with dumplings or kale, but Joumana Khatib took over the "Read Like the Wind" newsletter for The New York Times Book Review last week and delivered a banger: two novels I never would have found without her help. Pay it forward! Also in The Times, Vanessa Friedman has an exclusive interview with the designer Phoebe Philo. Fascinating. Wouldn't it be cool to have the chance to rename a bird species? (If birds were real, that is.) Finally, let's hop in the time bender. Here's Bright Eyes, "First Day of My Life," music to cook by. Enjoy that and I'll be back next week. Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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