Parmesan, meet cauliflower

As in Melissa Clark's cauliflower Parmesan, a five-star reader favorite.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 13, 2024 Melissa Clark's cauliflower parmesan. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Parmesan your cauliflower By Sam Sifton Good morning. The beefsteak tomatoes outperformed the heirloom varieties for me this summer, and the corn from the place nearer the ocean was sweeter than the up-island ears. I've been eating both three times a week for a couple of months now. It's been a great season. I could probably eat tomatoes and corn forever. But I won't. Soon enough, the tomatoes will turn from blood-red excellence into blandness. The corn will go starchy. Disappointment looms. And that's fine. Comes now cauliflower, and the promise of fall. I'm excited to mark its arrival. I like cauliflower as shawarma, with a spicy tahini alongside. I like it in adobo. Also, charred in stew. It's excellent blackened. And it's very, very good as a substitute for wings in the Buffalo tradition. But what I'm most looking forward to this weekend is cauliflower parm (above). Melissa Clark's recipe cloaks fried florets in marinara sauce and melted mozzarella under a shower of Parmesan. You could serve that as is, with spaghetti or a salad, but I like it best piled into a toasted hero roll for a sub of distinction, a dinner that resembles lunch at the Italian spot near the docks, the sort of sandwich you'd ordinarily eat standing by the hood of your car. Serve that sandwich on china at the dinner table, with the lights turned low and candles flickering, and you've achieved a kind of magic: Not Your Usual Saturday Night Meal. Featured Recipe Cauliflower Parmesan View Recipe → Alternatively, you can keep on summering. The blue crabs are really lively right now where I stay, bright at the claw and sweet beyond compare. They're terrific steamed over beer and vinegar, with plenty of Old Bay or J.O. seasoning. I love these hot and numbing new potatoes, too, with cumin lamb burgers — a taste of summer edging into fall. And it's a treat to take fairy tale eggplants and use them in place of the big boys in Hetty Lui McKinnon's recipe for charred eggplant with burrata and fried capers, a recipe that I could see serving to raves. There are thousands and thousands more recipes to consider cooking this weekend waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. Yes, you need a subscription to read them. Subscriptions support this work that we've been doing for the past 10 years. They allow it to continue. Please, if you haven't already, would you consider subscribing today? Thanks. (In return, to celebrate our anniversary this month, we're letting subscribers send recipes to anyone they like for free. Just tap the "Give" icon on a recipe to create a paywall-free link that you can share with family and friends.) If you find yourself in a jam with our technology, reach out for help: cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. Or if you'd like to shout about something, either in pique or glee, you can write to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I can't respond to every letter. But I do read each one I get. Now, it's a far cry from anything to do with blanching peas or icing a cake, but if you find yourself in proximity to the Kirsten Dunst film "Civil War," it's worth viewing. Not for its depiction of journalism, for certain, but for its general dystopian vibe. Sometimes that's just the ticket. Michael Lewis has a fascinating story in The Washington Post about the most interesting organization that most people have never heard of, and the awards it gives out to government workers most people have never heard of, including Chris Mark of the Department of Labor. In The New York Times, here's Elisabeth Egan on Don Lemon, who has a new memoir out, a year after he was fired by CNN. Finally, new Halsey just dropped: "Ego." I'm hoping that someone comes around. See you on Sunday. IN THIS NEWSLETTER David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Cauliflower Adobo By Ali Slagle 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Zachary Zavislak; Food Stylist: Brian Preston-Campbell. Prop Stylist: Meghan Guthrie. Steamed Blue Crabs By Sam Sifton 30 minutes Makes Serves 4 Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Spicy Cumin Lamb Burgers Recipe from Jason Wang and David Shi Adapted by Christina Morales and Alexa Weibel 40 minutes (or about 2 hours if making the bread) Makes 4 sandwiches Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen. Hot and Numbing Stir-Fried New Potatoes By J. Kenji López-Alt 40 minutes Makes 4 to 6 servings Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Styling by Barrett Washburne. Charred Eggplant With Burrata and Fried Capers By Hetty Lui McKinnon 20 minutes Makes 4 servings 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 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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