A Week of Cooking
Sunday, March 16 - Saturday, March 22
Welcome to Home Cooking Diary, a monthly-ish newsletter on the journey of a home cook—the successes and failures alike. Cooking log, photo diary, and recipe recommender. We’re back after a bit of a haitus—thank you for being here.
Last Sunday, for the first time in many weeks, I sat down and planned some meals I hoped to make through the following week. Accomplishing this ritual inspired me to hop back on the horse that is Home Cooking Diary—a project that I began after my son was born in 2022—but gradually lost steam on during my first, turbulent year as the owner of an indie bookstore. I never thought of this newsletter as a literal diary, but the best feedback I always got was on my monthly Cooking Notes post—part-diary and part-recipe log. Looking at my aspirational list of meals for the week ahead, I dreamed up a weekly version of that post that felt more manageable, and perhaps more useful, too. Here we go.
Sunday - Bangers & Mash with Butter-braised Cabbage
I spend Thursday through Sunday as a bookseller—so today is a day at my shop. People often assume I get a lot of reading done at work, but actually the opposite is true. My workday is filled with inventory management, website updates, social media posting and planning, and of course, greeting customers and handselling books. Also cleaning and tech support (for myself) and writing emails. But I did squeeze in a bit of reading time. The latest release from NYRB, Vincenzo Latronico’s PERFECTION (trans. by Sophie Hughes), landed and I couldn’t wait to dig in. But let me back up. The first thing I did upon arrival (after unboxing books and shelving books), was create a shopping list, knowing that my spouse, Reed, would be grocery shopping that morning. For the first time in many weeks I sat down and planned meals I hoped to make through the following week, and texted him my list.
That evening, I got to work on a meal I’ve been dying to make: Julius Roberts’s Bangers & Mash with butter-braised cabbage. I’m a recent follower, but as far as I can tell there is no written recipe for this (correct me if I’m wrong). I improvised it through repeated viewings of the video, making decisions on the fly as Tycho, my three-year-old, whizzed around the kitchen hoping to be chased. The impetus for Julius’s video was to braise what he calls “the humble Hisby cabbage”—luckily we had a head of green cabbage waiting patiently in the fridge, and I knew it would work just as well as Savoy. Reed couldn’t find British-style sausage at the store and bought sweet Italian sausage instead. I knew the flavors weren’t the right vibe, but forged ahead. I didn’t know what a British-style sausage was either, so couldn’t be too annoyed.
First I made the “mash” by boiling about two pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes in salty water until very tender. I copied Julius’s technique of mashing and pushing the cooked ptoatoes through a fine sieve, and it might be the easiest way I’ve done it. Will be repeating. After warming a whole stick of salted butter in whole milk and adding nutmeg and the last of my Dusseldorf mustard, I added the mixture to the still-warm potatoes and combined. They needed more salt, but otherwise seemed perfect. I turned the oven to 425 for the sausages (too high it would turn out—next time will set it for 375 or 400), and put the cabbage on as the oven came to temp. I melted half a stick of salted butter in my smaller Dutch oven, added the cabbage (cut into large chunks) and a bit of water and salt. I let it braise—covered—while the sausage cooked in the oven. After about 20 minutes I tested the tenderness of the cabbage, and decided to let it go a bit longer and softer. Before serving, I turned the heat back on the potatoes, added a splash of milk, whipping it back up with a wooden spoon. I have to say, despite not having the right sausage, this was one of the most delicious and satisfying meals in recent memory. There are few things I love better than well-cooked cabbage.
Monday - Turkey-Cumin Meatballs with Marcella Sauce
Monday is my day-off, and admittedly, I did very little cooking. That morning I had a date with the DMV, to register a car. Despite it being easy-breezy, I relaxed most of the rest of the day and tried not to feel guilty about it. For lunch I heated up Bangers & Mash leftovers in my little vintage Le Creuset casserole dish. After daycare pick-up, I brought Tycho home and began one of my go-to recipes of the past year: Cumin-scented Meatballs from Mina Stone’s cookbook, LEMON LOVE AND OLIVE OIL (a favorite ever since it came out). I usually serve it with Marcella Hazan’s famous Butter Tomato Sauce, since it’s so simple to throw together. I opened up a can of whole-peeled tomatoes, added a halved onion, an entire stick of butter, and turned on the heat. After mashing up the tomatoes a bit I filled the can halfway with cold water and added it to the pot. I don’t remember if this is how the recipe goes, but it’s how I do it. I brought it to a simmer and let it do its thing while I made the meatballs. I used lean ground turkey this time, grated a small onion, and added cumin, salt, and pepper. I forgot the garlic. That’s it. No breadcrumbs, egg, or dairy required. I mixed all of this up with my hands and browned them in my cast iron skillet. The recipe says to brown very slightly—I think “kissed with color” is what it says—but I always end up almost blackening them by accident. I find heat-regulation on the stovetop difficult. Once all were browned, I added them to the pot with the tomato sauce, which had been simmering about 30 minutes, and let the meatballs cook in the sauce until we were ready to eat. Delicious as ever—a family favorite.
Tuesday - Chicken, Fennel, and Chickpea Stew with Coriander
For Tuesday, a solo-childcare day at home with Tycho—another delectable Julius Roberts recipe: Chicken Stew with a Portuguese-style Coriander Sauce. This is the first from his newsletter and again, as soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it. Is he my current fave?? It’s been many many months (perhaps a year), since I boiled a whole chicken. Lately, for stock and chicken soup, I’ve favored what I call the “Parts Method” (a combo of collagen-rich wings and chicken quarters, as an opposed to using the whole bird—planning to post my recipe for this). I decided to make an exception this time and follow his method: the whole bird in a pot, along with aromatics (I used carrot, celery, onion), salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves. As this simmered away, I separately began a different chicken stock in the Instant Pot, using the giblets from the whole chicken, wings from my freezer, and the remainder of a wilting, sad stalk of celery—as well as other aromatics. [Sidenote: I might devote an entire letter to the Insant Pot. I never thought I would use one but I am a convert. Hard not to appreciate it with toddler in tow.] And I began writing what you’re reading now—trying to make the most of my child’s nap. On this day, he slept until 3:30, so I made good headway. Oh I should mention: for lunch Tycho and I ate leftover cumin meatballs for a little picnic at Washington HQ, and after he went down for his nap I made Tomato-Onion Toast for myself with one of the onion halves saved from Marcella’s sauce, along with a few spoonfuls of the sauce itself, atop the heavily-buttered toast. Loved. After he woke up I removed the meat from the bird and transferred the carcass and skin back to the broth, and put it back on to a simmer. Prepping the rest of the soup was pretty breezy: chopping fennel, onion, and celery into a large dice, smashing garlic, and turning a bunch of cilantro into a paste with olive oil and salt. A perfect meal to prepare while home all afternoon. I added the cilantro sauce just before serving and it became the most beautiful green.
Wednesday - Leftover City
It’s incredible how quickly I begin to forget the cooking and food preparation and eating I do if I don’t take notes all week (I’m making a mental note for the future). This day was almost exclusively a leftovers day. The chicken coriander stew transformed into a congee/porridge-style soup overnight. In the past, I would consider a rice-based soup “bad” once the rice expanded and softened, but since discovering Congee, I’ve warmed up to Savory porridge-like stews. The sausages from my Bangers & Mash were long gone by this day, but we enjoyed the leftover cabbage and mashed potatoes, along with leftover turkey meatballs. It was equally satisfying warmed up in the oven, or even cold, straight from the leftovers container.
Thursday & Friday - ?
These are bookstore days. No photo evidence of meals prepared, and memories are fuzzy. I feel like I’ve already failed this diary. I remember boiling frozen broccoli, and then penne for Tycho, covering the latter in leftover Marcella sauce. Reed and I ate whatever he didn’t eat as our own dinner. Friday evening was similar, but swap the pasta for frozen chicken tenders alongside broccoli.
Saturday & Sunday
Reed was away, so our sitter Rudi watched Tycho both days while I was at the bookstore. For breakfast on Saturday, I made us oatmeal, adding honey and peanut butter to mine, jam and berries to his. For lunch, Rudi gave Tycho chickpeas, sardines, and leftover pasta. That night my sister, niece and nephew surprised us by swinging through Newburgh, so I heated up the rest of the frozen tenders, along with frozen veggies for the kids. We went to a party for my buds at Cafe Little Treasure, where we ate delicious NOLA-inspired food (rice and baked beans, and gumbo). And partook of their Dirty Martini fountain. On Sunday I made us boiled eggs with English Muffins. I normally prefer a 7-minute egg but forgot to set the timer. They were overdone. My friends at Downstate posted a chocolate cake special the night before so I went over there before work, in hopes of procuring one as an afternoon snack. I’m earnest when I say I have no memory of dinner.
I made a fraction of things from the list I began with, but these lists always continue into the following week. Juggling home and work life with an irregular schedule makes finding a routine and rhythm challenging. When Monday comes around, I often have to remind myself to cook. If I don’t exploit Monday through Wednesday (but especially Monday), there won’t be much to eat. As a mom, I funcion much better when I’m organized with food. If we get off to a poor start any given day—this happens easily if my son doesn’t get a balanced meal first thing—it’s wild how out of control my cycle of self-blame becomes. Psychologically I find this to be the most crippling aspect of motherhood. Becoming aware of it has helped a lot—I’m taking it day-by-day. And hey, publishing this newsletter makes me feel pretty accomplished too.
While I have you…some recommendations!
Something to store food in / Onyx metal airtight leftover containers, via Food52. I once borrowed a friend’s and the obsession was immediate. It took several months but I finally found the right moment to splurge on the set of 5 (the set is currently sold out, but you might be able to find elsewhere—or purchase them separately). I don’t exaggerate when I say I feel chic toting these around (instead of tupperware). And they are actually airtight. I’m always shocked by the effectiveness of their lids.
Something to read / The aforementioned novel, Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes), which I read in two days. This is a slim novel about an expat couple who, despite crafting their dream life in Berlin, are incapable of shaking an intractable ambivalence that seems to infiltrate every aspect of their existence. It’s almost eerie how real it feels. It reads almost like a parable or cautionary tale, but the eerie quality is born, at least for me, out of the knowledge that there is no escape from the flattening effect of the world we inhabit. At least for those of us who cannot escape social media.
I love these weekly cooking diaries!
Thank you Angie! I really appreciate that you live an amazingly busy life AND share a cooking diary. Your honesty and integrity always make me feel better when I open the fridge and try to figure out what in heck we’re eating for dinner! Bangers and Mash is the perfect meal.