Cooking
Enter: Genevieve Ko’s apple crisp.
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, three things in life are certain: death, taxes and bringing home a huge bag of apples on Saturday morning thinking you’re going to make a pie and then realizing on Sunday night that you are definitely, absolutely not going to be making a pie.
And for those moments — or really any instance where you have a lot of beautiful apples but no time or willpower to do anything fussy with them — there’s Genevieve Ko’s apple crisp. It’s about as easy as an apple dessert can get; you don’t even need to peel the apples. (The peel adds a nice chewy sweetness, becoming almost like those thin fruit leathers.)
Change up the spices and nuts to suit your taste, and serve the crisp either hot from the oven or at room temperature. Or, my favorite, have it cold for breakfast the next day with a scoop of plain Greek yogurt and a hefty cup of coffee. We love a Sunday bake that makes Monday morning a bit less painful.
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Apple Crisp
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I adore a skillet chicken dinner; serving a generous dish in a yawning pan makes me feel like a character in a Richard Scarry book (with chef’s toque and apron, natch). How good does this skillet chicken with black beans, rice and chiles look? Diana Henry’s recipe, adapted by Margaux Laskey, combines crisp-skinned chicken, cumin-scented rice, silky peppers and tomatoes and earthy beans. Set out lime wedges, sour cream and pickled jalapeños for serving, and congratulate yourself on putting together a beautiful dinner in this busy, busy world.
More cozy dinners that feel nice: Ifrah F. Ahmed’s malaay qumbe (coconut fish curry), a Somali dish that comes together quickly from fridge and pantry staples (coconut milk, garlic, tomato and onion). Ifrah includes a tip on how to make your own xawaash spice blend, a vibrant mix of cumin, coriander, black pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon.
And Alana Kysar’s loco moco, adapted by Kiera Wright-Ruiz, is just about the heartiest, lip-smackingest calling there is for ground beef. It’s an oniony hamburger patty topped with a deeply umami mushroom gravy, all set on a mound of white rice and topped with a fried egg. Many readers call for doubling the gravy, which is always a good sign of gravy deliciousness.
Lastly, the market where I get my apples is overflowing with late summer’s last peppers, and I feel a strong urge to do something with them before they disappear. I think a couple of batches of Lesley Enston and Korsha Wilson’s pepper sauce is in order to keep in the fridge to gussy up roast chicken or fried fish. (Gift some to the neighbors, like reverse trick-or-treating.) And while Zainab Shah’s chile cheese toasts call for Thai green chiles, I might swap in some thin slices of long hots or, if I’m not feeling spicy, Jimmy Nardellos. (But I’m always feeling spicy.)