Five things to cook simply and exceptionally well

Settling back in

I’m a little exhausted from moving, traveling, and a bit of an eating out bender — if you haven’t been to Penny yet, damn, you really need to go — which has me craving a more consistent home cooking routine.

When I was first learning how to cook, I defaulted to pushing myself with wildly ambitious recipes. Dishes not just with multiple components and steps but also requiring levels of expertise I had done nothing to achieve. (Probably a dumb, masculine, competitive, egotistical thing). It helped in some ways, and hurt in others. I skipped simple, essential steps that led to weird gaps in technique. But more importantly it diluted my instincts. When you’re scrambling to keep up with a complex recipe, you’re not stopping to taste, listen or watch.

Lately, I’ve been trying to make relatively simple things at home, and do them a little bit better each time. Taking some staple dishes, riffing on them with whatever is in the fridge or whatever looks good at the farmers’ market, and seeing if I can dial in the execution a little more each time.

Here are five dishes I recommend testing that out with yourself this month, no matter your level of cooking mastery. For each one, I suggest …

• If you’ve never made it before, find a recipe and follow it closely.

• Make it again, but only read the recipe once then put it away.

• Make it a third time, but don’t read the recipe or the shopping list. Force yourself to change a few ingredients based on whatever is calling to you.

• Make it a fourth time, for someone you care about.

Five dishes worth mastering this month

• French omelette: I recently sat at the bar at Petit Trois and watched a cook bang these out and over and over again. There are few better feelings than doing this so much that it becomes second nature. You can switch up the cheese, the side salad, or the filling, but … for this one I wouldn’t recommend it.

• Panzanella: Embrace this for as long as you can while tomatoes are still good. I like the way the Wildair guys play with stone fruit and burrata in their recipe here. Try it and then swap them out for something else. (Don’t think about it too hard).

• Crudo: You can learn a lot from this Eventide tuna crudo recipe. You’re like 75% at the mercy of the quality of the tuna you buy, and then 25% reliant on executing a good ginger-scallion sauce and tare. This is basically three simple recipes all in one. Once you have it down, switch up the fish — ask what’s best that day for a raw preparation when you’re shopping — and the sauces.

• Whole chicken with sauces and vegetables: Truly nothing better. When you’re able to perfectly cook a chicken, pair it with some nicely roasted vegetables in the same pan, bang out an aioli and salsa verde while the bird is in the oven, and then carve it up well — all without looking at a recipe — you feel a new level of kitchen accomplishment.

• Buttermilk biscuits: I wouldn’t change anything about Briana Holt’s recipe, which is a great vehicle for spreads and sandwiches. Study Briana’s approach here until it’s natural. Then mess around with the accessories. While I like the way they do it at Tandem loaded with butter and jam, my preference is to use these for egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches.

Here’s a full list of my favorite recipes, for more inspo.

My favorite recipes

And here’s a good playlist for when you’re cooking this week