Good morning! Today we have for you:
Piece of cakeI love a Sunday baking project, especially when it’s a simple recipe with minimal cleanup. My adaptable one-bowl cornmeal pound cake is just the thing for lazy days when your sweet tooth calls. I created the recipe to be as forgiving as possible, a cake you can bake without having to go to the store. As long as you have cornmeal, a couple of eggs and the usual pantry baking staples on hand (flour, baking powder, sugar, etc.), you can whip it up in about an hour, baking time included. Then go wild. Cover it with frosting. Slice, toast and butter it. Dollop it with whipped cream, sour cream or ice cream. Or just cut it up and serve it forth. And don’t worry about finishing it all today. Leftovers will keep for days in the fridge, making it ideal for snacking, breakfasting and dessert-devouring all week long. Featured Recipe The Most Adaptable One-Bowl Cornmeal Pound CakeAlso on the menuBerbere brown sugar chicken: Berbere spice blend — the heady seasoning mix used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking — lends boneless chicken thighs its singular perfume in Kiano Moju’s braised chicken dish. Brown sugar and orange juice give the sauce a gentle sweetness that’s a bit like barbecue sauce suffused with warm spices. Serve this over rice, maybe with some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on the side. One-pan fish with bacon and sweet corn: The textures of Yewande Komolafe’s summery fish are as compelling as the flavors — crisp bits of smoky bacon; juicy, sweet corn kernels; tender fillets of mild white fish. Yewande calls for half a cup of parsley here, but if you’ve got an herb garden in full bloom, feel free to use whatever soft herbs (basil, cilantro, dill) you’ve got in abundance. Creamy gold potato salad: Filled with sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard and hot paprika, the recipe for this vivid, lively salad goes back four generations to Wesley Morris’s great-grandmother. How can you top that? For a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. Reading and eatingA question for fans of Lily King! Which novel do you like better: “Writers & Lovers” or her newest book, “Heart the Lover”? I’m partial to “Heart the Lover” because of Yash, one of the main characters. I started swooning from the moment he rescued our heroine’s bland breakfast by adding hot sauce to the eggs (which were unappealingly cooked by another suitor) and didn’t stop straight through to the end. Hash browns come up often in the novel; they are a true labor of love when you make them from scratch. This fancy, Parmesan-laced version from Roze Traore reminds me a little of latkes in the best possible way.
What are you reading? Let me know at hellomelissa@nytimes.com. I’m always looking for my next great read. That’s all for now. I’ll be back tomorrow.
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