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July 19, 2025 
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Good morning! Today we have for you:
- Five-star blueberry desserts
- A vegan potato salad from Melissa Clark to please everyone at the potluck
- Plus, chicken tenders (chicken tenders!)
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| Nigella Lawson’s blueberry polenta upside-down cake. Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. |
Nigella Lawson. Blueberry polenta. Upside-down cake.
Hello, thank you for coming to my dessert dissertation defense. Let’s begin: The best cakes are upside down.
There are several reasons for this. Upside-down cakes highlight fruit, whether fleetingly seasonal or, in the case of canned pineapple, pleasingly and perfectly circular. They’re easy to make and don’t call for much equipment beyond a mixing bowl and a cake tin. Because they don’t have any frosting, upside-down cakes are usually not too sweet. And they look stunning, with the fruit forming a mosaic on top of the cake, which, when you cut into it, has a beautiful ombré effect from top to bottom.
Nigella Lawson’s blueberry polenta upside-down cake is a perfect example of the form. It’s simple to pull together; just tumble blueberries over sugar in your greased cake pan, pour over your batter (no mixer or butter softening required) and bake. The polenta adds a subtle crunch to the tender cake, and the blueberries form a juicy, inky indigo topper. Serve with vanilla ice cream or nothing at all. Again, upside-down cakes like this are perfect as they are.
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Today’s specials
Shrimp fra diavolo: Oh, another entry for the spicy tomato seafood rotation! Plump, sweet shrimp, diced Calabrian chile and lots of garlic punch up your go-to tomato paste and purée in this Anna Francese Gass recipe. It’s just the sort of satisfying but speedy dinner to cap off a busy summer weekend.
Vegan potato salad with tahini: I came across this Melissa Clark recipe while clicking around New York Times Cooking and made a mental note to save it. It sounds so delicious — tender yellow potatoes tossed in a flavorful dressing of charred scallions, cumin, lemon, garlic and lots of tahini. So I’ll save it here, in this newsletter, in case you would also like to make it.
Chicken tenders: These, with a crisp slaw and a carbonated beverage, would be a fantastic dinner for anyone of any age. Go ahead and double this Millie Peartree recipe — which has you pan-fry, rather than deep-fry, your chicken strips — so that you have leftovers for salads, rice bowls and wraps throughout the week.
And before you go
I’m not much of a camper. It’s not that I don’t love the outdoors — it’s more that I’ve hit that age where if I don’t sleep with my pillows in a very particular arrangement, I’ll feel it in my upper back for the next five days. But this new video of Ali Slagle answering your campground-cooking questions has me looking at tent recommendations. I want cheesy chili beans cooked over a campfire! Pour-over coffee and morning birdsong! Read more and watch the video by clicking here or the image below:
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| The great Ali Slagle in the great outdoors. The New York Times Cooking |
Thanks for reading!
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