Spoiler alert: the grocery list includes wine.

Heartbreak is inevitable. As much as we take precautions to prevent it by making promises and concessions, sometimes words are not enough to save a 2.5-year relationship. Seeking comfort in my friends, the same question came up over and over again: ‘What are you going to do with all your free time?’. Truthfully, the only thing I wanted to do was eat. Living in the gastronomic paradise that is New York City, when it comes to food options the sky is the limit. At least, until the credit card bill is due. I figured that instead of brooding in expensive restaurants, it would do my wallet and mental health much better to indulge my cravings in the comfort of my own kitchen.

I’ve collected some of my favourite culinary labours of love in this post so as to inspire you, dear reader. Labour is the operative word here, remember this is an attempt to fill the new gaps in my schedule. Each of the below recipes takes up at least an afternoon of your time, and up to 3 days in the case of the pizza recipe. Happy cooking!

Katsu Sando

The breakout star of this particular life setback has been the katsu sando. Initially I had dedicated myself to the hunt for the best katsu sando in New York. I tested sandos that were chicken or prok, in Manhattan or Brooklyn of Taiwanese and Japanese persuasions. My key takeaways for a winning sando include sturdy milk bread, pork over chicken and the inclusion of tomato jam to balance the salt of the fried pork and the creaminess of the coleslaw salad. My personal favourite is Domodomo in SoHo, but after I pumped the brakes on my spending, I dedicated myself to the task of recreating the perfect katsu sando at home.

Recipe here, note that I also added tomato jam to the above pictured photo.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

The game changer in my homemade pizza journey was discovering slow proofing. When I was laid off from Meta 2 years ago, I had all the time in the world to experiment with dough recipes and uncovered the secret to perfectly crispy but chewy pizza dough: splitting the dough into 3 parts and allowing the different pieces to rise in the fridge for 72 hours. You might argue that you can’t wait that long for pizza. I would counter that making the dough on Wednesday night is a way to give yourself something else to look forward to over the weekend.

The next big game changer is cooking your pizza in a cast iron skillet to ensure you get a nice, crispy bottom. You can find the recipe for this margarita skillet pizza here, all my top pizza tips in this post and more pizza inspiration here.

Homemade Dumplings

The Woks of Life cookbook changed my life. Previously, I would’ve deemed homemade dumplings, hand-stretched noodles and Peking duck far out of my culinary ability but the Woks of Life cookbook opened my eyes to the fact that YES, you too can fold 3 dozen dumplings in your tiny New York kitchen. This is a recipe that keeps on giving, uncooked dumplings can be frozen and stashed away for a night when you’re too lazy to chop an onion. Take your pick from the Woks of Life blog’s numerous dumplings recipes here. Extra time on your hands? Try making your own dumpling wrappers as well, it’s incredibly therapeutic to make everything from scratch.

There are a myriad of options for preparing dumplings once folded, my current favourite is to pan-fry the dumplings in a medium saucepan until the bottoms are browned then adding a half cup of water to the pan and covering with a lid to steam them until the insides are cooked. Following that, I’ll toss the cooked dumplings in a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and Fly by Jing’s chilli crisp. Initially I was put off by Fly by Jing’s aggressive advertising, but having succumbed to the pressure, they were right that I wouldn’t be able to live without it. I’ve tried several different brands and nothing compares to this tangy, savoury, spicy and crunchy sauce that hoes on quite literally everything. Get yours here.

Braised Short Ribs over Saffron Risotto

I’m a sucker for slow roasts. Tender, flavourful meat falling off the bone after stewing in a delectable sauce for hours on end – sign me up! Although this particular stew requires a full bottle of white wine, I prefer to only use half of the bottle and save the rest for the risotto (or myself), you can add substitute chicken stock for the remaining wine.

Recipe here, note that I subbed short ribs for osso bucco in the photo above.

French Chocolate Cake with Ice-Cream

On a gloomy December day in Lyon some 5 years ago, I begrudgingly boarded the bus to the suburbs of Caluire-et-Cuire for a cooking class. At the time, I was miserable having not seen the sun in 2 weeks. My mood was quickly turned around when I had a taste of this rich chocolate cake with its delectable gooey bottom. This cake is gluten-free, dairy-free and dare I say guilt-free?

I’ll be working on touching up this recipe whilst also translating the handwritten instructions to English, stay tuned for when the recipe drops by subscribing to email updates at the bottom of this post!

Pain Suisse

“Un pain suisse et un cappuccino, s’il vous plaît“ – my daily breakfast order when I lived in Lyon. Pain suisse is the result of a beautiful marriage between yeasted brioche, pastry cream and chocolate chips. Whilst the photo above isn’t the most flattering, I can attest to you that taking a full afternoon to prepare a batch of pain suisse is well worth the effort.

Recipe (in French but online) here.

Special Mention: Spicy Blood Orange Mezcal Margarita

I have declared 2024 to be the year of the spicy margarita. Salt or sugar rims aside, the real way to level up your margarita is by subbing out the tequila for mezcal. I was introduced to tequila’s smoky parent in Hawai’i by a friend who cautioned, “Mezcal is like a woman, if you take it slow she will treat you nicely but if you try to rush her then you’ll be in trouble.” Simply said, mezcal is best sipped slowly.

Recipe:
Heat 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar and 1 sliced jalapeno in a small saucepan until boiling and the sugar has dissolved. Let cool in the fridge. When ready to mix the drink, add 1 oz of the jalapeno simple syrup, 1 oz of mezcal, 1 oz of triple sec to a shaker with small ice cubes. Shake for 30 secs until combined then pour into a glass. Top with Aranciata Rossa San Pellegrino for flavour and give the drink a quick stir. Cheers!