Hope you had a great week! As you know, Doug and I just got back from Italy and had the best time. We loved the lifestyle so much that we’re already planning another trip. We just couldn’t get enough. One of my favorite parts, of course, was all the incredible pasta.

Inspired by the meals we had in Puglia, I’m sharing four of my favorite summer pasta recipes. I don’t know if everyone thinks of pasta as a summer food, but I’ve always loved it this time of year, especially when tomatoes and fresh herbs are at their peak. (Of course, heartier dishes like baked ziti or lasagna are better saved for the cooler, cozier months.)

The first is my mom’s summer pasta. I used to beg her to make it when I was a kid. I especially love it in the summer because the sauce requires no cooking: you simply toss together chopped tomatoes, basil, toasted pine nuts, little cubes of Parmesan, garlic, and olive oil. Then you add the hot pasta and let all the flavors meld together. It’s so easy and delicious, and I hope you give it a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Mom’s Summer Pasta

This recipe is one of my childhood favorites—I used to beg my mom to make it! You pour the hot pasta onto a no-cook sauce and all the flavors meld together.

Summer Pasta

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My Favorite Summer Pastas 🍝

Before I dive into the recipes, I wanted to share Alison Roman’s fantastic YouTube video on pantry pasta. I love Alison. She’s someone I’ve looked up to for years because she’s an incredibly talented cook with such a unique point of view. She’s also hilarious. I’ve learned so much from watching her YouTube videos, and I always recommend them if you’re looking for approachable recipes and techniques. Alison also moderated my New York City book event, which happened to be the first stop on my book tour. It was such a pinch-me moment to be in conversation with one of my cooking idols.

I recently rewatched Alison’s pantry pasta video and was reminded of what a great tutorial it is for making pasta on the fly with whatever you have in your kitchen. My biggest takeaway is this: If you’re making pasta with pantry staples like garlic, shallots, onions, herbs, red pepper flakes, and olive oil, you’ll probably need more than you think. For example, you’ll likely need much more olive oil than you expect to create a silky sauce that coats every strand of pasta. Alison calls this philosophy “more is more.”

Another thing: Alison loves anchovies, and I wholeheartedly agree that they add incredible depth and complexity. Plus, they melt completely into the sauce as they cook. If you don’t have a tin of anchovies, you can use fish sauce instead since it’s made with anchovies and gives you a similar umami flavor. (It won’t taste fishy, I promise.) And if you don’t eat fish, capers are a great substitute. They also add a wonderful briny, bright flavor.

Like Alison, I love using garlic and shallots. If tomatoes are in season, I’ll throw those in too, along with lots of chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice and zest at the end.

One of the things I love most about pasta is that you can make something incredibly delicious with whatever you have on hand. Just don’t be afraid to be generous with the mix-ins. Pasta on its own is pretty bland, so it can handle a lot of bold flavors. Worst case, you can always dial it back next time, but I think you’ll be surprised by how much it takes to build a really flavorful sauce.

Anyway, here are a few more pastas I’ve been making on repeat this summer:

Summer Cherry Tomato Bucatini

This one was inspired by Alison’s pantry pasta method. It’s got a generous amount of garlic and shallots, along with fish sauce for that signature depth of flavor. I’ve also added cherry tomatoes, since they’re in season, plus lots of chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice for a bright finish. It’s one of those dishes you won’t be able to stop eating.

You can find the recipe here.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

An Italian classic, and the ultimate pantry pasta because it’s made with just a handful of ingredients. As with any pantry pasta, it’s important to be generous with the olive oil and garlic, then finish cooking the pasta in the sauce so it absorbs all those savory flavors. You can easily double the spaghetti to serve more people, just be sure to double everything else too.

You can find the recipe here.

The Best Fresh Pesto Pasta

Of course, I had to include my favorite homemade pesto pasta. I fell in love with pesto in high school. I played competitive water polo through my first year of college before deciding to quit (my parents weren’t thrilled, lol, though they understood). In high school, we traveled to Liguria, the region of Italy famous for pesto, to play against Italian teams. In the evenings, we’d have these incredible dinners where they’d bring out plates of pesto pasta, usually rotini, as the primi (first course). Then we’d have a secondo (second course) with fish or meat. The pesto was so delicious, and I’ve loved it ever since.

It’s such a beautiful thing to make in the summer, when you can find big bunches of fresh basil at the farmers market or grocery store. It’s also delicious served at room temperature, making it perfect for picnics or barbecues. I recently brought it to Cinespia, a really cool outdoor movie series in LA where you watch films in a cemetery.

One pro tip for the pesto: you could toast the pine nuts before blending them. Put them in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they’re fragrant and golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as they can burn quickly.

You can find the recipe here.

I hope these recipes inspire you to make lots of pasta this summer or to throw together your own pantry pasta with whatever you already have in your kitchen.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Maxine

Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you had a great week! I’m so excited to share all my recommendations from our trip to Puglia, in southern Italy. As you probably know, Doug and I love to travel, especially to places we’ve never been before. We’re always drawn to destinations that feel a little more off the beaten path rather than the major tourist hubs. This summer, I wanted to return to Italy since it had been a few years, and I’d been craving al dente pasta. Puglia had been on our radar for a couple of years. I’d heard good things from friends and always wanted to visit. Plus, we knew the food would be amazing.

Whenever we plan a trip, we always think about the food first. Doug and I have a saying: “If the food is good, nothing else really matters.” And I honestly believe that. Even if there isn’t much sightseeing, I’ll have the best time if the meals are great. The opposite is also true. If the food is disappointing, it can really affect the whole trip.

Doug did so much research and planning for this vacation, which I really appreciated. He’s especially good at finding wonderful hotels. And the food, of course, was incredible. Italy really is the place for perfectly cooked pasta, and I was happy to eat it for both lunch and dinner every day.

Below, I’m sharing all of our Puglia recommendations, including the small coastal towns we visited, our favorite pasta dishes, and where we found the most beautiful locally made ceramics.

First, here’s a recipe for creamy strawberry chia pudding I made last week. It’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup and fresh strawberries and tastes like dessert, but it’s packed with fiber, protein, and omega-3s. It’s perfect for breakfast, a snack, or whenever you’re craving something sweet. I hope you give it a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Strawberry Chia Pudding

This creamy strawberry pudding is packed with protein, fiber, and antioxidants. It tastes like dessert, but also makes for a great breakfast or afternoon snack.

Healthy Strawberry Chia Pudding

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Our Trip to Puglia ✈️

Puglia is a region in southern Italy. If you look at a map, it’s the heel of the boot. It’s known for its beautiful little towns along the coast, and we loved that it felt so authentic, with mostly Italian and European tourists rather than lots of Americans. Unlike the Amalfi Coast, which I’ve visited before and found a bit glitzy and catered toward tourists, Puglia had a much more local feel. The beach clubs and restaurants were reasonably priced, and there was so much to explore. We stuck to the eastern coast this time, but on our next trip, we’d love to stay longer and drive along the western side. If you go, definitely rent a car, since you’ll be driving between towns and beaches.

Getting on the local schedule ☕

As I mentioned, Doug did a ton of research before this trip. When we travel, we’re less interested in going to every sight and more interested in living like locals. We love grabbing coffee at a neighborhood café, finding a hole-in-the-wall spot for lunch, spending time at the beach, or hanging by the pool. We’re pretty low-key travelers.

One thing Doug looked into was what a typical day in Italy looks like. Most people start with a cappuccino in the morning. (Coffee with milk is generally for the morning since it’s more filling.) Lunch is usually around 2 p.m., followed by an espresso.

In the afternoon, there’s a riposo, a 30- to 40-minute nap, then another espresso, aperitivo hour (cocktails), and finally dinner around 9 p.m. Knowing the local schedule helped us time our meals so the restaurants had a nice atmosphere when we arrived. Besides, most places didn’t even open for dinner until 7 p.m.

Funnily enough, we fully committed to the schedule every day, including the riposo and multiple espressos. In the States, coffee sometimes makes me anxious, so I usually drink matcha instead. But somehow the Italian espresso made me feel amazing. We were thriving!

Where we stayed 🛎️

The region in Italy is known for its masserie, traditional farmhouse estates that have been converted into hotels, bed and breakfasts, and guesthouses.

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re having a great week! Doug and I had the most wonderful time in Puglia and Mykonos. We ate so many delicious things, and I can’t wait to tell you more about the trip in my next newsletter.

Right before we flew to Europe, we hosted a small dinner party at our house in LA. Our friend Adam was in town, so we got together with our friends Brad and Andrew for the weekend. On Friday, we watched one of the World Cup games at a bar, then headed back to the house to relax. At the last minute, we decided to grill steaks for dinner.

Adam showed us the secret ingredient he uses to season steak, which we all loved, and I whipped up some garlic bread to throw on the grill. The whole meal, including three sides, came together with less than an hour of prep. Usually when I’m hosting, I spend most of the day grocery shopping and cooking, so it was nice to do something a little more spontaneous and low-key.

Below, I’m sharing our full menu, along with our favorite cut of steak and my method for making garlic bread on the grill. Everything turned out so well, and it was a great reminder that some of the best dinner parties come together on the fly.

First, here’s a recipe for a crispy chicken Caesar wrap my mom and I recently made. We reimagined the classic by spreading the chicken directly onto the tortilla, coating it in panko, and cooking it until golden brown and crispy. It pairs so well with the bright, creamy Caesar salad. We hope you give it a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked These Past Two Weeks↓

Crispy chicken Caesar wrap

We reimagined the chicken Caesar wrap by spreading ground chicken onto a tortilla, coating it in panko, and cooking it until crispy. It’s delicious paired with the creamy Caesar salad.

Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap

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A Last-Minute Summer Steak Grilling Party

Once we’d settled on the menu, Doug and Andrew headed to our local butcher, McCall’s, to pick up steaks and a few missing ingredients. I decided to make my Parmesan roasted potato halves, which I shared on Instagram a few months ago. They’re so easy: just cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and roast them cut side down on a parchment-lined sheet pan for about 45 minutes. Then sprinkle grated Parmesan directly onto the parchment paper where the potatoes were roasting and place them back on, cut side down. The cheese crisps up against the pan and potatoes, creating the most incredible cheesy crust. I serve them with garlic-chive butter and sour cream, which paired perfectly with the steak.

Once the potatoes were in the oven, Adam fired up the grill and took charge of the steaks. He usually buys filet mignon, but McCall’s only had skirt steak and New York strip. First he seasoned them generously with salt and pepper, then brushed on some honey to help caramelize the outside and add just a little sweetness. They turned out fantastic. Once we sat down to eat, we asked everyone to pick their favorite cut, and most of us chose the skirt steak. I feel like it’s such an underrated cut. It has so much flavor and is especially great on the grill. (If you don’t have a grill, it also cooks beautifully on the stovetop. Two of my favorite skirt-steak recipes from the cookbook are the Asian Marinated Skirt Steak on page 30 and the Steak Chimichurri Bowls on page 105.)

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re having a great week! Doug and I are headed to Europe this weekend. We’ll be in Puglia, Italy, for a few days, then Mykonos for a friend’s 40th birthday.

A quick heads up that I’ll be taking next week off from the newsletter for the holiday week, but I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday, July 10. Thank you so much for being here 🤍.

I had so much fun cooking with my mom while she was in town. We made eight recipes, including the incredible cherry pie that I’m sharing with you today. It feels so summery and would be perfect for July 4th. I’ll walk you through every step, from making your own crust (it’s so easy!) to the secret ingredient that makes the fruit filling even more delicious.

First, here’s a recipe for healthy white bean avocado tostadas. Crunchy tostadas are topped with a creamy, tangy white bean and avocado salad, along with plenty of parsley, red onion, and a bright lemon vinaigrette. They’re so fresh and delicious, and I hope you give them a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Healthy White Bean Avocado Tostadas

Healthy White Bean Avocado Tostadas

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The Best Pie I’ve Ever Made 🍒

My mom and I are such cherry enthusiasts. We love them so much that the moment they show up at the grocery store, we text each other. We’ve been snacking on cherries nonstop this summer.

A few weeks ago, when my brother Jackson was visiting from San Diego, we were relaxing at home on a Saturday and I thought, I have so many cherries, why don’t I make a cherry pie? I’d made chicken pot pie the week before, so I already had a store-bought crust in the fridge to speed things up. I pitted all the cherries myself (I don’t have a pitter) and made a simple crumble topping since I only had one crust. My brother and Doug both loved the pie, and while it was a good first attempt, I felt there was still room to improve the crust and filling.

When my mom came to town, I asked on my Instagram story what recipes people wanted to see, and several people requested desserts. We decided to revisit the cherry pie with a few adjustments from my first test.

First, we made the crust from scratch. My mom usually makes hers in a food processor, but I remembered a tip from Alison Roman, who mixes hers by hand. You combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then work small cubes of cold butter into the flour with your fingertips. Alison says that when you flatten the butter between your fingers, you create the flaky layers that make pie crust so good. Once the mixture has a sandy texture with some larger flat pieces of butter throughout, you add ice-cold water until the dough comes together. We formed it into two discs, chilled them for a few hours, and rolled them out. It was easy and completely worth the effort for such a flaky, buttery crust.

For the filling, we went back and forth on whether to use fresh or frozen cherries. In the end, we chose frozen because pitting cherries is a bit of a pain and fresh ones can be expensive. Frozen cherries also mean you can make this pie year-round. Since the fruit gets cooked anyway, we figured it would still be delicious. We used dark sweet cherries and cooked them down on the stove before assembling the pie.

To thicken the juices, we added cornstarch. Since neither of us likes desserts that are overly sweet, we used just ⅓ cup of sugar for 6 cups of cherries. We also added fresh lemon juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract. You only need ¼ teaspoon of almond extract because it’s quite potent, but it’s the secret ingredient that makes the filling taste extra special and really enhances the cherry flavor. We couldn’t stop licking the spoon! The filling was perfectly balanced: a little tart from the lemon, not too sweet, and packed with cherry flavor. At that point, I knew the pie was going to be fantastic.

Next, we poured the filling into the crust and dotted the top with small pieces of cold butter. As the pie bakes, the butter melts into the fruit, creating a rich layer that melds beautifully with the crust.

We decided to decorate the top with a lattice design. You cut the second round of dough into even strips, then lay half of them across the filling, leaving a little space between each one. Next, weave the remaining strips through, just like a basket. Of course, if you want to keep things simple, you can lay the whole round of dough on top and cut a few vents for the steam to escape.

We started the pie in a hot 400ºF oven to help set the crust, then reduced the temperature to 375ºF for the remainder of the bake. Be sure to let the pie cool before slicing into it, otherwise the filling will be runny.

We served it with vanilla ice cream, and I’m not kidding when I say it’s the best pie I’ve ever made. I enjoyed the leftovers for days.

My mom and I were both thrilled with how it turned out. We think it would be perfect for July 4th or any other summer gathering, and we can’t wait for you to give it a try! Recipe below:

Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Love,

Maxine

Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

Cherry Pie

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Ingredients

Pie crust

• 2½ cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 sticks salted butter, very cold and cut into ½-inch cubes

• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 6 cups (30 ounces) frozen pitted dark sweet cherries

• ⅓ cup sugar, or more as needed

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon almond extract

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more as needed

• 1 tablespoon cold salted butter, cut into small pieces

Egg wash

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions:

1. Make the pie crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and toss to coat in the flour. Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the flour until the mixture has a sandy texture with some pea-sized pieces and some larger flat pieces of butter throughout.

2. Add 6 tablespoons of the ice water and gently mix with a fork or your hands until the dough starts to come together. If it still feels dry and crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, just until the dough holds together when squeezed.

3. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and gently press it together. Divide in half, shape each half into a disc, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

4. Make the filling: To a medium pot, add the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the cherries release their juices and the mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly, 8 to 12 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice. Taste and add more sugar and/or lemon juice as needed. (This will depend on the sweetness of the cherries.)

5. Remove from the heat and let the filling cool until just warm or room temperature. The filling will continue to thicken as it cools.

6. Preheat the oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one disc of dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish and gently press into the bottom and sides. Spoon the cooled cherry filling into the crust and dot the top with the butter.

7. Roll out the second disc of dough and place it over the filling or cut it into strips and make a lattice. Trim and crimp the edges.

8. Make the egg wash: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Brush the top crust with the egg wash. Cut a few vents in the top if not using a lattice.

9. Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until the crust is deeply golden, 30 to 40 minutes.

10. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing, or until the filling is fully set.

Prep time: 45 minutes | Total time: 2 hours, plus 1 hour for chilling the crust and 2 hours for cooling the pie

Serves 8

Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you had a great week! My mom was just in town, and we packed so much cooking into three days. We’re really excited about the recipes we developed. Sometimes we have a harder time getting inspired. During her last visit, there were a couple of recipes that just didn’t turn out great. My mom likes to joke that if a recipe isn’t perfect, she never sees it again. (It’s true that I only share recipes I’m 100% confident will be delicious in your kitchen.) This time, though, everything was a hit.

We’ll often go out for dinner to change things up, but during this visit we mostly ate what we’d been making because it was all so good. On my mom’s last night, we treated ourselves to hot pot, our favorite way to celebrate.

Since I had my mom with me, I thought it would be fun to interview her about some of her favorite recipes. Today I’m sharing our conversation, including what she likes to cook for guests, what she brings to potlucks, and what she eats when she doesn’t feel like cooking.

First, here’s a recipe for a summer cherry tomato bucatini we made last week. It’s packed with shallot, lots of garlic, parsley, sweet cherry tomatoes, and a tablespoon of fish sauce, which brings out the tomatoes’ natural umami (I promise the final dish doesn’t taste fishy!). For that glossy sauce that clings to every strand of pasta, be sure to finish cooking the pasta in the skillet with some pasta water. The starches create a beautiful, silky sauce.

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Summer Cherry Tomato Bucatini

The secret ingredient to this tomato-shallot-parsley pasta is a tablespoon of fish sauce. It brings out the umami in the tomatoes and doesn’t taste fishy at all!

Summer Cherry Tomato Bucatini

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Q&A With My Mom: Her Favorite Recipes for Every Occasion

Maxine: Mom, what are your favorite recipes to make for guests?

Ann: When we have people over, I love making lasagna, but then Dad doesn’t think we should serve pasta to guests. He thinks it’s not right. So we’ll often do steak, one of his favorites, and if we’re having steak, I end up making twice-baked potatoes and creamed spinach. Because I don’t want to serve steak with just a salad.

I always make appetizers, too. If steak is the main dish, I’ll serve baked egg rolls since they’re vegetarian. And we love wontons, of course. If it’s a special occasion, I’ll fry them, but if we have guests who are watching their weight, I’ll just boil them.

I also like making potstickers filled with chicken or pork. If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll make the dough from scratch, but most of the time I use store-bought wrappers to keep things easy.

And I almost always make a big Caesar salad because Dad loves having that on the side. Usually he grills the steaks and I do everything else, including the dishes!

(Most of these recipes are in my cookbook! Wontons on page 192, lasagna on page 167, potstickers on page 172, and Caesar salad on page 239.)

Maxine: What’s your favorite recipe to bring to a potluck?

Ann: It depends on what people want. I normally bring appetizers because that’s what everyone asks for. Usually it’s similar to what I make when I’m hosting. I’ll bring boiled wontons and sauce them up when I get there with lots of scallions, ginger, and sesame oil. Then I stick toothpicks in them so they’re easy to pick up. That one’s always popular.

Sometimes I bring baked egg rolls because they travel well, or rice paper dumplings. I always give my friends a few options and ask what they’d like me to make.

If I have to bring a salad, it’s usually my Mediterranean chopped salad. That one is especially great in the summer and always a big hit.

Maxine: What about when you don’t feel like cooking?

Ann: I go to a restaurant. (laughs) Or we’ll order pizza. We’ll pick up a big pizza and reheat it on the pizza stone at 500ºF. Dad loves pizza so much that we probably do that once a week.

Maxine: What do you make when you want something cozy and comforting?

Ann: I love mapo tofu, jjigae (in my cookbook on page 68) ... but that’s not Dad’s comfort food. His is chicken cutlet or chicken Parmesan. If I ask him what he wants, he almost always says, “Well, if you don’t mind, I’d love chicken Parmesan.” I can mouth the words before he says them!

Maxine: Sometimes I’m on the phone with you and say, “I’m going to guess what Dad wants for dinner,” and I’m probably right 95% of the time.

Ann: Because if we’ve already had chicken Parm...

Maxine: Then he’s going to want meatloaf...

Ann: Or chicken pot pie (in my cookbook on page 70). He’s really into protein and not as many carbs, whereas I love carby things like pasta.

Maxine: Do you have a summer staple?

Ann: We all love the summer pasta.

Maxine: That one is so good! It reminds me of childhood.

Ann: It’s a fun one because it’s one of the few times Dad actually eats pasta.

Maxine: What about the recipes that taught me to cook? Which ones are your favorites?

Ann: The curry chicken (page 67), the potstickers (page 172), the wontons (page 192), and Nana’s broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken (page 79). Dad hasn’t asked for that one in a while. Maybe we need to remind him about it…

Maxine: I remember watching you make creamed spinach, and the béchamel sauce looked so intimidating. Then one day I stood beside you and you said, “It’s actually pretty easy!” You showed me exactly how to do it, and it really was easy.

That’s one reason I included QR codes throughout my cookbook for techniques that might seem intimidating but are actually very approachable. If you scan the code, you’ll get a step-by-step video tutorial.

Ann: Surprise, surprise, Dad loves creamed spinach. I guess we tend to eat a lot of things he loves. (laughs)

Maxine: Usually it’s you asking Dad what he wants for dinner. We joke that we’re personal chefs and our husbands are our clients. We’ll call each other and ask, “What does your client want to eat tonight?” Then we’ll respond, “My client requested this dish...”

Ann: And then we report back: “The client really loved dinner tonight!” or “The client requested chicken again.”

Maxine: We are not happy when our client isn’t thrilled.

Ann: They’re afraid to say anything that isn’t 100% complimentary.

Maxine: What’s your favorite thing that I cook?

Ann: (Silence.) I’m so bamboozled by everything we’ve been cooking this week! We’re always making the same recipes and trying new ones. Actually, the chicken red curry you made was so delicious, and it was something I’d never made before. (Recipe coming soon!)

Maxine: Thanks so much, Mom. I love you!

Wishing you all a relaxing and wonderful weekend!

Love,

Maxine

Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re having a great week!

I’ve been having so much fun cooking from my own cookbook lately. It still feels a little surreal to see all of the recipes in print. The other night, I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner, so I flipped through the book and landed on the skillet chicken pot pie (page 70). It turned out so delicious! I always use store-bought pie crust (Pillsbury is my go-to) to keep things easy.

Even when I’m not filming, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen trying recipes from my book and experimenting with new ideas. One recent source of inspiration was Samin Nosrat’s New York Times Cooking video about salad dressings. She makes three dressings from her newest cookbook, including one from Via Carota, a restaurant in NYC.

I’ve never been to Via Carota, but I’ve always wanted to go. It’s notoriously difficult to get a reservation, and it’s a favorite among celebrities, including Taylor Swift. I’ve also heard so much about their iconic green salad, which only made me more curious. Back in 2019, Samin wrote about this salad and called it the best in the world. After watching her video, I felt like I had to give it a try myself.

Below, I’m sharing my thoughts, along with a few tips I picked up from Samin for making a perfectly dressed, restaurant-worthy salad at home.

First, here’s a recipe for healthy rice paper dumpling rolls that I recently made. They’re a spin on my mom’s delicious rice paper dumplings, with the same healthy filling of shrimp, chicken, and plenty of veggies. This version is a little easier and quicker, though. Just roll up the filling and pan-fry until golden and crispy.

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Healthy rice paper dumpling rolls

This is a new spin on my mom’s famous rice paper dumplings. You make a healthy filling with chicken, shrimp, and veggies, then wrap it up in rice paper and pan-fry until golden and crispy.

Healthy Rice Paper Dumpling Rolls

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I Tried the “Best Green Salad in the World”

Last Monday morning, I was on the phone with my mom when my dad jumped in to say that I needed to film our family recipe for ribs because they’re so good. Naturally, I decided to make them that very afternoon.

Since the ribs are obviously pretty rich, I wanted something light and refreshing to balance out the meal, so it felt like the perfect opportunity to make the Via Carota salad using Samin’s instructions. I had already ordered aged sherry vinegar, the one ingredient I didn’t have in my pantry.

The method was fairly similar to how I usually make vinaigrette, but the ratios were different, and there was one surprising addition: warm water. Just a tablespoon helps mellow the vinegar’s acidity. I was also surprised by how little vinegar the recipe called for. I tend to make dressings with a much higher vinegar-to-oil ratio, whereas this one uses just 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of vinegar to 1 cup of olive oil. (Though you can always add a little more at the end if you prefer extra acidity.)

The dressing also includes finely chopped shallot, which is rinsed under cold water to remove some of its sharpness. To help everything emulsify, there are two types of mustard: Dijon and whole-grain. Then there’s some grated garlic and salt and pepper.

Like Samin, I tasted the dressing by dipping lettuce leaves directly into it. My first thought was that it was much less tart than the vinaigrettes I usually make. But the more I ate, the more I liked it. I kept reaching for another leaf of lettuce. Instead of being super punchy, it has a mellow acidity, a hint of sweetness from honey, and a savory depth that makes it incredibly easy to eat. Even though I probably would have added more vinegar if I were developing the recipe myself, it was fascinating to try what many chefs consider the gold standard.

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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