What We Cook for Each Other

Beloved dishes in our kitchens

Stir-Fried Chicken with Ketchup. Photo: Kate Bittman

Who needs Valentine’s Day when you can do nice things for each other year-round? Here’s a collection of our partners’ favorite meals. We would love to hear yours in the comments.

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Kathleen loves this thing I started making last summer (despite it sounding very much like a winter dish) with lamb breast or neck or riblets — those kind of cuts — greens, root vegetables (primarily carrots), onions, almonds or walnuts, prunes and/or dried apricots. Its spices are sweet-ish: cinnamon, saffron, allspice, mild chile. The greens have to cook until they melt; spinach is the obvious choice but if you can lay your hands on some gongura (a green from India that translates as red sorrel because it’s sour – though I doubt it’s related to sorrel botanically). You can add sweet potatoes, though they’ll likely fall apart. I do this all in the pressure cooker, in stages: First the lamb (in chicken stock if I have it), with some onion, carrot, celery. Then I cool that and take the lamb off the bones and toss those first vegetables. Then I do the greens, carrots, onions, spices; last the nuts and dried fruit and sweet potatoes if I’m using them. All of this is flexible. I suppose it goes without saying that I like this also! — Mark

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I have many go-to’s, but I think the one that — after years — remains Nick's favorite is Mark's Stir-Fried Chicken with Ketchup. We even made up a song about it at one point. I have yet to encourage Holden to try it — we are still stuck in the dinner timing/bedtime struggle — but I bet if I left out the cayenne (IT'S SPICY!!!), even he would like it. AND Nick likes it so much that even he makes it on occasion now, which is a real win. — Kate

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Rick loves when I cook fresh wheat noodles from 99 Ranch, blanch some bok choy, mince some garlic. Next, I add Lani's Farm Korean chile powder, then drizzle with screaming hot oil — can you smell the sizzling garlic? — for a version of Xi'an Famous Foods’ hot oil noodles. He likes anything in the Xi’an or Sichuan repertoire that I make but for some reason, this is the one he could eat every day.  — Melissa

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Sean digs the stuff I could buy but don't: Everyday staples like granola (mine is oven-toasted muesli with coconut and a rotation of spices, dried fruits, and nuts), whole-wheat sourdough sandwich loaves (our pace is one every five days, with crumbs and croutons from any leftovers), and ranch for his lunchtime crudite. We used to grow the vegetables ourselves in Kansas, but now I just cut them into sticks. — Kerri

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Rice bowls make Zoraida so happy. Mine are quick — so I don’t take over the kitchen for too long — and healthy: I always make them without meat, which suits her appetite. I roast sweet potatoes until I smell their caramel toasting on the sheet pan, make a pot of white rice in stock, and simmer canned black beans with toasted cumin seeds, garlic, paprika, tomatoes, and peppers. Before serving, I quickly fry, smash, and re-fry plantains for tostones, and finish the bowls with avocado and herbs. When she walks into the kitchen and finds me making this instead of some multi-day meat preparation, she is always relieved. She lets out a long sigh, gives me a hug and a kiss, and then a cue: “Thank you, baby. I could eat this every day.” — Mike