Mise en Place #0008: A Year of Favorites and Jamaican Recipes Galore

Have you ever met someone who doesn’t believe in favorites? The ones who prefer to quantify each like or interest instead of using the label of “favorite?” Well, I can confidently tell you that the Serious Eats staff are the exact opposite type of people. We say our opinions with our chest—when we love something, we LOVE something, and we’ll make sure you know about it. So our year-end roundups are always a fun time around the office, where we all get to wax poetic about our favorite versions of all the things that make up this lovely little food website: recipes, images, gear, and more. This week, we kicked things off with the team’s seven favorite recipes (we should note here that every recipe we published is our favorite because it’s a Serious Eats recipe, but these seven lingered just a little longer in our brains and our kitchens this year), which you can read more about below. Also in this week’s Mise en Place: a look at the latest additions to our Jamaican cuisine guide, as well as Serious Feats, a new social nonsense video series we debuted. Dive in!!!

A Year of Favorites

The entire team made it to December with all digits intact, which is surprising given how most of the kitchen items we bought for ourselves were tools for slicing and shredding. Read about our favorite purchases here and maybe grab yourself a lil early holiday present—as a lil December treat, you know? 

This week, we also published our favorite recipes from 2023. Ceviche, chai, buffalo chicken salad—you name it, we loved it, and we wouldn’t shut up about it. Stay tuned for next week when we’ll be rounding up your favorite recipes, the ones you clicked and commented on the most in 2023. (Hint about our most visited new recipe: Go Birds)

The Latest Leah's Favorite of '23: Tahdig How to achieve the delicious, buttery, golden, crunchy layer formed at the very bottom of a traditional Persian-style steamed rice pot.

rating:

cook time: 3 hrs 35 mins

serves: 6 to 8

view recipe

Committed to the Bit

We launched the first video in a new social series this week called Serious Feats (a great name, please clap!!). The series is a Super Serious, Super Intense, Super Important head-to-head competition where we ask staff members to do various kitchen tasks and see who really has a competitive streak. (It’s Daniel, obviously it’s Daniel). The first edition is below and on Instagram and while Daniel takes the definitive W in this one, watch out, because Leah’s got some tricks up her sleeves!!!

Jamaican Food for Every Meal

I get the pleasure of reading and adding photos to every recipe we publish as part of my job, and it’s been so exciting to see all the amazing recipes from Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau go live on the site. This week we published their rundown, coconut milk, stew peas, and roasted breadfruit recipes. While reading about how rundown is a traditional Jamaican breakfast dish, I decided to imagine what a full day’s menu would look like using just the Rousseau’s recipes (if I ever find the will or kitchen space to accomplish such a feast). Here’s where I landed (though it was so hard to choose!!):

• Breakfast: Rundown
• Lunch: Escovitch Fish
• Afternoon Snack: Pickled Herring
• Dinner: Pan Chicken
• Dessert: Banana Fritters
  

Jamaican

Jamaican Pickled Herring

A spicy and savory snack, this classic Jamaican dish of salted herring and vegetables pairs beautifully with crackers, creamy avocado, and a glass of dark rum.

cook time: 2 hrs 20 mins

serves: 4 to 6

view recipe