Cook This: 3 recipes from Good Things, including ‘criminally good’ garlic bread

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Our cookbook of the week is Good Things by cook, teacher and author Samin Nosrat.

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Jump to the recipes:tahini sbagliato, pane criminale and fluffy pork meatballs.

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Samin Nosrat made an indelible mark on the food world with her James Beard Award-winning debut, Salt Fat Acid Heat (Simon & Schuster, 2017). The New York Times bestseller was turned into a Netflix documentary series of the same name and inspired the mastery of Nosrat’s four elements of good cooking.

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It took Nosrat nearly 20 years to conceive of, research and produce Salt Fat Acid Heat — a distillation of all she had learned since she started cooking professionally in 2000 at Alice Waters’ legendary Berkeley, Calif., restaurant, Chez Panisse.

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For her followup, Good Things (Random House, 2025), the Oakland, Calif.-based cook, teacher and author focused on the ritual of cooking and recipes from her “treasure chest” — beloved, time-tested and, perhaps above all else, useful.

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“It would be disingenuous to say I haven’t felt any pressure after having this one huge success,” says Nosrat. “It wasn’t as much a worry about what the public’s response to whatever I would make would be, as much as could I hold up to my own impossible standards.”

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After a conversation with her friend, author Tamar Adler, Nosrat decided that instead of focusing on making another “the thing,” she would try to write “a thing.” Another friend, Hrishikesh Hirway, her co-host on the Home Cooking podcast, further cemented the sentiment, telling her that “perfect is the enemy of the good.”

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The aphorism helped propel Nosrat forward, reminding her that perfection wasn’t the goal — sharing her good things was. “Life is long, and ideally, you get to make many things. Everything doesn’t have to be your life’s work. But I still wanted to make something valuable and special and nice.”

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Good Things, featuring 125 recipes with countless uses, is personal. Some recipes are precise, and others are more flexible. Matrices with photo collages guide cooks through a year of seasonal produce. The recipes continue to reveal themselves to her, and she wishes the same for readers.

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Take her Meyer lemon paste, which she recently added to hummus in place of lemon juice. “It was so good.” Or the accompanying tahini sbagliato, which Nosrat suggests thinning out and drizzling over quartered Little Gem lettuces with marinated roast beets, avocado, flaky salt, lemon juice and crispy fried shallots. You can also use it to marinate chicken thighs for kabob wraps, leave it thick and spread it on sandwiches, and use it as a dip for crudités or chips.

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The idea of including so many uses for the recipes originated with the salad dressings: “good things come in threes” (seven dressings with three ways to use each). Nosrat wanted to find ways to communicate possibilities.

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“Because I worked so hard on those salad dressings, and I love them so much, the idea of just giving you a salad recipe with the dressing made me so sad. And because even if some people realize, ‘Oh, I can put the salad dressing on other stuff,’ there’s an implicit message that these things are paired. The thing I’m trying to teach you is freedom — keys to the kingdom,” says Nosrat, laughing.

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Nosrat opens the book with a quote from Raymond Carver’s short story, A Small, Good Thing, about the death of a child, grieving parents and a baker trying to soothe them: “Eating is a small, good thing in a time like this.” She first read the story during the pandemic and wrote down the sentence in one of the many documents where she compiles quotes.

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“I had a really gruelling several years, emotionally, personally, psychologically, and involving several deaths of people close to me,” says Nosrat. The book had been a struggle. The premise changed several times, and then the quote document resurfaced.

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“I was just like, whether it’s on a big scale or a small scale, it’s always a time like this where this small act of caring can make a difference. And so, it re-seeded itself in my brain.”

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Nosrat’s experiences with grief and depression became the heart of the book. The solace she found in the ritual of cooking and eating in community is as central as the recipes. For the past four years, Nosrat has shared Monday dinners with friends. In Good Things, she features a guide to establishing your own weekly tradition — “an oasis in time.”

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Her previous attempts to create this kind of ritualistic gathering had failed to take root, so Nosrat spent a lot of time contemplating and researching to determine why this one succeeded.

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“The dinners have been this amazing gift in all our lives. And we didn’t realize that it was doing what it was doing, until eventually, at one point, one of us said, ‘Monday dinner is my church.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it kind of is. It’s our religion.’”

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These communal dinners helped Nosrat understand why she cooks and gave her a true sense of belonging. The weekly ritual took on resonance beyond the meals themselves. It helped her feel less lonely and find meaning in her life, a search that was amplified by watching her father die in 2022 after a traumatic brain injury.

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Nosrat had always thought that if she worked hard and made sacrifices, there would eventually be a day when she could reap the benefits. When her dad died, she realized there are no guarantees and reexamined her relationship to work.

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“I truly do derive joy from cooking,” says Nosrat. “In this increasingly digital, AI world, cooking is a source of making for me. It’s a way to make something with my hands and feel useful and create meaning. And then, certainly, if and when I get to share it with people, I’m sharing a piece of something I made and I took time to make with people. And that feels very human and gratifying in a way that that experience is feeling more and more at a premium in our lives.”

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TAHINI SBAGLIATO

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Makes: about 1 cup

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3 tbsp neutral oil
3 tbsp well-stirred tahini
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp water
2 1/2 tsp white miso
2 tsp maple or agave syrup
2 tbsp minced dill
2 tsp minced cilantro
1 tsp minced parsley
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 packed tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 scallion, minced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp (2 g) kosher salt

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Step 1

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In a liquid measuring cup or wide-mouth jar, combine all the ingredients and whisk or puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and more lemon juice as needed. Add up to 1 more tablespoon of water as needed to thin out the dressing to your desired consistency.

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Step 2

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Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 1 week. When using leftover refrigerated dressing, you may need to whisk in a teaspoon or two of water to return it to the right consistency.

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PANE CRIMINALE

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Makes: one 1-lb (454-g) loaf or two 8-oz (227-g) baguettes

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10 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
8 tbsp (4 oz/114 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley leaves, basil leaves and/or chives
1/3 heaping cup finely grated Parmesan
1 tsp garlic powder
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
One 1-lb (454-g) loaf rustic country bread or two 8-oz (227-g) baguettes

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Step 1

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Adjust an oven rack to the centre position and preheat to 400F (200C).

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Step 2

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Mince 8 of the garlic cloves. Gently heat a small saucepan over medium-low and add the oil and minced garlic. Cook, stirring and swirling constantly, until the garlic is tender and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Do not allow it to take on any colour. (If you sense the garlic is starting to brown, remove the pan from the heat, and add a few drops of water.) Pour the garlic and oil into a medium heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.

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Step 3

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Finely grate the remaining 2 garlic cloves. When the minced garlic and oil have cooled to room temperature, stir in the grated garlic, butter, chopped herbs, Parmesan, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.

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Step 4

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Deeply score the bread in 1-inch slices, but don’t cut all the way through. Use an offset spatula to generously spread garlic butter on one side of each slice, as far down as you can reach. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and place it on a sheet pan.

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Step 5

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Bake for 20 minutes (10 minutes for baguettes). Unwrap the top of the loaf and bake until the crust is browned and crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

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Note: You can prepare, wrap and refrigerate the loaf up to 1 day ahead. Bring to room temperature before baking.

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FLUFFY PORK MEATBALLS

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Makes: 16 to 18 meatballs

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1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
3/4 cup whole milk
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb (454-g) ground pork shoulder
1 large egg
1/2 cup packed finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/4 cup packed minced parsley
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
1 1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp (6 g) kosher salt
4 cups tomato sauce
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
Olive oil-fried bread (see note), rubbed with garlic, for serving

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Step 1

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In a medium bowl, combine the panko and milk. Use your hands to massage the liquid into the crumbs, but do not overwork. Set aside to soak until completely absorbed.

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Step 2

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Set a skillet over low heat and add the olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the onion and gently cook, stirring regularly, until soft but without colour, 10 to 12 minutes.

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Step 3

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Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, but don’t let it take on any colour, about 30 seconds. Scrape everything into a large bowl and allow it to cool.

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Step 4

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Once the onion has cooled, add the pork, egg, Parmesan, parsley, fennel seeds, chili flakes, black pepper and salt. Use your hands to combine the mixture well. Add the panko and milk to the pork mixture and gently mix to combine. Avoid overworking or overcompressing the mixture, which can result in gummy or dense meatballs.

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Step 5

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Make a small test patty to test the seasoning. Set a small skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the patty and cook until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, fennel and chili flakes as needed. Repeat with another test patty until the mixture is just right. Cover and refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

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Step 6

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Coat a sheet pan with oil. Use wet hands to gently form the mixture into 16 to 18 meatballs, about 1/4 heaping cup each, avoiding the urge to overcompress! Place the meatballs on the sheet pan, making sure to leave space between them for browning to occur. Chill the formed meatballs for 30 minutes to 1 hour to help them keep their shape.

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Step 7

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Preheat the broiler.

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Step 8

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In a large Dutch oven, combine the tomato sauce and 1 cup water and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low.

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Step 9

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Meanwhile, set the sheet pan in the oven so that the meatballs are 2 to 4 inches from the heat source and broil until browned on top, about 8 minutes. (Browning times will vary considerably depending on broiler strength, so keep a close eye on your meatballs the first time you brown them.)

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Step 10

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Remove the meatballs from the oven and transfer them to the simmering sauce. If needed, add another 1/2 cup water to ensure all the meatballs are partially submerged. Simmer, stirring gently as needed, until the meatballs are cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and leave the meatballs in the warm sauce until ready to serve.

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Step 11

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Serve with olive oil-fried bread lightly swiped with a garlic clove and abundant grated Parmesan.

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Step 12

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Cool, cover and store leftovers in remaining sauce. Refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. Bring to a boil before using.

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Note: To make olive oil-fried bread, set a pan over medium-high heat — cast iron works especially well. Then add enough olive oil to coat the bottom generously — don’t skimp! Lay in a slice or more of bread, leaving ample room between pieces. Once the first side is well coated with oil, flip it and add more oil as needed to saturate the second side. Cook over medium-high heat, rotating and tending to the bread to ensure even browning. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the bread is browned, flip it and repeat on the other side.

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Recipes and images excerpted from Good Things by Samin Nosrat. Copyright ©2025 by Samin Nosrat. Photography by Aya Brackett. Published by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.

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