The Sunday Paper Recommends: Week of May 15

At The Sunday Paper, we want to inspire you to gather at your table—virtually or with friends and family—and open your heart and mind to conversations that will move the needle. After all, the dinner table is where we connect on topics and map out the changes we can all make that’ll really move the needle.

This week, to encourage your conversations, we recommend checking out the following:

To Read:

Sargent Shriver's life was certainly one filled with historic accomplishments, but one of his family's proudest legacies is that of his faith. As a political leader throughout multiple administrations, Shriver was also a devout Catholic who attended daily mass and whose foundation was rooted in his spirituality. To better understand how political work and fervent faith can live in tandem, writers Melchin and Price explored Shriver's speeches and wrote out their powerful findings in their new book, Spiritualizing Politics without Politicizing Religion. We cannot recommend this read highly enough!

To Watch:

I Love That For You is a new, hilariously quirky, uplifting comedy that comes from Saturday Night Live alum Vanessa Bayer and features fellow SNL star Molly Shannon and legendary actress Jenifer Lewis. This gem of a show is at once hysterical and heartwarming and is a great reprieve from a world filled with to-do lists. Check out the show on Showtime.

To Make:

Chef Kwame Onwuachi has made waves in the culinary world as he continues to forge his path forward. A James Beard Award-winning chef and best-selling author of Notes From A Young Black Chef (soon to be adapted into a film), we are anxious to try out this recipe from Onwuachi's new cookbook, My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef. Check out the recipe below!

Jamaican Beef Patty

Origin: Jamaica

Yield: 18 small patties

No other entry in the Jamaican canon of cooking captures the island’s history as tidily, or as deliciously, as the beef patty. Layer upon layer of history and immigration—some forced, others voluntary—can be found in this patty and its pastry casing. English immigrants from Cornwall, where meat pies called pasties are common, are responsible for the invention of the hand pie itself. Indentured Indian laborers, who often served in the houses of the English colonizers, introduced turmeric to the pastry and curry to the filling, as revolutionary an evolution as perspective is to painting. West Africans and their descendants sharpened the flavors with peppers, while Jamaica’s own Scotch bonnet pepper brought additional heat. As Jamaicans moved abroad, they carried these patties with them from Brixton to the Bronx. The yeasty sweet smell of the dough baking rises from the end of the line of the 2 train, in Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, to the other in Wakefield, in the far North Bronx. Dancing images of beef patties tucked into pillows of coco bread got me through endless church services on Sundays because I knew what awaited me, a divine reward.

For the dough and to assemble

1½ cups all- purpose flour, plus more as needed for dusting 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and frozen

1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons ice water

2 eggs

2 tablespoons whole milk

For the filling

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Purée (GGP)

1 tablespoon Jerk Paste

1 tablespoon Green Seasoning

1 tablespoon Peppa Sauce

1 ½ teaspoons Curry Powder

*Note: Kwame makes the above 5 ingredients from scratch, but you can find them at most grocery stores or online. The recipes for each are included in the cookbook.

¼ cup panko breadcrumbs

¼ cup chicken stock

½ pound ground beef

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

For the dough

Prepare the dough by placing the flour, along with the bowl and blade of your food processor, in the freezer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, assemble the food processor, then add the flour, turmeric, and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse to a coarse meal. (The butter should be in dime- sized pieces.) Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the dough begins to come together in large clumps. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until it comes together into a smooth dough. If it’s sticky, sprinkle in a bit more flour; if it doesn’t come together, add a bit more water.

Flatten the dough into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

For the filling

While the dough rests, make the filling: Heat the oil and GGP in a large pan over medium- high heat. Cook, stirring often, until very fragrant and beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the jerk paste, green seasoning, peppa sauce, and curry powder. Cook, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes, until deeply caramelized.

Stir in the breadcrumbs and chicken stock. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are completely hydrated, then add the beef and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook until well browned, crumbly, and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. The liquid should be mostly cooked out but the pan shouldn’t be totally dry. Taste and adjust seasoning, then remove from the heat to cool slightly. Refrigerate until completely cool, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

To assemble

Cut the dough into quarters. Set 1 quarter on a well- floured work surface and return the rest of the dough to the refrigerator. Roll the dough as thinly as possible (1/8 inch) and use a 41/2- inch round cookie cutter to cut it into discs. Set the discs on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, and place a sheet of parchment between each layer of discs. Keep the sheet tray in the refrigerator, and repeat this process until all of the dough is cut, combining and rerolling any leftover scraps until you have 18 discs.

Scoop 1 tablespoon of the filling into the palm of your hand and squeeze firmly to make a small ball. Repeat with the remaining filling— you should have 18 balls total.

Fill a small bowl with water. Place a portion of the filling onto the center of a disc of dough. Using your finger or a pastry brush, wet the edge of the dough halfway around, then fold the dry edge onto the wet edge and press down gently but firmly to seal, pushing out as much air as possible and spreading the filling around the inside of the patty. Crimp the edges with a fork, then place on a parchment paper– lined sheet tray. Repeat until all the patties have been shaped, then freeze for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to bake.

Heat the oven to 410°F. Beat the eggs and milk in a small bowl to make an egg wash. Brush the frozen patties with egg wash, then bake on a sheet tray until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Note: Beef patties are best served immediately, but the dough and the filling may both be made up to 2 days ahead and stored separately in the refrigerator. Unbaked patties may be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw the frozen patties in the refrigerator then bake as described above.

Reprinted with permission from My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein. Copyright © 2022 by Kwame Onwuachi. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.