Our cookbook of the week is Whats up, House Cooking by Ham El-Waylly.
Soar to the recipes: ‘ Higher Than Boursin ‘ dip, focaccia baladi , and pork chops and tomatillo nam pla prik.
Ham El-Waylly discovered inspiration for his cookbook debut, Whats up, House Cooking (Clarkson Potter, 2026), in his late mom’s pocket book, with “bleached-blonde-era Madonna” on the duvet and all her favorite recipes inside.
“It was the core motivator for writing the ebook,” says El-Waylly, a chef, restaurant marketing consultant, recipe developer and video creator primarily based in New York Metropolis. “I’d fully forgotten about residence cooking and the way highly effective it was emotionally. It’s not simply placing meals on the desk at residence. It means much more, particularly if you’re making issues which have numerous emotional weight to them.”
Born and raised in Doha, Qatar, with a mom from Bolivia and a father from a village exterior Cairo, El-Waylly attracts on a spread of influences in Whats up, House Cooking. As knowledgeable chef, he had discovered tremendous eating to be all-consuming. It took the compelled break of the pandemic for him to embrace residence cooking and revisit the meals of his upbringing.
Studying his mom’s pocket book reawakened the need to cook dinner at residence and made him understand how significant it may be. “It’s essentially the most highly effective approach to reminisce. I learn by means of that greater than I look by means of any picture album or the rest, simply because the reminiscences of the issues in there are so vivid that I really feel prefer it reawakens reminiscences higher than any picture can.”
A return to residence cooking additionally concerned placing a cease to sure restaurant habits, reminiscent of “making means, means, means an excessive amount of meals.” He and his spouse, Sohla El-Waylly , a fellow culinary creator, author and video producer, have a toddler, which has deepened El-Waylly’s understanding of residence cooking even additional.
“Ever since having my daughter, now, I actually perceive what residence cooking is, as a result of it’s a very completely different ballgame. There are three meals that have to occur, it doesn’t matter what, every single day. They should include a specific amount of protein and fibre, and also you want to have the ability to do it with a toddler yelling at you within the nook.”
The primary recipe El-Waylly made out of his mom’s pocket book was her cheese empanadas — one of many few Bolivian recipes she might make with native substances in Doha. He remembers that she would make them when she was homesick, as a approach to join along with her household and tradition again residence.
“Each time we’d come residence, and we’d see a basket of the cheese empanadas on the desk, it was scrumptious, and it was nice, nevertheless it meant much more than that. And so, I’ve began making them, and I hope that at some point, when my daughter’s feeling homesick, she will be able to take a look at a basket of empanadas that she made and really feel consolation.”
That includes his influences in Whats up, House Cooking, and having individuals reply positively, has given El-Waylly a brand new appreciation for a way he grew up consuming. “I’ve all the time been pleased with the place I grew up, and of all of the completely different cultures that make me, me. However I by no means actually thought concerning the meals facet of that loads, which is bizarre as a result of I take into consideration meals on a regular basis. Now, since penning this ebook and since seeing the optimistic response to all of the dishes in there, it’s actually heartwarming.”
BETTER THAN BOURSIN
Makes: 2 cups
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup labneh, room temperature
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
1/4 cup chopped dill
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Kosher salt
Additional-virgin olive oil, for garnish
Step 1
In a medium bowl, add the cream and whisk till you’ve mushy peaks (when the peaks of the cream droop solely on the tip if you elevate your whisk). Watch out to not overwhip. Gently whisk the labneh into the cream in three additions, till absolutely mixed. Utilizing a spatula, fold within the parsley, dill, chives, garlic, and a pinch of salt till evenly distributed. Style and regulate the seasoning with extra salt as wanted.
Step 2
Switch to a bowl to serve and garnish with a drizzle of oil on high.
P.S. If herbs aren’t your factor, you may season the whipped labneh in any course. You possibly can even sweeten it with honey or maple syrup and fold in some vanilla and lemon zest. Serve it with graham crackers for an immediate cheesecake-ish dip.
FOCACCIA BALADI
Makes: 1 loaf
Scant 3 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups (200 g) complete wheat bread flour
1 tbsp (15 g) extra-virgin olive oil
4 1/2 tsp (15 g) kosher salt
Scant 2 1/2 tsp (8 g) immediate yeast
For baking:
2/3 cup (160 g) extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp (55 g) wheat germ
Flaky salt, for sprinkling
Step 1
In a big container with a tight-fitting lid or in a big bowl, mix the flours, oil, kosher salt, yeast and a couple of 2/3 cups (630 g) room-temperature water. Stir with a spatula till no dry spots of flour stay. Cowl the container with the lid or the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes.
Step 2
After 20 minutes, uncover the dough. Rub a few of the oil in your fingers and place them beneath one nook of the dough. Carry and pull the dough to the alternative nook. Repeat with all 4 corners. Repeat the method with all 4 corners yet one more time. Cowl the dough once more and let it sit for 20 minutes. Repeat this course of folding all of the corners twice each 20 minutes) three extra occasions for a complete of five full rounds (the entire relaxation time is 1 hour 40 minutes).
Step 3
Place the dough within the fridge and let it sit for two complete days. (I do know. I’m sorry. Come on this focaccia journey with me.)
Step 4
Pour 1/2 cup of the oil right into a 9 x 13-inch metallic baking pan and swirl to coat, ensuring to get all the perimeters. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the wheat germ alongside the underside of the pan and slide the chilly dough on high. Press the dough down and outward with stiff fingertips to fill the pan as a lot as attainable. (There could also be some empty corners.) Cowl the pan with a towel and depart it in a heat place to proof till it’s barely poofy and has filled the pan, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 500F (260C).
Step 6
Use stiff fingers to press into the dough, creating uniform dimples throughout the floor. Prime with the remaining oil and the remaining 2 tablespoons wheat germ. Season with a sprinkle of flaky salt. Bake the focaccia till the highest is deeply golden brown, charred in spots, and crunchy all alongside the bottom, about half-hour.
Step 7
Switch to a wire rack to relaxation for at the least 20 minutes earlier than slicing and serving.
PORK CHOPS AND TOMATILLO NAM PLA PRIK
Serves: 3 or 4
4 to five tomatillos (about 8 oz/227 g)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes), plus extra as wanted
1/2 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup sugar, dissolved in 3 tbsp scorching water
1/2 cup cilantro, tender leaves and stems, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (packed) mint leaves, roughly torn
4 Thai purple fowl’s-eye chilies, thinly sliced into rings (or fewer when you can’t deal with spice)
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 bone-in pork chops (every about 1 1/2 inches/4 cm thick; a complete of two 3/4 lb/1.25 kg)
2 tbsp impartial oil
For serving:
4 Persian cucumbers, lower into spears
2 heads Little Gem lettuce, leaves picked
1 lime, lower into wedges
Step 1
Flip the oven to its highest broil setting. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
Step 2
Peel the tomatillos and rinse off the sticky residue. Place the tomatillos on the sheet pan and broil till they’re charred and mushy, about quarter-hour. Finely chop or mix till clean.
Step 3
In a medium bowl, whisk collectively the tomatillos, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar syrup till nicely mixed. Add the cilantro, mint, chilies, garlic, and shallot. Style and regulate the seasoning with salt or extra lime juice as wanted. If you would like it spicier, add one other chili, robust man. Cowl and switch to the fridge till the pork is cooked and rested.
Step 4
Flip down the oven to 300F (150C). Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and aggressively season each side with salt. Place a heavy, medium skillet over medium-low warmth and warmth till it’s scorching and calmly smoking.
Step 5
Add the oil to the pan. Enhance the warmth to medium-high and add the chops. Press down firmly to make sure most contact with the pan. If in case you have some type of press, this may be your large second to make use of it. Flip the pork chops each minute till they’re golden-brown on each side, about 6 minutes complete.
Step 6
Test temperature, if not at desired temp (see notice), switch to oven to finish cooking.
Step 7
Switch the pork chops to a reducing board and let relaxation for at the least 6 minutes. Slice the pork chops towards the grain and switch to a serving platter. Spoon a few of the sauce over the pork chops and serve the remainder on the facet. Serve the cucumber spears, lettuce, and lime wedges on one other plate. Make lettuce wraps if you would like. Reside just a little.
Be aware: Pork must be cooked to an inner temperature of 155F (68C) and rested to a remaining inner temperature of 160F (71C), in keeping with Well being Canada .
Recipes and pictures excerpted from Whats up, House Cooking , copyright ©2026 by Ham El-Waylly. Pictures copyright ©2026 by Laura Murray. Printed by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, A division of Penguin Random Home LLC.
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