What to Cook This Weekend from French Toast and Steak Pies to Katsu Burgers and Thai Curries

What to Cook this Weekend is a new weekly series that we’ll publish every Friday with ideas for weekend meals from our recipe archives for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Meal ideas may include dishes to cook for holidays and meals we’re making at home that we think you’ll also enjoy, along with the odd recipe we’re developing which you might like to test.

As our new recipe series What to Cook this Week, which we launched last Sunday, was so well-received by you, our readers, we decided to see if a weekend edition, What to Cook this Weekend, would prove to be just as popular. We’d love to hear what you think.

We’ll publish a weekly What to Cook this Week post every Friday, with meal ideas from our recipe archives for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Suggestions for recipes you could make might include meals to cook for holidays, dishes that we’re cooking in our kitchen that we think you might also like, and meals based on seasonal ingredients.

As with our What to Cook this Week series, we’d also like to use What to Cook this Weekend to occasionally share a recipe that we’re developing for our cookbooks that we’d love you to test out and share your feedback. Please do let us know if that interests.

Before I share our ideas as to what to cook this weekend, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by using our links to book accommodation, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, buy travel insurance, or book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide. You can also shop our Grantourismo store for gifts for foodies, including fun reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s photography. You could also buy us a coffee, although we won’t buy coffee, we’ll put that donation toward cooking ingredients for recipe testing.

Another option is to contribute to our epic, original Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon or purchase something on Amazon, such as these James Beard award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, gifts for Asian food lovers, picnic lovers and travellers who love photography. Now let’s share some suggestions as to what to cook this weekend.

What to Cook This Weekend from French Toast and Steak Pies to Katsu Burgers and Thai Curries

Friday Night Dinner

All I want to do tonight is curl up on the couch and watch Netflix with some takeaway food. Except takeaway, or takeout as our American friends call it, isn’t all that healthy, so I’m thinking home-cooked ‘takeaway’ which is healthy fast food. The best kind. As I’m missing home, I’m dreaming of traditional home-baked Australian meat pies and Terence whipping up some creamy mashed potatoes to go with them. As we’re still very much in Cambodia, they’re going to be Terence’s heavenly home-made pepper steak pies inspired by the quintessential Cambodian dish called beef lok lak or pepper steak. We have some more meat pie recipes here.

Pepper Steak Pie Recipe for a Cambodian Beef Lok Lak Meat Pie

Saturday Breakfast

For breakfast on Saturday I’m thinking I might make my baboushka’s and mum’s Russian French toast recipe. If you made any of my Russian pancakes recipes and enjoyed them, then try this Russian take on French toast and let me know what you think.

Russian French Toast Recipe for Grenki Just Like My Russian Grandmother Made

Saturday Lunch

I like the idea of chicken katsu burgers for Saturday lunch: a crunchy tender chicken cutlet, prepared using the classic Japanese katsu method of panko-breaded and deep-fried chicken, between spicy Asian slaw, tangy Japanese-style barbecue sauce, and soft burger buns. I recommend serving these with sides of hand-cut fries, for a journey to chicken katsu burger heaven. If you’re not a chicken lover, try this Japanese pork tonkatsu, or if you are, but you like your chicken spicier, try these Belles Hot Chicken burgers. And if you’re heading out for picnic in the sunshine, see our collection of 85 picnic ideas.

Chicken Katsu Burger Recipe for Crunchy Tender Chicken Cutlets with Spicy Slaw

Saturday Dinner

For dinner on Saturday night, I’m thinking a Thai food feast. What do you think? I like the idea of kicking off with this spicy nam prik ong with raw veggies, maybe some Thai corn fritters, followed by a Thai som tam (pounded green papaya salad) or Thai larb gai, and a Thai curry or two. Perhaps this aromatic Southern Thai chicken curry or this authentic Massaman beef curry. And of course loads of steamed jasmine rice. We have more Thai recipes right here.

Classic Thai Som Tam Recipe for a Thai Green Papaya Salad Plus Tips for Jazzing Up Your Som Tam

Sunday Breakfast

As it’s still Friday and I haven’t yet satisfied my French toast cravings, and on Saturday morning I’m going sweet, on Sunday morning I might make this savoury French toast recipe. Even if I have my fill of French toast tomorrow, I think you’ll like this. If not, why not browse our Weekend Eggs recipe archive?

Savoury French Toast Recipe With Pan-Fried Cherry Tomatoes, Feta Cheese and Fresh Herbs

Sunday Lunch

For Sunday lunch, how about homemade curried beef sausage rolls? These are so easy to make and so delicious. I told you I’m a homesick Aussie so meat pies and sausage rolls are top of the mind. That will do me just fine, but if you need a salad to go with that, check out our collection of salad recipes.

Homemade Curried Beef Sausage Rolls Recipe Made With Cambodian Saraman Curry

Sunday Dinner

As for dinner on Sunday, I’m planning on making a few of my Russian family recipes. Maybe my baboushka’s borscht (I have some leftovers in the freezer), a Russian garden salad, and either some traditional cabbage rolls (not the crazy cabbage roll soup I shared last week, as delicious as it is) or my beef Stroganoff, chicken kotleti, Russian beef stew or even chicken Kiev. Too many options, but I have two days to decide.

Succulent Chicken Kiev Recipe for a Retro Russian Classic Cooked For Russia’s Tsars

Please do let us know if you’ve made any of our What to Cook this Weekend recipes in the comments below as we’d love to get your feedback and hear how our recipes turned out for you.