It’s no secret that BA editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.
October 6
Squash coconut curry
It snowed in the mountains near my home in Salt Lake City this week, so I needed to switch into stew mode. Enter: cookbook author Meera Sodha’s cozy pumpkin curry. I roasted garam-masala-dusted rings of delicata squash until fork-tender in the oven. Meanwhile, on the stove, black mustard seeds popped and danced in oil, followed by a tangle of fragrant onions and tomatoes. To finish, in went the roasted squash, along with some coconut milk for a gentle simmer. With a pot of rice, it’s peak fall. —Ali Francis, staff writer
Even more cookie bars
High off the success of my chocolate chip cookie bar adventure last week, I made not one but two other cookie bar recipes from Jesse Szewczyk this weekend: pumpkin and peanut butter. The peanut butter ones, from Jesse’s book Cookies: The New Classic, deliver flawlessly on the “my favorite candy is Reese’s” flavor I needed for a friend’s birthday. The pumpkin ones are eggless (which means I’ll probably make them again for Diwali). The first step is browning butter, which somehow always takes me longer than it’s supposed to—but they’re delightfully one-bowl after that. A fun game is to bring them both to a party, ask people to pick their favorite, and then relish the smug feeling when nobody can choose. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor
Briny, garlicky clams
Like clockwork, I feel lucky every Sunday morning, wandering around my local farmers market, gawking at the seemingly endless bounty New Jersey has to offer: shiny apples, misshapen squash, and just-caught seafood from the shore. This week I treated myself to a bag of clams. Briny, chewy, slurpy clams. I made this recipe from Sohla El-Waylly that I’ve had my eyes on for a while. The clams swim in a miso-enriched broth with a tangle of soba noodles, and honestly I wanted to join them. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor
Roasted white bean pasta
I saw this recipe float across my screen in an email newsletter and it called to me. It’s vegan, and relies on canned beans, a pantry staple I have on-hand any day of the year, so I was able to act on it immediately. Cannellini beans get crispy-chewy after a short stint in the oven and a roasted tomato sauce comes together simultaneously, entirely hands-off in the oven too. My shortcut: Instead of using two sheet pans, I crowded the beans and the tomatoes in one, with little consequence. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor
Basque burnt cheesecake
I cooked for a 10-person dinner party last weekend that doubled as a wine tasting led by a friend. To pair with the Spanish wines she’d selected, I made an array of tapas (like patatas bravas, tortilla española, and pan con tomate) and two different paellas. Knowing I’d be cooking from dawn till dusk the day of, I opted for a dessert that would be as low-lift as humanly possible. Molly Baz’s Basque Burnt Cheesecake fit the bill: It comes together in a stand mixer in a matter of minutes, and it tastes just as great on day two as long as you let it come to room temp before digging in. I served it with some plums I roasted with orange blossom water and vanilla, and their acidity played beautifully with the creamy cheesecake. It was the biggest hit of the night. —Alaina Chou, commerce producer
