It’s no secret that Bon Appétit 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.
January 16
Cozy miso butter soup
After a day of cooking in the Test Kitchen, I need something simple for dinner. I’m an admirer of Rosie Kellet’s recipes (her cookbook In for Dinner is a real winner), and loved making her miso butter soup. It starts with cooked rice, topped with a knob of butter. Then ladle over hot miso broth. I just mix white miso into chicken stock—absolutely not traditional, but it does the trick for those short on time. Finally, toppings! A jammy egg, which I happened to have from the other day (silken tofu straight from the package would be great too) and a scoop of kimchi. One could stop there, but since I had them, I added sliced radish and scallion, plus a shake of toasted sesame seeds. —Rebecca Firkser, Test Kitchen editor
In for Dinner: 101 Delicious, Affordable Recipes to Share
Baby cakes
I call them Baby Pancakes: one banana, one egg, a few spoonfuls of multigrain cereal, a pinch of baking powder, a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. Mix together with a fork, dollop in a hot, oil-slicked skillet, forming little cakes the size of a little fist. Adapted from 101 Before One, they are soft and mushy and extremely gobbleable, even if you have no teeth. My son loves them. —Emma Laperruque, director of cooking
Sunday morning bagels
While my colleague Jesse Szewczyk had an unlucky week (his social video shoot for Homemade Bagels had to be rescheduled), mine was lucky (he sent me home with the dough he’d already prepped). One man’s trash is another man’s treasure! And with his help, the process couldn’t have been easier for me to complete on a lazy Sunday. I cut the dough into 12 equal portions, shaped them on a work surface, let them, and poked holes in the center. Then I boiled the bagels in water mixed with baking soda and sugar (no lye here) and showered them with a few different seasonings: poppy seeds, za’taar, sea salt, and, my favorite, furikake. —Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking
Crusty, chewy, and actually easy. No lye or barley syrup needed.
View Recipe
Pear galette on-the-go
For a last-minute dessert, for an easy breakfast pastry, or for 3 p.m., because you deserve it: These are the times to make my colleague Shilpa Uskokovic’s Easy-Fancy Pear Galette. The recipe features frozen puff pastry and canned pears (essentially poached pears without the work).