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Neapolitan pie, crispy chicken katsu, and a very good argument for “paella summer”

It’s week trazillion-and-fifteen of pandemic cooking, and you’ve hit a rut. Nay, a trench. You’ve done all the things one can do to a bean, and while the digital cook-o-sphere is loaded with ideas, there are just too many of them. You scroll a few blogs, flip through some cookbooks, and give up. Beany Thursday strikes again.

We’ve been there. We are there. But help is here. To sort through the noise of TikTok tortilla wraps and feta pastas, Eater has compiled a handful of the recipes — from blogs, magazines, publications, and cookbooks — that put the pep back in our pans this week and that we hope will do the same for you. These are the dishes that Eater editors from across the country actually made recently, and we’re passing along any firsthand tips, hacks, or dietary substitutions that, hey, worked for us. Here, then, are this week’s must-try recipes from Eater’s very-much-average but highly enthusiastic home cooks.

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May 7, 2021

Paella Mixta

Joanne Weir, JoanneWeir.com

Listen up world, it’s going to be a Hot Paella Summer! Now that I have procured not one but THREE paella pans from World Market, plus a boatload of Calasparra rice, the world of paella stretches on before me. Last weekend was my first go, and it was a success. Because I’m extra, I brought that big paella energy by making three different pans of beautiful rice for friends and family. One was seafood (calamari tubes and tentacles, bay scallops, shrimp, mussels, and clams), one was vegetarian (cauliflower, peas, asparagus, red peppers), and the last and most popular was paella mixta (shrimp, chicken, Spanish chorizo). I used a recipe from a cookbook that came out last year, East Bay Cooks by Carolyn Jung, which featured a paella from La Marcha, a Spanish restaurant in Berkeley, and cooked it on the grill. That recipe is not available online, but chef and author Joanne Weir has a great method for this and other paellas on her website; highly recommend. Cooking the paella on the grill gave it a great wood-fired flavor, but of course it’s possible to do in the oven or on the stovetop, too. Make sure to squeeze generously with lemon and dollop with aioli when it’s done. — Ellen Fort, Eater SF interim editor

Pickled Ramps

Claire Saffitz, Bon Appétit

Can you call yourself a food writer if you DON’T pay too much for ramps at some point at the farmers market each spring? I couldn’t resist the siren song of the seasonal alliums, and my go-to method for preserving them is pickling. This brine from Bon App is a little sweet, but nicely balanced. Since I could not afford the full 8 ounces of ramps that the recipe calls for, I threw in some watermelon radishes, which also took well to the mixture (though they unsurprisingly turned it pink). Ever since making this, I’ve been enjoying the ramps and radishes as everything from a taco topping to — thanks to a suggestion from a coworker — a martini garnish. — Missy Frederick, Eater cities director

Chicken Katsu

Kay Chun, NYT Cooking

I can’t believe I’m about to write the following sentence: I had friends over to dinner the other night. It was my first time hosting since the pandemic began, and it brought me immense joy to see our fully vaccinated party of four crowded around my little table — especially since there was chicken katsu in the middle. The NYT recipe was pretty easy throughout, exactly the sort of bulletproof recipe I needed to ease back into socializing. I served it with leftover coconut rice, sliced cabbage, roasted broccoli, and enough wine to remind everyone how to interact with other human beings. — Nick Mancall-Bitel, Eater associate editor

Farro With Blistered Tomatoes, Pesto and Spinach

Yasmin Fahr, NYT Cooking

The nightly routine of protein + vegetable + carb can get really old. Yasmin Fahr’s Farro With Blistered Tomatoes, Pesto and Spinach checked two boxes, then: It uses farro, which for me was a nice change of pace (a girl can only eat so much rice and pasta), and it combines the vegetables and the grains in one dish, breaking the tired formula of meat and two sides. The recipe comes together quickly, as the tomatoes and onions roast in the oven while the farro cooks for about the same amount of time on the stove, and then everything is combined into one pot and mixed together. The snappy farro with the creamy pesto, bursting tomatoes, and soft chunks of mozzarella was truly a delight. Plus, it’s packed with greens — the spinach and parsley melt right into the hot farro — so I felt like I was getting some extra nutrients, too. I’ll be making this again as a side dish for Mother’s Day, or so I was informed by my mother, who saw the enticing pictures on Instagram. — Terri Ciccone, Eater audience development manager

Jaya Saxena

Neapolitan Pie

Bill Clark, A Piece of Cake

I finally hosted my first friends over for dinner since before the pandemic started, and as promised, my partner and I went a step more elaborate than we would for a regular dinner. There were cocktails and a lasagna that required homemade bechamel sauce, but the star was former Meme’s Diner co-owner Bill Clark’s Neapolitan Pie from his Substack “A Piece of Cake.” Like so much of Clark’s/Meme’s food, it’s an exercise in sophisticated nostalgia. The three-colored box of ice cream becomes a chocolate cookie crust layered with chocolate ganache, vanilla custard, and a strawberry meringue that requires some tricky mixing over a double boiler but is absolutely worth it for the creamy marshmallow texture punctuated by tangy freeze-dried strawberries. It was a hit, the perfect thing to share with old friends to celebrate that we could hug again. — Jaya Saxena, Eater staff writer

Rustic Buckwheat Apple Ginger Cake

Melissa Clark, Dinner in French

If “rustic” is code for “simple,” this nervous baker is ready to tackle more flour-and-butter-fueled projects. In this recipe from Melissa Clark’s latest book, the New York Times columnist describes how the idea came from Dorie Greenspan, who “sort of got it from a fashionable Parisian friend.” I was about to flip the page but am glad I gave it a try. There’s no daunting laundry list of ingredients for this dessert that’s ready in about an hour. You’re encouraged to use a mix of apples. The buckwheat component makes it seem almost healthy and gives it an earthy note. My favorite part (besides how easy it was to bake) were the nubs of candied ginger in the cake. It was like finding a treat hidden inside a dessert. — Bao Ong, Eater New York editor

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April 30, 2021

Neapolitan Cookies

• Sarah Kieffer, 100 Cookies/The Vanilla Bean Blog

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken with Fried Basil

• Sue Li, NYT Cooking

Picadillo

• Rick Martinez, Bon Appétit

Smoked Brisket

• Danielle Bennett, Traeger Grills

Conveyor Belt Chicken

• Samin Nosrat, Salt Fat Acid Heat

Roasted Chicken Matzo Ball Soup

• Jake Cohen, Jew-Ish (excerpted by the Pioneer Woman)

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April 23, 2021

Missy Frederick

Sourdough English Muffins

• King Arthur Baking

Prakas’ Rib-Eye

• Kris Yenbamroong, Food & Wine

Green Rice with Tomatoes, Eggs, and Almonds

• David Tamarkin, Epicurious

Overnight Chia Pudding

• Solid Starts

Butter Mochi

• Sheldon Simeon, Cook Real Hawaiʻi

Zoe’s Devil’s Food Cake

• Zoe François, Zoe Bakes

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April 16, 2021

Stefania Orrù

Chocolate Thumbprints

• Martha Stewart

Farro Salad with Leeks, Chickpeas, and Currants

• Melissa Clark, NYT Cooking

Blueberry Crumb Cake

• Maida Heatter, Happiness Is Baking: Cakes, Pies, Tarts, Muffins, Brownies, Cookies: Favorite Desserts from the Queen of Cake

Lamb Chops with Red Lentils

• Nik Sharma, Sunset

Simple Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust

• Chris Morocco, Bon Appétit

Whole Roasted Gochujang Cauliflower with Smashed Roasted Butter Beans

• Hetty McKinnon, To Asia, With Love

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April 9, 2021

Rebecca Flint Marx

Buckwheat Banana Bread

• Roxana Jullapat, Mother Grains

Kuku Sabzi

• Samin Nosrat, NYT Cooking

Air Fryer Cracklin’ Chicken

• Nom Nom Paleo

Spiced Coconut Chicken Rice

• Shayma Owaise Saadat, Bon Appétit

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April 2, 2021

Missy Frederick

8-Inch Flour Tortillas

• Cooks Country

Maeun Dwaeji Galbijjim (Slow Cooker Pork Ribs)

• Hyosun, Korean Bapsang

Cheddar-Walnut Gougères

• Dorie Greenspan, NYT Cooking

Llubav’s Green Spaghetti

• Julia Turshen, Simply Julia

Roast Chicken with Apricots and Olives

• Susan Spungen, NYT Cooking

Orange-Cardamom Olive Oil Cake

• Carolina Gelen, Food 52

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For the complete list of everything Eater editors have enjoyed cooking so far this year (pizza babka! air-fryer ube cheesecake! spiced coconut chicken and rice!), head to the archive.

Source : food