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.
October 4
Unfussy carrot cake
I have a bone to pick with carrot cake. I dread the process—slouching over a box grater, shredding a fat stack of carrots, and doing everything in my power to avoid grating a knuckle. So when I was tasked with making it for my friend’s birthday, I braced myself with a laborious endeavor. That was until I remembered senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic’s brilliant recipe. Shilpa’s is inspired by Brazilian bolo de cenoura—carrots are blended right into the batter, resulting in a plush and tender crumb. There’s still plenty of texture, with specks of candied pineapple, crystallized ginger, and crushed pecans folded in. The unfussy cake has converted even the greatest skeptic: me. —Nina Moskowitz, editorial assistant
A Rosh Hashanah feast
My mother and I always take a divide-and-conquer approach to cooking for the holidays. For this year’s Rosh Hashanah, I signed up to manage all the supporting actors to the main event: our giant brisket. I like to keep the sides simple, so I opted for this Three-Minute Red Wine Vinaigrette on a verdant salad, Burnished Potato Nuggets (for which I subbed in these upstate abundance potatoes from Row 7), and Ina Garten’s Green Beans Gremolata, which has been a mainstay on our holiday table for a decade. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager
Behold, your new standard for roasted potatoes: puck-size oven fries with creamy insides and unimaginably crunchy exteriors.
Cauliflower fritters
This past week, I found myself with a slumped pile of withering herbs, a knob of Parmesan, and baby arugula—so I decided to make senior test kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk’s Herby Cauliflower Fritters. No, I did not have a bag of riced cauliflower on hand, but that didn’t stop me. I managed to find a bag of frozen cauliflower florets, dumped those in a food processor, and pulsed until the texture was fine. More in line with my vibe, I shaped my fritters into falafel-like balls, shallow-fried them, and placed them over a bed of yogurt with cucumbers. —Inés Anguiano, associate test kitchen manager
Salmon with burst tomatoes
Content director Hali Bey Ramdene brought an overflowing bag of plump tomatoes to the office, straight from the vines of her garden. So I obviously brought a few home and made this one-pan salmon. I cut them into fat wedges and dumped them, along with Sun Golds, into my pan. I then added a soy-based poaching liquid, globs of butter, and salmon fillets. Twelve minutes was all it took for the tender fish to cook through and the tomatoes to burst into sweet nectar. —N.M.
Lamb meatballs
Every couple weeks, I make a clean-out-the-fridge tomato sauce that I use to ladle over noodles, rice, toast, or eat on its own. This week, I had some ground meat that I turned into food director Chris Morocco’s Tuesday Night Meatballs. Instead of using ground beef, I swapped in lamb that I spiced with garlic powder and oregano. The meatballs came together in no time at all, and were the perfect way to bulk up my Sunday sauce. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media
We stripped these Italian-style meatballs down to the most essential elements for weeknight realness.