It’s no secret that BA editors cook a lot for work. So it shouldn’t surprise us that we also cook a lot during our free hours. These are the recipes we’re making this month to make dinner, entertain friends, satisfy sweet tooths, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, Click here.
December 1st
Adult Shirley Temple
As a child, I had an aversion to bubbles, so I never drank Shirley Temple. But when I was recently searching for non-alcoholic drink recipes on the Epicurious app, this adult version caught my eye. Cooking pomegranate juice with warm spices reduces it to a sweet and sour syrup that, when mixed with tonic or soda water, creates a drink that’s fun and festive—and not too sweet! N/A. I candied blueberries to serve, but dried citrus slices or a slice of peel would work well. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor
An adult Shirley Temple with Christmas spiced grenadine syrup, mineral water and a special touch. Adding whiskey is up to you.
Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
With a surplus of cheddar cheese, the solution was obvious: Rebecca Firkser’s Sheet-Pan Mac and Cheese, which I’ve been eyeing for months. Sure, it takes a little longer than boxed material, but it doesn’t that much longer. When the oven was hot, the rest of the recipe was ready. (For the sauce, I skipped the parmesan and swapped in even more cheddar cheese.) The result was extremely cheesy, tremendously crunchy, and totally impressive for how little effort it required. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor
Ricotta sauce for dinner
Sometimes you forget that you’re having people over for dinner in two hours and you need something to make it look like you’re getting your act together. Enter: this citrusy ricotta sauce. It comes together in five minutes with ingredients you probably already have during the holiday season. I had a friend bring the oranges from home, I prepared the ricotta and cut the dates before everyone arrived. It was the hit of the night. -SOUTH CAROLINA
Really, this is just a way to serve people a big pile of seasoned cheese and pretend it’s a salad or something.
Classic gingerbread cookies
The day after Thanksgiving is the official start of the Christmas cookie season. I use gingerbread cookies to decorate my tree every year and this recipe from Gourmet archives hits all the right notes. The centers are soft and chewy immediately after baking, which is how I like my gingerbread for eating—But they firm up nicely when air dried for about a day and will last the entire Christmas season on my tree. I double the spices to give these cookies an extra kick: combined with the natural aroma of my favorite tree (blue spruce), they make my house smell amazing. The other thing I love: most of the dough is made in a pot on the stove, so there’s no need to get out the mixer. —Carina Finn, trade editor
Small hasselback potatoes
Stop what you’re doing and make these Hasselback Potatoes with Sour Cream and Onion. Seriously: stop what you’re doing and make these Hasselback Potatoes with Sour Cream and Onion. They start with tiny Yukons, which, as food editor Jesse Szewczyk explains, means “a higher ratio of crispy edges to tender centers.” You can mix the sauce up to a day in advance, so when dinner arrives, all that’s left is to chop it up and grill it. Yes, even with the chopstick trick, which works wonders, cutting requires some patience. But aren’t we all trying to be more patient? -HE
Generous splashes of homemade onion sauce provide a soft landing for the crunchy little Hasselback potatoes.
