7 Recipes We’re Cooking This Week, Like the Creamiest Scalloped Potatoes

Welcome to What We’re Cooking This Week, a weekly love letter from our recipe developer Emma Laperruque, all about what the Food52 team is cooking and craving off-hours (with a few snacks for thought, too).

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Hi there. How are you? There’s a lot to feel stressed about these days and even my cat Butter’s anxiety has been acting up (wish I was joking). If you’re like me, you use cooking as a way to step back from the stormy thoughts for a little while, even an hour, in favor of someplace warmer, kinder. So come on, grab my hand, and let’s go.

Superlative Scalloped Potatoes

“These scalloped potatoes are creamy and rich, but light and nuanced, too,” said Senior Editor Eric Kim. “Instead of a roux, it’s thickened with heavy cream and the natural starch in potatoes.” Many would call these a side, but I’d just as soon serve them as a main (happiest Friday? yes), with a vinegary salad alongside.

Not-Chicken Paprikash

If you hear paprikash, you probably think chicken, but not so fast: This version is made with cauliflower instead. “I just cooked this smoky-spicy Cauliflower Paprikash, which I fall more in love with every time I make it,” said Executive Editor Joanna Sciarrino. “Especially over extra buttery egg noodles.” Yes butter, yes noodles, yes all around.

Bhartha Plus Lots of Rice

“This bhartha recipe is one of my favorites, and pretty simple for a weeknight,” Strategy & Finance Manager Annalee Leggett told me. On that note, I feel obligated to share that Annalee, in addition to having A+ taste in recipes, also has a very sweet, very soft puppy, who visited our office the other day to model some collars and staff morale skyrocketed. (Brian, are you reading this? Can the office get a dog?)

A Pasta That Treats Butternut Squash Right

“I found a butternut squash on the giveaway table here at Food52, so I went searching the site for a recipe to use it in,” said Assistant Editor of Lifestyle Caroline Mullen. “This orecchiette has some of my very favorite things (goat cheese! kale! caramelized onions!) and is a sweet farewell to winter weather.” Hear, hear to that. To winter, I also say, “Good day, sir!”

Celery-Radish Salad on Blue Cheese Toasts

No, nobody needs a recipe for salad and toast. But do we—tired and uninspired at the end of the week (or, honestly, at the beginning!)—want one? You bet. Especially when the salad is lemony and mustardy, and the toast is smothered in soft, funky cheese. This recipes comes from our co-founder Amanda Hesser and should be filed under: Feel-Good Dinner for When It’s Tuesday but Feels Like Thursday.

Bo Ssäm to Make on Repeat

“F52er boulangere commented, ‘Nice method, but seriously who wants to eat the same anything in various guises night after night?’ "I do!” said Associate Editor Coral Lee. “There’s something I love about recipes that I can cook again and again—each time with less thought and attention, more muscle memory—but every time to the same impressive results.” And this crackly-crusted pork shoulder is very impressive indeed.

The Pound Cake to End All Pound Cakes

Fudgy is often reserved for chocolate cakes but, when it comes to this pound cake by Coral, no other word could be more fitting. It is fudgy, fudgier, fudgiest. And all thanks to salted egg yolks, which, as Coral explains, “add a deep savoriness, rich and golden egginess to everything they touch—savory and sweet.” I can’t wait to bake this on a lazy weekend and have an oversized slice with so much coffee.

"Chinatowns are dying, not from a virus, but from ignorance about the virus," tweeted Francis Lam, sharing a must-read article by Grace Young.

If you have a pet, spend a few minutes with this moving piece on Cup of Jo, by our senior editor Eric.

What’s something that made you laugh this week? (For me, it was this.) Share in the comments below.

Talk soon,
Emma