Bettina Makalintal is not only one of our favorite food writers today and an editor over at Bon Appétit, but she’s also the cook behind one of our favorite cooking accounts to follow, @crispyegg420. Although the account’s bio reads ‘no recipes just vibes’, thankfully we convinced Bettina to share a few recipes with us today. Don’t worry, the vibes are still intact and very much immaculate. In addition to cooking food that sounds so wildly delicious we feel compelled to run to the nearest store for the ingredients, Bettina gets that we eat with the eyes first. From radish flowers to perfectly bias-cut scallions, her presentation skills understand the assignment (are the kids still saying that?) Read on for a taste of Bettina’s daily dinners, plus our best bites from last week (which included dear Gaby’s birthday!!! Wish her a HBD in the comments please!!!)
BETTINA MAKALINTAL’S DINNER PLANS
Sometimes it feels like all I am doing all day is cooking! (I am also, of course, working!) But between breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is so much cooking. Since I tend to frontload my creativity for the meals earlier in the day (because the light is better for taking pictures—I hate to admit this), I sometimes find myself in need of dinner, but with no more interest in making a decision about what to cook. When that’s the way I feel, these are the things I turn to:
Seared Mushrooms on Anything: Mushrooms are my favorite food. I’m convinced that as soon as you sear them well, even the biggest mushroom hater sees the light; I have recently proven this on a few occasions. I like to tear or cut a meaty, textural variety like a maitake or oyster mushroom into large chunks and cook it over high heat in olive oil or butter in a cast iron pan, pressing with my spatula until all the moisture inside seeps out. Mushrooms have so much moisture inside that, in my experience, I can cook them for quite a while and they never really overcook, so I let those babies brown. I add salt, pepper, garlic, whatever, and eat them over rice or on toast with a smear of labne—a perfect meal!
Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant with Fried Scallions: I, famously, am not a “recipe person,” opting most of the time to read the headnote and ratio of ingredients and then do my own thing. (How Sifted of you!!! - GS + CK) That being said, when I see a new recipe from Eric Kim, I not only read it, but I also follow it. I almost always have eggplant, and I often default to Eric’s gochujang eggplant—or now that I’ve made it many times, something kind of like it. Sometimes I toss the eggplant in cornstarch for a crispier coating, or swap the gochujang for banana ketchup, or replace the fried scallions with fresh scallions, though the frizzled scallion strings really are a star. The silky, slightly crispy eggplant is perfect on a bowl of hot white rice, which always renews me.
A moment of appreciation for the radish flowers.
Kare Kare Sauce: Last year, I saw a picture of the kare kare from the Bay Area’s Barya Kitchen and it wedged itself into my brain, unable to be removed until I copied it right down to the braided knots of string beans. Kare kare is a peanut stew from the Philippines with oxtail, tripe, and vegetables, that my parents would make on special occasions. Oxtail and tripe are too much of a commitment for me, but the vegetables were always my favorite part, so I realized that the trick was making a kare kare-style sauce that could be served with anything. I started with a recipe from Yummy.ph, but simplified it. I soften a shallot with garlic in annatto oil, add a few spoons of peanut butter, add a spoonful of bagoong (a fermented shrimp paste), and let it meld. Then I add broth, stir until it’s velvety, and season with salt and fish sauce. I spoon this into a plate-bowl next to a mound of rice and—taking some cues from Barya—put steamed vegetables like bok choy, eggplant, and string beanson top, though I struggle with the aesthetic bean braid. I might even add some fried tofu or crispy peanuts. I always end up making more sauce than I need; the extra goes in the freezer as a treat for an even lower-effort future meal.
BBOTW (BEST BITES OF THE WEEK):
Court: When I see friend of the newsletter Rebecca Firkser post, ‘You need to make this!!!’, I heed the call. Ever since she recommended the “Melted Cauliflower Pasta” from Carla Lalli Music’s new book, I could not get it out of my head. This week I finally got the goods— the goods being a big head of butter-yellow cauliflower from the greenmarket— and simmered them into crunchy, salty submission. It’s rare that recipes leave me speechless, but this one did just that. I could not believe that cauliflower, humble, all-too-often riced or buffalo-ed cauliflower, transformed into something that could easily be mistaken for breadcrumbs. After about a half-hour of rendering down in olive oil with lots of garlic and (sorry, but absolutely necessary) anchovy, they were toasted into golden brown heaven. Mixed into pasta and topped with parm, the result was virtually indistinguishable from Spaghetti con Mudica. It was so good it wedged out my second-best BBOTW, but lucky for you, that bite is coincidentally Gab’s best. So Gab, take it away.
Gab: I turned the big 2-5 this weekend, and in addition to having a party, going to a Knicks game, and eating so many lovely restaurant l dinners, I had a birthday cake by Tanya from Will This Make Me Happy. Yes, it is the second week in a row I've had one of her cakes, and yes, it is the second week in a row it beat out any other bite I took all week. This week's cake was layers of a rich, buttery almond base with tart strawberry jam, tangy cream cheese frosting and a vanilla pastry cream that I can only use one word to describe: luscious. We said it once, we’ll say it again, Tanya has a gift!
Yes, this did make us happy. Very, very happy.
What’s your go-to dinner party menu? Drop the recipes here— don’t gatekeep bb!
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