An Objectively Perfect Khachapuri, Right Out of the Oven

Sometimes we all hit a cooking rut — and maybe, for you, that sometimes is now. 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. So you scroll a few blogs, flip through some cookbooks, and give up. Beany Thursday strikes again.

Help is here! To sort through the noise of TikTok corn ribs 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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August 6, 2021

Khachapuri Adjaruli (Georgian Cheese Bread Boat)

Carla Capalbo and Daniela Galarza, NYT Cooking

Khachapuri, the national dish of Georgia, is objectively perfect: It involves wrapping a chewy dough around melty cheese and topping with butter and an egg yolk. What’s not to love? I started with the beginner’s pizza dough recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, which is easy to work with and difficult to fuck up, especially for a mostly incompetent baker like myself. After reviewing Daniela Galarza’s recipe for the dish at NYT Cooking — and realizing that I didn’t have any of the cheeses that it called for — I raided my cheese drawer and found a slew of suitable scraps. Using cream cheese as the base, I added shredded mozzarella, Emmental, and a torn-up slice of smoked provolone, plus chives and garlic salt. After 15 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees, the khachapuri came out of the oven and I actually gasped. My prior attempts had been tasty, but never this beautiful. After it had cooled a bit, I added the yolk from a backyard egg (thanks, random NextDoor stranger!) and a couple pats of butter, then stirred the whole thing together before ripping off the ends of the bread to dunk in the gooey, cheesy middle. — Amy McCarthy, Eater Dallas and Eater Houston editor

Nancy’s Chopped Salad

Nancy Silverton, Smitten Kitchen

This salad — a Mozza cookbook recipe by way of Smitten Kitchen — is christened “hoagie salad” in our household, since it reminds my husband so closely of his childhood-favorite sandwiches. I’d never put it in the “light” category given its copious amounts of provolone, salami, etc., but it’s one of those salads that easily makes a meal, has plenty of substance and balance, and includes everything you want. I recommend halving the recipe even if you’re looking to serve six — the portion sizes as written are extremely generous, and the one drawback of this recipe is that I don’t find it keeps particularly well, even undressed. Go easy on the radicchio so it doesn’t become too dominant of a flavor, and enjoy. — Missy Frederick, cities director

Bao Ong

Creamy Asparagus Pasta

Eric Kim, NYT Cooking

There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t crave a bowl of pasta, but I’m not always looking to fire up my stove, especially in the middle of a muggy New York summer. This simple, quick recipe was worth it: There’s heavy cream but it doesn’t weigh you down. The rice vinegar brightens the sauce up a notch, asparagus gives it a mellow grassy note, onions offer a touch of sweetness, and slivers of roasted seaweed add the perfect amount of saltiness. I see myself eating this pasta all year round. — Bao Ong, Eater NY editor

Everyday Meatballs

Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen

Look, I get that making meatballs on a 97-degree day is a weird choice, but we do extraordinary things for our children. My 1-year-old has never been terribly excited about eating beef, so every few weeks I like to try a new approach. Deb Perelman posted a new-ish YouTube video of her Smitten Kitchen “everyday meatballs,” so I decided to give these a try. My main intervention was that I simply did not have the fridge space to store or the desire to shape 22 to 24 small meatballs. Instead, I used an ice cream scoop to make 11 meatballs on my lunch break, and then chilled them until it was time to make dinner. Because they were so large, I decided to pan-fry them first, which did cause some to fall apart. Not that it mattered; those delicious browned bits added richness to the sauce I built (mostly) according to the recipe. My toddler loved them. The next day I smashed a leftover meatball along with some sauce and served it over a piece of toast drizzled with olive oil as a sort of sloppy joe; happy to report she loved that too. — Hillary Dixler Canavan, restaurant editor

Momofuku’s Soy Sauce Eggs

Food 52

There are roughly one million recipes for soy sauce-marinated eggs on the internet; I stumbled upon the Momofuku recipe (via Food52) years ago and I’ve stuck with it because it’s easy, versatile, and almost always doable, even if my pantry is basically empty. Got eggs, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar (ideally sherry)? You’re good to go. The recipe says to cook the eggs for exactly six minutes and 50 seconds; I’ve found that the ever-so-slightly runnier results at six minutes and 30 seconds are more my style (although there’s probably a 20-second lag as I struggle to remove the eggs from the water without dropping them or burning myself, so maybe I’m following the recipe as written after all). They’re salty, a little sweet, a little oozy. I typically put these on ramen, rice bowls, or congee, or I snack on them on their own; this week I used them in congee. — Rachel Blumenthal, Eater Boston editor

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July 30, 2021

Vietnamese Tomato Salad

• Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns, Bon Appétit

Roasted King Trumpet Mushrooms

• Garrett McCord, Epicurious

Ratatouille

• Cookie and Kate

Club Sandwich Pasta Salad

• Bill Clark, A Piece of Cake

Pound Cake Parfaits With Strawberries

• Giada De Laurentiis, Giadzy

Grilled Cactus Corn Salad

• Emily Han, The Kitchn

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July 23, 2021

Spicy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

• Barbara Lynch, Stir: Mixing it Up in the Italian Tradition

Maple and Miso Sheet-Pan Salmon With Green Beans

• Colu Henry, NYT Cooking

Paella on the Grill

• Lan Lam, Cooks Illustrated

Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant With Fried Scallions

• Eric Kim, NYT Cooking

Grilled Steak and Elote Tacos

• Gina Homolka, Cooking Light

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July 16, 2021

Easy Watermelon Margarita

• Erin Lives Whole

Japanese-Style Mapo Tofu

• Harumi Kurihara, NHK World-Japan

Chicken Mole and Salsa Borracha

• Bricia Lopez, Oaxaca

Broccoli Caesar Salad

• Chris Morocco, Bon Appétit

Sesame, Date, and Banana Cake

• Yotam Ottolenghi, NYT Cooking

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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.