Bette Fraser, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Bette Fraser has tested.

Pot filled with pastina with butter and milk and a wooden spoon all on a towel.

Pastina with Butter and Milk

We’ve got stars in our eyes…and our bowls…and our spoons. All thanks to pastina, the teensy star-shaped pasta that just may make the cutest supper in the solar system.

A partially covered Dutch oven filled with cooked Parmesan potato gratin.

Parmesan Potato Gratin

We used to get our gratins and scalloped potatoes confused. But then we tried this gratin. Guess which one is now our favorite?!

Two ground chicken meatballs on slider buns with a toothpick skewered through them.

Ground Chicken Meatballs

These subtly flavored, relatively healthful (shhhh!) sliders are the sleeper hit at The Meatball Shop. Not hard to understand why.

A sliced steak chimichurri with a gravy boat filled with chimichurri on the side.

Steak Chimichurri

Chimichurri-induced happiness can be yours with this foolproof, fuss-free, Argentine-approved answer to what’s for dinner.

Pan-roasted mushrooms and a knob of butter melting in the center, in a cast-iron skillet

Pan-Roasted Mushrooms

Mushrooms and butter and garlic. Think you’ve been there, done that? Trust us, you haven’t. Not like this, anyway.

A brown and white pottery bowl filled with bucatini all'Amatriciana, topped with pecorino and parsley.

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

All’Amatriciana—go on, roll that “r” like they do in Italy—means a spicy pasta sauce of tomatoes and pancetta or bacon. Prego.

A cast-iron skillet with 8 whole roasted onions with papery skins and creamy interiors.

Whole Roasted Onions

Plonk unpeeled onions on a baking sheet. Shove in oven. Come back later for achingly sweet, tender, mellow oniony goodness. Accept accolades. See how easy that was?

Three burger buns topped with sesame seeds on a wooden surface.

Burger Buns

Beautiful burger buns. Were ever three words joined in such harmony? There are a lot more lovely things to be said about these pillowy specimens of bread awesomeness.

Big fat juicy burger with caramelized onions, melted cheese, and a toasted hard roll

Best Burger

Brisket, short ribs, and chuck. When melded in just the right proportions, as here, they turn out the most luxe made-from-scratch burger we’ve ever experienced.

A blueberry crumble in a glass pie dish with a basked of blueberries and several spoons next to it.

Blueberry Crumble

Need to bring something to a backyard bash when all you want is mad crazy gratitude and an empty dish to take home? This blueberry crumble with a crumbly oatmeal cookie topping is your answer.

Oval casserole dish with spring asparagus and Asiago gratin, topped with coarse bread crumbs

Asparagus and Asiago Gratin

Our easy and elegant solution when you buy not-quite-spring spears of asparagus from the grocery store? Just add cheese and butter and bread crumbs.

Several Frito pies made in open bags of Fritos.

Frito Pie

Rite of passage as well as rite of tailgating, Frito Pie is legendary. In case you’d forgotten about it, here’s how. Serve it as-is or glam it up with anything you like.

A pile of Cajun fried chicken pieces.

Cajun Fried Chicken

Bathed in buttermilk and spiced ever so slightly, this Cajun fried hen is memorably moist, superlatively crisp, and gosh darn perfect through and through.

Seafood gumbo in a two-handled bowl on a piece of wood.

Seafood Gumbo

Seafood gumbo loaded with shrimp, such as this classic Cajun recipe, screams for a cold beer and a lazy weekend afternoon dedicated to nothing but cooking.

Several sweet potato and apple latkes on a paper towel with a bowl of applesauce in the background.

Sweet Potato and Apple Latkes

These lovely latkes are crisp without, creamy within, and sweet throughout. Entirely appropriate for Hanukkah as well as a random Tuesday night…