Notes about Recipes in this book

• Italian sausage with fennel, peppers, and onions

  • Rutabaga on May 29, 2014

    I've made sautéed peppers and onions with sausage before, but was eager to try the broiling method used in this recipe, as well as the addition of fennel. I substituted a red bell pepper for the Cubanelles, and used pre-cooked chicken andouille sausages. The sausages became appetizingly cripsy under the broiler, but the the fennel was still on the crunchy side, despite the fact that I sliced it much thinner than the 2 inch slices called for in the recipe. In the future, I would slice the fennel no thicker than 1/2 inch; 1/4 inch might even be best.

• Roasted potatoes and asparagus with Parmesan

  • Rutabaga on April 05, 2015

    Of course, you can't go wrong with roasted vegetables, and this is a good combination for spring. Try it with new or baby potatoes. I didn't find it necessary to put the veggies back in the oven after adding the Parmesan; finely grated cheese just needs to be stirred into the mix when hot.

• Broiled chicken and artichokes

  • Rutabaga on January 20, 2017

    Tray baking chicken with marinated artichoke hearts leads to a succulent main dish with almost no effort. While our five-year-old doesn't care for artichoke hearts, that just means more for the rest of us, and the marinade from the artichokes keeps the chicken moist and flavorful.

  • chawkins on January 26, 2017

    It is good for what it is. Great for times when you Are short on time, you could have dinner on the table in less than half an hour. I used the artichoke marinating oil to ramp up the flavor.

• Mediterranean rice-stuffed escarole

  • Rutabaga on March 29, 2014

    One of our favorite vegetarian main dishes, the flavors really meld to make something greater than the individual parts. I have used a combo of dried currents and barberries in place of the raisins, since we're not big raisin fans. It also works with curly escarole.

• Chocolate hazelnut spiced cookies

  • wester on December 01, 2013

    The chocolate spice flavor was excellent. They were a bit too crumbly, but that was probably because I had been tweaking the amount of flour.

• Fava beans with red onion and mint (Fave con cipolla rossa e menta)

  • wester on November 14, 2015

    A very tasty side. Somewhat time-consuming because of the skinning of the beans. It did need a drop of acid - I used vinegar, but I think lemon juice would have been even better.

• Fennel and celery salad

  • wester on November 15, 2015

    A nice salad but nothing special. I did not add the optional mozzarella, but I do not think it would have improved it much.