Notes about Recipes in this book

• Tomato-orange soup with grilled cheese croutons

  • sgump on October 18, 2015

    Quite nice; easy to make vegan (if you're willing to sacrifice the cheese toasts). A pinch of ground cinnamon should be adequate (recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon).

• Summer vegetable-farro salad

  • authoress777 on January 21, 2023

    CLM : Easy, make-ahead, tasty

• Pea, asparagus, and spring herb pasta

  • moniquerose on December 05, 2013

    Made this for dinner using the stated ingredients and mint as our herb. Used the amount of each ingredient specified, but still felt that the pasta:vegetable ratio was really unbalanced. Used a mature, fruity semi-hard cheese (can't recall the name right now). It was nice, and I would use it again instead of Parmigiano but next time add more, especially when reheating as the dish became quite bland the next day - it lost all that lovely lemony flavour as well as the cheese.

• Braised chile chicken with raisins and almonds

  • BFG on November 14, 2023

    So good! A quick mole dish that was spicy and rich in flavor.

• Pistachio and apricot goat cheese-stuffed chicken

  • RMcEwen on July 03, 2014

    This was a delicious and simple weeknight meal. I found that the chicken took longer than 7 minutes in the oven - 10 would be ok for a small breast, but larger breasts will take quite a bit longer, I suspect. Highly recommended!

• Chocolate chip-ground coffee bean cookies

  • texannewyorker on October 02, 2015

    These cookies are absolutely fantastic, and this is coming from someone who is so over new recipes for chocolate chip cookies. Usually because they aren't new and don't add anything to the conversation. But these really do. The coffee grounds add this subtle bitter background note you don't ever get with chocolate chip cookies, and you do need milk chocolate chips specifically, to balance that out. The texture is chewy and perfect (assuming you like your chocolate chip cookies on the chewy side- which I do). I was very impressed by these!

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  Interview with Aida about this book.

  Full review

• Boston Globe by T. Susan Chang

  In the end, “Keys to the Kitchen” may not be an essential addition to shelves already overstocked with cookbooks. But it’s a very good place to start.

  Full review

• Albany Times Union

  Whether you’re an experienced cook with decades under your spatula or a relative newbie who knows a little but could really use a primer, Aida Mollenkamp can help take your cooking to the next level.

  Full review

• 5 second rule

  This book would make a great gift for anyone who doesn't own the Joy of Cooking (or wouldn't appreciate an older book) and wants to learn a wide-range of fundamental techniques and recipes.

  Full review

• Joy the Baker

  This book blows me away. It’s feels creative and fresh and totally exhaustive. The pictures are gorgeous. There are bits about technique that are super approachable. Food is really celebrated.

  Full review