The 150 Best American Recipes: Indispensable Dishes From Legendary Chefs and Undiscovered Cooks by Molly Stevens and Fran McCullough

Notes about this book

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Italian pumpkin soup

  • britt on September 24, 2010

    This soup was very sweet. It wasn't bad, but, because of the sweetness, I couldn't eat much.

• Sesame orange granola

  • britt on October 21, 2010

    This is good. I made it with dried cranberries as the editors recommend, and the granola has a Christmasy scent - not overpowering, but it makes the granola seem best suited to fall and winter.

• Manly meatballs

  • Cheri on November 24, 2010

    This was pretty good. Used my regular meatball mixture, then added the scallions, brown sugar & soy sauce. A little sweet overall, but satisfying for a snack. Nice combination to have the juices melt into the bread slices in the oven.

• Matzo buttercrunch

  • britt on April 19, 2011

    I stored this overnight before eating. Half I stored in an airtight container; half I wrapped in parchment and plastic wrap. I was surprised to find that I preferred the imperfectly wrapped candy. The extra moisture made the candy tastier to me. I should mention that humidity is almost always near 50% where I live.

• Skillet blueberry cobbler

  • britt on June 29, 2011

    The whipped cream is optional; not optional are butter, sugar, self-rising flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. I suppose those were omitted as cupboard ingredients...

• Wild rice and chickpea salad

  • Anadara on July 20, 2011

    Great potluck recipe

• Spaghetti with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, basil, and Parmesan cheese

  • britt on August 11, 2011

    Recipe suggests substituting baby spinach in place of arugula if necessary. Recipe also calls for EVOO, large white onion, garlic, and sugar. I liked this a lot. Worth the 3 hour roasting time.

• Rigatoni alla toto

  • Breadcrumbs on September 10, 2011

    p. 107 - This really is an outstanding pasta dish, so aromatic and surprisingly flavourful given how quickly it comes together. I had a gigantic, Old German Heirloom Tomato that was damaged en route home from the Farmer’s Market so I decided to toss that into the sauce just prior to serving. I did photograph and taste the sauce prior to doing this as I wanted to see how the dish was intended to be served. What I found particularly striking was the phenomenal flavour of the fennel-infused white wine cream sauce. I struggled to resist the temptation to dip a larger spoon into the pan and scoop up a much more generous sample of this luscious liquid!! That said, the addition of the super-sweet, juicy tomato chunks only served to further enhance this already scrumptious dish. This truly was delicious and, a dish I’d be happy to serve to company. The addition of the tomatoes did add to the visual appeal of this otherwise grey-ish dish. I’d highly recommend this one.

  • kjwright on April 24, 2012

    This is one of those recipes where the whole is greater than the sum of the ingredients. Really great sauce and good combination of ingredients. I've found that the recipe doesn't work quite so well with leaner sausage, though is fantastic with nice, juicy links. Agree with the high recommendation.

  • chawkins on June 24, 2012

    This is a spicy household, given the choice, we always buy the spicy version. So hot italian sausages were used and I was worried that the spiciness of the sausages would overpower the sauce, but not to worry, the red tint from the sausage spices actually gave the sauce a very appealing pink hue and the sauce was delicious.

• Corn bread salad with grilled sausage and spicy chipotle dressing

  • Breadcrumbs on September 13, 2011

    p. 91 Another deliciously different meal from this wonderful cookbook. Especially simple if you use prepared cornbread. This dinner comes together in the time it takes to grill sausages and delivers an explosion of hot, sour, salty and sweet flavours. What our cornbread lacked in sweetness, our garden fresh grape tomatoes made up for. Our sausages were smoked garlic turkey and were outstanding with the spicy chipotle dressing. Tasting as I mixed, I found that one tbsp of pureed chipotle in Adobo was more than adequate for us and still allowed all the other individual flavours to shine. This one’s a keeper!!

• Stir-fried chicken with lime and coconut

  • Breadcrumbs on September 14, 2011

    p. 129 Mmmm, we love the combination of coconut and lime so this was right up our alley. Super-simple to prepare and even quicker to stir fry this is a perfect week night dish. Even so, I did most of my prep on the weekend by chopping then freezing the chicken so all we needed to do during the week was pour in the marinade of lime juice and zest (that I’d prepared on the weekend) and let it sit for an hour before stir-frying along w some sliced chili and green onion. A sauce is made by adding fish sauce and coconut milk. The recipe calls for cilantro but we used basil and the dish was served over steamed rice. I’ll happily make this again as we had dinner on the table in 10 mins!! Next time I’d add more chilies as one wasn’t enough and, I’d add some veggies. I think broccoli or green beans would be yummy.

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    This is one of those funny dishes that I was eager to do, based upon ingredients and the above reviews, and found very disappointing. I followed the recipe exactly, except I used half red and half green chile pepper, and I used coconut oil instead of olive, as I don't like to use olive oil for high temp wok cooking. I would think that a dish with chiles, lime coconut, fish sauce, and cilantro would be a can't miss in the Nightshade house. But we were very underwhelmed. The nastiest comment I made was that if this was served in the hospital cafeteria, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. Not inedible, but surprisingly bland and boring.

• Fennel, red pepper, and mushroom salad

  • britt on October 18, 2011

    The recipe calls for 2 lbs fennel bulbs, trimmed, and I interpreted that as 2 lbs weighed after trimming off the stalks. I liked the salad, so I'd say that ratio of ingredients worked, but the recipe yielded a HUGE amount. I actually halved the recipe and still got 4-5 servings.

• Walnut and prune cake perigord style

  • MollyB on October 31, 2011

    Great cake, fantastic with coffee. I was initially disappointed with it when I tried it right after I made it, but it was dramatically transformed the next day (for breakfast).

• Smoky shrimp and halibut stew

  • Breadcrumbs on January 02, 2012

    p. 59 - This dish was inspired by some unusual looking new-to-me shrimp I picked up at a local Italian grocer who imports fresh fish and seafood from the Adriatic. The recipe calls for 1 pound of shrimp so I used 1/2 lb of Canocchie and a 1/2 lb of black tiger shrimp. I decided to pre-cook and shell the Canocchie prior to adding them to the stew as they were very spiky and I felt they might be unwieldy and difficult to eat otherwise. The dish comes together quickly by sauteing bacon then onion, fennel and potato. Wine, broth and clam juice is added along w tomatoes in their juice, fennel fronds and thyme. One the potatoes are tender, the shrimp and halibut are added and cooked through. We bumped up the fennel flavour by sprinkling some fennel pollen on the finished dish. Light and flavourful, this was a nice weeknight dinner that I’d make again sans Canocchie that is since I didn’t feel that the flavour they delivered was worth the amount of effort it took to prepare them.

• Braised beef short ribs Chinese style

  • Breadcrumbs on January 02, 2012

    p. 166 I’m happy to report that this dish was outstanding. We adore beef short ribs and this method of cooking them is now one of our absolute favourite preparations. The Chinese flavour comes from sherry, soy, ginger, scallions and star anise but it’s the star anise that stole the show in our view. We absolutely loved the fall off the bone tender, anise-infused meat. Instead of simmering this stove-top, I decided to let it finish in the slow-cooker. The first time I prepared this dish I served it over rice as I was thinking of it as an Asian dish. I’ve made it twice since and we prefer it over mashed potatoes or polenta. This is truly scrumptious and I’m happy to recommend it. I think this would be lovely over Pappardelle as well.

• Cremini mushrooms with chive pasta

  • Breadcrumbs on January 02, 2012

    p. 108 With a big paper bag of Cremini mushrooms lingering in my fridge, I just had to give this recipe a try and I’m delighted to report we thoroughly enjoyed it. I have an abundance of chives in my garden throughout the growing season and can't wait to make this dish again with my just picked chives. I did add some garlic to the pesto this time around to give the flavours a boost, along w some chili flakes. This was a big hit at Casa BC. I enjoyed mine as is and served mr bc's w some grilled chicken. I'd love to try this w King Oyster Mushrooms. . . one of my favourites.

  • kari500 on September 02, 2012

    Love it. I think it would be just about as good (with less work) using the mushrooms and just an olive oil and garlic pasta.

• Roasted mushroom-leek soup with crispy pancetta

  • jayg312 on January 16, 2012

    Good recipe, but needs tweaking. Will add an additional cup of chopped mushrooms at the end for texture, and will add a few cloves of garlic during the roasting phase. Dressed with Mushroom & Sage Oil on the second day, and that worked very well.

• Spicy sirloin steak with cilantro relish

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    All in all, a very tasty dish. We liked the flavors of both the marinade and the cilantro relish. The relish is just that, I might have preferred it a bit more emulsified into a sauce, at least for aesthetic reasons. And, as mentioned in the book, it would also be great on seafood.

  • chawkins on September 10, 2012

    Other than the steaks need to be marinated for couple of hours, this is a super easy recipe. The steaks are tenderize by the marinade and tasted great with the relish.

• Zuni roast chicken with bread salad

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    This was a wonderful meal! The chicken was flavorful, the meat juicy and the skin crispy. The bread salad was a perfect accompaniment. In retrospect, it was a little too time-consuming for a workday dinner, but it will definitely be repeated on a weekend.

• Mussels with smoky bacon, lime, and cilantro

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    This dish was a big hit at Casa Nightshade. We are big mussel fans, and Mr. NS pronounced it one of the best mussel dishes he has ever had. I used large Penn Cove mussels (I usually prefer the smaller ones, but this was all that was available). My diversions from the recipe: I omitted the ketchup, did not substitute anything else, and certainly did not feel anything was lacking; I had locally-made double smoked bacon which rendered no fat whatsoever, so I added a bit of olive oil; and I had a very large, hot, jalapeno, so I only used about 2/3 of it. Delicious! Will definitely do this again.

  • chawkins on May 22, 2013

    Very good. The lime juice added a touch of piquancy to the dish. I only have 2 lbs of mussel but I kept everything else the same. Fresh homemade baguettes were served to sop up all that wonderful sauce.

• Crunchy cucumber, celery, and red bell pepper salad with cumin and fresh mint

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    I somehow missed the cucumber in the name and in the ingredients when I went shopping, so I made the salad with everything but. Very bright and refreshing, and so colorful. This salad was a great balance to the spice of our main dish, a turkey-sweet potato-curry soup. I also felt the mint disappeared somewhat, I attributed that to the dregs of the season, but looking at the other reviews, perhaps a little more mint is called for.

• Sticky toffee pudding with chocolate chips and toffee sauce

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    It's an awfully rich dessert, I think the chocolate is a bit of an overkill. If I try sticky toffee pudding again, I'll use Roxlet's recipe on CH, which clearly elicits raves.

• Spanish-style shrimp cooked in olive oil

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    This dish was simple and very tasty. My only disappointment came when the dish produced no liquid. I noted that the recipe said to serve bread to sop of the juice, so I drove across town to the spot where good bread is sold. But I didn't notice at that time that there was no liquid added to the recipe. Where is all this glorious juice supposed to come from? I have never seen shellfish produce juice, unless it was those chemically edema-tized scallops. So we ate dry shrimp and dry bread. Don't get me wrong, this dish was delicious, and I'd happily eat it again, I just wouldn't plan on dipping bread.

• Sear-roasted salmon fillets with lemon ginger butter

  • L.Nightshade on January 18, 2012

    I made this recipe using tuna. I can see that this might suit salmon a bit better than tuna, but it was very good. It did take bit of stirring to incorporate the lemon juice, but it ended up smooth and fully combined. I can see making a little tub of this to keep on hand for summer fish grilling. Some CH posters used zest instead of the juice to good effect.

  • kari500 on September 02, 2012

    I'm one of the big fans of this. I love having a compound butter in the freezer for days when getting a nice dinner on the table is a bit harder. I have had success using this on other fish besides salmon - I believe I used flounder.

• Mashed potatoes with sage and white cheddar cheese

  • Evie on February 01, 2012

    Excellent. Did not bake in oven, I skipped this step

• Arroz verde

  • ellabee on March 06, 2012

    Was a mistake to sub half & half for milk; extra fat slows absorption, lengthens cook time, makes unappealingly rich.

• Savory fig tart

  • ellabee on March 06, 2012

    Meh.

• Monte's ham

  • chawkins on April 30, 2012

    Orange marmalade, dijon and brown sugar made a very good and non-messy glaze for my black forest ham. For a 10.5 lb ham, I cooked it @ 350 in a cup of water covered tightly with foil, then I lined another pan with the foil and moved ham over there, scored, studded it with cloves and glazed and baked uncovered till internal temperature is 147, glazing two more times in between and it took another hour or so. I quartered the glaze recipe and could have used a tad more.

• Crab cakes with scallions and jalapenos

  • chawkins on May 02, 2012

    Super rich crab cakes with the amount of butter and cream added.

• Lemon posset

  • chawkins on May 03, 2012

    Great result with very little effort.

• Slow-roasted chipotle pork

  • chawkins on May 03, 2012

    Great result with minimal effort. I have also cooked this in a crock pot, also turn out well.

  • MollyB on October 16, 2012

    Great, easy recipe that has become my go-to recipe for pulled/shredded pork. I've made it with both bone-in and boneless pork shoulder, and both work fine. I usually make a big batch and freeze some of it for enchiladas or pulled pork sandwiches.

• Chicken fricassee with lemon, saffron, and green olives

  • chawkins on May 03, 2012

    Instead of the preserved lemon, I've always just use regular lemon as suggested by the notes from their test kitchen and it always turns out well.

  • kari500 on September 02, 2012

    Need to try just using regular lemon. We absolutely loved this. Bit of chopping involved, so not the best meal to make on a busy day, but definitely delicious.

• Southwestern black bean burgers

  • kari500 on September 02, 2012

    Doubled the recipe for 3 people (one can of beans is really not going to do it for us). We liked these a lot. I think next time I'll dip them in panko to give the outside a bit of crunch, but otherwise I thought they were pretty perfect.

• Chicken thighs baked with lemon, sage, rosemary, and thyme

  • kari500 on September 02, 2012

    We thought this was unbelievably good, given how simple it is. Loads of flavor, nice crispy skin.

• Sardinian bread and tomato casserole

  • kari500 on September 02, 2012

    For me this was a disappointment. Maybe I expected too much.

• Creamy anchos and onions

  • ellabee on September 09, 2012

    Outstanding when first served, great balance among the flavors. Not good as a leftover, as ancho heat increases and tarragon gets funky. This rules out as a make-ahead, something to take into account for entertaining or big holiday meals.

• Kashmiri-style leg of lamb

  • chawkins on October 12, 2012

    This was delicious. I marinated the lamb for two days. The house was filled with the wonderful aroma of the spice rub while it was roasting. The meat was moist even though I overcooked it a little because I was out in the garden preparing for the predicted frost.

• Roasted sausages and grapes

  • Gio on December 12, 2012

    Roasted Sausages and Grapes, Pg. 169: This was a tasty and speedy method to cook sausages. Coupled with the green seedless grapes and balsamico it made a tasty week night meal. Used spicy Italian chicken sausages. Did not par-boil them first. Followed the recipe exactly from then on. Instead of mashed potatoes with butter and cream as the stated accompaniment I steamed small Yukon golds, halved them and seasoned with EVOO, S & P, dried thyme, dried oregano and a heavy sprinkle of sweet Hungarian paprika.

• Roasted green beans with garlic

  • Breadcrumbs on December 21, 2012

    p. 189 An exceptionally delicious dish. I used French beans so I should have reduced the cooking time by 5 mins but, we loved these despite the fact that some of our beans were a bit toasty! I used less olive oil…approx 3 tbsp to roast 1 lb of beans and that was plenty. I spritzed the finished dish w the juice from one wedge of lemon so I likely used approx ½ tsp of juice and, drizzled the dish w some wonderful lemon-infused evoo that I buy on visits to Old Town Oil in Chicago. My anchovies weren’t mincing well so I tossed them, along w a tiny bit of evoo and the lemon zest into a pan and warmed them atop the stove until I could break them up. I’d hoped to have these as antipasti for the two of us over 2 meals but the beans were so utterly delicious that we greedily gobbled them all up in one sitting. I love this recipe and because of its bold seasoning, I think it’s best suited as antipasti. Fabulous.

• Green chile cheese puff

  • chawkins on March 21, 2013

    Very easy since I used roasted home-grown poblano from the freezer. It is like a crustless quiche but is much lighter and does not taste as cheesy as a quiche, it actually taste more like a chile relleno.

Reviews about this book

• ISBN 10 0618718656
• ISBN 13 9780618718658
• Published Sep 01 2006
• Format Hardcover
• Language English
• Countries United States
• Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)

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