Notes about Recipes in this book

• Baked beans

  • averythingcooks on August 03, 2020

    Hmmmm.... interesting. I had time this am to spend time on these & went ahead with the stove top/oven method. But here’s the thing....the first 2 steps (simple but time intensive) simply got me to “cooked” navy beans....which I actually have (in 1 cup portions) in my freezer. So I guess I could have started there....or even possibly with a can or 2 of navy beans (also in my pantry). Anyways, the resulting beans in sauce are delicious....one key change though - we do not like “flabby” bacon in our beans so I rendered some bacon fat 1st and coated the onions & beans with it before adding the sauce etc and then crisped / chopped a few slices in a pan at the end and stirred them into the finished beans. Pretty much overall “yum”.

• Lemon chicken souvlaki

  • averythingcooks on May 27, 2020

    This made really tasty chicken skewers for the grill. I did 1/2 the recipe and for that amount, I added a generous teaspoon of minced garlic to the marinade. Two good sized chicken breasts fed 2 of us dinner AND for one of us - a great lunch for today.

• Rice pilaf

  • averythingcooks on May 27, 2020

    This was lovely beside our souvlaki skewers last night. It is crazy hot here right now (31 feels like 35?!?) and it worked perfectly in my pampered chef microwave rice cooker. I used chopped craisins and finished with curly parsley, chives & toasted pine nuts. I can think of lots of places this would work as a side in place of plain rice.

• Pizza dough and pizza sauce

  • averythingcooks on November 10, 2020

    I only made the sauce this time (ended up out of time for 1.5 to 3 hour rise time for this dough....so another day for that). This sauce is really thick & flavourful with garlic, dried oregano & fresh basil. Rather than use a food mill at the end, I opted to put the tomatoes & basil in the blender at the start. I have enough leftover after tonight’s dinner to freeze 2 portions for future pizzas. We both really liked this version.

  • averythingcooks on August 19, 2022

    I made the dough this time (having made the sauce on a previous occasion) and after a 2 hour rise, it had easily tripled in size (she says to allow 1.5 to 3 hours). This made a very light, flavourful & crispy pizza base and I appreciate that, as written, it made the perfect amount for one roughly 13" inch pizza. So many recipes in my books make a LARGE amount of dough....and I don't always want to make enough to feed an army or fill my freezer or have to scale things back drastically. Barefoot Contessa's recipe (also delicious) fits my large rectangular stoneware pan perfectly but this will now be my go-to recipe for the round pizza stone.

• Plum tomato crumble

  • averythingcooks on May 17, 2020

    This was a delicious side dish! I did cut it in 1/2 & then was worried that my most suitable baking dish was still a little too big. To top it up, I threw a handful of yellow grape tomatoes in the oven to blister & pop and spread these (with the last of some "aging" fresh basil) on the beautifully jammy roasted plum tomatoes followed by the crumble topping. Just a great side dish beside grilled steaks and a definite repeat!

• Parmesan cheese dressing

  • averythingcooks on October 06, 2023

    This is a variation on their "Your house dressing" recipe and we enjoyed it over greens. Red wine vinegar isn't usually my first choice for dressings but this seemed to work. A 1/2 recipe is also a sensible amt for 2 people (ie salads for 2 for 2 nights).

• Refrigerator rolls

  • averythingcooks on March 05, 2023

    This recipe does say that you can use the dough day it is made and I was very pleased with the results. I do struggle to shape hamburger buns (but as one friend said - that makes them look homemade!) but they are very tasty. Next time I will reheat very gently as they became quite a bit harder than I hoped. I will try these again with the multi day proofing time.

• Buttermilk cornbread

  • averythingcooks on December 09, 2023

    I tried this because of the addition of the sweet & hot peppers and the fact that there is no sugar added. It looked beautiful coming out of the oven but I actually think that I miss the hit of sweetness in other versions. I probably won't make this one again.

• Heritage oatmeal cookies

  • averythingcooks on May 31, 2020

    I don't usually go for oatmeal cookies with add ins but I am currently showing my Canadian books some love & attention so I did decide to try this. Having said that, I replaced the 2 cups of walnuts + currants with 1 heaping cup of a mix of chopped pecans, craisins and Skor bits....we tried them and YUM!! I promptly wrote the changes into the book (cuz - yes .... I am one those people :)

• Classic chocolate chip

  • averythingcooks on May 30, 2020

    This made a really nice "crisp on the edges, softer in the middle" cookie. I did add the chopped pecans (which I normally don't do) and we really liked the results.

• Kids' peanut butter cookies

  • averythingcooks on May 20, 2020

    This made a nice peanut butter cookie. 1st pan - followed the "dip the fork in sugar & double crisis cross" method. 2nd & 3rd pans - rolled the balls , stuck one side well into sugar, placed on pan sugar side up and and then flattened. We like the 2nd/3rd pan results better :)

• Cookie-press short shortbread

  • averythingcooks on December 08, 2021

    I used this recipe to try out the old cookie press that just came from my mother's house and I am thrilled to say that it was a great success for 3 reasons: the dough was the perfect consistency to move through the press effortlessly, the cookies have that wonderful melt in your mouth texture and the taste makes me sure that this must be the recipe my mom always used. As it comes from a book of favourite recipes from Canadians, I would not be surprised.