Notes about Recipes in this book

• Braised chicken thighs with spicy kale

  • wester on April 04, 2015

    Maybe I should have browned the thighs more in the beginning; I put them on the the broiler for a few minutes in the end and that worked well too. The chicken definitely needed longer in the oven than the recipe stated. The kale was quite good, although I didn't like the carrots in there, but that may be just my personal dislike of boiled carrots. Next time I will put celery in instead. Overall, quite nice, but needs some tweaking.

• Orange salad

  • wester on March 27, 2015

    A very good combination of flavors. Take care to add enough salt.

• Grapefruit salad

  • wester on March 28, 2015

    Not wild about this. The chunks of grapefruit were too big, so you were basically eating either grapefruit or the rest of the salad, and I didn't like the proportion of the ingredients either. Maybe it would be better with loads more parsley and the grapefruit really small, or without the grapefruit altogether (but then of course it wouldn't be a grapefruit salad anymore). I don't think I'm going to bother though.

• Chorizo

  • JKDLady on December 07, 2012

    This was my first time grinding my own meat. It was really fun. I liked the recipe, but thought it could have been spicier. The rest of my family, however, loved it. Much better than store bought. Oh, the fatback didn't get as ground as I would have liked. Next time, I would either cut it into smaller pieces or perhaps put it in a food processor first.

• Pan-roasted sirloin with chanterelles and soy

  • JKDLady on November 30, 2012

    This is a wonderful recipe. I was very surprised by how good the steak was. I didn't have time to marinate it overnight in the salt and sugar, but I started it at 12:30pm and left it at room temperature until I cooked it at 6pm. I've never added sugar to a steak, but this will be my new go to marinade. I'm sure this could be used on any steak-grilled or pan-roasted. I was surprised at the chanterelles and soy. I expected more of a sauce, but this was really a side dish. I used shiitakes instead of chanterelles. Having said that, they were some of the best mushrooms I've had. This was my first recipe out of this cookbook, and I'm very impressed.

  • dfwfoodiegeek on January 05, 2013

    Just tried this recipe tonight. Like other reviewer, I only marinated it for 1/2 day, but it worked well as the steak developed a lovely crust. Used a cast-iron pan and everything browned up well. Couldn't get fresh chanterelles, so used dried that I reconstituted and sliced baby bella mushrooms. Agree that it was more of a side than a sauce, but flavor was good. Mushrooms were a tad salty with the soy, but when eaten with the steak, it was very good. Served with roasted carrots for a really good meal. Only recommendation is that if your steak is over 2 lbs, up the cooking time to ensure it's medium-rare throughout. Mine was slightly underdone in the center.

• Bucatini with bacon, tomatoes and jalapeño

  • vhague on June 04, 2017

    Excellent update to bucatini alla Amatriciana. Don't forget to turn your hood on when you add the jalapenos, otherwise you'll end up with some stinging eyes and a runny nose.

• Feta and cucumber salad

  • vhague on June 04, 2017

    Make sure to rinse your cucumbers well after sweating. Would recommend less salt in general, especially since feta adds that flavor already.

• Grilled chicken thighs with peaches, mint and almonds

  • D.Barker on October 13, 2021

    Not a favorite. We loved the chicken thighs, but the salsa just didn't go well with it.

• Kitchn

  ...Michael Symon hits just the right note... But the overall tone is light, engaging, and a touch silly. A truly useful book that doesn't take itself too seriously — for me, that's a winning combo.

  Full review

• Fine Cooking

  I love meat which is why Michael Symon's Carnivore is my Christmas cookbook pick. Not only does it feature the standards (chicken, steak, pork), but it also includes "out-there" meats like elk & squab

  Full review