Notes about Recipes in this book

• Italian-style garlic shrimp with cherry tomatoes and thin spaghetti

  • Cheri on April 21, 2011

    This was really quite good. Started with sauteing the tomatoes and garlic in olive oil, then once broken down, added lemon seasoned shrimp and herbs and vermouth. Turned heat off. Dressed pasta. Yummy. Skipped the scallions.

• French onion soup with an Italian attitude

  • averythingcooks on December 06, 2025

    This note is in honour of the recent blog post re: soup season/what's your style? She makes the onion soup with balsamic added with the wine and then tops the cheesy toasts with a mix of fresh grape tomatoes, parmesan & fresh basil. Well....I have containers of "balsamic rst'd grape tomatoes" in my freezer and thought I could riff a bit. I made the basic soup (cooking the onions far longer than she suggests), then added the tomatoes + the flavourful juices & cooked mild Italian sausage. A parm rind & some freezer pesto went into the simmer. We will eat this tonight garnished with fresh basil + cheesy toasts on the side. I hope I honoured her flavour intentions with this spur of the moment, freezer raid pot of pretty good soup!

• Mac 'n' Jack salad

  • averythingcooks on October 23, 2023

    The tomatillo salsa sets this macaroni salad apart. I tasted the dressing as written (which was good) but I went on to stir in a little mayo & buttermilk for some creaminess and to offset a bit of tartness from the salsa & vinegar and that was really good. Even a 1/4 of the recipe made lots for 2. Macaroni salad isn't a house favourite by any means but we enjoyed this one.

• Sausage, pepper, and onion subs

  • averythingcooks on April 28, 2024

    I cooked the sausage as instructed & will absolutely use this method again if we are not using the BBQ. I tried to stay true to her giardineira relish by finely chopping cauliflower & quick pickling it with pickled onions + brine. This mix was then stirred into a homemade tomatillo, hot pepper, carrot relish with minced basil & parsley. The result = a great condiment for the sandwich. With a little mayo on the bottom bun & melted aged provolone on top, these were delicious sandwiches.

• Not-sagna pasta toss

  • Emily Hope on November 15, 2019

    This is super easy to put together, and the family (especially the 7 year old) loves it. Falls into the category of family/crowd pleasers rather than fancy, but I certainly need those! I do change some things -- use half ground beef and half mild italian sausage, omit the Worcestershire and the allspice as well as the beef broth, since I prefer that flavor profile. Serve it with egg noodles, and the last time I subbed creme fraiche for half the ricotta, which worked well. For a 12 ounce package of dried egg pasta, I don't end up using all of the sauce. I also double the sauce recipe and put half in the freezer for an essentially instant meal later. Good with a steamed green vegetable like broccoli.

• Pasta with broccoli and sausage with a ricotta surprise

  • Cheri on September 26, 2010

    Added 1 fennel bulb chopped to sausage saute. Added butter, parmesan and ricotta mixture to hot pasta and then broccoli and sausage mixture. This was pretty good, but lemoney. Unusual.

  • averythingcooks on May 10, 2024

    As usual, I used around 5 oz of pasta (vs the 8 suggested for 1/2) and upped the sausage & broccoli. We liked the effect of stirring the lemony, peppery ricotta up into the hot pasta but I did cut back a bit on the zest and I also skipped the lemon juice in the broccoli as I was including a panko topping that also included some zest (for us, too lemony is just....TOO lemony!). This was tasty & filling with ideas worth repeating.

• Christmas pasta

  • averythingcooks on February 11, 2023

    This is a very tasty meat sauce. I had everything here except the veal (because...no) so I used pork in its place. The allspice gave it a lovely scent while it was simmering and a subtle flavour in the background. I added a parm rind to the pot and finished it with both basil pesto & parsley. A 1/2 recipe (with 4 oz of dried pasta) was lots for 2 with some leftover...it's an easy decision re: repeat! ALSO - the ingredient list here includes "carrot juice" but you actually just need 1 carrot to dice up.

• Cowboy spaghetti

  • averythingcooks on March 18, 2024

    This is simple & very tasty. I added sweet peppers with the aromatics and replaced the hot sauce with diced jalapenos & pickled fresnos. There is no mention of the bacon after removing it from the pan so I stirred it back in at the end. I cut this in 1/2 to serve 2, broke the spaghetti in 1/2 (using just 4 oz) and after covering the pan with grated cheddar, ran it under the broiler. With garlic bread on the side, this was a very satisfying dinner bowl.

• Lime-and-honey glazed salmon with warm black bean and corn salad

  • averythingcooks on May 28, 2024

    With cob of fresh corn to use & black beans in the freezer, I came here for the warm salad to serve beside quesadillas. I replaced the cilantro with Thai basil and we ultimately decided the spinach was not needed. It was a quick & tasty little salad.

• Lemon-thyme succotash with garlic-parsley shrimp

  • whitewoods on October 03, 2023

    I own this book; and, yet, I can't locate this recipe within it. There are no page numbers on EYB. I did locate it in the index, which said I would find the recipe on page 203. But there's a different recipe on p203. I went through the whole seafood section and then the entire book and still couldn't find it, and I don't think any pages are missing. Maybe my copy is defective or it's a different edition than that indexed here on EYB. In any case, I did locate the recipe online. It was a pretty typical Rachael-Ray recipe, using fresh simple ingredients with little fuss. And it was delicious. I forgot that thyme was in the name of the recipe, and I'm not really a big fan of that herb, particularly when fresh. So I just put in some dried thyme and some frozen basil. I used frozen corn--I didn't notice that canned was mentioned as a possibility.

  • averythingcooks on October 03, 2023

    Note to whitewoods.....out of interest I checked my copy of this book and this recipe does appear on page 203.

• Lemon and brown butter fish fillets with seared red and yellow grape tomatoes

  • Cheri on April 04, 2011

    Very Good! Easy, quick. Substituted halibut and heriloom cherry tomatoes. Pretty. Best if finished in the oven. Added some parmesan and fresh bread crumbs to the flour for interest and texture. Served with steamed asparagus & bread.

• Sausage and tortellini soup

  • averythingcooks on May 06, 2025

    With lots of sausage meat + gnocchi to replace the tortellini, this made a hearty dinner soup. I replaced the fennel with a handful each of carrots & sweet peppers and was generous with the chile flakes. I added a parm rind to the simmer and we loved her heavy hand with fresh basil. A simple but very good soup worth repeating.

• Green and white lightning chunky chicken chili

  • averythingcooks on April 15, 2021

    I came here with a jar of tomatillo salsa lingering on the fridge door. There is a lot of cumin & so an early taste seemed very one note. At that point, I began digging around my pantry/fridge/freezer for more add-ins like black beans, corn, roasted red peppers, a smoky red BBQ rub and pickled jalapeño brine. I’m happy to say that the original recipe really was the inspiration that “triggered” a great “chicken chili” bowl for 2.

• Balsamic chicken with white beans and wilted spinach

  • averythingcooks on February 03, 2021

    I came here for the bean & spinach recipe to serve beside some BBQ'd pork and coleslaw. I scaled it back a bit to use 1 cup of cooked beans (from the freezer) and proceeded as directed but I did add a chopped tomato to the pan. I do think that fresh thyme would be a better choice than the dried called for but otherwise this is a great little side dish that was quick to make, made the perfect amount for the 2 of us and which made good use of my pantry & some fresh baby spinach. I would repeat this "lemony garlicky beany mix" for sure.

• Caesar salad to go: shrimp or chicken lettuce wraps with creamy Caesar dressing

  • averythingcooks on April 05, 2023

    I just made the dressing for our usual chicken Caesar and subbed in some chopped capers for the anchovies. I started with 1/2 the lemon zest and that was still a pretty big hit. This is a very punchy, flavourful version of Caesar dressing. Next time, I will use her idea for lettuce wraps.

• Ginger flank steak with wasabi smashed potatoes and seared Savoy cabbage

  • averythingcooks on April 30, 2024

    I just made the steak & potatoes. So many flank steak recipes call for hours of marinating but here, 10'ish minutes in ginger, lime juice/zest, soy sauce & steak seasoning gave the steak a surprising amount of flavour and it cooked quickly in a searing hot cast iron pan. The potatoes have an easily controlled level of heat...taste as you go with the wasabi. Both of these ideas are worth repeating.

• Pork loin chops with sweet and hot peppers

  • averythingcooks on May 13, 2022

    I made my own version of pork loin chops and so only made the peppers this time. I used red peppadews and added sliced red onions & a little garlic in the pan. The white wine and the heat from the peppadews was a nice change up from my usual mix of sweet peppers with balsamic and we both liked this little side dish.