Notes about Recipes in this book

• Apple tapioca

  • Queezle_Sister on April 12, 2012

    Pretty good. I used large apples - and they overflowed the pan. Carmelizing the sugar and then sauteeing the apples in it was challenging for me, but at the end, it all tasted great.

• Chicken with forty cloves of garlic

  • KissTheCook on August 13, 2016

    P. 323. Also try Wms-Sonoma's version, magazine article, same location.

• Black beans with sour cream

  • KissTheCook on November 28, 2016

    11.2016 - p. 307. P. 274 states black beans make a first-rate casserole (this recipe) served piping hot with cold sour cream along with sausages or steak.

• Mealy bread

  • KissTheCook on January 07, 2023

    Quick bread; no yeast

• Spinach salad

  • KissTheCook on April 09, 2020

    P. 79 - I'm always looking for a soy dressing and this one is good.

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Interesting dressing. Too much onion and not enough other things in the salad itself for my taste.

• Roast spareribs with sautéed lentils

  • bching on July 12, 2020

    I've been eating this (just the ribs, not the lentils) as long as I can remember. As a child, I requested it for birthday dinners and it's a go-to comfort food as I age. Also available here: https://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/salt-and-pepper-spareribs

• Scalloped salmon

  • bching on August 14, 2016

    Only okay. Good for a quick, from the cupboard meal. Edited to add: When I reheated the leftovers, I stirred in some minced preserved lemon. It greatly improved this dish.

• Cullen skink

  • bching on June 10, 2019

    Bland.

• Deviled crab

  • bching on December 12, 2015

    Long time family favorite: simple, elegant, adaptable.

• Poached scallops

  • mharriman on February 01, 2020

    Quick and easy. This recipe doesn’t make the most flavorful scallops, but for use with other ingredients, it’s a simple way to cook them in order to do something more interesting.

• Sautéed pork chops with onions

  • mharriman on March 31, 2019

    A straight-forward pork chop recipe with just a few ingredients was calling my name, so I decided to crack open my James Beard cookbook and try this. The caramelized onions are what make this dish sing. I’d make it again but reduce the cooking time. My 1 1/2 inch thick chops were cooked through in about 10 minutes ( 8 minutes first go around/ 2 to finish with onions) rather than 18-20. I took them out of the pan at 14 minutes and they were a tad on the dry side.

• Scallop salad with avocado and chili

  • mharriman on February 01, 2020

    Good. We weren’t sure what the purpose of the canned, diced green chilies were as they weren’t all that noticeable - maybe because I used a can of mild green ones? Even so, I’d just leave them out next time. The poaching of the scallops needs herbs not listed in the indexed ingredients for this recipe. This was a light-feel salad and went well with homemade clam chowder and a baguette. It would make for a refreshing lunch, especially in summer.

• Orange, onion, and shrimp salad

  • mharriman on November 16, 2020

    This was a quick and tasty lunch salad. I used mandarin oranges instead of navel.

• Old-fashioned meat loaf

  • mharriman on October 30, 2017

    My favorite meatloaf. James Beard has spoiled me with this- I can barely tolerate any other meatloaf! I hadn’t made this since last winter; today’s colder weather put me in the mood to put it together for the two of us, so I halved the recipe. At 350 degrees, free standing Loaf was at 165 degrees internal temp in 65 minutes. Putting bacon on top definitely adds to the flavor.

• Vichyssoise

  • mharriman on April 02, 2018

    I find that most vichyssoise recipes are similar with the exception that some use sour cream, some use heavy cream, and some use a combination. I’d never tried the sour cream version, so James Beard’s classic appealed to me... until I added the sour cream just before serving. Whoops! I should have let the sour cream come to room temp because it coagulated into the soup, and even after stirrring and stirring, the soup was dotted with sour cream bits.I ended up straining the soup for a pretty chunk free soup. Family members liked this a lot, but next time I’m going back to the plain half and half. I don’t think the sour cream flavor improved upon the heavy cream version.

• Peppered venison steaks

  • mharriman on January 30, 2021

    The sour cream that mixes with the ground spices creates an earthy, tasty sauce for the steaks. I used a blend of peppercorns, star anise, and juniper berries, suggested for a whole loin of venison in Matt Jennings’ Home Grown cookbook. Two of us really liked that combination as a rub on the venison. The six minute per side pan sautéing instruction worked perfectly for internal temperature of 140 degrees f. Steaks were juicy and flavorful. Worth repeating as a treat; venison is very expensive to buy where I live and there are no hunters in my family.

• Shrimp with curry powder

  • mharriman on November 04, 2017

    This recipe is titled “Shrimp with curry butter” in my cookbook. I hadn’t made it for a couple decades. It used to be a favorite dinner party entree. Decided to make it for just my husband and me. It was excellent and pretty easy to put together, and reminded me why I liked to serve it to guests (very fast cooking time). The one big thing that doesn’t work as directed is mixing the ingredients for the curry butter balls. I cooled the minced shallot, curry powder, and chutney mixture completely before combining with the softened butter, but it was liquid, not firm. So, I partially froze the entire mixture, then formed into balls,and chilled for a couple hours before serving. This entree is so good, it’s almost like eating dessert! Served with white rice and a salad.

• Snails with garlic butter

  • mharriman on November 26, 2018

    A family tradition at holiday time. I double the amount of butter called for and have been using only snails of French origin from a specialty food store. We find that the canning of French snails avoids the tin can residue that comes with canned snails from other countries, and that smaller snails taste better. We’ve stopped buying “extra large” ones because they tend to be rubbery in texture and taste. The smaller ones absorb the garlic, butter, shallots, and parsley well. I find they taste best when prepped 24 - 30 hours ahead of baking. Served with sliced baguette. I planned ahead and this year’s version was top Notch!

• Sour cream cheesecake

  • bgbmus on January 08, 2016

    The best cheesecake recipe I have ever encountered. It is the only cheesecake I'll make now. Very light, not too dense, and so lightly sweet and cheesy. My guests ate every bite of it at one sitting.

• Baked spareribs with sauerkraut, apples, and potatoes

  • bgbmus on January 08, 2016

    Excellent! It was so so much better the next day, and the day after, it is a very sturdy recipe that handles multiple re-heatings. SO excellent!

• Chinese chews

  • billcranecos on February 06, 2022

    I'm a sucker for a recipe with a personal comment from the author. tasty, next time I'd gently press the crumble/dough into the backing dish a bit more, and I'd make a better effort to evenly spread out the topping.