Notes about Recipes in this book

• Spanish potato omelet (Tortilla Española)

  • emiliang on April 18, 2014

    Wonderful for dinner, especially if topped with some smoked salmon and accompanied by a simple salad. For a 10-in pan, I would use only 1.5 lbs potatoes and 5 eggs, though.

• Savory Dutch baby

  • Barb_N on June 15, 2021

    After coming late to the Dutch Baby party, I have become a convert. This recipe uses more eggs- 4 to 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c milk. It puffed up more than the Food52 version which calls for 3 eggs but I prefer the less eggy ratio. The method used here is much more sensible than Food52 which calls for heating the pan in a 425 deg oven, adding butter, but not burning it, and adding the batter without burning oneself. This starts stovetop and moves to the oven once the batter is poured in. Much safer. I served with sautéed (no time to truly caramelize) onions and spinach.

• Joe's special

  • Cheri on July 23, 2015

    Didn't have any peppers or mushrooms, which are traditional. This dish needed that, it was bland. Ok, for a quick supper, but not memorable.

• Rosemary-crusted rack of lamb

  • Barb_N on December 09, 2014

    I like making this in a cast iron pan instead of a hard-to-clean broiling pan. But there are logistical issues: how/why do you broil for 10 minutes then smear mustard and a paste of herbs and breadcrumbs on w/o losing most of the breadcrumbs into the pan or sustaining 3rd degree burns? By the time the rack was sliced, the crust was all off, especially with the fatty layer in between. Oh, but the crispy parts of the crust in the pan were a treat- just don't let anyone see you!

• Braised spareribs in Merlot sauce

  • Nancith on January 13, 2019

    This went over very well with the family. Recipe calls for country-style spareribs; don't know if that's the same as country ribs, but that's what I used & it worked well. Not as much fat on these, so I had to brown in olive oil. Used a roasting pan since I don't have a big cast iron skillet, and substituted cranberry juice for Merlot. Everyone said it was delicious!

• Crispy slaw

  • sturlington on July 05, 2014

    This is a simple slaw that is good as a garnish for hot dogs and barbecue sandwiches. I wouldn't serve it as a side salad.

• Fennel-seared pork tenderloin with blackberry sauce

  • Nancith on October 24, 2016

    Wonderful recipe for a dinner party! Guests & husband raved about the flavor. The only thing I'll change in future is straining all of the sauce, not just the recommended half, to get rid of all the blackberry seeds, which usually end up stuck in one's teeth.

• Chicken with herbed dumplings

  • sturlington on December 03, 2012

    Need to cut the recipe in half or it won't fit in my skillet. Tasty.

• Quick-to-fix roasted chicken hash

  • sturlington on October 28, 2012

    This does not have to be made with pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. Boneless chicken breast, cubed, substitutes nicely. Potatoes do need to be pre-cooked, though; I boiled them until just tender. Make this a breakfast dish by leaving out the chicken altogether, or substituting bacon, and topping with a fried egg.

• Pan-seared duck breasts with orange-thyme sauce

  • tarae1204 on May 17, 2022

    This recipe turned out very well. The duck was perfectly cooked by following the recipe exactly, cooked “medium” I’d say. My only issue with the recipe is the delicious spice rub has you grind fresh herbs in your spice grinder — this didn’t work well, and the resin in the herbs was sticky. The rub was hard to apply, and it blackened in the pan. But it was undeniably delicious and did not taste burnt. I subbed white wine for sherry, too, no problem there.

• Pan-seared trout with almonds

  • molly_03e1uw on March 17, 2026

    The almond sauce was very clumpy and didn’t look nice, but the dish was tasty!

• Rösti potatoes

  • Barb_N on January 23, 2026

    I have made rosti following several different recipe/techniques. This turned out well. I tossed the shredded potato with the salt before placing it in the pan, for more even distribution. After a few rosti disasters, this will be my go to recipe.

• Moist cornbread

  • sturlington on November 02, 2013

    Made this to go with chili. The recipe is easy, the results are buttery, cakey and yummy. For variety, add herbs or grated cheese. This recipe is the base for the Cornbread Pudding, also in this book, not yet tried. Update: made several more times. This is now my favorite company's coming cornbread.

  • Barb_N on October 30, 2014

    Babyfork- this may be close to the cornbread you are looking for- moist, not super sweet but you could remedy that with a touch of honey or something. It IS very moist.

  • breakthroughc on June 09, 2023

    I thought this cornbread was good, but not great. It was moist, bit not super flavorful. I might make again if I wanted cornbread and had the ingredients.

• Herbed skillet bread

  • sturlington on February 25, 2015

    I have been looking for a bread recipe that is quick, easy and delicious--and I think this is it! I started the bread at 4:00 in the afternoon, had it on the table at 7:00. I was able to use my food processor to do the kneading, so the dough was a snap to make. This bread is soft, fluffy, savory and so good, and the flavors can easily be changed to complement the dish.

• Upside-down vegetable tart (Savory tarte Tatin)

  • EdithDC on March 30, 2020

    Excellent dish. I doubled the rosemary and time. No pernod on hand and subbed fennel fronds for the light anise flavor.

• Cast iron chili

  • sturlington on February 16, 2015

    Cut in half, this recipe is the perfect amount for 3 people. I cut out one of the cans of tomatoes and added half a can of water instead to get the consistency I wanted. I subbed ground turkey for the beef. An easy weeknight meal.