• Eat Your Books

  1995 International Association of Culinary Professionals (Cookbook of the Year)

• ashallen on October 19, 2019

  Raphil's Rice Pudding (pp. 462-463): This recipe didn't get indexed - it's in the "new recipes" section in the back of the expanded 1998 edition. This made a nice stovetop rice pudding - nicely creamy and an enjoyable mix of flavors from the cinnamon, vanilla bean, lemon zest and star anise. I used golden raisins - their flavor always seems a little sweeter and more complex than the dark raisins which I like in a pudding like this. My rice was balilla/originario. What was really cool about the recipe was that none of the ingredients require refrigeration - great for car camping! This didn't supplant my favorite stovetop rice pudding which is still Cook's Illustrated's "Simple Stovetop Rice Pudding." Ingredients: Short-grain rice, cinnamon stick, lemon zest, vanilla bean, evaporated milk, condensed milk, raisins, sugar, pine nuts, ground cinnamon or ground nutmeg, optional star anise.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Zingerman's Ann Arbor mushroom and barley soup

  • PinchOfSalt on March 19, 2015

    The recipe as written is disappointing but it may be possible to save it. I followed the recipe closely except for substituting 6 cups of my own homemade beef broth plus 2 cups of dry red wine for the 2 quarts of beef broth or water. The soup liquid was good but the solids were tasteless. Strangely, the recipe calls for sauteing the vegetables in a stock pot, then adding them to broth that is simmering in another pot. Between the fresh mushrooms (I use a pound of criminis - who can afford, let alone find, a pound of fresh porcinis?) and the other vegetables there is a copious amount of veggies to saute. As one would expect, crowded-pan syndrome made for steamed, not sauteed, veggies. If I make this again, I will saute using a proper pan, in stages: the mushrooms first, then, after removing them from the pan, the onions, carrots, and celery, taking the onions to a nice golden stage and adding the flour to the pan after that. Note also that the fresh mushrooms should be sliced.

• Sarina Roffe's edja (Syrian hamburgers)

  • ashallen on October 12, 2019

    These were really interesting - like a cross between an omelette and a latke with ground beef nubbins mixed in. Tasty. I ate them straight-up - they might be more fabulous as part of a sandwich as specified in the recipe. They'd probably be good with other ground meats, too - chicken, lamb, pork, turkey. Mince the onion and celery finely unless you like the crunch they provide when cut larger. Be careful not to make the "hamburgers" too big or flip them too soon - they get messy if you do. They freeze fine, though they lose the nice, slightly crunchy exterior they have when fresh.

• My favorite brisket (not too gedempte fleysch)

  • Barb_N on December 30, 2016

    I made a version of this recipe published in Wine Spectator- naturally it had a lot of red wine, and it had parsnips and carrots. I had to cook the meat for over 3 hours the first day as it was the size of a newborn baby. It was the best brisket I have ever made- fork tender and flavorful. Made sandwiches, stroganoff, and two soups with the leftovers.

• Kasha varnishkes at Wolff's in New Jersey

  • PinchOfSalt on September 12, 2016

    This was very tasty when made with sunflower oil as the fat and 1/2 pound of pasta instead of 3/4. Even so, I felt there was too much pasta for the amount of kasha compared to what I grew up with. Next time, even less pasta, and maybe schmaltz if I have some on hand!

• Cousin Jenny's Hungarian honey cake

  • Alowishs on April 20, 2016

    FROM AMAZON REVIEWS: "A major reason we bought this was for a recipe for the Hungarian Honey Cake, but it was a total disaster. We're sure the flour amount is wrong." COMMENT TO REVIEW: "Because of this review, the Hungarian Honey Cake was the first recipe I tried. He is right, the recipe needs editing. The filling is good but the cake itself is not edible."