Notes about Recipes in this book

• Baked panettone with ricotta and mandarin oranges

  • jenmacgregor18 on December 31, 2018

    omitted mandarin oranges. used Grand Marnier instead of Cointreau. I had 1/2 loaf of panettone left over from Christmas. This was excellent use for the rest of if. Delicious & creamy. Rich but not too sweet. I didn't think it needed either the maple syrup or orange marmalade; although I'd like to try it with a bit of marmalade. I will have have extra panettone every year just to make this.

• Gratin of ground beef and eggplant

  • PennyG on July 31, 2011

    I was looking for a new way to use the eggplant I get in my CSA box and had marked this one some time back to try. It didn't look like much when I assembled it, but WOW was I surprised at the wonderful flavors! I used dill instead of basil, which I think added a really nice flavor. I did not use any "gravy" as instructed in Step 4 and it turned out just fine. I used Gruyere, but not a real expensive one. This is definitely a keeper!

  • PennyG on June 15, 2017

    I have made this so many times since the first note I wrote six years ago. We just had it for dinner tonight and every time we eat it I marvel at the wonderful flavors. I challenge anyone who thinks they don't like eggplant to not enjoy this!

• Noodles and ham casserole

  • jenmacgregor18 on December 31, 2018

    omitted caraway & added some Badia "Complete Seasoning" & a small red bell pepper. I added extra milk, cream & 1 egg and 1+ cups of Gruyere, since I was headed to a potluck & it was going to be sitting in a warm oven for a few hours before we ate. I didn't want it to absorb all the liquid & dry out. It turned out well & we enjoyed it. a good use of leftover holiday ham (2 cups).

• Rice pilaf with spiced turkey and baby lima beans

  • bktravels on December 31, 2017

    I left out the baby lima beans. Instead I added chickpeas, golden raisins, and shelled, roasted, unsalted pistachios. Instead of the spices listed, I used Penzey's Turkish spice mix. In step 4 of the recipe, toss in the warm turkey just before serving. Serve plain Greek yogurt on the side. Suggested accompaniment: hummus and toasted pita bread. This was a warm and nourishing meal for a cold night. It was a good way to use up leftover turkey.

• Cabbage with mascarpone cheese and juniper berries

  • foodgloriousfood on November 24, 2024

    Pretty awful actually. I had far too much Napa Cabbage which the recipe says is a good substitute for the Savoy. So I made the recipe x 3 as I knew the cabbage would cook down. I baked the cabbage per instructions and it actually looked pretty good like that. Should have served it as it was. The recipe called for a huge amount of mascarpone 1/4lb to 1lb cabbage added at the end. I decided to put in half of that to see how it went and it ended up very gloopy swimming in cream and fat from the salt pork at half the qty of cream. Should have trusted my gut and gone with much less. Maybe a Tb or so of mascarpone would be ok. Or skip it entirely. Or use a different recipe. We each ate a couple of spoonfuls, the flavor of the juniper and salt pork etc was ok though the Juniper could be increased. But the rest of it will be thrown out as I can’t think of a good use for it to make it palatable.

• Baked swiss chard and spinach with chickpeas and feta cheese

  • EasyBakeThis on November 25, 2025

    There is an error in indexing. The recipe calls for canned chickpeas, not black chickpeas (which do exist).

• Apple crumble

  • cjannace on August 04, 2014

    Delicious! Made two batches for when friends came to visit and there was very little left at the end. Worked great as dessert and a breakfast snack.