Notes about Recipes in this book

• Arugula salad with Pecorino and toasted pine nuts

  • SpatulaCity on August 31, 2023

    Perfectly classic and tasty arugula salad. Winner!

• Braised short ribs

  • ChefJRD on March 30, 2024

    This is the kind of recipe you want to allow ample time for. But, you can always “chop and dice” the day before, have all your ingredients pre-measured and ready to go. After putting the dry rub on the ribs, keep the ribs refrigerated overnight-it is worth the wait! Add extra carrots, also added celery and potatoes. Added a dash of chili pepper for a barely their kick.

• Butter lettuce and parsley salad with Dijon vinaigrette

  • SpatulaCity on September 01, 2023

    Delicious and fresh! Used romaine in place of butter leaf.

• Celery, pear, and toasted hazelnut salad

  • SpatulaCity on October 24, 2023

    We loved this salad! It had such a nice crunch to it and a perfect blend of crisp, sweet, and earthy nuttiness. Didn’t have hazelnut oil, so made the suggested sub for toasted walnuts and walnut oil. We also left the skins on because we had red pears and the color contrast between the red pears and green celery was so attractive. Excellent!

• Flageolet beans with oregano

  • SpatulaCity on September 01, 2023

    Simple and tasty, especially if you like oregano.

• Grilled halibut with herb butter

  • SpatulaCity on September 04, 2023

    Easy and tasty! So fresh and light, with just some of the naughty richness of butter. Used good quality euro butter and thought it was perfect for a summer night.

• Manchego cheese and quince paste with sesame flatbread

  • SpatulaCity on September 03, 2023

    The sesame flatbread was ho-hum and didn’t add enough interesting dimension to justify the work of making a leavened dough. The texture was somewhere between a flatbread and a cracker. Sort of chewy. Next time I’ll just buy sesame crackers.

• Mandarin orange, avocado, fennel, and olive salad

  • SpatulaCity on September 06, 2023

    Really enjoyed the bright and differing flavors in this salad! Used French nicoise olives and they were beautiful and almost floral against the fennel. The mandarin segments added brightness and acidity and the avocado was like a rich butter smoothing it all out. Unfortunately I didn’t have white balsamic and didn’t want to buy it for just this recipe; so used standard balsamic. Flavor was great! But visually less so :) If I was entertaining company I’d go through the effort of getting the white balsamic, but for just a dinner at home, the standard stuff was just fine.

• Mushroom-stuffed chicken with spring vegetables

  • SpatulaCity on August 29, 2023

    I fiddled with the recipe a bit because I don’t like stuffing and roasting a trussed bird. Instead I spatchcoked the chicken, and roasted it on a rack over the “stuffing”. The benefit was the “stuffing” still got to soak up all those yummy chicken juices. Unfortunately this meant the veggies roasting on the side didn’t get as much chicken flavor. Next time I’d put the veggies under one half of the chicken and the stuffing under the other half so they could share in the drippings. As it was, the stuffing was incredible. So flavorful and delicious. The veg sort of tasted like plain, roasted veg. Used Yukon golds and roasted everything together for 50 min until the breast reached 150 degrees.

• Orzo salad with basil and heirloom tomatoes

  • SpatulaCity on August 31, 2023

    If your tomatoes are juicy and ripe, this is a tasty side whose beauty lies in its simplicity. Enjoyed as is for dinner, and am making a pasta salad with it for lunch tomorrow by upping the amount and variety of herbs, and adding arugula, cheese, and more oil and vinegar.

• Pork medallions with sage and mustard sauce

  • SpatulaCity on August 31, 2023

    Fantastically easy and delicious dish. My medallions cooked in about half the time - maybe I sliced them too thin? I don’t think this is the best way to cook pork tenderloin - much prefer roasting the lion whole. But I understand that it’s nice when there’s more surface area for more caramelization? I just think it’s easier to overcook with this method. Still, with a sauce this tasty, maybe it doesn’t matter! Am not a mustard fan and I still loved it.