• PinchOfSalt on September 01, 2017

  eISBN info 9780062409966 Bourdain, Anthony. Appetites: A Cookbook (Kindle Location 4331). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

• rionafaith on November 03, 2016

  This cookbook is actually not exactly what I expected as a huge Anthony Bourdain fan, but it's still great. (Beautifully designed, too, with some unusual photography!) This is his "family cookbook", containing the recipes he makes all the time at home, so while there are a few "exotic" things from his travels like laksa and restaurant-style dishes like osso bucco and saffron risotto, there are lots of more typical home-cooking dishes like chicken pot pie and Italian-American Sunday gravy. Lots of things I want to try!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chicken salad

  • clcorbi on December 26, 2016

    I enjoyed this recipe--I have never added Worcestershire or celery salt to my chicken salad before--but had to up the spice amounts and decrease the mayonnaise slightly.

  • southerncooker on September 25, 2018

    This is a delicious version of chicken salad. I made a double batch so I could share with my daughter. We both agreed though we don't like quite as much mayonnaise in ours so next time I'll decrease the mayo a bit.

  • bernalgirl on June 06, 2023

    A classic chicken salad, I used leftover grilled chicken with flavors similar to his poaching liquid, and omitted the tarragon. I like an acid counterpart so added sliced peperoncini to an open-faced sandwich on rustic sourdough bread.

• Tomato salad

  • pistachiopeas on July 25, 2018

    Wonderful with in season tomatoes.

• Potato salad

  • lizbot2000 on June 19, 2018

    This was so good! Probably the best potato salad I've ever had (don't tell my mom). I couldn't find cornichons, so I just used some fancy pickles which are close enough.

  • averythingcooks on January 12, 2020

    There were 3 cookbooks open on my counter as I set out to make just a classic potato salad. I chose to review this one as I followed it most closely (with a couple of changes). I followed the cooking instructions with both salt & vinegar in the cooking water. I did use white wine vinegar in place of the red he called for and added a bit of sugar & pickled red onion brine to taste. As we are having ribs, I didn't feel we needed bacon but I did add hard boiled eggs (as we have them in the fridge & they were a key reason for this side dish choice. It IS very good.

  • fred_twbdh5 on May 24, 2026

    Easy. Solid.

• Boston lettuce with radishes, carrots, apples, and yogurt-chive dressing

  • stockholm28 on February 13, 2017

    This was a really nice fresh salad and I liked the mix of tart apple, radish, carrots, butter lettuce with the yogurt chive dressing. The recipe makes a lot of dressing. You end up with about a cup of dressing which is too much for a single head of lettuce.

  • sosayi on July 09, 2018

    We made this dressing for a tossed green salad for a barbecue, but used whatever fresh veggies we had on hand (radish, beets, cucumber). The dressing was fresh and light tasting, but not very memorable. I'd probably try another recipe next time I wanted something similar.

  • sberes on August 30, 2018

    The dressing was too tart for my liking. I probably will not make again. No rave reviews here.

• Cream of tomato soup

  • averythingcooks on September 05, 2020

    I made this using plum tomatoes & a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. I like the addition of carrots/celery to the aromatics but I did add a splash of red wine & a squirt of tomato paste as they softened; I also used homemade veg broth. I like my tomato soup very smooth so after the blending I pushed it through a strainer. At this point I threw in a small parm rind with the sugar & a smaller amt of cider vinegar for a final simmer. I finished with a spoonful of basil pesto and really didn’t think I needed the cream. I now have a really nice pot of soup!

  • peaceoutdesign on February 02, 2025

    This was bright and fresh but still no quite the perfect recipe.

• Portuguese kale soup

  • rionafaith on January 08, 2017

    Super delicious, very hearty and filling and full of flavor. I couldn't find linguica and chourico sausages on short notice (even Whole Foods didn't have them!), so I substituted equal parts Spanish-style chorizo and kielbasa. I'm sure it would be even better with the real thing! I used the dark universal stock recipe from the same book, which was great.

  • Stephenn31 on December 29, 2023

    Really flavourful with minimal ingredients. I made it in a pressure cooker with 20 pressure and 10 min before manual release for each of the three 1-hour boil times

• Black bean soup

  • clcorbi on November 30, 2018

    Really delicious black bean soup recipe (although it doesn't produce quite as much soup as I was expecting), and the recipe isn't too fussy or overly complicated. The flavor combination of the sherry vinegar and chorizo is really nice.

  • allisonsemele on January 19, 2021

    I would make this again with half as much chorizo and chopped much smaller. The cubes of chewy chorizo didn’t integrate well and were overpowering. Update: I've made a version of this at least five times and really enjoy it. I make this with two links of fresh chorizo, either Spanish or Mexican. I like this much better than using dry chorizo. I agree with the other reviewer that it doesn't make an enormous quantity, but it would be easy to double if you wanted a lot of leftovers or were feeding a crowd.

  • LifeofPie on July 06, 2023

    I added more carrot and otherwise stuck to the recipe. Next time I would not shred the carrot but medium dice instead. I also think that the dry chorizo was too overpowering and next time I will use fresh chorizo which has a milder, less smoky flavor. I added more water at the end as I wanted more of a soup consistency and less thickness.

  • tz_finr6h on March 15, 2026

    Outstanding! So easy. So rich in flavor. Loved it!

  • tz_finr6h on March 15, 2026

    I found this recipe. Very easy to make. I had to cook the black beans a little longer than expected, but that’s fine. A lot of deep flavors. I would gladly make this again!

• Goulash

  • stockholm28 on February 13, 2017

    I liked this recipe a lot and it is a nice cold weather meal. This version has more vegetables (potatoes, carrots, parsnip, celery, and green pepper) than I've seen in goulash at cafes in Europe. I wish that I'd had a better quality of paprika.

  • averythingcooks on April 23, 2021

    This is a good goulash but not better than others I've made. I used stock instead of water & the meat was not even close to being fork tender in the time given (nor did I think it would be). After the 50 minute simmer & the addition of the potato, it went into a 325 oven for at least another 1.5 hours. I added liquid twice during this time. Near the end I added tomato paste & a little honey. I never have green peppers on hand so I used frozen peas & roasted red peppers. This was a nice dinner bowl over egg noodles.

• Budae Jjigae

  • clcorbi on February 19, 2018

    I have been so intrigued by this recipe for long, so since it's my birthday weekend, I finally decided I had to make it (despite the BF's protests about having to eat spam). I didn't have large dried anchovies, I had tiny ones I found at a Korean market, so I used a few extras in my stock. I also didn't have kombu and substituted nori with seemingly no ill effect. I pan-fried the spam and hot dogs before mixing in the other ingredients to give them a bit more umami flavor. I also didn't add an extra 1.5c of water to the soup because it seemed to have enough liquid to me. Otherwise, followed the recipe as written. Folks, this is good. Really good. The flavors really do blend together perfectly. The resulting stew is super-spicy, fatty, umami-rich--basically, perfect drinking food. The only thing I'd do differently next time would be to add an extra package of ramen noodles--we would have liked more. Yum. So glad I took the plunge and tried this awesome fusion dish!

• Sausage and pepper hero

  • southerncooker on June 20, 2018

    Great quick and easy work night supper. I didn't have red peppers so I used yellow and orange.

  • averythingcooks on March 15, 2020

    With very few ingredients (& surprisingly no attempt to make a sauce or special condiment) this made delicious sandwiches beside a side of coleslaw. I reduced the quantities by using 2 longer hot sausages with 1 smaller mild one. I also used a mix of red, yellow & orange peppers (no green) and I did add sliced onions & minced garlic to the pan. The only other thing I couldn't see not doing was adding cheese - a slice of provolone went over the loaded bottom bun and was broiled until bubbly. Healthy? No! BUT it WAS a perfect Saturday night dinner.

  • kari500 on October 18, 2023

    Delicious and easy, always a happy family when I make this.

• Meatball Parm hero

  • sberes on August 30, 2018

    ADD THE ONION TO THE MEAT WHEN MIXING ! This step is missing !. Made 8/24/18

  • averythingcooks on December 14, 2020

    These meatballs are delicious! For a 1/2 recipe, I used a 1 lb mix of ground beef & ground pork + 1 large Italian sausage. I did change the final steps a bit as I was not making his sauce this time. I oven roasted the meatballs and then added them directly to a pot of Barefoot Contessa arrabbiata sauce to simmer for a while. Open faced sandwiches with toasted ciabatta buns & provolone and a green salad on the side made for a fabulous dinner :)

  • foodgloriousfood on March 29, 2022

    These meatballs are great but they made enough to feed two very hungry people four meals (3 & 4th meal I did them as a baked pasta) Would be good for freezing, or I would halve the recipe next time as we almost O'd on meatballs. Turns out too much of a good thing is still a lot! I recommend using Bourdains Pomodoro recipe as instructed (or similar) as it is a light sauce that doesn't overwhelm the flavor of the meatballs which has a mild flavor given the addition of pork and veal to the beef and is enhanced by 6 whole sprigs of oregano (and 10-12 sprigs parsley) I worried the oregano would be too much, especially as mine was pretty pungent, being just picked fresh from my garden, and the sprigs were generous, but the qty of herbs was perfect for us!

• Bodega sandwich

  • southerncooker on June 20, 2018

    Delicious breakfast sandwich. I used American cheese. Couldn't help but smile when I read serve with Sh*tty coffee.

  • tralliott on March 26, 2024

    Nothing fancy, but good!

• Pan bagnat

  • clcorbi on August 18, 2017

    A very nice pan bagnat. I didn't have olive tapenade so I just chopped up some olives and used them instead. I like how in this version, the tuna mixture is mixed with anchovies, herbs and lemon, which makes it really nice and flavorful. I think I'd prefer basil rather than parsley next time, though. Also, our brioche buns had gotten rather soggy on bottom after being pressed--I'm not sure how you would prevent this, so next time I'd probably make these sandwiches on crusty baguettes instead, like the Melissa Clark version. Otherwise, perfect.

• Macau-style pork chop sandwich

  • clcorbi on December 26, 2016

    This is an absolutely delicious, greasy, heavenly sandwich. Definitely a weekend type of treat. I had a hard time pounding my pork chops flat enough as I don't have a meat pounder, but I had let them marinate for long enough (14 hours) that they were still plenty flavorful. We ate our sandwiches on plain white bread as pictured, with a ton of Sriracha, and were uncomfortably full but happy afterwards.

  • BeckyLeJ on August 09, 2018

    These were so good! I did slightly burn the outside thanks to my electric stovetop - it’s hard to adjust when you’re used to gas! But the sandwiches came out super tasty anyway!

  • averythingcooks on December 08, 2023

    We loved the crispy coating & the result of the flavourful marinade and actually decided to skip the bread and eat these chops as is with a spicy tomato chutney/yogurt sauce with a side of potato salad. I will try the air fryer next time.

• Mortadella and cheese sandwich

  • Jiminy on February 17, 2025

    This is an amazing 5 min fried mortadella sandwich.

• Mediterranean eggs

  • PennyG on July 01, 2018

    These were really nice! I am always looking for ways to use the preserved lemons and harissa paste I have in my fridge. Easy too - I would definitely make these again.

• Chicken satay with fake-ass spicy peanut sauce

  • jenmacgregor18 on June 28, 2023

    I only made the peanut sauce for a grilled chicken salad. This one is very quick and delicious. I thinned it out a little bit more as I was using it as a dressing. It's perfect.

  • pattyatbryce on August 08, 2024

    Made this with pork based on freezer clean out. Overall a tasty dinner for a weeknight. Do pay attention to his time on marinade. I felt the meat was a bit broken down when I ate leftovers the next day.

• The Grill Bitch's bar nuts

  • SilverSage on June 10, 2017

    Sticky! I've had much better recipes for bar nuts elsewhere.

  • BeckyLeJ on August 09, 2018

    I liked these! I did walnuts and cashews and found the finished nuts were crunchy and a great blend of salty, spicy, and sweet.

  • averythingcooks on October 15, 2023

    My initial reaction was "not the best" but then as I puttered around I realized how many times I went back to the pan for more, and yes - these definitely grew on me. I added extra cayenne & salt at the half way point which turned out to be a good idea. I scaled this to 1/4 of a recipe (ie 1 1/4 lbs of nuts) which made plenty...I can only imagine what 5 lbs of nuts (the full recipe) would cost these days!

• Linguine with white clam sauce

  • clcorbi on June 14, 2017

    Excellent. I cheated and used canned clams to make this weeknight friendly, so prep came together really fast. Bourdain is not messing around when it comes to the quantity of garlic (12 cloves was 1 full head for me), but the result is undeniably delicious. I used a bit of the clam's canning liquid since I had no clam liquor, and about 1/2c of pasta water (which I had salted aggressively prior to cooking the pasta). My white wine was a chardonnay, because that's what I had. Yum. I would definitely make this again and I'm sure the result would only be better with fresh clams.

  • pistachiopeas on July 25, 2018

    Delicious, well written, and fast recipe (even using fresh clams). This one's a keeper!

  • allisonsemele on May 29, 2021

    So delicious! This was my first time cooking with fresh clams, and I found this recipe extremely easy to follow. I had four dozen clams, so made 3/4 lb of pasta. Used the full amount of everything else. The red pepper and the parsley are both key in this salty, rich-tasting dish.

• Macaroni and cheese

  • clcorbi on February 13, 2017

    Made for our Valentine's Day dinner. This recipe makes a delicious, complex mac n cheese that is quite straightforward to put together. I used the blend of cheeses Bourdain recommends, subbing only smoked mozzarella for plain. The longest step here is grating all the various cheeses. What sets this mac n cheese apart is the addition of mustard powder, cayenne pepper and worcestershire to the béchamel. We really enjoyed this flavor boost, but next time I'd reduce the cayenne, as it was a bit too overpowering for me. I don't want my mac n cheese to be overtly spicy. After throwing this in the oven for 20 minutes with a generous blanket of grated parmesan on top, it was a beautiful golden brown. We both thoroughly enjoyed this, but next time I might add some extra milk or cream to thin the sauce out a bit. I simply prefer a mac n cheese with more of a runny sauce, and because of the huge proportion of cheeses in this one, it was quite thick after baking.

  • southerncooker on June 25, 2018

    We loved the combination of cheeses in this one and the optional ham. I did only opt for a half amount of cayenne since mine is super hot. Next time I think I'd only do a fourth.

  • Nealm on July 01, 2019

    I put 1.5 teaspoons of cayenne pepper in and it wasn't enough, but to each, his own when it comes to spicy taste. I also made the mistake not having quite enough milk. Don't scrimp there...make sure you have at ;east 5 cups, more if you want it smoother.

  • chawkins on November 18, 2021

    I made a quarter of the recipe for the two of us. It was delicious, the mustard, cayenne and Worcestershire added a lot of flavor as did the combination of the four cheeses. I only used a quarter of the cayenne called for and it provided the perfect level of spiciness for us.

  • averythingcooks on August 17, 2022

    It takes a lot for me to bypass my go to mac & cheese (likely cut from a Canadian publication called Homemakers years ago) but with whole milk in the freezer & a cheese drawer clean out needed, I came here. I did my best to match his recipe but with no fresh mozzarella on hand, a mix of Monterey jack, regular mozzarella & more sharp cheddar took its place and I also used an extra 1/4 cup milk based on member comments. I mixed the parmesan reserved for the top with melted butter & fresh breadcrumbs (our preference for some crunch), I always add a handful of ham and we did really like the kick from the cayenne. I made a 1/2 recipe which still made a lot, but who doesn't love leftover mac & cheese?

  • bernalgirl on August 24, 2025

    An excellent macaroni and cheese. A spicy version was requested, so I used 5 oz. Gruyère, 5 oz. pepper jack, low moisture mozzarella, added a small can of roasted Hatch chiles in place of the ham, and the full 2 teaspoons of cayenne. Mine is very hot, next time I’d cut the cayenne to 1 teaspoon. This is a decadent mac’n’cheese to serve immediately. There’s Jubilee recipe is better to make ahead, the custard base makes serving perfect squares easy and it sits well.

  • MarieMacCheese on January 13, 2026

    I have a few go to recipes for Mac and cheese and this one is entering the rotation. I like the kick of the cayenne and the blend of cheeses. I like a crispy top so I might add some panko to the top next time as it only browned a little. I used pizza mozzarella vs the fresh.

  • xanetta_k0su2r on February 11, 2026

    I love the flavors. Mac and cheese is so personal and as a southerner this just was not my cup of tea. I will definitely take some of this recipe into my own southern baked custard style mac and cheese.

• Roast chicken with lemon and butter

  • clcorbi on December 26, 2016

    This recipe produces a really succulent, delicious bird. The only change I made was to salt the chicken several hours prior to roasting. I shredded the breasts and used them to make Bourdain's chicken salad recipe from this book.

  • rionafaith on January 08, 2017

    I'm always down to try a new recipe/technique for roast chicken, and this one was good but not really that special. I'm not sure the butter under the skin really added much, and the photos of the chicken prepped before going into the oven show twice as many butter pats put under the breast, so I did that and ended up distributing the full 4T…. only to discover later that I should have reserved half of it for the sauce. That could have been made clearer. Making a sauce from the pan drippings after roasting is a nice touch but it didn't thicken as much as I would have liked -- however the lemon and parsley flavor is very good, and makes it almost like a chicken francaise.

• Roasted cauliflower with sesame

  • clcorbi on December 26, 2016

    BF really liked this one--I was not so huge on it. My roasting tray just isn't big enough to handle this much cauliflower, so that part was obviously user error, but I also didn't like how thick the tahini sauce was. I felt like the sauce became a bit gloppy when mixed in with the cauliflower, when I wanted it to be light, more like a vinaigrette.

  • montecristo99 on December 31, 2019

    Loved this. It was quick and easy to put together and was an instant hit with the family. I'll be making this again--next time will reduce the salt a bit. Seriously delicious.

  • MissKoo on June 14, 2020

    Made this as part of a dinner for a friend recuperating from surgery. A big hit! Had made once before and even though I'm not a big fan of cauliflower thought it was delicious. It's great to serve with toothpicks and just have as an appetizer before dinner with a cocktail. If your cauliflower is small I would suggest cutting back on the salt. The first time I made it I had almost 3 pounds of cauliflower and it was fine. But when I used a smaller one the salt was much more pronounced. Recipe doesn't specify amount of cauliflower. Will definitely make again.

  • chawkins on January 29, 2022

    Very unusual seasonings for cauliflower but it was good. My cauliflower weighed a little over a pound and a half after trimming and I only used a quarter of the salt called for and it was enough for us. I also use lemon juice instead of the red wine vinegar.

  • paisleymonsoon on January 24, 2024

    I was excited to try this, but I think the miso made the flavor too strong. Actually, I used the Korean version of fermented soybeans instead of miso since I can't seem to find it locally. If I try it again, it will be without the miso. My teen daughter said it reminded her of the flavor of homemade pizza and that it was just okay.

• Mushroom sautéed with shallots

  • clcorbi on December 26, 2016

    This is a simple, delicious way to prepare mushrooms. I love how Bourdain says to cook the mushrooms until they start "squeaking" when moved around the pan--and they really do! Lovely bit of writing there. We made these to go with his roasted chicken from this book, and really enjoyed the whole meal.

  • averythingcooks on November 17, 2025

    The mushroom lovers around my table gave high praise. I liked that while this is meant to be made at the last minute, it does come together very quickly. I added fresh thyme to the pan in addition to using the parsley at the end. An easy idea to scale as needed that will be repeated.

• Pommes Anna

  • rionafaith on January 08, 2017

    This was good, but if I make it again I'd like to try a few tweaks. First -- WOW is there a lot of butter, and I don't think it's all necessary. I melted the whole two sticks right off the bat but only ended up using maybe 2/3rds of it, and I was being pretty generous with the amount I brushed on. I think next time I would only use one stick and it would be plenty. OR, I'd be curious as to how it would be with olive oil instead? Also, I wish this had gotten a bit more browned and crisp around the edges but I don't see how that would happen with it covered for the whole time. It might be better to remove the lid for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking.

  • jason_9zm392 on January 11, 2026

    This was great, I did cook it in a cast iron and used all the butter. The flip worked out well. I was able to drain the access butter after I flipped it.

• Dark universal stock

  • rionafaith on January 08, 2017

    Much longer cooking process than my usual chicken stock, but it yielded a very nice result. Roasting the bones with tomato sauce and flour definitely adds to the flavor. I used a combination of previously roast chicken carcasses I had hanging out in the freezer and some raw bones.

• Cast-iron grilled chicken

  • clcorbi on January 26, 2017

    Oh, my goodness. This is officially the best recipe I have tried from this cookbook. I was hesitant at several steps along the way--first, I marinated the chicken for a full 24 hours, and as I put the marinade together I thought the spice blend seemed a bit odd (there is a TON of cardamom, and the oregano seemed out of place to me). Then, when it came time to cook, I was afraid of overcooking the chicken--you use a grill pan (in our case, a large skillet) on high heat and cook the boneless skinless thighs for a full 7 minutes per side before transferring to a hot oven for an additional 10 minutes. But once again, we followed the instructions to a T, and the result was absolutely fabulous. The chicken gets beautifully blackened and crisped on the outside, and is perfectly tender on the inside because of the yogurt marinade. The spices are not overwhelming at all, in fact the chicken had the most delicious flavor all the way through and it was very balanced. This is a must-make.

  • stockholm28 on March 04, 2017

    This makes a nice moist chicken thigh with a crisp skin. The spice is nice and fairly subtle.

  • rionafaith on August 22, 2017

    Apartment-friendly grilled chicken! Well, sort of... this is the type of recipe that makes me wish I had an exhaust hood. Definitely had to open all the windows, turn the fan on and turn off the smoke detector. And moving the giant heavy grill pan laden with chicken from the stove to the oven is tricky business. But the result was deliciously crispy and charred on the outside and moist on the inside. I used the smaller amount of chicken thighs and had tons of marinade, so I'll plan on buying more meat next time. It seems like a lot of spices in the marinade but the flavor is pretty subtle in the finished result. This was great but I don't know how often I'll want to smoke up the apartment like that.

• Buttermilk biscuits

  • alohaanna on May 18, 2017

    Made these side by side with Alice Waters Cream Biscuits from The Art of Simple Food. Bourdain's biscuits have a slightly crunchier bottom, but are lighter and airier than the Cream Biscuits. These is a pretty perfect biscuit recipe. The taste has a slight tang in comparison due to buttermilk, making it perfect for both savory and sweet applications. Loved these. Followed recipe tips to a tee, cold ingredients are key to a good biscuit.

  • Jviney on March 19, 2020

    Quick and easy and delicious. Would not make any changes to this one.

  • rionafaith on April 21, 2020

    Great quick & easy biscuits -- nothing fancy here, but perfectly light with crispy tops and edges. I made a half recipe and divided my square of dough into quarters to make 4 biscuits. Mine turned out lumpier and much less square than the picture, but still delicious.

  • averythingcooks on December 10, 2020

    I made these to serve with soup for supper. My mistake was to cut the recipe in 1/2 and only make 4. They were tall and flaky with crisp edges.....just lovely!

  • stockholm28 on April 10, 2021

    These are pretty standard buttermilk biscuits although made with all butter. He has you freeze the butter which keeps it well chilled while working into the dough. I deviated from his technique and followed one I learned from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s pie book. Bourdain freezes the stick of butter first, lets it sit at room temp for 5 minutes, and then cuts into cubes. RLB cuts the butter into cubes and then chills in freezer and also chills the flour in the freezer. The biscuits were nice and flaky and I’d use the recipe again. They were delicious right out of the oven but like most biscuits did not age well.

• Spaghetti alla bottarga

  • sosayi on July 09, 2018

    Absolutely delicious and incredibly easy. I upped the garlic from 1 to 3 cloves and used WW pasta, but otherwise followed directions to a T. I'd actually buy more bottarga (which I'd had in my fridge *forever*) just to use in this dish.

• Roasted baby beets with red onion and oranges

  • L.Nightshade on July 09, 2018

    We got two bunches of baby beets from the farmers’ market, one red, one golden, so decided to make this dish, with a couple adjustments. My one pound was about 20 beets, so I guess they were preemies. No red onion, so I used a shallot, and our market doesn’t have navel oranges so I used Valencia, which fell apart when sliced due to so many seeds. So it was more or less orange bits instead of slices. The roast and peel method works well for such tiny beets, as the skins just rub off. (I normally prefer the peel then roast method.) I used pineapple mint, as that is what was doing well in our garden. Anyway, delicious! Oranges and beets are a lovely combination, and the touches of cider and mint were worthy additions to the flavors. I liked it with shallots, but I will try it again with a red onion.

  • Acarroll on August 02, 2024

    I thought I had oranges but didn't, so it was mangoes instead. I used half wild rose vinegar from Noma and half ACV, turned out delicious. Served with bison steaks.

• Garbanzos with cherry tomatoes

  • L.Nightshade on July 09, 2018

    Note that the garbanzos have to be marinated for at least three, and up to 24 hours. It was well worth it, the lemony, garlicky, olive-oily marinade was excellent on the ordinary (canned, in my case) garbanzos. The tomatoes are roasted until softened but not bursting (OK, so a couple of mine burst while the others were waiting to get soft). Then they’re tossed with the garbanzos and chopped parsley. Simple and delicious. I served this dish and the beet dish with grilled Copper River salmon, but both of these sides are getting bookmarked for vegan dinner parties.

• Spaghetti with garlic, anchovies, and parsley

  • pistachiopeas on July 25, 2018

    Better than other versions I've had of this dish. Another keeper!

• Chicken pot pie

  • sberes on August 30, 2018

    Loved but would liberally salt sauce next time. Subbed herbs de Provence for fresh sage. Maybe try with cream next time?

  • ElderCarl on December 22, 2025

    I would season each element liberally and do an additional 1-2 medium carrots, 1 more rib of celery, and more peas. Delicious and easy. Instructions were straightforward and well written.

• Pomodoro

  • sberes on August 30, 2018

    Make again so excellent and fresh and light

  • foodgloriousfood on March 29, 2022

    Wonderful with Bourdains Meatball Parm Hero also from this book. It is light enough that it doesn't overwhelm the meatballs, or weigh it down so it is too hearty in flavor. The meatballs are light given that they are equal parts of veal, pork and chuck with lots of herbs. The Pomodoro worked wonderfully with them but I did need to simmer for longer than the 20-25 mins to make it thick enough to coat the meatballs and not make the bread soggy in the heros.

  • averythingcooks on August 21, 2022

    This is a great use for Roma tomatoes and basil from the garden. It is destined for pasta & meatballs tomorrow night with the rest going into the freezer. I easily cut this in 1/2 (with a 14 oz can of whole plum tomatoes in the pantry) and I did add a pinch of sugar at the end. I will repeat this one for sure.

• New Mexico-style beef chili

  • southerncooker on October 21, 2018

    I've had my eye on this recipe since I first got the Appetites book, but it's just been too hot here to enjoy chili. I finally made it for our Sunday supper tonight and it was delicious but a bit spicy. I did use harissa instead of the tomato paste as suggested since I had some in the fridge. I had to order a jar of diced Hatch Green Chilies from Amazon, since I am unable to find them here.

  • averythingcooks on August 11, 2022

    I grew Anaheim peppers this year because I have no reliable source of hatch chiles (& Anaheims are typically listed as a good substitute). And that brings me to this recipe which I have been eyeing for a while. With poblanos, jalapenos (added to the chile rather than as garnish) & the Anaheims, this produced a very tasty chili (and cut in 1/2, a sensible amount for 2). I did add a little ancho chili powder near the end to intensify the chili flavour a bit and yes, I also added black beans & corn as that is how we like our chili. With all the peppers coming from the garden, this was a great choice and I plan to make it again soon - this time destined for the freezer.

• Cranberry relish

  • peaceoutdesign on December 14, 2018

    Easy Raw, awesome

• Creamed pearl onions

  • wcassity on January 04, 2019

    Did not enjoy.

• Lasagne Bolognese

  • meggan on January 02, 2020

    V. good. I made a GF and a regular version. I also subbed in turkey for veal. Could use some fresh basil or something on top.

• Sausage gravy with biscuits

  • rionafaith on April 21, 2020

    Made approximately 1/3 recipe (12 oz package of sausage to a scant 1/2 cup half and half). I was surprised that the gravy doesn't include flour or any other thickener, so I allowed it to cook down after adding the milk until it was clinging to the sausage lumps but it still wasn't as creamy or saucy as other sausage gravy I've had. I did not spread margarine on the biscuits because that seemed unnecessary (and why margarine?) Probably won't make this one again. I also slightly over-salted, but that's my own fault. The biscuit recipe that goes along with this is great though!

  • rghowe2 on May 12, 2023

    I like to add a little bit of a thickener as the recipe as is will be very thin for gravy. But I do like my gravy a little thicker as a midwesterner.

  • averythingcooks on January 23, 2026

    I have made his biscuits already (very good!) but I made a different biscuit this time. We thought this gravy was...fine (using the 35 % cream/whole milk mix). We liked the (very generous in our case) use of the Frank's and it was easy with so few ingredients BUT we also agree that we vastly prefer Erin Jeanne McDowell's Green Chile Sausage Gravy (Savory Baking/Food 52). And I also ask "Why, exactly, does he specify MARGARINE to butter the biscuits??"

• Mashed potatoes, kind of Robuchon style

  • averythingcooks on March 19, 2021

    I am a bit hesitant to comment because I set out with the best intentions but I bailed early re: the huge quantity of butter. I used just under 2 lbs of Yukon golds (boiled, riced & returned to the pan to release some steam as instructed). Then I began adding the butter......it calls for 4 sticks (!!) for 2 1/4 lbs of potatoes so I had 3 ready but I quit 1/2 way into the 2nd stick. I finished with a good splash of the heavy cream & a lot of ground pepper and we both agreed that they were really delicious. Maybe we missed out, but as it progressed, I simply couldn't bring myself to use that much butter.

  • matthew_jiod3h on April 05, 2026

    Insane

• Meat loaf with mushroom gravy

  • Delys77 on September 15, 2021

    We quite liked this. The loaf is nice and juicy but not fatty and the sauce is very nice with it. I could do without the tomato paste glaze, but I didn't hate it so it really depends on your taste. I did cook in two smaller loaf pans because that is what I had and I cooked for 50 minutes then 40 and it was nicely done. Also of note I used extra lean beef and ground pork as there was no veal. I also used Half and half in the sauce and it was still nice and rich.

• Halibut poached in duck fat

  • Acarroll on November 20, 2021

    I really wanted to love this. The cooking method resulted in a perfectly cooked halibut, but the flavor was lacking. It was just too bland.

• Braised pork shoulder with fried shallots and pickled vegetables

  • bernalgirl on March 14, 2024

    This is an easy and outstanding meal, my family loved it. The cola makes for an unexpectedly complex liquid and the meat is deeply flavored, my 4 lb. boneless shoulder cooked in 3 hrs. I served it over “noodle pillows”, an old favorite from Barbara Tropp’s China Moon Cookbook. The pickled vegetables are a perfect compliment.

• Braised Belgian endive

  • Stephenn31 on November 25, 2024

    A good classic.

• Savory pastry dough

  • averythingcooks on October 17, 2025

    This is a very straightforward, quick-to-make (food processor) all butter dough. I did add a little extra ice water (around 2 tsp) & after 3 hours in the fridge (he suggests a minimum of 1) it easily rolled out into 1 large 10" x 14" sheet. As I was covering mini turkey pot pies destined for the freezer, I baked a scrap as a taste test and it is certainly flaky & crisp. My 1 issue is that my "pinch" of kosher salt could have been more generous

• Roast leg of lamb with flageolets

  • william_0fi4zc on November 22, 2025

    It seems that two ingredients are missing from this list compared to the book.

• Madame Huang's Kitchen

  This is not a run-of-the-mill guide to cooking, but rather a lovely stroll around Bourdain’s mind as he feeds you the things he adores. You hear his voice in every line, and the recipes work.

  Full review

• Eat the Love

  ...it’s completely “on brand” for Bourdain and his personality, so expect to be offended, amused and entertained.

  Full review

• Food52

  The recipes weren’t developed specifically for the book; the book was developed to collect Bourdain’s workhorse recipes, the ones he makes for his family all the time.

  Full review