Notes about Recipes in this book

• Aperol spritz

  • anya_sf on June 11, 2020

    Good version of this drink - just sweet enough, not too bitter.

• Grapefruit rosemary mimosa

  • anya_sf on June 22, 2017

    I had high hopes for these, but they were disappointing. The grapefruit was too strong/tart, although maybe it was my fruit. I did not think they were sweet enough. I also couldn't really taste the rosemary. Changes I would try in order to improve this recipe: less grapefruit juice (or make sure my grapefruits are sweeter), steep the rosemary a bit longer, try prosecco instead of dry champagne.

  • anya_sf on June 11, 2020

    Made this again and really liked it. Not sure what changed from last time. I thought they were much better than standard mimosas, which either taste like sour orange juice or cheap champagne. I do believe my grapefruit was fairly sweet, as I was able to eat some without cringing. Used leftover rosemary syrup from David Lebovitz's recipe and the hint of rosemary was nice. Used canned rose sparkling wine.

• Mango buttermilk smoothie

  • anya_sf on August 01, 2020

    Quite tasty, very thick and creamy. I wouldn't have minded an icier/frothier consistency - wonder if adding a few ice cubes might do the trick.

• Cajun soufflé

  • anya_sf on July 20, 2020

    I used Half Baked Harvest's Cajun seasoning (in lieu of creole), which contains no salt, so added about 1/2 tsp Kosher salt to the eggs. Lowfat milk worked for the sauce. The instructions do not say what to do with the rest of the vegetable/sauce mixture, but obviously it should be mixed into the egg yolks as well before folding in the whites. The souffle was very flavorful and delicious.

• Pea and goat cheese tortilla

  • JJ2018 on May 09, 2019

    This was a nice frittata but the method was quite cumbersome. Would use the flavours again but simplify the method.

• Banana fritters

  • anya_sf on June 25, 2017

    These are really pancakes; they are not fried like fritters. I stupidly forgot the spices, but they were still great. Next time I won't forget. The batter is thick, so you have to dollop it, rather than pour it, onto the griddle. Be sure to spread it out a bit so it cooks evenly.

• Earl Grey and ricotta waffles with honey sweet cream

  • anya_sf on July 05, 2020

    Note: the wrong photo (for Breakfast BLTs) is shown.

  • anya_sf on July 05, 2020

    I just made the waffles as I didn't feel like having whipped cream for breakfast. I used lowfat milk but whole milk ricotta. The waffles baked up crisp on the outside, tender inside. The Earl Grey flavor was subtle. I tried one waffle with lemon curd, which was a nice pairing and still let the bergamot flavor come through. I had another waffle with maple syrup, which just tasted like a regular (good) waffle.

• Blueberry sour cream waffles with maple glaze

  • anya_sf on August 06, 2017

    In an attempt to make these healthier and use up the dairy products I had, I made the following changes: used half all-purpose flour, half white whole wheat flour; used a mixture of sour cream, lowfat yogurt, and buttermilk for the dairy. One quibble about the instructions: I used approximately 1/3 cup batter for each waffle and still did not get whole round waffles, and my waffle iron isn't that big, so using 1/4 cup portions as the recipe states is unlikely to yield whole round waffles as the picture shows. At any rate, I got 8 not-completely-round waffles. I only made half the glaze, which was plenty for all the waffles. We just drizzled the glaze on top, rather than dipping the waffles. I thought the glaze lacked enough maple flavor, so I added some maple extract. We ate some of them with regular maple syrup and couldn't decide which way we preferred. My son declared these the best waffles ever, so I am pretty sure I need to make these again.

• Cornbread waffles

  • anya_sf on July 30, 2017

    I used the optional molasses, but did not brown the butter. They were very good. The coarse cornmeal adds a nice crunch (although it did get stuck in my teeth). The recipe says it serves 4, but 3 of us ate all of the waffles.

• Egg in a hole

  • anya_sf on September 21, 2020

    This method did not work for me as the top of the egg white did not cook enough even after a couple of extra minutes. I tried cutting a larger hole, but that didn't work either. Perhaps a larger hole and thinner slice of bread would work. I ended up flipping the bread to cook the egg white, so the result wasn't pretty to look at, but was still very tasty.

• Sautéed shredded Brussels sprouts

  • JJ2018 on April 09, 2018

    Made this with the home fries and sweet and spicy sausage patties for brunch. It was all delicious - should have doubled the quantities for the hungry crowd

• Praline bacon

  • texannewyorker on May 01, 2017

    The flavor is good here, but it cannot be overemphasized that you must use INCREDIBLY. THICK. SLAB. BACON for this recipe if you want it to look anything like the picture. I used regular medium-to-thick good quality bacon and it shriveled up like.... well, you get the idea.... Thought the recipe should've made this clearer.

• Spicy brown sugar sausage patties

  • southerncooker on April 21, 2019

    I used ground turkey instead of pork for these. They were pretty good but not as good as some I've had. I made mine a little bigger than hers and got 7 instead of 12. I froze 4 of them for later.

• Roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine

  • southerncooker on April 21, 2019

    I didn't get ones on the vine since they were twice the price for less than half the amount for ones not on the vine. The ones off the vine were much better looking as well. They are so delicious roasted this way I could easily eat them like candy.

• Buttered grits with shrimp

  • anya_sf on September 14, 2023

    I just made the grits (Quaker quick), using all whole milk (no cream). This was an easy, mostly hands-off method that resulted in super creamy grits. We topped ours with cooked bacon and chives. I'm not the biggest fan of grits, but will definitely use this method again.

• Peaches and cream with honeyed cornflakes

  • southerncooker on April 02, 2019

    I often eat Greek Yogourt for breakfast with honey, fruit and sometimes add some granola. I loved this version with the honey, cornflakes ,sesame seeds, and almonds baked in the oven. Peaches aren't the best this time of year but this was still good. I'll be trying it with other fruit too and can't wait for peach season so I can try it again with peaches.

• French toast ham and cheese sandwiches

  • southerncooker on March 24, 2019

    I used Swiss instead of Gruyere since that's what I had. I did use the optional Dijon and it added loads of flavor.

  • Bessp on June 04, 2025

    Nothing revolutionary, but a solid recipe. The perfect breakfast for dinner dish. I like to put some thin sliced tomatoes between the ham and the cheese, my husband likes a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

• Folded scrambled eggs

  • anya_sf on August 22, 2020

    The first time I made this, I messed up. The key is to spread the egg as thin as possible very quickly, then immediately turn down the heat. The second time I did much better. Great way to cook egg + cheese for a breakfast sandwich. My only complaint is that the soy sauce makes the egg kind of brown.

• Pastrami and rye grilled cheese with egg

  • southerncooker on April 08, 2019

    Delicious!

• Chicken avocado arepas

  • mjes on August 31, 2021

    First, i must complain about the recipe not calling for masarepa, rather calling it "precooked white corn flour", By the latter name I don't know what grocer would know what I was talking about. By the former name nearly any Latin American grocer couldd help. Then the directions for making arepas is very strange with little instruction on shaping and using an oven for finishing. I did follow the directions which led to an acceptable arrepa to stuff but I think I'll stick with more traditional approaches. The filling, on the other hand, was quite appropriate for an arepa -- and very tasty.

• Breakfast quesadillas with sausage and cheese

  • southerncooker on April 21, 2019

    I roasted the cherry tomatoes from this book as well for this. I used whole wheat tortillas, turkey Italian sausages, low fat sour cream, EVOO instead of Canola oil, and Sriracha for the hot sauce. One quesadilla was enough for both hubby and I. They were delicious.

• Book club chicken salad

  • bwhip on September 11, 2017

    Really tasty chicken salad recipe. The poaching technique for the chicken breasts worked very well, and the combination of ingredients is really interesting and flavorful. My wife doesn't love almonds, so I substituted toasted pine nuts. I liked the use of more plain Greek yogurt than mayonnaise. Next time I might up the curry quantity just a bit, but otherwise I thought this was just great.

  • anya_sf on July 18, 2021

    Nice elements of sweet, crunchy, and creamy with the chicken. Unlike most chicken salads which drown in dressing, here there was just enough to moisten the ingredients. With 2% Greek yogurt and lite mayo, the dressing wasn't heavy at all. We enjoyed this over butter lettuce tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.

• Blueberry-pistachio tabbouleh

  • JJ2018 on February 26, 2019

    This was absolutely delicious - really nice for a lunch or as part of a selection of salads. I was intrigued by the blueberries but they really work.

• Muffaletta brunch salad

  • southerncooker on April 16, 2019

    I used bow ties instead of shells since that's what I had. Made for daughter and my lunches. Perfect pasta salad to take to work. Delicious.

• Baked brown-butter banana bread doughnuts

  • D.Barker on August 16, 2021

    The glaze. Oh, heavens, the GLAZE. I could eat it with a spoon! And the crumble was also crazy good! The problem here was that the banana bread was...okay. I wanted more from it.

• Almond crumble coffee cake muffins

  • southerncooker on April 07, 2019

    Delicious warm. Haven't tried cold or rewarmed yet. I omitted nuts on top of a few for hubby and grandson. I forgot to swirl the middles.

• Mini apricot and cardamom scones

  • bwhip on May 25, 2017

    I saw some nice fresh apricots at the store, so decided to grab a few to try a new recipe with them. This one looked appealing, so I gave it a shot. These were excellent! Great texture, not overly sweet, with a wonderful subtle contrast between the fresh bits of apricot and the cardamom. I topped them with a sprinkling of demerara sugar to add a nice little crunch.

  • anya_sf on June 09, 2019

    My apricots ended up being duds - tasting like nothing much - but I went ahead and used them anyway and they actually tasted OK in these scones. I'm sure with better apricots these would be amazing. I doubled the apricots (had to use them somehow). We really enjoyed the cardamom. I shaped the scones ahead, froze them, then baked them from frozen; they took about 20 minutes to bake (since they had extra fruit and had been frozen).

• Overnight New Orleans beignets

  • anya_sf on September 20, 2020

    The dough rested at room temperature for about an hour in the morning, which seemed fine (it didn't rise noticeably). I had trouble maintaining the oil temperature, so some of the beignets were a little dark and/or doughy inside, but there were extras, so we just ate the good ones. They were quite tasty, although not all developed a hole inside (which could have been oil temp again). I did drain them on paper towels briefly before dredging in powdered sugar, so the sugar didn't stick as readily, but did after a few coatings.

• Fig and pistachio buttermilk cake

  • anya_sf on August 21, 2017

    I used a light-colored aluminum cake pan instead of a cast-iron pan, and it took about 40 min to bake instead of 20-25, in order to get the center fully baked (the figs add a lot of moisture). The edges ended up slightly dry. I used white whole wheat flour to make it healthier, since this is a breakfast cake. I thought 1/2 cup of pistachios was too much, and only ended up sprinkling 1/4 cup on top of the cake. I really enjoyed the combination of figs and pistachios. The cake has a pleasant flavor and isn't too sweet, so it's nice for breakfast or afternoon tea. It's also not too high in fat. You could use the cake base with all sorts of fruit and/or nut toppings. I would definitely make this again.

• Blackberry cobbler muffins with pistachios

  • anya_sf on June 26, 2017

    I mixed the batter and topping the night before and refrigerated them, then scooped the muffins, topped with crumbs, and baked the next morning. That worked fine - just had to bake an extra 5 minutes or so. Changes I made: used white whole wheat flour, 1 egg + 1 egg white (instead of yolk, because that's what I had), 1% milk, and maybe 2 cups blackberries instead of 1.5 cups. These are definitely FULL of blackberries, which I loved. Do use paper liners or your muffins will likely collapse after baking. Also definitely heed the instruction to let the muffins cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. I thought there was way more topping than needed; could cut in half or even skip (although the crumble is a nice touch). Could definitely use a different nut, such as almonds. The salt in the pistachios adds an interesting dimension though. I'm not sure I noticed the flavor of the browned butter with all that fruit, but I didn't do a side-by-side comparison.

  • southerncooker on March 24, 2019

    Family and I loved these.

• Dad's buttermilk biscuits

  • dbuhler on June 08, 2024

    These are delicious biscuits and they are our favorite to serve with Biscuits and Gravy. They are sturdy enough to top with the gravy, yet tender enough to serve as a side bread with butter and jam. Read the recipe carefully... The first few times I made these I used unsalted butter and thought they didn't quite taste right. It wasn't until I was reading the recipe more closely that I noticed that it called for salted butter. I don't usually buy salted butter, but I do keep a box of it in my freezer just to make this recipe.

• Breakfast sausage pretzel rolls

  • ebs on May 02, 2021

    I thought this was a great breakfast treat. My family was pretty happy with it. It's easy to put together, just one rise for the dough. I had only 14 breakfast sausages so used the extra dough to make 4 small pretzel ball thingys, boiled and baked them just like the sausage rolls.

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