Notes about Recipes in this book

• Herb-crusted beef tenderloin

  • mharriman on August 30, 2020

    Restaurant-worthy! We couldn’t get over how elegant looking and delicious this steak recipe was. I was able to use fresh thyme from my garden and we could taste its subtle flavor in the Parmesan crust. I made a couple changes: I didn’t think the steaks needed tying, so I didn’t without any issues, and I roasted one until it reached a 135 degree f internal temperature for medium rare and the other to 140 for medium. None of my meat temperature guides show 120-125 f as med. rare, ATK either made a mistake or are using their own temperature guide. This is a keeper!

• Garlicky pork with eggplant

  • mharriman on August 12, 2017

    More prep and chopping, and slicing than I prefer (onions, eggplant, garlic, partially frozen pork loin, cilantro, lime) but the result is excellent! Wonderful flavors that are different from traditional Asian stir-fry. Served this with white rice as suggested.

• Mediterranean-style braised lamb chops

  • mharriman on April 07, 2020

    This was a straightforward, hearty recipe. The key to success for me was to mise en place. I started my rice cooker with a long grain rice blend before beginning the lamb recipe prep and that worked well. I’ve quickly learned that having cans of diced tomatoes opens up more recipes during this stay at home period, so my last grocery run included stocking up on a few cans. The kalamata olives helped make this dish sing. Noted: This recipe also appears in ATK’s Complete Mediterranean Cookbook.

• Chicken pot pie

  • mharriman on December 24, 2017

    Worth the time involved. This recipe had been calling my name. Finally bought two large ramekins, and with leftover roast chicken, leftover store bought pie crust dough, the time was right. Lessons learned: I made the pie crust too large so it sat atop the rim- next time need to cut smaller circles. Pie crust was quite brown at 7 minutes. Next time bake for 5 minutes. Best to prep and set out everything ahead of time. I was scrambling to measure and add ingredients. Good direction: Putting frozen peas in at last minute makes them perfect in finished product. End result was tasty.

• Skillet-braised cod Provençal

  • mharriman on June 07, 2020

    Very good. This is a streamlined version of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe for tuna, swordfish or cod. My husband and I liked it a lot. I used two medium sized vine ripe tomatoes instead of one large one, and realized that summer time tomatoes (that actually taste like real tomatoes) help make this dish sing. I have learned that if I chop, mince, and prep every ingredient before starting to cook, everything, including the end result, goes so much better. I’m glad I did that tonight because cooking was effortless and the taste result benefited. Served with half a baguette as recommended.

• Spiced swordfish with avocado-grapefruit salsa

  • mharriman on May 16, 2026

    I followed the instructions and the broiled swordfish was perfect- light crisp surface and moist meat inside. The salsa was a delicious complement. Unfortunately, the overall flavor of the fish, even with the chili pepper rub, was bland. For a very expensive cut of fish, not sure this recipe is worth repeating with swordfish. The salsa is a keeper for a different fish- maybe cod.

• Salmon fillets with soy-mustard glaze

  • mharriman on February 18, 2018

    The sauce for the salmon fillets is delicious and easy to make. I was pleasantly surprised how juicy and flavorful the fillets turned out with a two step process I’d never done for salmon: sear on stovetop and then bake in same skillet in 300 degree oven. Served with steamed broccoli. Reminded me of my native Pacific Northwest. This one goes into our rotation!

• Kung pao shrimp

  • mharriman on June 24, 2020

    Delicious. This Is one of my favorite Chinese Restaurant choices so I was excited to discover it was a quick and easy stir fry recipe. The ingredients combined for perfectly sized portions for two of us. Served with green lettuce salad, jasmine rice, and Riesling wine. As is typical, this recipe, for two or doubled for four, is in two other American Test Kitchen publications I own: Cooking For Two and The Best Simple Recipe, as well as more than 15 others I don’t own.

• Chinese chicken salad

  • mharriman on September 05, 2017

    Kind of ho-hum. I used leftover ( 2 1/2 cups) shredded/ diced chicken from a whole roasted chicken. The napa cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, red peppers, scallions, and chow mein noodles looked like a good mix to make the salad interesting but the result was just okay. This needed more dressing than called for. Probably won't repeat.

  • mharriman on March 26, 2021

    Update: I’d forgotten I had made this a few years ago. Tonight two of us thought it was good, especially paired with an Asian mushroom soup on a warm March day. I used one 7 ounce poached chicken breast and half the dressing ingredient amounts but the full amount of vegetables (including fresh ginger) for 4 servings. Not anything exciting but fine for a weekday night.

• Orecchiette with broccoli rabe and white beans

  • mharriman on November 08, 2017

    Wanted to try broccoli rabe in a vegetarian entree. Not again! My Husband and I found the broccoli rabe bitter and pungent and it overwhelmed the beans, pasta, pine nuts, and romano cheese. I quadrupled the amount of cheese to offset the bitter rabe, but it made no impact. If I were to try it again, I would opt for plain broccoli florets.

• Pasta with roasted cauliflower, garlic, and walnuts

  • mharriman on August 21, 2017

    Although this recipe has 10 ingredients, quite a bit of prep time and takes lots of coordination (roast whole head of garlic, roast walnuts, roast cauliflower, grate Parmesan, chip parsley, cook pasta, etc), the end result is restaurant quality. Not a good candidate for a quick weekday after work meal, but now that I'm retired, the chopping, grating, and roasting time wasn't an issue (need to allow more than an hour to get onto table). Nice with a romaine based salad and glass of Chardonnay. Would make a great entree for vegetarian ( non meat eaters) dinner guests or vegetarian potluck. Generous two person servings.

• Salmon fillets with pomegranate-balsamic glaze

  • mharriman on April 30, 2022

    Not sure this is recipe worth buying (Pom) pomegranate juice or enough pomegranates to make juice. The whole-grain mustard stood out much more than the pomegranate juice. We could barely detect the latter. This is a variation of the main soy-mustard glaze recipe which we really like. This is one of the easier ATK recipes in their inventory so it does have that going for it! Served with roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. Recipe is also in The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook and two other ATK cookbooks (EYB Library).