• Barb_N on March 12, 2019

  I originally bought this book on impulse after reading about it in my Alumnae magazine- always ready to support an alum (albeit 20 years after me). After trying a few recipes I’m happy to have it for its merits alone.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Aioli

  • skvalentine on February 01, 2022

    I'd like to try this again with better olive oil. I used half olive oil from Costco and half sunflower oil, and the olive oil flavor was unpleasant and overpowering. No amount of salt or lemon juice made this palatable, unfortunately. But the technique was great and, when my aioli broke, I followed Jessica's instructions to fix and it and it worked! Will try this again with better ingredients.

• Fancy toasts - pea smash and marinated feta

  • pistachiopeas on June 07, 2022

    Quick to make and very tasty. More filling than I expected.

• Sweet corn fritters

  • julesamomof2 on August 01, 2023

    I've made these fritters twice now and have some thoughts. First, this is not a quick recipe as the batter needs to rest for an hour. That said, having the batter resting in the fridge when guests arrive is not a bad thing. The second time I made these I realized after the fact that I never added the whipped egg whites to the batter and I really didn't notice a difference so I believe that step could be skipped as both versions were delicious. With all the resting, the whipping, and frying involved, I think I might try a few other versions of corn fritters before settling on these as my go-to.

• Roasted carrots with burrata and salsa rustica

  • puddlemere on January 04, 2019

    I didn't care for this much, but I suspect my burrata had gone off and was giving everything an off flavor. Regardless, it still seemed to need more acidity and salt, even though I sprinkled with Maldon. I also thought the raw shallot flavor was too strong.

• Avocado and citrus salad with shallot vinaigrette

  • lisachile on March 04, 2019

    Yum! I could have eaten only this for dinner. Be sure to have some good bread to sop all the dressing up with.

  • Barb_N on April 21, 2021

    This was more than the sum of its parts- citrus and avocado with a shallot vinaigrette. I used salty lemon juice from preserved lemons which was perfect. Served with Ottolenghi’s Pea fritters.

• Creamy onion tart with olives

  • Barb_N on March 13, 2019

    This is delicious. I cannot review the crust as I used a purchased rolled crust. This may have resulted in some of my execution issues: my ratio of onion to crust was off. I also mistakenly added an egg to 1.5 c heavy cream instead of .5 c. I added another egg then poured 1/2 c into onions but I still had custard running off the crust as I folded up the edges. Lastly I had no anchovies as my husband has a special gift of finishing off an ingredient that I’m planning to use for dinner ;) so I dribbled a little fish sauce into the olive oil, garlic, (kalamata) olive mixture. I think it struck the right umami note. That add on is what makes this dish special. Just a quibble- the photo in the book looks like rosemary not thyme (and you don’t need to chop tiny little thyme leaves). I think I would sprinkle the thyme separately as it was lost in the olive oil mixture.

  • Barb_N on April 04, 2019

    I rarely make the same cookbook recipe twice, but I have been dreaming about this tart. Because I used a purchased crust again (I have pastry issues) I scaled down the onion and cream/egg filling. I topped with a few asparaus spears then followed the recipe for the anchovy/garlic/olive swag. This will definitely go into my repertoire!

• Cheater's tortilla Española

  • skvalentine on February 01, 2022

    This was just OK, probably won't make it again. I think I under-seasoned it, which didn't help things. I could have used a more prescriptive amount of salt, rather than "season generously." (I like to be told what to do haha.)

• Scottish oatcakes with butter and dates

  • lisachile on March 04, 2019

    very good. I made a double batch and cut back a little on the sugar. They were delicious with preserves and cheddar.

• Twice-baked magic soufflés

  • Barb_N on September 10, 2023

    I have loved every recipe in the book so far. This was a stressful recipe to make. She makes a big deal about how easy it is to make a soufflé, as long as you can whip egg whites. Well you better have your mise en place and strap on your roller skates because you're in for a wild ride. Take the ingredient list literally: have your leeks finely chopped, your eggs separated, your cheese grated, your milk warmed and your water bath hot. I would have liked more cues about the roux (or choux?) as mine was very gluey and I worried I needed more milk. The initial bake delivered as promised. I was not successful with the second bake, the soufflés did not rise again, and after all that work (and dirtying every bowl in the house) it was not worth the hours long project or stress.

• Flank steak with salsa verde

  • Meredythhaas on August 14, 2021

    Chimichurri was delicious. Can mix up the herbs.

• Spaghetti Niçoise

  • julesamomof2 on June 26, 2019

    I thought this was delicious, although others didn't like the idea of tuna in pasta. (Apparently I make a variation on the pasta/tuna combo too much). In my mind, all the vegetables make ok to enjoy pasta once in a while. A great one dish weeknight dinner.

• Grilled leg of lamb with green onion flatbreads

  • jfleissn on May 05, 2020

    These flatbreads are delicious and fun to make.

• Grilled tahini chicken

  • lisachile on March 04, 2019

    This chicken was delicious and easy to make. We will definitely make it again.

  • julesamomof2 on August 01, 2023

    This is easy and not your typical grilled chicken recipe. I wish I had more marinade as I found it barely covered my chicken pieces. I slathered it on about an hour before grilling and it was delish.

  • Lepa on October 03, 2024

    This was really tasty. We used 1.5 pounds of chicken thighs and the marinade was just enough. I will definitely be adding this simple recipe to our rotation.

• New eggplant Parm

  • pistachiopeas on February 26, 2021

    Made this three times during the summer of 2020. It's that good. That easy. Both kids have eaten it on at least one of the three occasions (sans sauce).

• Summery sausage bake

  • meggan on June 11, 2025

    Made with frozen corn cobs and garlic sausage. I especially like the smashed fried potatoes. Also served with the aioli from page 35.

• Lamb ragù with creamy polenta

  • jfleissn on May 05, 2020

    This recipe calls for an oddly large amount of stock on top of the tomatoes. I could imagine using less. But the liquid did help me to spoon off a significant amount of fat before serving, and it was delicious regardless.

• Hot-dog fried rice

  • Barb_N on September 14, 2021

    I used corn, carrots and green onions. I added a bit of ketchup with the soy sauce, because you can’t have a hotdog without ketchup, right? We thought the hotdog added just the right ‘umami’, especially as Chinese sausage is not easy to come by.

  • skvalentine on October 08, 2021

    We liked these a lot. Great way to use up those last few hot dogs in a pack, and to salvage leftover rice. This seems like it would adapt well to using up other random veggies you might have in the fridge or freezer.

  • jvozoff on August 01, 2023

    This was a great way to clean out the fridge.

  • Churchim808 on January 03, 2025

    I took the extra step of ordering the Golden Mountain sauce online before making this. Otherwise, this was the perfect fridge clean out recipe. I’ve attempted fried rice so many times before but this is the first time the end result resembled take out.

• Vermicelli noodles with lemongrass pork meatballs

  • puddlemere on January 31, 2019

    Delicious. I've made similar recipes before, but usually with rice rather than rice noodles. I used some pad Thai style ready-to-eat rice noodles that I had in the pantry rather than vermicelli. I love the combo of the meatballs with the herbs and vegetables, but the real stars of this recipe are the fried shallots and the nuoc cham dressing. Will definitely make again.

  • Barb_N on March 12, 2019

    This is a winner. There are several components that need prep, but this is the kind of dinner I love. The lemongrass and other flavors are not strong in the meatballs. The sauce (I used lime juice and half a serrano) ties it all together.

  • jfleissn on June 01, 2020

    We just made this tonight and thought it was great, except the meatballs were a bit too salty (and I am the kind of person who adds salt to everything). It seemed like a lot of salt when I put it in, and I should have trusted my judgment. Otherwise delicious! The herbs, especially the mint, are key.

  • skvalentine on October 08, 2021

    This is a favorite. Served this to a big crowd that included several kids and it was nice that the meal components could be served separately for a sort of choose-your-own experience.

• Beef-and-pork meatballs in tomato sauce

  • puddlemere on January 13, 2019

    Pretty standard, but still good and based on mostly pantry ingredients. I do tend to like recipes where the meatballs are just poached in the sauce rather than fried or broiled first. These would probably be good with ground turkey too. I used a jarred sauce and served with spaghetti.

  • MollyBelle on September 12, 2020

    Fabulous. Very good red sauce recipe. I generally make Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce. This is much better in my opinion. Loved poaching the meatballs instead of frying. We don't eat much Italian meals. This is one will definitely be added to the dinner rotation.

  • MollyBelle on September 12, 2020

    Fabulous. Very good red sauce recipe. I generally make Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce. This is much better in my opinion. Loved poaching the meatballs instead of frying. We don't eat much Italian meals. This one will definitely be added to the dinner rotation.

  • skvalentine on April 30, 2023

    Very good! I accidently left the garlic out of the meat mixture, so they weren't as flavorful as they could have been, but the sauce made up for it. Next time I would double the sauce because it cooked down quite a lot.

• Cider-braised chicken with fall vegetables

  • jfleissn on May 05, 2020

    Delicious!

• Chicken and herbed dumplings

  • julesamomof2 on December 02, 2023

    I love chicken and dumplings on a cold winter night and have made only one recipe over the years by Martha Stewart. This one was much more work- she has you browning chicken bones to start. The payoff was definitely worth it, deeply flavored broth and deliciously most chicken. I added peas at the end for some extra vegetables. I would still make Martha's recipe since it's so easy but this one was really good, just a little time consuming.

• Pavlova with lime curd and blue berries

  • lisachile on March 04, 2019

    This was my first attempt at making or eating pavlova. It was delicious and beautiful but very sweet. If I made it again, I would try to find a way to cut back a bit on the sugar. It was a big hit with our guests.

• Chocolate chip cookies

  • rosten on February 22, 2019

    Made three batches of these. Nailing the baking time seems very important. Two batches turned out fine - they are cookies! One batch was insanely, addictively good.

• Glazed gingerbread cake

  • meggan on December 19, 2021

    I used a vanilla creme fraiche that I bought by mistake and this was a very gingery and moist cake. The glaze really didn't add anything. Next time I would serve with the mascarpone mousse from Samuelsson's soft ginger cake recipe in Aquavit.