Notes about Recipes in this book

• Hot and sour soup

  • djoh437938 on July 11, 2011

    this recipe is so good, had to go to a japanese market to find it, it is worth it, totally.

• Stir-fried portobellos with ginger-oyster sauce

  • jumali on September 22, 2011

    Tastes good but not worth the mountain of prep work and cleanup.

• Oven-fried onion rings

  • jumali on September 22, 2011

    A bit time consuming, but tastes very good.

• Blueberry cobbler

  • jumali on July 26, 2010

    An excellent recipe! The blueberries were the perfect consistency--neither too runny nor too thick, and the cornmeal added a great texture to the biscuit. I'll definitely make this again.

• Potstickers with scallion dipping sauce

  • love2laf on February 10, 2010

    Excellent flavour and cooking method for the wontons. I still find my patience worn thin by making so many little nibblies. The dipping sauce was only average though.

• Thai pork lettuce wraps

  • love2laf on February 03, 2010

    One of the few recipes I can't think to make an improvement on. After one bite, I stopped caring about the messiness of serving this way, and just dug in.I did not use pork tender loin though, I used pork shoulder, and I used my grinder instead of the food processor.

  • SACarlson on June 15, 2019

    I did the same thing. I put pork shoulder through my meat grinder. I love this recipe--so easy and so delicious!

• One-hour broiled chicken and pan sauce

  • eliza on March 15, 2018

    This was on the program recently so I thought I would give it a try. A 3-4 lb chicken is butterflied and then placed in a hot pan and broiled. My chicken was almost 4 lbs so I went with the slightly longer cooking time. Even so, my chicken wasn't completely cooked and had to go back in for an additional 10 minutes. By this time the breast meat was slightly overcooked. If I make this again, I would add about 5 minutes to the stovetop time before putting it in the oven. On the plus side, the taste was good and I enjoyed the pan sauce/gravy with the addition of thyme and garlic.

• Italian vegetable stew (Ciambotta)

  • ecasey830 on October 06, 2019

    Labor-intensive but worth it

• Stir-fried beef and broccoli with oyster sauce

  • Kouture007 on January 13, 2013

    Everyone's favorite.

• Turkey gravy

  • Kouture007 on January 13, 2013

    Can be made ahead.

• Thick-cut pork tenderloin medallions

  • Kouture007 on December 20, 2011

    Bacon-wrapped version is fabulous.

• Skillet chicken pot pie with biscuit topping

  • Kouture007 on December 20, 2011

    Kevin liked it

• Cream cheese brownies

  • chawkins on September 14, 2015

    Very good fudgy brownies. I baked them in my counter-top oven a lot longer than the recipe stated, but then I adjusted the temperature and time for convection baking, I probably did not have to do that. From their television shows, their ovens seem to be convection.

• Applesauce snack cake

  • Analyze on March 12, 2019

    This is SO good! The base cake has a wonderful apple flavor and a great texture. I tried both this recipe, and the Oat-Nut Streusel variation. My husband, who doesn't normally like oat streusel or sweet quick breads, loved the streusel variation. I actually preferred this original version with the cinnamon-sugar topping, as in my opinion it complements the apple flavor in the cake better, and actually makes the cake taste more apple-y. You can't go wrong with either version, or try half and half like I did :) I already have several apple cake recipes that I love, and didn't think I needed another, but I did! I'm excited to try the ginger-cardamom version next. Personally, we had it for breakfast, but this would be great with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream too.

• Best butterscotch pudding

  • Analyze on March 25, 2017

    HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I made it side by side with the older "Butterscotch Pudding" published by the same company in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and this one was SO much more flavorful. Because you end up cooking the caramel to a deeper color/flavor, it turns out a better pudding with WAY more intense flavors; it also has more rich ingredients (more butter and cream). The older ATK recipe (while good) is incredibly mild by comparison (kids might like it better). If you do make this amazing recipe, I'll add that we personally preferred it without the rum, though it's good with the rum too.

• Grilled Thai beef salad

  • SACarlson on June 28, 2019

    The ingredient proportions in the dressing recipe are all off. There are better recipes for Thai beef salad out there, so I would skip this one.

• Flourless chocolate cake

  • Nancith on April 24, 2017

    This garnered rave reviews with our dinner group! Dense, fudgy, deeply chocolate & decadent. However, even with using 9" rather than the preferred 8" pan, the baking time had to be almost doubled before it got to the correct temperature for doneness. It was still quite jiggly even after cooling to room temp, but the time in the refrigerator firmed it up perfectly. Being in a bit of a hurry to serve it, we couldn't figure out why it was so hard to remove a piece, until I remembered the parchment paper! Don't forget to remove that!

• Ultimate flaky buttermilk biscuits

  • Rinshin on August 29, 2020

    Most incredible biscuits made. I have made these several times now and fold, spread more times than directed. As long as the final shape for cutting is 8 in square to make 9 biscuits, this recipe makes fluffy moist in the middle, nicely flaky on top with beautiful layers. It is not hard to make but takes more time than drop biscuits. Photo added.

  • hbakke on March 22, 2020

    These were a bit fussy, but turned out well. I used salted butter which made the biscuits a little too salty. I would cook them on the middle rack next time because the scraps I put on the middle rack got more rise than the actual biscuits on the upper rack.

• Braised halibut with leeks and mustard

  • Rinshin on January 11, 2017

    Not bad, but I believe this can be better. Followed the recipe completely but for my taste, the halibut was bit on the dry side. I did like the reduced white wine based sauce along with cooked leeks but would have liked a more mustard taste. Next time I either reduce the amount of time fish poaches/braises or reduce the temp from 135 to maybe 120. Another method I might try is making the sauce ingredients separately along with leeks and using the aluminum enclosed packet of halibut and sauce ingredients for more tender fish and baking it.

• Strawberry cream cake

  • mamacrumbcake on September 05, 2017

    The good: the cake is beautiful and impressive. The strawberry filling is delicious. (Don't omit the kirsch.) Just about everyone will enjoy it. The bad: Twice I've made this and twice the chiffon cake didn't rise as I had expected, though I followed the directions to the letter. I wonder if greasing the cake pan is the problem? Most other chiffon cake recipes say not to grease. Anyway, I'm not thrilled with the cake layer and in the future might substitute a different layer. Also, I didn't love the cream cheese whipped cream, but I was the exception.

• Spice cake

  • damazinah on December 06, 2020

    Fantastic flavor! I took a star off, however, because of the directions. No way is a cake in a 9"x13" pan going to be done in 35 minutes at 350°. Experience told me that it'd still be soupy in the center, and it was. I added another 10 minutes to the baking time.

• Creamy buttermilk coleslaw

  • damazinah on December 30, 2023

    Not impressed. The dressing was way too watery and bland

• French-style pot-roasted pork loin

  • Foodiewife on January 07, 2018

    Definitely a bit of work, but it looks gorgeous for entertaining. Definitely loved the flavor of the sauce and wouldn't change a thing.

• Pressure-cooker chicken noodle soup

  • MeganGarcia on October 05, 2018

    Excellent flavor especially for the short ingredient list and minimal effort involved.

• Thai-style grilled chicken with spicy, sweet, and sour dipping sauce

  • MeganGarcia on March 27, 2019

    This was delicious even though I couldn't find chicken breasts as small as specified. I served it with steamed jasmine rice and sauteed snow peas fresh from the garden. The sweet and sour dipping sauce was great with the rice as well. The rub was easier to put together using a food processor for the garlic and cilantro.

• Skillet tamale pie

  • anya_sf on February 25, 2022

    I made a mash-up of this recipe and a different one, but used this topping. In the filling, I added a chopped red bell pepper and 1 cup frozen corn, used 4 Tbsp taco seasoning instead of chili powder (plus a little water since taco seasoning contains thickener), Ro-tel tomatoes instead of plain, Mexican cheese blend instead of cheddar. Cooked in a 12" cast iron skillet, there was just enough corn bread batter to cover the filling. This was quick and easy to make and my family really enjoyed it.

• Red lentil soup with North African spices

  • Partyof7 on August 25, 2018

    Very fast and easy. The herbed butter drizzled on top takes it over the top. Yum

  • MariaSwe on May 20, 2023

    Easy and very tasty. I added some frozen kale. Agree with Partyof7 that the herbed butter really makes a difference.

• Skillet baked ziti

  • MariaSwe on August 06, 2023

    I thought this was a bit too watery. They have you top up the canned tomatoes with water to 4 cups but for next time I will probably use just the tomatoes and only add water if the pasta needs it. But the flavour was quite nice and it was very easy.

• Skillet lasagna

  • MariaSwe on August 06, 2023

    So much easier than regular lasagna and the kids loved it. Did not add ricotta and I don't think the dish needs it.

• Pressure-cooker pot roast

  • hbakke on October 01, 2019

    I used chicken broth instead of beef broth because it was what I had. I didn't tie up the roasts either. The meat I used was very fatty and the fatty bits weren't easily removed. It still turned out very good. This is a delicious and quick recipe for pot roast. I would make this again with some steamed veg on the side since all the vegetables get blended to make the gravy.

• Foolproof vinaigrette

  • hbakke on June 29, 2020

    This was simple to make and nice to add to some spring mix lettuce for an easy salad. I would make this again.

• Sweet and tangy grilled country-style pork ribs

  • hbakke on January 12, 2023

    I used a weird cut of pork that wasn't ideal, but the sauce was very good. I may repeat the barbecue sauce recipe.

• Lemon ricotta pancakes

  • hbakke on February 12, 2021

    These were great, so light and fluffy. I will definitely make these again.

• Mexican rice

  • hbakke on February 26, 2020

    This turned out well. I liked the jalapeno and cilantro added at the end. I would make this again.

• Quick all-purpose gravy

  • hbakke on March 16, 2020

    Having never made a remotely decent gravy, this turned out better than I had hoped. I would make this again, but with a few changes. I would make this in a dutch oven (the large saucepan I used was too small for the amount of vegetables) and cook the flour longer for a better colored/flavored gravy. It did need a good amount of added salt at the end to offset the sweetness of the carrot (or onion possibly?).

• Classic garlic bread

  • hbakke on December 03, 2022

    Basic, but delicious. The method of quickly toasting the garlic cloves and mashing them into the butter and Parmesan is a repeat for me.

• Cream cheese frosting

  • hbakke on September 23, 2019

    Delicious! I made this exactly as written and it worked well with a strawberry cake.

• Fresh corn cornbread

  • Acarroll on January 02, 2024

    Solid basic cornbread. Veganized it by using vegan butter and a combination of soy milk/lemon juice/cider vinegar for buttermilk. Picky kids loved it!

• Creamy chipotle chile sauce

  • Acarroll on January 27, 2024

    I was looking for a way to use leftover chipotles in adobo and this was perfect. I didn't have sour cream so I doubled the amount of (vegan) mayo. I also doubled the amount of chipotle, garlic, and cilantro. Was perfect served with crab cakes.

• Pasta with creamy tomato sauce

  • Acarroll on December 24, 2023

    Omitted the cream because we served this with a rich mushroom/cheese/truffle ravioli. The flavors in the sauce itself were divine.

• Garlic-lime grilled pork tenderloin steaks

  • HelenNT on April 15, 2022

    I wasn’t sure about the use of fish sauce in this recipe but it really worked well and made for a tasty marinade and delicious sauce. Don’t skip the flaked salt to finish - it really adds a nice touch to the dish. We served it with brown basmati rice, some steamed & buttered asparagus and a slaw with sesame dressing. Will definitely make this again and try some of the suggested variations.