Notes about Recipes in this book

• Southern Vietnamese-stye chicken pho (Pho ga mien nam)

  • SenseiHeidi on May 16, 2021

    A very good broth with the flavors I recognise from the Minneapolis pho restaurants. That being said, I think it was geared (like many ATK recipes) toward the New England palate. Next time I will double the broth spices and fish sauce. I also made the sauce from the pho ga mien bac (northern style pho) and I liked that with my southern-style pho. All in all I feel this is a solid, tasty, and relatively quick (for pho) recipe for neophyte pho chefs. My kids (who do not normally like soup) have requested this soup at least once every two weeks since I first made pho.

• Hot-smoked whole side of salmon

  • KarenS on April 25, 2021

    Much better than the wet brining I’ve done in the past. I didn’t trim the trail or belly as instructed. Sure, they may ‘overcook’ and become a bit leathery, but some people like those parts the best. I used my Masterbilt smoker rather than a grill. I also smoked some black cod (sablefish) using the same method, which was fantastic. Curiously, the dry brine gave a sweetness to the salmon but not the black cod. It was perfect in both cases. The only downside is that my refrigerator smelled of fish for a week afterwards. Next time I’m going to spread baking soda under the wire racks in the hopes of absorbing the smell immediately.

  • anya_sf on May 02, 2021

    I had a thin 2 lb side of salmon which, like KarenS, I didn't bother to trim. I used a gas grill. After 45 minutes of smoking, the fish's temperature was already too high, but it was still plenty moist and delicious, even the tail end. This method was quite easy and I'd definitely repeat.

• Hot-smoked salmon kedgeree

  • anya_sf on April 29, 2021

    I used store-bought hot-smoked salmon. I'm sure this dish would have been better with homemade. It was pretty good, but rather bland, although a lot of extra lemon juice, salt, and pepper helped. Versions I've had in the past have included curry powder and I prefer those.

• Korean scallion pancakes (Pajeon)

  • ashallen on September 14, 2022

    I haven't eaten this dish before (sadly), so I wasn't 100% sure what I was aiming for and probably need to practice. I was excited by the description of a mochi-like chew and a crisp exterior but my pancakes were actually pretty tender (except for my not-so-tender scallions) and less crisp than I'd hoped. The potato starch definitely added extra crispness to the flour-based dough, though. Next time I'd cook these past the golden brown called for in the recipe in the pursuit of extra crispness. The dipping sauce adds a lot of flavor, though next time I'd leave out the sesame oil which I wasn't a fan of here. Pretty rich - they absorbed all the oil added to the pan. Leftovers did *not* keep well - I'm a committed leftovers-eater but couldn't eat these. Their baking soda flavor, not very noticeable when fresh, strengthened after sitting a day in the refrigerator - bleah.

• Microwave-fried shallots

  • Rinshin on September 09, 2025

    Very simple and makes wonderful tasting fried shallots. Went with 4 min, followed by two 2 min and two 30 seconds. Perfect.

• Banana-walnut muffins

  • Kinhawaii on August 23, 2021

    Very nice muffins. Easy to put together, nice springy light texture. Used coarse sugar on top & no nuts. Made 14 nice sized muffins, used parchment liners. Will definitely make again.

  • ashallen on January 13, 2022

    Agree with Kinhawaii - these are very nice muffins! Sometimes banana quick breads can be sludgy/gummy but these had excellent texture - simultaneously moist and light. Recipe uses vegetable oil instead of butter and I think that helped the banana flavor come through more clearly. Uses up *lots* of old bananas - my 2 cups of mashed banana weighed 16 oz. Baked in a well-buttered tin (not non-stick) without liners and they came out easily without sticking. Leftovers kept very well over a few days.

  • anya_sf on March 08, 2022

    Great muffins that use up a lot of overripe bananas. Mixing the batter the night before (stored refrigerated) worked fine. I skipped the sugar on top and didn't miss it. My only problem was that the sides got overly dark, probably since my muffin tin is dark. Next time I will reduce the oven temp 25 degrees.

• Banana muffins with coconut and macadamia

  • anya_sf on August 04, 2021

    Great muffins. They mixed easily by hand, used up a lot of bananas, with moderate amounts of sugar and oil. I didn't have macadamias so substituted pecans.

• Peanut butter-banana muffins

  • ashallen on February 23, 2022

    These baked up beautifully with well-browned, craggy peaks (very bakery muffin-like) and a tender, moist, lightly springy interior. Not overly sweet. Peanut butter flavor was gentle enough that you could still taste the banana which I liked. I also really like the large number of old bananas this recipe uses - 16 oz peeled. Baked in well-preheated oven until centers were 200-205F.

  • TonyInSeattle on June 20, 2024

    These were delicious. The only change I made was to do half peanut oil and half vegetable oil to up the peanut flavor. Also, I think I would remove them from the oven a little sooner than I did because they were slightly dry. I tested them at 14 minutes and they were still very wet inside, so I figured the full 18 minutes would do it. I think I overdid it a little. Delicious flavor and will make again!

• Rhubarb upside-down cake

  • anya_sf on April 27, 2021

    This recipe is a bit more involved as it has 3 components, but all mix easily by hand. My cake took 57 minutes to bake. The streusel on the bottom was unusual, and I still feel streusel belongs on top (of course that wouldn't actually be possible here), but it provided a nice crunch; it could be omitted though. The cake was moist and tender, fairly sweet but with bright flavors. It kept well.