Notes about Recipes in this book

• Beef and roasted poblano empanadas

  • darcie_b on April 01, 2021

    This recipe makes a generous amount of dough so you could probably make a little more filling if you are so inclined. I substituted Anaheim for the poblano and mascarpone for the cream cheese and thought the flavor was still top notch. My husband has already asked when I'm going to make these again.

  • averythingcooks on August 09, 2021

    So I did deviate here (& in one major way) so I'll mostly comment on the filling. I used a mix of chorizo sausage & grd beef and I have jarred roasted poblanos right now so I chopped up a handful and stirred them in. We really liked this mixture but when forming the empanada, I also added a handful of grated cheddar to each. I made her dough but where I really deviated was that it chilled far longer than suggested (ie only 4 hours?) AND I cooked these in the air fryer (based on the directions from a different recipe). Overall we were happy, but I will try a different dough with this filling next time.

• Roasted broccoli with garlic and tamari

  • twoyolks on November 06, 2021

    Cooking the broccoli in halves was just strange. The tamari sauce was too strong and didn't compliment the broccoli well.

• Twice-baked honeynut squash with brown butter and orange

  • twoyolks on November 04, 2021

    This was decidedly average.

• Beet and brown rice burgers

  • molly17659 on January 20, 2025

    I was super surprised by this recipe! I only had pre-roasted beets, which I think made these a little wetter than they should have been. They really have a wonderful earthy flavor and I had to go for a second helping. I don't know how on earth she got 4 patties from this. I got 9! I think if my mixture wasn't so wet, it might have been easier to get thicker patties. The cayenne gives these a nice kick and a creamy sauce would go really well. I had a grainy mustard which was delicious. I would totally make these as a vegetarian appetizer in the form of sliders. I also used spinach instead of the beet greens since I had pre-roasted beets.

• Macaroni and cheese

  • averythingcooks on June 11, 2024

    I was worried this would be soupy (I'm used to the thickness of a roux based sauce) but the pasta absorbed lots of liquid during the pre-oven rest & the bake. I had a heavier hand with the aged cheddar vs the Gruyere & added a handful of chopped ham. Scaling to 1/3 = 2 generous dinner bowls & 2 smaller lunch servings. Not sure it's better than my roux based gold standard but it's a good way to clear aging cream out of the fridge.

• Sheet pan pork chops with spicy Brussels sprouts

  • tarae1204 on November 13, 2020

    Thick cut bone-in chops came out juicy although they didn’t reach internal temp specified in recipe. I flipped them, and removed them from oven to finish cooking while they cooked. The Brussels sprouts would’ve over cooked, so I removed them before the pork chops. The spices on the sprouts were ok. The mustard balsamic sauce was perfectly simple and so nice with the pork. I used a fermented honey instead of balsamic.

• Spatchcocked high-heat chicken with 20 garlic cloves

  • Rachaelsb on April 26, 2022

    Yum!! I’ve made Deb Perelman’s recipe many times, but like this a bit better; a bit more juicy and flavorful. I added Yukon potatoes to chicken and did spinach as my veggie.

• Chicken paprikash's tomatoey cousin

  • Jane on April 16, 2021

    Rather one note and boring - there wasn't much depth of flavor. Or maybe I just don't like paprikash. For leftovers I shredded the chicken breast into the sauce and that was a bit better. I will confess I used boneless skinless chicken breasts rather than her skin-on and bone-in. Although that may make some difference I don't feel inclined to find out.

• Tomato and gingery coconut milk chicken

  • Jane on April 16, 2021

    This was ok though I found the cinnamon flavor a bit forward. I would rather make a real curry than this, which feels like a European version of a curry.

• My mother's chicken with barbecue sauce

  • southerncooker on November 23, 2020

    Most of the family including me were not big fans of this bbq sauce. It made a ton and I mayby used half. Son in law did love. For the rest of us it was just ok.

  • dgiles on August 27, 2021

    I really like this recipe. I liked the sauce (which I pulled out pen and paper to figure out how to cut down by 3/4 for two bone-in thighs and one boneless breast) and I particularly like the cooking method. Dunking the chicken pieces in the sauce makes so much more sense than just brushing it on.

• Chicken and ginger pad Thai

  • SheilaS on June 19, 2024

    This is not Pad Thai and I don't think it's a particularly good peanut noodle dish either. I found it very bland, lacking in tartness, sweetness, umami and heat. I added a lot of sambal oelek which helped but I still didn't love it. I do like her method of softly scrambling the egg first and returning it to the pan later as it's often easy to overcook the egg when making Pad Thai.

• Fried chicken cutlet sandwiches

  • dgiles on April 12, 2021

    Finally! A perfectly cooked chicken breast. Used a smallish one, pounded thin. This is a new favorite.

• Slow cooker chili

  • averythingcooks on May 17, 2023

    I scaled this back to 1/3 using my smallest slow cooker, resulting in dinner for 2 + 1 leftover portion. I used ground New Mexico chiles & fire roasted tomatoes and I added corn with the black beans. Next time, I will try Mexican beer in place of the water. Also, I skipped the step of "spreading the cooked meat out on a sheet pan to cool"...I just tipped the pan, drained the fat and dumped the meat into the slow cooker. I don't often chose the slow cooker route but we both agreed that this is among the best ground meat chilis that I've made.

• Slow cooker chicken stock

  • averythingcooks on July 11, 2024

    I usually make chicken stock fairly freestyle but this time I gave this a try. The vegetables are oven roasted 1st, the slow cook time is split into 3 hours on high then 4 on low & the herbs go in at different stages. The house smelled great, the slow cooker was a must during the current heat wave & I can see using this method again.

• Exceptional scrambled eggs

  • SheilaS on September 01, 2021

    The amount of salt called for in this recipe must be an error - a full teaspoon of kosher salt plus a teaspoon of low-sodium soy sauce per serving. That's 2450 mg sodium, more than guidelines advise for a full day's intake. I went with ~ 1/8 tsp salt plus the soy sauce and found the eggs pleasantly salty. The soy sauce adds good flavor but also an unpleasant khaki color to the eggs. I found the color really off-putting. They taste fine but eeeew! Not a repeater for me.

  • BeckyLeJ on October 16, 2020

    I never thought to add soy sauce to scrambled eggs!

• French toast egg-in-the-hole

  • SheilaS on September 07, 2021

    I really like the sweet/savory flavors of Dijon mustard, ginger and maple syrup in the French toast. 2 tsp of salt is a lot for 4 slices of bread so I reduced that to my taste and used just a pinch in the egg/milk mix which was perfect to let the finishing sprinkle of Maldon salt stand out. I tried a little maple syrup and it's great on the toast but I'm not crazy about syrup on my eggs so I didn't add more.

• Ninth Avenue childhood baked ziti

  • pattyatbryce on September 09, 2021

    Not a fan. Red sauce is a very personal preference and this wasn't it for me.

• Goodfellas spaghetti and meatballs

  • averythingcooks on June 19, 2021

    Having read through both the Goodfellas & Godfather recipes, I also mostly stuck with Goodfellas, with some borrowing of tomato paste (approx 1/2 the amt given)) and the red wine. Two keys re: Goodfellas are that I prefer my meatballs oven roasted (but underdone) before going in the sauce & I can't see making the sauce without onions. The result was a really delicious pasta dinner. The addition of sausage (Godfather) next time would likely result in the perfect meld (for us anyways) of these 2 recipes.

  • Rachaelsb on March 15, 2021

    This was surprisingly delicious! I have prided myself for years on my tomato sauce and meatball recipe so to venture out and try something different...not something I would do. Loved this recipe! Meatballs are moist and yummy and sauce is rich, tomatoey and the onions add a great new dimension. Not sure this replaces my tried and true, but this was really good!!!!!

  • dgiles on March 28, 2021

    This is now my go-to tomato sauce. I borrowed two things from the Godfather recipe: a couple TBLS of tomato paste and a splash of red wine. Perfect.

• Classic chicken Parmesan

  • jdjd99 on March 07, 2021

    This recipe calls for equal amounts mozzarella and chicken (1.5 lbs)! I used 4 chicken breasts totaling a little over 3 pounds and 1 pound of mozzarella. It was plenty cheesy and the other amounts for breading and sauce worked fine. It was delicious.

  • rmardel on September 19, 2021

    I thought this was quite good. I used Alex's sauce recipe and found it added a nice dimension to the dish that is not always found in versions with simpler sauces. I also liked the proportion of chicken, cheese, and sauce. It reminded me of some of the best of the platters of chicken parm we would get at gatherings of neighbors and friends when I lived in NY. The only differences I made were using gluten-free bread crumbs and goat mozzarella due to dietary restrictions of family members. Both held up well and I don't think those who were neither gluten- nor dairy-restricted noticed; at least everything disappeared and people were trying to scrape off the bits at the edges of the pan. I needed a new dish to take to potlucks and similar gatherings. I think I found it.

• Homemade tomato sauce

  • rmardel on September 19, 2021

    I cooked this for the Chicken Parmesan recipe on the previous page. I am used to using carrots to sweeten tomato sauce, but I had doubts about using both the carrots and sugar; I was pleasantly surprised. This is a nice savory sauce with a good balance of sweetness and heat. Oops. The slight heat might be because I accidentally doubled the amount of dried red pepper flakes. I used Aleppo pepper which is not particularly spicy though. I also did not purchase canned whole tomatoes but used my own home canned crushed tomatoes in an equal volume. I also used quarter rings of onion instead of half rings and I am very happy with that decision. All in all this is a very good sauce and it is different enough from my other basic sauces that I will make it again, and probably keep some in the freezer.

  • averythingcooks on June 07, 2021

    This was easy to put together (and to cut in 1/2) but with so many onions & carrots, by the time I added the tomatoes it didn't seem very "tomatoey". I added some extra passata and after a longer simmer, I ran the immersion blender through it to make it a little smoother. With lots of garlic and fresh basil, it is a very tasty sauce - some destined for dinner (stuffed shells) and the rest for the freezer.

• Spinach manicotti with lemon

  • pattyatbryce on April 25, 2021

    Fantastic on day 1. Doesn't reheat well. Flavor is great, but it is very, very rich.

  • BeckyLeJ on October 16, 2020

    Oh, I love this! So rich and creamy! This is a must for my make again list!

• Juicy chilled cucumber, olive, and feta salad

  • BeckyLeJ on October 16, 2020

    This is such a good salad! It’s crunchy and salty and a great highlight for cucumbers!

  • southerncooker on November 08, 2020

    Our family loved this one.

• Grilled zucchini and charred pepper salad with mint vinaigrette

  • pattyatbryce on April 12, 2021

    Make it easy and just put all of the veg on the grill and toss in the dressing and finish. Fantastic!

• Grilled brown sugar corn salad with scallions

  • averythingcooks on June 27, 2021

    This was a very tasty corn side dish. The dressing was perfect for us with a mix of tart, tangy & then sweet. I cut my green onions smaller & also added some chopped roasted red pepper. I used 2 cobs & scaled the dressing back by 1/2. I should have gone to 1/3 as there is lots leftover, but it will also work over greens. I would make this again for sure.

• Iceberg giardiniera

  • southerncooker on November 23, 2020

    While I'd like to try the homemade Giardiniera sometime, this time I used storebought. We loved this, especially the dressing. The only problem, it was hard to eat. Next time we will try chopping the lettuce first or maybe try on different types of lettuce.

• Spinach salad with soy-ginger dressing

  • southerncooker on November 01, 2020

    Loved this salad and the dressing.

• Thousand Island tomato and bacon salad

  • rmardel on November 25, 2021

    Didn't really like this version of Thousand Island dressing, and it made a rather large batch. I turned the leftover dressing into a version of remoulade; much better.

  • pattyatbryce on September 07, 2021

    Good. I'm not sure what Thousand Island is supposed to taste like (other than Kraft), but it was a nice change. My husband said the bacon overwhelmed.

  • BeckyLeJ on October 16, 2020

    Yum! I love this salad dressing!

• Eggless Caesar salad

  • averythingcooks on July 16, 2024

    Other than replacing the anchovies with anchovy paste to taste, I made this as written & after a taste with a piece of romaine, we agreed - very good but we liked it even better after a spoonful of yogurt was added. She does explain in the headnote that a generous amount of parm on the salad itself will further enhance the creaminess of the dressing. I like the method (ie not just replacing egg with mayo) & the inclusion of caper brine so yes - a repeatable idea.

  • southerncooker on October 29, 2020

    Even picky hubby loved this one. I used romanie from my farm share.

• Spicy pork loin and lettuce wraps

  • averythingcooks on July 30, 2024

    This was the basis for a quick, light dinner. Other than the Fresnos called for (I actually made a little "relish" of pickled onions + pickled Fresnos), it was not really spicy for us (but heat is an easy fix). I had garlic prepped before I realized it's not called for but it still went in the sauce. We used romaine for the wraps which we ate beside a pile of corn sauteed with various peppers & red onion. A little drippy (but not as bad as some lettuce wraps we've tried) but as I said, fresh, light & quite tasty. Note that I used around 10 oz of meat & 1/3 of the sauce was more than we needed.

• Broccoli cheddar soup

  • EmilyR on January 08, 2023

    I needed to season this up a bit ... I used some chicken salt + a couple more Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce. It's rich, hearty, and I am pretending the broccoli is still super healthy despite being drenched in a cheesy roux.

• Juicy carrot soup

  • rmardel on September 14, 2021

    This recipe delivers far more than its apparent simplicity would indicate. The addition of olive oil into the blended juices creates a light but rich emulsion with a satisfying mouthfeel. The combination of the soup plus the garnishes is cool and refreshing. Guarnaschelli recommends jalapeños and jicama, but I was unable to find jicama so subbed in Asian pear. I would think that Yacon would also work nicely. Also my jalapeños were not at their best so I combined them with an aji Amarillo and pickled Fresno chiles, which created a subtle play of sweet, peppery tartness on the tongue. This would work well as a first course as it is both light and stimulates the appetite.

• Italian chicken soup

  • Rachaelsb on March 23, 2021

    This was delicious!!! Nothing fancy or innovative-just pure delicious comfort food and great recipe to get there.

• Gluten-free vanilla-raspberry muffins

  • calguire on July 17, 2024

    This was a total fail for me. I'm not sure if I made a mistake or if it's the recipe. (I usually bake by weight, so I might have made a mistake hastily making conversions...) The texture and the taste were too buttery. I still followed the recipe because I thought maybe it was normal for a gluten-free muffin... but they crumbled after baking. They were still edible though, and the vanilla-raspberry flavor was lovely, so I guess these have potential.

• Cheese focaccia

  • Nkrieda78 on September 12, 2021

    This one isn’t for me, it turned out really dry.

• Tiramisu Swiss roll

  • pattyatbryce on April 12, 2021

    Great flavor. I failed on the roll. Make a trifle as a plan B and enjoy.

• Brown butter-chocolate chunk cookies

  • averythingcooks on April 24, 2021

    This is my 1st recipe using browned butter (which I prepped in the microwave :) and I'm very happy with the results. These cookies are awesome...and there IS a discernable difference between these and the usual cookies I make. I actually used around 8 oz (not 11.5 oz) of chocolate - a mix of semisweet chips & coarsely chopped dark chocolate. I am positive the full amt would have been way too chocolately for us. My one ongoing issue is truly discerning between "appears underdone" vs actually "is underdone".

• Jasmine shortbread

  • pattyatbryce on August 10, 2022

    Total fail. Dough didn't come together. Lemon overwhelmed the flavor of the jasmine. It reminded me that weights are much better for baking than cups.

• Peach crisp with chamomile

  • rmardel on September 12, 2021

    I was intrigued by the use of dark brown sugar, molasses, and chamomile in this peach crisp recipe and thought I would give it a try. The final crisp is quite sweet but also with a lovely subtle boost from the way the floral flavor of the chamomile combines with the slight bitterness of the blackstrap molasses. That said, I still thought the sweetness could use some added complexity. I found that the apricot jam did nothing for this dish, but that could in part be because my jam had little apricot flavor. I can see how a more fruit-forward preserve might round out the fruitiness. I served it with plain yogurt because I didn't think any more sweetness was needed, and it disappeared quickly. This is certainly different enough from my standard crisp that I would try it again although I do think I will experiment with the jam portion.

• Spiced Negroni

  • rmardel on September 19, 2021

    The proportions for this recipe are not for a classic negroni. This is quite Campari dominant, and although I love Campari, this drink does not say negroni to me. I quite like the results when I used Guarnaschelli's spiced Campari in a classic negroni however. The cinnamon flavor really came through without negating the classic negroni taste. It was kind of like sipping one's negroni with a Red Hot hidden in one's cheek, and I have always been partial to Red Hots. For those who do not like cinnamon this is not recommended. I don't see that the powdered ginger adds anything, and I will leave it out the next time. The spiced Campari may become an Autumnal staple.