Notes about Recipes in this book

• Orecchiette with ricotta, asparagus, and golden tomatoes

  • julesamomof2 on May 08, 2023

    This was a very delicious spring pasta dish, not difficult to make but it does require a lot of steps and pots and pans. For that reason it's best as a main dish and I like my pasta on the side to attempt to avoid the carb overload. I felt the toasted bread crumbs were nice but kind of got lost in the dish.

  • averythingcooks on January 06, 2023

    This was a lovely pasta dish. I used broccoli in place of asparagus but otherwise followed it as written. The ricotta added a nice creaminess and the crunchy, lemony crumb topping was the perfect finishing touch - it will get used with other pasta dishes as well. Easy decision to declare repeat and I can't wait for summer for the chance to make this with veg/herbs straight from the garden!

  • bwhip on November 22, 2022

    Wonderful dish, we just loved this. The lemon-garlic breadcrumbs really take it over the top. Even with out-of-season asparagus, this was outstanding.

• Cast-iron paella with wild mushrooms, kale, Italian sausages, and eggs

  • julesamomof2 on November 06, 2023

    This recipe taught me quite a bit about paella making, the most important part being medium to medium high heat to ensure the crust forms on the bottom of the dish. You must trust the process, I kept thinking I was burning it but actually I could have gone even higher as I had a nice crust in spots, not in others. The finished dish was too salty as the other reviewer pointed out, I really never measure salt so that's probably on me. I will use his method for variations on this recipe but I like the mushrooms and kale. I am not sure the eggs added much but mine weren't runny by the end and looking at the picture I think they are supposed to be.

  • bwhip on October 15, 2023

    Delicious and hearty. Prep wasn’t too difficult. The cooking of the rice is much like risotto, very hands-on for 20+ minutes, adding a bit of stock every few minutes for the rice to gently absorb. Ours wound up being a bit more salty than I’d like, so I’ll be more careful with that next time, and be sure to use a low-sodium stock if not homemade.

• Slow-roasted salmon with arugula pesto and seared lemon

  • julesamomof2 on May 08, 2023

    I love salmon and I love pesto but the combination was a bit rich for my palate. The pesto recipe makes alot, I froze about three quarters of the recipe for future use.

• Ballpark hot Italian sausages with caramelized onions

  • rpepper on April 13, 2023

    A good basic sausage-and-caramelized-onion sandwich. Splitting the sausage before frying is a great idea. Used mild Italian sausages and 1 jalapeno cooked with the onions.

  • averythingcooks on January 03, 2023

    I used a couple of Oktoberfest sausages & caramelized onions from the freezer. Splitting the sausages open lengthwise 1st creates lots of crispy bits during the cook and the addition of diced fresnos + grainy mustard to the onions as they warmed up in a pan made a great all-in-one condiment. I had square ciabatta buns to use (and so we chunked up the sausages to fit) and served a green salad alongside. A simple (but still great!) little dinner worth repeating.

• Old-scho0l chicken salad

  • averythingcooks on August 15, 2023

    This is a tasty version of chicken salad. We liked the big hit of Dijon against the red wine vinegar and my homemade cucumber relish was a great stand-in for the cornichons. We don't use the tarragon because we both basically detest it :)

• Braised pork tacos with green chiles and jicama slaw

  • averythingcooks on January 02, 2023

    I scaled this back to 1/3 to make tacos for 2 and did not make the slaw this time as I had other toppings planned. The sauce made great use of my freezer stash of roasted peppers (Anaheims, jalapenos & poblanos) and is delicious. When it came time to remove/crisp the meat and puree the sauce, we actually decided that it was lovely as it was and so I just shredded the meat in the sauce and off we went. Toppings included a quick corn relish, pickled onions, shredded lettuce, sour cream & cheese. I'm a crispy shell, T's a soft wrap and we both loved dinner.

• Meatball Parm sliders

  • averythingcooks on November 27, 2023

    This was a fun supper where we each had 2 sliders beside a green salad. I did use a different marinara but I made these meatballs and they are really good. To get the 6 "slider sized" meatballs (for a 1/2 recipe) I used 62 g & I oven baked them for a bit before the final simmer in the sauce. I melted lots of mozzarella on the tops & bottoms of the buns after toasting them and we skipped the arugula as I was serving a green salad. We both enjoyed dinner and we each have a meatball & sauce for lunch today. I would repeat this idea for sure.

• Classic spaghetti and meatballs

  • averythingcooks on January 17, 2023

    I needed to use the last of some ricotta and so made these meatballs to serve with a different sauce. I pretty much always oven bake meatballs now (425 for about 20 minutes or so) and these came out full of flavour & very tender. This is another "ricotta containing" meatball to add my list of favourites.

• Shishito pesto

  • averythingcooks on August 06, 2023

    I came here with mountains of shishitos pouring out of the garden but sadly, this is not among the favourite pestos that I make (and I do make a wide variety) so I'm happy that I cut the recipe in 1/2 & used walnuts. It is heading to the freezer in 1 tbsp portions and will easily get used up in a variety of ways.

• Quick-pickled red onions

  • averythingcooks on January 02, 2023

    I made these for last night's tacos (and other upcoming uses) and they were good but I think I prefer pickled onions made with other vinegars (ie apple cider or red wine vinegar). The lime juice came through quite strongly....but I will say I liked them much better as part of a taco compared to the taste I had straight from the jar.

• Toasted garlic-lemon bread crumbs

  • averythingcooks on January 06, 2023

    This is a "quick to make, big effect" pasta topper that I used for the orecchiette recipe in this book and will use for lots of other pastas in the future. I would also consider adding chopped fresh herbs (parsley and/or basil ) to up the impact even more.

• Ranch dressing

  • averythingcooks on December 29, 2022

    This was a good, fresh tasting dressing that I served over a big chopped salad with chunks of turkey. I love the use of lots of fresh herbs (with parsley in place of cilantro & a little extra dill) and the lime juice perked it up nicely. 1/3 made just enough for 2 dinner salads and I would make this one again.

• Pantry barbecue sauce

  • averythingcooks on August 23, 2023

    He gives lots of choices for certain ingredients here so I used Dijon, apple cider vinegar & brown sugar. Because my homemade hot sauce is made with fresh cayenne peppers, I used ancho chili powder in place of the cayenne powder. This is just he promised...a good versatile sauce based on pantry ingredients. It is possible that I do miss the use of fresh aromatics but regardless, this little fridge jar will get used up quickly.

• Chicken legs in tomato curry

  • bwhip on December 09, 2022

    We enjoyed this very much. Quick and easy, and really nice flavor. I did seek out (and find) Madras Curry, as encouraged, and the end result had good heat, but not too assertive. We’ll make this one again.

• Korean-style pork lettuce wraps

  • bwhip on April 08, 2023

    These were excellent, and prep was pretty simple. Just remember to marinate a few hours ahead. Bold flavor, with a good bit of heat from the gochujang, and nice caramelization on the grilled pork. We enjoyed these very much.

• Pan-seared halibut with corn-curry sauce

  • bwhip on June 15, 2023

    This was delightful, with interesting and pleasing flavors - and very pretty to look at. A bit ambitious for a weeknight, but not difficult. I'll definitely make this again when I have some nice halibut and fresh corn.

• Portobello mushroom tacos

  • bwhip on October 26, 2022

    These were excellent. Super easy to prepare, and they tasted so good. I didn’t have exactly the two types of chili powder in the recipe, so just used a heaping tablespoon of the one I had.

• Linguine with cherry tomatoes and anchovies

  • bwhip on October 23, 2022

    Delicious, with lots of umami for how easy the prep is. This should go in a regular weeknight rotation for us.

• Shiitake Mushroom Penne with Arugula

  • bwhip on December 03, 2022

    Delicious, and really easy to prepare. Great flavor from simple ingredients, with nice umami from the anchovies. We’ll have this again without question.

• Creamy rigatoni with spicy sausage and eggplant

  • bwhip on June 09, 2023

    Really delicious, with a nice bit of tang from the crème fraiche, and just the right amount of heat in the sausages and sauce. Hearty and flavorful, and easy for a weeknight, even with making the tomato sauce the recipe references.

• Crunch burgers with BBQ mushrooms

  • bwhip on October 17, 2022

    These are great, super tasty. The mushrooms glazed in barbecue sauce were excellent, and the combination of the burger with cheese and mushrooms, along with pickled red onions and potato chips (!) was a winner for sure.

• Crispy rice with spinach and lemon

  • eroachTN on July 11, 2024

    Will absolutely make again! I let the rice cool before crisping but I missed the note to refrigerate. I didn't have enough time to refrigerate but it still turned out great even if not quite as crispy. My spinach didn't have a ton of liquid so I didn't drain it. Only slightly more effort than just boiling rice and its 100% worth it.

• Hoisin ribs with crunchy garlic, peanuts, and scallions

  • kkmatti on July 07, 2023

    Very good. This sauce might be my new favorite bbq sauce for ribs. I skipped the peanuts and onions - that seemed to be just for the photo and I don't think it would have added anything.

• Banana-date-cinnamon smoothies

  • njpoirier on July 07, 2024

    Loved this shake! Very refreshing. I used almond milk instead of coconut milk because that’s what I had on hand and kept the rest of the ingredients the same.

• Chicken Milanese with prosciutto, Taleggio, arugula, and red wine vinaigrette

  • njpoirier on July 30, 2024

    Recipe was easy to execute and delicious! Don’t skip the vinaigrette. It cuts through all the richness and really works with the rest of the dish!

• Fennel and paprika rubbed pork chops with peach agrodolce

  • njpoirier on July 07, 2024

    This came out delicious! My husband isn’t normally a peach fan but he loved it paired with the spicy pork chop. Great combination of flavors and well-balanced.