Notes about Recipes in this book

• Wedge salad with creamy black pepper dressing

  • hbakke on July 22, 2019

    Love the dressing! Perfect with the tomatoes and bacon.

  • averythingcooks on January 19, 2022

    This dressing is lovely over the crisp iceberg lettuce. I did not want the bacon (this time) so I rendered the fat from some pieces of "fatty bacon ends" that I keep in the freezer (and then discarded the solids) in order to sizzle/steep the pepper. I have no comparison to the same recipe made with "uncooked" pepper, but it's a pretty easy step (as the assumption is you are cooking bacon anyways) and as I said, the result is really good. A repeat for sure.

  • jenburkholder on April 21, 2024

    This was a good salad. My husband added blue cheese crumbles and son added feta crumbles. All very tasty!

• Grilled chicken salad

  • hbakke on May 11, 2020

    Very basic salad, but made for a simple, tasty dinner. I don't know why it was included in this book. It's not "spiced" with anything besides salt and pepper. I added cubed avocado and bell pepper because they needed to be used (good additions).

• Seared duck breasts with green peppercorn sauce

  • Ishie1013 on January 09, 2023

    This was an excellent dish with a fantastic gravy. The duck was perfectly cooked with the shallots forming an excellent savory base for the accompanying gravy. I'll make this again.

• Grilled brined carrots with cilantro-yogurt sauce

  • Ishie1013 on January 04, 2023

    I am now enjoying this, but it needed quite a bit of tinkering, and the cooking method is bonkers. The brining really didn't help season or tenderize the carrots, at least not for just the hour. Then I followed the gas grill instructions which left me a slightly charred but otherwise dry raw carrot without seasoning. I added salt and olive oil to the carrots and roasted them at 350 for 15 minutes. Much better. The sauce for them is excellent, but also needs salt (this book is called Spiced; it should know how to season properly) and some kind of acid for balance. I used a lemon quarter to squeeze in and the sauce came alive and complimented the carrots.

• Salt-crusted fingerling potatoes

  • kgmom on September 04, 2022

    It was going to take much longer than the time specified to boil off the water. I added salt, the removed most of the water. I can’t see an advantage to this recipe over the traditional way of making salt potatoes. https://www.mrfood.com/Potatoes-Rice/Salt-Potatoes-from-Mr-Food/amp

  • Ishie1013 on January 09, 2023

    This is not an efficient way to make potatoes. For being salt-crusted, the recipe doesn't call for a lot of salt. A lot more was needed. A lot of water is left at the end of the cook, leaving you to pour it out to finish it.

• Smashed cucumber salad (Pai huang gua)

  • hbakke on February 19, 2021

    I've made several different smashed cucumber salads and this one is my favorite despite it's simplicity. Although I used regular cucumbers instead of English cucumbers, I think this turned out great. I will make this again.

• Barbecue roast chicken with potatoes

  • averythingcooks on August 13, 2023

    With a simple, homemade rub and a flattened chicken waiting in the freezer, this came together quickly and was really good. The chicken was done (and beautifully burnished by the rub) at around 50 minutes and the potatoes were delicious. Sometimes you want something simple & a bit old school and this absolutely hit the spot for us last night...and of course there is the bonus of leftover roasted chicken.

• Smoky cocoa chili powder

  • averythingcooks on July 31, 2023

    I used this for ground beef tacos and it did the job beautifully. This time I did have to use ground chipotle powder as I am out of the dried ones right now (using a conversion of 1 oz dried chile = 3 tbsp of powder that I got from Chile Pepper Madness) but it was still full of flavour with good heat and I am glad to have a jar of this prepped to use again soon.

• Vadouvan curry powder

  • hbakke on March 01, 2023

    I don't know if this makes an authentic Vadouvan curry powder since I've never had it before today, but it had a nice flavor that we enjoyed.

• Lamb vindaloo

  • averythingcooks on December 03, 2022

    I scaled this down to 1 lb of meat and used cubed pork loin this time. I made it early in the day (and at this point it tasted really good) but when I reheated it for dinner, I added peas, spinach, steamed cauliflower, chopped roasted red peppers & Thai basil (to replace the cilantro). The result was a complete dinner bowl with both great flavour & a good heat level for us which we enjoyed with some toast. A great dinner idea worth repeating :)

• Hungarian beef stew

  • averythingcooks on December 19, 2021

    This was a good version of goulash (just not sure it's the best version I've made) that starts with a smooth paste made with the paprika, roasted red peppers, vinegar & tomato paste, has LOTS of onions and does not have you sear the meat 1st. I maybe had a little more paste than called for as I had to guess a bit re: the number of peppers but it worked. We enjoyed this with egg noodles & sour cream and I would make it again. However, I do have a question - how does a recipe that uses 4 lbs of meat possibly feed only 4-6 people???? I scaled mine back to 1.5 lbs of meat - the 2 of us each had a big bowl AND there is enough for 2 more meals left over.

• Chicken tagine with fennel, chickpeas, and apricots

  • Ishie1013 on January 04, 2023

    This was quite good, though the cooking time on the chicken is way too long, so fortunately, I had a meat thermometer. But excellent blend of flavors.

  • rachael_lw60td on February 17, 2026

    Yummy! Made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and it was delicious

• Chermoula

  • hbakke on May 22, 2020

    Delicious sauce. Would be good over roasted veg or chicken. I threw the whole cilantro bunch in, instead of just the leaves and added a bit more salt.

  • lean1 on March 28, 2025

    I used mostly leaves and a few small stems. Mixed in the Cuisinart. Real simple. Used 4 garlic instead of 5.Just the right amount of kick.

• Za'atar yogurt sauce

  • lean1 on March 28, 2025

    So simple yet so flavorful Used Non fat yogurt and came out fine.

• Creamy Cajun-spiced dip

  • Ishie1013 on January 09, 2023

    This was absolutely delicious. I'll be using it as a general sauce on a lot. Would even make a good chip dip.

• Pan-roasted pork tenderloin with cider-caraway vinaigrette

  • averythingcooks on August 10, 2023

    This was a quick dinner that we both liked served beside egg noodles, cabbage & bacon. A 12 oz pork tenderloin is the perfect size for the 2 of us and this vinaigrette was a lovely way to add flavour after the pan roast. The vinaigrette will be used up on some greens tonight and this is a repeat idea for sure.

• Crab cakes with Cajun-spiced dip

  • Ishie1013 on January 09, 2023

    Fairly decent crab cake recipe. You do have to add more flour than the recipe initially calls for to get these to hold together at all, but not bad.

• Grilled eggplant with chermoula

  • hbakke on May 22, 2020

    I liked this, but Ty wasn't a huge fan. The chermoula was delicious and the added fried garlic bits as garnish were perfect. I don't have a microwave, so the oil/garlic/pepper flake mix was cooked on the stove top in the baby pan. This is definitely a garlicky dish.

• One-pan chicken with couscous, carrots, and harissa

  • averythingcooks on December 15, 2021

    This was a nice 1 pan dinner that was easy to put together. I would like to try their harissa recipe (whose ingredients are listed here with everything else) but with 2 open jars in my fridge right now, I'll try that another time. I used a mix of hot & mild (seems to match our palates best) and I did start the carrots 1st to give them a head start as underdone carrots in a dish like this is a pet peeve of mine. I used boneless skinless thighs which ended up tender & flavourful and I finished each bowl with a scoop of yogurt for some creaminess. I would make this again for sure.

• Flank steak tacos with cumin and corn relish

  • averythingcooks on November 12, 2023

    I used this relish with a different marinated flank steak for taco night. It has a good sweet/sour taste and you can up the heat with more/different chile choices if necessary. It was a quick make ahead and leftovers apparently have a good fridge life.

• Za'atar finger bread

  • averythingcooks on December 05, 2022

    This took a leap of faith for me to try -instant yeast (not my favourite choice), ICE water in the dough followed by a 30'ish hour fridge rise....and it worked perfectly! I cut it in 1/2 (perfect in my small stoneware Pampered Chef bar pan) & I used a lovely za'atar that I order online from the Silk Road Spice Merchant in Calgary. The generous oiling of the baking pan resulted in that golden "crispy chewy" crust characteristic of my favourite restaurant focaccias. A repeat for sure.

• Molasses spice cookies

  • averythingcooks on July 29, 2021

    These are lovely cookies! With all of the warm spices that are included, I did hold off a bit on the freshly ground pepper (maybe 5 or 6 turns of my grinder?) and they are still beautifully spiced. One thing - I portioned the vanilla sugar out in small amounts at a time and was glad I did because I ended up using a fraction of the 1/2 cup called for. These are an absolute repeat.