Notes about Recipes in this book

• Beef meatball soup with paprika and Israeli couscous

  • southerncooker on April 06, 2021

    Pretty spicy but delicious. I love Israeli Couscous and had some on hand, so I knew I had to try this recipe. Instead of hot paprika I used half sharp. I thought I had a serrano pepper, didn't, but did have jalapenos, so I used one of those. I made a half recipe.

  • chawkins on January 17, 2024

    This was a disaster for me, it tasted okay but looked awful, hence no picture. I don’t know whether it was me or it was the recipe. I was stressed out after an emergency dental appointment. For the meatballs, the recipe asked for two and a half cup of cheese and only 8 ounces of beef, I was wondering if the meatball would hold together with that much cheese, but I charged on; I normally used fresh breadcrumbs for meatballs, but the recipe said dried breadcrumbs, so I used a commercial brand. Anyway, the meatballs kind of disintegrated. She also asked for a tablespoon of salt added to 4 cups of broth, and salt added to the couscous cooking water, and salt added to the cooked couscous. I significantly reduced the salt, figuring that the amount of chheese in the meatballs and stirred into the soup when done were enough and I’m glad I did, otherwise the soup would have been unedible.

  • Maefleur on November 03, 2020

    A spicy and warming soup, this time I used ground turkey instead of beef and reduced the parm in the meatballs to 1 cup. Still very flavorful and satisfying.

  • averythingcooks on January 11, 2024

    We both loved this hearty dinner soup. I test fried a little of the meat mixture with 1 cup of parmesan (as suggested by others here) and decided to add a heaping 1/2 cup more (which is still less than called for). I minced the serrano & added it early and I added some roasted grape tomatoes from the freezer. I just now realized that I meant to add spinach & forgot. This was my 1st use of pearl couscous & we both loved the texture it added. I will make this again for sure.

  • Partyof7 on October 06, 2021

    Very very good! Also reduced the Parmesan to 1 Cup because I had very assertive cheese! Substituted farro for the Israeli couscous and threw in a bit of fresh spinach I had on hand. The Serrano Chile is a great touch

• Orecchiette with bacon, lemon, and cream

  • southerncooker on March 10, 2018

    I've seen reviews of this dish complaining of too much lemon. I used a small lemon for the juice and zest and thought it was perfect. The little bit of bacon fat added gives the taste of bacon through out the dish. Of course there was also 12 slices cut into 2 in wide strips. She has you cook the bacon in half cup water till it evaporates then continue cooking till crispy. I was skeptical about this process but it resulted in perfectly crisp bacon. I'll be using that method again when I need bacon bits for a dish.

  • Partyof7 on October 06, 2021

    Quick, easy and tasty. 4.5 of 5 stars

• Grandma Guarnaschelli's lasagna with mini beef meatballs

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    This was very good and we enjoyed the meatballs in it but my family said they liked my homemade lasagna better.

  • Dannausc on January 08, 2018

    It was good, but I don’t know if it was worth the effort to make forty mini meatballs.

• Warm potato and scallion salad

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    I really thought we would love this one but none of us really cared for it.

  • Maefleur on February 17, 2018

    We loved this! Very well balanced and delicious both warm and at room temp.

  • averythingcooks on January 16, 2024

    Warm roasted potatoes (this time baby Yukon golds) in a punchy, mustardy vinaigrette certainly works for us! I added some chopped celery & roasted red peppers for a little texture/colour and the 2 of us ate around 1/3 of the recipe beside burgers. A make again for sure.

• White mushrooms and spinach

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    Daughter and I loved this one but hubby didn't care for it.

  • Dannausc on February 25, 2018

    Last weekend I made the White Mushrooms and Spinach from The Home Cook. I forgot to add the Marsala. It was still good.

• 1984 portobello sandwich

  • southerncooker on February 14, 2018

    Son and I really enjoyed these but hubby didn't care for them. The flavors of the goat cheese with the tomatoes and lemon juice on the cooked portobello mushrooms was delicious.

• Warm leeks "Niçoise"

  • southerncooker on February 24, 2018

    Son and I enjoyed this one. I made a half recipe. Loved all the flavors.

• Raw basil pesto

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    Delicious and easy to make.

• Pasta salad with basil pesto

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    Quick and easy supper. Delicious.

• Dark chocolate brownies

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    Love dark chocolate and this recipe didn't disappoint. Delicious brownies.

• Easy beer bread

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2018

    Delicious served warm slathered with butter. Also good toasted with butter.

  • averythingcooks on December 08, 2024

    We ate this warm with butter beside our dinner soup & loved it. It came together quickly but I pulled it at 30 minutes (she suggests 30 to 35), checking with a skewer for crumbs etc and it seemed done BUT in the very middle of the loaf it was underdone. Regardless, it tastes good, has a nice texture and when there is Guinness in the house, it will be made again.

  • danlaik on July 26, 2021

    A very cozy bread recipe. She calls it a sandwich bread but this did not rise for me much, so good luck with that. It is very good, however, with butter and honey.

• Spicy blue cheese dip with endive spears

  • jenmacgregor18 on May 08, 2018

    It is good. Like a thicker, spicy blue cheese dressing. I was worried the yogurt would be too predominant; but it wasn't the case. If I try again, I may make w/ low-fat sour cream instead of greek yogurt. Less fat & will taste just as good.

  • Dannausc on January 27, 2018

    Quite good!

• My dad's lemon chicken

  • nadiam1000 on July 09, 2018

    This was quite good not sure if I will make it again because it is messy. The chicken thighs are difficult to cut into pieces so you end up with a lot of odd shapes and bits trying to cut them into 1". The dredging with the cornstarch is fussy as is the frying bit. I have a deep fryer and used fresh peanut oil but frying the lemons first messed up the oil with charred sticky pulp bits. I tried to scoop them out before frying the chicken but it left a black ring around the fryer. I doubled the sugar in the sauce and it was very tasty and tart; nice compliment to the fried chicken. might modify to be more of a stir fry next time

  • Partyof7 on December 28, 2020

    Mmmmm. Young and old loved it and requested again ASAP! Had no issues with the recipe

• Farfalle with sausage and roasted broccoli

  • chawkins on January 27, 2020

    A tasty pasta dish, I used all hot sausages because that what I had on hand. Agreed with the previous reviewers that it could use a lot more broccoli.

  • agale723 on January 17, 2018

    Excellent base recipe. I tripled the broccoli (we love roasted broccoli) and added 1/2 cup of whipped ricotta (from Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables) at the end. Delicious! Husband gave two thumbs up.

  • julesamomof2 on January 07, 2019

    Wow is this ever good. I threw this together because I had all of the ingredients on hand, but was not expecting it to be so delicious. I made it exactly as written but you could easily double or even triple the broccoli, which I will do in the future. My kids especially loved this.

  • averythingcooks on February 10, 2024

    As we prefer a higher "stuff : pasta" ratio, I upped the amounts broccoli & sausage and used only 5 oz pasta (for 1/2 recipe). We loved the roasted broccoli and the addition of the wine. I had a few things to clean out of the fridge, so I cooked the ends of a red onion & red pepper with the sausage and added the last splash of heavy cream & chunk of Boursin to the pan. This is likely our new house favourite for broccoli sausage pasta.

  • Partyof7 on October 06, 2021

    Nice, good and easy. Used hot Italian sausage and definitely best with ricotta added

• Chicken cutlets with prosciutto and sage

  • chawkins on December 30, 2019

    The double dipping with the refrigeration in between did a pretty good job of getting the crumbs to stay on while pan frying. Like acalexander before me, I used half panko and half breadcrumbs. I found that only three eggs were enough for the dipping. Overall, a very good dish. I also skipped the red wine vinegar and used wine instead for the vinaigrette since my husband is averse to vinegars.

  • acalexander on September 21, 2018

    Used 1/2 breadcrumbs, 1/2 panko, Greek seasoning instead of oregano

• Mom's chicken cacciatore

  • chawkins on January 23, 2020

    A very decent cacciatore. I used 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks, had no fresh thyme, so used a quarter teaspoon of dried thyme instead. Also forgot to use the red pepper flakes when seasoning the chicken pieces but remembered during the early stage of the final simmering , so crushed 3 dried red chilies into the sauce and continued with the simmering.

  • bwhip on November 10, 2017

    Excellent! My wife and I really enjoyed this. Fairly easy to make, and the sauce has a wonderful depth of flavor that tastes like it must have taken hours to develop. We’ll make this again for sure.

• Cherries with ginger lemon curd

  • PiaOC on January 28, 2018

    Great taste combination but will need to work on fresh ginger next time. I wasn’t a great fan of its texture - perhaps reduce to 1 or 2 tablespoons or process after grating to achieve smoother consistency. Served with a plain olive oil cake.

• Lemon cake

  • julesamomof2 on February 18, 2018

    This was light and moist, but a little boring on its own, so I make a lemon buttercream frosting to slather on top - extra sweet and delicious!

• Pancetta, arugula, and roasted tomato salad

  • julesamomof2 on May 25, 2020

    Unlike the previous reviewer, we didn't love this. We prefer our salads light, crisp, and fresh, and this one isn't that. I think I might like it better with some additions to crisp it up a bit. But this is all just personal preference, the salad was perfectly fine and turned out as written.

  • bwhip on September 23, 2018

    We loved this salad. A lovely mix of sweet, bitter, salty, and crispy. We added some hard boiled eggs and a bit of avocado, and it made for a really nice meal. Looking forward to having this one again.

• Rhubarb strawberry pie

  • julesamomof2 on May 03, 2020

    Gloppy (relies on a lot of cornstarch ) and didn't keep well past the day it was made. Not a repeat.

• My dad's Chinese pork shoulder

  • Rradishes on April 25, 2022

    The pork was good, but never got tender enough to pull with a fork like the recipe suggests.

  • PanNan on January 13, 2021

    This dish was well received by the family. The flavors were nice, but a bit more subtle than expected. I served it in a rice bowl with broccoli and the sliced pork, and added soy sauce and sriracha to hike the flavor up a notch.

• White bean chili with spiced cheddar

  • Lepa on October 23, 2023

    This was a delicious chili. It is vegetarian, full of flavor and one of the best chilis I have ever made. I will definitely be making this again.

• Secret watercress soup

  • Lepa on September 27, 2021

    This just didn't come together well. I usually use a Deborah Madison recipe for potato leek soup where a bit of cream and watercress is added at the end and that soup has better flavor and texture than this one (and it is less work). This had a rough texture (maybe because a huge quantity of watercress is put in right at the end) and wasn't quite as good.

• Spicy Chinatown pork dumplings

  • Maefleur on February 23, 2018

    Very flavorful, will make again. Sauce compliments without overpowering.

• Warm blueberry ginger turnovers

  • Maefleur on February 08, 2018

    Just as good with raspberries! The recipe states to cut out eight 3-inch rounds, but I believe it should be eight 6-inch rounds. A very tender, flakey pastry and tasty filling.

• Balsamic dressing

  • averythingcooks on January 08, 2024

    We enjoyed this on a simple green salad. However, as we sometimes find dressings too heavy on the oil, I used equal amts of the 2 oils (using the smaller EVOO volume) and tasted...and ultimately did not add the rest of the canola. It was very good at this point but a small shot of honey took it up a notch for us. This is a great use for raspberry vinegar.

  • angrygreycat on November 18, 2018

    Made this as a new take on my usual Mustard vinaigrette. I happened to have some Raspberry vinegar that I had been gifted to use any way. Nice tasting on a simple salad of greens, green onions and some grated carrot.

• The sherry vinaigrette I use on everything

  • averythingcooks on February 21, 2024

    I made this with a spoonful of mayo to replace the egg yolk (...if Ina Garten suggests this for one of her vinaigrettes, then I'm ok doing it :) I just gave everything a good hard shake in a jar and we enjoyed this assertive dressing over mixed greens.

  • angrygreycat on July 29, 2018

    Just recently bought this book and haven't used it all. I made a salad for dinner tonight and just made this vinaigrette and it was very good. Through everything in the blender and it came together as an almost creamy dressing. Nicely tangy.

• Mustard vinaigrette

  • averythingcooks on February 13, 2024

    We love the big punch of mustard over mixed greens with red onions, sweet peppers & radishes. I often find dressings too heavy on the oil, so I added it slowly & this time stopped at 3/4 of the amt called for. It was very good at this point but I had a shallot to use up so it also went in. A 1/2 recipe will give us a few nights of salad and this is a repeat idea for sure.

• Miso dressing

  • averythingcooks on March 21, 2024

    I used this dressing over a mix of match sticked veg (carrots, radishes, yellow peppers, celery, red onion & cabbage) as suggested and we loved it. This dressing is full of flavour as promised but I will admit to having a lighter hand with the oil as usual. This will be made again.

• Iceberg wedge with Russian dressing

  • averythingcooks on March 01, 2024

    I made this thick, punchy dressing to spoon over crunchy romaine with carrots, red onion & radishes. I've never seen anything labelled as "half-sour pickles" so I used a spoonful of my homemade relish + some pickled onion brine to taste. I'm used to "dashes" of Tabasco" so the full tsp certainly had some impact. The leftovers will be used tonight for a veggie dip and I will make this stuff again (hopefully with iceberg on hand) - it's delicious.

• Parker House rolls

  • averythingcooks on December 15, 2024

    The order of mixing ingredients is a bit different from other enriched doughs I've made, BUT the dough came together quickly without some of the problems I've had in the past. I needed very little extra flour at the end & it rose beautifully. Forming the rolls is well explained & although they came out of oven a bit "misshapen" (or....rustic looking!!) we agreed that they are absolutely delicious. This was a test for my Christmas Eve menu & they passed with flying colours.

• Thin crispy gingerbread cookies

  • averythingcooks on December 21, 2024

    We really like these cookies. I am typically leery of orange zest & also found the addition of lemon juice odd BUT the cookies have a nice...brightness? zing?? behind all the deep warm spices. My kitchen is very warm in the winter & that ultimately meant 2 things - I should have chilled the ball of dough longer (at least I cut it in 1/2 to work with smaller portions) AND I should have chilled the trays of cut cookies before baking as I lost my nice sharp edges. My cookies are also more chewy than crisp but we like that. Lessons learned & I'm ready for next time.

• Beef and carrot stew

  • averythingcooks on January 26, 2024

    I cut this in 1/2 with 1 lb of boneless short ribs and it easily fed 2 of us for dinner with lunch for at least 1 (original recipe with 2 lbs says "serves 2-4"). As I made 1/2, I needed only 1 skillet (full recipe divides all ingredients/cooking steps into 2 skillets that are ultimately combined into one serving vessel). Oven braising the stew uncovered in a cast iron skillet rather a deeper Dutch oven gave good results but I'm not sure I would be up for the "2 skillet" idea. I did add a few spoonfuls from fridge jars to ensure a nice thick rich, broth, added some peas and pickled red peppers for that final punch of colour & finished with some fresh herbs (my "Simon & Garfunkel" herb bomb was perfect) but even without my add-ins, this was a good pot of stew.

• Sticky fingers baked chicken wings

  • averythingcooks on April 26, 2024

    I made 1/3 of the sauce to coat 6 boneless, skinless thighs which I baked for 15 minutes at 425 followed by a few minutes with a little more sauce under the broiler (and, wings or thighs - do NOT skip the foil in the pan). These were delicious beside some herby coleslaw. Next time I would cut the sauce to 1/4 but for now, the extra is in a fridge jar to be used as BBQ sauce.

  • Dannausc on February 11, 2018

    They have a definite BBQ sauce flavor. They are good, but not my favorite flavor for wings.

• Midnight Bolognese with rigatoni

  • averythingcooks on December 30, 2024

    We enjoyed this rich sauce. I used 8 oz of beef + 4 oz mild italian sausage for a 1/2 recipe & with gnocchi (in place of pasta) it yielded 2 dinner bowls + 2 lunch servings. I like my mire poix VERY finely chopped so the carrot, celery & pancetta went into my mini food processor. I left the shallot thinly sliced, used grd Calabrian chili for the heat & added a handful of fresh basil. Also, skipping the oil for cooking the meat was fine. I make no claims re: authenticity with recipes like these but with the white wine & cream, it seemed pretty "bolognesey" (& delicious) to us.

  • Partyof7 on October 06, 2021

    Makes a ton! Very very good but I’m just not crazy in love with bolognese I guess

• Zucchini and Parmigiano-Reggiano soup

  • averythingcooks on August 13, 2024

    As written, the intention here is to sprinkle servings of the soup with the cheese but I preferred the flavour after I stirred it directly into the warm soup pot. I scaled this back to around 3 lunch sized bowls that I will have no problem getting through. I do really like that it is creamy without any dairy and the big hit from the white pepper.

• Braised chicken with prunes

  • Cookie24 on November 07, 2017

    Good flavor and easy to make. The prunes add a nice sweet note to the dish, however next time I will cut the prunes in half rather than leaving them whole. Used legs and thighs only, didn't have pearl onion, so used large diced regular brown onion, all other ingredients stayed the same. Family enjoyed the dish, will probably make again.

• Breaded eggplant fingers with balsamic sauce

  • mjes on September 02, 2021

    As a kid breaded eggplant was one of my favorite vegetables; when I was old enough to make it myself, I added oregano. This is the grown up version. It browns in the frying pan and finishes in the oven which makes it much easier to control the temperature. And it drizzles the finished product with balsamic vinegar. I think I've died and gone to vegetarian heaven.

• Beets, toasted walnuts, and black pepper goat cheese

  • Dannausc on December 08, 2018

    It seemed like an exorbitant amount of goat cheese, so I only used 4 oz. which was sufficient. It was pretty decent.

• Raw white mushroom salad

  • Dannausc on December 08, 2018

    Good and easy though my wife didn’t care for it.

• Pumpkin nutmeg bread

  • Dannausc on December 08, 2018

    It was really good and moist.

• Spicy baked chicken wings with honey vinegar glaze

  • Dannausc on February 11, 2018

    Good with a nice Asiany flavor.

• Chicken and coconut milk curry soup

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2018

    Fairly quick and easy. Quite flavorful. If used as a main course, serves 4 at most.

• Beef chili

  • Dannausc on December 08, 2018

    Good but nothing special

• Bucatini with garlic and oil

  • Dannausc on December 08, 2018

    Super simple and easy. Quite good. Worth a repeat.

• Spicy weeknight marinara sauce with bucatini

  • Dannausc on January 27, 2018

    Fairly quick and easy. Quite good!

• Pasta puttanesca

  • Dannausc on February 25, 2018

    Good but nothing special.

  • angrygreycat on February 07, 2020

    Made this for a late night dinner. Good basic Pasta Puttanesca recipe. I would make again but probably increase the capers as they do mellow considerably here.

• Classic pot roast

  • Dannausc on December 08, 2018

    Quite good. I really liked the addition of mustard.

• Yogurt-marinated chicken thighs with pickled mustard seeds

  • Dannausc on February 19, 2018

    I liked it a lot.

  • angrygreycat on July 26, 2022

    The chicken came out perfectly with a tiny bit of char on the skin so it was crispy but the chicken meat was tender and juicy. I enjoyed the grapes and the pickled mustard seeds and dressing was a fun play on Dijon chcken. I would make again.

  • sdeathe on January 26, 2023

    This was easy and delicious. Marinated and made the pickled mustard seeds on day #1, baked on day#2. The chicken was tender and the sauce unusual and tasty. My oven didn't give me the dark bits on the chicken I would have liked, but small issue. Will make again.

• Veal meatballs with tomatoes and Parmesan cheese

  • PanNan on January 06, 2018

    The whole family thought this was delicious. The sauce was a little thick and I added a can of tomato puree and a little water and it was perfect.

• Spring minestrone

  • Partyof7 on October 06, 2021

    Very good, but the base needs homemade stock instead of water. Sadly, the basil flavor isn’t detectable. Will make again with stock. edited to add: two days later and the recipe as written is delicious!

• Roasted root vegetable soup

  • Partyof7 on January 02, 2021

    Like a more interesting and complex parsnip soup that I often make. So delicious!! I made as written. Maybe a crouton would be a nice crunchy addition to the super smooth soup but everyone loved it as is

• Creamiest of the creamy broccoli soup

  • Partyof7 on January 13, 2021

    Very pleasant. Easy to make. Halved the crushed red pepper and it has a nice bite. Nicely thick, just a tad boring

  • angrygreycat on October 13, 2018

    Made this for a light supper today. Nice taste with the roasted broccoli and garlic, however not nearly as thick and creamy as I am used to from my go-to recipe. My daughter liked it and as I said it tasted nice. I might just cut down the proportion of liquid ingredients to broccoli or add cornstarch or use a roux to make it thicker.

• Crispy potato cake

  • Partyof7 on December 28, 2020

    Disappointed! Not much flavor. Would not repeat

• Warm wild rice salad

  • Partyof7 on October 09, 2022

    Easy, very unique and quite tasty. Loved

• Beefsteak tomato, bacon, and red onion salad

  • deirdrereid on July 14, 2019

    Excellent, the best tomato salad we've had all summer. I used chunks, not slices, of tomatoes. Didn't add the grape/cherry tomatoes because I didn't have any. Used German Johnsons for the beefsteak tomatoes. Omitted the sugar and used basil instead of tarragon.

• My cannoli filling rum cake from childhood

  • angrygreycat on October 27, 2018

    Made this for dessert for tomorrow. The filling is very easy. The cake is the Yellow cake recipe also in the book. She instructs you to grease the cake pans, not flour or use parchment. One of my layers stuck very badly, the other was in a push up tin and I was able to get it free of the tin without breaking it up. If I made this yellow cake again, grease, flour and parchment would be used. The other thing to note is that this is supposed to be her general yellow cake and mine tastes very lemony, like a lemon cake not a regular yellow cake. I presume this is due to the fact that you have lemon zest and juice and no vanilla or almond extract to tone that down

• Spicy kidney bean salad

  • angrygreycat on July 22, 2023

    I made this with no watercress, (difficult to get here) served it alongside a skirt steak. Excellent salad, will definitely put in rotation for bean salads. The vinegar and sweetness was a really nice bite next to the steak.

• Whole pork loin roast with Cajun rub

  • angrygreycat on April 14, 2019

    Made this for dinner tonight - it was excellent. Marinating and then rolling in the spice rub after searing but before putting in the oven gave it great flavor and kept the meat moist and tender. The sauce it created was spicy and nice bite to it. I served with cheesy mashed potatoes and a broccoli salad.

• Spicy carrot and cabbage slaw

  • LPlume01845 on July 01, 2019

    I subbed slivered red peppers for carrots - inspiration. I love non-mayo slaws, and this had a great level of heat and complexity - though simple to make. A keeper.

• New England clam chowder from the daughter of a Newton, Massachusetts, gal

  • TimothyJames on December 31, 2021

    Excellent flavor and nice little kick from the Spanish chorizo and dried pepper flakes. The recipe doesn't say it, but remove the casing from the Spanish chorizo and cut into 1/8 inch slices before frying. The chorizo gets crispy and is almost like a little meat crouton. There is far more residual fat from the chorizo then is needed in step two to sauté the celery so pour the excess off so you're not deep frying the celery.

• Eggplant Parmigiana

  • danlaik on July 26, 2021

    I'm obsessed with this recipe. It's totally unhinged. Three onions? Two tablespoons of pepper flakes? I thought at first that this was simply a poorly edited recipe and that there were typos here, but I found a video called "The Best Thing I Ever Made" in which Alex herself makes this exactly as written ON CAMERA. So now we know that this dish is half onion and Alex Guarnaschelli meant it to be that way. I've also never seen a tomato sauce made where you don't even break up the tomatoes, but to each their own. One significant difference in the video, however, is the reduction of the pepper flakes to one tablespoon. Fair. This recipe feels like a fever dream. Surely I didn't possibly make this in a braindead moment three years ago. I would try again just to make sure that this is real, but my household has banned me from making eggplant parm ever again. Also, my boyfriend now has PTSD and rants at me if he sees me putting pepper flakes in a tomato sauce.