Notes about Recipes in this book

• Bagna cauda

  • Thredbende on August 01, 2011

    This a a delicious version of bagna cauda. I melt the anchovies in the olive oil with the raw garlic in a 2 cup measuring cup in the microwave. Then dump in the butter onto the oil and melt. Have the pepper ground and egg blended in a wee cup. Have the cheese grated. When the pasta is done, drain it into a colander sitting in a serving bowl sitting in the sink. This heats the bowl. Quickly drain and dry the bowl, dump in the pasta, the hot oil, pepper, egg and cheese. Toss this with a spatula and a pasta claw. It is really good, greasy, garlicy, NOT FISHY, and real comfort food.

• Baked barley casserole

  • Maya12 on March 23, 2016

    Can also be made with beef stock. If your stocks are homemade and are very gelatinous,use 4 cups stock, and 2 cups water as noted in the book. Allow at least 2 hours cooking time.

• Baked fish in vinegar sauce

  • wester on September 17, 2012

    A great way to give a lift to whitefish fillets. The vinegar and the sweet onions work together wonderfully. However, the cooking time was way off. I thought 45 minutes was a bit long so I checked after 25 minutes. The fish was already overcooked then. Next time I'll start checking at 10 minutes. I will precook the onions a bit more then, as I think 10 minutes won't make them as tenderly crispy as they were now.

  • IowanCorn on December 25, 2024

    It was alright for a quick dinner, but I don't think it's a repeater. I used tarragon because it was white fish, and a parsley wine. Maybe it just needed more pepper.

• Beef soup with meatballs

  • wester on August 27, 2015

    Simple and good. Stock from a cube worked fine for me, but take care not to oversalt.

• Biafran stew

  • wester on May 24, 2018

    Nice simple stew.

• Boston baked beans

  • Maya12 on March 23, 2016

    When I made this recipe I used brown sugar instead of white, added ginger and allspice, covered with boiling water. They were ready in three hours.

• Bubble and squeak

  • IowanCorn on July 20, 2024

    Tasty and incredibly filling. This recipe filled my 12" cast iron skillet, and was nicely cooked with the flavors of the veg mixing nicely. Only complaint was that the prep took longer that I expected.

• Celery soup

  • IowanCorn on July 25, 2024

    This was a good start to a soup. I blended the veg with a stick blender, but didn't strain it. In hindsight, it does need to be strained to get the hard, string bits of celery. It tasted alright, but it's more of a broth than a soup.

• Chicken salad

  • wester on January 03, 2013

    Very basic, quite nice.

• Chicken stuffed with potatoes and olives

  • Maya12 on March 28, 2016

    I prepared this like a casserole with chicken legs on top of which I placed the other ingredients, which I then moistened with white wine.

  • chriscooks on August 15, 2020

    The stuffing part of the recipe makes an excellent potato salad.

• Chicken with mushroom soup

  • IowanCorn on October 21, 2024

    A good simple soup. I doubled the amount of chicken (canned) and mushrooms but kept the rice and broth the same, which made a very hearty soup. Watch what broth is used, since there is few ingredients, it's important that your broth isn't too salty.

• Chinese boiled chicken with onions - chow yow gai

  • klrclark on January 25, 2021

    I have made this for so many years. It is one of my favorites. Easy and love the leftovers too.

• Green bean and potato soup

  • LeilaD on September 20, 2017

    I had problems getting it to thicken, the sour cream did not stir in well, and it separated out rather quickly.

• Jambalaya

  • jeffcole on June 23, 2018

    This has been my go-to jambalaya recipe since 1988. Though it takes 4 hours of prep and cook, the resulting dish is leaps ahead of the dozen or so other recipes I've tried. If you're cooking for fewer than 8, you may want to cut down the rice quantity by 25% so that the next-day dish isn't quite as solid.

• Lamb and artichoke stew

  • chriscooks on October 30, 2013

    This is an easy and tasty stew

• Mushrooms steamed in custard

  • wester on October 03, 2013

    The flavors where very nice, but the mixture curdled so the structure was not nice at all. The recipe didn't say anything about whether to stir, and how much. Maybe continuous stirring would have helped.

• Onions baked in cinders

  • KALW on December 14, 2022

    You can make this with any kind of onion -- red onions work well, too. A great side dish for a roast.

• Orange sausage

  • wester on October 29, 2011

    Sausage or meatballs that smell and taste sweet and spicy, not unlike mulled wine. I made meatballs out of the mix (after adding an extra egg) and simmered them in a simple tomato sauce with rosemary. Good simple everyday fare.

• Pasta primavera

  • jenmacgregor18 on August 22, 2023

    I vaguely remember making this ages ago and liking it. I had zucchini to use and gave it another go. I didn't care for it at all this time. Too much wine, I think for my taste. I wonder if I left it out the last time.

• Pork chops with fennel

  • wester on April 20, 2012

    Nice everyday food. The fennel seeds taste quite a bit like anise here, more so than when dry-roasted.

• Pork souvlakia

  • lisacle on November 24, 2023

    Uses cubed pork, not ground pork

• Potato salad with pesto

  • PennyG on September 17, 2022

    Hardly a recipe but making a note so I remember that this is quick to throw together with only three ingredients (I used purchased basil pesto from CostCo). And truly delicious!

• Sauerkraut soup

  • wester on June 15, 2013

    The children were watching La soupe aux choux by Louis de Funes, and so they wanted to eat cabbage soup. I still had a package of sauerkraut somewhere, so I made this. As said in the book, peasant food, but very good. Tasty and filling, and the kind of taste that touches some long forgotten memory that you can't quite put your finger on. It was a tad too salty - next time I'll use half water half stock.

• Turkey soup

  • IowanCorn on December 01, 2025

    This is more of a suggestion than a recipe, still, a good suggestion for making turkey soup, and one that I was able to use to make my normal turkey carcass after Thanksgiving soup. I used the electric pressure cooker to cook the meat off the bones, then used the sauté feature to add the vegetables, and then later pre-cooked bowtie noodles.

• Youvarlakia - Greek meatballs

  • wester on January 12, 2015

    Made without the rice or the sauce. Nice meatballs. Next time with sauce.