• averythingcooks on October 23, 2020

  Chocolate chip cookies (pg 238): These are good cookies! They include a tbsp of corn syrup (lurking WAY at the back of my pantry :) and the 12 minute cook time was perfect for our “crispy edge chewy middle” preference. I also went with half brown / half white sugar (given as a variation) but I think next time I’ll go all brown as per the original version. And I certainly will repeat this recipe as I still have a few tablespoons of corn syrup to use up :)

• Prim on November 13, 2012

  Whitefish provencale - quick and delicious.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Maple baked beans

  • averythingcooks on April 12, 2024

    I was interested in the maple syrup, mustard & ginger here but after a quick taste partway through the oven bake, I realized I was missing tomato flavour. The end of a ketchup bottle and some homemade BBQ sauce went in and we ultimately we liked the result. And we agree that they were even better on day 2.

• Roasted potato bacon salad

  • averythingcooks on May 20, 2023

    This was a good side for last night's steaks. I used a spoonful of homemade sweet cucumber relish in place of the pickles and added both chopped celery and pickled peppadews for crunch & colour. We both agree that it might be even better warm (as opposed to room temperature) but I appreciated the make ahead prep and we certainly enjoyed it.

• Old-fashioned beef stew

  • declan_16ilrr on April 19, 2026

    Made it in a slow cooker. Used diced tomatoes

• Orange mustard grilled pork tenderloin

  • averythingcooks on June 16, 2021

    I made 1/2 the marinade for a 12 oz pork tenderloin. I also added some ancho chili powder to the mix and after marinating overnight, I used the oven roast method given as a variation. After I took the meat out of the pan, I swirled in some 5% cream to make a quick sauce. We really enjoyed this easy main course..

• Southwestern black bean & corn chili

  • averythingcooks on November 08, 2025

    I used a mix of red, yellow & orange sweet peppers & for the green peppers, I used roasted poblanos from my freezer. For the tomatoes, I used home canned "rotel style" and then finished it with a favourite ingredient for chili...the excess hot/sweet syrup that I can separately when making candied jalapenos. Some diced jalapenos + Fresnos also went in & while T said "where's the meat?", he still cleaned his bowl & declared it "good"....and I agreed :)

• Southwestern red beans & brown rice

  • averythingcooks on December 06, 2024

    I used all the vegetables & seasonings listed for the beans but skipped the rice this time for a lighter side dish for pork chops. BUT since I had cooked black beans from the freezer to use, I cooked everything 1st, adding the beans near the end with some chicken stock & a couple of spoonfuls of salsa for moisture to replace the bean cooking liquid. It was pretty good but then T suggested grating cheddar over the pan + a run under the broiler and that made it even better :)

• Toasted quinoa pilaf

  • tmjellicoe on October 29, 2025

    Easy, tasty pilaf. It would be easy to add herbs and other seasonings for variation. My only issue is the portion size; it says serves 4, but that would be very large portions. I think serves 6-8 is more appropriate.

• Oven-crisped potatoes

  • averythingcooks on May 22, 2024

    I've made lots of different "crispy smashies" using mini/baby potatoes but these, made with russets (that I baked early in the day & let cool completely), are now the gold standard for us. I started a bit lighter on the oil for the oven crisping stage, then drizzled more on around 1/2 way - ultimately the right call. We ate these beside grilled steaks & the verdict was clearly "again please".

• Herb-roasted potatoes

  • averythingcooks on July 08, 2021

    I used a tricolour mix of minis and both the fresh rosemary & thyme and the result was a great little pan of potatoes. Of course there are many versions of this out there, but this method worked really well (including a pre-parboil or steam and preheating the dry cast iron pan before adding anything). I also cleaned out the last of some veg (grape tomatoes, sweet onion & yellow pepper) by adding them to the pan midway through the roast. We really enjoyed these.

• Polenta

  • averythingcooks on April 06, 2024

    Including fresh corn & aged cheddar (already favourite add-ins) + adding sauteed onions & fresh garlic has placed this version of cheesy polenta near the top of our "gold standard" list. Clearly a repeat recipe & as usual, 1/3 of the recipe is lots for the 2 of us.

• Ten salad dressings 1: sherry maple

  • averythingcooks on November 15, 2022

    The sherry vinegar & maple syrup work really well here with the Dijon and I borrowed an idea from another dressing we love & added some diced shallot in place of the "optional fresh herb or spice". I scaled it back to 1/3 and we had it over mixed lettuces. 1/4 would have been lots for us but rest of the jar will easily get used this week.

• Ten salad dressings 5: Caesar

  • averythingcooks on June 13, 2022

    As written, this version of Caesar dressing was a little oily (& not creamy enough) for our palates so to counter that, I added 2 spoonfuls of yogurt & a shot of honey. We did like it over romaine with extra parmesan but as I had to doctor it a bit, I would probably just make our current favourite (Bonnie Stern) recipe next time