• Eat Your Books

  See Sophistimom's review of this cookbook.

• BellesAZ on April 29, 2010

  This is one of those rare cookbooks that has never disappointed. No matter the recipe, it's fantastic. Of particular note - my favorite Chicken Piccata recipe of all time!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Parmesan risotto

  • jaelsne on June 02, 2015

    I enjoyed the optional version of this recipe, which used asparagus and wild mushrooms. The instructions were very clear, and the result was very tasty.

• Orange, sage, and garlic wet rub for pork tenderloin

  • Jane on June 15, 2011

    A good flavoring for pork tenderloin when you haven't left enough time to do a marinade. I left it on the pork for about 30 mins before I grilled it and it had a good flavor.

• Fluffy buttermilk biscuit topping

  • Lee on April 22, 2015

    Great biscuit topping for pot pies

• Chicken piccata

  • BellesAZ on April 29, 2010

    My favorite piccata recipe of all time!

  • mrwinavl on November 20, 2017

    My favorite too, though spouse prefers a bit less lemon. This recipe is so much better than the one in the ATK Complete Cooking for Two which I won't do again.

• Blackberry jam cake

  • sgump on April 21, 2013

    Note that this recipe is simply for a sponge cake layered with blackberry jam--not a jam cake in the Southern (USA) sense, where the blackberry jam or preserves are mixed in to the spice-laden (with raisins and nuts) buttermilk-and-brown sugar batter (and ultimately frosted with caramel icing).

• Golden Northern cornbread

  • smtucker on December 31, 2010

    ingredient list is incomplete: buttermilk, milk, stone ground corn, flour, baking powder, baking soda, melted butter, sugar. Reduced to 2 tsp sugar. For now, this is "go to" version. Very good, not too dry, and delicious toasted.

• Banana bread

  • milgwimper on July 02, 2014

    I thought these were great. I reduced the sugar around 1/4-1/3 cups

  • Lu1950s on March 09, 2013

    Good, but I like banana bread slightly sweeter so I increased sugar to 1 cup.

  • jkinyon99 on December 04, 2018

    This is one of the best banana bread recipes I've had.

• Devil's food cake

  • milgwimper on July 02, 2014

    The cake is great. It keeps well and is moist. I bloom the chocolate in hot strong coffee, and reduce the sugar.

• Yellow cupcakes with simple chocolate frosting

  • milgwimper on July 02, 2014

    These are great cupcakes made these with butter cream frosting.

  • Moniquelfp on February 20, 2013

    These cupcakes are awesome. A relatively dump and mix recipe - I do use a kitchen-aid mixer for it. The cupcakes, are suited to our taste with not being overly sweet. This makes a very nice balance with the frosting. I have not made the chocolate frosting in the recipe - we tend to use vanilla frosting.

• Rich vanilla buttercream frosting

  • milgwimper on July 02, 2014

    Loved the frosting, but we reduced the sugar. The frosting is very buttery, and will soften scarily in high heat. Delicious. I usually only make this frosting once a year or twice if pressed for family birthdays or special occasions. I have made it multiple times if I know that the baked goods they go on are carried out of the house.

• Braised cauliflower with anchovies, garlic, and white wine

  • okcook on April 09, 2012

    This is a very easy and flavourful side dish.

• Pasta salad with arugula and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette

  • Christine on May 14, 2016

    I used this as more of a template than a precise recipe. I had a bunch of arugula that had mostly gone bad, but enough was salvageable to make a single serving of this salad for lunch. I couldn't really scale the recipe down exactly, so I did the amounts to taste. I omitted the olives since I don't like them and used farfalle pasta since that's what I had on hand. I also used dry sun-dried tomatoes with some plain olive oil since I didn't have the jarred kind. Subbed white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar and garlic powder for fresh garlic in the dressing (raw doesn't really agree with me!)

• Popovers

  • moreace01 on October 13, 2010

    This is one Cook's Illustrated recipe that did not turn out well for me at all. I've made popovers before - this recipe had a very long baking time that I questioned before I started but figured Cook's Illustrated knows what they are doing....not so much. The popovers were hard as a rock.

• Spiced pecans with rum glaze

  • BrendaA on July 28, 2014

    For Glaze, ingreds should have included: rum, dark preferred unsalted butter brown sugar vanilla

  • manond on November 04, 2010

    These are sooo good! We put them in a spinach salad with blue cheese, dried cherries and a balsamic vinaigrette. But they are also very good to eat alone!

  • lesliepolk on May 18, 2011

    Every time I make this for company I get comments... and they totally disappear! delicious.

• Baba ghanoush

  • manond on September 03, 2013

    This is a great baba ghanoush recipe, and an even better way to use up all of the eggplants from the garden right now! The tahini does not overwhelm the dish, and all of the ingredients seem perfectly balanced.

• French toast for challah or sandwich bread

  • Lu1950s on March 09, 2013

    I double the recipe and I use a heavy toasting bread. Yum!

• Basic spice rub for grilled pork

  • Lu1950s on March 09, 2013

    Add salt to this rub. Delicious!

• Meat loaf with brown sugar-ketchup glaze

  • Lu1950s on March 09, 2013

    This is so good, it's my standard meat loaf recipe. I usually omit the bacon to cut down on fat and calories.

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Good meatloaf, although the bacon is completely unnecessary (and even detracts from the flavour)

• Spinach lasagna with mushrooms

  • Happidural on May 09, 2011

    Delish - would be great for vegetarian guests. Takes a while to make, but you can do a decent amount of the prep work in advance. Get more spinach than the recipe calls for.

• Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies

  • lesliepolk on May 18, 2011

    This is my husband's favorite cookie... we add the coconut. It is important to eat within a couple days or they will get too hard, but they are usually gone in 24 hours in my house!

• Beef barley soup with mushrooms

  • adrienneyoung on January 01, 2014

    Pretty good!

• Quiche Lorraine

  • chefmichael on February 01, 2021

    The custard this recipe produces is divine. Silky smooth. Don't add salt to the egg mixture until the moment before you pour it over the ingredients in the shell. Early salting will make the eggs watery and the custard won't be nearly as good.

• Oven-baked brown rice

  • Rella on November 03, 2011

    I made this receipe with Tilda Basmati rice11-3-11 following the receipe. I did not use a pyrex 8x8 with foil as suggested; but, I used a stainless steel high-sided skillet with the bottom measured exactly 9" round. I used the skillet for another reason: the fact that it has a lid that fits, whereas I didn't want to use aluminium foil. The rice in the bottom of the pan IMO stuck no more than rice would have stuck to a pyrex pan. The skillet will have to be soaked and will have to be washed by hand; whereas a pyrex could be soaked and added to the dishwasher. For some reason, I like my method of baking in a skiller with its appropriate cover.

• Eggplant Parmesan

  • Delys77 on March 19, 2015

    Pg. 167 I agree that the baking technique works exceptionally well. the resulting dish had a nice crispy layer and was't oily at all. Also, only dotting the top with sauce allows the top layer to remain crisp and passing extra sauce at the table works quite well. Makes 4 very large dinner portions if you aren't serving too much else, 6 with a side. Delicious and fairly healthy. Took me a good 1.5 hours, maybe a little bit longer so perhaps not weeknight friendly.

  • minerva on July 10, 2013

    Baking the eggplant works well and is much less oily.

• Hearty meat lasagna

  • Delys77 on October 21, 2021

    This was ok but not the best in our books. I think it should be called cheesy meaty lasagna due to the amount of cheese in the dish. There is mozzarella in every layer plus ricotta. Overall it was good but I prefer a lasagna with a béchamel and a bit less cheese.

• Crisp-skin high-roast butterflied chicken with potatoes

  • Delys77 on March 15, 2021

    We also did this one with the mustard garlic butter and it was very good. Had 5 for dinner and i was worried 1 chicken wouldn't be enough so went with 2 chickens and double the compound butter but left the potatoes the same. In my gas oven 500 did over brown the skin, but the chicken was nice and moist inside. The flavour of the butter was nice and the brining did the trick. In my own oven i would go for a slightly lower temp and aim to cook in 45 minutes or so. The potatoes in this were delicious from the chicken fat and the butter. Not the lightest dish, but not too greasy either and a lovely flavour. We would repeat for sure.

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    I made it with the mustard-garlic butter. It was quite good and fairly easy. Worth a repeat.

• Spaghetti with broccoli, garlic, and anchovies

  • Delys77 on May 05, 2015

    Pg. 266 This was nice and simple, but still quite tasty. I used pre cut florets and got about 1 lb into my pan. next time I would try and squeeze in 1.5 lbs into the pan as I didn't have quite enough broccoli. The other flavour components were very nice, with the anchovy taking a mellow background note. I would however up the oil in the final assembly, up the parm, and possibly the chilli flakes a bit. On the whole very wholesome and tasty.

  • lawrencecharcuterie on March 14, 2021

    I think this would also be a good match for whole wheat pasta.

• Marinated goat cheese

  • Delys77 on February 02, 2015

    Pg. 6 This depends quite a bit on the quality of your goat cheese since the marinating is really more of a dressing and doesn't change the actual flavour of the goat cheese. That said, if you have a goat cheese you like this is a pretty and easy little hors d'oeuvres that you can put together very early and pop in the fridge. I would say for my tastes you could up the herbs a touch, as well as possibly use a touch more garlic and salt, but overall very nice. I served on toasted slices of baguette that had been rubbed with a garlic clove.

• Creamy dill cucumber salad

  • Delys77 on May 31, 2021

    I would leave out the sugar. The technique for draining the cucumbers worked very well. Flavour wise this was quite good and much loved by all. I added a bit of non fat greek yogurt and used low fat sour cream to lower the calorie count a bit, and was very good.

  • Christinalego on August 21, 2020

    Really great!

• Classic cobb salad

  • Delys77 on February 04, 2016

    I substituted Serrano for bacon, which I crisped in the toaster oven, and cut the eggs back to 2. Otherwise I followed the recipe and we really enjoyed it. Perfectly balance and super filling. Makes 4 large dinner salads.

• Classic creamy chicken salad

  • Delys77 on October 13, 2015

    Another dead simple recipe that makes very good use of left overs and a well balanced salad.

• Stir-fried asparagus with black bean sauce

  • Delys77 on May 24, 2021

    I liked the idea of the combination of black beans and asparagus and overall this was good. I would say the dish could have more black beans as they get a bit lost in the amount of sauce, which itself could have a touch of a thickening agent as it is too thin. I think a touch more black bean and some cornstarch would make this a real winner.

• Chicken Caesar salad

  • Delys77 on May 27, 2015

    I didn't find the dressing to be punchy enough. For my taste there wasn't enough garlic or worcestershire, and even the lemon was a bit dull. The texture of the dressing resulting from the coddling of the egg was very nice though.

  • trmarvin on July 12, 2019

    I made this just as a salad (no chicken) - it makes a perfect, classic caesar. I thought the whole boil eggs-for-precisely-45-seconds thing would be tricky, but it's not. I also used a food processor.

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Really liked the taste of the dressing, although it is not really week-night simple enough for me,

• Grilled salmon with sesame-soy glaze

  • Delys77 on January 16, 2022

    This was good as written and a nice change from somewhat similar but sweeter teriyaki and miso preparations. Overall a nice dish with a good balance of flavour. Would repeat but will note that my son prefers the sweeter salmon preparations so might be an adults meal.

• Pan-roasted chicken breasts with garlic-sherry sauce

  • Delys77 on March 07, 2023

    This was easy, and still very good with a boneless skinless breast. Go easy on the salt of course as the sauce will reduce. Nice little weeknight dinner.

• Broiled chicken thighs

  • Delys77 on February 19, 2015

    Pg. 326 Process works very well and does yield a nice thigh. My only challenge was that my oven had the thighs 4 inches from the heat source and 12 inches away at the bottom. As a result I cooked for 13 and about 12 minutes. I did not run them under the broiler at 4 inches. I also used the lemon rosemary paste and this added a very nice flavour.

• Beef chili with kidney beans

  • Delys77 on February 03, 2015

    Pg. 443 Chili is one of the few recipes that I usually do without any set technique or recipe. While my approach is very similar to this one, I do think there are a few bits from this recipe that are worth following. Firstly there are the omissions, no veggies other than red pepper, which means the corn that I usually add is out, and yes the result was definitely beefier. A mix of crushed and diced tomato, again a good approach because the sauce seemed smoother. Oregano, chilli flakes, and cayenne, all good additions. No beer, didn't miss it. Add beans with the tomatoes and cook for a full two hours, also made for a more concentrated chili and flavour. Overall a very simple recipe that based on its research yields a better bowl of chill.

  • Delys77 on February 03, 2015

    Pg. 443 Chili is one of the few recipes that I usually do without any set technique or recipe. While my approach is very similar to this one, I do think there are a few bits from this recipe that are worth following. Firstly there are the omissions, no veggies other than red pepper, which means the corn that I usually add is out, and yes the result was definitely beefier. A mix of crushed and diced tomato, again a good approach because the sauce seemed smoother. Oregano, chilli flakes, and cayenne, all good additions. No beer, didn't miss it. Add beans with the tomatoes and cook for a full two hours, also made for a more concentrated chili and flavour. Overall a very simple recipe that based on its research yields a better bowl of chill.

  • mamacrumbcake on June 06, 2016

    If you are someone who goes in for gourmet chili, with unusual flavors, and exotic mixes of chilies and spices, this chili is not for you. This is just a good, solid dependable chili. It tastes like what you would expect chili to taste like. And it tastes very, very good--which is why it is kid friendly and my family loves it.

• Grilled flank steak with spicy parsley sauce

  • lauracerow on July 09, 2014

    Refreshing! If that is a word that ever describes beef. Almost a chimichurra sauce. We really enjoyed it.

• Rustic potato-leek soup with kielbasa

  • UnCulinary on October 14, 2012

    Page 52

• Ham and split pea soup

  • chawkins on October 14, 2013

    This is pretty good. The peas are not pureed, so it is more like a vegetable soup with peas in it rather than the usual green creamy texture.

  • Christinalego on May 14, 2020

    05/20 I did not have ham so I used a small piece of bacon to add a smoky taste. This soup is great. I would def make it again.

• Asparagus, red pepper, and spinach salad with sherry vinegar and goat cheese

  • Analyze on March 09, 2019

    We really liked this recipe both times that I've made it!

• Stir-fried broccoli with spicy black bean sauce

  • ellenklutz on September 23, 2012

    This did not turn out well - tasted too salty. Could be a problem with the black bean sauce or the chicken stock, which I used a boulion cube for.

• Spaghetti alla carbonara

  • Moniquelfp on February 28, 2013

    Excellent and relatively easy. I originally planned to use a Tyler Florence recipe so had purchased (and decided to use) pancetta rather than bacon as this recipe calls for. I was also wary about the raw garlic going into the egg/cheese mixture - so right before adding the wine I added the garlic and sauteed till fragrant. Served with garlic toast and steamed broccoli. Very creamy and flavorful.

• Spaghetti and meatballs

  • Moniquelfp on March 09, 2013

    Very good. The meatballs were pretty delicate so I had to be careful frying them. But the overall dish was tasty. I did use Mild Italian Sausage in place of regular ground pork.

• Classic crème brûlée

  • Moniquelfp on February 27, 2013

    I'm not sure what happened with this recipe. My custards never set up when cooking. I cooked them about 10 minutes longer than the recipe time indicated and even used an instant read thermometer to try to make sure they had risen to the correct temp. The recipe has the oven set to 300 - in looking around the internet to try to see what happened - I noticed many recipes use 325? The taste was totally fine so I decided to just scrape all the 'custards' into a bowl and I will make ice cream out of it today.

  • HalfSmoke on February 11, 2018

    Super rich. The best creme brûlée recipe I’ve found.

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Extremely rich and delicious!

• Steamed broccoli with balsamic-basil vinaigrette

  • minerva on February 16, 2014

    I tried this with rapini, but it was too bitter.

• Sugar snap peas with Asian dressing

  • Rinshin on September 08, 2017

    This was ok but the dressing became quickly diluted and left very little taste. I think more robust dressing perhaps with mustard will work better with blanched sugar peas. To enhance the orange taste more orange segments were also included. Photo added.

• Buttermilk coleslaw with scallions and cilantro

  • Rinshin on December 06, 2019

    Subtle taste unlike sweeter mayo-rich coleslaw. Used a knife to finely slice cabbage instead of using a shredder/grater. Needed more acid and added a small amount of rice wine vinegar. Like the idea of pre-salting the cabbage with salt for an hour to remove excess liquid. Cilantro is out of season in my garden and was not used. I think cilantro would really add to the taste though. Instead of sour cream, Greek yogurt was added along with mayo and buttermilk. Ok coleslaw recipe

• French potato salad

  • IsaSim on September 16, 2014

    Quintupled and made in two batches (2 five pounds bags of potatoes) for 30 persons, delicious. Ate leftovers warmed at 250F, and this was excellent, the fresh herbs tasting almost as good than at first service.

• Spicy Sichuan noodles with pork

  • wodtke on December 13, 2014

    Delicious, and not that difficult if you have basic Asian ingredients in your pantry.

• Crisp-skin high-roast butterflied turkey with sausage dressing

  • lawrencecharcuterie on March 14, 2021

    The best turkey I've ever eaten

• Arugula and roasted pear salad with walnuts and Parmesan cheese

  • lawrencecharcuterie on March 14, 2021

    Subbed goat cheese and pine nuts for the parmesan and walnuts to good success

• Creamy garlic vinaigrette for bitter salad greens

  • lawrencecharcuterie on April 20, 2021

    Perfect! Used with bitter green salad where I also added toasted pine nuts and thinly sliced green apple

• Butternut squash soup

  • lawrencecharcuterie on March 14, 2021

    Microwave the squash to speed up the process

• Broiled salmon with horseradish and crisp potato crust

  • Creative.Juices on January 02, 2022

    Oh. My. Gosh! This recipe is so simple, and SO, SO good!!

• Grilled flank steak rubbed with Latin spices

  • Alowishs on April 28, 2016

    This is amazing. Loved it and will make again.

• Giblet pan gravy

  • Sandiegolemons on December 26, 2017

    This is my favorite Turkey gravy recipe I’ve ever done. I like to make two versions of this and split the base recipe into two pots. One without the added wine and the pan drippings, the other pot with the white wine and the strained pan juices. The plain giblet gravy is stellar on it’s own. Though this recipe does take a few hours, it’s a holiday so you're not really going anywhere. Every half hour it needs some attention, but super easy. A big 4 stars out of 5

• Roast turkey for a crowd

  • Sandiegolemons on December 26, 2017

    We did this as our Christmas Turkey and it turned out fantastic. I was concered about flipping a 15lb bird coming out of a 425 degree oven to put her back in breast side up for the second part of the bake, but worried no longer. I used two silicon gloves and went head over tail and it was a breeze with the gloves. Just washed off the gloves in the sink and no worries. The recipe calls for using a towel, no need. Great easy Turkey and cooking method with nicely browned skin and consistant temps. 4 out 5 stars

• Oven-fried chicken

  • mfsgemini on March 28, 2017

    I used 2 large thighs and 2 large legs and I could have used another extra tablespoon of coating. 4 garlic cloves was plenty. Can't imagine 3 heads of garlic. Very flavorful.

• Buttermilk waffles

  • trmarvin on October 22, 2017

    These are like the Platonic Form of a buttermilk waffle.

• Roasted beets with dill-walnut vinaigrette

  • Dannausc on April 26, 2019

    Good but not memorable

• Stir-fried broccoli

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    Fine; nothing special

• Brussels sprouts braised in cream

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    Quite easy and quite good. I liked it more than I thought I would. The cream and nutmeg gave it an almost coconutty taste.

• Sautéed tender greens with pine nuts and currants

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    Good and easy.

• Fried rice with shrimp, ham, and shiitakes

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    It was okay but not my favorite fried rice by a long shot. I don’t think the oyster sauce was needed. Not worth a repeat.

• Mustard-garlic butter with thyme

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    Fairly easy and good

• Glazed cinnamon rolls

  • Dannausc on December 28, 2019

    I love cardamom in my pastries so I used 1 1/2 T cinnamon and 1 1/2 T cardamom. They turned out really good. Makes a lot of icing.

• Pan-roasted halibut steaks

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    Super easy. Worked fine.

• Anchovy-garlic butter with lemon and parsley

  • Dannausc on February 03, 2019

    Easy and good

• Apple crisp

  • Kestrel on October 23, 2017

    Too much lemon - overpowered the apples. Wouldn't make again - nothing special.

• American potato salad with hard-boiled eggs and sweet pickles

  • cellenly on April 23, 2019

    The red wine vinegar really makes this potato salad stand out. Adds an acid undertone (but not overly strong). Do not measure out all the red wine vinegar and dump but just eyeball the drops of red wine vinegar as you shake it out of the bottle. Eyeballed to point where most potatoes got a splash of red wine vinegar. I could have put more eggs and parsley. Used bread & butter pickles, and as written not super strong or sweet. Just the right amount.

• Fettuccine Alfredo

  • ashallen on November 08, 2019

    A rich and delicious pasta dish. I frequently substitute some milk or half and half for some of the heavy cream to make it a bit lighter. You can vary how thick the sauce comes out by cooking the pasta+sauce for a longer or shorter time over low heat. Some variations we really like are to saute some good ham or prosciutto, diced, in the butter specified in the recipe (cut back on the butter a bit if using fatty prosciutto) first. We remove the crisped ham, proceed with the sauce according to the recipe, and then fold the crisped ham back in at the end. We also like it with cooked fresh or frozen green peas folded in (with or without the ham). [Cross-post for Magazine/Annual Edition.]

• Glazed carrots

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    This is holiday-dinner fare for us.

• Wilted spinach salad with bacon dressing

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Really good. Might be the only way the non-spinach eaters will eat it....

• Pan-seared sesame-crusted tuna steaks

  • Beebopalulu on June 23, 2020

    Perfectly cooked

• Roasted baby carrots with rosemary, thyme, and shallots

  • Beebopalulu on June 09, 2020

    Great texture, but the herbs and shallots get a bit overcooked

• Stir-fried pork, green beans, and red bell pepper with gingery oyster sauce

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Good standard week-night stir-fry recipe.

  • ChefGrumpy on October 13, 2022

    Adding the oil to the ginger and garlic mix and then cooking it at the very end brought the flavors out more than most Chinese recipes. "Standard weeknight stir fry" is accurate but it was flavorful.

• Spiced biscotti

  • Christinalego on February 18, 2021

    The Dough for. this is very short but when you smoosh it together into logs the biscotti bake perfect. They are delicious! You could add nuts or raisins or chocolate chips, too...

• Roast beef tenderloin

  • kikiholiday on November 20, 2020

    Super reliable and always delicious.

• Turkey tetrazzini

  • Acarroll on November 26, 2022

    A lot of work, but worth it. I was worried it would be too dry, and it bordered on it, but was not. The flavors were delicious. I used less turkey than called for, maybe about half. I also burned the breadcrumbs the first time around, so only baked for 10 minutes the 2nd time.

• Sautéed zucchini or summer squash

  • steveshooman on January 18, 2023

    Instructions say not to rinse the salt off (only to dry it off and remove any salt crystals), but this was inedible as written. Perhaps it would be better if you did rinse it. Also found that the amount of zucchini called for in the recipe did not fit neatly into the skillet size indicated, so the zucchini steamed anyway.