• nomadchowwoman on January 07, 2010

  I've made the buttery leek-basil loaf to raves more times than I can count. Some pretty good soups, too, and for a restaurant cookbook, these recipes are really accessible.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Split pea and apple-smoked bacon soup

  • kbrooks on January 25, 2026

    Basic split pea soup. Kinda boring. Won't repeat.

• Butternut squash and white bean soup

  • djkubica on November 03, 2010

    I made this with bacon and it was great but puree a portion of the soup including the bacon

• Reddened snapper sandwich with guacamole

  • mjes on October 18, 2019

    The recipe calls for Po'Boy rolls with hamburger rolls as a substitute. I prefer the Po'Boy roll solely because it reminds you of the type of sandwich you are actually making -- a Po'Boy. One can't complain the recipe is incomplete as it directs you to make your own (a) achiote paste, (b) bread, (c) mayonnaise, (d) guacamole and serve with cole slaw requiring its own boiled dressing. I took shortcuts on the bread and mayonnaise by purchasing them. The marinade is a bit of a hassle but well worth it. I used red snapper as it was readily available. The resulting sandwich is well balanced. This a a recipe well worth repeating.

• Grilled eggplant sandwich with Fontina and watercress

  • Wende on August 09, 2024

    This is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had/made. It's a bit of work if you make the tomato chutney, but the umami level in this sandwich is off the charts in large part due to the chutney. It's great to make when you are feeding a vegetarian because the non-veg love it just as much if not more

• Italian sausage sandwich

  • kbrooks on September 16, 2024

    Didn't make the sandwich but made the tomato sauce over spaghetti. Nice basic tomato sauce.

• Summer tomato salad

  • kbrooks on May 03, 2026

    You really don't need recipe for this. Nice flavors with the rice vinegar and herbs.

• Grilled halibut with beet-horseradish rémoulade

  • crandall57 on September 02, 2024

    This is an awesome dish. I served it with roasted wax beans. The remoulade is a hit. Will make this again!

• Chicken breast adobo

  • peaceoutdesign on January 03, 2023

    I love the beans that I made to go with this but the chicken was terrible. I think that the vinegar in the marinade gave the breasts a bad texture. The marinade itself as a sauce wasn't that great either.

• Cole slaw

  • mjes on October 18, 2019

    I chose this recipe because it had been so long since I'd had a boiled dressing. This recipe does not disappoint even though it doesn't taste just like Mother's.

• Black beans

  • peaceoutdesign on January 03, 2023

    These are the best black beans that I have made. Would a bit of bacon make them better?

• Guacamole

  • mjes on October 18, 2019

    I rarely use a recipe for guacamole ... the teenager from LA who introduced me to guacamole simply imitated why he remembered his mother doing. But in honor of authentic "diner" (and because my recipe has no tomatoes) I followed this recipe. It's a solid guacamole that fit well on the reddened snapper po'boy.

• Strawberry rhubarb crisp

  • lorloff on May 10, 2021

    Delicious crisp. I made this dish vegan by substituting the butter with ½ a cup Mykonos Creamery cultured vegan butter and ½ a cup of hazelnut oil. I also substituted for the white flour (½ cup amaranth flour and ¾ cup whole wheat flour and ¾ cup roasted quinoa flour). I added ¾ cup pistachio nuts with the almonds when I roasted them and increased the oats to ¾ cup. I also added candied ginger to the strawberry rhubarb fruit mixture. I used Vietnamese cinnamon. Will make again.

• Fish stock

  • lorloff on May 31, 2025

    This is a really great fish stock recipe. I used halibut frame to make this. The long simmer worked perfectly for a delicious flavor

• Chile paste

  • peaceoutdesign on January 03, 2023

    I am not sure about this as of yet because the chicken that it was an ingredient for was awful.