Notes about Recipes in this book

• Pan-seared chicken breasts

  • ashallen on September 01, 2019

    Excellent recipe - these are the best pan-cooked boneless chicken breasts I've ever made. The flavor reminded me a bit of the excellent bone-in sautéed chicken pieces recipe from Julia Child's The Way to Cook and the meat stayed moist(!). It was good to have the digital thermometer handy to be able to follow the cooking temperature guidance in the recipe - my cooking times at each step ended up being longer than those noted in the recipe. Also, like a lot of recipes for pan-seared meat, there was spatter - I cooked it outside on the grill side burner to take care of that. Leftovers kept well. [Cross-post for Annual Edition/Magazine/Cook's Ill. Cookbook.]

• Beef Stroganoff

  • ashallen on October 12, 2019

    Tender beef morsels in a deliciously creamy sauce - this was great. I did make the effort to track down the bavette/flap meat cut specified as the first choice for the recipe - it was available only from a specialty butcher in my area. On the positive side, the meat was really high-quality and so delicious after the initial searing that I felt bit bad eating it with the creamy sauce which mellowed the beef flavor!! Overall the sauce had good flavor - I did find the tomato paste to be a bit distracting in terms of both flavor and color (made the sauce kind of pink) - I'll try leaving it out/cutting down the quantity next time. [Cross-post for Annual Edition/ Magazine/ Science of Good Cooking/Cook's Ill. Cookbook.]

• Broccoli rabe, sun-dried tomato, and pine nut topping

  • wkhull on February 09, 2023

    This was great as a stand alone vegetable side. I subbed broccolini for broccoli rabe. I also tossed a little goat cheese crumble on top along with the pine nuts. (March/April-page 19)

• Classic bread pudding

  • ashallen on February 24, 2021

    Excellent recipe. Crispy-sugary on top and soft and custardy below. I really liked how it didn't have any of the "eggy" flavor I've sometimes gotten from bread puddings made with whole eggs. Made a half-batch in an 8-inch square Pyrex dish and it needed 5-10 minutes less than the stated baking time for a full-size pudding. I overcooked it a bit (got up to 180F in center) but that didn't seem to harm it at all. Used a homemade challah we love - that probably helped with the deliciousness factor. It's rich and flavorful on its own, so it was great even without the suggested sauce or whipped cream.

• Pecan bread pudding with bourbon and orange

  • ashallen on February 15, 2021

    I love this basic bread pudding recipe. It comes out lightly crispy on top and soft and custardy below. Since it uses only egg yolks, there's no "eggy" flavor as I've sometimes gotten from recipes using whole eggs. I used a homemade challah that we love and I think that boosts the deliciousness factor. Making a half batch in an 8x8-inch Pyrex dish worked well and required the same baking time as a full batch. While the orange and pecan flavors in this version were nice, they were also a bit tannic (maybe it was my pecans?). I like the "rum raisin" version better, but this is a nice option for those who like a less-sweet pudding.

• Rum raisin bread pudding with cinnamon

  • ashallen on January 23, 2021

    Really delicious. Maybe my expectations for bread pudding were too low, but this one launched me into a blissful reverie after eating a chunk warm from the oven. Crispy-sugary on top and soft and custardy below. I really liked how it didn't have any of the "eggy" flavor I've sometimes gotten from bread puddings made with whole eggs. Made a half-batch in an 8-inch square Pyrex dish. Used a homemade challah we love - that probably helped with the deliciousness factor. Rum would have been great but we were out - I subbed cognac and that worked fine. It's pretty rich and sweet on its own, so it was great even without the suggested sauce or whipped cream.

• Ultimate chocolate cupcakes with ganache filling

  • ashallen on October 05, 2021

    Excellent cupcakes!! Super chocolatey - the ganache center takes it over the top and was a nice, bittersweet counterpoint to the sweeter frosting on top. Moist and tender without falling to bits. Between the frosting on top and the ganache center, these are more pastry-like (in a wonderful way) than typical cake-with-frosting. I pulled some frosting from my freezer rather than making the recipe that accompanies the cupcake recipe (which looks very good). There are a few steps more than usual to make this recipe, but they're not difficult. No mixer required. Recipe says to bake until set and "just firm" to touch - the area above the ganache filling was still very soft when these were done baking, but the cake surrounding that area had firmed up.

• Stir-fried Sichuan-style shrimp with zucchini, red bell pepper, and peanuts

  • wkhull on September 03, 2022

    Did not find this particularly spicy; though did not use the broad chili paste. Kind of bland actually. Would recommend serving with rice.

• Ultimate banana bread

  • ashallen on September 15, 2019

    Great banana bread recipe!! Strong banana flavor and a firm but tender texture. With some recipes, the slices are so tender/fragile that they start to fall apart as you cut or butter them - this bread slices just fine. It also uses a lot of bananas - 5-6! I use 20 oz peeled. Starting with frozen bananas (which I often do) is actually a benefit - recipe calls for draining the juice from the thawed bananas and cooking it down to a syrup. Recipe also calls for layering banana slices on top of the bread, but I don't like their texture and replace them with a thick sprinkling of turbinado sugar which bakes into a crunchy crust. I've also found that although loaves baked in the 8.5x4.5-inch loaf pan specified in the recipe are very pretty (nice high center ridge), loaves made in a 9x5-inch loaf pan bake through more evenly - I prefer the latter. Taking them from the oven once the center hits 195F works well. [Cross-post for Annual Edition/Magazine/Cook's Ill. Cookbook.]

• Bread stuffing with fresh herbs

  • ashallen on September 26, 2019

    Excellent stuffing recipe. It cleverly bakes stuffing with turkey/chicken wings nestled on top in order to replicate the flavor/moisture you get from true stuffing baked inside a turkey. Texture was very moist. Flavors were excellent. Now for personal preferences... We're not sure we like it better than our usual, non-turkey wing Cook's Illustrated recipe (circa 1998) without a side-by-side comparison. It does require some extra steps beyond that other recipe and I find it's pretty easy to replicate some baked-in-bird flavors with the 1998 recipe by reserving drippings and rendered fat from roast chicken and subbing them for chicken stock and butter. The moisture from the wings prevented a crunchy crust from forming on top of this stuffing - I missed it! I tried chewing on a couple of the leftover turkey/chicken wings but found them pretty tough. I used them for stock vs. soup/salad as suggested by Cooks. [Cross-post for Annual Edition/Magazine/Cook's Ill. Cookbook.]

• Chewy chai-spice sugar cookies

  • ashallen on January 07, 2022

    This is one of several variations of a basic sugar cookie recipe. The base recipe is wonderful and makes flavorful cookies with an awesomely moist and chewy texture. I assumed the spice flavor in this variation would be more intense, but these definitely tasted like sugar cookies with a bit of spice mixed in and a bit of heat from the ginger and pepper. Overall very nice flavors, though, for a relatively gently flavored cookie. If my spices had been super-fresh, that probably would have bumped them up a notch.