Notes about Recipes in this book

• Baked eggs with bacon and spinach

  • MWFhome on May 15, 2014

    The ingredients and taste make this a 5-star, with a cautionary note about technique. I made the version of this dish that appears on the Smitten Kitchen website. In that version, mutiple servings are baked together in one larger pan with 'wells' for the eggs, which are not protected with a layer of cream. I discovered again the truth that Julia Child teaches in her original Art of French Cooking, Vol I, which is that egg white can get inedibly rubbery if exposed to too much heat. Probably the gentler treatment of the eggs in individual cups covered with cream will prevent this, but be aware of the dangers of overheating egg whites.

• Cabbage and red pepper slaw with sweet-hot almonds

  • hillsboroks on September 10, 2014

    This was our new favorite salad of the summer. The almonds are easy to make ahead but I did cut the cayenne in half to suit our taste. The salad itself is colorful, flavorful and was a hit with everyone who tried it.

  • Yildiz100 on April 06, 2015

    I thought the slaw was good, but not better than my usual slaw. The almond glaze, however was really a stand-out and I plan to make just the almonds in the future as a snack. A note to people like me who don't often work with sugary glazes: the recipe says to bake them until dry, but they never really got dry, so don't wait that long or they will get burned. I finally pulled them out to avoid burning and the glaze hardened as they cooled.