Notes about Recipes in this site

• April Bloomfield's deviled eggs (Cook the Book)

  • consortiumlibrary on July 06, 2016

    Straightforward well-seasoned deviled eggs. Successfully subbed basil for chervil and sour cream for creme fraiche. Deviled eggs don't usually require a recipe but, if you want one, this one reliably works. It can also be endlessly modified. I prefer the eggs cooked 9 minutes rather than 10. Finally, double the batch. These eggs go fast.

• Spicy Cuban shrimp soup with noodles

  • consortiumlibrary on June 22, 2017

    Surprisingly easy, wonderfully delicious way to serve shrimp. Fresh citrus juice essential. Used Middle Eastern style vermicelli instead of angel hair (shorter pieces) and used 4 ounces instead of 6. Next time would use 3 ounces; 4 made a noodle dish instead of soup. Used fresh Alaskan spot prawns with dry brine (1 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp baking soda) for 30 minutes. Served shrimp in the shells, but would peel if serving to company.

• Flourless Nutella chocolate torte

  • Jane on March 03, 2013

    This is one of the richest chocolate cakes I have ever made - which is a compliment in my book. Made with ground hazelnuts and Nutella and no flour, it very moist, basically a baked chocolate mousse. A great special occasion dessert and because it is so rich, one cake should serve 16 people, so it's good for a party.

• Poulet's preserved lemon chicken with olives with almond couscous (Cook the Book)

  • Jane on April 25, 2016

    I loved this - with many of my favorite ingredients (preserved lemons, capers, olives, almonds) no wonder. Very easy to pull together, even for a weeknight and results have tons of flavor. Since I have a large jar of preserved lemons I made, this will be a repeat.

  • Maura on February 14, 2013

    I used lemons I preserved (so easy), and used a full cup of water in the recipe. Served with almond / dried apricot couscous. Everyone loved it

  • imaluckyducky on June 01, 2017

    Remarkably easy recipe - the most arduous task is browning the chicken thighs. The sauce is packed with flavor, and goes nicely over the almond couscous in the recipe. Served with Steamed green beans and carrots with charmoula sauce from Kalyn's kitchen for a dynamite dinner.

• Cumin seed roasted cauliflower with salted yogurt, mint, and pomegranate seeds (Cook the Book)

  • Jane on April 18, 2012

    I cook this regularly from Cook This Now and it is one of the most fantastic dishes. Very quick and easy to put together but the flavors and textures are wonderful. I think my record was making it three times in one week.

• Bulgur 'risotto' with roasted asparagus (Meat Lite)

  • Jane on February 06, 2014

    I thought this looked interesting, since I had never cooked bulgur this way. The first problem was that Serious Eats was missing the second half of the recipe, though it was reasonably easy to work out what to do. There was far too much fat on the asparagus - 1 tbl butter and 1 tbl olive oil. The asparagus was swimming in it - I would just dribble some oil on before roasting. The idea of adding Brie at the end was a good one - it definitely amped up the flavor. The "risotto" tasted pretty good, not amazing but it's a decent side dish or vegetarian main course.

• Moroccan chicken with kumquats and prunes (Dinner Tonight)

  • Jane on January 18, 2014

    This was really good. I didn't have prunes so used dried apricots instead, which was rather a lot of orange with butternut squash and kumquats. But very tasty. Nice combo of sharp kumquats, sweet apricots, sweet squash and mildly spiced sauce, heavy with onions. I served it with Date couscous from Epicurious (where this recipe is originally from) which seemed more appropriate than rice.

• Sautéed chicken with olives, capers, and roasted lemons (Dinner Tonight)

  • Jane on March 06, 2015

    I thought this was pretty good though the lemon slices were still rather bitter and I roasted them for 30 minutes rather than 20. I think maybe even longer and with more of a char on them would have reduced the bitterness. But the sauce was good.

  • TrishaCP on March 05, 2015

    This was fine, but not outstanding. I had high hopes that taking the extra step to roast the lemons would add extra flavor beyond what raw lemon slices would add, but I didn't find that to be the case.

• Florentine bars (Cook the Book)

  • Jane on December 26, 2013

    I made these from the recipe in the book which is slightly different than the one on SE. SE says diced orange peel whereas the book recipe calls for candied orange peel which will be a lot less bitter. I made the peel from clementines, following the recipe on p.133. These bars were completely delicious. combining buttery shortbread, caramel and the tart crunch of almonds, dried cherries and dried peel, then drizzled with dark chocolate,

• Broccoli Romanesco (Seriously Italian)

  • Cheri on October 15, 2013

    Steam/sauté and finish by caramelizing in a splash of olive oil. Delicious. Best served simply. Mild and unique taste when very fresh. Nothing like broccoli, more like cauliflower.

  • adrienneyoung on October 15, 2013

    Boring.

• Ultra-creamy spinach and mushroom lasagna

  • Cheri on October 13, 2012

    This is quite good, but don't be fooled, it is ULTRA creamy. I made 1/2 recipe. The lemon in the mushrooms gives a nice contrast flavor with the richness of this dish. A little goes a long way. This browned in my oven at 25 minutes, with no need to broil at the end. I would make this again. Prep time is truly an hour.

• Soft-cooked eggs on cheesy skillet hash

  • Cheri on June 22, 2013

    Easy and quite tasty. I substituted pepper jack for the cheddar cheese, which gave it just the right amount of zip for a weekend breakfast dish.

• Creamy Brussels sprouts and mushroom lasagna

  • Cheri on February 24, 2014

    This is very good. I added about 1-1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken that was hanging out in the fridge. Added it to the mushroom layer. Included a light layer of sliced (torn) fresh mozzarella. Only used three pasta layers. Perfectly done in 30 minutes, as directed. This took about 40 min. to assemble. I'm sure it would freeze nicely. The caramelized, shredded brussel sprouts were really a nice savory note in this dish. I will definitely make this again, it's a great non-tomato alternative. Hearty winter dish. Great reheated.

• Chinese-style steamed eggplant with soy sauce and sesame oil

  • robinorig on August 23, 2012

    Was looking for something to do with my CSA eggplant & saw this. Really simple, delicious. Substituted sriracha for the chili oil, used the cilantro, scallions & toasted black sesame seeds. Added a bit extra sesame oil, a little less sugar & a pinch of salt. Love that there's minimal oil in it, so healthier than the usual Chinese recipe. This ones a keeper.

• Scallion pancakes from 'The Chinese Takeout Cookbook' (Cook the Book)

  • robinorig on March 31, 2013

    Original recipe from her blog: http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/chinese-scallion-pancakes-photo-photo-recipe

  • krobbins426 on November 17, 2013

    Much too fiddly for a weeknight, but very tasty.

• 3-ingredient stovetop macaroni and cheese

  • blumie on March 23, 2017

    So quick and easy — and it scratches that itch if you're craving Kraft. Definitely obey the direction about stirring continuously; I did not, and I lost a bunch of noodles to the bottom of the pan. Not fun to clean. This was satisfying on its own, but I liked it better on day two as a base for something a little fancier: I heated up the leftovers in a cast-iron pan with slices of chorizo, kale, cherry tomatoes, a sprinkling of bread crumbs, and some extra cheese.

  • twoyolks on January 23, 2017

    This was a pretty easy recipe that is definitely better than the boxed macaroni and cheese. It's creamy and cheesy but the flavor is a bit one note. I used a sharp cheddar. I also had to add more water to the pot cooking the pasta as it wasn't cooked when the water evaporated. I found that this improved quite a bit with the addition of hot sauce to add some more flavor and cut the richness a bit.

• Sous-vide chicken breast

  • love2laf on November 29, 2017

    http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast.html for the complete guide to sous vide chicken breast.

• Curry ketchup

  • Breadcrumbs on March 03, 2016

    I was trying to replicate a fabulous but scarcely available curry ketchup served at a local burger spot that regularly are challenged to meet customer demand. I thought the ingredients here would get me close and then I’d play with the seasonings a bit. The great news is that with some tweaking, I discovered a seasoning blend I actually prefer to the restaurant version, that said, I also found that this recipe produced a ketchup that was too sweet for my taste so I’ll add sugar to taste next time and perhaps experiment with other sweeteners. Overall, I was very impressed with the results yielded here and look forward to working with this recipe again.

• Hasselback potato gratin

  • Breadcrumbs on July 12, 2015

    Online Recipe from Serious Eats – This dish rec’d rave reviews on Chowhound so I couldn’t resist giving it a try and it was in fact sensational. What’s not to love? Heavy cream, cheese and potatoes baked until everything is golden brown and caramelized. Not a dish for every day but certainly as a treat when you need a side to impress. Photo here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1016587?commentId=9613718#9613718

• Really good oven-fried Buffalo wings

  • Laura on April 13, 2013

    Made this for dinner last night and we really enjoyed it. We love hot and spicy foods, which is good, because this is SPICY! (And very salty.) It couldn't be simpler -- so much easier than frying wings. It does require that the wings rest with the baking powder/salt in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours, so advance prep is required. Also, the baking time was not quite long enough to produce a nicely browned wing -- needed several more minutes.

  • XXOOL on February 06, 2017

    This technique produced wings with excellent texture however they were WAY too salty. I will make these again but use half the amount of salt. One hour of baking (with flipping as directed) produced light golden brown wings that were juicy and crisp.

• Chickpea salad with feta and mint (Dinner Tonight)

  • Laura on August 07, 2015

    This made a very nice summer salad. I didn't add the feta to the salad, but allowed each person to take as much as they wanted for their portion. In future, I'd increase the tomatoes, but otherwise would keep it the same. Easy to assemble and light and refreshing. I'd make it again.

  • minerva on April 11, 2013

    Used half the feta and more chiles, came out great. I love the effect of frying up the chickpeas a bit.

• Smoky charred cauliflower and potato soup with kale

  • Laura on March 12, 2014

    I followed the directions very closely except that I increased the kale and decreased the potatoes. The soup was extremely spicy, but did not have any flavor at all. Spicy does not equal flavor. I feel like I just wasted a lot of very nice kale and cauliflower. On the other hand, it was quite healthy.

  • alisonkc on November 02, 2014

    I had a similar experience to Laura - this was spicy but there wasn't much flavor underlying it. I wound up adding a bunch of bouillon and a bit of salt to try and bring some kind of flavor to it. I may still make this again, though with less potatoes than called for - possibly omitting them entirely.

• Shrimp ssam

  • Laura on November 29, 2016

    Made this for dinner last night and we really liked it. Nicely spicy and very flavorful. Makes a nice, light meal. I'll definitely make it again.

• Thomas Keller's chicken breasts with tarragon

  • Laura on October 09, 2014

    This is great! Easy, quick, and delicious. I marinated the chicken for about 2 hours. The rub is really tasty and so is the sauce. We both loved it and I'll be making it again very soon. The one change I made is that I did not flatten the chicken breasts, but cooked them as is, so cooked them longer, about 4 minutes per side.

  • HarlanH on October 26, 2014

    I did this sous vide, and it was outstanding. Here's the technique. Mix the paprika, curry powder, and some salt, and coat the chicken breasts. Bag them with 1T oil, cook at 145F for 30 minutes. Remove, reserving the liquid in the bags. Sear one side of the chicken breasts for a few minutes, until browning, then remove. Add the butter, cook the shallot briefly, deglaze with wine, add the reserved cooking liquid, then turn off the heat, add the tarragon, pepper, and salt to taste. Killer.

  • Delys77 on March 14, 2018

    This was good. I personally didn't love the tarragon, but I think I might try it with thyme. Overall quick, easy, and an interesting flavour profile.

  • chawkins on October 07, 2014

    Easy, quick and delicious. The rub on the chicken breasts flavored them and went well with the sauce. I only marinated the chicken with the rub for about an hour, next time I'll leave it on longer.

  • Rinshin on February 21, 2017

    This was ok, but not anything I would repeat again. Did not notice any tarragon flavor or aroma from freshly picked tarragon leaves. It was more of curry aroma than anything else. I prefer chicken pieces with more acidity coming through.

• Charles Phan's lemongrass beef stew (Cook the Book)

  • Laura on February 14, 2014

    A more appropriate name for this recipe would be 'Beef Lemongrass Soup.' There is so much broth relative to the solid ingredients and the broth is not thickened at all. If a stew consistency is desired, then reduce the broth significantly and add a thickener. I followed the directions closely with the exceptions that I added cubed mushrooms and sautéed baby bok choy. Even so, the broth overwhelmed the amount of solids. I will make this again because the broth is very flavorful and redolent of the lemongrass, but with some major changes. I would use beef stew meat instead of short ribs (for economical reasons) and reduce the amount of beef and increase the vegetables. I would eliminate the daikon radish because the cooked version loses its sharpness completely and is just tasteless. I would replace it with turnips. I would also add potatoes and even more mushrooms than I did and the bok choy.

  • Three_Quarters on February 11, 2014

    This has to be one of my favorite recipes. I significantly reduce the amount of beef and increase the veggies (bok choy thrown in a few minutes before serving) but the flavors are rich and comforting, perfect for a cold night.

• Tomato-burrata salad with olives, lemon zest, and basil

  • Laura on September 20, 2014

    This is a wonderful summer salad. Very easy and quick to assemble and pretty too. Lovely bright flavor from the lemon zest and nice briny notes from the olives. Good enough to serve to guests.

• Sautéed Japanese turnips with turnip greens

  • Laura on October 30, 2016

    I found baby turnips with lovely greens at the farmers market which lead to this recipe. This was very good! Quick and simple and attractive. Served it with some baked chicken with a citrus sauce and it made a nice meal. I'd definitely make this again.

• Shrimp Creole (Cook the Book)

  • vickster on May 27, 2013

    Delicious Shrimp Creole . . . 'nuf said!

• Salmon with sorrel and asparagus en papillote (French in a Flash)

  • vickster on May 06, 2018

    I cook both salmon and asparagus frequently, and I was pleased to find this easy, delicious recipe with everything wrapped up in one package. I will definitely make this again.

• Easy pan-roasted pork tenderloin with bourbon-soaked figs

  • vickster on February 11, 2018

    This is a good recipe, but it didn't knock my socks off. It may have been the bourbon flavor. I may try with brandy next time. I did make some changes - I had some nice pork shoulder steaks so used them instead of tenderloin. My favorite thing was using the trick of adding gelatin to the chicken broth. This easily adds a subtle thickness to the sauce.

• Blueberry banana muffins (Sunday Brunch)

  • Elena Rose on July 17, 2013

    recipe is fine, not bad but nothing spectacular

• Mustard-roasted fish

  • Gio on April 07, 2015

    This is word for word an Ina Garten recipe. http://barefootcontessa.com/recipes.aspx?RecipeID=336&S=0

• Crispy baked pasta with mushrooms, sausage, and Parmesan cream sauce

  • DJM on January 23, 2015

    fusilli is good for this recipe.

  • mamacrumbcake on November 05, 2016

    This was delicious comfort food! The rich flavor of sausage, mushrooms, Parmesan, and cream, is enhanced with the wonderful, well-seasoned crunch from the panko. There is a lot of prep work for this recipe and I think I dirtied every dish in the house, so this is not a weeknight meal. Yummy though!

  • StoicLoofah on April 07, 2018

    Delicious. I used a whole pound of rotini, and it came out great. no complaints.

• 30-minute pressure cooker split pea and ham soup

  • DJM on October 20, 2016

    Great split pea soup. The pressure cooker seems to give a much smoother texture

• Pressure cooker beef barley soup

  • DJM on January 05, 2018

    Recipe says 1 hour start to finish. Not true. By the time the browning, peeling, dicing and cooking was done it was 2 hours, 45 minutes before dinner was ready. It took 23 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure so fully loaded. Add salt and pepper to the veg while browning them. The splash of fish sauce at the end upped the flavor.

  • Rinshin on March 07, 2017

    I thought I followed the recipe but I think I made a mistake in barley type. I normally buy bagged barley from a Korean market and use 3:1 ratio of rice to barley to make our rice using an electric rice cooker. This soup turned out light colored and barley losing shape and released too much starch to the soup. I thought I was using the pearl barley but I now believe I am buying barley flakes instead. The taste is ok, but I thought it needed more seasoning and ended up adding more thyme, 1 tsp of soy sauce and accent. I used 1 inch thick bone in Asian style beef ribs. I really like using pressure cooker to make this type of soup - it's very quick and I like to give this a try again with the right kind of barley and using beef stock instead of chicken stock. More beefy taste would be nice.

• Smitten Kitchen's big cluster maple granola (Cook the Book)

  • radishseed on March 30, 2014

    I have made this recipe twice without achieving the promised big clusters. However, it is delightfully crunchy, with a nice balance of sweetness with the other flavors. I got the best results with 40 min. baking time; 45 min. was getting too brown.

• Slow cooker Lebanese red lentil soup

  • radishseed on November 20, 2015

    Made 1/4 recipe to fit in my 2.5 quart slow cooker. I thought the proportion of veggies was too low--next time I would add more onions, carrots, and celery.

• Tilapia fish tacos (Grilling)

  • PennyG on October 24, 2014

    This was very nice and easy. Flavors were good. I would make this again, perhaps trying a different type of fish than tilapia - its texture was softer than what I'm used to with fish tacos.

• Warm cannellini bean and herb salad (Dinner Tonight)

  • PennyG on December 03, 2013

    Oh - this is marvelous! Ate freshly made with dinner Sunday evening. Then, took to work for lunch today (Tuesday) - ate it at room temperature. Amazing both ways. I will make this often!

• Salmon with citrus dressing (Dinner Tonight)

  • PennyG on April 28, 2013

    Now this was fantastic. The dressing complemented the salmon perfectly. I will be making this often!

• Coronation chicken salad (The Secret Ingredient: Curry)

  • PennyG on January 12, 2015

    I made this a day early to take to work for lunch. I don't know if it was the lemon or milk or neither or both (!) but the chicken was mushy and the salad itself was very liquidy. I think this would have been good if eaten freshly made.

• Spaghetti squash with ricotta, sage, and pine nuts (Healthy & Delicious)

  • PennyG on September 08, 2013

    This was delicious! My husband, who isn't always keen to try new vegetable preparations, even remarked that he really enjoyed this. I will make this again!

• DIY Thai coconut curry with shrimp instant noodles

  • PennyG on May 27, 2017

    This was soooooo salty, inedibly so. I was surprised because I made the Chicken and Dill DIY Instant Noodles from this same article and loved it. I need to research which ingredient made it so salty. One would think it was the bouillon base, but I used that in the same quantity for the Chicken and Dill Jar and it wasn't salty at all. The Thai curry paste? The chili garlic sauce? The fish sauce? Not sure. I won't make this one again.

• DIY chicken and dill instant noodles

  • PennyG on April 16, 2017

    Oh this turned out to be sooooo good and wonderful to take for lunch at work! I was a bit skeptical, but it was easy and delicious to heat up at the office. I can't wait to try the other variations.

• Chicken thighs with saffron, lemon, and red potatoes

  • PennyG on January 26, 2016

    This is a strangely written recipe. 4 chicken thighs and 6 red potatoes to feed 4 people? And it doesn't specify what size of red potatoes, but really the quantity of 6 doesn't make sense whether it means the small potatoes or the larger ones - not for a yield of 4 servings. All in all this turned out okay, but I will not save this recipe to make again.

• Spicy chicken quesadillas

  • PennyG on March 08, 2017

    This was delicious! Going into our regular rotation.

• Boeuf en daube Provençal (Cook the Book)

  • ellabee on October 14, 2013

    Pressure cooker recipe. Marinate beef overnight or several hours.

• Home-style tofu with mushrooms, spinach, and fermented black beans

  • ellabee on February 27, 2017

    Made with several changes: Dredged tofu in cornstarch-salt mixture before frying (per a similar Serious Eats recipe); would do again because the contrast of crispy outer crust of tofu and the unctuous sauce and greens is part of the dish's appeal. Used napa cabbage instead of spinach, so stir-fried it following the garlic-bean sauce addition, before adding broth. Removed veg with spider before thickening sauce, re-combined on the plate: rice, bean curd (cut into bite-size cubes), veg, sauce.

• Quick ginger-almond cake

  • ellabee on May 28, 2013

    Requires food processor.

• Mushrooms and tofu with Chinese mustard greens

  • ellabee on March 24, 2015

    Menu: would be nice complement to fiery kung pao chicken.

• Ricotta and black pepper gnudi with sage and brown butter

  • ellabee on December 23, 2016

    See also Food52: https://food52.com/recipes/66380-april-bloomfield-s-ricotta-gnudi

• Eggplant, squash, and cherry tomato hash with baked eggs

  • MMarlean on August 19, 2014

    Added some Korean red pepper powder, 1 tsp. brown sugar, and 1 1/2 T of Tahini. Used fire roasted canned tomatoes because I didn't have cherry tomatoes. Topped with grated Italian blend cheese before baking. Cooking the eggplant in microwave and baking the dish both took longer than recipe said. This turned out yummy - will repeat.

  • rosten on August 04, 2016

    Wow that was good. And pretty quick/easy.

• Bittersweet salad (Cook the Book)

  • KarenS on December 27, 2014

    The orange juice maple syrup sauce with the radicchio is great. I just used shredded radicchio, no other greens. No ricotta because I wanted a lighter salad, though it would be nice for a luncheon salad main.

• Sablé aux olives noires (Bake the Book)

  • fprincess on May 03, 2016

    Very tasty savory olive shortbread cookies. Great with a cocktail or wine for aperitif. Picture here: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/147440-meeting-friendly-snacks-to-bake/?do=findComment&comment=2055314

• Kentucky corpse reviver from peels

  • fprincess on September 26, 2012

    Very pleasant, but I still prefer the gin version. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/22567-lillet/page__st__120__p__1892219#entry1892219

• Dutch courage from Highlands Bar and Grill

  • fprincess on March 22, 2012

    Very nice cocktail. I used tangerines and a cara cara orange. http://egullet.org/p1867844

• The dutchess

  • fprincess on January 11, 2013

    I used Bols genever, canned pineapple juice, and homemade orgeat. It's not bitter at all despite the large amount of Angostura. It feels like it has egg in it because it is creamy and rich, but I think that's just from the orgeat. I don't find the color particularly appealing, but it tastes quite good in a comforting way. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/52996-orgeat/page__st__210__p__1905038#entry1905038

• Bee sting

  • fprincess on October 15, 2012

    It's a simple Bee's Knee variation with reposado tequila and a muddled jalapeño slice, lemon juice and honey syrup. Straighforward but hits the mark. It's fresh with a touch of heat. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143010-mixed-drinks-with-honey/page__p__1894327#entry1894327

• Louanalao (Drink the Book)

  • fprincess on June 27, 2013

    Named after the old name for St Lucia ("Land of Iguanas"), this drink is normally made with Chairman's reserve silver. I did not have it on hand so I used Flor de Cana 4 year white rum. Interesting alliance of Campari with allspice, lime and strawberry. It works quite well. Refreshing, tropical, a little tart, and with intriguing spices. It reminds me of the Jungle Bird which is one of the rare tiki drinks that uses Campari, but it feels more light & subtle. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/125793-the-tiki-drink-discussion-topic/?p=1923525

  • TrishaCP on June 11, 2017

    I agree this was a refreshing cocktail. We had to sub out the allspice dram- we used velvet falernum to get some Caribbean spices in there. This would be very easy drinking for a party.

• The slope (Time for a Drink)

  • fprincess on May 07, 2012

    I was concerned that the apricot may overwhelm the drink. It was quite the opposite. At first this Manhattan variation seemed a little intense with the Punt e Mes and rye dominating the drink. The apricot gave it a nice subtle finish. Picture here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/86148-apricot-brandy-apry-etc/page__st__90__p__1868890#entry1868890

• St. Nick sour (Time for a Drink)

  • fprincess on January 07, 2013

    If orgeat can be used an the sweetener in an Old-Fashioned variation, it also works very well in this Whiskey Sour variation. I used Elijah Craig bourbon and a Cara Cara orange. These are a subtype of Navel oranges. They have a pink color and a delicate flavor with raspberry/grapefruit underdones. They are not very acidic. This cocktail is essentially the same as the Eastern Sour in Beachbum Berry Remixed, but with less juice. It goes down very easily! Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/52996-orgeat/page__st__210__p__1904357#entry1904357

• Dorie Greenspan's double chocolate cupcakes

  • fprincess on May 24, 2012

    The instructions were very detailed. I had to make one substitution - I didn't have buttermilk so I used milk with a little white vinegar. I had a small issue with the melted chocolate re-solidifying very rapidly before being mixed with the other ingredients. So in the end, there were a few little chunks of solid chocolate in the cupcake, but this was actually a nice surprise. The tops of the cupcakes cracked. They are a little difficult to frost because the ganache solidifies quite rapidly. The cake itself was moist and had a great flavor. It was a nice cupcake, but nothing especially memorable. I liked the ganache frosting although it seems more restrained, more refined maybe than most other recipes. Pictures here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/14778-cupcakes-recipes-decorating/page__st__210__p__1878679#entry1878679

• The gin-gin mule (Time for a Drink)

  • fprincess on May 04, 2012

    One of my favorite cocktails. I tried it recently with my first batch of homemade (yeast fermented) ginger beer. The spices in the beer (coriander, fennel, celery) gave a nice little twist to the cocktail. Picture here: http://egullet.org/p1875799

• Easy pan-roasted chicken breasts with bourbon-mustard pan sauce

  • garnercx on January 08, 2017

    You can halve the quantity of whole grain mustard in this one. Also, Southern Comfort makes a great, cheap alternative to single barrel bourbon, which is all I had.

• Totchos (tater tot nachos) with cheese sauce, charred tomato salsa, chorizo, and pickled jalapeños

  • gmvetter on November 13, 2014

    Use soyrizo for vegetarian recipe.

• Roast asparagus with tomato relish from 'Family Table' (Cook the Book)

  • mcvl on April 26, 2014

    Overall a very successful dish. The recipe makes about double the relish that you'll need for four, but the relish will find other uses. I saved time by using one can of tomatoes in place of the fresh. I wish I had doubled the red wine vinegar and leave out the balsamic -- the onion and celery make the relish sweet enough!

• Carrot slaw with cranberries and toasted walnuts (Serious Salads)

  • Aggie92 on December 26, 2017

    Yum! Tasty, light, and easy side dish for Christmas dinner.

• Grilled ratatouille

  • Aggie92 on August 22, 2016

    Holy Cow this was good! I can't wait to eat the leftovers. The only changes I made were to substitute fresh oregano for the marjoram and I added a pound of button mushrooms. I chunked up the vegetable first (except the tomatoes) and then grilled them in a wok-like grill basket. The tomatoes I cooked as directed and they were kind of messy to get off the grill. May just substitute some canned fire-roasted tomatoes next time. Took longer than the stated cooking time since the basket was relatively full and it took a while to drive off the moisture before the veg would brown up. Served at room temperature. This is a great make ahead side dish for a barbecue or a dinner party.

• Memphis-style dry ribs

  • Aggie92 on June 02, 2017

    Excellent dry rub! Takes me back to a vacation long ago when I got to eat a fabulous BBQ dinner at the Rendezvous in downtown Memphis.

• Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup with all the fixings

  • Aggie92 on February 16, 2018

    This is a good slow cooker tortilla soup. The list of ingredients is a bit long and it takes some prep work, but we found it to have a really delicious flavor. I did find that it needed more acid (juice of a lime) and plenty of salt to reach it's full potential. Will definitely make this again as I always have the ingredients for this on hand. I did reduce the stock to 4 cups as some of the reviews on the website said it was too liquidy. I was quite happy with my decision as I like a thicker soup.

  • Rutabaga on December 25, 2017

    Perhaps the best thing about the soup was how easy it was to make it in advance and leave it in the slow cooker to finish - so nice to come home on Christmas Eve and have it ready and waiting for us! I doubled the recipe, but used only about 9-10 cups of stock, not 12. That was enough to fill my slow cooker almost to overflowing! I had to remove several cups of soup in order to shred the chicken, and the extra cups of stock were not missed in the final product. Sautéing ingredients on the stove prior to slow cooking added prep work, but I think the soup was far tastier than many slow cooker soups as a result. It had a satisfying, rich, nuanced flavor, without being too spicy.

• Malted chocolate chip-pecan cookies

  • Aggie92 on December 15, 2017

    Heavens to Betsy these are fabulous! This is easily the best cookie I've made this year. I am in love with these. Now I just need a way to use up the barley malt syrup I bought just to make these gems. Used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. Since I couldn't be bothered to measure out 1 1/4-ounce balls, I used a medium Oxo cookie scoop and reduced the baking time to 12 minutes. This resulted in approximately 55 cookies. I think they are large enough at this size because they are quite rich. High Altitude changes (6200'): reduced sugar by 1/4 cup and reduced baking powder by 1/2 tsp.

• Shallow-poached walleye with white wine-shallot sauce

  • Waderu on June 13, 2016

    Easy, quick, delicious

• Skillet barley with kale and eggs

  • Emily Hope on November 18, 2017

    We liked this quite a bit --a substantial and healthy one-pot vegetarian meal, good for using up some of the endless kale I keep buying from the farmer's market. I ended up having to use whole-grain farro, as the grocery store was out of barley--good, if chewy. I also had to skip the parsley as I didn't have it on hand, though I'm sure it would be better with it.

  • Hannaha100 on November 20, 2017

    I liked this but family didn't, sigh. Had a battle with toddler over kale, which was ultimately won. ?? Took longer than stated to cook barley. Whole thing took me about an hour rather than 30 mins? Used nooch for cheese.

• Pressure cooker caramelized onions

  • Emily Hope on September 28, 2017

    I've made this recipe a couple of times using my Instant Pot, and the end product does not resemble what I think of when I think about caramelized onions. It cooks down to something more like a puree -- fine if you're blending them into something like a soup, not so good as a distinct ingredient. In addition, it takes way longer to cook off the copious amounts of liquid that remains after pressure cooking than the suggested 5 minutes-- at least 15-20 minutes, so in the end I'm not sure how much of a time savings it is, although it's nice that the first part is hands-off. Also, 1/2 tsp seems like way too much baking soda--I'm sensitive to the taste of it and I felt like I could taste it in both the onion puree and in the dish I used them in.

• Make-ahead chickpea salad with cumin and celery

  • MollyB on June 11, 2018

    Lovely, simple chickpea salad. I made it a day ahead for a party, and it turned out very well and everyone liked it. Will definitely make it again.

• Green tomato curry with potatoes and garlic (Dinner Tonight)

  • Vanessa on October 11, 2012

    How can something so simple taste this good? (Especially something that turns out an undistinguished sludge brown.) We served it over quinoa, and we had to make an entire SECOND skillet of it immediately it because we had to have more, right now.

• Roasted moong dal with mustard greens

  • Vanessa on April 08, 2012

    This was GREAT. Toasting the moong dal is brilliant. And a great way to use the overflow of mustard greens from the CSA! Next time I make it, I will double it. (It claims to serve 4-6, but perhaps that would be as part of a meal with several dishes; it served barely served two when we had it with a big dish of stuffed mushrooms.)

• Quick chile verde

  • spammyjae on November 05, 2015

    this looks better: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/chile-verde-with-pork-recipe.html

• Cucumbers in black rice vinegar (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on August 02, 2017

    This was light, refreshing, and very easy to make. I didn't bother with the pre-salting step. I just added salt to taste (less than required by the recipe), the vinegar, and the sesame oil.

• Sweet corn and black raspberry ice cream

  • TrishaCP on September 08, 2017

    This is probably my favorite Jeni's flavor that I have tried to date. I made the black raspberry sauce in advance when raspberries were in season, and they do produce a perfect match with the corn ice cream. The flavor of the ice cream does taste like luscious sweet corn- I did simmer the cobs (since the corn is strained out anyway) to get even more corn flavor. Amazing.

• Blueberry-nectarine crisp

  • TrishaCP on July 29, 2014

    A horribly written recipe that delivered a delicious dessert. The oatmeal, nectarines, and blueberries tasted great together. I didn't have vanilla bean powder, whatever that is, so just used vanilla extract. The recipe didn't specify how to make the oatmeal streusel topping, so I used cold butter, cut up into small pieces and worked it into pea sized pieces and smaller with a pastry blender, until when I gathered the crumbs they would clump together. The oven temp per the recipe didn't work for me at all- the crisp topping wasn't browning- so I cranked it up to 350 after 40 minutes and watched it like a hawk to keep it from burning. (It needed 30 minutes past that time.)

• Coffee cake with espresso glaze and cardamom crumble (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on May 14, 2012

    This is a seriously tasty cake, but I had some issues putting it together. First, the cake is moist and delicious. (As it should be, with all of that butter!) The coffee glaze is tasty but subtle and goes really well with the cardamom crumble. However, I didn't have any luck in getting the crumble to adhere to the cake. I had to assemble the cake after the glaze and crumble had cooled- I don't know if that is why. Anyway, if I made this again, I think I'd add the cardamom directly into the cake batter, rather than on the crumble.

• Olive oil citrus cake (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on February 26, 2017

    This makes a flavorful and dairy-free (thought not egg-free) cake. While a good cake, I'm not sure that it's a repeater for me on two points. While the zest was fragrant, I prefer citrus cakes to be more punchy (I did use the optional lemon oil, but I think I would have preferred lemon juice in the glaze rather than grapefruit, as the grapefruit has a slight acrid aftertaste). And I have other olive oil cakes that I find tastier (I'm thinking of the one with spelt, chocolate, and rosemary from Good to the Grain). Also, the cake is fairly flat- I would use an 8 inch pan if you want it a bit higher.

• Fast and easy pasta with blistered cherry tomato sauce

  • TrishaCP on November 04, 2016

    This was really good with very basic ingredients, including the last few leaves of basil from our garden. The cherry tomato sauce needed to cook slightly longer than indicated for me, but it made a really great sauce. (I would point out that the cherry tomatoes never blistered- and the recipe doesn't call for that to happen either.)

• Aperol, Lillet, and gin cocktail - Unusual Negroni

  • TrishaCP on April 30, 2017

    This was easy drinking and the alcohols play nicely together. I can see why the SE version went heavier on the gin for dryness-even so, it was very sweet without the Campari bitterness in a regular Negroni. A little "too" sweet for my usual taste- having said that, I still drank the whole thing!

• Brown butter rosemary roasted sweet potatoes

  • TrishaCP on December 26, 2017

    We needed a simple side for Christmas Eve dinner, and these were just ok. I didn't notice much difference from using the technique of cooking them in a specified water temp to draw out the sugars. Not bad but not a repeat.

• Creamy whipped Greek yogurt

  • TrishaCP on July 15, 2018

    This is really easy and works great as a simple addition to fruit. I made the version with vanilla.

  • Jojobuch on July 09, 2018

    So simple and so good! Served this with cherry compote and short bread.

• French-style green beans with almonds (Haricots verts amandine)

  • TrishaCP on December 26, 2017

    This was really good. Had these for Christmas Eve dinner- sophisticated enough for a dinner party but easy enough to pull together last minute. My brother-in-law is not a green bean fan, but he ate and enjoyed these.

• The inevitable pork chop with cheddar grits from 'The Meat Hook Meat Book' (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on December 20, 2014

    Just OK. I used my own brine for the pork chops, and they were the best part of the meal. The grits were bland, and the pickled jalapeños didn't jazz them up- they just added a harsh discordant note to the meal.

• Mexican butternut squash soup with ancho chili, crema, and pepitas

  • TrishaCP on January 24, 2016

    I concur that this is a great soup. I only used one ancho chile and that was plenty for a smoky, spicy hit. My soup WAS the color of the picture too, but I didn't see anything wrong with it- just a nice dark orange color. I served with the pepitas- no crema in the house but it would definitely be a nice addition.

  • FJT on October 24, 2016

    Loved it! True, the colour isn't the most appealing (mine was more brown than red), but once I'd made it I kept going back to the pot for another taste and then another. I used 2 ancho chillies and left the seeds in just one of them - great depth of flavour and a little bit of heat. Can't wait for dinner time!

  • Yildiz100 on March 23, 2016

    This just wasn't exciting for me. I think I would have enjoyed just the roasted squash much more. I also found the color sort of unappealing. Mine was more brown and murky than the photo. Maybe because I used the full amount of ancho chili? I don't think I'd make this again, at least not right away as there are so many varieties of butternut squash soup to try.

  • imaluckyducky on November 21, 2014

    5 Stars! Sweet, smoky, savory and one of the most addicting winter squash soups I've had. Ever. I'd bathe in this if it weren't weird (and who wants to peel that much squash?!). My soup came out a tad lighter than pictured,which doesn't bother me at all BUT the color isn't the most appetizing for picky eaters. Used toasted pepitas for a garnish, but also added some toasty garlic bread to dip in the soup and also add more crunch. Froze an icecube of it and reheated it, and there was no change to texture or flavor, so definitely making a larger batch of this next time to freeze.

• Sweet potato pancakes made with leftover mashed sweet potatoes

  • TrishaCP on December 17, 2016

    A nice idea for using up leftover sweet potatoes. Not too sweet, and the spices hit the perfect note. Really good with bacon.

• Creamy garlic chicken spanakopita skillet

  • TrishaCP on March 23, 2017

    This was really, really, good. All of the deliciousness of spanakopita and none of the difficulty. I also used dried dill and would definitely use frozen spinach for ease next time as well. I also used already cooked chicken to good effect.

  • Rutabaga on November 29, 2015

    This recipe takes spanakopita, and turns it into an easy-to-prepare one dish meal. Scrunching the sheets of phyllo over the top of the casserole makes working with the sometimes finicky pastry a breeze, and I was even able to use torn up pieces from an old, rather dried out package of phyllo from the freezer to good effect. The creamy garlic and feta sauce is delicious paired with the chicken and spinach, as as this is a one pot meal, clean up is minimal.

  • MidwesternerTT on April 16, 2016

    Awesome, flavorful. I used thighs, 10 oz frozen spinach, 1 T. dried dill, fat free feta crumbles and transferred to a casserole to bake since my Revere Ware skillet isn't high-temp oven safe. Definitely will be made again, either with phyllo or with puff pastry on top.

• Easy teriyaki-glazed salmon, cucumber, and avocado rice bowls

  • TrishaCP on August 10, 2016

    This is a great recipe- amazing flavor and very fast. I agree with Bloominanglophile that it could use more veg- snowpeas or broccoli would be good. I also would skip the avocado next time- I love avocado, but salmon is already such a fatty fish that I didn't think it was needed.

  • Bloominanglophile on August 06, 2016

    This was the first "bowl" I have ever made--and it was delicious! The whole family enjoyed it, therefore it is going into my favorites/quick dinners file. I did make the homemade teriyaki sauce that he linked to in the recipe, and liked it so much more than purchased bottled sauces. We do want a little more veg next time, so I think I will try adding some snowpeas.

  • Smokeydoke on January 25, 2018

    Loved everything about this, loved the salmon (wild-caught), avocados and the homemade teriyaki sauce. It was a great combination. I served it with brocolli instead of cucumbers. Photo included.

• Sparkling rosé sangria with Aperol and peaches

  • TrishaCP on July 05, 2017

    We served this at our July 4th BBQ, and everyone really liked it. I didn't prefer it to traditional Sangria, but it was a nice, lighter change of pace.

• Chewy malted milk chocolate cookies

  • TrishaCP on September 01, 2016

    I can't believe that I forgot to write about these before-these are amazing. Devoured by my family and now on my Christmas cookie list. Amazingly, no eggs are needed.

  • thekitchenchronicles on October 06, 2013

    Just incredible. So chewy, buttery, chocolatey and plain delicious. This is going to be my go-to cookie.

  • e_ballad on July 02, 2018

    I was less excited by these than the other reviewers. They are very good, but if you want real ‘wow’ factor, give Stella Parks’ version a burl.

• Grilled foil-wrapped potatoes with shallots, lemon, and thyme

  • TrishaCP on June 30, 2018

    These were great. The grilling technique was spot on- and resulted in perfectly tender and delicious smoke permeated potatoes with a light lemon flavor. I subbed dill for thyme and added some fresh garlic cloves to the party as well as the shallots. Will definitely make these again.

• Savory grits with slow-cooked collard greens from 'Afro-Vegan' (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on February 13, 2018

    I thought these collards were excellent, some of the best I've made. They had a nice kick to them, but I would probably leave the seeds in the jalapeño next time. I had frozen and already blanched and chopped collards so just cooked them a little longer in the onion and spice mixture rather than the 10 minute pre-cook in salted water. I liked the technique of making and using cashew cream as a non-dairy alternative to make the grits creamy, but I don't think I blended the cashews sufficiently when making the cashew cream, which made it hard to tell when the grits were done. The grits were really just a foil to the excellent collards though, in my opinion.

• Shredded beef enchiladas with three-chile sauce from 'The Homesick Texan's Family Table' (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on May 09, 2017

    These are quite a project to make (I recommend spreading it out over two days if you can), but they are delicious. The three chile sauce was the best part- I really liked the pasilla chiles here- but to meet our heat preferences I only used one chipotle pepper. The meat was a bit dry and bland on its own, so it's a good idea to season it generously and to add a bit more of the sauce than called for in the recipe.

• Thai herbal salmon salad (Phla pla salmon)

  • TrishaCP on November 24, 2013

    The recipe has an error- it does not provide the amount of fish sauce needed.

• Vegan strawberry shortcake smoothie

  • TrishaCP on March 23, 2018

    I am always on the hunt for smoothies that don't use bananas. This one tasted great-I used ground chia seeds instead of flax seeds out of necessity, but otherwise followed the recipe. I don't have a high-speed blender, and I think you need one to use dates as the sweetener. I added them first to my regular blender, and it just did not grind them as finely as intended. The next time I would probably just use agave sweetener.

• Rachel Allen's brown soda bread (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on January 01, 2018

    This was really easy to pull together, and tasted great. I liked the addition of seeds (I used sesame seeds).

• Henry's cheese spread from 'The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen' (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on July 01, 2013

    A tasty, rich, and pungent spread. (And it is a spread- the consistency is much thicker than dip.) I omitted the beer and used water instead- that was a fine sub since the other flavors are so strong. I used a spicy ketchup and so omitted the hot sauce- but that is a component to really just add to taste anyway. I served with carrots and celery and liked those options as they helped to somewhat lighten the richness of the dip.

• Cherry vanilla almond smoothie

  • TrishaCP on April 06, 2018

    Really good. I did need to add twice as much almond milk to get my regular blender to liquify everything.

• Fresh corn salad with scallions and basil

  • TrishaCP on July 11, 2018

    This is an easy and tasty summer side, especially served with sliced tomatoes.

• Alice Waters' spaghetti with green garlic

  • TrishaCP on June 03, 2016

    A decent enough way to highlight green garlic- the final flavor was quite mild. Given that the recipe notes themselves said it might need more punch, I added two anchovies and liberally doctored the final product with red chile flakes (a milder, smokey kind) and Parmesan.

• Fresh cod in a paper bag with zucchini, tomatoes, and mint

  • TrishaCP on August 15, 2012

    Tasty and a perfect summer weeknight meal. Definitely serve with bread to mop up the delicious sauce!

• Campari flamingo

  • TrishaCP on February 08, 2017

    This was right up my alley, and our friends that came over for the Super Bowl liked it too.

• Tom Haverford cocktail

  • TrishaCP on May 21, 2017

    I really liked this cocktail. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this was light and refreshing and sangria-like.

• Nigel Slater's shrimp with Asian greens

  • TrishaCP on July 22, 2018

    Once the vegetables and aromatics are chopped, this comes together quite easily for a healthy and tasty meal with a bit of rice. I used komatsuna as my green, and it worked well here. I used slightly less fish sauce than specified since I find my current bottle (Red Boat) to be pretty potent.

• Carrot walnut loaf cake

  • TrishaCP on May 20, 2012

    I made these to help use up my CSA carrots. I didn't end up with sufficient batter to fill two 9X5 loaf pans per the recipe- as a result my bread was a bit flat. (I did sub 1/12 cups of whole wheat flour for the AP flour, not sure if that made a difference.) The flavor was good, but I probably wouldn't make this again.

• Robb Walsh's ancho brownies (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on January 08, 2017

    This recipe has a rather daunting amount of chocolate, eggs, and butter. So it obviously tastes delicious! The ancho is the perfect amount to add some intrigue but it isn't spicy at all. We halved this and kept the baking time to 20 minutes. I swapped out half the semisweet chocolate for bittersweet, and used less sugar than called for, and I was happy with that decision. I also used pecans. Finally, I would also note that these are cakey, rather than fudgey, brownies.

• Robb Walsh's fresh field peas (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on January 08, 2017

    I didn't have okra on hand to thicken the broth, but we nonetheless loved this. I halved the recipe and used fresh crowder peas that had been frozen, so the peas took a bit longer to cook to soft, but not much longer (maybe 10 minutes).

• Pickled hakurei turnips

  • TrishaCP on May 27, 2018

    These are really good and easy pickles. I think I liked them the most day of, but they definitely still worked later too. Will make again.

  • Rutabaga on May 12, 2016

    These mild turnips pickle well. They would be a good addition to a Japanese rice bowl, or used as a sandwich or salad topping.

• Cantaloupe & Campari pops (Bake the Book)

  • TrishaCP on August 02, 2017

    I love Campari, and never would have thought of combining it with cantaloupe, but these are great!

• Chinese pepper steak (Stir-fried beef with onions, peppers, and black pepper sauce)

  • TrishaCP on August 28, 2012

    Really tasty, though be careful about how long you let the beef marinate. Mine marinated for about twice the time called for in the recipe while I was preparing other ingredients, and it came out on the salty side.

• Packets of cod with zucchini, tomatoes, and parsley pesto (Dinner Tonight)

  • TrishaCP on July 24, 2016

    Made this with farmer's market cherry tomatoes and zucchini, and it was absolutely amazing. The flavors were light and fresh and perfect for summer. (Next time I would do a separate packet of tomatoes and zucchini because I could have used more vegetables.) This is the same recipe as Fish Without A Doubt, except using the recommended sub of cod for haddock.

  • Frogcake on April 14, 2018

    A delicious, simple recipe with no-brainer cleanup and much healthier than KD. Flagged for my sons to make for themselves while they are away at school. (Mom provides the pesto and then it’s really simple).

• Sweet potato salad with chili-lime dressing (The Crisper Whisperer)

  • TrishaCP on May 21, 2017

    Like Hillsboroks, I have been making this one for several years, and everyone absolutely loves it.

  • chawkins on June 15, 2017

    Great salad, I did not have red bell pepper so I skipped it and it was still good. The red pepper would have added color and texture to the dish.

  • hillsboroks on August 14, 2016

    I have been making this salad from the Epicurious recipe for many years and we never tire of it. Long ago I decided the easiest and tastiest way to prep the sweet potatoes is to bake them at 350F just like a regular baked potato for 45-60 minutes, checking them carefully near the end to make sure they don't overbake and get mushy. When just cooked through I take them out of the oven and let them cool before peeling and chopping into chunks. I prefer to use a mixture of yellow and red sweet potatoes for the extra color. My other deviation from the recipe is that I cut the oil in half and use Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice from the bottle in lieu of other lime juice. This gives the salad an extra punch of lime flavor that you don't get from Persian limes. I think this must be my most requested recipe from friends and family of all times.

• Easy skillet braised chicken with peppers and paprika

  • TrishaCP on August 25, 2012

    This was just ok-surprising for a J. Kenji Lopez-Alt recipe. We cut down the chicken stock to 2 cups, but it was still just way too much liquid for the sauce.

• Roasted beet salad with goat cheese, walnuts and honey Dijon vinaigrette

  • TrishaCP on May 19, 2012

    Really great recipe. I am slowly trying to overcome my suspicion of beets, so used golden in this since they seem less intimidating than the red. (And it's what I had in my CSA basket anyway.) The dressing is really what makes this- that and nice fresh chevre. Definitely will be making this again.

• BLT bucatini (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on April 23, 2016

    This is a great pasta dish. It does require the advance preparation of roasting cherry tomatoes for about 1 1/2 hours (my tomatoes were on the small side and didn't need that much time). It is a step worth taking as it really concentrates the tomato flavor, and if you do it ahead of time, this can be a weekday meal. I used the bucatini and it is the perfect pasta vehicle for picking up all of the flavors. I added extra arugula because I really enjoy it. I would definitely make this again.

• Harissa ravioli (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on April 26, 2018

    We really enjoyed this - the harissa oil is great. I was worried about how salty this potentially could be, but the amounts of olives and feta weren't excessive and they didn't overpower the rest of the ingredients. I subbed cauliflower since it was what I had on hand and it's a suggested sub, but I didn't think it worked well in this dish.

• Chilaquiles rojos (Dinner Tonight)

  • TrishaCP on May 31, 2015

    I thought this was a pretty good rendition of chilaquiles- I didn't use 3 jalapeños because the ones I had were quite hot- I used one instead. However, I would caution if you follow the directions as written it would end up a disaster because the recipe calls for cooking the tortilla chips in the sauce for 5 minutes. That is way too long unless you want the chips to completely disintegrate. As it was, mine were fairly soft even though I only dunked them just before serving. I dressed this with cooked chicken, avocado, and feta (since I didn't have Mexican cheese on hand).

• Kohlrabi remoulade (The Crisper Whisperer)

  • TrishaCP on November 18, 2012

    Delicious way to use kohlrabi. Like a jazzed up coleslaw. I subbed one teaspoon garlic powder for the fresh garlic since I was concerned it would be too strong, and I am glad I made that call.

• Shrimp and grits with arugula (Dinner Tonight)

  • TrishaCP on November 18, 2012

    I really enjoyed this dish, but it is very rich and you don't need much per serving. Also, I would recommend a baby arugula with this one. I had very mature arugula from my CSA, and it was too strong a flavor to stand up to the shrimp.

• Rhubarb cream cheese pie with fresh strawberries (Cook the Book)

  • TrishaCP on September 14, 2013

    A nicely decadent dessert and a good option if you want the classic rhubarb- strawberry combo but don't want to cook your strawberries. A pre-baked pie shell is filled with rhubarb tossed with sugar and cornstarch (I sometimes find the recipes in this book erring a bit on the sweet side, but I thought 1/2 cup here with the 1lb of rhubarb was just enough). The rhubarb is baked in the crust for about 15 minutes-enough to soften it slightly but not enough for it to break down. A lightly sweetened cream cheese-based custard is then added and baked until set. The pie is finished by topping with fresh strawberries- I didn't garnish with powdered sugar as my berries were very sweet. The rhubarb custard base is interesting- the rhubarb pieces stayed intact through baking so you get nice bites of the fruit with the tangy cream cheese - you could actually omit the strawberries and have a decent rhubarb cream cheese pie....but it is really pretty and delicious with the strawberry topping.

• Sour cherry Americano

  • TrishaCP on June 02, 2018

    This was really refreshing and delicious- a good use of just picked cherries from our neighbor's tree. The chocolate mint (a mint variety that smells like chocolate) simple syrup will be great in other cocktails and iced tea.

• Eeyore's requiem from the violet hour

  • TrishaCP on August 12, 2018

    This is amazing. The combination of amaros makes a bitter, boozy, but still drinkable cocktail. (I didn't have Fernet Branca, so used Ferro Kina by our local distiller, Don Ciccio & Figli.)

• Pork chops with 'Magic Dust' (Dinner Tonight)

  • TrishaCP on April 12, 2017

    This was great on pork chops, and likely great in many other applications too.

• Honey-soy glazed salmon with bok choy (Dinner Tonight)

  • TrishaCP on November 19, 2017

    Good for a quick dinner. We subbed Tokyo bekana for the bok choy. Not sure if it was the veggie or the technique, but it was quite chewy (though tasted great).

  • ssdrabek on August 31, 2012

    I should have baked a touch longer, next time try 13 minutes and spread some marinade over the salmon...and TRIPLE the kale, loved it!!

• The food lab's ultra-gooey stovetop mac and cheese

  • mfto on October 09, 2015

    Even if you aren't interested in mac & cheese, be sure to check out Kenji's method for cooking elbow macaroni. You put pasta in pan, cover with 2" cold salted water, bring to a boil, cover with lid and remove pan from heat, wait about 8 mins and drain. It works. I made half recipe last night because my husband is not a fan. This is actually my first attempt at mac & cheese, so my opinion isn't worth much. I thought it wasn't creamy so would use more milk. Very, very salty with all that cheese but what did I expect. Could use more dry mustard and hot sauce to please me. Maybe a mac & cheese fan will try and give an opinion. I won't make it again but will use his pasta cooking method.

• Fried rice with blistered green beans and basil

  • mfto on May 13, 2016

    We loved this recipe in spite of some of my mistakes (not Kenji's) and substitutions. I had 2-day old jasmine rice which I guessed equaled 2 cups. I should have weighed the rice because I really didn't have sufficient for 2 people. Also I felt that my rice was determined to clump so didn't cook as well. But here Is another mistake, I was frightened of cooking on high heat and used med high. You must be brave with this recipe because the green beans did not blister enough. Speaking of green beans, I had good ones but 1/2 lb looked like too many so I removed a few. Wrong. Follow the recipe because they are wonderful. I didn't have fresh chilies so used red pepper flakes. Next time follow the recipe. I didn't have Thai basil and my sweet basil had seen better days but I soldiered on. Do you know how many basil leaves you need to weigh 1 oz? I don't know either because I only had 1/2 oz. But there is one ingredient that is a Must -- lime quarters. Don't try this recipe without limes.

• Shrimp scampi with garlic, red pepper flakes, and herbs

  • mfto on October 21, 2016

    My husband really enjoyed this. True, it was easy but I felt it needed a little more something as far as flavor is concerned. It was hot (spicy) enough for me. I had tarragon from my garden and used the amount recommended. Either the tarragon is beginning to shut down for the winter or my taste buds had shut down. I didn't have parsley or chives but I have never found them to be assertive anyway. Next time I may try dried thyme which is a favorite of mine. The recipe serves 4 but as usual since I am cooking for 2, I used half the shrimp but the whole sauce ingredients. I can't imagine this serving 4 with this amount of sauce. Do follow the directions and toss the cooked pasta with the sauce in the skillet before serving.

  • wodtke on January 25, 2018

    Wait -- "aging vermouth"? I thought vermouth lasted forever! Should have known better!

  • Smokeydoke on January 25, 2018

    I agree with mfto, it was a bit bland, especially topped over pasta. I had some the next day and sopped up the garlic butter with bread, no pasta. Much better. I can't imagine serving four with this amount too. Overall, it was good and a keeper, but it needs some tweaks. Great way to get rid of aging vermouth.

• How to make Japanese curry rice from scratch

  • zorra on March 30, 2014

    Delicious & not difficult at all. So much better than store-bought blocks of curry roux with undesirable ingredients & sky-high sodium. Used tofu, & added eggplant per writer's note & red bell pepper for color.

• Mexican roadside chicken with green onions (Grilling)

  • zorra on April 19, 2016

    First time we've done a whole bird like this on the grill & a success. Used dried chipotle pepper instead of ancho, nice kick of heat. Next time will do just one bunch of onions & maybe add a packet of wood chips to the flame for a smokey flavor.

  • RuthGo on June 16, 2014

    Delicious. I used it on a whole cut-up chicken as opposed to a whole chicken. Very easy sauce to make and definitely follow the directions about putting the chicken on the cool side of the BBQ first. The fat renders over the chicken and keeps it juicy. Sauce is flavorful but not spicy. Heartily recommended.

  • chawkins on June 25, 2017

    Delicious grilled chicken. The wet rub kept it moist and was very flavorful. I doubled the rub recipe since my chicken was close to 6 lbs and used a probe to cook to the recommended internal temperature.

  • minerva on April 14, 2014

    Fantastic grilled chicken.

• No-waste tacos de carnitas with salsa verde

  • zorra on May 05, 2015

    Initially disliked spicing in this dish. Adding cumin made the difference. Liquid yielded much less fat, which was fine, not sure I'd return an entire half-cup to the meat, & it wasn't missed. Easier to brown pork under the broiler in 2 portions before serving. (Having had Pyrex shatter spontaneously before, I used a well-lined metal pan, not glass.) Salsa verde is delicious. Definitely will repeat as a 2-day project.

  • sldoug on July 04, 2016

    I used pork shoulder "country style ribs" and my 3+ pounds didn't fill a 9x13 pan so I used 11x7 instead. Otherwise I followed the recipe. When I first pulled them out, they tasted well-balanced, but by the end I had to add more salt. They were good, but I can't honestly say they were noticeably better than when I've cooked them in a pot of water on the stove top. But at least I can "set and forget" these. I agree with folks that the salsa verde was good though, and I look forward to using the large amount leftover in enchiladas this week.

• Zucchini, pine nut, and golden raisin salad (Dinner Tonight)

  • zorra on August 29, 2014

    Always seeking summer-squash sides that don't demand heavy dairy or tomatoes (overdone at dinner this season). The combination that works wonders with spinach is just okay with zucchini, given generous doses of lemon juice & olive oil.

• Chicken salad with tahini-yogurt dressing

  • zorra on April 02, 2014

    With with surplus roast chicken & green beans on hand, went in search of a dinner salad recipe. This, from Patricia Wells, is a tasty one, a nice alternative to mayo- or vinaigrette-based versions. Easily varied with what's available, too. Will definitely repeat.

• Perfectly grilled lamb rib or loin chops

  • zorra on September 10, 2014

    Worked well, with timing adjustments as our 'state fair' chops were half the recommended thickness.

• Microwave mocha mug cake

  • zorra on January 25, 2016

    So glad super-quick, intensely-chocolate dessert isn't my mug of tea. Happy, too, that I had neither ice cream or whipped cream to top it as suggested. Curiosity satisfied, I can treat it as a science experiment & not be tempted to repeat. Now coconut would be dangerous.

• Quick Indian cabbage salad

  • zorra on February 04, 2018

    Just what I was looking for in a green salad to accompany an Indian meal. Quick, healthy & spared a trip to the store for our usual recipes. I liked the flavors & will repeat this one.

• The best homemade chocolate dip (AKA Magic shell)

  • zorra on July 01, 2016

    Okay, it's not fudge sauce, but it is fun! Added & teaspoon of vanilla at the end. Next time, maybe a spoonful of espresso powder, too.

  • j_h on April 24, 2016

    Use candy/chocolate flavouring oils to add flavours to this

• Pasta with bacon and corn 'pesto' (Dinner Tonight)

  • nicolepellegrini on August 30, 2015

    Great summer pasta dish when fresh corn is at its best. I made this for a party and it was a big hit with everyone. I made the pasta noodles fresh, and added a reconstituted dried ancho chile pepper to the pesto to give it a little extra kick and smoky flavor.

• Chartreuse swizzle (Time for a Drink)

  • debkellie on February 26, 2017

    Cleansing, refreshing before dinner cocktail! Also very yum !

• Pork chops with cherry sauce (Dinner Tonight)

  • Ed on June 21, 2018

    Though flavor good, sauce remains quite runny with recommended 15 minutes boil. Need to double boil time, at least. Serve chops on plate alone, or other foods will get soaked.

• Linguine alle noci (linguine with walnut sauce) [Sunday Supper]

  • Ed on April 02, 2018

    Toasted breadcrumbs before making sauce. Cut hot pepper flakes in half. Use more pasta water for sauce, add to pan after sauce has cooled somewhat (hot oil).

• Sous-vide pork belly buns with pork braise mayonnaise and quick-pickled cucumbers

  • TCuiziniere on July 02, 2017

    So amazingly good, I wished I had a bigger stomach. The pork braise mayo is amazing but it took me more like 45 minutes to get my cooking liquid reduced.

• Sprouted chickpea hummus

  • eliza on January 12, 2016

    This was a miss for me and I won't make it again. The raw sprouts just didn't do it for me, adding a fairly bitter note.

• The best roasted sweet potatoes

  • eliza on December 07, 2017

    For me, this wasn't any better than straightforward roasting of the sweet potatoes so I will go back to that method.

• Butter-basted pan-seared thick-cut steaks

  • eliza on October 10, 2017

    This is an easy and fun way to cook steaks. For me, 10 minutes was enough for medium rare.

  • FJT on July 02, 2017

    My steak-cooking history is not good. I usually either undercook a steak by a lot or char it to death. In fact for years I have abdicated all responsibility for cooking steak to my husband. Determined to get a grip on steaks, I followed Kenji's step-by-step instructions and hey presto, I managed to cook a decent steak that my husband was happy to eat.

• Thai-style grilled chicken (Gai yang)

  • eliza on August 28, 2014

    In this recipe you make a marinade in the food processor, marinade the chicken then grill it. I chose to do it in the oven but otherwise followed the recipe. Worked very well, easy, and flavourful.

  • twoyolks on September 18, 2014

    The marinade did not provide enough salt to the chicken so it was poorly seasoned (there are no instructions to add additional salt). This may vary depending on which brand of fish sauce is used (I used Red Boat). Additionally, the marinade didn't penetrate the chicken well so most of that flavor was lost.

  • chawkins on June 08, 2015

    I did not make the dipping sauce and only marinated the chicken in the rub for close to 2 hours, and it turned out quite well, the chicken was juicy and the skin crispy. The fish sauce and soy sauce seemed to have cooked off, could not quite taste them but the sugar did give the chicken a tinge of sweetness.

• Three-bean chocolate chili (Cook the Book)

  • krobbins426 on February 12, 2013

    Easy to pull together after work, but nothing particularly special. I suppose that is to be expected because cooking for 30 minutes doesn't give a lot of opportunity for the flavors to develop.

• Autumn celeriac (celery root) puree

  • krobbins426 on December 31, 2012

    Delicious alternative to mashed potatoes. My 15 month old begged for more. Came out a bit thinner than I expected, which may be due to the type of apple I used, since I didn't have a granny smith.

• Corn, tomato, and potato curry (Dinner Tonight)

  • krobbins426 on September 06, 2014

    This was delicious! Used yellow mustard seeds in place of black.

• Roasted beet soup with thyme, lemon, and crème fraîche

  • krobbins426 on February 04, 2013

    I used beef broth instead of veggie. Added greek yogurt instead of creme fraiche. Adding a little sherry vinegar to each bowl definitely raised it several notches in flavor.

  • mharriman on January 17, 2018

    A thick and hearty soup. It doesn’t make four servings; it does make three entree servings. The toppings of creme fraiche, fresh thyme leaves, and small diced roasted beets truly enhance the soup. I really liked how easy the soup was to make. Roasting the beets in a cut up state reduced the roasting time and indeed caramelized them. Used my blender instead of hand held blender and that was the easiest way to purée without splattering red goo all over the place. I served this with a French baguette, green salad with tomatoes and carrots and an Alsatian Riesling. Satisfying vegetarian meal on a cold winter night. Recipe errors: 1) lists olive oil ingredients and first instruction in teaspoons, but I think author means tablespoons: “add the remaining two tablespoons...” 2) 1 small leek did did not make a cup. Thankfully, I had a second leek. 3) 5 medium beets didn’t add up to two pounds. 4) 1 lemon makes two or more tablespoons of lemon juice, not one.

• Turkey or chicken n' dumplings

  • krobbins426 on January 18, 2014

    Great use for leftover thanksgiving turkey that was frozen.

• Roasted butternut squash and red onion with tahini and za'atar from 'Jerusalem' (Cook the Book)

  • krobbins426 on January 14, 2013

    Absolutely delicious. Comment on the website seems accurate that you could use this sauce for a variety of winter vegetables, not just butternut squash.

• Eggs baked in avocado

  • krobbins426 on April 30, 2013

    Sounded a little gross, but was actually pretty tasty and the kids loved it. Next time, I need to make sure I hollow out the avocado a bit more before putting the eggs in. We baked as directed, but ultimately ended up putting the broiler on to really get the tops of the eggs done for the kids.

• Roasted okra chips from 'Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking' (Cook the Book)

  • krobbins426 on July 01, 2013

    Used the dehydrator rather than the oven and seasoned with smoked paprika, salt, and garlic powser. They cooked down a lot. But the kids gobbled them right up. They might have lasted about 5 minutes.

• Iced cantaloupe soup with jalapeño and basil (Cook the Book)

  • adrienneyoung on August 24, 2013

    it's entirely about how good your cantaloupe is. Mine was in season, and perfect, so the soup was WONDERFUL. A keeper.

• The Spotted Pig Pimm's cup

  • adrienneyoung on June 16, 2017

    Yum! Worthy. Though I admit to using ginger beer as well as ginger ale.

• Swiss chard braised in shiitake butter

  • adrienneyoung on March 06, 2014

    Keeper! Great midweek goody, and very adaptable. You could add leftover roast chicken for a bit of protein, for example, and call it a skillet supper...

• Balsamic marinated portobello burgers

  • adrienneyoung on November 19, 2012

    ok, but not to be repeated. Leite's "garlicky lemon marinated portobellos" is so infinitely much more addictive. Also, note to self: quit toasting the buns so hard. Owie!

• Herb-roasted turkey breast and stuffing (Thanksgiving for a small crowd)

  • adrienneyoung on November 20, 2017

    Perfectly decent. Just... bland. As roast turkey and plain stuffing are inevitably going to be. Sigh.

• Pressure cooker corn soup

  • apattin on July 20, 2018

    Added crabmeat to make it a complete meal. A LOT of corn flavor

• Sautéed asparagus with chorizo, fried eggs, and smoked paprika allioli

  • peacheater on June 15, 2015

    Delicious! Really great crispy chorizo, perfect asparagus and the sauce is to die for.

• Sweet and sour spare ribs (Dinner Tonight)

  • sir_ken_g on June 03, 2012

    This was excellent. 15 minutes is far too short to simmer thought. 45 was about right.

• Fuchsia Dunlop's cold chicken with a spicy Sichuanese sauce (Liang ban ji) [Cook the Book]

  • sir_ken_g on July 26, 2015

    Very good for a hot day. The amount of chili oil specified would blow most away. I used 1 TBS, not 3-4 and diluted the sauce a bit with home made broth. Then the touch of heat was just fine.

  • hyperbowler on August 02, 2016

    I serve this on endive as an appetizer.

  • rionafaith on July 22, 2017

    Very good flavors! Made with a large boneless skinless chicken breast hanging out in my fridge that had been previously cooked in the IP. I used 3T of homemade chili oil and 1/2t sichuan pepper, which was a good heat level (though could probably increase ever so slightly next time). I served over some raw baby spinach with some cucumbers as a salad, and the whole thing was thrown together in about 5 minutes with stuff I had in the pantry and fridge, making this a total winner for a lazy and hot summer night.

• Buttermilk panna cotta with Moscato apricots

  • Queezle_Sister on July 28, 2014

    his recipe came from the book Plum Gorgeous, and was featured as a "cook the book" serious eats feature. Its an amazing panna cotta with an even more amazing apricot sauce. The Panna Cotta is 50% buttermilk, so a bit lighter than some recipes. But it includes saffron and orange peel - and allows them a 30-minute steep in the hot cream. Then you proceed as usual, except you must sieve it before chilling. You also prepare an apricot syrup for on top - apricots cooked in Moscato wine (very sweet) with cardamom, vanilla bean, and lemon peel. After poaching to soften the apricots, you then cook down the wine/spice mix till it is syrupy. I made a 5X batch to serve to a work party, with everything done in my electric frying pan. Rave reviews, especially the syrup.

• Sweet potato cake with pecan streusel (Cook the Book)

  • Queezle_Sister on August 15, 2014

    Delicious cake, easy to make and it took well to my modifications. My medium sweet potato only yielded 2/3 cup, made up the extra 1/3 cup with mashed bananas. Cut oil in cake in half, subbing in yogurt. Cake required an extra 15 minutes to bake through, but came out moist and delicious. Spice combination out of this world.

• Deborah Madison's spring garden hodgepodge of radishes, leeks, and peas depending... (Cook the Book)

  • Queezle_Sister on April 19, 2013

    I prepared this for dinner last night, and it was both FANTASTIC and EASY. I used a paella pan to bake the ricotta, and panko as the crumbs. I had to use frozen peas and a regular yellow onion, but it was still great. I followed the suggestion about pasta - using bow-tie - and put the pea/pasta mix on top of and next to the ricotta. By doubling the amount of peas and pasta, this was a great main dish for four. Even the teenagers in the house really enjoyed it. Don't skimp on the sage or lemon zest, and be sure to add salt.

• Kimchi stew (Kimchi jigae) [Dinner Tonight]

  • eselque on October 13, 2012

    Used bacon and shallots, Mother-in-Law's kimchi. Used less gochujang and no gochugaru, added a splash of rice vinegar to make up for kimchi liquid. Very spicy--almost too much for G, but just right for me.

  • Krisage on June 17, 2017

    Skipped the pork, adding a dash of liquid smoke and smoked salt as a flavor substitute and coconut oil for grease. Served atop buckwheat instead of rice. Nicely rounded, subtle but complex flavors with a spicy kick. Will be adding this soup to our rotation.

• I dream of greenie

  • bellatavia on June 05, 2016

    This recipe is delicious! Do not be turned off by all of the unusual greens in this concoction. This makes enough syrup for easily a dozen cocktails.

• Susan Feniger's lemon marmalade (Cook the Book)

  • firecooked on May 24, 2014

    Made using a mixture of raw sugar (1 cup) and honey (about a half cup), plus added 4 coins -- quarter sized of ginger. Cooked for almost an hour to get to 218 a 219F, was quite dark, but very tastey! May 2014

• Extra smooth pumpkin pie

  • firecooked on November 28, 2014

    Much better than the typical pie.. Lighter in texture. I used less sugar (7oz instead of 8) and it was still plenty sweet to my taste. Also, it needed to cook much longer, I went 50 or 55 minutes instead of 30-35. Next time I will use 350 convention bake.

• Quick and easy pressure-cooker chicken and black bean stew

  • firecooked on January 14, 2018

    Using Breville pressure cooker. Only cook for 20 minutes. Works fine with all legs.

• Banana oatmeal bread

  • firecooked on January 14, 2018

    Add dark chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup Can make with immersion blender.

• Chile roasted corn pudding

  • Grywhp on January 01, 2013

    Bland and boring. Might benefit from chopped jalepenos and ground black pepper.

• Mexican street corn salad (Esquites)

  • Grywhp on July 15, 2012

    Accidentally made this without mayo and it was awesome!

  • sldoug on August 10, 2015

    Served this along with ribs and watermelon for dinner 8/9/2015. My corn might have been closer to two cups than three and I had some trouble with the corn releasing something that made a sticky burned caramel on the bottom of my pan, but the end result was really tasty. I think a bit more corn might have provided a better balance of flavor, but still, it was really good.

• Extra-crispy bar-style tortilla pizza supreme

  • Grywhp on September 24, 2016

    Makes a very thin and crisp crust - but only if eaten immediately! Crust gets soggy and floppy quickly. Perfect for making for guests after a few cocktails.

  • Rinshin on November 01, 2014

    We liked these and found very easy to make. Very similar to making quesadillas without folding or putting another tortilla on. What I found out from baking 6 of these that you really need to cook them stovetop until crispy on bottom and also have to go easy on sauce or they will soften too much after coming out of the oven.

  • Smokeydoke on December 12, 2016

    Everyone loves these (according to the website) but mine never work. It's too salty and the tortilla never resembles a crust, more a soggy tortilla. But this could be due to user error. Genius idea though, if you can get it to work.

• Smashed potatoes (Grilling)

  • bernalgirl on June 05, 2012

    Delicious, tender, don't skimp on the salt and pepper. Having these prepped in advance on a baking sheet made it easy to grill the whole dinner while visiting with guests.

• Old fashioned latkes

  • bernalgirl on April 01, 2012

    Outstanding! This recipe makes wonderfully crispy-on-the-outside, tender on the inside latkes. We make ours a bit smaller than they suggest, and they still come out great.

• Maple and mustard-glazed salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts

  • bernalgirl on June 04, 2012

    A 15 minute recipe (including heating the oven) without the brussel sprouts.

  • imaluckyducky on November 19, 2017

    Very flavorful meal that is super quick to make. Will do again.

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on December 19, 2017

    Very delicious and very easy.

• Grilled chorizo stuffed poblano peppers

  • bernalgirl on June 05, 2012

    I've made this to the recipe and vegetarian, and really like them both. It's the grilled poblanos that make this dish. For a vegetarian take, sub out the chorizo for a packet of soyrizo lighly sauteed with a chopped onion. Fold in about 1 cup of cooked whole wheat couscous, it improves the texture. Will definitely make this again.

• Barbara Kafka's Chinese chicken in the pot

  • bernalgirl on June 05, 2012

    Lovely comforting dinner. I used thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken thighs so it would come together more quickly, which sacrificed the richness of the broth, but served it with hoisin and sriracha to doctor the broth at the table. You could easily sub napa cabbage or spinach for the snow peas, seems pretty adaptable.

• Michael Natkin's potato and green bean salad with arugula pesto (Cook the Book)

  • bernalgirl on June 10, 2012

    Great recipe, perfect summer BBQ or picnic salad. Flavors develop nicely as it sits.

• Make-ahead steak with hazelnut gremolata and cauliflower

  • HarlanH on June 26, 2016

    An alternative technique that worked well for me was to make some extra hazelnut oil, then toss the cauliflower in some of the oil in a very hot oven-safe saute pan, add S&P, then cover to steam, still on moderately high heat. Don't stir. After about 5 minutes, when you're starting to get a good brown on one side and some smoke, remove the cover and put the pan in the preheated oven for another 10-15 minutes to finish cooking. I suspect the recipe as written doesn't really brown the cauliflower very well. I cooked the steak sous vide with S&P and a bit of the hazelnut oil, then finished it in that same pan used for the cauliflower (removed) for some browning.

• Weeknight turkey "Bolognese"

  • HarlanH on June 25, 2016

    As noted in the Serious Eats comments, cooking the pasta in the sauce is probably not the way to go here -- cook them separately. But the sauce itself is great, if you reduce liquid accordingly. I ended up using just a cup of chicken broth, subbing about a cup and a half of tomato puree for the tomatoes, and it worked very well. The basil is key.

• Perfect pot roast (Cook the Book)

  • FJT on January 29, 2017

    This was very simple and totally delicious! I added some extra veggies to the pot as per one of the comments on the recipe: celery, garlic and a bay leaf. I ended up leaving it in the oven for almost 6 hours and it didn't suffer for the extra time. This is a very forgiving recipe ... great for a cold day when you've got stuff going on and want something to leave in a low oven for 3+ hours.

• Saffron rice with chorizo

  • FJT on April 29, 2017

    This was a quick, easy and tasty weeknight dinner using things I always have in my pantry.

  • SACarlson on August 19, 2015

    Really simple and tasty dinner when you're tired and get home from work late.

• Venezuelan-style arepas with pulled pork (Arepas rumberas)

  • FJT on September 12, 2017

    I just made the pulled pork, not the arepas. I used my pressure cooker to make this in under an hour and I used some pork stock that I had in the freezer rather than chicken stock. Easy, delicious recipe.

• Creamy cole slaw

  • FJT on May 16, 2017

    Good coleslaw recipe. I made it easy and used my food processor to shred the vegetables. Next time I may use yoghurt instead of the mayo - I think the tang of the yoghurt would be a good addition to the dish.

• Spanish-style garlic shrimp (Gambas al ajillo)

  • FJT on June 30, 2017

    My husband said that this was very good (I can't eat shellfish, so I didn't taste it) even though I managed to miss out the step where you use the shells to add more flavour to the oil. Next time I won't peel the shrimp before reading the recipe in detail!

• Pressure cooker American beef stew

  • FJT on November 11, 2016

    Quite a nice stew, but it wasn't a fast weeknight meal (took just over 2 hours from start to finish) and I have better beef stew recipes. Stew is also one of those dishes that is supposed to be frugal, so throwing out the veggies from the first stint of pressure cooking went against the grain with me even though I can see the rationale for it as they were quite mushy. I didn't bring it to pressure again for the second part of the cooking but rather just added the new veggies and left them to simmer on the stovetop. Glad I tried it, but probably won't make it again.

  • chawkins on January 12, 2017

    A tasty stew, a little too soupy for me. As mentioned by previous reviewer, it is a little involved, had to use blender to mix the braising liquid, browned the beef, the braising vegetables and the serving vegetables, all separately. The beef was cooked for 30 minutes, then the braising vegetables and herbs were fished out and discarded before adding the serving veggies and cooked for another 15 minutes. There are other simpler recipes out there that are just as tasty.

  • anya_sf on February 01, 2018

    I also thought it was too soupy. The broth was very flavorful though, although it did need extra salt and pepper at the end. I made it because I'm learning how to use my Instant Pot, and this recipe was quite successful. However, I don't prefer this method to a traditional stove-top (or oven) stew method. I made it a couple of days ahead. The only problem I had was the quick release of pressure. It made a mess because the steam had broth in it. I ended up covering the valve with a kitchen towel to catch the mess. The instruction manual recommends natural release for stews, and I can see why.

• Woodsman-style pasta with mushrooms and bacon (Penne boscaiola)

  • FJT on March 12, 2017

    Very tasty pasta sauce. I'm happy to say there are leftovers for my lunch tomorrow!!

• Broiled salmon with chili-lime mayonnaise

  • FJT on August 15, 2017

    Extremely easy to make and delicious. I only made a fraction of the harissa mayonnaise as the quantity in the recipe makes a lot more than you need for the salmon.

  • StoicLoofah on July 01, 2018

    Delicious. Goes well with roasted asparagus as pictured.

• Easy stir-fried beef with mushrooms and butter

  • FJT on September 14, 2017

    Nice meaty flavours, but this really didn't wow us.

• Classic margarita

  • FJT on April 13, 2017

    First time I've ever made a margarita, because I usually only drink them when we're out. This didn't have enough lime juice for me - I added a good ounce more to make it less about the tequila.

• Ricotta gnocchi with asparagus and prosciutto

  • FJT on April 20, 2017

    This is a very quick weeknight supper if you use a pack of ready-made gnocchi and it's very tasty. Apparently I can get my husband to eat a load of greens if I just add prosciutto, cream and cheese ... he loved it and wants to know when I'm making it again! Note: the photo shown here isn't for this recipe - it's from the recipe to make the gnocchi from scratch with a different sauce.

• Bucatini all'Amatriciana

  • FJT on March 26, 2016

    This was very tasty made with pancetta. A quick supper.

• Spanish egg and potato omelette (Tortilla Española)

  • FJT on June 08, 2017

    Not sure my tortilla-flipping technique is very pretty, but nothing landed on the floor so I count that as a win. This made a tasty tortilla and, as I obviously need some practice, I'll be making this again soon!

• Dried-blueberry muffins

  • ssdrabek on September 02, 2012

    I made it as a bread instead of muffins...my kids really liked it, but I thought it lacked flavor, will make again for kids for sure!

• Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies

  • ssdrabek on August 19, 2012

    Maybe it was just me....but these did not turn out that great...there has to be others out there that are better....

• Empellón chef Alex Stupak's homemade green chorizo tacos with kale and potatoes (Cook the Book)

  • wcassity on July 26, 2015

    Very delicious. Followed the recipe exactly, except served it with whole wheat flour tortillas. Whole family loved them, and the leftovers were great.

• Grated carrot and mint salad with honey lemon vinaigrette

  • michalow on June 02, 2012

    Changed proportions to approximately 1 Tbs olive oil, 3 Tbs lemon juice, 1 tsp honey. Added some parsley and cayenne. Very good result.

• Date, tahini, and cardamom smoothie

  • michalow on July 19, 2017

    I used about a tablespoon of tahini and two small dates -- I think the full amount of either would have been too intense/sweet for my taste. Came out cold, creamy, and subtly flavored, with no one flavor dominating. Very satisfying.

  • bching on July 15, 2015

    Meh. Good enough to drink as opposed to running down the sink, but not good enough to make again. I didn't think the banana and tahini worked well together.

• Maple-banana baked oatmeal

  • michalow on December 05, 2017

    Major modifications, came out well: Two sliced pears on bottom of dish, in generous portion of the recipe's allotted melted butter. Topped with oat/walnut mix, to which I'd added 1/2 tsp of baking powder. Reduced maple syrup just a bit and added 1/4 cup of applesauce to wet ingredients. Poured this over the oats and scattered some frozen marionberries on top instead of brown sugar. Baking time was pretty accurate and this came out with just the right sweetness for my taste.

• Fall harvest salad with roasted brassicas, fingerlings, and radishes

  • michalow on July 02, 2017

    This salad is a lot of work, but so delicious and satisfying. A great blend of flavors and textures. I skipped the sunchokes and next time I would include the fresh radishes but not bother with the roasted ones.

• Skillet salmon with quinoa, feta and arugula

  • nwaterman967 on June 08, 2016

    Very good and pretty easy too. I had Mizuna from CSA so I used it in place of the Arugula. Tasty.

• Oyakodon

  • Delys77 on March 09, 2017

    I did a 2.5 batch to feed 4. I was a bit worried about the dashi as I don't like bonito so I went with 75% dash and 25% chicken stock. That said the dash smelled lovely so I would likely just go with straight dashi next time. I cut back on the sugar a bit and this was good for us. Might add a touch more soy next time. Very easy for a weeknight.

• Herb-filled turkey burgers with cheddar cheese

  • Delys77 on May 17, 2018

    These were quite good. I would suggest seasoning the actual meat mixture and you could go with even more herbs. Also I would consider serving with tzatziki. I didn't bother with the sauteed shallot.

• Easy pressure cooker chicken and chickpea masala

  • Delys77 on January 09, 2018

    Not so much on this one. I found the sauce was under seasoned and didn't have the richness one expects from this type of dish.

  • CtrlAltDeviant on February 26, 2017

    This is delicious served over jasmine coconut rice (such as: http://www.marthastewart.com/349709/coconut-rice).

• Pressure cooker mushroom risotto

  • Delys77 on June 01, 2017

    Quite good but the mushrooms take much longer that stated

• Apple-rhubarb (and cardamom) ice cream

  • florador on June 24, 2015

    Just the "sauce" makes a delicious "apple sauce"! I used a food mill, with the coarsest sieve, to pulverize the cooked sauce -- thus I didn't have to peel the apples! I also used some old Delicious apples (rather than the tart apples, called for). I've not made the ice cream yet, but will use half n half for it. When making the ice cream, since our gelato maker just makes 3 cups, I'll cut the ice cream ingredients to .75 (2 cups sauce, 1 cup cream). I used 3 large stalks of rhubarb.

• Carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting

  • RuthGo on October 30, 2012

    I used 2cups cake flour instead of the all purpose and omitted the orange zest. Tastes delicious!

• Blueberry overload coffee cake

  • RuthGo on June 16, 2014

    This has become my go to blueberry cake recipe. It's lovely for brunch or just to have around for a quick breakfast or snack. I always go with walnuts for the crumb topping just as a personal choice.

• Turnip, apple, and Jerusalem artichoke soup

  • hyperbowler on December 13, 2016

    Very austere and an unpleasant texture, not the best use of sunchokes. To redeem the flavor of the finished product, I added lemon juice to give it some life, some smoked salt, which brought out the apple, and toasted pine nuts.

• Braised escarole with white beans (Cook the Book)

  • hyperbowler on December 14, 2016

    Greasy. Escarole needs to be chopped to bite sized pieces. Needs to be topped with Parmesan, breadcrumbs, maybe something acidic.

  • PinchOfSalt on June 29, 2015

    This turned out bland, despite a generous amount of salt. Some freshly grated parmesan or grana, added just before serving, might improve it. One might also try adding some red pepper flakes to the oil after the garlic is fragrant and just before adding the escarole.

• Fresh tomato soup with roasted corn guacamole (Dinner Tonight)

  • hyperbowler on October 20, 2016

    Fantastic. Roasted corn guacamole adds another dimension, but the soup is great even without it.

• Quick and easy dairy and fat-free Colombian vegetable soup (Ajiaco negro)

  • hyperbowler on October 20, 2016

    Frozen favas make a great soup, but fresh ones elevate this to another level.

• Medicine man

  • darcie_b on June 12, 2017

    Very interesting drink. Beware the strength of your smoked paprika and start with half of the suggested amount, adding more to suit your taste.

• Better than Chipotle's beef barbacoa

  • darcie_b on June 10, 2017

    I didn't have oxtails so used some short ribs instead. I converted the recipe to work in a pressure cooker by reducing liquid. Loved the results - texture and flavor were excellent.

• Crisp-skinned butterflied roast turkey with gravy

  • darcie_b on November 24, 2016

    I dry brined (without the baking powder) for one day and used convection roast at 425 degrees. The turkey took about 1.5 hours and it was cooked perfectly. We picked the carcass clean. I used the neck and back to augment some store-bought stock to make the gravy, and poured half the drippings from the fully roasted turkey into the gravy and half into a pan of dressing I made to accompany it. I rotated the turkey every 20 minutes or so, and covered the breast for part of the time. Next time I'll wait a bit longer to cover the breast because it took a little longer than I would have liked to get brown. A good pair of kitchen shears or a cleaver is needed to remove the backbone.

  • Zosia on December 27, 2017

    Family has requested that I roast the turkey this way all of the time. I tried the cooking method once before with good results but this time I dry-brined the turkey first; both flavour and texture were fantastic. I skipped the gravy but would like to give it a try.

  • sldoug on November 28, 2015

    I followed this recipe after dry brining for 2.5 days with a tablespoon of kosher salt per five pounds. I roasted as recommended until the breast hit 150 degrees but although it was flavorful, I still felt it was a bit dry. I made stock from the back and neck as suggested and then used it for the gravy, but instead of all butter I rendered half the fat for the roux from the extra neck skin and I eyeball everything else (amount of flour, amount of broth, how long to cook it). The gravy was excellent. I think I'll continue to use this method for roasting my turkey (although I should remember that cutting out the backbone with kitchen shears is not an easy job...especially if I try to cut through the thigh bone!) but I will also continue to tweak it.

• Cantaloupe gazpacho with crispy prosciutto

  • darcie_b on July 30, 2017

    Delicious. I substitute bacon for the prosciutto but the soup would fine without either if you wanted it vegan. If your onions are sharp, cut back and taste before adding the whole amount.

• Warm sausage and lentil salad (Dinner Tonight)

  • bwehner on October 14, 2012

    Added some sherry vinegar and sun dried tomatoes. Delicious!

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 07, 2014

    Didn't love this. Felt the whole thing was a bit bland- needed a little brightening up.

• Potato and kale frittata (Dinner Tonight)

  • bwehner on June 08, 2014

    Delicious base recipe. Add meat (eg sausage, salami, prosciutto) and/or cheese (eg crumbled feta, chèvre, Parmesan) as desired

• Brined pork roast with red cabbage and semmelknödel (Sunday Supper)

  • bwehner on October 27, 2012

    Delicious dumplings. Don't over brine.

• Beet and lentil salad with feta and fried eggs

  • bwehner on November 09, 2013

    Could add toasted walnuts or other nut

• One-skillet crispy salmon with mustardy lentils

  • bwehner on November 11, 2016

    Soooooo good, sooooooooo easy!

• Runny egg yolk ravioli (Uovo in raviolo)

  • bwehner on September 05, 2016

    delicious & not difficult if you follow the directions exactly

• Irish apple cake (Cook the Book)

  • twoyolks on March 23, 2013

    The crust was good. The apples did not cook fully. The cloves give the apples an odd flavor.

• Fleisher's secret chicken rub (Cook the Book)

  • twoyolks on July 20, 2014

    This works really well on a grill smoked chicken.

• Sous-vide glazed carrots

  • twoyolks on November 29, 2016

    This recipe highlights the flavor of the carrots without making them overly buttery or sweet. However, the carrots are cooked to al dente. I'd probably cook them at 190F instead of 183F in the future to make them fully tender.

• Halal cart-style chicken and rice with white sauce 

  • twoyolks on July 26, 2016

    The chicken is very flavorful. The rice is a bit bland. The sauce compliments the chicken well.

• Japanese-style barbecue sauce (Tonkatsu sauce)

  • twoyolks on August 28, 2016

    This dipping sauce starts as a bit too sweet with not enough flavor, but the more I used it, the more I liked it. It ended up going pretty nicely with chicken katsu.

• Turkey paitan ramen with crispy turkey and soft cooked egg

  • twoyolks on November 29, 2016

    I made this in a pressure cooker instead of a stock pot. I cooked it at high pressure for 3 hours. I would cut back on the amount of miso (I used white miso) as it blew out all the other flavors in the stock and the msg saltiness was too strong. I also didn't cook additional turkey in the stock but used leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. Overall, it was a good bowl of ramen and a good way to use leftovers from Thanksgiving.

• Easy pressure cooker green chile with chicken

  • twoyolks on September 24, 2015

    This was very good and very easy. Instead of serving it with tortillas, we had it over rice which worked very well. The counts of the vegetables didn't match the weights for me, but that may depend on the size of the vegetables.

  • bitsyfaure on July 02, 2016

    This is incredible! I, too, used Jalapenos for serrano, and then a mix of pasilla, poblano, and/or anaheims. I have also done this with pork shoulder--just chop into big enough chunks to easily fish out. I will do a a batch of pressure cooker black beans, and serve both on rice with avocado, cheese, green onion, sour cream condiments. Left overs are great for breakfast with a fried egg.

  • rionafaith on January 10, 2018

    Delicious and fresh-tasting with almost no work. I did all the chopping and other prep the night before, dumped all the ingredients in the instant pot liner and stored covered in the fridge overnight so when I got home from work literally all I had to do was press a few buttons. (I chopped the cilantro and sauteed some cauliflower rice to go with while it was cooking.) I was worried this would be very spicy due to the large amount of peppers but it wasn't at all -- I couldn't find Anaheim or Cubanelle peppers so I substituted "long hot peppers" at my grocery store and went easy on them not knowing the heat level. Next time I'll use boneless thighs to make the shredding even easier.

• Barbecue smoked beef chuck

  • twoyolks on July 19, 2018

    This is a really nice way to prepare beef chuck. It's much more forgiving than brisket and much easier to make it juicy. I used about half the size piece of meat and it cooked for a significantly shorter time. The amount of pepper called for in the rub is extreme and should be significantly reduced. Leftovers worked really well in tacos.

• Chicken and egg rice bowl (Oyakodon) from 'Japanese Soul Cooking' (Cook the Book)

  • twoyolks on July 26, 2016

    A nice simple rice bowl. Not enough liquid cooked off for my eggs to actually set so it was much less an omelet than just stir fried eggs.

• Vegan stovetop-style macaroni and cheese

  • twoyolks on December 07, 2017

    This was popular with the vegans who ate it. It somewhat has the texture and color of macaroni and cheese but it doesn't really taste like macaroni and cheese. It doesn't taste bad, just quite a bit different.

• Whole spicy smoked roast chicken from 'Pitt Cue Co.: The Cookbook' (Cook the Book)

  • twoyolks on July 28, 2015

    I didn't use chipotle paste. I soaked 4 dried chiles and then pureed them. Basically, the chile flavor dominates all other flavors from the chicken. Additionally, there really wasn't enough salt to season the chicken thoroughly.

• American chop suey (Macaroni, beef, and cheese skillet casserole)

  • twoyolks on January 18, 2016

    This was nice and cheesy but the sauce fell a bit flat. I also think that the cheese chunks were too big so some of them were a bit chilly when we got to eat them.

• 30-minute pressure cooker pho ga (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup)

  • twoyolks on March 12, 2015

    This actually takes closer to 45 minutes but is still quite a lot of flavor in a very quick period of time. Instead of serving whole chicken drumsticks, I removed the meat from the bones which was very easy. The broth became much better with additional fish sauce, sugar, hoisin sauce, and Srircha.

• Mulligatawny soup (Classic Cookbooks)

  • meggan on November 09, 2012

    This was not as good as other mulligatawnys I have made. It was too thick and the chickpea flour gave it a weird consistency.

• Five-spice fried calamari with sesame and lime

  • meggan on September 27, 2017

    Yuck - I am a bad fryer so I may have done something wrong. The flavor coating was good but did not stay on. The calamari ended up overcooked and wet and soggy instead of crispy.

• Broccoli cheese soup

  • meggan on February 13, 2017

    Creamy, cheesy - just what we were looking for on a blizzard day.

  • PinchOfSalt on March 20, 2017

    used 1 1/4 teaspoons of sodium citrate added to the soup base instead of potato. The sodium citrate was dissolved in the soup base before the cheese was added. It worked like a charm. Also, I roasted the broccoli on a baking sheet instead of searing it on the stove. That may not have been an improvement. Overall the soup was good but not amazing. It did not seem very cheesy to me.

• Fingerling potato salad with chorizo, onion, and arugula

  • meggan on June 25, 2018

    Really good - I used tricolor potatoes which made it visually appealing. I don't know if all the herbs in the boiling water were necessary (but the salt is!). My chorizo was a little too hard - I will seek out a softer brand next time.

• Green tapenade pasta salad (French in a Flash)

  • hirsheys on January 06, 2018

    Meh. Nothing special. I prefer the pasta salad with olivada from Bon Appetit 2010.

• Jim Lahey's no knead pizza dough (Cook the Book)

  • hirsheys on April 29, 2018

    Works well - it's sticky, though. Be careful to use floured hands and handle gently, so that you don't break through to the sticky inside part too much. When you shape the pizzas, shape directly onto parchment and lean into the stickiness (sort of use it to tack the edges out). Then slide the parchment onto the stone when you cook the pizza, then slide back out using long handled tongs.

• Moist and tender brown butter cornbread

  • hirsheys on January 06, 2018

    Very delicious.

• The best Yorkshire puddings

  • hirsheys on November 23, 2017

    Lizzy made these tonight for Thanksgiving,. They came out great - perfect with gravy. (Note: the oil smokes in the pan as you heat them up and smells bad, but don't worry about it.)

  • Rinshin on February 19, 2016

    I made this as a part of my Christmas meal. Followed the recipe which took much longer to prep than my favorite Mile High Popovers from The Bread Bible. I rested the mixture overnight as suggested. I don't know what happened, but my popovers stuck to the pan and did not care too much for the taste or the texture of these. It was noticeably more chewier? I'll stick to the Bread Bible recipe.

  • bching on February 19, 2016

    Like Rinshin, I made these for Christmas dinner, followed the directions carefully, and had acceptable, but not spectacular, results.

• Buttermilk vanilla waffles

  • hirsheys on September 23, 2017

    These were very tasty, but stuck badly. I don't have an iron that allows for medium heat, so that might have been part of it. (Going to try these again with my sister's nicer waffle iron. Also, I couldn't taste the vanilla bean much, so wouldn't bother with it next time. Still, good taste and easy as pie, so I will persevere with this one.

• Fresh cherry pie filling

  • hirsheys on June 17, 2018

    This didn't go great for me. The filling was fine, but the crust got completely over done, even covered with a pie shield. I will try a different version in the future. For more: https://www.chowhound.com/post/baking-days-june-2018-edition-1072945?commentId=10113914

  • rosten on July 05, 2017

    Worked fantastic with bing (sweet, red) cherries. Toasted the sugar to dampen the sweetness (as recommended in the recipe/article) and it worked like a charm. Will definitely make again.

  • anya_sf on May 29, 2017

    I made this filling with a mixture of sweet red and yellow cherries. I used Ina Garten's crust recipe, following the rolling, filling, and baking instructions from this recipe. I did not need to cover the crust to avoid overbrowning. The filling boiled over quite a bit (lattice top crust), so be sure you put the pie on a baking sheet. It was done in 1 hr 15 min as stated. The sweetness level was just right, and the filling was not too runny. I would definitely use this recipe. I think it was worth seeking out the tapioca starch. I used a 9.5" deep dish pie plate because that's what I have, but it wasn't very full; a regular 9" pie plate would be sufficient.

• Beef tamale pie with cornmeal crust

  • hirsheys on August 06, 2017

    This is a nice alternative from my usual chili and relatively straightforward. I found the cornbread a little out of proportion to the chili - actually too much cornbread, though I expected the opposite when I put it in the oven. I only used one can of beans and I think two would have been too much. I also think that next time I will add more sweetness to the cornbread - I like it sweeter and also think the contrast will work well. I'm not sure the cheese in cornbread is necessary, but may add corn to it, instead.

• Chocolate angel food cake

  • hirsheys on April 09, 2017

    I'm looking for a less intensely chocolate-y cake, but this was certainly a good rendition.

• Hoosier Mama's cranberry chess pie (Bake the Book)

  • hirsheys on November 23, 2017

    I wanted to try this pie forever and was thrilled that it was so delicious. The crust in the bottom wasn't well-cooked, either because I used a ceramic pie dish rather than the metal called for (don't have metal), or because I used a deep dish one (I really don't think the filling would have fit in a normal one.). Next time, I'd either blind bake the crust a little or bake the pie longer (after covering the crust and top a bit, so that it doesn't get too overdone.

• Marian Burros' macaroni and cheese (Sunday Brunch)

  • spharo00 on January 25, 2013

    I left the onion out of this recipe and used elbow macaroni in place of the cavatappi pasta. I liked that this macaroni and cheese had hot sauce in it - it gave it a bit of a kick. Overall, the dish was just to greasy for me and not nearly as cheesy as I would have liked.

• Barbecue chicken (Dinner Tonight)

  • spharo00 on April 01, 2012

    This barbecue sauce is delicious! I put it on chicken drumsticks and thighs during the last 10 minutes of baking and they came out sticky, spicy, and sweet. It made much more than I needed so I'll have plenty to use this week on other things. My family prefers this with a little less spice, but I like it just as is. When I make it for them, I cut the chile powder by half.

• Lentil soup (Cook the Book)

  • spharo00 on March 11, 2013

    This recipe took a great deal of time to make and the end result was unappealing at best. The soup is a muddy brown color (to be expected of lentil soup), but the taste was also bland and the texture sandy/grainy. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it was definitely not a great soup. More of a mush really.

• Breakfast garlic toast

  • spharo00 on April 26, 2012

    The garlic in the toast was very overpowering, and even after cooking it still had a raw bite to it that was hard to overlook.

• The old Cuban (Time for a Drink)

  • Bloominanglophile on October 26, 2015

    Made this instead of our usual Mimosas for my husband's birthday breakfast in bed (the breakfast was Cuban-themed). Really nice, and I used the Mojito mint I had growing in the garden (I encourage everyone to try growing this variety--really makes a difference). I only used 1/2 oz. simple syrup, and found the cocktail to be plenty sweet. I also used a regular wine glass, as I wanted to add a bit more bubbly (I used prosecco) than the recipe calls for and than my flutes would hold. If you own champagne coupes, this would be a nice drink to serve in them!

• Deviled ham salad sandwiches (Dinner Tonight)

  • Bloominanglophile on October 21, 2015

    I am always trying to come up with new sandwich fillings for my daughter's lunches. She told me she didn't like the ham salad that I made with sweet pickle relish. I'm glad that I found this recipe--it is simple, quick to make, not sweet, and loads better than the canned variety I grew up with. Luckily my daughter enjoys it, too!

• Spinach salad with blood oranges and pistachios

  • Bloominanglophile on March 24, 2013

    This is a nice, refreshing salad. I might add one more tablespoon of olive oil so the dressing would coat the leaves a bit more?!?

• Curried egg salad with arugula and pistachios (Dinner Tonight)

  • Bloominanglophile on May 05, 2016

    This recipe has quickly become our default egg salad recipe. After reading the notes on Serious Eats, I decided to sub about 1/4 of the mayo for yogurt for some tang, and add some sliced cucumber inside the pita for crunch. I also use Heart of the Desert green chili pistachios from New Mexico, which really amps up the flavor of this egg salad.

• Suddenly stew (The Crisper Whisperer)

  • Bloominanglophile on November 06, 2014

    This is a healthy, filling, almost vegetarian stew (could probably sub vegetarian stock for the chicken stock if needed). Fairly quick and tasty, also--a great weeknight recipe!

• Teriyaki sauce

  • Bloominanglophile on August 06, 2016

    I have never really cared for teriyaki sauce until now. This is a great, simple sauce to make--just keep an eye on it so it won't boil over.

• Upgraded lemon drop

  • Bloominanglophile on July 16, 2018

    If you like your lemon drops on the dry side, then this is probably the recipe for you. It's also a simple recipe, and quick to shake up when the need arises!

• Grill-pressed chorizo tortas

  • Bloominanglophile on May 08, 2018

    Stumbled on this recipe when looking for a use for some chorizo, and I really didn't feel like combining it with eggs for dinner (a little too much chorizo and eggs in my past). These were good, if quite rich. I did substitute pepper jack for the Oaxacan cheese that I couldn't find. Fresh fruit makes a nice side.

• Vegan curry butternut squash soup with kale

  • Bloominanglophile on December 04, 2016

    This was tonight's dinner on a night that seemed to be working against me kitchenwise. And it surprised me--a delicious soup/stew that was more substantial than this vegan dish would first appear. I did use chicken stock, as I didn't have enough vegetable stock. I also roasted the butternut squash until it showed some char for fuller flavor. Cheated and used baby kale instead of curly. Minor changes. I would consider using lime at the end instead of lemon. May make it into my favorites file!

• Mini pistachio tea cakes (Cook the Book)

  • thetoastedsprinkle on May 15, 2012

    These little cakes are so simple to make it's almost mind boggling. Their flavor is super intense, but in a great way. I used a recipe by Pierre Hermes for the pistachio paste (which included ground almond meal and a simple syrup) that worked beautifully. In my opinion they don't even need a frosting, just some powdered sugar and fresh fruit.

• The ultimate turducken

  • Triciar on December 23, 2013

    Well researched about cooking method... If you want success with turducken read this.

• Slow cooker savory pot roast

  • chawkins on January 18, 2014

    Effortless 5-ingredients meal. Great for when you are out all day but want a home cooked meal at the end of it. I'll add other vegetables such as onions, celery, parsnip, mushrooms and/or peas(added a little before serving) next time.

• The Silver Palate's corn bread-sausage stuffing with apples

  • chawkins on November 29, 2013

    Very good. I used Bob Evan's sage sausage, Granny Smith apples and basted with copious amount of turkey dripping.

• Lidia's marinara sauce

  • chawkins on July 23, 2013

    Solid quick marinara sauce. I used the first of season home grown tomatoes from the green house, resulting in a lovely sweet sauce. My basil plant is kind of puny with small leaves, so doubled the number of leaves I put in. Added Trader Joe Turkey meatballs and served with angel hair pasta and Parmesan.

• Membrillo-roasted lamb (The Secret Ingredient: Membrillo)

  • chawkins on April 09, 2013

    It's only okay. The sweet glaze totally masked the taste of the lamb. I rather have it my usual way: dredge in Dijon, then in panko and pan-fry.

• Hunan lamb (Seriously Asian: The function of cornstarch)

  • chawkins on September 05, 2013

    Step 4 is missing in the recipe: I believe that is to blanch the lamb pieces in the 2 cup of oil. I made this with beef. It is okay, nothing special. I had to use up some leeks.

• Custardy apple squares from 'Baking Chez Moi' (Bake the Book)

  • chawkins on December 28, 2014

    Very good, not too sweet and takes no time to put together. I placed the v-slicer over the batter and sliced the apples directly into the batter. Did not have full-fat milk, so use half evaporated milk and half 2% milk.

• Easy skillet baked ziti with sausage and ricotta

  • chawkins on July 15, 2016

    Tasted wonderful but very soupy. I used whole wheat penne and it was cooked to perfection. Some of the comments on Serious Eats speculates that may be the canned tomatoes were drained before blending into a sauce. Not a bad way to have baked ziti in a hot summer day.

• Easy creamy chicken enchilada soup

  • chawkins on March 21, 2017

    This is a great soup. Beware when you microwave the chiles, I set the timer for 30 secs instead of doing it in 15 secs intervals, the microwave was filled with smoke when I opened it and I had to run the vent for hours to get rid of the chile smell. I used leftover roast chicken instead of raw chicken breast.

  • Rutabaga on December 23, 2015

    This a wonderful, hearty winter soup, brightened by the inclusion of a little lime juice and cilantro. Since I had recently made chile powder with dried chiles, I added the powder to the stock along with the chicken rather than work with whole dried chiles as suggested in the recipe. Since my chile powder was mild, I was pleased to find the final dish was not too spicy, even with the canned green chiles and pepper jack cheese, making it palatable for children, and allowing the parents to spice it up to taste with chile sauce. For the tomatoes, I used whole fire-roasted canned tomatoes. Having doubled the recipe, I'm looking forward to heating up the leftovers from the freezer later this winter.

• Blueberry peach jam

  • chawkins on August 17, 2014

    I cooked and cooked and could not get the temperature to get to 220 degree F, so instead of a yield of 5-6 pints, I only got 3 pints. Certainly no longer low-sugar as promised.

• Green beans with snail butter from 'My Paris Kitchen' (Cook the Book)

  • chawkins on July 25, 2017

    Delicious! But anything dressed with snail butter would taste good, even snails or even shoe leather.

• Taiwanese three cup chicken (San bei ji)

  • chawkins on August 17, 2016

    The taste was good, but the sauce was watery, needed a lot more reduction to get it syrupy as shown in the picture. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and dried red chiles instead of fresh chiles.

• Two-minute mayonnaise

  • chawkins on May 02, 2015

    Truly easy. I used a whole egg so I don't have to deal with a leftover egg white, everything else exactly as called for.

  • PinchOfSalt on May 28, 2014

    I tried this using my Bodum glass container (usually used for storing coffee beans) as it is only about 1/2 inch wider than my immersion blender. The recipe worked wonderfully well. At first the emulsion stalled out about 3/4 of the way through, but when I lifted the blender off the bottom of the container and tilted it (to catch an area where there was still oil out of the emulsion) the process picked up again. Note that I used a whole egg instead of just the yolk and some water, but there's no doubt the recipe would work at least as well if followed as written. Don't forget to add some salt and pepper when you are done!

  • Rinshin on May 31, 2014

    I discovered this recipe thanks to PinchOfSalt for reviewing this recipe and asking on the forum. Worked perfectly. I would love to come up with Kewpie style mayo using this technique. What a great recipe.

  • Barb_N on June 19, 2016

    I made the alternate aoili which uses a whole egg, 4 cloves minced garlic (that took more than 2 minutes to prep right there) lemon juice and calls for emulsifying with canola oil in the plastic immersion blender then transferring to a glass dish and hand whisking the olive oil in. Bleh- it took at least 30 minutes and then a lot of tweaking of the flavor. #FAIL

  • rionafaith on March 21, 2017

    Love making mayo with an immersion blender this way. I use a pint size wide-mouth mason jar which fits perfectly and is also great for storing the finished mayo. I add the salt and (sometimes) pepper before blending, not sure why Kenji says to wait to stir them in until afterwards but that seems unnecessary. This can of course be spiced up by adding herbs, garlic, using lime or different flavored vinegars instead of the lemon juice, or using different types of oil. SO EASY, I no longer buy mayo.

• Israeli salad

  • chawkins on August 17, 2014

    Less ingredients than some other recipes, so less chopping which is a good thing. It is also seasoned with za'atar, another good thing. I used the Bon Appetit recipe for the za'atar.

• Sam Sifton's basic cranberry sauce (Cook the Book)

  • chawkins on December 01, 2014

    My default cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Simple and delicious.

• Easy pork and three bean chili

  • chawkins on February 27, 2014

    Excellent chili. Raisins and orange juice in a chili sounded odd to me at first, even though they usually paired well with pork. But I guessed you needed the sweetness to tone down that quarter cup of chili powder, so I tried the recipe and loved it. I cut the pork to half of the recommended size, used fresh orange juice and garbanzo beans.

• Ultimate king ranch chicken casserole

  • chawkins on March 03, 2013

    An excellent and healthy version of one of our favorite casseroles. I used sirracha for the hot sauce.

• Skillet chicken fajitas with avocado

  • chawkins on January 22, 2016

    The liberal use of oregano added a lot of flavor. Makes 4 very generous servings.

• Pumpkin turkey chili (Healthy & Delicious)

  • chawkins on January 07, 2014

    Very good quick chili. I used butternut squash puree instead of pumpkin because I have a stash in the freezer, I also used a whole green pepper instead of half green and half yellow. The butternut squash puree added sweetness and body to the chili, very satisfying for a cold night.

  • chawkins on October 14, 2014

    Made this again with pumpkin puree, and it tasted just as good. Again, used one whole green pepper instead of half green and half yellow, half a pint of home-canned tomato sauce instead of the canned diced tomato, 5 home-canned jalapeno chiles for the canned green chile. Great healthy chile with only a pound of meat, a lot of fiber and beta-carotene.

• Chinese chives (Seriously Asian)

  • chawkins on June 18, 2013

    Very good use of the garlic chives from my garden. I usually make little chive omelets, one by one. This certainly is a lot faster and I can use up a lot more chives.

• Roasted bone-in chicken breast

  • chawkins on October 20, 2016

    The skin got super crispy. I made a compound butter with garlic, parsley and lemon zest, however, it did not flavor the meat too much. I made half a recipe and use the counter top oven, all 6 inside walls of the oven is now covered with chicken fat splatter.

• Red enchilada sauce

  • chawkins on June 06, 2016

    So simple and so tasty. Only two main ingredients: guajillo cjiles and fire-roasted tomatoes.

• Grilled bratwurst with beer, mustard, and sauerkraut

  • chawkins on April 08, 2013

    Braising the brats before grilling kept them moist and yet had a crisp skin. Brats and kraut on baguettes made this a quick and easy meal.

• Pork and mustard-cream cabbage (Meat Lite)

  • chawkins on March 16, 2013

    Wow, this is an outstanding dish. The pork chop is just plain old pan-fried pork chop, it is the cabbage that really makes the dish. I didn't have any bacon, so I omitted it and I didn't have cream, so I just used 2% milk with a tablespoon size pad of butter and it still turned out great. I did double on the pork though. I did not serve salad with it because with half a head of cabbage, an apple and an onion that's plenty of vegetables for two people.

• Black-eyed peas with herbs (Eat for Eight Bucks)

  • chawkins on January 11, 2016

    Very flavorful and very healthy and super easy.

• Lemon herb-roasted chicken drumsticks (Cook the Book)

  • chawkins on December 09, 2015

    Another one of those delicious and almost effortless dish. All you need to do is to zest and squeeze couple of lemons and chop the thyme and in my case I did not even need to chop the thyme because I used dried thyme. I only had time to marinate for 1 hour and it was already quite flavorful.

• My favorite potato salad

  • chawkins on December 24, 2013

    My favorite too. I omitted the oil and the vinegar.

• Maple mashed sweet potatoes (The Secret Ingredient: Maple syrup)

  • chawkins on June 11, 2014

    Very good. To me, the secret ingredient is not the maple syrup, it is the whole grain mustard. The graininess of the mustard adds texture to the mash and the pungency cuts the sweetness.

• Brown butter cornbread (Gluten Free Tuesday)

  • cassiemcgannon on August 05, 2012

    The best gluten-free cornbread recipe I've found.

• Quick zucchini and dill pancakes

  • cassiemcgannon on July 27, 2012

    Quick, easy and good. Recipe works fine with rice flour substituted for plain flour. Good with mayo or BBQ sauce on the side instead of yoghurt, too.

• Mustard-baked chicken with a pretzel crust (Cooking from the Glossies)

  • cjannace on July 31, 2014

    This was delicious! We swapped boneless skinless chicken thighs for the chicken breasts and used the super dark sourdough pretzels for the crust. The meat was juicy and tender and the crust was delicious. I'll definitely make this again!

• Scallops with corn and fava bean succotash (Dinner Tonight)

  • cjannace on May 20, 2015

    This was an absolutely delicious recipe. However, the recipe itself has some errors. The ingredients do not list milk or butter, yet the recipe says to add both ingredients. I left out the milk and added about 1 tbsp of ghee (because I'm out of butter) and everything tasted wonderful. I'll definitely be making this again though.

• Slow-cooker sticky Thai meatballs

  • mrsmadam on May 07, 2018

    I more or less made these as written. I only had about 1/4 cup of the chili sauce pictured so after much hunting at several stores I substituted an unknown brand of "Sweet Thai Chili Sauce with Ginger", which was quite similar in taste. Until I get a new oven I will brown these in a skillet as mine were overcooked by the time my broiler browned them. Husband suggested making them into a meatball sandwich and I think that would be good with some added pickled onions and maybe daikon? Since there are only the two of us I have plenty left to give this a try.

  • Rutabaga on February 20, 2018

    Overall, this is a very tasty dish. I set a few meatballs aside with no sauce for my kids, and they loved them. Since I was careful to deseed and fully remove the ribs of my jalapenos, the curry paste wasn't too spicy. The sauce, on the other had, was potently spicy. I didn't have the exact Thai chile sauce that seems to be called for, so used half a cup of Vietnamese chile garlic sauce and half a cup of sweet Thai chile sauce, and reduced the amount of brown sugar by half. Unfortunately, I had to leave the sauce in the slow cooker for close to 11 hours, and even on low it started to scorch and taste somewhat bitter. If you are going to leave it for more than 8 hours, it's probably best to set it to "warm". The sauce tasted great when I first added it to the cooker, so I'm certain the fault was mine. I'd like to try it again with the appropriate Thai chile sauce.

• Spaghetti squash with sausage, kale, and sun-dried tomatoes

  • SACarlson on October 25, 2016

    The sausage, kale, and sundried tomato combination worked really well. Spaghetti squash is always rather underwhelming, though. I will try this again with real pasta.

• Coffee cake muffins

  • SACarlson on February 21, 2016

    Excellent recipe! Do read the comments section, as there is an error in the ingredient list for the topping.

• Quick and easy skillet tamale pie with brown butter cornbread crust

  • pennyvr on June 15, 2015

    I make a vegetarian version with quorn, then do separate vegetarian and carnivore versions.

• Corniest corn muffins (Baking with Dorie)

  • Yildiz100 on January 28, 2018

    I tried making these with polenta since you can't get cornmeal here. They were nice enough to repeat but the texture did lack the pleasant crunch that good stone ground cornmeal gives. I was using the finest ground polenta so next time I will try a mix of fine and courser polenta to see how that affects the texture. Other than that I wished they had a bit more salt. Maybe 3/4 tsp next time. They were very delicate. It might be to do with the polenta. I don't think it absorbs as much liquid as cornmeal so maybe next time reduce the buttermilk. Maybe try 200 ml?

• David Lebovitz's orbit cake (Cook the Book)

  • Yildiz100 on November 25, 2017

    Delicious. Like a perfectly undercooked brownie that doesn't give you a stomach ache because it isn' actually undercooked. Needed the full 1.5 hours. Tried this a tiny bit warm, at room temp, and cold. Liked it just barely warm best, then cold. Room temp it was a bit stodgy.

• Gramercy Tavern's expat

  • Yildiz100 on December 15, 2017

    Calls for "1/4 ounce lime or juice from two limes", which I would say is closer to 2 ounces. Yikes, big difference! So, I started with 1/4 and that was definitely too sweet and needed more acidity. I ended up using 1 ounce. Pretty good balance at 1 ounce. Pretty good drink but I prefer a classic Hemingway daquiri.

• British-style beans on toast

  • Yildiz100 on October 20, 2015

    I had (slight under-) cooked beans on hand, so I can't comment on the method or the sauce to beans ratio. Instead, I eyeballed what I had and decided to prepare half of the sauce. The only real change I had to make was adding a bit more cider vinegar at the end. Maybe a teaspoon? Note that the recipe asks you to begin with only 4 cups of the liquid, and then add more if the beans get too dry. I started with 2 since I was doing half the sauce, and I needed to add a bit more at the end, even though my beans were mostly cooked when I started. If I had started with a pound of dry beans as the recipe says, I'm not sure 6 cups of broth would have been enough.

  • Yildiz100 on October 11, 2017

    Sweet enough from the molasses alone. Omit the brown sugar.

• The storm cloud

  • Yildiz100 on February 14, 2018

    Not bad. Did not need the simple syrup but did need more acidity so I added a bit more grapefruit. This also balanced out the Fernet. Before adding the grapefruit, it was overpowering.

• Easy salmon burgers with dill honey-mustard, horseradish, and avocado

  • mondraussie on October 15, 2016

    Need something to give them a bit more zing... perhaps some chile flakes and lemon zest next time? And definitely add more horseradish!!

• Mini pineapple-teriyaki-glazed salmon burgers with avocado

  • mondraussie on May 05, 2018

    Unimpressive - perhaps worth reworking, but as is.. not so great

  • e_ballad on December 07, 2017

    Nice enough, but the amount of glaze is utterly bonkers - I halved it & could have easily halved it again. I’d hoped that the pineapple would have been more evident, but it really only tasted like a sweet soy flavour, not too dissimilar to kecap manis. Accordingly, for the effort involved (albeit minimal), this is unlikely to make another outing.

• Lengua en salsa verde (The Nasty Bits: Tongue tied)

  • PinchOfSalt on March 06, 2014

    Made this with two small (about 1.5 pounds each) beef tongues from my meat CSA. Very tasty! Also, this recipe can be mostly made ahead. I boiled the tongue and made the tomatillo sauce and refrigerated each component. The two came together quickly and easily to make a great weeknight meal. All I had to do was peel and slice the tongue, saute it, add the sauce, heat, and enjoy.

• Azorean kale, sausage, and bean soup (Cook the Book)

  • PinchOfSalt on February 04, 2013

    I was expecting a very flavorful soup. It was okay, but rather understated.

• Grilled broccoli rabe

  • PinchOfSalt on May 09, 2014

    Could there possibly be a simpler recipe for broccoli rabe? Or a tastier one? This one is so good, why bother trying to find out.

• Poulet's gai yang with bird chile dipping sauce (Cook the Book)

  • PinchOfSalt on May 26, 2016

    There's no salt in the marinade and it shows. The fish sauce has some, but the brand I used (Three Crabs) was not salty enough to make up for the lack of salt in the recipe. The overall effect was sweet, not savory as one might expect this dish to be. Other recipes I have used for this dish have come out much better.

• Peruvian style grilled chicken with green sauce

  • PinchOfSalt on July 09, 2016

    Soooooo good. Definitely spicy. Relatively quick, too. Both the spice paste and the sauce come together quickly. There's no marinating stage, either. Make the sauce, tuck it in the fridge, make the spice paste, apply it to the bird, grill, enjoy with the sauce (also spicy). I made this without the aji amarillo, will need to track that down at some point to see if it makes this recipe even better.

• Eggplant and tomato sauce with Israeli couscous

  • PinchOfSalt on October 18, 2016

    It smelled wonderful while it was cooking, but the final result was too spicy for my taste - and I tend to like spicy food. If I try this again I will drop the hot paprika or cut it and the red pepper flakes in half.

• Creamy roasted red pepper and cauliflower soup

  • PinchOfSalt on March 25, 2014

    A keeper, even thought it is a bit on the spicy side. Very thick but not at all heavy. Definitely benefits from some lemon juice. Next time I will cut back on the crushed red pepper.

• Curried coconut noodles with shrimp

  • PinchOfSalt on June 19, 2015

    Made this substituting about 3 oz. of soaked bean thread noodles for the rice noodles, green curry paste for the yellow, and some thinly-sliced red onion for the shallot while omitting the bean sprouts. It was what I had on hand. The dish was easy and fast as promised, tasty, but very mild. Perhaps it was the brand of Thai curry paste (Thai Taste), or perhaps the recipe might have benefited from the addition of a few Thai hot chili peppers (added with the garlic).

• Sicilian pizza with pepperoni and spicy tomato sauce

  • PinchOfSalt on July 25, 2016

    Not quite as cheesy as shown in the photo, even though I used the exact amount of sliced low-moisture mozzarella. My friend from central NY State pronounced this "delicious", though I would have gone for more cheese. Be certain that the pepperoni is sliced thickly enough, or you will end up with the pizza we had - completely covered with pepperoni slices. Note also that the no-knead method for the dough worked perfectly. No muss, no fuss!

• Better no-knead bread

  • KarinaFrancis on April 01, 2018

    This is my second attempt at no-knead bread and it has some positives over the basic recipe in that the taste was much richer and the crust was amazing. The downside was that the texture of the crumb was a bit odd, it was crumpet-like. It might be time to stop being lazy and start kneading

• Classic pumpkin pie

  • KarinaFrancis on November 27, 2016

    I don't have frame of reference as I've not eaten pumpkin pie before this so I dont know how it was meant to taste. We found it waaaaay too sweet and it wasn't very popular at a friends Thanksgiving dinner. On the plus side (in case it tasted exactly like its supposed to taste), it was easy to make.

• Buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese

  • KarinaFrancis on October 01, 2016

    Very rich but so very good, really captured the flavour of buffalo chicken. Came together very quickly especially because it uses rotisserie chicken. I didn't have any cornstarch but it didn't seem to adversely affect the dish. Perfect for cold nights when you want a bowl of something comforting.

• Boston cream pie (Bake the Book)

  • KarinaFrancis on July 10, 2016

    A very impressive cake! The combination was delicious and the cake itself was moist and had a beautiful texture. My only issue was with the creme pat, mine just wasn't lovely and luscious, but this may be more due to this being my first attempt than a flaw with the recipe.

• Horchata ice cream

  • KarinaFrancis on November 09, 2014

    This tasted exactly like Horchata! It was delicious and a big hit. I made a few tweaks, I used slivered almonds and toasted them briefly. I also used regular milk instead of half and half (because we don't have that in oz). The texture wasn't very creamy so next time, and there will be a next time, I might use some cream instead of all milk.

• Spanish tuna-stuffed piquillo peppers (Pimientos del piquillo rellenos de atún)

  • KarinaFrancis on September 25, 2016

    These were really good and could be prepared in advance. I wish I'd made the aioli instead of taking the shortcut, the mayonnaise I used was bright white and didn't look as nice as the photo. Next time I'll also try a touch of lemon zest

• Prune and apple stuffing with sausage and chestnuts

  • KarinaFrancis on July 23, 2017

    A great stuffing recipe and it's bumped my previous favorite off its perch. Loved the flavours and got an unexpected kick from using chilli n pork sausages. Will become a Christmas in July staple

• Spaghetti with black pepper and pecorino Romano (Cacio e pepe)

  • KarinaFrancis on June 15, 2018

    This was good but didn’t deliver on its promise of a silky, amalgamated sauce. I followed the recipe and method exactly. On the plus side it was still tasty.

• Kale Caesar salad

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 03, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/02/15/kale-caesar-salad/

• Turkish coffee brownies (Bake the Book)

  • thekitchenchronicles on September 23, 2013

    The first time I made these they were good, but not great. I found that the spice combo as written is heavy on the cardamom, so much so that I couldn't even really distinguish the coffee flavor. The second time around I used 1 3/4 teaspoons of instant espresso and only 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom and this time they were GREAT.

• Chinese egg tarts

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 03, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/03/15/chinese-egg-tarts/

• Cranberry white chocolate bread pudding

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 03, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/01/17/cranberry-white-chocolate-bread-pudding/

• Simple chocolate mousse

  • rstuart on June 12, 2014

    Very good, and quite simple. I was worried about raw eggs so used pasteurized egg whites..

• Good morning sunshine bars (Bake the Book)

  • amoule on January 28, 2017

    These were very good and super easy. I substituted 1/2 cup of dulce de leche for part of the sugar and corn syrup, to use it up.

• Baba ghanoush (Dinner Tonight)

  • imaluckyducky on April 17, 2017

    I like being able to use the broiler - the smoked flavor adds a deeper dimension to the dip. Must use high-quality olive oil, perhaps one with more spicy notes.

• Polenta with mushroom ragu (Dinner Tonight)

  • imaluckyducky on June 24, 2013

    I liked this! I adore shrooms and had more to use than the recipe required, so I doubled the mushrooms/the whole recipe and used a mix of oyster, shiitake, and white button mushrooms. I also cheated and didn't make my own polenta. I fried up premade from a tube (still good). Will make again.

  • minerva on March 04, 2014

    I found this recipe rather bland.

• Turkey tortilla soup

  • imaluckyducky on January 11, 2014

    4 out of 5 stars. This was a hit and the heat level is a solid mild to medium! Soup has a great flavor base, but seasoning with salt and squeezing some lime juice at the end is very necessary to make it sing. You'll need to use more salt than you think you'll need. Cilantro as an add-in makes it awesome, the avocado gives a pleasantly creamy bite, and the fried tortilla (I used chips) added a nice texture. Recipe says it takes 30 minutes, but I found it closer to 45. Will make again to use up future turkeys, and will probably add some ground chipotle next time.

• Patricia Wells's warm potato salad with capers, scallions & mint

  • imaluckyducky on July 05, 2013

    Patricia Wells was not lying when she said this dressing was assertive! I adore capers, so I thought it balanced well against the silky base of the potatoes. I used a mix of mint, tarragon, and parsley (that's what I had on hand), but I imagine this would be good with almost any fresh herbs you had to throw in. I'm already planning on making another batch in a few days.

• Chicken taquitos with guacamole

  • imaluckyducky on December 17, 2013

    I made this recipe using the 1.5 lbs of turkey I had in the freezer leftover from Thanksgiving. The ingredients are simple, but they carry a powerful punch of flavor. The salad greens and radish are a nice addition and make the plate look a tad healthier, however I wouldn't fret if you don't have either in your kitchen. Using pre-cooked and thawed turkey, this recipe took me about 30 minutes from start to stuffing them in my face, so I would highly recommend using this recipe as a base for any leftover meat you have and don't know what to do with. The amount of filling you make is WAY MORE than 12 corn tortillas' worth, so the extras are being made later in the week. They also maintained a good deal of texture the next day re-heated. Will make again!

• King of falafel & shawarma's falafel from 'New York a la Cart' (Cook the Book)

  • imaluckyducky on January 07, 2014

    A VERY happy 5 stars. This is, hands down, the best falafel recipe I've ever tested. This produced light, textured, highly flavorful falafel that finished almost creamy on the tongue. The best part is that, because the recipe calls for using dried chickpeas that have been soaked, this comes together quickly. From start to finish this took me under 30 minutes to assemble with superior flavor. I was lucky and had all the spices on hand, so this was also a super cheap. The only warning I have is that these fry up with a darker interior that I'm not used to. This will become a monthly dinner.

• Cherry and jicama salad with lime and macadamia nuts

  • imaluckyducky on June 05, 2017

    Simple and surprisingly refreshing. Balancing the lime and the olive oil wasn't so difficult, and the basic added an excellent earthiness to the dish. I picked up a 2lb jicama, should have gotten a smaller one that was more sweet. Large jicama tasted fine, however. Served as a side to exceptionally spicy tacos. Will make again, regularly!

  • ingabritt on June 10, 2017

    Be sure to salt enough; the salt is what really makes it work.

• Kogi-inspired bulgogi tacos with spicy slaw (Serious Heat)

  • minerva on September 01, 2013

    Too greasy when made with regular ground beef, but good. Served with kim chi as well.

• Tomato soup with roasted garlic and herbs

  • minerva on June 24, 2014

    Used fresh basil, added at end. Great for a healthy side.

• Kabocha pumpkin hot pot

  • minerva on March 18, 2014

    Added bonito and kelp with the mushroom broth. Added wakame seaweed to hot pot, used soba instead of udon.

• Mindy Fox's peanut soba, cabbage, and chicken salad

  • minerva on April 24, 2013

    Left out chicken since peanut butter and soba have enough protein. I upped the amount of garlic, ginger, and sriracha. I also added some chopped fresh Thai chiles, made it very spicy.

• Orange blossom-sesame cake with peaches

  • minerva on April 14, 2014

    Cake was good even without peaches.

• Chicken kebab with carrot-raisin salad and Greek yogurt sauce (Tzatziki)

  • minerva on July 17, 2013

    I use this recipe to improvise. I tend to shred the carrots instead of julienne. I also tend to use more dill and garlic than the tzatziki calls for, with a high cucumber to yogurt ratio. As for the chicken, my favorite is to toss it with coriander, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, minced garlic, and olive oil then let sit for a bit before broiling.

• Jamaican beef stew with rice

  • minerva on January 18, 2014

    This is great. Next time I might serve it with rice and field peas instead of just rice for extra nutrition.

• Spicy carrot and ginger soup with harissa

  • minerva on September 04, 2014

    Made this with dukkah instead of pine nuts, it was great.

• Apple cinnamon quick bread

  • mattheinz on September 22, 2013

    Really good, nutritionally about the same as eating a cookie. Might consider doubling the apples next time.

• Zucchini and apricot socca tart from 'The French Market Cookbook' (Cook the Book)

  • dinnermints on July 10, 2016

    Good! Surpisingly filling. I served it as part of dinner, but it would make a great appetizer in thin wedges.

• Slow cooker leftover turkey, lemon, and couscous soup

  • dinnermints on November 27, 2017

    Good! My husband has a bad cold and we have turkey leftovers, so it seemed like just the thing. I used one wing and one leg instead of two wings. Putting the half a lemon in there made it a little bitter; next time I'd just add the lemon zest and flesh. I used mograbieh (giant couscous?) instead of israeli couscous. It was still pretty chewy after an hour, but since I used my instant pot, I put it on low pressure for 4 minutes and that did the trick. On my mum's recommendation, I added 1/2 cup or so of gravy (which turned out salty since we brined our bird) for some added flavor, and didn't need any additional salt.

• Orange tomato paste-colored fresh pasta

  • dinnermints on February 16, 2017

    Good instructions, although as much as I hand-kneaded it, and as firm as it seemed after 12 minutes, it still was a bit doughy to roll out (rested for around 2 hours). Next time would use the food processor to get more flour in. Beautiful color.

• Raw corn salad with shiso and basil

  • dinnermints on August 22, 2017

    This was good, nothing to knock your socks off. The salad dressing seems a bit unbalanced, what with twice the amount of vinegar as there is olive oil.

• Cold soba noodles with kale, avocado, and miso-sesame dressing

  • Wlow on July 23, 2018

    This online recipe has a little sloppy proofreading. Tried dark sesame oil for “sesame oil” and canola for peanut oil. 1/4 amount kale because knew kids wouldn’t like it. No bean sprouts or cilantro because kids don’t like at all. Offered platter of toppings, including extra dressing. T liked, N did not (too “sour”). I liked it but didn’t LOVE it. Pretty easy for hot weather lunch but kale chopping is hand-intensive.

• Morning-after cranberry sauce muffins

  • stockholm28 on November 30, 2014

    Good way to use up cranberry sauce. I substituted buttermilk for skim. Recipe link above is broken. Here is one that works http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/11/morningafter-cranberry-sauce-muffins.html

• Ultra-smashed cheeseburgers

  • stockholm28 on February 15, 2017

    I almost never make burgers inside; they are for warm weather grilling in my mind. However, this is a good technique and makes a good burger when it is too cold to grill.

• Braised heart with olives, dates, and cinnamon

  • autonomatic on August 12, 2013

    Subbed fresh figs for dates. This was good. The recipe is lacking salt aside from the olive brine but I'm sure if you're brave enough to cook heart you can figure that part out.

• Colombian-style salt-crusted new potatoes

  • autonomatic on May 30, 2016

    Used 3/4 of the salt specified - delicious.

• Sous-vide steaks

  • Rinshin on January 30, 2017

    1st time sous vide New York steak and the instructions were detailed and perfect. My steaks came out _almost_ good as very high end steak restaurant offerings. I think if I was able to finish on wood for searing, it would have been perfect. We totally enjoyed our steaks. We went with 135F for 1 1/2 hours.

• Cook's Illustrated's thin-crust pizza

  • Rinshin on January 14, 2015

    This is the same recipe I made from America's Test Kitchen thin crust pizza yesterday. It was good, but not the best of my two favorite recipes. The dough was somewhat similar to Neapolitan style using slow rise method in the refrigerator. Maybe I tend to like stronger taste of cooked pizza sauce because fresh pizza sauce made without cooking tomatoes just does not do much to pizzas. I hear words like fresh tasting etc, but this style gets lost on the crust. I will make this again to see if I can do better next time. Right now B+ recipe.

• Arrogant Bastard Ale onion rings

  • Rinshin on May 04, 2014

    I did not know if I should rate this 1 star or 4 star, but I took the middle ground. This recipe as it's written does not work. The coating batter just slips off the onion even after drying the onion rings. The author mentioned something like "like tempura batter", and after the first few onion rings slipping off the batter once in the hot oil, I realized the problem and was able to rectify. You need to flour the onion rings first before dipping into batter. This is the classic way of making tempura and you will see chef's brushing on flour at tempura restaurants in Japan. Once I coated the onion rings with flour first then into batter, it went really well. Matter of fact, my husband said these were the best onion rings he's ever eaten. Go figure!

• Cooking Light's pork medallions with port wine-dried cherry pan sauce (Cook the Book)

  • Rinshin on February 09, 2014

    Few reviewers mentioned they thought it was too sweet. I cut the sweetness in half by using half the amount of dried cherries, half of jam, and half of port and increased with dry red wine. My husband thought it was just ok, but for me it was way too sweet. If you are used to eating desserts often, sweets, sugar in foods, this may not be too sweet, but for me it was not good. I do not care for sweet main course.

• Plum sorbet

  • Rinshin on July 20, 2014

    I made this sorbet using Satsuma plums from home garden. Since Satsuma plums are more meaty and much more intense in taste than most other plums, we had to add a little water while using the blender for each pass. Took about 5 sessions of blending the plums. Each session should be ok with maybe 2-3 pass since not possible to blend all the plums at one time. Made double the recipe. Very easy to make but like any fruit preparation a little time is needed to remove the pits. The taste is fantastic and the reason I'm giving 4 1/2 star instead of 5 star is because this recipe assumes plums are plums. In our case, we knew right off that some water was needed to make blender go.

• Classic butternut squash soup

  • Rinshin on January 20, 2017

    Easy to do and great tasting winter soup. Both butternut squash and carrots are first roasted and decided to add the cut up onion and garlic along with it instead of cooking them separately in butter and that worked out fine. Used the bullet to puree the vegetables along with some stock. Halved the recipe and I did use 1 C more stock since we like our soups not so thick. Even halving the recipe, this makes for 4 formal soup size servings.

• The best roast potatoes ever

  • Rinshin on December 06, 2016

    Wow, lots of folks at SE loving these potatoes had me intrigued. I used smallish, but not small yukons cut into quarters. I read that these are supposed to be two bite potatoes. Mine came out to be more of one bite potatoes. I think because mine were smaller, the insides were a bit too dry but the outsides were definitely very crisp . It's best to rely on the look and smell instead of time indicated in the oven. Mine were done within 25 min for the 2nd bake. Because I'm no longer strong with my hands,, I had some problems tossing these because of the weight after boiling them and had to use a big wooden spatula to roughly toss. The garlic/rosemary in olive oil cooked way too much within 30 seconds. I prefer less cooked garlic because of bitterness and will really watch how dark they get next time. Maybe 15 seconds or so and take the pan off soon as they start to color. Mine came out too dark with certain burnt garlic taste. A definite repeat with some adjustments.

  • anya_sf on May 29, 2017

    I made 1.5 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes. They were fairly small so I just cut them in half, which was more like 1-1.5" rather than 2". I boiled them for 7 minutes. Instead of tossing them with the duck fat in a bowl, I strained the duck fat directly over the boiled potatoes in the pot I cooked them in (after draining, of course). Then I put the lid on and shook the whole thing, which easily yielded the "paste" surface. Since they were smaller, they only took about 30 min total to roast. They were very good, but almost too crispy, as the seasonings did not cling to the ultra crispy surface of the potatoes.

• Sous vide lobster

  • Rinshin on January 28, 2017

    All I can say is "Thank you Kenji for figuring out the temp and time for cooking lobster." It's one of my husband's favorite foods and I also like it, but never felt comfortable or satisfied with the timing or temp when cooked using the traditional methods and dismissed it as only ok food relegated to dried out cruise offerings. I went with 135F for 40 min and what came out of the bag is swoon worthy. Now, I can say I love lobster too. I relished every bite of the pieces I was dipping into butter/lemon dip. I used the lobster tail and not the fresh lobster. I can't wait to buy more lobster tails. My first foray into sous vide and it was fun using the joule. Tomorrow, steaks!

• Easy, creamy one-pot salmon chowder

  • Rinshin on April 12, 2017

    I loosely followed this recipe. Gently sauteed bacon instead of rendering in water, added chopped fennel, homemade fish stock in lieu of clam juice, half and half in place of milk, and canned wild salmon in place of fresh fish. This is a very good basic fish chowder recipe. Can't go wrong with this one for a satisfying quick meal.

• Chicken pot pie with buttermilk biscuit topping

  • Rinshin on October 14, 2017

    I made the butter rich buttermilk biscuit topping only with my own filling. We loved the topping.....so crisp on the outside with buttery goodness. It calls for 2 sticks of butter so it is indulging. Instead of 2 T sugar, used only 1 T and did not miss the extra tablespoon of sugar. I like to make this again with 1 stick of butter next time to see if acceptable.

• Crispy braised chicken thighs with cabbage and bacon

  • Rinshin on August 26, 2016

    Very tasty recipe that requires some tweaking. I love chicken Canzanese from Cook's and Kenji has stated he is the author of that one. Canzanese is perfect and it's one of our favs but this one had few problems. Too much fat from chicken browning and no mention of what to do with all the fat. I removed it (about 1/2 C) knowing we are adding quite of bit of bacon bits after it. I cut down bacon to 6 oz from 8 oz and I think that's more like it. 3 C chicken stock, 1/2 C vinegar, and all the juice from cabbage is too much liquid. Chicken pieces were almost submerged in the mixture. Best to reduce chicken stock to 2 C and vinegar to 1/3C. After removing the chicken pieces, I had to cook down the cabbage mixture for about 8 min high stovetop because there was too much liquid still left after being in the oven for 50 min. All in all, flavorful, subtle sweet and sour recipe full of promises with some tweaks. I like to do a similar things with pork chops next time.

  • Rinshin on November 16, 2016

    I made this again with few additions because my husband loved it when I made it before and asked I make this again. I used 4 chicken thighs, 2 bacon cut up, 6 shitake sliced, 1/2 shredded celery root, 1/2 sliced onion, and 1/2 cabbage thinly sliced. This time chicken did not give off lots of fat so did not have to drain any fat and it was perfect amount of fat from chicken and bacon to nicely brown the veggies. Instead of 1 1/2 C chicken stock, I added 2 C chicken stock making sure that chicken pieces were not submerged. Again used persimmon vinegar in place of apple cider vinegar. This was outstanding and has become one of our chicken favs. Not only is chicken delicious, but cabbage mixture is lightly sweet and sour and outstanding. Bravo Kenji!

  • rionafaith on August 21, 2016

    This was a delicious one-pot meal. I omitted the sugar and used regular bacon (not slab), and savoy cabbage as that's what I had in my fridge, but otherwise made as written and we absolutely loved it. The cabbage is almost sauerkraut-like, but definitely not too acidic at all (even without the sugar), and the mustard is a nice touch. I will definitely be making this again, maybe adding more veggies next time? Mushrooms or potatoes could be nice.

  • MeganGarcia on January 18, 2018

    This recipe is quite delicious. I brown the chicken thighs in a 12" cast iron skillet then I cook the bacon in a cast-iron chicken-frying skillet and resume the recipe in that pan. I find that everything seems to come together a bit better in the deeper pan, and also that way I can easily get rid of the extra chicken fat. I also used regular bacon. This has been a repeat recipe in my household. We like to eat it with mashed potatoes. I'm sure it would be great with crusty bread, too.

• Fresh lemon syrup

  • Rinshin on May 12, 2016

    Used 6 frozen Meyer lemon rinds I stored as we used the juice for other uses. Left out the frozen rinds and sugar overnight and that worked really well to get the best amount of juice out. Used strainer and potato ricer to squeeze out more juice out of rinds. Fabulous taste. Since this keeps for 3 months in the refrigerator, I can use to make drinks such as whiskey sour as well as sauces for desserts and pancakes/waffles.

• Japanese soft-cooked egg with soy broth (Onsen tamago)

  • Rinshin on August 12, 2016

    I made this as written and tasted the mixture of 1 part kaeshi to 3 parts dashi made from katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and to me the sauce may be ok for soba/somen dipping sauce since it's normally 1 part kaeshi to 3-4 parts dashi but it was much too strong for delicate nature of onsen tamago sauce. It should be more like 1 part kaeshi to 5-6 parts dashi. The proportion for hot soba soup is normally 1 part kaeshi to 8-9 parts dashi. The photo shows very dark sauce and it's normally lighter in color. Also, kaeshi should normally be kept in cool place for 1 week for the flavors to meld before combining with dashi.

• Japanese pork fried rice omelette with okonomiyaki sauce

  • Rinshin on January 09, 2017

    I found this recipe interesting for it's use of okonomiyaki sauce to make omurice. This style is similar to tonpei yaki but it's normally made without rice. Since I find okonomiyaki sauce a bit too sweet to use with rice, I subbed yakisoba sauce instead which is less sweeter and has bit more vinegared taste. I loved the idea of adding chopped cabbage to rice. After tasting the fried rice, I decided it needed a ketchup and added scant 2 tsp and that really improved the taste. I consider any fried type of rice whether fried rice or omurice a great place to use up leftover meat and I did that with this as well. Instead of bacon, I used leftover beef roast. We really loved this rice and I will be making this again.

• Simple vinaigrette

  • Rinshin on October 18, 2014

    Excellent recipe. Subbed sherry wine vinegar from California winery for white wine vinegar. Works great with butter lettuce as shown.

• The best squash lasagna

  • Rinshin on November 03, 2014

    I really wanted to like this because I love kabocha, but it was too rich tasting for me. But then I have a Japanese taste so that may have been it. My husband said it was ok. Nothing bad, but nothing fantastic. I much prefer Tomato based lasagna.

• The best potato-leek soup

  • Rinshin on February 17, 2015

    The crunch time before going on a trip is making me go through all the perishable items and one of them is buttermilk. I also needed to use up Japanese sweet potato and so chose this recipe subbing Japanese sweet potato for potatoes which I may like better than regular potatoes for this. The sweet potato and buttermilk really went well together. There is a certain tanginess coming from buttermilk and that compliments the sweet taste of sweet potatoes. Easy to make. The key here plenty of black pepper and fair amount of salt since I used my own chicken stock which was quite light. I think for my taste the buttermilk amount needs to be reduced by half as the soup was quite tangy esp after one day.

• Quick and easy vegetarian tamale pie with brown butter cornbread crust

  • Rinshin on April 30, 2015

    I found the ingredients a bit strange initially. I could not imagine adding green olives in chili or soy sauce for that matter. Not only that, cheddar cheese, green onion and cilantro are also added to the chili before topping with the batter. I tasted every time I added the addition, and where I veered off is with the amount of ancho chili powder and amount of time I simmered chili. I simmered for about 2 hours total to develop the taste. I did not like the taste at 20 minutes. I added 2 T instead of 3 T of chili powder and it was plenty spicy hot for me. The cornbread itself is too sweet for my taste and I would only add 1 T instead of 4 T sugar and bottom of cornbread was still wet where it touched the chili making it very unpleasant - skip the cornbread or bake the cornbread separately. This is certainly not "quick and easy" as the title says. I used deep cast iron chicken fryer and everything fit perfectly.

• Japanese potato salad with cucumbers, carrots, and red onion

  • Rinshin on July 05, 2015

    Japanese potato salads are never spicy or acidic. So, adding hot mustard or vinegar is never used. Also, very little mayo and usually have lightly steamed carrots. Not many contain eggs either. I would not call this Japanese potato salads. The only variation is whether potatoes are very smooth (most Japanese seem to prefer that way) or lightly chunkier.

• The best French bread pizza

  • Rinshin on May 15, 2015

    I used the baking concept from this recipe with my own pizza sauce and topping which consisted of salami, ham, onion, green pepper, olives, and mushroom. I thought the idea of 2 stage baking is a great idea for keeping the sauce from soaking into the bread. It works. I had to increase the amount of 2nd baking by another minute to adequately cook the veggies. I used my own method of smashing the bread than what Kenji uses. I use a chopping board and press down. The best pizza bread I've made so far and I've made plenty!

• Really awesome black bean burgers

  • Rinshin on June 09, 2015

    Very good recipe and very easy to make. I used Bufalo brand of Chipotle sauce instead of chipotle in adobo and it worked really well. This recipe needs fair amount of salt and it's important to salt/pepper and taste before adding egg to the mixture. My vegetarian guest loved it. I had this the 2nd day too and it's quite phenomenal. I did not notice the chunkiness from cashews that some were complaining about. Perhaps, I ground it more finely, but the texture was just perfect and taste excellent. Also, I had no problem with the amount of egg and mayo. I thought it was the right proportion. But, don't forget to salt!

  • Rutabaga on October 16, 2016

    These burgers do have great texture; they feel "meatier" than many bean burgers, maybe because of the trick of drying the beans in the oven. I was surprised how mild the flavor was, though, perhaps because I just used a pickled chipotle with a teaspoon or so of pickling juice instead of adobo sauce. Fortunately, this meant they were mild enough for my five-year-old to happily eat, while I could add hot sauce for some extra heat. I used the Vitamix to blend the burger mix, which pulverized some beans while leaving others whole, but that seemed to work out well. We topped them with more feta, tomato slices, and red onion.

  • Oysterbee on May 09, 2018

    Great texture for the grill, they held together well. Flavor was a little bland. I will probably add more garlic, salt and corn.

• Rich red plum jam

  • Rinshin on July 23, 2018

    Very good instructions and easy recipe with perfect results. I like my jam with some sweet tart flavor so added extra lemon juice along with about 1/2 c brandy. Made exactly 12 half-pints. I did skip on using a food mill and cooked all the fruits quartered only for ease.

• Smoked eggplant for ramen

  • Rinshin on August 20, 2014

    Overly complicated for a typical Japanese style eggplant dish. Don't understand why one would have to dry out the eggplant after grilling in a lettuce spinner. There is an abundance of wonderful taste in the precious juice of eggplants after grilling or roasting.

• Bacon-wrapped, jalapeño popper-stuffed grilled chicken breasts

  • Rinshin on November 03, 2014

    Sorry I tried this one. It was lame and chicken too dry for my taste.

• Lemon cake with fresh raspberry buttercream

  • julesamomof2 on July 02, 2018

    This was an epic failure. Partially my fault, but I also think the frosting recipe is flawed. There is no way you can pour boiling liquid into whipped egg whites and have the whole thing cool down in 5 minutes. I knew when I started added the butter it was going to melt and it did. No way to salvage this one.

• Easy cranberry apple cake (Cook the Book)

  • julesamomof2 on August 19, 2017

    I made this for Thanksgiving a couple of year ago and, for how simple a cake it is (almost too simple for Thanksgiving--which deserves a showstopper) everyone loved it. Rave reviews!

• The best egg salad

  • macfadden on May 21, 2017

    Delicious! Steaming the eggs as Serious Eats suggests rather than boiling them is brilliant. They were much easier to peel this way.

• Tomato and bread soup (Tuscan pappa al pomodoro)

  • macfadden on March 18, 2016

    This stuff is fantastic. I found my vegetable broth made it a bit on the salty side, so next time I will cut it with some water.

• Leftover mashed potato biscuits (Sunday Brunch)

  • Zosia on December 01, 2013

    Excellent end use of leftover mashed potatoes. The biscuits baked up tender and fluffy rather than flaky, had a good neutral flavour and didn't dry out as quickly as most. They were done in 18 minutes at 400F (misread the temperature setting but it worked out)

• Rigatoni with cauliflower, pecorino, hot pepper, and bread crumbs (Cook the Book)

  • Zosia on January 21, 2014

    Delicious end use for basic pantry ingredients and a head of cauliflower. I included the juice from the canned tomatoes so didn't require any pasta cooking water, and increased the crumb topping (1 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup pecorino, kept the butter the same). Will definitely make again.

• Not your abuelita's tortillas

  • Zosia on December 14, 2013

    These were great! Easy-to-make and far superior to any corn-wheat tortilla from the grocery store. The smaller ones tended to puff up like pitas so I made most of them the 8" size, rolling the dough thinner.

• Crispy potato, onion, and mushroom rösti

  • Zosia on March 12, 2014

    This was really quite delicious but I had trouble keeping it together. It survived the first flip onto a plate then back into the pan but the final slide onto a cutting board wasn't going to happen so I served it directly from the pan.

• Chicken Bolognese

  • Zosia on June 05, 2017

    A few unusual ingredients (soy sauce, anchovies and gelatin) help transform extra lean ground chicken into a meaty tasting sauce with the rich flavour and silky texture of a long-simmered sauce in just over an hour. A family favourite.

• Warm couscous salad with salmon and mustard-dill dressing

  • Zosia on October 02, 2016

    This dish was easy to put together and had very fresh bright flavours. I left the salmon filets whole rather than breaking them up and mixing them in and doubled the spinach (it was still barely noticeable).

• Leftover turkey "carnitas"

  • Zosia on December 28, 2015

    This was a novel way to use up boiled turkey scraps after making stock for the freezer and family loved it.

• Warm kale and caramelized mushroom salad

  • Zosia on November 27, 2016

    My bounty of mushrooms and kale was used to great effect in this simple recipe. Adding sherry to the mushrooms was a nice touch that elevated the flavours of the salad.

• Duck breast (Sous-vide 101)

  • bching on January 28, 2018

    Duck breast has long been my favorite meal--at home or in a restaurant. Just tried this method and will never cook duck breast any other way. Seared it in the broiler after I removed it from the sous-vide bag and the breast was still perfectly rare.

  • wodtke on January 26, 2018

    About 15 years ago I had duck breast at an excellent restaurant with a skilled chef -- in Mason City, Iowa! The duck breast was exceptionally tender and flavorful. Since then I've cooked duck breast a few times, always trying to duplicate the dish in Mason City, without success. Always chewy! Tried sous vide, and that's the answer, and I have no doubt that's how the Mason City chef was doing them. This recipe is perfect -- the standard for duck breasts.

• Farro, white bean, and preserved lemon salad (Dinner Tonight)

  • bching on December 10, 2016

    We liked this a lot. I froze some beans and farro and they thawed well for another round of this. It makes a great lunch.

  • Rutabaga on February 18, 2016

    The preserved lemon really makes this dish stand out; the flavor is excellent. I added more olive oil to the finished dish, and the richness was a great compliment to the funk and salt of the lemon. I also left out the leek and used more garlic. The strong flavors really blended well together and made complimented the beans and farro.

• Crisp-skinned roast goose and gravy

  • bching on December 26, 2015

    The dry brining really enhanced the flavor; on the other hand, I don't think it made that skin any crisper than regular roasting does.

• Pickled kumquats

  • bching on February 03, 2018

    Lovely balance of sweet, sour, and bitter. I first tasted kumquat pickles at Aunt Catfish restaurant in Northeast Florida. So glad I found out how to make them.

• Ramp drop biscuits

  • bching on April 24, 2017

    Lovely flavor and texture. These were delicious right out of the oven and even better a few hours later when the allium flavor was more intense.

• Super-simple tangy buttermilk coleslaw

  • bching on March 06, 2017

    Very good and easy to make coleslaw. I subbed horseradish for mustard but otherwise followed the recipe. Note that although you salt the cabbage you do not have to squeeze out the liquid.

• Spicy orecchiette with tuna, peas, and lemon

  • alisonkc on May 23, 2014

    I found this to be boring. Apparently I didn’t check the comments on this one before I made it; after the fact I saw that they recommend doubling the amount of tuna and etc called for. If I make this again, I’ll cut the amount of pasta in half and leave the rest of the amounts intact, as this made a lot of food, and I couldn’t eat it all. But, it was super easy.

• Spicy stir-fried tofu with coconut rice from 'The New Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone' (Cook the Book)

  • alisonkc on May 23, 2014

    Delicious! Also pretty easy and quick, particularly if you skip the 30 minute soak on the rice, which I did (mostly because I didn’t have time.) That didn’t seem to adversely affect the rice too much – if the internet is to be believed, the soaking mainly affects the flavor. And since you are not exactly eating this rice plain, I don’t think it really matters. Anyway. The tofu didn’t really get crispy, but it turned out well. I might try baking it next time to see what that does. But this was a really delicious meal, I enjoyed it. Only change I might make is to adjust the rice-to-tofu ratio, as I had a bunch of rice left over.

• Maple cranberry applesauce

  • danibattle on June 06, 2017

    added some roasted rhubarb - we'll see how that tastes!

• Roast beef hash (Dinner Tonight)

  • wodtke on June 14, 2017

    My standard recipe for leftover roast beef. Delicious and fairly easy. I cook the eggs by breaking them into depressions in the hash and then cooking for 6 minutes covered. Recommended.

• Monte Cristo sandwich (fried ham and Swiss with red currant jelly)

  • wodtke on April 21, 2017

    Not exactly a health food recipe, so you have to embrace the retro decadence, but man, is it delicious! Once a year, it won't kill you.

• Spicy chorizo and pinto bean chili

  • wodtke on March 06, 2016

    Excellent and pretty fast. I used purchased chorizo from a local artisan butcher, but making your own per the recipe doesn't sound hard. I used all the add-ins listed in the recipe, which make all the difference. Nice short-cut dish.

• Ground pork and corn congee (Chinese rice porridge)

  • wodtke on September 21, 2014

    This is pleasant enough, but not very interesting. Would strongly suggest using at least part chicken stock in place of the water, and adding some sriracha or other flavorful ingredient..

• Skirt steak with mushroom-cream pan sauce

  • wodtke on January 09, 2017

    Quick and delicious steak with mushroom sauce recipe. Halved the recipe, although with 3/4 the amount of steak; plenty of sauce, even so. Also started the sauce before searing the steaks, so as to avoid the "keep warm" step.

• All-American beef stew

  • wodtke on January 29, 2016

    As so often with Kenji's recipes, making this dish is considerably more complicated than a simple homey version. It does have the best beef gravy I've ever had, so there's that. All joking aside, this is a fabulous dish. Only problem I had was that my oven at 275 wouldn't maintain a simmer, so I had to up the temp a bit; even so, the meat took longer to become tender than specified. (Also, at the time I printed the recipe Kenji had neglected to tell us to add the thyme and bay leaves, making it mysterious when he then told us to take them out later on. AND he omitted the Worcestershire, both in the ingredients and the method. The recipe online now has been fixed.)

  • sldoug on February 21, 2016

    This recipe made for a tasty beef stew (despite my unintentionally doubling the tomato paste). I cooked everything on the stovetop (in my Dutch oven) after reading all the comments about the oven temperature being too low and while I successfully browned the meat, my pan was too full to brown anything else all that well. Next time I probably won't even try. I agree that the gravy/liquid is particularly good though, and the ratios of ingredients were just right. I'd definitely make this again.

• Scallops with pea purée and ham (Cook the Book)

  • mharriman on May 23, 2018

    I made this starter as a main entree using sea scallops instead of diver scallops. It was okay but not as delicious as I anticipated. My pea and mint purée was runnier than the hummus texture called for, mainly because my blender won’t blend dry ingredients without a bit of liquid at the bottom of the vessel. If I were to make this again, I’d either use my food processor or I’d start with a couple tablespoons of cooking water ( instead of a quarter cup) and see if that worked. Even so, the pea and mint purée didn’t do it for us as a flavor enhancer for the scallops. Maybe it’s a a better pairing with diver scallops, as called for!

• Steakhouse kebabs

  • mharriman on July 15, 2018

    Delicious! I used beef tenderloin steaks and cut them into chunks, substituted 1/2 cup red wine for the soy sauce, and added green bell peppers to the vegetable mix. Marinated in a gallon size plastic bag for three hours. Grilled kebabs on my stovetop using a LeCrueset skinny grill ( about 6 mins) and finished it off for one minute under bthe broiler. The result was juicy, tender, and flavorful. Served over wild rice and with a romaine and tomato salad.

• Pork adobo

  • Barb_N on March 10, 2016

    Have you ever had a craving for something you have never eaten? That was my motivation in finding this recipe. Definitely make it over at least 2 days in order to de-fat it. I served it with rice and eggplant steamed on top of the rice. Divine for a once in a while craving but not my usual fare. I will tuck this way for another day when I am feeling thin.

• Slow-roasted beef tenderloin

  • Barb_N on January 03, 2015

    This did result in an evenly cooked filet, and very tender. The recipe did not give any guidance as to how LONG to roast the meat, so I had to look elsewhere for guidance. Turns out the name is accurate- it takes about an hour, followed by a quick sear either on the stovetop or under the broiler.

• The best carne asada

  • Barb_N on June 19, 2016

    This recipe is very true to it's name. My first foray into cooking with dried chiles- the relatively short list of ingredients whizzed up in the blender made a complex, smoky marinade and sauce. Grilled at least 3 lb of skirt steak, looking forward to leftovers- alas there were none!

• Braised Chinese-style short ribs with soy, orange, and 5-spice powder

  • Barb_N on February 08, 2017

    This ended up with a mild flavor- orange predominantly. If I make it again I will at least double the 5 spice powder and ginger, or use crushed whole spices.

• Mark Bittman's pad Thai

  • RecipesLost on August 30, 2014

    Lacks soy sauce... Taste was a bit off. Followed recipe exactly.

• Sweet pea crostini (Cook the Book)

  • Rutabaga on April 02, 2018

    This is an easy-to-make, economical appetizer. Even with frozen peas, the flavor was very fresh. Instead of parmesan, I served it with a log of goat cheese, which was a good pairing. I think there is an error in the recipe, however - it calls for two 20 ounce bags of peas, and enormous amount! I used half that, and it still made a really substantial amount for an appetizer.

• Rosa Parks' 'Featherlite' peanut butter pancakes

  • Rutabaga on December 16, 2017

    These peanut butter pancakes are definitely meant for the peanut butter lover. My husband suggested chocolate chips would be a welcome addition for the peanut butter and chocolate combo fans. They are fluffy, yet rich, and I had to keep the heat fairly low to ensure they cooked all the way through without scorching. These are an excellent option for a breakfast dish that's a little different from the usual, yet still very easy to make, with ingredients many people likely keep on hand.

• Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and turkey hash (Thanksgiving Leftovers)

  • Rutabaga on November 29, 2015

    While I had leftover turkey, I made some more gravy and steamed some Yukon Gold potatoes in order to make this dish. My husband and I enjoyed it with chipotle chile sauce. I imagine fried eggs would be a great addition, but as my husband dislikes eggs, I left those out. The gravy definitely enhances what would otherwise be a fairly dry dish. I would make this again with leftovers, but probably wouldn't choose to make it otherwise, as I prefer bubble and squeak for a nice potato/cabbage side dish.

• Chorizo, potato, and mushroom tacos (Dinner Tonight)

  • Rutabaga on March 23, 2017

    This is an unusual taco filling. I made it to use up some ingredients that I already had on hand, including vegan "chorizo" and some cannellini beans. While it was pretty good when topped with salsa, avocado, and/or sour cream, it didn't stand out to me. It's unlikely I would make it again, as there are just so many tastier taco fillings from which to choose.

• Mario Batali's basic pasta dough

  • Rutabaga on November 03, 2015

    I decided to try this recipe since it gives a weight for the flour instead of imperial measurements. After adding four eggs, I found I did need additional flour. I also found that the pasta was not as tender as usual, but perhaps that was because I was in too much of a rush, and also didn't roll it as thinly as suggested. One thing I do like about this recipe, however, is that it makes just the right amount for many pasta based recipes.

• Chaat-spiced Chex mix

  • Rutabaga on February 04, 2018

    This is addictively tasty, at least for those who like some heat (for less heat, you could halve the amount of Kashmiri chile powder in the spice mix). And despite the long list of ingredients, it's not much more work to make than traditional Chex mix once you've made the spice mixture (which is well worth the trip to an Indian grocer, if you have one in your area). I couldn't find tamarind powder, so added a little tamarind paste to the butter mixture. Instead of bagel chips, I used an Indian snack called Bhujia, and also used Indian style puffed rice crackers. The chaat spices would also be fantastic on popcorn or other snacks.

• Perfect homemade pita bread

  • Rutabaga on September 29, 2016

    This a great weekday pita bread recipe. I made the dough in the morning, then stored it in the fridge until I came home in the evening, when I could let it rise again on the counter while I prepared dinner. On my baking steel on the upper rack, I found they cooked in only two minutes.

• Avocado toast with chipotle mayo, cotija cheese, cilantro, and lime

  • Rutabaga on May 30, 2016

    This is a great way to dress up avocado toast. The saltiness of the cotija plays especially well with the avocado. I used Mexican crema instead of chipotle mayonnaise, then spiced it up with habanero sauce. It was a hit with my five-year-old, too (minus the habanero).

• Avocado toast with cucumber, soy sauce, and shichimi togarashi

  • Rutabaga on July 14, 2016

    This is another tasty way to fancy up avocado toast. My husband found he preferred it sprinkled with furikake and only a light dash of shichimi togarashi, for a less spicy sandwich.

• Kale salad with glazed pumpkin seeds and hot cider vinaigrette from 'The New Vegetarian Cookbook for Everyone' (Cook the Book)

  • Rutabaga on November 05, 2017

    This was better than the last kale salad I made - no sugar in the dressing, so there's no way it could be too sweet. The pumpkin seeds are really delicious and I could definitely see making those just for snacking. The kids enjoyed pumpkin seeds seasoned with soy sauce only. The hot dressing tempers the kale well, but I added at least one additional tablespoon of apple cider dressing. The one tablespoon called for didn't give the salad enough tang.

• Smokehouse chickpeas 'n' greens salad from 'Salad Samurai' (Bake the Book)

  • Rutabaga on February 20, 2018

    Delicious! The chickpeas really had the "barbecue" flavor, even without the liquid smoke. To keep the flavor smokey, I used smoked Maldon salt, a fresh tin of smoked paprika, and my dad's maple syrup (which has just a hint of smokiness from cooking over an open fire). This vegan salad packs a lot of punch, and I think almost anyone would enjoy it. And for something that looks somewhat complex at first glance, it's actually pretty quick and easy to make.

• Crispy potato and chorizo tacos

  • Rutabaga on March 18, 2016

    These tacos are a nice change of pace. I used Field Roast brand vegan "chorizo", which worked very well here. It cooks quickly, and can easily be added into the pan with the potato a couple of minutes prior to serving. The crunchy chorizo contrasts nicely with the crisp and ceramy potatoes. We also topped with feta cheese. If you boil the cubed potato in advance, then the dish comes together in 15-20 minutes.

• Sichuan-style wontons in hot and sour vinegar and chili oil sauce (Suanla chaoshou)

  • Rutabaga on December 21, 2017

    These are fantastic wontons, even made with ground turkey, as I did (just be sure not to use white meat ground turkey). I made the dumplings a couple of days in advance and froze them. They still cooked through in about 6 minutes. The sauce is delicious, although numbingly spicy, what with the heady inclusion of Sichuan peppercorns. All in all, it's a winner.

• Carrot and chickpea salad with fried almonds

  • Rutabaga on November 17, 2015

    This salad was a hit with my husband, although not with our four-year-old. It's definitely one for cilantro fans. My salad looked much greener than the photo, as the carrots and chickpeas are essentially coated in a flavorful, pesto-like dressing. Feta or green olives would also be good additions.

• Easy Greek chopped salad

  • Rutabaga on May 03, 2016

    This is a beautiful take on Greek salad. The addition of fresh mint and oregano really liven it up. It's also the kind of salad that would do well brought on a picnic.

• Fried chicken and cole slaw sandwiches

  • Rutabaga on June 11, 2017

    I followed this method for frying the chicken for sandwiches, but transformed them into "buffalo" chicken sandwiches by topping them with buffalo sauce, blue cheese dressing, pickles, and lettuce. The chicken itself was great - crunchy, with succulent, well-seasoned meat even though I only had time to brine it for two and a half hours. I would definitely follow this recipe again for fried chicken, especially as my husband prefers it without any skin and bone.

• Honey-balsamic roasted carrots from 'The Glorious Vegetables of Italy' (Cook the Book)

  • Rutabaga on May 23, 2017

    Nice and simple, this is a tasty way to roast carrots. It's a good recipe to turn to when you need an easy veggie dish to complete your meal.

• Top banana smoothie

  • Rutabaga on March 08, 2016

    This smoothie has great chocolate flavor with very little sugar. I used cocoa nibs, but good cocoa powder would probably work as a less expensive alternative. With nuts, bananas, and milk, it makes for a very well rounded breakfast-in-a-glass. I left out the cinnamon, as it didn't appeal to me, and used homemade chocolate hazelnut spread in place of Nutella.

• Triple garlic pasta with oven-dried tomatoes, olives, and bread crumbs

  • Rutabaga on November 07, 2015

    If you are looking for a vegan pasta dish that everyone will enjoy, this is a good one. I think I enjoyed it more than my husband (maybe he missed the cheese?), but really, the whole family ate it up. It's relatively quick to prepare if you roast the tomatoes in advance. This would also work with winter cherry tomatoes, since the roasting helps bring out the sweetness.

• Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki sauce and Greek salad

  • Rutabaga on May 03, 2016

    The marinade for this souvlaki is excellent. Since I didn't have time to fire up the grill, I cooked the chicken under the broiler. A few of my pieces were too small and dried out, so next time I'll be sure to stick with large bite-sized chunks. It's easy to throw the tzatziki together and toss the chicken in the marinade before work, making it a quick meal to assemble in the evening, especially under the broiler. I didn't make the accompanying salad, but served it with one that was similar.

• Arugula, apple, and pomegranate salad with cider-honey vinaigrette

  • Rutabaga on December 26, 2016

    This is a gorgeous easy salad, perfect for accompanying a simple winter meal of soup. The tang of the cider dressing, peppery arugula, and jewel-like pomegranate nicely complement heavier dishes.

• Ina Garten's turkey, sausage, and prosciutto meatballs

  • Rutabaga on May 16, 2017

    My son requested spaghetti with meatballs for his birthday meal, so I decided to give these a try. I'm glad I did; as someone who doesn't eat beef, this turkey and pork combination really hit the mark for flavorful, juicy meatballs that aren't too heavy. My son thought this was the best pasta ever (I left out the red pepper flakes especially for him), so this is definitely a recipe to revisit. Baking the meatballs ahead of time and using jarred sauce makes for an easy weeknight meal to pull together.

• Chicken red curry stir-fry with green beans

  • Rutabaga on August 26, 2016

    This is a great stir fry to put together in a flash. Made as directed, it's pretty spicy, so adjust the curry paste to taste. I didn't think my chicken would cook through in one minute, so I added it to the pan first, then added the beans (which were fresh haricots verts, and needed little cooking) when the chicken was almost done. I added a splach more water than I would have preferred, so the sauce didn't cling quite as well as in the photo. Having doubled the recipe, I would add no more than a half cup of water next time, if that.

• Barbecue chicken biscuit pull-apart with buttermilk ranch

  • Rutabaga on January 03, 2018

    This was a good way to use up a jar of Trader Joe's sriracha and roasted garlic BBQ sauce that had been sitting in the fridge. The sauce was too sweet on its own, but it was nicely balanced by the additional ingredients for the pulled chicken. The sandwiches were delicious - best, I think, with the addition of hot & spicy pickles. I used the Big Food Big Love basic biscuit recipe, which is very good although structurally a little soft. We had to eat the sandwiches with a knife and fork.

• Guava bars

  • Rutabaga on May 09, 2017

    These bars are quite tasty - really buttery, and the guava is a nice change of pace from the usual jam fillings. They're also very simple to put together, and a good option for anyone with either nut or egg allergies. Both of my kids really liked them.

• Spinach, pea, and feta cheese salad (Dinner Tonight)

  • Rutabaga on March 17, 2016

    Adding peas to a simple spinach salad is a really inspired idea. They pair wonderfully with the feta and lemon, making this an ideal salad to throw together at the last minute.

• Vermont maple-sweetened cornbread (Cook the Book)

  • Rutabaga on December 07, 2015

    Of all the cornbread recipes I have tried, this is our favorite. It balances a nice sweetness from the maple syrup with a beautiful crumbly cornbread texture, not dense and heavy like many sweet cornbreads tend to be. I tripled the recipe and cooked it for just 20 minutes, which was perfect. Like any cornbread, it's best straight from the oven, smeared with butter.

• Marinated carrots with mint

  • Rutabaga on June 08, 2016

    Marinated carrots are an idea make-ahead salad, and this one really does come together within 15 minutes. It's refreshing and tangy, and looks amazing when made with rainbow carrots.

• Brown butter cornbread

  • Rutabaga on December 04, 2017

    This cornbread had good flavor and texture, although unfortunately it didn't bake very evenly in my dark-hued cake pans (I really need to replace those!). Thinking they were done after 20 minutes because they were do nicely browned on top, I cut into one only to discover it was still raw in the middle. Back into the oven they went for an additional 15 minutes or so (that included some time while the oven was warming back up to temperature, as I need to serve one of them as quickly as possible at that point). Hopefully I will soon have a cast iron pan and can try it again with better results. But if using cake pans, they should probably be preheated; mine were not.

• Salted caramel-chocolate pudding cake

  • Rutabaga on November 20, 2016

    The method for making this pudding cake was unlike any other dessert I've tried. Sprinkling dry powder over caramel mixed with flour, then dousing it all with instant coffee felt odd. Fortunately, it was delicious, a mix of soft, light cake and thick, luscious chocolate caramel sauce together in one pan. Vanilla ice cream, as suggested, was the perfect accompaniment.

• Grilled pork chops marinated in mojo (Dinner Tonight)

  • CindyinOttawa on April 11, 2017

    Easy and tasty. I grilled these on the barbeque...used the same timing and they were perfect. I basted them in the marinade while grilling. Next time I would marinate them longer (I only did them for 30 minutes). I didn't taste the cumin at all, so would add a bit more next time.

• Deviled eggs carbonara (Crispy pancetta, pork fat, Parmesan crisps, and black pepper)

  • Cpeterson729 on December 09, 2014

    So good - made for thanksgiving and these were gone instantly. Highly recommend and will def make over and over again.

• Pressure cooker French onion soup

  • stef on January 18, 2016

    This soup had wonderful flavour. Although I would cut down the time to cook onions to 10 minutes

• Lazy asparagus omelet (Sunday Brunch)

  • Foodycat on May 07, 2016

    Very nice. I had very skinny asparagus, so I didn't pre-cook it, I just let it cook a little in the melted butter before I poured the eggs on. This method (finishing under the grill) is my preferred method for omelettes anyway because my husband doesn't like the baveuse middle in a French omelette, but the combination of buttery eggs, fresh new season asparagus and creamy taleggio cheese is excellent.

• Chicken meatball soup (Sopa de albóndigas de pollo)

  • adelina on May 30, 2016

    I thought this soup was different than what I'm used to and I gave it a try. It was really comforting. To simply, used a rotisserie chicken and store bought broth. I also spiced up the broth by adding cloves, anise and cinnamon. I processed the chicken for the meatballs to help save time in shredding and make it easier to make balls. The only change ill make next time is to add some garnishment at the end.

• Gluten-free cornmeal cake

  • sarahawker on August 16, 2016

    Made this for a group with several non-gluten eaters. I added the lemon peel, which smells amazing. it's a rather "dry" cake but it looks gorgeous. I will add a lemon curd next time to serve on the side.

• Cheddar chipotle scones (Healthy & Delicious)

  • babyfork on September 04, 2015

    I used regular sour cream and cheddar, not low-fat as written in the recipe. I also sprinkled more shredded cheddar and some smoked paprika on top at about the 20 minute mark. They probably would have earned another star if served warm, but I baked them late in the evening to serve the next day at a work breakfast function. They were good, but I didn't feel like the chipotle flavor came through much. Adding some crumbled bacon into the mix would make these better.

• Peach Melba jam

  • babyfork on June 08, 2015

    Made this using very ripe organic Suncrest peaches and organic raspberries. Used Ball® RealFruit® Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin. Just made it, so not sure how the set will be until I open a jar, but the flavor was really good and it's a beautiful color! 9/15 Update: I won a blue ribbon for this jam at the 2015 Marin County Fair. Color has begun to fade already, so this is one to give away or use promptly. Flavor good, but I feel the vanilla flavor is a bit too much. Will leave out if I make again. A sweet jam. Set was good.

• Andrew Carmellini's lamb chili with chickpeas and raita

  • babyfork on September 24, 2015

    I'd give this 4 stars. Husband and kid loved it though, so 4.5 stars here. Followed the recipe exactly. I used a homemade chicken broth with no added salt, so I did find that I had to add a good amount of salt at the end when I was adjusting the seasoning. Even with that, the next day I thought it still needed a bit more salt. This is not spicy at all. In fact, the only slight heat detected comes from the cayenne in the raita. I'm not quite sure the long cooking time was necessary for this. I think I'd try cutting back on the amount of broth next time. Never really thickened up despite 2.5 hours on the stove. Served as suggested over rice, topped with the raita and fresh cilantro.

• Spicy Aztec hot chocolate with chili, cinnamon, and mezcal

  • babyfork on March 01, 2017

    I'm not rating since I didn't have the ancho chile on hand and didn't add the mezcal. But followed the recipe otherwise with just a pinch of cayenne added. Made a rich, bittersweet hot chocolate. Much more of an adult hot chocolate than for kids even without the booze added. Topped with whipped cream and a dusting of ground cinnamon. I would like to try this again with the ancho and mezcal added. I did add some Zaya aged rum to a portion to try and that was very tasty.

• Jeff Koehler's Moroccan grilled lamb kefta brochettes

  • babyfork on September 13, 2015

    Used half beef and half lamb. Next time would try 1 lb lamb and 1/2 lb beef so the lamb flavor comes through more. I thought 1 tbsp salt might be too much and also used half the cinnamon, but next time would use the full amount suggested in the recipe. Very good. Will make again.

• Sweet and moist Northern-style cornbread

  • babyfork on January 04, 2017

    This recipe delivers exactly what it promises...a sweet and moist Northern-style cornbread. We ate it warm out of the oven with butter and honey to accompany Hoppin' John to start off January 2017. And it was good the next day at room temperature as well. The only change I made was to use a tablespoon of bacon fat to coat the skillet instead of butter. Otherwise followed the recipe and it turned out great. This will be my go-to cornbread recipe from now on.

• Crispy broiled scallops and chorizo

  • Jtorpey on April 28, 2015

    This didn't come out as I expected. Next time I will use dried Chorizo.

• Dan dan noodles (Dinner Tonight)

  • kmcdonell on February 22, 2017

    Replace stock with mock chicken stock (Massel brand is good), and mince with TVP or brown lentils, to make this recipe vegan.

• Rice cakes with chili paste, fermented black bean, and sichuan peppercorn

  • thecharlah on February 11, 2015

    I really liked this recipe. The rice cakes nicely absorb the "mala" flavors, and the sausage adds an extra bit of umami. I enjoyed the mix of textures, too. Definitely going to make this one again!

• Simple grilled potato salad with grilled lemon vinaigrette

  • stephengk on June 15, 2016

    Simple dish but excellent results Great texture contrast. Good way to use up left over new potatoes.

• Devils on horseback

  • rmorse on December 30, 2017

    I cooked this for a retro party and they all disappeared quickly (surely a good sign). Not entirely fashionable, but people still like to eat them!

• Roasted beet and citrus salad with ricotta and pistachio vinaigrette

  • rmorse on December 12, 2017

    The combination of the beets, citrus and ricotta is amazing. This is definitely being added to my "favourites".

• Forget Iron Chef: I judged the Battle of the Briskets (Cranberry Brisket)

  • mamacrumbcake on July 27, 2016

    This is comfort food: homey, tasty, not fussy, the kind of dish that appeals to most everyone. My brisket was not tender in the time called for in the recipe, so you might need to allow for more time. The prep is minimal--you don't even have to brown the meat. This would be equally nice with mashed potatoes or served in sandwiches.

• Cold tomato and tarragon soup (French in a Flash)

  • mamacrumbcake on July 27, 2016

    Lovely. Use the best tomatoes you have because they are the star of this soup. The fresh tarragon and sweet tomatoes go so well together. The mouth feel is very creamy, I think due to the generous amount of olive oil (1/2 cup). This is an uncooked soup and very nice to make when it's too hot to turn on the stove. Instead of mixing the breadcrumbs into the soup, we put homemade croutons on top.

• Easy pan-roasted chicken breasts with white wine and fines herbes pan sauce

  • mamacrumbcake on June 02, 2016

    The search for pan sauce ends right here! This is a deeply flavorful sauce--homey and luxurious all at the same time. It is the kind of food that makes you feel well-loved. (Though I love my husband and children, I regretted that I had to share.??) I used a dinner roll to mop up the extra sauce and the flavor reminded me of Thanksgiving.

• Caponata from 'River Cottage Veg' (Cook the Book)

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on June 16, 2017

    Nice, but not as I remember caponata from Italy. I'll be trying again with other recipes.

• Puff pastry plum tarts

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on July 21, 2018

    Very easy and not too bad, used puff pastry from the freezer.

• Classic fresh egg pasta

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on May 11, 2017

    Easy and good recipe, made with the Kitchenaid

• Lidia Bastianich's Swiss chard crostata

  • ShovelBum7 on March 26, 2015

    On the TV episode for this recipe, Lidia didn't add marjoram, so I would assume it is optional if you do not have it or cannot locate it in your store.

• The best crab cakes

  • Bethcote on April 08, 2015

    Made this for easter and served on top of David Lebovitz's fennel, radish, orange salad. Perfect meal! To make it Paleo I used almond flour mixed with arrowroot powder (2/3-1/3) and ghee/grapeseed oil. It worked beautifully.

• Chicken Parmesan (Dinner Tonight)

  • sldoug on March 19, 2016

    I followed this recipe for the sauce (although I increased the sugar) and most of the technique (slicing the breasts into cutlets, mainly), but I used the Joy of Cooking recipe for breaded chicken cutlets (with panko and lots of fresh rosemary). I also added half of the sauce to the cooked spaghetti, and then poured the rest into a shallow dish and coated the cooked cutlets in it before topping them with the cheeses and then serving over the spaghetti. Such a delicious flavor combination but I continue to prefer jarred sauce over any sauce I make from scratch. I wish that wasn't the case, but I can't deny it!

• Make ahead roasted squash and kale salad with spiced nuts, cranberries, and maple vinaigrette

  • sldoug on November 27, 2015

    Made for Thanksgiving 2015. Followed the recipe but used dried cherries instead of dried cranberries. This was a fiddly recipe with lots of steps but I was eager to make something with butternut squash and the make ahead promise was exciting. Despite the recipe's claim that it improves with time, I did not find that to be the case. We all liked it freshly made but the kale's bitterness took over the dish the next day and much of the spiciness had melted off the pecans. It was the least popular dish on my table.

• Juicy and tender poached chicken with watercress and miso dressing

  • sldoug on April 02, 2016

    I followed this recipe only for the poaching method, which worked really well. I used three boneless chicken breasts but otherwise followed the method (including the ginger and scallion since I was using the chicken in an complementary preparation). I used a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature and after initially heating on high, I reduced the heat once I got around 150 degrees and kept the temp at about 160. After an hour the breasts were perfectly cooked and nicely juicy and tender. I served it sliced over brown rice and under and thick blanket of peanut sauce and veggies. Yum!

• Japanese chicken skewers with scallion (Negima yakitori)

  • sldoug on June 26, 2016

    This was a tasty recipe, but I'm not sure it was all that much better than anything I could have come up with on my own. The scallions were so hidden by the chicken that they didn't really cook, just softened slightly into unpleasant chewiness. I used bottled teriyaki sauce since my grocery store annoyingly stopped selling mirin, so really, all I got from this recipe was the technique. Aside from realizing that I could compact small enough pieces of chicken on a skewer and still cook it through without over cooking, this recipe didn't give me much.

• Bacon fat gingersnaps (Bake the Book)

  • jecca on August 21, 2016

    The best gingersnaps I've ever had. Crispy but not crunchy and perfectly spiced. Leave out the salt though, because the bacon fat is salty enough.

• Chocolate dipped almond horns

  • annmartina on January 03, 2017

    The Kahler Hotel in Rochester, MN used to make these. Angelo Brocato's Italian Ice Cream and Pastry shop in New Orleans still makes them.

• Black pepper tofu

  • annmartina on March 30, 2016

    You might be tempted to hold back on some of the ingredients, but this is definitely a recipe to go all-in on. A lot of strong flavors but it all works beautifully. Allow a little more time than you would for your typical stir-fry because of frying the tofu.

• Light and easy 5-minute fruit mousse

  • annmartina on February 16, 2018

    Used lakanto sweetener and frozen dark sweet cherries for a 0 point WeighWatchers treat. Almost like melting sherbet. Amazingly good. Also literally takes minutes to make

• Stir-fried beef with kale and frisée in black bean sauce

  • cenapuellarum on July 08, 2015

    Very bland.

• Zucchini and roasted tomatoes with pasta and dried olive flavor shake

  • cenapuellarum on July 03, 2015

    The olive shake, if you aren't vegan, isn't as good as parmesan and is the most labor intensive part of the recipe by far.

• Spinach strata with sage and Gruyere (Eat for Eight bucks)

  • e_ballad on July 22, 2017

    Only so-so. The recipe worked, but we didn't find it flavourful enough to warrant a repeat outing.

• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Citrus-braised lamb shanks (Sunday Supper)

  • e_ballad on April 09, 2017

    This can also be found in the River Cottage Meat Book. This was ok but didn't wow us. I used a whole lot more zest & citrus juice to finish the dish, but even then the flavours seemed muted. Based on an EYB note from the original source, I increased the cooking time to 4 hours & the texture was perfect, just falling off the bone.

• Roasted chicken and butternut squash soup (Dinner Tonight)

  • e_ballad on June 10, 2017

    Hmm, roasting medium-diced onion for 30mins at 220°C? Cremation?? I used some left-over roast chook, roasted the pumpkin & sautéed the onions. Granted there was deviation from the recipe method, but this was a very bland affair, despite chook that was more flavoursome than the original recipe (lots more aromatics & seasoning). Can't recommend...

• Quark custard strudel (Milchramstrudel) (Cook the Book)

  • e_ballad on June 24, 2017

    Ick. Too sweet for our liking. More problematic was that despite cooking for considerably longer than the time specified, the texture & form simply never came together. Steer clear.

• Baked apple cinnamon oatmeal

  • e_ballad on October 28, 2016

    Tastier baked oatmeal dishes out there than this particular recipe. Still prefer Heidi Swanson's recipe so far.

• Butternut squash and sage cream sauce

  • e_ballad on June 17, 2017

    Very easy, very tasty, devoured by the whole family. A definite keeper!

• Pearly meatballs (Chinese pork meatballs with glutinous rice)

  • e_ballad on August 04, 2017

    These were very quick & easy, though despite the ingredients, I wasn't too wowed by the flavour. Also the glutinous rice quantity is WAY off - halve it at least.

• Roasted butternut squash, kale, and lemon soup

  • e_ballad on June 24, 2017

    Not the most enjoyable pumpkin soup I've tasted. The roasted lemons held promise, but I think the kale overpowered the other flavours.

• Chestnut sage muffins

  • e_ballad on July 03, 2017

    The texture of these were fantastic, but the sage was indiscernible, despite inadvertently allowing the sage to infuse for a longer period than recommended. As a spiced muffin, I would imagine that these would be really great.

• Asian chicken noodle salad with ginger-peanut dressing (Serious Salads)

  • Frogcake on February 26, 2017

    We loved this Asian noodle salad, which I made a bit crunchier by replacing the red pepper with chopped Savoy cabbage. It's not a spicy salad -perfect balance of Asian flavours here with the peanut a bit more pronounced but not overly so. I didn't have any salted peanuts using salted cashews instead. Will make this again. Could also use nigella seeds in place of the sesame. Very nice for a packed lunch if there are any leftovers.

• The best strawberry ice cream

  • Frogcake on June 18, 2017

    A deliciously , creamy ice cream with intense strawberry taste! I forgot to add the corn syrup that also would have helped to de-ice the ice cream. However, I used strawberries that had already been macerated in sugar. (Probably would have been too sweet with the corn syrup.) I also replaced the alcohol with two tablespoons of vanilla. (The alcohol would have also helped on the de-icing.) There were no complaints from my family about the consistency despite these omissions/alternative approaches.

  • anya_sf on June 10, 2018

    Made exactly as written (using Cointreau), although my strawberries weren't as flavorful as they could have been. The ice cream was quite soft after churning, but hardened a lot in the freezer. The strawberry chunks did get icy, so next time I'd cut them even smaller. The ice cream itself was creamy and smooth, although it needed a while to soften, since it's more watery/less fatty than some ice creams. Great, bright strawberry flavor. Quite sweet though. My son thought it was perfect.

• Italian braised veal shanks (Osso buco) with gremolada

  • Frogcake on January 01, 2018

    I made this last night for New Year’s Eve dinner. Wonderful tastes! Everyone loved it! I served the osso buco on a bed of buttered millet. So convenient to prep beforehand and let it braise for a few hours while you are enjoying the celebrations. I reduced the oven temp to 300 Fahrenheit and lengthened the braising time by half an hour. There’s a few cups of savoury braising sauce left that I will transform into a pasta sauce.

• Big-deal kale and pancetta quiche (The Crisper Whisperer: What to do with too much kale)

  • Agaillard on April 13, 2016

    Indeed an interesting way to use kale which changes a bit. Although I would completely review the proportions : I used 200g of kale which is what I had. Also 6 eggs sounded like too much. So instead I used a French recipe for savoury custard that uses just 2 eggs + 2 yolks. Though I still found there was too much kale, the overall dish was pleasant to eat. The recipe I used for the custard can be found here (in French, but easy to translate with the pictures and not too many words) : http://chefsimon.lemonde.fr/gourmets/chef-simon/recettes/appareil-a-creme-prise-sale

• The best grilled hot dogs

  • Agaillard on April 23, 2016

    Yummy! I will not make hot dogs another way now :) I made a bit of a "Franglish" variation, using baguette, Alsace knacks, Roscoff onions, and British craft beer (using this recipe for hot dog onions : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/218797/hot-dog-onions/). I LOVED it :) The beer tip, makes all the difference - the sausages are all juicy and flavourful, but still have that chargrilled smokiness. Perfection.

  • Agaillard on September 02, 2017

    Made again for all the family, using Alsace knacks again (we were in Alsace!). Everyone loved it ! Especially the onions which I made from scratch with fresh onions, coooked them with olive oil and slightly candied them before adding the beer and reducing all the juices with the sausages. I used Leffe this time for the beer

• Polish cabbage, potato, and bacon casserole

  • alex9179 on June 04, 2016

    Modified using 12 oz package of regular cut bacon, moistened with heavy cream, used Gouda, and sprinkled bread crumbs on top only. Served with spinach/potato pierogi. Incredibly tasty and a definite repeat.

• Easy no-knead olive-rosemary focaccia with pistachios

  • alex9179 on December 31, 2016

    An incredibly easy and delicious bread that has become a favorite. The mixture seems very dry, at first, but the water and flour turn into the slack dough you want for those holes.

• Easy one-pot, no-knife, lighter tuna noodle casserole

  • puddlemere on April 16, 2018

    Not mind-blowing, but hit all the right notes that you expect from a tuna noodle casserole and easy enough that I think it's still worth making again. I didn't have potato chips, but I sauteed some panko breadcrumbs in a little butter and topped with those instead.

• Salisbury steak with mushroom brown gravy

  • EmmaJaneDay on July 03, 2017

    These were delicious, but huge. And they don't work as well when you make them smaller. The gravy is sublime

• Grilled Korean bulgogi burgers with kimchi mayo and pickled daikon

  • EmmaJaneDay on July 03, 2017

    Oh wow, this was delicious! And so easy!

• Easy pressure cooker pork chile verde

  • clcorbi on February 03, 2018

    This is good, and certainly quick to throw together, but I wasn't wowed by the result. I think next time I'd take the time to reduce the sauce once it's been blended; it was very thin which made this hard to scoop into tacos without making a huge mess. I will say that although I was hesitant to add fish sauce (even though I know it's a Kenji standard), I did appreciate the umami richness it added!

• Chile-rubbed London broil (Dinner Tonight)

  • rionafaith on December 05, 2016

    This smelled incredible while cooking, but upon eating I thought this was just okay. I'm not really a beer drinker, so I just used a can that my boyfriend had left in my fridge, which turned out to be Sixpoint Bengal -- which is probably not a dark beer (idk), but I didn't feel like making a special trip to the store. I marinated for about an hour and a half. The steak ended up fairly tender for such a cheap cut, and the technique and timing yielded a nice temperature steak, but I found the taste lacking. I feel like that could be the fault of my chili powder, but I was hoping for more complex flavors. I think a rub with some other spices included would be much more interesting.

• The Cheese Board Collective's lemon vinaigrette dressing

  • rionafaith on June 01, 2017

    Bright, fresh, tasty, and quick. Was great on a kale salad.

• Easy pie dough

  • rionafaith on July 22, 2018

    Made this as the crust for the Serious Eats Spinach & Goat Cheese Quiche. Not my favorite recipe as it requires dirtying the food processor AND another large bowl -- I prefer recipes where the water is added in the food processor at well and I don't understand why this is transferred first and then mixed by hand at the end -- I guess to avoid overworking the dough? Unnecessary, in my opinion. It made a nice flaky crust but not any better than other more straightforward techniques I've used. Have the other half already rolled out in the freezer now for something else!

• Alton Brown's sardine-avocado sandwiches

  • rionafaith on March 24, 2017

    Super tasty twist on avocado toast. I halved all the ingredients, except I used a whole small avocado, to make two open-faced sandwiches for just myself. This proved to be a very filling breakfast -- I think the same quantities would feed two easily, and my bf would love this so I'll share with him next time.

• Roasted cauliflower with capers (Dinner Tonight)

  • rionafaith on June 01, 2017

    Yes, the capers end up looking burnt, but this is still tasty. Very simple though, not really any more exciting than plain roasted cauliflower. I used Romanesco this time to pretty it up a bit.

• Miso-ginger marinated salmon

  • rionafaith on February 20, 2017

    Very good, and quick! I used awase miso instead of white miso which was totally fine. 5 mins under the broiler was perfect. Served with simple stir-fried choy sum.

• Grilled chicken and cabbage salad with creamy tahini dressing

  • rionafaith on February 11, 2018

    Tasty veggie-packed version of chicken salad. I omitted the fresh mint as my grocery store was apparently out? I served this with some avocado in collard green wraps and it's going to make great lunches for work this week.

  • anya_sf on March 21, 2017

    Overall, the flavor was fantastic. Don't skip the fresh herbs. I marinate the garlic in the lemon juice for a few minutes before mixing with everything else, which helps tame its bite, but would still use a bit less. I reduced the amount of onion, as I also don't care for too much raw onion. The sharpness mellows a bit if made ahead.

• Spicy Mexican shredded chicken (Easy one-pot chicken tinga)

  • rionafaith on January 24, 2017

    Very good! After reading some of the comments about the dish being too saucy, I reduced for about 20 minutes instead of just five, and I think that helped. There was still plenty of extra sauce though which was delicious spooned over rice. If I were using this as a filling for tacos or something, I would probably add another whole chicken breast and leave all the other ingredient quantities the same to even out the ratio a bit. Two chipotles was the perfect heat level for me!

• Japanese simmered beef and rice bowls (Gyudon)

  • rionafaith on August 29, 2016

    Very simple with basic pantry ingredients (if you keep things like sake in your fridge like me) with big flavor. Only one thing I would change next time: I bought thinly sliced chuck steaks since I couldn't find anything thinner/more appropriate at the grocery today, and then pounded them to about 1/8" thick before cutting into bite-sized pieces. It worked okay, but I think using an actual shaved steak would be much better as some of the thicker pieces were a tad chewy. Still, this was great and I'll definitely make again. Served over sushi rice with some sautéed baby bok choy as I wanted more veggies, sliced scallions, pickled ginger (the pink sushi kind as I didn't have red), a poached egg, and Japanese togarashi chili seasoning. Fantastic mix of flavors and very filling.

• Vegan Southern-style collard greens with mushrooms

  • rionafaith on April 04, 2017

    I actually used a homemade bone broth for this, so mine wasn't vegan, but I'm sure this would be just as good with a really good veggie stock. I added 4 cloves of garlic (couldn't believe there wasn't any listed among the ingredients!) and I would double the paprika next time as it was very subtle. I didn't add the extra oil at the end and didn't miss it. Served with homemade hot pepper vinegar instead of cider vinegar.

• Whole roasted fish with oregano, parsley, and lemon

  • rionafaith on March 23, 2017

    Perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious. I used a small branzino that was a bit under a pound and it made a filling solo meal.

• Warm Brussels sprout salad with bacon and hazelnut vinaigrette

  • rionafaith on March 16, 2017

    Quick, easy, and delicious -- very nice mixture of flavors and textures. I might try toasting the hazelnuts next time, but it's not necessary as the hot bacon fat kind of toasts them when mixing the vinaigrette. Curious how this would be cold as well, but there were no leftovers so I'll have to wait until next time!

  • rionafaith on March 20, 2017

    I made this again, just days afterwards, since it was so good the first time and I still had some brussels sprouts in the fridge. This time I added a de-seeded, minced bird's eye chili and that slight bit of heat made it even better. New favorite.

• Sichuan roast leg of lamb with celery-mint salad

  • rionafaith on December 30, 2016

    I only made the lamb, not the salad. But wow, amazing flavor and so easy! I only let the spice rub sit on the lamb for about 3 hours, more would probably be even better. I used regular red pepper flakes, not Thai, and I used the shank end half of a leg rather than sirloin because it was on sale -- however it was too big to fit in my drawer-style broiler, so I just cranked the oven to 450* or so at the very end for about 15 mins to brown the outside, and it worked great. The timing/temperatures were absolutely perfect, yielding a beautiful medium rare in the middle and closer to medium at the ends. Will absolutely make this again!!!

• Buddha's delight (Lo hon jai)

  • rionafaith on November 29, 2017

    Nice variety of textures in this. I substituted Thai sweet black soy (Healthy Boy brand) for the kecap manis, which I think is a pretty close substitution, but I did find the flavor of the sauce a bit lacking. Or maybe there just wasn't enough sauce, and it was rather thin? I ended up drizzling some more black soy and some sriracha over the top afterwards, which was fine. I'll probably use this combination of ingredients for a stir-fry again but may look for a sauce recipe that I prefer.

• Mile End's gribenes and schmaltz (Cook the Book)

  • rionafaith on August 21, 2017

    Made with the leftover skin from a batch of chicken thighs, which ended up being about a 1/2 lb. I skipped the freezing step and instead just snipped the skin into strips using kitchen shears, which made it very easy.

• Potato, spinach, and goat cheese quiche

  • rionafaith on July 22, 2018

    Delicious! I used feta instead of goat cheese as I already had it in the fridge.

• Kimchi chicken and cabbage stir-fry

  • rionafaith on December 05, 2017

    Totally screwed up and bought daikon kimchi at the store, so I used that as well as a tiny bit of regular cabbage kimchi I already had in the fridge. I also used boneless skinless thighs instead of breasts. Cooked the ingredients in a different order, too -- I started with the chicken to get it mostly cooked, then added the cabbage, and added the kimchi last as I didn't want the daikon to get too soft. I used 1 tsp fish sauce and 2 tsp gochujang but think it could take more next time. I really liked the flavor of this though, and will make again -- as written with cabbage kimchi next time, as I think the texture will be better.

• Mexican cabbage slaw (Quick curtido)

  • rionafaith on January 24, 2017

    This is good as a topping for tacos, etc. (I made it to go with chicken tinga), but it's a little bit plain for eating on its own. Slightly more brine might help? It was barely enough to distribute among the vegetables.

• Green chile chicken nachos

  • julietmcnally on April 28, 2017

    If not making homemade chips, make sure you buy the really thick kind, like the Whole Foods store-made chips. These nachos are heavy!

• Basic hummus from 'Jerusalem' (Cook the Book)

  • Smokeydoke on November 26, 2016

    I'm not a hummus expert, all I knew was this was delicious! Comments on the website say there's too much tahini, but I loved the tahini. Bring it on! If anything, I'd say the fresh garlic was a bit overpowering, but maybe they will temper with time. I didn't mind, I love garlic!

• Sautéed salmon with potatoes and creamy anchovy sauce

  • Smokeydoke on July 14, 2017

    This was ok. The potatoes and salmon was bland (duh) but the anchovy sauce did perk it up. My only complaint was the huge disparity, it's a bite of bland food, then pow, a punch of salty umami sauce. It's disconcerting. It's fairly easy to make and healthy but I doubt it will be a repeater at the Smokey household.

• BLT sandwiches with candied bacon, lettuce, and tomato jam

  • lizbot2000 on September 03, 2017

    Outrageously good. The tomato jam on its own is great, but with the candied bacon it's bonkers good. I had leftovers of both that I added to some pasta salad, which was also great.

• Frito salad from 'The Homesick Texan's Family Table' (Cook the Book)

  • lizbot2000 on May 13, 2018

    This was pretty good. It really does feel like a Texan fattoush. My kids, who refuse to eat vegetables, actually willingly ate some of this (even the lettuce! they spat out the tomatoes, but hey, it's progress).

• Sweet-and-sour grilled chicken skewers (Yakitori nanbansu)

  • lizbot2000 on September 30, 2017

    Very tasty and easy - just chucked some thighs in a ziplock with the marinade for most of the day, then grilled and done. Went really well with sesame green beans.

• Classic burgers and homemade hamburger buns

  • rogneby on March 04, 2017

    Great bun recipe

• Thick and juicy burgers

  • MeganGarcia on February 21, 2017

    I made smaller patties (6oz) and it could be my oven, but I had to turn it up to 250° and cook them longer than specified to get my burgers to medium. They were awesome burgers, though. Super juicy and tender. I'll start out with the oven hotter next time.

• Juicy sweet or hot Italian sausage

  • HalfSmoke on May 18, 2017

    I made the sweet version of this. I used pork shoulder and ground it myself. It is excellent as is, but I will likely tweak it a bit as I'm trying to reproduce a Chicago style sweet Italian sausage for pizza. Toward this end, I will reduce the garlic and marjoram by half and increase the fennel seed.

• Foolproof 2-minute Hollandaise

  • HalfSmoke on July 20, 2017

    Super easy hollandaise. However, 1/2 cup of butter and and egg yolk do NOT make 1-1/2 cups of sauce. Makes significantly less.

• Vanilla pudding

  • HalfSmoke on February 19, 2017

    This is a basic, but very good vanilla pudding. I skipped the ice bath and immersion blender, opting to let it chill in the fridge overnight with plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin. Worked fine and tasted great.

• Detroit-style pan pizza

  • HalfSmoke on July 01, 2018

    I made this exactly as called for in the recipe and the result was excellent. This is a very high Hydration dough, so flour on your hands will help with shaping. Don’t add more flour to the dough - this changes the hydration and the result. Brick cheese can be found online, as can a genuine Detroit style pan. Great ingredients and equipment yield great results here. Don’t skimp, take shortcuts, fold, spindle, or mutilate, and you will be rewarded.

  • anya_sf on May 28, 2018

    Finding brick cheese was challenging, but I was able to special order it through a local market. I used a combination of mild and aged brick cheese; I think either could work on its own. The dough was overly wet and sticky. I had to add more flour to get it to form anything remotely resembling a ball in my food processor, and it was challenging to remove from the bowl. But in the end, it produced a very delicious pizza. I used 8 oz pepperoni and think 6 oz would be just fine. I love the crispy slices better and would probably use less underneath next time. I wouldn't cut back on the cheese though, as I love lots of cheese.

• Best shortbread in the world

  • Cookie24 on December 10, 2017

    Very good. The semolina adds a nice texture. The cookie is buttery and has a melt in your mouth feel, you can skip the dusting of sugar on top since the cookie is sweet enough. This is a keeper.

• Braided strawberry cheese bread

  • anya_sf on June 11, 2017

    I recommend viewing the "braiding" instructions on the KAF blog. I did not do that until it was too late, so my braid didn't work out quite so nicely, but after baking it still turned out OK. I believe the jam amount is a typo, as this recipe is 1/2 the KAF recipe, which would mean only 1/4 cup strawberry jam, not 1 cup. Still, I wanted more jam in mine, so I used maybe 1/3-1/2 cup for one braid (I did not measure the jam exactly, just spread it on). Don't use too much or the braid will leak. I assembled it the night before, refrigerated overnight, then finished rising and baking in the morning. It was fantastic and disappeared in a single day, which is pretty impressive, considering only 3 people live in my house.

• Madhur Jaffrey's shrimp biryani

  • anya_sf on February 17, 2018

    This recipe was very quick and easy. Soaking the rice adds 1/2 hour to the total time, but I think it's worth it to achieve the correct texture. I thought the biryani could use a little more flavor, although my son (who is generally afraid to try Indian food) liked it. I stirred in some frozen petite peas at the end and a bit of extra lemon juice and salt. Served it with Indian-spiced roasted cauliflower. Next time I'd add some ginger and more of the spices. Some cilantro chutney would be great as well.

• Orange pull-apart loaf

  • anya_sf on June 03, 2017

    These were good, lightly sweet. The best part is the crust, which has more of the melted sugar. The orange flavor is not that strong. I think I'd add some orange zest next time. I assembled it the night before, refrigerated overnight, then baked in the morning, which worked fine. My biggest problem was the pan and baking time. I used a 9" springform (wrapped in foil - very important) so the buns were not overly crowded in the pan; they fit just right, touching each other after rising. The recipe calls for 8" pan, which would lead to the taller buns shown in the photo, but I don't think would turn out as well. It was hard to tell when the rolls were done. I used a knife to peek between the center rolls and thought they were done after 45 min (not the 35 min stated in the recipe). However, upon cooling, I discovered that all the center rolls were still underdone, and only the rolls on the edges were fully baked. We enjoyed eating the edge pieces though.

• Colombian chicken stew with potatoes, tomato, and onion

  • anya_sf on March 05, 2018

    It was certainly easy. Total cooking time wasn't as fast as expected, since it took 25 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure, plus natural release took a while. Although I really wanted to doctor this up, I made it pretty much as written to see how it would turn out. I used canned diced tomatoes since fresh aren't in season, russet potatoes, and 4 chicken legs, separated into thighs and drumsticks, skin well trimmed. Served over rice, topped with cilantro and avocado. Added some green beans (cooked separately) at the end because I have to have green veg. It was nice, in a homey way. Chicken was very tender. There was plenty of broth for the rice. Next time I will add seasonings though. I would also use less potato. Even though it didn't wow me, I will try it again with variations just because it's so simple to prepare.

• The best chocolate chip cookies

  • anya_sf on May 27, 2018

    Amazing flavor and texture. However, they are a lot of work for a cookie. Plus, usually when I want a chocolate chip cookie, I don't want to have to wait a day. But when I can plan ahead, this recipe is worth the effort.

• Slow cooker pork shoulder with tomatoes, fennel, and pasta

  • anya_sf on February 19, 2018

    The ingredients barely fit in my slow cooker. There was no need to baste the pork, as it remained covered with tomato sauce the whole time. After 11 hours of cooking, the pork was meltingly tender and easy to shred. Somehow all that fennel disappeared into the meaty sauce. We ate some that night and added some fresh spinach as well. It was fantastic! There was enough left over for 3 more dinners. Ideally, this would be made ahead and chilled so that some of the fat could be removed, but I'm sure the fat added to the deliciousness of the sauce.

• Pasta with spring vegetables (Pasta primavera)

  • anya_sf on May 28, 2017

    I used dried gemelli pasta, a full pound. I think you could use any pasta shape, although I would avoid rigatoni (too large) or tubetti (too small). However, I think 12 oz might have been a better quantity for the sauce. We ended up adding a lot of parmesan cheese, after using the full amounts of pasta water and creme fraiche. I added some blanched cauliflower in addition to the other vegetables. The flavor was very good. The creme fraiche, lemon, basil, and parmesan cheese make the dish.

• Spinach and artichoke dip baked potatoes

  • anya_sf on November 05, 2017

    I used the oven method and didn't bother oiling the potatoes, as I never do that for baked potatoes. Note that these end up massively huge; however, we loved them so much that everyone finished theirs. After mixing the filling and stuffing it back into the potatoes, the potatoes needed closer to 20 minutes in the oven to warm up sufficiently. Be sure to taste the filling and season adequately. I might saute the shallot next time, although that is an extra step/pan to dirty. A stronger-tasting cheese would be good here as well.

• Meyer lemon ice cream

  • anya_sf on March 31, 2018

    Super easy to make. Great creamy texture and strong lemon flavor. I used orange curacao for the liqueur, but you couldn't taste the orange, just lemon. I think liqueur helps with the smooth, creamy texture. Yum!

  • StoicLoofah on March 26, 2018

    Really tasty. The ice cream comes out very smooth with a strong lemon flavor. It took me half the time of most ice cream recipes to make in my ice cream machine (about 10 minutes), which seemed proportional to how much it made. She also has a pro tip in there to freeze not only the container but also the spatula ahead of time.

• Quick and easy pressure cooker chicken, lentil, and bacon stew with carrots

  • anya_sf on February 17, 2018

    Great flavor for a small amount of work! The recipe lends itself easily to variations. I used 4 oz smoked bacon (which was plenty), 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, 4 carrots, 8 oz sliced mushrooms, regular brown lentils, 1 Tbsp chopped garlic, 1 tsp thyme (as well as the bay leaves, onion, and broth that are called for). I also stirred in 12 oz spinach at the end, after pressure cooking/venting. There is plenty of fat from the bacon, so I don't think bone-in, skin-on chicken is needed here, and boneless/skinless is so much easier to shred. I forgot the sherry vinegar at the end, but the stew was still amazing, although next time I'd definitely add it (lemon juice would also work). We ate this with bread, but it would also be great with pasta or mashed potatoes. From start to finish, it took just under an hour to make. A keeper.

• Kimchi and spam fried rice

  • anya_sf on May 28, 2017

    I used more rice. To me, fried rice should mainly feature *rice*. I also added some peas because I like more veggies. We liked it, but thought there was too much spam in proportion to the other ingredients. I would make it again with more rice (like I did) and less spam.

• Stecca with olives and sun-dried tomatoes (Cook the Book)

  • StoicLoofah on March 26, 2018

    Tried the recipe twice and had a lot of difficulty with it. The dough was very wet when I went to split it up and shape it. I think the sugar got the yeast going a bit too much. Would not do again

• Five minute miso-glazed toaster oven salmon

  • StoicLoofah on May 30, 2017

    It's good! Trust Kenji on the time to cook even if it doesn't brown on the top. 7 minutes is definitely enough in our toaster oven. 5 seems short, but maybe 6 will work

• Grilled cheese sandwiches with sautéed mushrooms

  • StoicLoofah on April 12, 2018

    Recipe was fine overall. Maybe I should have assumed in the recipe, but you should slice the mushrooms so they cook evenly

• Classic chicken adobo from 'The Adobo Road Cookbook' (Cook the Book)

  • StoicLoofah on May 28, 2018

    Super-easy recipe. Very similar to soy sauce chicken.

• Crisp homemade granola

  • StoicLoofah on August 12, 2017

    very time-consuming but the results are pretty good

• BraveTart's easy, old-fashioned apple pie

  • StoicLoofah on November 23, 2017

    Successful. There is a ton of apple, and a small gap forms. However, if you're looking for a less sweet apple pie, it's nice

• Cheese-free sweet potato "quesadillas"

  • StoicLoofah on March 24, 2018

    You won't mistake it for cheese, but they are surprisingly good

• Vietnamese-style chicken meatballs with ginger and mint

  • StoicLoofah on June 16, 2018

    I enjoyed the recipe a lot. 1. The meatballs came out very salty for me. I did measure by weight instead of volume, so maybe I will try volume next time. If it comes out the same, reduce the salt 2. The turbinado sugar didn't stick particularly well. I tried to drain the meatball onto paper towels first, but maybe they just need to go straight into the sugar. 3. Don't serve on paper towels. The sugar will stick to that.

• Crispy sous-vide chicken thighs with mustard-wine pan sauce

  • StoicLoofah on June 10, 2018

    1. Tried it at 157.5 and it was good. I might go lower next time to get more of a sous vide effect 2. Don't overpack the chicken into the bags, and try to get the skin side flat and spread. It won't reshape much onto the pan, so it's best if it's the right shape ahead of time

• Sous vide salmon

  • StoicLoofah on August 12, 2017

    Worked out exactly as explained. Texture is somewhere between a steak and sashimi and is very delicate

• Easy one-bowl coffee cake

  • StoicLoofah on May 16, 2017

    I substituted food processed unleavened strawberry bread as the crumb on top and whole wheat flour in the cake because I ran out of AP flour. I also used a pyrex 9x13 baking dish because that's the only one I have. And despite all of that, it still worked

• Crispy smashed potatoes

  • LindaTenS on June 03, 2018

    Yummy and fast. Perfect with a sauced steak dinner.

• Marinated braised pork belly for tonkotsu ramen (Chashu pork)

  • AndieEats on May 28, 2018

    Definitely don't rush the cook on this one. It needs time for the skin to also become tender. I did find it hard to find a wide piece of pork belly that could be tied up.