Notes about Recipes in this site

• Chard, onion, and Gruyere panade

  • riendeneuf on October 07, 2013

    Great way to revive day old bread.

• Apple and butternut squash soup

  • Cheri on January 11, 2015

    This is quite sweet. Very tasty and comforting, but again, pretty sweet. Probably a great way to get kids to eat squash. Easy and quick to prepare.

  • adrienneyoung on November 24, 2012

    Fabulous, and pretty healthy. Swirl in some creme fraiche and curry powder at the table. Keeper!

  • okmosa on January 03, 2021

    The total flavor fell short for me, maybe because it was sweet per the other notes. I added some ginger and a touch of cream.

• Red lentil soup with lemon

  • robinorig on March 04, 2012

    Prefer the Orangette version of substituting Aleppo pepper for Cayenne Pepper.

• Chocolate malted cupcakes

  • robinorig on January 26, 2014

    I especially love the cake part of this recipe, it's very moist and light. I often make it with a chocolate ganache icing instead.

  • sck on November 19, 2017

    Very yummy but for adults only. Kids won’t appreciate the fluffy texture or low level of sweetness. But we’ve come back again and again to this recipe for our adult friends.

• Apricot tart

  • robinorig on September 14, 2014

    My "go to" tart recipe. I make the prune plum version but soak the plums in balsamic vinegar for a couple of days first to intensify them further. Soooo good. Great crust, too! Make it at least once a season when the prune plums are available.

  • JDQ on July 03, 2014

    Shopping notes... Because this preparation is so simple, be sure to choose the very best apricots you can find. If you can, ask to taste them before you buy. There is little in this recipe to disguise their flaws, so if they are mealy, watery, tart, or otherwise lacking, this is not the best use for them. This tart would also be delicious with Italian or French prune plums, those small, oblong, purple-skinned plums that come into season in late August and September. For those, you can use a little less sugar - about ¼ cup, rather than 1/3 cup.

• Chickpea salad with lemon and Parmesan

  • robinorig on March 04, 2012

    This is one of those quick standby recipes where the sum is greater than the parts. I usually add either minced red onion or radish & fresh ground black pepper, although it's good as it is. I made it for my parents and before we could sit down for the meal, most of it was gone, they couldn't stop eating it!

  • spharo00 on April 25, 2012

    This is one of my favorite lunches. It's just amazing how five simple ingredients can turn into such a delicious and flavorful dish.

• Larb

  • mfeldman51 on July 12, 2012

    Delicious. Taste as you go, though, as it will depend on what sort of chiles you have on hand. Sticky rice is essential to go with it.

• Plum crumble

  • jzanger on September 15, 2014

    I love this dessert. It doubles and triples well, and also freezes well. If your Italian plums are large (2" long), try quartering them instead of just halving them. With the adjustments Molly made to the original recipe, this is just sweet enough and the butter poured over top doesn't pool. I've made this every year for three years and I always look forward to it.

• Stir-fried minced beef with chiles and basil

  • wester on September 16, 2014

    Very easy, very forgiving of substitutions, and really tasty.

  • pistachiopeas on March 23, 2017

    Very fast and easy. Surprising complexity of flavor given the simple ingredients. A house favorite!

  • clcorbi on July 07, 2017

    Yum. Finally tried this thanks to many recommendations on CH. This is some good comfort food. The only thing I'll add is that bird's eye chiles can get pretty hot--since the recipe calls for 4-10, we used 6, and the spice level was a bit overpowering. Of course we solved this by adding a bit more rice to our bowls, but next time, I'd just stick with 4 chiles and up the heat with sriracha as needed.

• Broccoli soup with lemon-chive cream

  • Foodo on February 06, 2014

    Absolutely LOVELY!

• Fretwell (Italian vegetable) soup

  • radishseed on November 08, 2022

    As the recipe states, this makes a lot. I halved the amounts and still filled a 6 qt. Dutch oven.

• Tamarind soup with chickpeas, chard, and spices

  • radishseed on November 06, 2012

    A note for anyone else who's using the Tamicon brand of tamarind concentrate, like I did: You should definitely use less than the 3 tablespoons called for here (maybe 1 T.?). My soup came out much too sour to eat with the full 3 T., but I was able to turn it into a pretty good curry by draining off much of the liquid and adding enough coconut milk to make a thick stew, which I ate over rice.

• Whole wheat sablés with cacao nibs

  • radishseed on July 22, 2021

    Like some of the comments on the recipe mentioned, these were a bit dry and crumbly when I tried to cut them (the log got easier to slice as it warmed up). I used 9 oz. of whole wheat pastry flour; adding less flour might help (one commenter recommends 6.75 oz.). They baked up in one piece and taste delicious.

  • Rutabaga on May 22, 2016

    These are wonderful "adult" cookies - not too sweet, buttery, crispy, and perfect to pair with a cup of coffee or tea. You might even say they are healthful, what with the whole wheat flour and cocoa nibs instead of chocolate chips. They are also remarkably quick to make.

• Raspberry-blueberry pound cake

  • radishseed on July 04, 2014

    This is a great recipe. It would also be good with a little lemon zest added or a lemon glaze, and vanilla or amaretto instead of or in addition to the kirsch (I substituted raspberry-flavored rum).

• Glenn's banana bread with chocolate chips and candied ginger

  • radishseed on February 26, 2012

    The version of this recipe that was printed in "A Homemade Life" is better. Moister and less sweet. It's on the Wednesday Chef at http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2009/06/molly-wizenbergs-homemade-life.html.

• Butterscotch cookies, Schrafft’s

  • sck on January 07, 2013

    These cookies are fabulous on day 3. Don't eat them until the flavor really develops.

• Almond torte with sugared apricots

  • Avocet on August 28, 2022

    This is a fantastic recipe. Super easy. I use more apricots, covering the top of the cake. I line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, holding it in place with a couple of dabs of batter. For sprinkling on top, I like to use turbinado sugar. The cake does freeze well. I cut it into slices, freeze it on a cookie sheet and then put them in a ziplock bag so that we can pull out a slice at a time for a snack.

• Kohlrabi salad

  • MollyB on August 27, 2021

    Very good, simple salad. We keep getting kohlrabi from our CSA, and this is one of the best summer dishes we've found for it. Nice alongside pork chops.

• Buckwheat butter cookies with cocoa nibs

  • eliza on March 24, 2015

    These were very good cookies, and were enjoyed by my family. Since they are not too sweet, the flavour of the buckwheat, butter, and cacao nibs came through well. Salt was just right in mine since I always use salted butter. Very easy to make too. I made without a stand mixer and just beat them by hand; it's a stiff dough that takes some muscle power! They froze well. I add these to my holiday baking, as they provide a nice contrast. An Alice Medrich recipe.

  • emmack on February 12, 2014

    Thought they could use more salt...

• Red-grape-and-almond butter cakes

  • eliza on October 04, 2015

    I made these to feature some delicious grapes that I got from a friend. (These are the best grapes I've ever eaten!) While the finished cakes tasted good, the grape flavour totally disappeared. I also found them too sweet even though the author described them as "subtly sweet". I added 1/2 tsp of baking powder and I'm glad I did since the rise was just right. This post had 28 comments....only 1 of those people had actually made the cakes! So I would say that these are ok but not outstanding. Edited: the next day, they weren't as good, and this is something I don't plan to make again; the Fine Cooking grape and polenta cake is much better!

• Whole wheat apricot scones

  • eliza on February 28, 2018

    These were nice scones. I used white whole wheat flour in mine along with organic apricots. I also added some coarse sugar on top. Very easy to make.

  • Rutabaga on October 22, 2015

    These scones were nice and tender; the inclusion of whole wheat pastry flour works very well here. I used the slab apricots from Trader Joe's just like Molly recommends, and enjoy the bright note they add (for whatever reason, I prefer dried apricots over just about any other dried fruit, and fortunately the rest of my family seems to follow suit).

• Vegetable and pearl barley soup

  • bernalgirl on March 29, 2012

    This is a delicious soup, the parsnips add a wonderful dimension, perfect for a cold night.

  • pistachiopeas on April 01, 2017

    This felt like a lot of chopping for a weeknight and the resulting dish wasn't too special, unfortunately. There is a lot of sweetness, as MW describes, but not much else. Used homemade chicken stock.

• Raspberry-ricotta cake

  • FJT on August 27, 2016

    Easy to make and delicious! I used Cup4Cup gluten-free flour and I weighed everything rather than using volume measures. I subbed fresh raspberries for frozen - maybe using frozen berries might loosen the cake batter slightly but this wasn't a major issue. This cake really is more-ish and won't last very long at all.

  • Rutabaga on March 12, 2017

    Here's one way my family will happily eat ricotta! The children especially enjoyed it. It's delicious, with a moist, wonderfully textured crumb, and a great breakfast cake.

• Coconut-lemon tea cake

  • FJT on October 04, 2015

    I've made lemon drizzle cakes in the past but this is far superior. The lemon and the coconut compliment each other very well and the cake is beautifully moist. This cake is disappearing so fast I may have to make it again tomorrow!

• Brown sugar clafoutis with pears

  • Melanie on July 14, 2014

    Made for dessert to celebrate Bastille Day. Very easy to make (5-10min prep) and tastes delicious (caramel custard with pear). Served warm, looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

• Banana bread with chocolate and cinnamon sugar

  • Melanie on August 19, 2014

    Quick one bowl recipe, quick to make and tastes good - this recipe does not include either butter or oil. I used a standard (large) loaf pan.

• Daily granola

  • michalow on January 01, 2013

    My standby granola. Crisp and not-too-sweet. Takes about 50 minutes in my oven.

• French-style yogurt cake

  • michalow on June 27, 2018

    Simple and delicious. I included the zest but skipped the glaze. Came out moist, fluffy, and sweet but not too sweet.

• Apple bundt cake

  • michalow on September 29, 2018

    Good flavor and perfect texture. Will skip the walnuts next time, and might try using part wheat flour.

• Pickled red onions

  • michalow on January 25, 2013

    This were very good after the recommended 48 hours, although at that point I planned to reduce the sugar on my next batch. Now that they've been in the fridge for more than a week, they are much more balanced -- and delicious on just about everything.

• Baked rhubarb with fresh ricotta

  • michalow on January 01, 2013

    My new favorite way to eat rhubarb. Simple and delicious.

• Green lentil soup with coconut milk and warm spices

  • michalow on January 01, 2013

    Much better than expected. Better second day. Even better with a drizzle of chili crisp.

  • hillsboroks on March 12, 2014

    I made the Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Warm Spices last night and Orangette is spot on about it being even better the second day. I found the cooking time for the lentils to be understated but no problem. I just let them simmer until they were tender. Also the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups coconut milk but a can has about 1 1/2 cups in it so I just threw the whole can in. The cardamom and other spices are really wonderful here. I am definitely putting this recipe in the keeper pile.

• Chewy granola bars with pecans, chocolate, and cherries

  • jessekl on May 08, 2012

    This is actually good without the butter. It is waaaaay to sweet, so next time I'm dropping the sugar as she recommended, omitting the butter and substituting in with more peanut butter since that flavor really got lost in the mix. These also taste better a few days later.

• Russian tea cakes

  • jessekl on January 03, 2021

    They get much better with age.

• Braised winter greens with chickpeas, onions, and garlic

  • spharo00 on March 13, 2013

    I used Swiss chard in this dish and made a few small changes based on what I had in the pantry. I was out of onions so I doubled up on the garlic. I also had unexpectedly run out of olive oil so I used canola oil instead. I've eaten this on its own before, but this time I served the greens with angel hair pasta. It really doesn't even need anything to go with it. It's great on its own. The chard became soft, even silky, and really was some of the best I've cooked. I think this will be a staple during the winter months from now on.

• Baked pasta with homemade tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella

  • spharo00 on April 09, 2012

    I used half orecchiette pasta and half orzo pasta, and balsamic vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar. This was very good, kind of like a baked ziti dish I usually make.

• Orange-nutmeg muffins

  • spharo00 on January 27, 2013

    This is one of my favorites breakfast muffins. I have made this recipe countless times. I usually substitute white whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose with good results. I add the zest of a full orange. These are very moist and bright.

• Scottish scones

  • spharo00 on May 29, 2012

    Just as the recipe said, this dough was very sticky. I actually had a hard time cutting into it so I baked it in one round "loaf" and cut it into eighths after it was baked. This resulted in a much softer biscuit-like scone and reminded me more of strawberry muffins. I missed the crunchy outside that I had hoped for. Next time I will try it with dried tart cherries, and I will do drop scones instead. I'll also probably sprinkle some sugar over the tops for extra crunch. The strawberries themselves were not an inspired addition, but overall the taste was good.

• Pudding cake of honey, cinnamon, and plums

  • okmosa on September 22, 2017

    This cake could easily have 'golden syrup' in the title because I surprisingly had enough in a jar on my American kitchen shelf. I found this recipe through Molly's blog but am a fan of Nigel Slater as well. She's right in her directions - stick with this one - it comes out right in the end. I may cut back on the cake by almost half next time. It's very tasty but I like a lot more fruit to cake ratio. I also made it in an 8X8 pan, maybe more plums and a larger pan next time. The fruit all fell to the very bottom, though. Absolutely a delicious and moist cake. Sort of wintry with cinnamon and brown sugar.

• Winter squash soup with curry and coconut milk

  • okmosa on January 03, 2021

    I liked this quite a bit as it seems a little different than other coconut/squash soups with touches of maple syrup and fish sauce. I definitely added salt though.

  • okmosa on March 06, 2021

    I just made this again without realizing I’d made it before! I thought again this time that it needed salt but I just added more fish sauce. I also thought it was a bit thin this time. I started with freshly puréed squash, so I added more squash with more seasoning. Next time I’ll hold back on the stock. Still easy and tasty.

• Banana-coconut bread

  • chawkins on June 06, 2017

    A good bread, love the demerara sugar coated top, gives it a good crunch. However, I could not discern the rum, the coconut nor the nutmeg. I did not have enough dried unsweetened coconut in my freezer, but did have frozen grated fresh coconut, so I thawed some and used that, may be the dried one would impart a more pronounced flavor.

  • Rutabaga on August 18, 2015

    What a luscious banana bread; it was dense and moist without being doughy, and the demerara sugar topping was inspired. I enjoy the coconut in the bread, although it could be left out. Since I had no rum on hand, I used Kahlua instead (and I accidentally forgot the nutmeg). This is also a good bread for anyone with an egg allergy, as it is egg free.

  • e_ballad on November 05, 2016

    What a fantastic recipe. Wonderfully dense & rich. I'm not sure how much the rum contributed to the flavour, but given how tasty this was, I wouldn't risk changing a thing. Our oven took a smidge longer than the cooking time specified.

• Salted chocolate cookies

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 03, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/01/31/salted-chocolate-cookies/

• Brown butter spoon cookies with jam

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 04, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/03/26/brown-butter-spoon-cookies-with-jam/

• Spicy sauteed corn

  • Wlow on November 17, 2018

    Outstanding with part of a poblano instead of jalapeño.

• Vanilla applesauce with a crunchy meringue cap

  • bching on December 04, 2017

    Easy and comforting dessert. I sprinkled the meringue with chopped black walnuts which added a welcome layer of flavor and texture.

• Very easy pea soup

  • bching on December 17, 2017

    This was fine and quick and improved overnight like many soups do. I had a few chunks of maitake mushroom that I added, and when I saw that the texture was looser than I like, also stirred in a bit of cream.

• Oatmeal pancakes

  • Medamida on January 23, 2014

    This is a great recipe for stick to your ribs pancakes. You let the whole oats soak overnight in buttermilk but you can use quick oats for a substitute if you don't plan ahead.

  • Rutabaga on April 28, 2014

    This hearty recipe is basically oatmeal in pancake form. The texture and flavor is great, and works wonderfully as an easy "breakfast for dinner" meal.

  • Rutabaga on April 20, 2020

    I had forgotten about these wonderful pancakes, so was happy to discover the recipe again. Also, I forgot to let the oats soak overnight, but discovered that they were ready to go after about two hours soaking on the counter in the morning.

• Almond cake

  • cadfael on April 02, 2014

    B & L really liked this. It does really fall in the middle and is a plain looking affair. But it tastes really good!

• Leeks vinaigrette

  • Barb_N on December 03, 2015

    I love this recipe. Most recently, I braised the leeks in white wine before tossing with the vinaigrette- not quite as 'falling apart' as when boiled but lower maintenance.

• Olive oil and maple granola

  • Barb_N on March 22, 2015

    I modified this to accomodate a coconut allergy; also skipping the oats to make it paleo-ish because that's what I like with my yogurt or kefir in the morning. I cut the sweetness of the maple syrup and olive oil with fresh oj. This was a big hit- I had to give away my portion at work!

  • KatetheGreat on April 26, 2014

    The best granola, our go-to.

• Braised green cabbage with onions and carrots

  • amandashestokes on December 10, 2014

    I'm not an onion eater (plus I didn't have one onhand), so I peeled about 6 garlic cloves, cut them in half and threw them in and it was delicious. Next time I'll do 12-15 cloves, but I think they'd be a welcome addition even for the onion eaters.

• The Violet butterscotch blondie

  • Rutabaga on November 13, 2019

    I got some raves for these bars, even though they didn't turn out quite as expected. I should have let the toffee cook longer, as it wasn't quite as dark as I prefer. It went from deep golden to pale blonde in the oven, and didn't really sink into the dough or melt the way it did in the accompanying photo. It stayed crunchy and provided a pleasant toffee topping, however, so was still quite good. Perhaps this was in part because I made the toffee with raw sugar? Because I used a Pyrex pan, I had to bake them an additional 15 minutes or so. They are wonderful the first few days, but lose their freshness after that.

• Strawberry yogurt popsicles

  • Rutabaga on June 26, 2017

    These were delicious, particularly because I used very ripe, ruby red berries fresh from the farmer's market. I decreased the sugar to a scant 2/3 of a cup because the berries were so ripe. They're a perfect summer treat, and very easy, too.

• Pasta with fried prosciutto, Parmesan, and butter

  • Rutabaga on October 15, 2014

    My three-year-old gobbled up an adult-sized portion of this - topped with plenty of "snow cheese" (his term for parmesan), of course. The butter and prosciutto combination appeals to kids and adults alike; pair it with a bright vegetable side dish, and this is a fast, yet satisfying dinner. I used typical thin sliced prosciutto shredded in pieces, which worked fine. While the recipe as written is for one, it's a snap to size up to any number of portions you need. A squeeze of lemon is the perfect finish to balance the salty richness of the prosciutto and butter.

• Kimchi fried rice

  • Rutabaga on October 05, 2016

    This hits the spot for a quick dinner when you have leftover rice - it's delicious! I used locally made Britt's Black Market kimchi, and the flavor nicely permeated and coated the rice. My husband decided to spice it up further by sprinkling on shichimi togarashi, while for our son I fried some plain rice in a separate pan so that his wouldn't be spicy. Turkey bacon worked well here, too, as long as you add extra oil to the pan to replace the bacon fat.

• The archetypal brownie

  • Rutabaga on November 23, 2015

    I'd like to make these again and try cooking them longer. After 25 minutes in the oven using a 8 x 11.5 Pyrex pan, I thought they were done. Unfortunately, I discovered the next day (after frosting them with David Lebovitz's peanut butter frosting) that the brownies were an intensely gooey brick, almost impossible to cut and serve at all cleanly. The chocolate flavor was fantastic, and I was hoping for lightly gooey brownies, I just wanted the gooiness balanced with a little crumb, too.

• Raspberry yogurt popsicles

  • Rutabaga on June 28, 2016

    These popsicles get five stars for being both incredibly easy to make and outright delicious. I had only about two-thirds the amount of yogurt called for, but still used the full two cups of berries, and only slightly less sugar. The berry flavor was really bright and refreshing. After being pulverized in the blender, the seeds bits were so small they slipped through my sieve, but this didn't negatively impact anyone's enjoyment of the popsicles.

• A great make-the-morning-of waffle

  • Rutabaga on March 22, 2020

    Wizenberg is right - these waffles are great, but they can't quite measure up to the high standards of the yeasted waffle. With that said, they're an excellent morning-of option if you didn't plan ahead and make yeasted waffle batter the night before. They are beautifully crisp on the outside, light on the inside, but lack the more complex texture and chew that results from a yeast batter. I will say the kids didn't mind one bit!

• Jimmy's Dutch baby pancakes

  • Rutabaga on November 02, 2018

    I recently realized these are a great weekday breakfast option because the prep time is very quick and I can do other things while they bake in the oven. My boys love it! This recipe worked a little better for me than the Smitten Kitchen one, perhaps only because I baked them in Pyrex dishes rather than my metal cake pans. I doubled the recipe and used about 10 tablespoons of butter in total, which still seems like a lot, although it's very tasty.

• Cream cheese pound cake

  • Lepa on February 15, 2018

    Wow, wow, wow. This cake is amazing. I keep taking detours through the kitchen to shave off another slice. This is the perfect example of simple food that tastes fabulous and makes me wonder why I fuss with all the complicated recipes. I should note that the loaf took 60-65 minutes before it was done. I used fairly cold cream cheese because I didn't have time to let it warm up so maybe that affected the baking time?

• Kale and cheddar frittata

  • tekobo on January 06, 2017

    Was perfect for mid new year party munchies at about 2am. Made with black kale, Cheddar cheese and Keller's melted onions.

• Russian egg and mushroom salad

  • Frenchfoodie on February 22, 2020

    I did only 2/3 the amount of mushrooms but otherwise followed the recipe and it was gorgeous. Tangy and creamy; I finished directly from the bowl. A definate repeat for me.

• Salsa verde for potatoes

  • Jviney on September 07, 2019

    Excellent salsa verde recipe - absolutely delicious. My father-in-law, who hates lemon and garlic, had two helpings.

• Real Danish butter cookies

  • skvalentine on October 07, 2021

    Served these at our wedding!

• Stewed prunes with citrus and cinnamon

  • skvalentine on October 07, 2021

    I like to gift a batch of these to the new mama when I drop off a post-partum meal.

• Spinach and green garlic soup

  • Nettmahoney on March 08, 2023

    This is such a satisfying soup. It tastes like it's good for you. I've made this with both green garlic and with leek / regular garlic, and either way it's divine.