• anniemac on November 08, 2016

  I have some quibbles with the recipe index. I was looking for soups, and ran across the Smokey Minestrone (which was very good!), but it was indexed under Smokey, as there is no index term for Soup. Indexing by adjective is not helpful!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Pink Bolognese

  • mfranklin125 on February 02, 2017

    This is a good one to bring to people if they had a baby or something. Good for potluck type too.

• Summer corn chowder

  • hillsboroks on October 01, 2018

    This is now my favorite corn chowder! The poblano and jalapeño peppers add just the right amount of heat and cooking the veggies together in their own juices really brings out the flavors. The corn does not over cook and the fresh flavor shines through.

• Grilled blade chops over Greek salad

  • wcassity on September 05, 2016

    Great Greek salad recipe, great rub on the lamb though I'm not sure blade chop was my favorite cut - kabobs might have been better.

• Simple summer peach cake

  • Frogcake on August 19, 2018

    Delicious! A unique butter cake due to the addition of almond flour. What a great base for a peach cake! Might be really amazing with the addition of a half cup of blueberries or raspberries.

• Smoky pork burgers with fennel and red cabbage slaw

  • bwhip on April 01, 2017

    Delicious! Juicy and flavorful burgers, and the fennel/cabbage slaw was perfect with them. We served them on potato rolls, and also prepared the Southwestern Spiced Sweet Potato Fries with Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream from the same cookbook. Also excellent! This dinner will definitely be on the menu again soon.

• Blackberry caipirinha

  • wcassity on September 05, 2016

    I look forward to making these every summer.

• Savory bread pudding

  • pwsnook on January 22, 2013

    Caramelize onion before adding to mixture. Increase oven temp to 375 or 400. Increase cooking time. (The latter may be necy due to altitude.) Toasting bread does make a difference in the end.

• Prosciutto and Fontina panini with arugula pesto

  • Medamida on January 20, 2014

    This is amazing. I always buy arugula at Trader Joe's buy rarely finish a bag. This pesto is a great way of never wasting arugula again. I have made this as an appetizer on baguette rounds with either prosciutto or bacon as a garnish. I have not made the pickled shallot element yet but someday I will.

  • wcassity on January 31, 2015

    Very delicious. A number of components, but they do not take too long to prepare. We cooked ours in panini press.

• Double chocolate espresso cookies

  • Melanie on May 06, 2012

    These cookies are very impressive, definitely one for adults though due to the complex dark chocolate / coffee notes. I made a half batch (about 25 cookies) as I only had one egg at home but will definitely make the full recipe next time as they are a huge hit. I substituted roughly chopped chocolate for the chocolate chips which worked really well. I was interrupted halfway through so I formed the cookie balls and threw in the fridge for about 5 hours, baking them for about 15 minutes later that night. This worked really well as they are great straight out of the oven - nice and soft with pockets of melted chocolate.

  • hillsboroks on September 24, 2018

    Yum! Yum! Yum! These cookies are definitely going to go on my repeat list. You can't go wrong with cocoa and espresso powder plus dark chocolate chips. I only had a half package of Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips on hand so I added a cup of toasted, chopped hazelnuts. This combination worked really well and I think I liked it better than all the extra chocolate chips. I baked them on parchment paper on light-colored aluminum baking sheets for a total of 10 minutes. I was baking two sheets at a time so I rotated them and switched between upper and lower racks at 5 minutes. They turned out perfectly and I got 63 cookies using my smallest ice cream scoop. There would have been a few more if we had been able to stop ourselves from eating the dough which is delicious.

• Southwestern spiced sweet potato fries with chili-cilantro sour cream

  • mfranklin125 on February 07, 2017

    The sauce on this is awesome! Simple and delicious

  • bwhip on November 25, 2017

    Excellent, with just the right amount of spice. The sauce is the ideal accompaniment.

• Arugula, pear, and goat cheese salad with pomegranate vinaigrette

  • bwhip on November 25, 2017

    Wonderful salad with lovely, bright flavors. My wife liked it so much she said she'd like to have it every night!

• Turkey pho

  • Frogcake on December 28, 2017

    This was the most perfect soothing and delicious soup to eat after a day of skiing in minus 30degree Celsius weather. And I made another dent in the leftover turkey bowl. Will make this again soon.

• Lazy Mary's lemon tart

  • Frogcake on January 05, 2018

    Fantastic! This was a big hit with my family. Served with lightly sweetened whipping cream . I used two small Meyer lemons. Will definitely make this again.

• Andouille and Dijon polenta

  • L.Nightshade on June 21, 2012

    An interesting way of making polenta. I had fully cooked Andouille, so I sautéed the onion (and some garlic) in duck fat, then added the chopped Andouille. Used duck stock instead of chicken stock, and used an entire big bunch of spinach instead of the small amount called for. Made the dijon sauce as directed. This was a lovely, rich dish. It was our entire meal after a busy day. I'd like to try it with some diced zucchini in the sauté. Next time a tomato salad will accompany.

  • Kfaber on December 14, 2013

    This is a nice warm and rich dish for a cold snowy day. Would definitely make it again

• Ancho chile-cinnamon chocolate bark

  • Melanie on March 28, 2014

    Wow! I loved the taste of the chocolate with the spice mix blended through. I made a double recipe (and bumped the spice mixture up more than suggested). A single batch would make quite a small tray.

• Magical coffee (aka Cafe Davio)

  • Melanie on February 17, 2012

    Very easy - leave a jar filled with water, coffee grounds, brown sugar and cinnamon in the fridge overnight. The next morning, strain into a glass with ice and milk. Tastes very refreshing and completely avoids turning the kettle on.

• Lentil and sausage soup for a cold winter's night

  • Prim on October 11, 2012

    Very good. I added 2 potatoes, chopped.

  • bwhip on March 08, 2017

    Excellent. Just like the recipe says - comforting without being heavy. Be careful with the type of sausage you select. I used some locally made sausage that was good, but was a little over-spiced. Spoonfuls of the soup were excellent, but the sausage was a little overpowering as a result.

• One-pot kale and quinoa pilaf

  • Sannalee on April 30, 2013

    This was an amazing side. Super healthy and super delicious. I can already see that it will be made again and again.

• Barbacoa beef cheek tacos

  • Melanie on March 28, 2014

    I was very impressed with this recipe and would definitely make it again. I used chuck steak and after marinating overnight the results were super soft and fall apart. Instead of the instant espresso powder I brewed an espresso. The pickled onion was also fantastic.

• Secret ingredient beef stew

  • krusso119 on December 30, 2012

    My family loved this, I added some baby potatoes, sliced carrots and some mushrooms towards the end of the cooking time. I think the only thing I would change otherwise is maybe add just a little less vinegar, the sauce was slightly too acidic for my taste.

• Leg of lamb with garlic sauce

  • meggan on November 28, 2012

    I made this for Thanksgiving and it was gone before I got to taste it. The sauce was good though.

• Tuscan chicken liver pâté

  • Kfaber on May 20, 2014

    Amazing! Parmesan cheese and sage add great flavor.

• Seared scallops with spring onion and tarragon cream

  • bwehner on March 30, 2012

    Excellent. This isn't difficult. Make sure you have really good scallops

• Smoky minestrone with tortellini and parsley pesto

  • bethihearyoucalling on April 07, 2013

    The pesto was so delicious --rustic and (for once!) not too garlicky. The soup was good too but I found it was not brothy enough (easy to fix).

• Lemony green bean salad with feta, red onion, and marjoram

  • Kfaber on August 25, 2013

    A favorite side dish recipe- so easy and delicious!

• Gluten-Free Girl

  Note that the book was created by home cooks, with the key word being "exceptional". Open the cookbook and you’ll probably find 20 new recipes to try within a few moments. I know I did.

  Full review

• Los Angeles Times

  So what do home cooks like?...dishes that are just a little different from what you might expect. And there is an admirably sensible focus on getting the most flavor with the least effort.

  Full review