lemonadesandwich's Reviews
79 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
Not Your Mother's Casseroles
By Faith Durand
Harvard Common Press - 2011
This was an easy recipe to put together, definitely a plus for a breakfast dish. I didn't have apricot jam, so substituted a good orange marmalade. It definitely depends heavily on the jam used, so don't cheap out.
The description is accurate that its not too rich like many breakfast bread casseroles, but that's not a problem. It was tasty. But somehow it's not very compelling. I can't put my finger on what it needs to bump it up a little.
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Website: Saveur Website
An excellent use for garlic scapes. Super easy, and the beans mellow out the sharpness of the garlic scapes. Great with pita bread,crackers or carrot sticks.
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Website: Epicurious
The recipe is for french toast too, but I just made the compote and served it with my favorite waffle recipe (Joy of Cooking, btw).
As written there is way too much cinnamon, I would halve it next time. But it was wonderful and warm and sweet with the waffles, and with some whipped cream made for an excellent treat.
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Website: Epicurious
Tasty. I made it with chicken sausage, which was fine but I could see that something spicier would make this more interesting. I like the mustard and vinegar vinaigrette.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This was good. Nice flavors, good texture.
I wasn't sure what to serve it with, and on it's own it seemed to miss something. It seems kind of heavy to be a side dish, so I'm still at a loss.
It was actually even better for lunch the next day. I think it will be a great salad to bring to a pot-luck.
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Website: The Kitchn
This was a huge success! The creamy squash replaces the texture of the ricotta, but adds a richness and sweetness to the whole dish.
My only minor complaint is that I would prefer an actual measurement for the amount of squash to use (instead of the given, "2-2.5 lb squash") so that I could use the already prepared roasted squash I had on hand. But I guess it is lasagne, so its pretty flexible.
Ok, I admit that I used regular button mushrooms and spinach instead of cremini and chard, but I don't think that impacted the overall falvor.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I have been obsessed with trying this recipe, and unfortunately it did not live up to my hopes. It was a lot of work (peel and seed the tomatoes, make the crust, shred the cheese, etc.) and the end result just didn't merit it. Maybe I was too light on the herbs or the cheese, but it just came out bland.
I loved the biscuit crust. I wish I liked the end result more.
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The Pizza Book: Everything There Is To Know About the World's Greatest Pie
By Evelyne Slomon
Crown - 1984
This has been one of our family staples for years. Having homemade pizza in 30 minutes is the best! We have passed this recipe on to so many of our friends. We used to make one big pizza, but we've found it's even better for making our own small size pies - we can each add our own toppings to our heart's content.
Some tricks we've developed over the years: A dusting of corn flour on the bottom of the pan or pizza stone adds a nice crunch to the bottom.
There's also a new Fleischman's yeast that's specifically for pizza dough. It makes it much easier to roll the dough out evenly and stretch it further. Definitely a new pantry staple!
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Website: Epicurious
Simply the easiest and best recipe! Pecans are awesome in salads, terrific on their own, and are so so easy to make so you have them on hand any time! A family favorite.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Really easy and very tasty! I'm sure I will be making this again during this great strawberry season.
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Cinnamon, Spice, & Warm Apple Pie: Comforting Baked Fruit Desserts for Chilly Days
By Ryland Peters & Small
Ryland Peters & Small - 2010
This is a wonderful variation on strawberry shortcake using a meringue instead of shortcake. It was so good - the meringue was simple to make, although it crumbled a lot. I'm not sure that the instruction to let it cool while rolled in a towel is a good one. A 250 degree oven is manageable even on a hot day.
When I try this again, I'm thinking I'll make the meringue as separate separate rounds and top them with the strawberries and whipped cream for a less crumbly as well as less dramatic presentation.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I found I needed a lot more flour than called for - probably due to overly juicy berries. These were great right out of the oven. Somehow, I kept expecting them to be like scones but they were light and definitely biscuit-y. Not too sweet either.
They do not keep well, as she says in the recipe. Better to eat them all right away!
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Website: Mark Bittman
This recipe worked really well. Usually, my stir fry comes out kind of bland, but this one was very appealing. Fried tofu adds some texture. Flavors are simple but work well.
I used scallions instead of onions, red pepper flakes instead of fresh hot peppers, baby bok choy and added some sesame oil.
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Website: Epicurious
This is a great recipe to have on hand for improvising based on what you have on hand.
You definitely need to double the eggs and cream/milk, otherwise you don't have enough batter to cover everything.
I'll admit that I always use a frozen crust, so can't comment on that part of the recipe.
I've made it with the ingredients as written, but also substituted different fillings (mushrooms, tomatoes, pancetta) cheeses based on what I have on hand.
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Website: Martha Stewart
This is a good basic mussels recipe. Because of that, it very much depends on the quality of the wine and the chorizo you use.
Not the best written recipe. The instructions kind of fade away, without any sort of hint as to how you know the mussels are done. (When the shells open - just a few minutes usually.)
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Website: The Kitchn
These were very tasty. I liked a simple baked meatball idea, and these worked well. I had a light hand on the spices, since it seemed like a lot of flavors, but you can definitely punch it up even more.
It does make lots, so plenty to freeze for later.
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Website: White On Rice Couple
Not too complicated, tasty, nothing spectacular. We liked it and will probably make it again, if we have spaghetti squash on hand from the CSA.
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Martha Stewart Living
(October, 2010)
This was really excellent. The spaghetti squash is bland on its own, but with the meatballs, mushrooms and greens it all was a nice flavor.
Due to what I had on hand I used chard instead of spinach, regular mushrooms and beef stock. Minor substitutions, and still surprisingly tasty. Will be adding this to the family recipe book.
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Fine Cooking
(Aug/Sep, 2010)
So tasty! Loved the mustard flavor with the swiss chard.
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Website: New York Times - Recipes
topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/recipes/index.html
This was a nice change from eating plain corn on the cob. Grating the corn is tiresome after a while. I think next time I have to cook it longer - it might not have been as brown and caramelized as intended, as a result it just tasted like corn and nothing more.
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Website: Epicurious
A big success.
As written, it seemed a bit bland. We looked at other comments on Epicurious, and did increase the overall spices - added some salt, pepper, thyme, worcestershire sauce to the meat, as well as garlic to the mashed potatoes.
A great inaugural dish for the newly seasoned cast iron pan.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Yum! I forgot the scallions, but it was excellent anyway. A nice change of pace. I can definitely see trying some other cheeses.
I made this with Whole Foods pre-made pizza dough, and homemade mozzarella.
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This was really tasty. Fried chickpeas are awesome. The zucchini absorbs more of the spices. Together, they are terrific.
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Website: Waffleizer
How can you resist something called a S'moreffle?
I tried this and made a huge mess though. The graham cracker waffle was too dry, and impossible to get out of the waffle iron. That made it even harder to put back in the waffle iron to melt the chocolate and marshamallows. We managed to get a few pieces to eat, and it was tasty, but it was just not meant to be.
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Website: The Kitchn
This is really yummy. Slow roasting the tomatoes makes them sweet and wonderful, and the added butter gives it a fantastic finishing touch.
I think the instructions are for too high a heat and/or too long a cooking time. In my oven there were a lot of blackened tomatoes after about 1.5 hours at 350 degrees.
Worth some experimentation to tweak - just keep an eye on it the first time you make it.
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Website: Epicurious
This is such a treat! Foundue + roast pumpkin is just awesome.
Definitely don't skimp on the cooking time, I undercooked mine, and the pumpkin did not scoop out easily. But I'll be making it again soon.
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Website: Epicurious
Love this recipe! I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the relatively simple ingredient list, but it is just really tasty.
I used the beet greens (sauteed separately) on top, and some feta cheese, and it was really delicious.
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Muffins
By Elizabeth Alston
Clarkson Potter - 1984
Love this recipe. Almost always double it, because who needs to have a half a can of pumpkin around when there could be more muffins to share!
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Breakfast Book
By Marion Cunningham
Knopf - 1987
A great use for leftover mashed potatoes. Add bacon, bake and you have a great breakfast side!
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I've had lots of good recipes from this cookbook, but this basic pancake recipe is not one. They always come out flat. Try Joy of Cooking instead.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
A very moist cake, lots of coconut and pineapple flavor. It's not difficult to make, and came out really well.
It uses about half a can of cream of coconut, so there's still some left so you can make your pina coladas.
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Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects
By Karen Solomon
Ten Speed Press - 2009
I tried these to use up some of the green and yellow beans from my CSA farm share. They come out very vinegary, but are great in a salad. I didn't can them for real, just keep them in the fridge.
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The 1997 Joy of Cooking
By Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, Irma S. Rombauer
Scribner - 1997
This was an excellent summer salad.
We grilled the shrimp, and used a jar of roasted red peppers that I canned last fall, and they were delicious. The pine nuts added a great flavor and bit of crunch.
Definitely worth adding to the summer recipe list.
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Real Stew: 300 Recipes for Authentic Home-Cooked Cassoulet, Gumbo, Chili, Curry, Minestrone, Bouillabaise, Stroganoff, Goulash, Chowder, and Much More
By Clifford A. Wright, Neverne Covington
Harvard Common Press - 2002
Easy classic take on a simple traditional beef stew.
A few small tweaks we make as available:
Add ground thyme to the flour mixture.
Replace water with dark beer
Add bacon and/or any other veggies on hand.
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Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe
By Joanne Chang, Christie Matheson
Chronicle Books - 2010
These are so good. Very easy for scones, and I could make them on a whim with panty items. I did use milk instead of cream. Definitely do not skip the glaze!
Despite the comments, I found that the scones actually lasted pretty well for a few days.
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Website: MoonPie
The recipe looks totally excessive, until you realize it makes 2 9x13 pans, which is way more than most people need!
Overall, it was a tasty bread pudding, although the recipe has too much cloves, which I think overpower the flavors. Other than the melty marshmallow bits, it was hard to tell that there were MoonPies there. It was fun, and a big hit at my office, but I can't say it was any better than just using bread.
I think that in the future, I'll keep my MoonPie and bread pudding obsessions separate.
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Not Your Mother's Casseroles
By Faith Durand
Harvard Common Press - 2011
A good recipe to have on hand as kale starts arriving in droves from the CSA. Don't skimp on the cheese.
It's basically sauteed greens, mixed with pasta and cheese and baked. The lemon adds some nice flavor. Plenty of room for experimentation, and a good make-ahead recipe.
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Website: Epicurious
I was looking for a simple unpretentious mac and cheese recipe. This hits the spot, using only cheddar and permesean cheese. The panko crumbs give a great crunchy topping.
The first time I made it there was too much liquid. The second time I fortuitously ran out of milk but went ahead anyway, and it was much better. I recommend cutting the amount of milk in half based on my experience.
It is scaled for a huge amount, so plan to cut things in half already if you are not feeding an army. Keep an eye on the instructions too, since some ingredients are not listed on top, and it casn be easy to forget to adjust those ones.
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Website: Epicurious
This was an excellent rugelach recipe. I even got a thumbs up from the Jewish grandmother in attendance at the party where I served them.
I did play around with the filling, and ended up making a few variations. I like the cinnamon and sugar combo (although with pecans, as I'm not a walnut fan) in this recipe. My daughter liked the chocolate (just chopped up some chocolate) and my husband liked the apricot cherry jam version.
A bit of effort, and definitely be sure to allow some time for the dough to chill, but well worth it!
My only complaint with this recipe is that the written instructions are way too detailed! I don't need the conversion to grams, the hints at the end are kind of obvious - its sort of written for a toal beginner cook. I had to edit it before I could print it out so that I didn't go crazy!
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Website: Nick Malgieri - BAKE!
These are so good, but you really need to be a ginger fan! Kind of fussy to have to chop the candied ginger and zest the lemon, but since they are bar cookies it evens out.
I might consider making them in a smaller pan, so that they are thicker, but that's a personal preference.
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Website: Nick Malgieri - BAKE!
Yum! Not too dry, nice flavor, an excellent scone!
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Website: Weight Watchers
www.weightwatchers.com/food/index.aspx
A surprisingly tasty one-pot meal.
Our biggest problem was we weren't sure how to serve it - it was kind of soupy but not really a soup, and not thick enough for a stew. If it wasn't for the weight watchers issue, I would serve it with rice or noodles probably. But perhaps a bit more flour to thicken it some.
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Website: Epicurious
I've never made coleslaw before, and I think I'm set with my recipe going forward! This was a big hit! A little sweet, but with some tanginess.
My only mistake was not shredding the cabbage in the food processor - it was a bit thick in parts.
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A Taste of the Tropics: Traditional and Innovative Cooking from the Pacific and Caribbean
By Jay Solomon
Crossing Press - 1992
We love love love this recipe. There's something about turmeric and curry that is just so tasty. Its a great little visit to the Caribbean on a snowy winter day. I adjust the jalapeno, and even got approval from my 6 year old.
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Light & Healthy 2010: The Year's Best Recipes Lightened Up
By America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen - 2010
This variation of the Sweet Chili Glazed Tofu was a big hit. Relatively easy to throw together, good texture, tasty sauce. I made only half the recipe for 3 servings, so didn't have to deal with frying batches, or keeping the tofu warm, which was a big plus. Definitely will make again.
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Website: Serious Eats
A great recipe to have on hand when you just need a little bit of cheese. Worked great, tasted terrific.
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Website: The Kitchn
These cookies are a bit more fussy than your average chocolate chip cookie, but they use basically the same ingredients, and make something much more interesting. The meringue topping makes it all worth it.
A couple of suggestions: When they say push in the chocolate chips so that they don't move around, it's really worth doing it. It's not a disaster, but my chips definitely migrated around a lot during the meringue spreading for some uneven distribution. Also, as the recipe says, the meringue is really sticky. I found an offset spatula the ideal tool for spreading and smoothing it.
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Bon Appetit
(March, 2011)
These are fudgy and excellent cookies. No flour in these and not too bad for those on a diet. Not too hard with the KitchenAid to whip those egg whites. I was a little concerned about the texture when everything was mixed together, as they seemed kind of crumbly. The cookies came out a bit more lumpy looking than the photo, but were definitely a wonderful texture and super chocolatey. I used basic supermarket available Ghiardelli cocoa, and a mix of Toll House and Ghiardelli chips, and results were great. The note says they're best the day they're made, but a day later I'm still enjoying them. I don't expect the texture to hold up more than another day or so though.
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The New Basics Cookbook
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins
Workman Publishing Company - 1989
A rare recipe for a baked strawberry pie. Very tasty, but give it plenty of time to cool overnight. It definitely needs fresh whipped cream too!
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Not Your Mother's Casseroles
By Faith Durand
Harvard Common Press - 2011
This was a nice recipe. Nothing awesome, but something a little different from my usual fish preparation. I left out the jalapenos and cilantro, as I didn't have them on hand. One or the other would probably help perk this up.
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