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Joined: November 14th, 2009


Latest review:

October 5th, 2022

Crispy Garlic Crumb Steak from All Recipes

Terrific technique which I'm looking forward to trying with chicken and pork. I even overcooked the steaks to try and get enough color on the crumb coating, but the pounding out (and the coating) saved... read more >


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hipcook's Reviews


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260 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title

VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good

By Mark Bittman
Clarkson Potter - 2013

20th January 2020

Meatballs, The New Way

The role of a panade is played by bulgur wheat (or another cooked whole grain) in this recipe, bringing moisture and adding nuttiness and texture that bread crumbs wouldn't. It's a neat trick and we were happy enough with the meatballs, finished in tomato sauce and served as subs.

I did find them underspiced; I'd be tempted to look at a kibbeh or kofta recipe, or at minimum a nice hit of oregano. I'm not entirely clear what the spinach is bringing to the table; I found it distracting and my family didn't notice it at all.

The recipe says it makes 16, which would be fine, but I found 12 to be a more pleasant target. Although if I were going to do it again, I'd be tempted to make a double-batch and freeze half.

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Treasury Of Country Heritage M

By Cy Decosse Inc., Land O Lakes Staff
Random House Canada - 1995

14th November 2009

Cinnamon Apple Baked Pancake

Don't let the title fool you - this "pancake" is practically a souffle. Don't let the word "souffle" scare you - it's easy enough to make in the morning (although I do need at least one cup of coffee for strength). Sweet enough for dessert, but eggy enough to call it breakfast.

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A staple of our holiday table. Not that it's anything that special - just potatoes, carrots, and Brussels sprouts, boiled and served in a butter-mustard sauce - but it's tasty, it's hearty, and it manages to combine a vegetable dish with a starch dish - which, considering that we like sweet potatoes, white potatoes, _and_ stuffing, is no mean feat.

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The Taste of Country Cooking: 30th Anniversary Edition

By Edna Lewis
Knopf - 2006

11th September 2017

Fried Tomatoes

I love fried tomatoes (especially fried green tomatoes), but my results have been decidedly hit-or-miss. Three small things will make this my go-to recipe. First, the flour is mixed with an equal amount of breadcrumbs. I suspect this gives a much crunchier crust with less risk of burning. Second, the timing is about right (4 minutes per side over a medium burner).

And finally, topping the tomatoes with brown sugar at the end! What a delight, to add sweetness to the acidic tomato and lightly peppered dredge! (In fairness, my kid didn't like this... so I won't sugar his in future.)

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Website: The Takeout

thetakeout.com
 

14th January 2018

Spaetzle

My technique needs work, but I did enjoy making these and they were pretty tasty. Not having a spaetzle press, I opted for a tip from the comments to try piping the dough into the boiling water. I learned a couple of things, primarily to make the hole in the piping bag even smaller than I thought, and to allow it to drizzle into the water by gravity more than squeezing it out like icing. Also it makes a pretty big batch; I will definitely end up freezing some and seeing how it reheats.

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Website: The Takeout

thetakeout.com
 

8th April 2018

Candied Bacon

Barely a recipe, more of a technique, but it went over gangbusters in my house. Bacon is topped with a layer of brown sugar and a crack of pepper before baking. I used substantially less brown sugar than pictured, which I think was right for a basic breakfast meat. On the other hand, in future I'll probably be more aggressive than I was with the pepper; the brown sugar gives a lot of cover before you get to "pepper bacon" territory.

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Website: Superspark

superspark.wordpress.com
 

25th November 2010 (edited: 25th November 2010)

Buttermilk Corn Cakes

Nice recipe for a corn cake that's hearty and rich, but also light. A drizzle of maple syrup really brings out the vanilla flavor. I like to drop in some cooked corn niblets for an extra sweetness and texture.

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Website: The Splendid Table

splendidtable.publicradio.org
 

This was a really pleasant and quick meal. I suspect it would be easier to brown the gnocchi if you waited a few minutes before adding the tomatoes. (Getting a good crust is key.)

My wife and I agreed that this would be a wonderful main course with a "side dish" of a couple slices of a flavorful spice-rubbed steak. (Using beef to cut the richness says a little bit about the buttery cheesy starchy home-style indulgence of this simple dish.)

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Website: Sous Vide Supreme

sousvidesupreme.com
 

2nd November 2019

Sticky Asian Salmon

I've been making an ersatz Asian-ish salmon for a long time, with a doctored Hoisin/vaguely teriyaki-ish glaze. This recipe doesn't have that level of sweetness in it, but my family reports that's a good tradeoff. The meaty flavor of a nice piece of salmon can shine through the reduced sweetness, and since it's a sous vide preparation, the salmon is perfectly done. This is going in the frequent rotation.

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Website: Simply Recipes

simplyrecipes.com
 

12th December 2011 (edited: 13th December 2011)

Turkey Tetrazzini

Good recipe for the Thanksgiving leftover classic. I think it needs garlic. I don't know how they think this fits into a 3 quart casserole dish - it looked it would overflow mine, so I made it in my crock pot insert. (Which led to a discussion about which vessel would have the best crunchy bread-crumb topping to creamy noodle ratio - we think it might be 2 lasagna pans.)

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Website: Serious Eats

www.seriouseats.com
 

11th August 2014

Smoked Lamb Barbacoa

Lamb shoulder is rubbed, smoked, braised, and then shredded for tacos. The time is paid off perfectly with flavorful lamb which just falls apart.

A few tips:

The recipe says to reduce the braising liquid "skimming off any excess fat." I sent mine through our gravy separator and removed 2/3rds of a cup. Glad I wasn't trying to skim it off.

The recipe calls for tomatillo salsa. We also tried it with red salsa; tomatillo was distinctly better.

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Website: Serious Eats

www.seriouseats.com
 

I used this as a marinade for beef, and it was a big hit. I agree with kaye16; it's a little too salty. (I fixed it by adding yogurt and lemon but next time I'll just use less salt.)

The only complaint my family had is that I didn't reserve any of the marinade to use as a sauce, which would have been really nice. (My wife pointed out that I should reserve before marinading rather than trust my ability to heat a yogurt-based sauce without it breaking... which points out that this is in "make again soon" territory.)

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Website: Saveur Website

www.saveur.com/recipes.jsp
 

25th November 2012

Lobster Roll

Jacques Pepin's lobster roll recipe. It's quite basic - lobster in a butter-lemon sauce - but there's nothing wrong with that! (Unless you're looking for a mayonnaise sauce.)

Do search out split-top New England hot dog rolls! While a regular hot dog bun will work OK, it will also lose structural integrity quickly. Or, just admit to yourself that your hands are getting buttery, and enjoy it.

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Website: The Sauce by All Things Barbecue

thesauce.atbbq.com
 

28th May 2019

How to Make Tasso Ham

There are lots of different recipes out there for tasso, but here's one you can make in a day. It's just a 4-6 hour cure and a 2-hour smoke. (I did an overnight cure, which turned into more like 14 hours before I got the pork on the smoke. It came out pretty salty; if I were going to do that again I'd probably shift the cure to equal amounts of sugar and salt.)

Anyway, this was a huge hit. Salty and spicy, meaty with a tender chew. I'm impressed that we had the self-control to not chow down on it before we got it in the freezer. But we're having all kinds of ideas for things we can use it in. I see jambalaya and etouffee and red beans and rice in my future. We're even thinking about how to use it on pizza (with all that salt it'll take a light hand and maybe some sweet ingredients as counterparts...)

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Website: Red Streetcar Line

redstreetcarline.com
 

It might be more fair to think of this as a Mint Watermelon Sorbet - the mint flavor was dominant, almost overpowering, in my attempt.

Two things come to mind on that point. First, I scaled the recipe up by three to try and use up a watermelon which was far larger than necessary for a small Fourth of July party. Maybe mint doesn't scale linearly. (Though since I also find it a little too sugary-sweet, I think that's not the whole problem.) Also, I was using chocolate mint from my garden, and though I aimed for younger leaves, certainly some more mature leaves got in there as well. I have no idea how to control for the strength of your mint crop, but I suspect that's an issue too. I'd love any tips people have (or any other experiences with this recipe).

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Recipes: The Cooking of Italy (Foods of the World)

By Time-Life
Time-Life - 1968

A pleasant enough recipe for a crispy, hearty starch - almost like an Italianate hush puppy. The recipe makes a wealth of 2-bite balls, appropriate for appetizers or a side dish, not the baseball-size behemoths I've had on occasion.

I admit using leftover rice pilaf, not the called-for risotto, and my mixture was a wet mess almost impossible to work with. I added an additional half-cup or so of rice, which still didn't help; finally, I added bread crumbs to the mix (in addition to the bread crumb coating) and the mix started to hold together. I should try it with risotto instead of long-grain rice to see if it's a recipe problem or a changed-the-ingredients problem.

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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks

thepioneerwoman.com/cooking
 

24th January 2012

Fried Round Steak

A quick and easy recipe for pan-fried round steak - which is a nice find, because I've got quite a bit of it in the freezer. The recipe is simple - tenderize round steak (or buy cube steak cutlets at the market), dredge in seasoned flour, pan-fry quickly. It's basic and pleasant; I felt the timing was a little short but perhaps my oil wasn't hot enough (or was too deep).

Some of the comments on the web site suggest a cream gravy, which would be traditional for this preparation. But my wife and I wanted something closer to steak sauce; I found just a good hit of Worcestershire worked.

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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks

thepioneerwoman.com/cooking
 

24th January 2012 (edited: 24th January 2012)

Crash Hot Potatoes

This may be my new go-to potato preparation. In fairness, I cheated quite a bit - using larger gold potatoes instead of new potatoes, and then (inspired by a different page on Pioneer Woman Cooks) microwaving them instead of boiling them. The end result was an amazing cross of creamy and crusty potato - almost like the top of a shepherd's pie. Obviously, your mileage will vary with a waxier or less cooked potato; probably a minute less in the microwave would have been closer to the recipe. Still, high marks for introducing me to a revelatory technique.

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Website: Patricia's Pickles, Preserves, & Provisions

picklespreserves.wordpress.com
 

23rd February 2020

Banana Foster Quinoa Pudding

As a dessert, honestly, I found this disappointing. It's OK, but it tastes too much like someone tried to make it "healthy". The caramel isn't ooey-gooey enough, the custard isn't rich enough, the rum flavor is lost entirely, the quinoa has a nutty flavor which makes me realize this dish needs pecans. The bananas are nice, but it's a very Midwestern take on Bananas Foster.

But it makes a big pan, so I warmed up a bowl for breakfast, and I discovered what this actually is. It's a terrific breakfast casserole. It's hearty, it's sweet but not cloying, that "healthy" taste works first thing in the morning. If you imagine it not in the family of cake or bread pudding, and more in the family of oatmeal or a french toast casserole, it actually works pretty well. I'd make this if I had people coming over for brunch.

Still needs pecans though.

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Original Thai Cookbook

By Jennifer Brennan
Perigee Trade - 1984

12th January 2011

Sweet Pork (Moo Wan)

A delicious and complex treatment for pork. The mix of salt, sweet, and the acrid funkiness of fish sauce calls barbecue to mind. Brennan says this is the "Thai equivalent of ham" and I can easily see making a big roast of this and spreading it out over multiple dishes. (However, I used it as a treatment for pork chops, and while I'm afraid they came out a bit dry, they weren't at all tough and the flavor was delightful.)

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Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

By Beth Hensperger
Harvard Common Press - 2004

Nothing to write home about, but a fair balance of effort to taste. Something in this hearty casserole reminded me of my youth - my mother must've had a similar "Spanish rice" recipe. As Alison points out, there's a base here for just about any protein you'd want to add; I used a non-spicy lamb bratwurst and it was fine.

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29th August 2011

Mujedrah

Essentially, this is three recipes - how to make rice and lentils in your slow cooker, how to caramelize onions, and a yogurt-cucumber-mint sauce.

The rice and lentils part is amazingly easy. It serves as a nice base for the onions, which become the standout part of the dish. The rice and lentils also play nicely with the raita, but I felt like the mint and yogurt taste overwhelmed the onions.

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5th September 2011

Hominy and Corn

A rich and satisfying casserole, appropriate for a main course but I can see it working very well as a vegetable for a pot luck. (It would be a nice side dish at home, too, but the recipe makes an epic amount of food.)

I substituted a roasted red pepper for some of the roasted green peppers called for, and I think it made the dish much more visually appealing. Using 2 cups of shredded cheddar was fine, but I think a mix of cheddar, Monterrey jack, and mozzarella would be nicer next time.

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A pleasant preparation of slowly braised ribs in a sweet Asian sauce. Ours completely fell apart; it wouldn't have been much work to pull the bones out of the pot and serve it like pulled pork. My wife enjoyed the subtle flavors, as did my young son; I thought it was OK but was hoping for bolder flavors. ("Soulful" is in the eye of the beholder.) I might add five-spice powder and up the garlic in future, to bring it more in the direction of Chinese-restaurant ribs.

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17th October 2011

Oscar's Posole

A very nice soup, rich but not at all heavy. The herbs and spices layer nicely with the flavor of the meat. Slices of lime for garnish adds a wonderful brightness. Use the best chicken broth you can.

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2nd November 2011

Beef Ragout

I was underwhelmed by this stew of beef, zucchini, and tomato. I found it watery and lacking in flavor. Perhaps part of the problem is that it's a spring or summer stew which I made in November, and my taste buds were set for something heartier. Still, in future I think I'd increase the garlic and herbs, and brown (perhaps broil) the zucchini before adding it.

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7th November 2011

Poussin Paprikash

I adore paprikash - stewed chicken in a rich and creamy sauce spiced with paprika. This slow-cooker approach is a winner. I used 2 chicken leg quarters instead of the poussins called for, and it worked just fine. The meat was tender, almost falling off the bone, and the sauce was pleasant.

Looking at my previous favorite recipe (from the Frugal Gourmet: Immigrant Ancestors book), I think I'd increase the shallots in this recipe next time. I also got a reminder that this is a dish where you should use the freshest paprika you can find - I used the end of a can of indeterminate age and it was a little lacking in flavor. (The amount called for - 3 teaspoons - looks right; I'm sure this was about my spice cabinet.)

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28th November 2011

Gumbo

This is a pretty good chicken and rice soup. It is, unfortunately, a lackluster gumbo. With a dash of hot sauce and a sprinkle of file powder at the table, it was OK - again, good for soup, but just OK for gumbo.

I suppose it displays my prejudices when I say that the first problem with this chicken gumbo is that there's not enough pork in it. A smoked sausage would be very nice, or failing that, ham or at least double the bacon called for.

The real problem with the recipe, though, is that there's no depth of flavor, none of the body I associate with gumbo. I think it's the lack of a roux (though purists might say you don't use both roux and file). Overall, I may return to this recipe, but it needs tinkering to be what it claims to be.

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An easy and pleasant approach to roasted potatoes. They do turn out creamy, not fluffy or crusty. The garlic and rosemary flavors mix for a very pleasant bite.

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27th December 2011

Turkey Broth

My stock pot may never be used for making stock again, between this recipe and the ones in the Fagor pressure cooker manual. Why spend all that time and energy on the stovetop?

The long simmer produces a beautifully clear amber stock. There's also very little liquid lost in the slow cooker - unlike to stovetop or pressure cooker, the yield is darn near the amount of water you add. The recipe is chock-full of onion, leek, and carrot, and the stock has a strong vegetal sweetness. (If you prefer meatier stocks, you might cut these back a hair.)

I do have a quibble - my printing says to cover the turkey carcass with "4 inches" of water. I just can't see how that's possible in my (large) slow cooker for any turkey worthy of the name. Admittedly, today I'm making stock from the remains of Birdzilla, and I just barely got it into the pot. Extrapolating out to a more moderate-sized turkey, I still think it's a misprint.

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A very basic pot roast - chuck roast in brown gravy with potatoes and carrots. I tried to up the flavor with 2 cloves of garlic and substituting 1 cup of beef stock for 1 cup (out of 3) of water; I think both were successful. I liked the strong flavors of carrot and bay leaf, but I still prefer a pot roast including red wine and tomatoes.

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2nd April 2012

North Indian Chili

In my opinion, this belongs in the "beans" section, not the "chili" section. But as a bean dish, it's rather good. The addition of evaporated milk at the end gives the sauce a richness which is very satisfying. (I suspect this is an addition which would improve many vegetarian chilis, if you're not going for vegan.)

I omitted the canned jalapeno and served it with hot sauce at the table; I found it needed the acidity of hot sauce as much as the heat. It was good with flatbread but next time I imagine I'll make rice as well.

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22nd May 2012

Italian Pork Stew

With pork, tomato, wine, onions, and bell pepper, I was expecting a rather straightforward "pot roast" flavor for this stew. The addition of orange peel, however, brightens the whole dish. It's a dominant flavor, but it compliments the pork and onions without slipping over to the candy-like flavors of a fruit glaze. Definitely will make again.

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I wonder if my slow cooker's "low" setting is higher than this cookbook expects. At 4 hours, this looked ready to eat, and at 5, the sauce was broken and the meat slightly dry. The herb flavor was nice; I reduced the amounts by about half because I was using dried herbs, not fresh, but next time I'd use more.

I'll definitely be coming back to this recipe, to try and work out the timing.

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31st January 2013 (edited: 31st January 2013)

Mahogany Glazed Pork

It took me a while to figure this recipe out, but finally, it hit me. It's the flavor profile of orange beef, but with tender braised pork shoulder instead of often-tough fried round steak. Now that I know what it is, I'm sure I'll be returning to the recipe. The orange flavor fades as a leftover; I don't think adding marmalade to the original would work well but a little hit while reheating might be nice.

The snap peas and red peppers are a nice nod to the Chinese restaurants of my youth, but broccoli would go well too.

If you want it "glazed", you'll probably have to flip the meat midway through cooking. Like many crock pot recipes, it's clear which side was in the liquid and which was above.

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Something seems to be missing from this recipe. Perhaps a sauce or gravy. (I left out the black olives, because I find them boring; maybe green olives would work.) There just doesn't seem to be much flavor in it.

I also suspect there's a bad instruction in it - the corn meal mixture is stirred together with the beef and onions. I wonder if the textures would be more interesting if the corn meal were allowed to sit on top of the beef, like many of the tamale pies I've seen.

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8th May 2013

Pork Stew In Cider

This is a light and simple stew, appropriate for a spring meal. It's pleasant, but we found it lacking depth. The pork cooked nicely, and the apples and onions were fine, but the broth was downright watery. I imagine that either adding a cup of chicken stock, to make it a soup instead of a stew, or cutting half a cup or so of cider, to concentrate the flavors, would help. A handful of dried fruit might play well with the pork and apples, or I might do a riff on Julia Child's spring lamb stew and add green beans. So, as I keep saying with this book, the recipe is so-so but it's an intriguing base for future experiments.

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20th September 2014

Roast Pork with Apples

A pretty nice approach to a roast; once again with this book, I'm glad I turned the heat from "low" to "warm" about an hour early.

The apples are interesting. We used Fujis, which are probably too sweet for this dish, though their apple blossom perfume was captured well. With a sweet apple, a little goes a long way - it's almost a dessert topping. My son picked up on the brown sugar and ginger flavors and accused us of serving him sweet potatoes instead of apples. I'd like to try it again with a properly tart apple, but even so, I'd probably scale back the sugar.

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2nd November 2015

Slow Cooker Applesauce

A perfect crock pot recipe - peel and quarter the apples, add lemon juice and water, and forget it. I didn't even need to use the food mill on mine (though we do like applesauce just a bit chunky).

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Website: New York Times - Dining and Wine

www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html
 

30th May 2010

Beef Tartare Burger

My wife and I had the same reaction to this burger - it's a kick-ass mini-meatloaf. It's heady with parsley, capers, and onion, and had a great burger char on the outside. The recommendation to use a coarse grind for burger meat is a good one - it makes the meat distinctly more beefy, although I feel like I lost some classic American "burger-ness". I found it could do with a little more salt and spice - but a squeeze of lemon juice and a shot of hot sauce definitely makes it a recipe to return to.

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Website: The New York Times

www.nytimes.com
 

Pretty interesting concept. I didn't feel like I got a "bread pudding"; the egg layer and bread-and-zucchini layer were totally distinct. (And the zucchini layer was not nice to look at.) I feel like that might be a technique thing; if the bread wasn't totally beaten to mush, or the egg was mixed in to the squash better, it might have been nicer.

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New English Kitchen: Changing the Way You Shop, Cook and Eat

By Rose Prince
Fourth Estate Ltd - 2005

25th January 2010

Braised Once-Roasted Beef

A pretty good technique for using leftover roast - minced, mixed with shredded root vegetables, and braised into a hearty sauce (suggested for Yorkshire puddings but fine for noodles or rice). And while it does take an hour, there's not a ton of work involved if you use a food processor. I feel like it misses an herbal note - maybe thyme or even parsley to green it up a bit.

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11th December 2010

Roast Lamb

Prince calls this "in the French style", meaning roasted on a bed of vegetables which are then incorporated into the sauce. I found it very pleasant; the flavors are subtle and compliment the lamb nicely, and the meat was tender and juicy.

I suppose the style I'm more familiar with - crusted with assertive rosemary, garlic, and salt - must be the "American" style, but I do enjoy this continental take.

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19th December 2010

Shepherd's Pie

Very nice way to use up the end of a roast, sweet and savory. It's easy enough to be a weeknight dinner, especially if you let the food processor handle the chopping and mincing. I think I went too heavy on the mashed potatoes, but it was awfully good... maybe it's served differently in the UK than in the US.

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Pleasant technique. Braised sausages take longer than panfried, and you don't get the same browning, but they do require less attention and cook up moist and tender. A quick browning before or after the braise might be called for.

I've braised a ton of sausages in beer; cider has a more delicate flavor, but the apple note is clear and goes nicely with a mildly-spaced sausage. I'll remember that.

The hot potato salad was pretty good. My wife added pan juices to the dressing, which was a great choice which tied the dishes together and added a bit of complexity to the dressing.

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I'd never considered stir-fry as a British dish, but this quick and satisfying preparation is exactly that. It's next to the page about using "cheaper cuts", but this was a nice way to put a dent in a leftover leg of lamb. (A different kind of frugality, I suppose.)

The cooking liquid can be either white wine or meat broth. I picked white wine, and I think the acidity helped cut the oiliness of the dish.

Not a dish I see myself buying lamb to make, but certainly a dish I'll put into the rotation to use up leftovers.

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31st January 2016

Trout Pate

Simple base for a sandwich spread or dip. We used smoked salmon in place of "cooked" trout, and I suspect the lower moisture content is part of why we needed a lot more yogurt and sour cream to reach the texture we wanted.

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19th March 2017

Soda Bread

Nice loaf of bread. Mixed up particularly wet, which was odd for our house and weather; ended up adding a lot of flour to make it workable and a longer bake time to get it fully cooked.

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The New Chesapeake Kitchen

By John Shields, David W. Harp
Johns Hopkins University Press - 2018

12th May 2019

Rhubarb Muffins

I don't particularly like rhubarb or muffins. But it's Mother's Day and my wife and son like both those things, so I roused myself and made them. They were really quite good!

The little chunks of rhubarb provide the balance that most bakery muffins seem to lack. They're particularly good warm while the rhubarb is still hot and soft. The batter is the right amount of sweet but not too much so.

The recipe says "walnuts", but I used pecans because, well, I always prefer pecans.

The recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but in my muffin tin it makes 16. The last 4 were prettier than the first 12; maybe the batter benefits from standing a few minutes.

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20th June 2019

Shortcake Biscuits

Excellent shortcakes. Just the right amount of sweetness while still having a good bit of biscuit texture to them. I let the dough get too wet and it was hard to work with, but that's just something to watch for next time.

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