I thought this was very good but not great. Like many recipes in this cookbook, this takes a while to prepare. I didn't think it was really necessary to saute the mushrooms as specifically as called for. Once they are in the sauce, I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference.

This made a lot of sauce so I didn't toss the pasta with all of it, and instead, served the extra at the table. This turned out to be a good decision because the pasta absorbed most of the sauce so it was nice to be able to add more.

This makes a lot more than four servings. Now the extra sauce will be good on the leftovers tomorrow.

I made this for the Catalan Beef Stew. It was pretty easy to prep and could be made ahead. Like the other reviewer, I did not use cheesecloth and it worked out fine without it. It made extra braising liquid which I will freeze to use later.

Yum. Your home will smell so good while this is baking. It is delicious! However, the amount of butter in it is scary!

These biscuits are really, really good. The recipe makes a lot. I cut them into 12 but they could have been much smaller. These are especially good with the peach puree (p.249). Yum!

This was OK- nothing special. It was an easy enough recipe to make. I liked that the fennel was blanched before it was sauteed. It was good but not a stand-out.

This takes some planning ahead to make because you have to make the recipe for the Braised Short Ribs. I had soffritto in the freezer from the last time I made it which was a huge time saver. Given that with most stews all the ingredients cook together for a while, I was surprised that in this recipe all of the components are cooked separately and then only cook together for about ten minutes. I have to say, maybe because of this, I didn't think the flavors blended all that well together. I had high hopes for this and they weren't really met, unfortunately.

Update: To give credit where credit is due- this was MUCH better the next day.

This brine is really easy to make and added a lot of flavor to the Pan-Roasted Chicken with Sweet Sausage and Peppers. It can be made ahead which is nice. It took me a while to get used to the scent of it- the lemon, honey and herbs smelled like a throat lozenge! I was a little worried that the chicken would taste like one too, but it was actually a really nice flavor. Because of the amount of salt in the brine I did not add additional salt to the chicken and it was still perfectly seasoned.

Update- when I made this in the beginning of August, I froze half of the unused brine for future use. Tonight I used it and it was as good as it was in the beginning of the month.

This was the soup we served at Thanksgiving and it was a nice alternative to the butternut squash soup that we usually have. It was delicious.

The beet chips took a lot longer to cook than the recipe stated. I also had to use considerably hotter oil. Make extras because they are good to snack on- like Terra chips.

I used Keller's Brioche Croutons instead of torn bread for this and added chives for a garnish. I also used half and half instead of cream.

This is really, really good. It is relatively easy to make. You can prep ahead of time and then cook it pretty quickly. It is also fairly economical and worthy of guests. My one complaint is that the recipe calls for three large heads of fennel to yield about three cups of it sliced. Three large heads were much too much so I only used the three cups and didn't put the rest in. It was a waste to have purchased so much. However, the braised fennel was one of the best parts of this dish and we wished there had been more of it. I would suggest adding at least four cups of it instead of three. I would also add a few more strips of lemon peel. Unlike the other reviewer, my chicken did not need to cook longer than twenty minutes. In fact, the timing was perfect. Mine did take longer to brown, though. The chicken rendered a lot of fat so I really had to skim before serving. Placing the thighs under the broiler is really important or else the skin is soggy. This dish was perfect with plain old, simple, steamed green beans. So good!

This is a lovely summer salad. The Peach Puree (p. 249) in the dressing is a really nice touch. I didn't have red endive so I used radicchio instead. I also substituted toasted slivered almonds for the Marcona almonds. Delicious.

This is very good. I brined it for 8 hours instead of 10 because I was nervous that it would be too salty. It tasted fine and probably didn't need to go longer. The steps for stuffing it were easy to follow though the steps for tying the roast left me a little confused. This had to cook quite a bit longer than instructed. I kept taking the temperature and it didn't cook evenly.

The Fig and Balsamic Jam is amazing! The roast was good with the suggested sides- Caramelized Fennel and the Glazed Sweet Potatoes.

This is delicious! The garlic is slow cooked for about forty minutes and gets so soft it practically melts in your mouth. The recipe calls for you to place the saucepan over a diffuser in order to keep the oil at a really slow simmer. A blogger on the Internet suggested placing the saucepan on a skillet if you don't have a diffuser, which I don't. This trick worked well. I have made this both with canola oil (as instructed) and with olive oil (as requested!) both are delicious. I also haven't made a full recipe- only half each time (less garlic to peel and no worries about storing it too long). I made the oil specifically to use in the Aioli and also on the Smashed Roasted Marble Potatoes. However, it is especially good smeared on homemade ciabatta!

These are easy to make and are very good. I substituted corn meal for the semolina and probably shouldn't have. They still tasted good but the dough consistency was off. Perhaps it isn't fair for me to rate the recipe. I will have to make them the right way and review again.

This salad is a PRODUCTION. Really. If you want a project that takes days then this is for you. I love to cook and this tried my patience. By the time you roast the tomatoes (five hours), make the garlic confit oil (one hour), make the aioli (I tried four times and it never emulsified so I had to use store bought), bake the brioche (over 24 hours) then turn it into croutons, cook the lardons and finish the dressing you have a couple of days of preparation. Because I knew some of my guests don't like blue cheese, when I made the dressing, I kept half of it the regular Buttermilk Dressing and made the other half the Point Reyes Blue Cheese Dressing. The whole time I was prepping I kept thinking to myself this better be REALLY good to justify the amount of time spent on it. And it is really good. Do I ever need to make this again? Probably not. Though everyone loved it- especially those of us who haven't had iceberg lettuce since the 1970s!

The marinade for this skirt steak was delicious! The cooking time given was perfect. This was nice served with the corn with lime salt.

I don't usually like cooked carrots but these are very good. I loved the madeira and curry powder in them but didn't really taste the fennel seeds or coriander. Since I didn't have carrot juice, I used chicken stock instead. I really liked the cutting technique, too. I had never sliced obliques before.

I am changing my original review and stating that these actually are excellent. They are much better a few days after they are cooked. These take a long time to make- blanching, peeling, roasting for five hours-lots of effort involved.

This is so, so good! I prepped the duck before leaving for work in the morning so it marinated for about 12 hours- the maximum suggested time. After work, it only had to cook and rest for about 30 minutes so this actually made a pretty quick weekday meal. We could really taste all of the individual flavors- orange, nutmeg, thyme...They came together so well. That's what is nice about this recipe- besides the duck, most of the ingredients are usually on hand. We served it over plain steamed spinach and with rice. Really delicious!

This is so, so good. I made it as a component of the Endive and Arugula Salad with Peaches and Marcona Almonds (p. 140). However, it was really delicious spread on the Buttermilk Biscuits (p. 277) and on a toasted gruyere sandwich. The puree is almost jam-like. It is easy to make and is a great way to use those summer peaches!

Yum. The garlic in this is a great addition. I chose to make the fried version since it could be made in advance and could set in the refrigerator. I sliced it in squares and fried/sauteed it. It was really good- especially paired with the Pan-Roasted Chicken with Sweet Sausage and Peppers. Beware- this recipe makes a lot of polenta! It was much more than the six-eight servings suggested. Next time I would cut the recipe in half. Also- I might bake it in the oven rather than saute it.

Very nice. I would never have thought to add mint to beans but this was delicious. I used half romano beans and half wax beans and blanched them ahead of time. The cooking time for the romano beans was perfect. I used less butter than called for and it was still great and very creamy. This dish went really well with the caramelized sea scallops.

This is delicious. Instead of broccoli rabe I used broccolette. It was quick and easy to make.

These are very good and super easy to make. I followed the advice of the other reviewers and didn't use the entire amount of salt called for. However, mine actually weren't salted enough.

We decided to have this as a main course so I made a stock out of the shrimp shells (and thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns) and used that to cook rice in. We had asparagus with it too. Easy weeknight meal!

The soffritto is used in the Peperonata Rustica. I must not have read the recipe carefully because I missed the fact that between prepping and cooking this takes more than five hours to make. I halved the recipe so I would have only enough for the Peperonata Rustica. After spending so long cooking this, I wish I had at least made the whole thing so there would be more for something else! This can be stored for up to a week. It tastes delicious on its own- almost like caponata. I am planning on making the PR in a few days and this better really add to the flavor of it given how long it takes to make! (As I mentioned in a different post, if you don't have a diffuser, place the saucepan on a skillet and you should be fine.) I loved the trick of grating the plum tomatoes on a box grater. All you are left with is the skin. Very clever!

This is another excellent recipe from this cookbook. I am not really sure what made this stand out for me since it uses many of the same ingredients as the other roast chicken recipes I use- like Ina Garten's, but this is just that much better. I loved that the chicken cooked over vegetables. I didn't find them to be too greasy and also thought they weren't fully cooked in the time specified so I had to remove the chicken and let them cook a little longer.

While this just might become my go-to roast chicken recipe from now on, I am not giving up on Ina just yet and will probably use the leftover roasted vegetables to make her Roasted Vegetable Soup.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-vegetable-soup-recipe2/index.html