bhnyc's Reviews
218 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating 
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
This recipe was so easy- especially since the dough can be made up to four days ahead and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it. Keep an eye on it while it is baking since mine was done in less time than indicated.
This is the best French bread I have ever made.
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Another easy and delicious recipe from this book. It made eight bagels. While they are smaller than bagel shop bagels they are still fairly big. Next time I might try to make ten instead so they are even smaller. I didn't use the egg wash before putting on the toppings, but wish I had since most came off. Next time! These were so good, I will never have store-bought bagels again.
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
This recipe was very easy to make. It was flavorful and light. This is an excellent way to prepare fish quickly and easily. I made this over the chanterelle mushrooms and pea shoots (page 206) and that was a great pairing.
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Delicious! These potatoes took no time at all. The longest part of the recipe was making the garlic confit but that was easy to do. These were fabulous with the pan-roasted halibut.
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This was the perfect accompaniment to the pan-roasted halibut. Delicious and flavorful. Just use less salt than called for!
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
Another easy recipe from this book. I love that you can make the dough in advance and leave it in the refrigerator for up to four days. The 'stretch and fold' method is easy to do- right in the bowl so it makes clean up fast. The bread is better the next day if you like crispier crust.
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
I chose this recipe because it looks so easy- and it is. It is like a deconstructed salad nicoise with fewer steps and preparations. So much of it can be made ahead and then everything just gets assembled. The vinaigrette (p. 179) was great too. It all looked beautiful on the platter.
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Simple and delicious- but I did not add the butter. Like the other reviewer, I also slice these and use them in salad. The light bulb tip is so helpful and makes cleaning the beets so easy.
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Yum! Yum! Yum! I chose this recipe because it is one of the easiest in the book. It took about two minutes to prepare and nine minutes to cook. Doesn't get easier than that and it tasted like a dish you would get in a restaurant.
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Delicious! This gratin exceeded my expectations. The one criticism I have is that I found the directions for assembling it to be really confusing. It wasn't until after I realized that there was a photo on the previous page that I was able to put it together properly. It is important to make sure that the vegetables are sliced to the same thickness- I like them on the thinner side. I made this the day before I planned to serve it so it was a nice do-ahead dish. SO good and better than a ratatouille for using all of those summer vegetables.
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Flavorful, simple and delicious. This was a really easy weekday meal. It took minutes to prep and to cook. It was especially good with the summer vegetable gratin- the tomatoes in the gratin were really delicious with the chicken. I could make and eat this every night.
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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.
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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.
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This was easy to make- though I wish I had bought pitted olives. It's good on toasted baguette and even better a few days after you make it.
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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!
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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!
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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!
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This is really delicious and not too hard to make. There are a few steps to do in advance- the peperonata rustica takes quite a bit of time since you have to make a soffritto first and then roast the peppers. You also need to brine the chicken for twelve hours. The brine is really simple to make and can be done ahead. I recommend using it as it added a really nice flavor to the chicken. I did not salt the dish again as indicated in the recipe and it was plenty salty, but not too salty. The peppers are so sweet. Even my guest who doesn't like peppers liked them in this dish. I recommend this over the fried polenta (p.218) and with steamed string beans. It was a great pairing.
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
Bread doesn't get much better than this! I was excited to make this once I established a starter. I used cheddar cheese and made both a baguette and a batard. So beautiful and so delicious! This would be great in the fall with a bowl of soup.
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Like the other reviewers, I made this using the starter I created following Reinhart's directions. I made this sourdough bread twice.
The first time, I should have added more flour to the dough because in hindsight it was too wet and didn't keep its shape after I took it out of the mold. The second time I made it, I really made sure that the dough was not too sticky, which meant that I had to keep adding a little flour at a time as I mixed it by hand. It took quite a bit more flour to get to the right texture. This time the bread came out of the brotform and really kept its shape.
I made both the purist version and the version with the added yeast. Both tasted great but I preferred the rise on the one with yeast.
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
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.
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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!
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I made this after reading all of the positive reviews here. It did not disappoint. So, so good! The lime with the corn was fabulous- as was the touch of cayenne. I did not use as much butter or cream as was called for and this was still unbelievably delicious!
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This is delicious. Instead of broccoli rabe I used broccolette. It was quick and easy to make.
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This is really delicious. It takes a while to make- the soffritto takes about 5 hours so I made extra soffritto to freeze for future use. The Peperonata Rustica is used with the Pan-Roasted Chicken with Sweet Sausage and Peppers. It is really good!
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Everyday Food
(Mar/Apr, 2003)
I searched this site looking for a turkey meatball recipe and made this based on the other review. It did not disappoint. In fact, these are the best turkey meatballs I have ever had- maybe even the best meatballs period- and they were prepared and cooked in no time. (I had homemade sauce on hand already.) I do not own this magazine but the recipe is available at marthastewart.com
I usually hate when reviewers say they made the recipe but changed all of these different things...but...I actually did just that. I sauteed the onions (with some minced garlic) in some olive oil first because I wasn't sure they would completely cook in the turkey in just eight minutes. I also used panko instead of fresh breadcrumbs.
The meatballs are light and flavorful. You can really taste the onions, cheese and parsley. I did as the other reviewer suggested and froze uncooked meatballs for future use. Great idea.
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Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2001
I think this is the best of the chicken stock recipes in Ina's cookbooks. At first I thought they were the same, but this is the one to use if you want to serve chicken in soup. Her other recipes use the same ingredients, but have you throwing out all of the chicken because it cooks so long. That seems wasteful to me.
This recipe has you take the chicken breasts out after an hour so you can shred the meat later and return it to the stock. I debone them and then throw the bones back in to cook for the remaining three hours. I recommend that you cut the chickens up before putting them in the pot. I didn't do that and then had to pull the entire steaming hot chicken out of the pot in order to get the breast meat.
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Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2002
This is the recipe I always use for stock and soup. It does take a while to cook- 4 hours- but it is definitely worth it and the house smells so good while it is cooking. It makes a lot of stock which can be frozen to use later. I don't have a 16- to 20 quart stock pot, so I divide the recipe in half and make it in two smaller stock pots. The recipe calls for 3 5-pound chickens. This seems like a waste to me since most of the chicken ends up getting thrown out. Instead, I often make this with one whole chicken and lots of chicken bones which I have saved up in the freezer over time. I have also purchased the bones from the market in the past. This way you still get the rich flavor and color of the broth but don't spend as much money and waste so much chicken.
If you want to use the chicken in soup- follow the recipe in the Parties! book. That has you removing the breast meat after an hour so you can serve it in soup later. This is a lot less wasteful to me.
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Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2001
This is comfort in a bowl. Soooo good. I add lots of vegetables- carrots, celery, parsnips and turnips. I also add some of the garlic that cooked in the stock. This freezes well and is perfect on a day when you aren't feeling well!
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
This is a delicious challah recipe. It is easy to make and the dough can be made up to four days before you want to bake it. Beware though, I kept mine in the refrigerator in a four-liter proofing container and it literally blew the lid off because it rose so high. The recipe doesn't call for them but I added 1 cup of raisins to each loaf. A little bit more would have been good too. I also chose to make a round braided loaf from directions I got online and not in the book. It tastes as good as it looks!
Note- bake this less than instructed- I pull it out at around 185 degrees.
Also- if you wonder what to do with all the egg whites, make Ina Garten's Black and White Angel Food Cake!
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This is a great sandwich bread. It is pretty easy to make if you have all the grains on hand: oats, wheat bran, cooked brown rice. To this loaf I added some wheat germ as well. I made extra brown rice, portioned it and froze it in baggies so all I have to do next time is pull some out of the freezer. Having the cooked rice will save about an hour of prep time.
The dough was a little firmer than I had expected. It was a little thicker during the stretch and folds than some other types of bread. I don't know if I added more flour than is necessary but I don't think so. But I guess it doesn't matter because the end result is really good. The sesame and poppy seeds on top were a hit.
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These are REALLY good! The dough was easy to portion and made about 17 2-ounce pretzels. I found that I had to let the dough rest for quite a bit while rolling it out in order to get the 17 inch strands that the book suggests. I rolled out some, let them rest, started others and then went back to the first ones. I am glad I did. The strands that were longer and thinner made pretzels that had better-defined holes in them. Otherwise, they baked up into a mass with no holes. They still tasted good but didn't have the thinner pretzel look which I like.
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Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2006
This is one of my favorite chicken salad recipes. The cook time for the roast chicken is perfect. I usually cook it ahead of time so it has time to cool. Gone are the days of poached chicken for chicken salad! Roasting it is so much better.
I love the crunchy celery and creamy mayo. Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs and it tastes really good with the green grapes. This salad makes a great sandwich and also is good over a green salad with Boston lettuce.
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
This is a super easy dough to make and it smells so good. I divided it up and at one time made twelve butterflake rolls and nine knotted rolls. The rest of the dough is still in the refrigerator while I decide what to do with it.
I liked the technique used to make the butterflake rolls- rolling out the dough, stacking the pieces, cutting them and placing them on their side in the cupcake tin. The rolls look really pretty and taste extra buttery. However, I found them a little dense.
Even though the dough is the same, I actually preferred the taste and texture of the knotted rolls. They came out much lighter and fluffier than the butterflake rolls. I thought these look great too. It was necessary to let the rolled out strands rest for quite a while before they could roll out to ten inches.
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
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!
useful (3)
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
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How to Bake: Complete Guide to Perfect Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Tarts, Breads, Pizzas, Muffins,
By Nick Malgieri
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1995
Delicious! This was a great way to use up the summer blueberries that I had in the freezer. These muffins are easy to make and taste really good.
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Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2001
These are delicious and easy to make. I doubled the recipe and made half as instructed- with raisins and walnuts. The other batch I made using toasted pecans and dried cranberries. I put the cinnamon sugar mixture on the raisin batch and wish I had used it on the cranberry cookies too. Either way, though, they were really good!
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
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.
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Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins
Workman Publishing Company - 2007
This is one of my favorite recipes ever! It is so easy to make and just smells like summer. Even though I love garlic, I don't use as much as the recipe calls for since it is raw. The brie melts and makes a wonderful creamy sauce but I leave some pieces of cheese to add on later so it doesn't all melt at once. The pasta is delicious as is or with the addition of boiled or roasted shrimp.
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Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2010
This is delicious and dinner was on the table in just over an hour.
Since I didn't have two lemons, I used one lemon and one orange. That combination was really nice. The sauce was good too! Be sure to do as directed and use a small pan to cook the chicken in. Then the onions will be soft and not burned.
useful (1)
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics
By Ina Garten
Bantam Press - 2009
I thought this was fabulous! I loved the lemon juice and lemon zest on the broccoli. Since I like vegetables on the crunchier side, I did not cook this for the entire time and actually wish I had cooked it even less.
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This was delicious. I used large homemade hoagie rolls that I had previously frozen (Artisan Bread Every Day) instead of ciabatta. Yum!
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
This is delicious! Everyone loved it. My six-year-old niece said it was, "The best bread in the whole world." The house smells so good while it is cooking. I used chives and a combination of cheddar, asiago and a little parmesan. I made one batard and one Kranz style in a loaf pan.
Easy to make, everyone should try it!
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Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2006
More than excellent. I actually won a baking competition at work using this recipe!
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Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2002
This is delicious- very lemony and garlicky. I have made it a number of times with shrimp but as you can see from the photo this time I used clams instead. Equally as good!
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Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2010
This is amazing! The photo doesn't do this justice and looks like it is showing just plain old popcorn. This isn't ordinary popcorn. What a way to elevate an ordinary snack.
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Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2008
This was delicious. I used large homemade hoagie rolls that I had previously frozen (Artisan Bread Every Day) instead of ciabatta. Yum!
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I thought this was fabulous! I loved the lemon juice and lemon zest on the broccoli. Since I like vegetables on the crunchier side, I did not cook this for the entire time and actually wish I had cooked it even less.
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The Silver Palate Cookbook
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins, Michael McLaughlin
Workman Publishing Company - 1982
This is one of my favorite recipes ever! It is so easy to make and just smells like summer. Even though I love garlic, I don't use as much as the recipe calls for since it is raw. The brie melts and makes a wonderful creamy sauce but I leave some pieces of cheese to add on later so it doesn't all melt at once. The pasta is delicious as is or with the addition of boiled or roasted shrimp.
useful (1)