chefaileen's Reviews
37 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 37Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
The Best 30-Minute Recipe
By Cook's Illustrated Magazine, John Burgoyne, Daniel J. Van Ackere, Carl Tremblay
America's Test Kitchen - 2006
The kids really like this, and it's ready in approx. 30 min. There's a cornbread topping that is optional, but I'm not sure we've done this.
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Really good and good as left overs. I use a little more cheese, and mix some Monterey Jack with the Mozzarella. Also, freshly grated parmesan makes a difference. Fresh basil at the end is great, but my kids pick out the "yucky green stuff". The family love this and my son likes it and he rejects most lasagnes.
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Tasty, but the meatballs were a bit weird, and the bread soaked in buttermilk was more trouble than just using breadcrumbs, and had a less desirable texture. Mixing pork and ground beef gives nice flavour and is more interesting than plain ground beef.
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The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook: 350 Inspired Recipes from Elizabeth Baird and the Kitchen Canadians Trust Most
By Elizabeth Baird
Random House Canada - 2004
Very rich, so if doing as a starter, can serve a lot of people as you just need a small slice. I've also done this "deconstructed" and made a salad with all the ingredients but omitting the puff pastry. It was great.
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Very yummy, but not being a radish person I left these out. I may have substituted something else for the mushrooms, as we're not keen on raw mushrooms, although we do liked cooked ones. That being said, the fried goat cheese with the spinach is great. Could also add pancetta or bacon for a heartier, less healthy dish, although fried goat cheese isn't a contender for healthy dish of the year!
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This is essentially Coq-au-vin. Can use red or white wine. Quick, it is not, but it is delicious, and the whole family loves it. When you have to peel pearl onions it is never quick, plus washing all those mushrooms. I also let it simmer for much longer, and I generally make a double batch. I use boneless-skinless chicken thighs and cut up large pieces of chicken breast. I increase the carrots quite a bit and use more bacon - at least double what is called for. Also we don't use parsley as a garnish in general.
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An excellent breakfast for company, or special occasion. Takes a while to make but can pre-make and freeze although I haven't tried it. Really, really, really good. I followed all the directions and didn't change a thing.
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One nice basic muffin recipe and a whole bunch of variations. We usually do chocolaty banana, but have also done apple spice and zucchini pecan (without the pecans).
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Good basic pancake recipe with a few variations, including buttermilk. Not as rich as some variations, but a good standard.
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A good basic chocolate cake. Beats Betty Crocker. I've used this for chocolate cupcakes too. Nice icing.
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I made this for a friend who loves this type of pie, but I used a graham cracker crust instead of pastry which made it easier. It was pretty good, but I don't remember anyone going gaga over it. And we had to buy a huge bottle of pina colada mix, which we may still have! If we do, it likely needs chucked as it was last summer!
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Cooking New American : How to Cook the Food You Love to Eat
By Fine Cooking Magazine
Taunton Press - 2004
This was incredible. I used 2 small butternut squash and then had way too much filling, so increased the ricotta and parmesan to balance, and then had at least half of it left over. I froze it, so hopefully can use again. The ravioli were easy to make, but required less boiling time than the recipe says. Basically when they pop up on to the surface, I think they are done. Otherwise they get too soft. But the taste was great especially with the sauce (easy to make) and all the toppings. If I had been served this in a restaurant I would have been pleased. My husband and I had 4 each as a main course and were stuffed. Could eat less with salad on the side. The recipe suggested 6 for dinner portion, and 3-4 for appetizer, but they are filling with a heavy sauce. I made 56 and ran out of wonton wrappers, so froze the rest of the filling. I ended up freezing a large number of ravioli too, so can have this again soon! Yum.
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Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes
By Giada De Laurentiis
Clarkson Potter - 2005
Really nice flavour and good as a dip at a party. Vegetarian. Nice with veggies and also crackers, as well as the pitas that it describes. I make it with white navy beans usually, as it can be hard to find cannellini beans. I've made it with and without parsley, depending on its presence in my fridge.
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Easy to make and eat. I made it for 34 people for a dinner party and it was well-received.
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Very nice basic sauce for pasta. Easy to make. I used the food processor for this to have smoother texture.
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Uncooked tomato sauce. My husband liked it, but I prefer cooked tomato sauce. I made a note to mince the garlic in the future before putting it in the food processor, as you pulse it and get big horrid chunks of garlic. Good recipe if you like sauces like this and grow your own tomatoes.
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Very nice sauce. I used ground sirloin but it calls for ground beef chuck. Query means to grind your own or get it from a butcher? Yummy.
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I would definitely try this again only with way less vodka. The way it is written it calls for 1 cup of vodka. I did this and it was overwhelming and not suitable for kids! I wrote a note in the margin to try with less than 1/3 cup, likely 1/4 would be good to start and then taste. The base is her Marinara sauce which is good, then add vodka, cream, parmesan and seasoning. It should be good, but there must be a typo in the amount of vodka!!
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Fare for Friends
By Fare for Friends Foundation
Key Porter Books - 1993
Mom makes these. Pretty good.
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Great for a crowd as serves 12-14. Good left over although you might have to add more cheese. Easy and tasty - a meal in itself.
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Very good. I use skinless boneless chicken breasts instead of whole boned chicken breasts, halved. Serves 8-10 so no need to double, and freezes well.
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Tasty and family friendly.
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Very nice flank steak marinade.
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A family favourite, good for special occasions as it makes lots. Can be made ahead, and tastes better this way!
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Very good, but a pain to grate the potato. Serves a lot and good for special occasion dinners.
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French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating
By Laura Calder
HarperCollins Canada - 2009
This was awesome. Impressed the guests at a dinner party and was very easy to make. I used a 10 inch or greater (still haven't measured it) springform pan, not an 8 inch, and it turned out fine. I didn't need 2 full apples for the top. I wish she had shown a picture of the assembled tart, as she just says to arrange the apple slices on top. I overlapped them starting with the outer edge and working my way in, in a circular fashion, so it looked like a flower. I learned this from one of the Pan Chancho recipes. It looked great. i used toasted pecans for the nuts instead of almonds or walnuts, and it was great. I do recommend lightly toasting the nuts for greater flavour. I worried they might burn with 40 min in the oven on top of the tart, but they didn't.
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The Good Friends Cookbook
By Fare for Friends Foundation
Key Porter Books - 1993
Pretty straightforward and tasty.
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For lovers of banana and caramel. Caramel is made by boiling an unopened can of condensed milk for several hrs - the longer you boil it, the darker it becomes. Could probably substitute ready-made dulce de leche sauce for a much faster dessert with a similar taste.
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Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook
By Beth Hensperger
Harvard Common Press - 2004
Great vegetarian chili with the rice built in. Extremely fast to make in your slow cooker - took about 10-15 min tops! It says cook 6-8 hrs but it was done by 6. Made tons, and I've been eating it for lunch. Served it with some baked corn chips, low fat sour cream and guacamole. My kids ate it up, and my daughter requested it for her school lunch the next day. Can't go wrong, and nice to have a meatless chili. Doesn't have oodles of veg in it, just the beans, but you could probably add some if you wanted. I used a whole canned chipotle chili and it was fairly spicy - might use half next time for my son's benefit.
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Another great slow cooker recipe. One of the best stew's I have eaten, but a bit involved to make as lots of vegetables to prepare and you have to brown the meat. Took about an hour to assemble, but fantastic result when we came home at night to eat it. Has potatoes built in, so just had some crusty bread with it.
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Very good. We had guests over and it fed 8 of us (kids didn't eat too much), with some left overs. Served with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. The guests really liked it. Took about 30-40 min to prepare. Very turnipy, which was good for me, but others may want to cut back on it.
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This was so easy it was hard to believe. I used 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes instead of 1 tsp, as I was serving it to young children. Took about 10 min to prepare, I kid you not. The kids gobbled it up, and we've had it twice. The meat appears dry when you open the cooker, but it breaks up into the sauce and is wonderful. I put the peanut butter into the slowcooker to begin with by mistake the first time I made it and it turned out fine, but with a little less sauce than the second time I made it. Friends also made it after I recommended it and it was a huge hit at their house too.
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The Pan Chancho Cookbook
By Yanovsky, Zoe
Bookmaker's Press Inc - 2006
Amazing ginger cookies.
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Really good cookies
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This is a fantastic dessert, especially for all those who remember sticky spongy puddings of their youth. I used individual non-stick mini-Bundt pans as the original instructions I got from the bakery specified. I haven't tried it in Ramekins as this one says to, but it would be easier. You just wouldn't be able to tip them out on to the plate, and pour the sauce all over, so the presentation wouldn't be as good. I liked this dessert so much at the Bakery that I e-mailed the pastry chef and she gave it to me. It is now in the cookbook.
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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day
By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009
This was very easy frosting to whip up. No mixer required. I was worried the lemon juice would make it taste lemony (I don't want my cream cheese frosting to taste like lemons. I want it to taste like cream cheese!), but it didn't. It just cut the sweetness a little. Very yummy and melted well over the cinnamon rolls.
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Fantastic. Very easy to put together with a whisk and bowl and turned out great. I used toasted walnuts and raisins and it worked out beautifully.
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