Barbara's Reviews
78 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 78Sort by: Book Title 
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Plenty
By Yotam Ottolenghi, Jonathan Lovekin
Ebury Press - 2010
A vegetarian take on paella. The recipe says it generously serves 2, but this is an understatement, at least for women. It easily serves 3.
And very good it was. I didn't have broad beans or artichokes in oil, so I substituted frozen peas and fried eggplant, and used cilantro instead of parsely to garnish.
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The focus of this shakshuka (apart from the eggs) is peppers. I made about a third of a recipe, using green, yellow, and red peppers, adding a bit of garlic and using less oil and no saffron.
It was very good, but because it calls for a bit of muscovado sugar, and the onion partially caramelizes before you even add the sugar, I found it too sweet, at least to go with eggs.
Ottolenghi uses a lot of oil for this (and other) recipes. Even reduced by half, it could have used less.
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This couscous was excellent. It reminded me a bit of the Moroccan Roasted Vegetables from one of my Moosewood cookbooks, but the flavouring was more subtle.
I really liked the addition of butter to the cooked couscous.
I bought parsley root instead of parsnip (they look very much the same) and really enjoyed the flavour.
Definitely will make this again.
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This is essentially a quiche made with roasted vegetables, ricotta, and feta. It was delicious. Roasting the vegies is a bit of extra palaver but well worth it. As usual with this type of recipe, I used evaporated milk instead of cream to try to keep the fat down.
Although I blind baked the tart shell, it had a few holes and I was using a tart pan with a removable bottom, so some of the liquid leaked out, but it was still great.
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Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi
By Yotam Ottolenghi, Jonathan Lovekin
Chronicle Books - 2011
Cross-posting from the British edition:
http://www.cookbooker.com/recipe/35646/multi-vegetable-paella
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Cross-posting from British edition:
http://www.cookbooker.com/recipe/35860/shakshuka
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Cross posting from British edition: http://www.cookbooker.com/recipe/35863/very-full-tart
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Cross-posting from British edition: http://www.cookbooker.com/recipe/35862/winter-couscous
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The Silver Spoon
By Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press - 2005
I adapted the recipe for Gallina alla Melagrana, braising chicken pieces in the oven instead of roasting the chicken whole. I added the soaking water from the soaking the porcini mushrooms, which the recipe does not seem call for.
The pomegranate was an interesting feature. The seeds are both tart and sweet, and the resulting dish reminded me of having cranberry sauce as an integral part of the chicken. I liked it.
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Website: Simply Recipes
This recipe for this Portugese salt code casserole/stew was just too plain. The kalamata olives were a good compliment, but it really lacked punch. If I were to make it again, I would first sauté the onions, along with plenty of garlic and a serrano or birds-eye pepper.
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Website: Simply Recipes
This Iranian stew is all about the sauce. The result is both rich and sweet. I think the next time I would omit the extra sugar in the sauce, just relying on the sweetness from the pomegranate syrup.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
For years, my favourite Banana Bread recipe came from Joy of Cooking, but since Deb produced this one, it has become my standard. Not only are the spices wonderful, it easier to make, and uses fewer dishes (1 bowl!) than most other banana breads.
I never have bourbon on hand, so I skip that, and I top it with a pattern of pecan nuts.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I can't remember if I've ever cooked the whole recipe of chicken thighs and braised leeks, but I've taken Deb's advice and cooked the braised leeks on their own, and boy are they good. I've cooked them a number of times now, usually for company and there are never, ever leftovers.
However, the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of olive oil, and even though Deb says she skimps on this, I find it way too much. I cut it by a half, and the flvour is still great.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
These are excellent. I made them to accompany a roast chicken but have also served them as appetizers. They keep really well in the fridge and would make great hostess gifts.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This really is the easiest mac-cheese ever, and it is delicious. I actually reduced the amount of cheese to 325 gr and it still produces a very rich, creamy dish.
I also love the tomatoes on top. I used Tasty Toms, which are small, sweet, flavourful tomatoes that are the next best thing to real tomatoes outof your own garden. In fact, I liked them so much as a foil to the richness of the rest of the dish that I will consider layering them on double thick next time I make this.
I've made this recipe several times and prefer a bit more kick in the flavour, so I added a whole chile and a dash of Lea & Perrins.
As my niece says, "num, num, num, num, num"
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I was looking for an bean dip as an alternative to hummus, and remembered seeing this on Deb's blog. I was trying to keep it low-cal so I substituted drained quark for the cream cheese. I have to say I found the dip rather bland.
I added more garlic, some sambal oelek, and some sumac to get it more punchy. After those adjustment, it was better, but I think it needs more tweaking.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This recipe is simple and delicious. Definitely a keeper that can be adapted to other fruits as well. I really liked the delicate flavour the barley flour added.
The strawberries I used were wonderfully sweet and I found the amount of sugar to be too much. Next time I make this, I will cut the sugar by up to a quarter of a cup.
I made this recipe in a 9-inch cake pan and had no problem with overflowing.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I never would have thought of red wine in a cake, but this made a very tasty cake and was easy to make. I had some problems getting cake out of its greased-and-floured pan. Next time I'll make it with the parchment bottom.
I also loved the mascarpone-cream topping to serve with it. The mascarpone provides more body than normal whipped cream, and proved a wonderful compliment to the cake.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
A first for a Smitten recipe--this recipe seemed so light and easy but it didn't work for me. I left the cake in for the full 60 minutes, but the center still wasn't cooked through (although the tester came out clean). The apples themselves were also still not cooked soft, the batter had turned hard and meringue-like on top. It was also far too sweet.
I made it with 4 granny smiths and a rembrandt, plus some frozen cranberries.
I'd like to give it another go, but this time I will reduce the sugar by at least a quarter cup, only beat the sugar and eggs until just mixed, and cook the thing for a lot longer.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I had trouble with this recipe. At first I though it was because I made it with cake flour (patent bloem) which is a stupid thing to do with a yeasted cake. It works better with all purpose or strong flour (as the recipe calls for), but ultimately I think the batter just has too much butter in it, leaving it too dense.
A lot of butter is beaten into the dough which makes it very tender. However, I've made other plum kuchen now and I think you can get away with less. See http://inthekitchenwithbarbara.blogspot.nl/2012/10/glut-of-plums-cake.html.
I've made the recipe at least 3 times now, and used other recipes as well, and the recipes that use less butter work better.
That being said, I'm beginning to develop a plum cake addiction and it started with this recipe!
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Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery)
By Moosewood Collective
Fireside - 1990
Bobotie is a curried ground meat casserole with a custard top that is national dish of South Africa. This recipe uses tofu that has been frozen as a meat substitute, a technique I also use in making chili. I think it works quite well.
The resulting dish is quite tasty, but I felt that it needed some heat to match the curry flavours. I added a tablespoon of Sambal Brandal, and Indonesian chili paste, and that helped. Next time I might use more.
I also want to find out why pictures of bobotie always show the custard on top. When I pured the milk/egg mixture on top, it immedisate seeped into the tofu/onion mixture, and that is where it stayed and set.
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The Taste of Nova Scotia Cookbook
By Charles Lief, Heather Mackenzie
Key Porter Books - 1995
Oh my! This is good one. Egg yolks and maple syrup are cooked together, then beaten into a froth, then whipped cream folded in. The maple syrup flavour is subtle but distinctive. Everyone I've ever served it to loves it. It does require some care in making, because the yolks and maple syrup have a tendency to separate. Even if this happens, the dessert still tastes great, but it is a bit less smooth.
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Tofu Cookery
By Louise Hagler
Book Publishing Company (TN) - 1991
This is my go-to recipe for chili. I no longer own the book because I didn't find enough other recipes in it to make it worth keeping, but this recipe made it worth its soujourn in my home.
I never make chili con carne (somehow beans and meat together seems overkill), but I make this at least once or twice a year and have adapted the technique or freezing then thawing and seasoning the tofu in other recipes as well.
I often add corn and use black beans, and probably vary other ingredients to what I have on hand, but the basis is this.
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Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
By Deborah Madison
Broadway - 2007
This gratin was delicious. I made a quarter of the recipe and ate it as a main meal. If I make it again as a main meal, I would add some cheese or nuts to provide some protein. And another clove of garlic would not go amiss.
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Vegetarian Planet
By Didi Emmons
Harvard Common Press - 1997
I'm not sure if it was execution or just a poor recipe, but the flavour of the soup was totally dominated by the grated orange zest. Maybe there was some pith in the zest, or I should have scraped the carrots, but the soup also has an underlying bitter note that I find unpleasant.
Unfortunately I made a whole recipe so I will be eating this for a while. Maybe if it sits for a bit, the flavours will meld andmellow a bit into a more pleasing whole.
If I make it again, I will increase the ginger and omit or drastically reduce the orange zest.
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I wasn't sure about this recipe on day one (not unusual; I often don't taste it as well after I've been busy cooking it). But I loved it on day 2. Not part of the recipe, but I added crumbled feta cheese, which really went well.
Next time I will try some pickled lemon instead of the lemon juice and zest.
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I made half a recipe, using chopped fennel instead of corn kernels, which I'm not that fond of. Cooked the potatoes for less than the suggested time and added the dressing while the potatoes were still hot instead of dumping the potatoes in cold water.
This was tasty salad, but it needed spice. I think I would add a chili next time.
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These are good vegetarian burgers with chickpeas, carrots, and mushrooms as the base. The burgers were easy to form and held together well during the cooking. They are quite soft in the eating, so benefit from crusty rolls as a foil. I added a lot of black pepper and next time would add some cayenne pepper give it a bit more punch.
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