| From: All Recipes (reviewed 26th June 2011)Finding a bag of Trader Joe's white chocolate chips in my pantry, I searched for a recipe to use them in. This cookie recipe had great reviews at allrecipes.com so it seemed like a good one to try.
I altered the recipe slightly by lessening the sugar from 2 cups to 1.5 cups. I used white and brown sugar instead of all white. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly.
The cookies came out of the oven looking very nice. They held their shape and didn't flatten even though I used all butter which had really gotten too soft on the counter.
They have a nice chocolate flavor and a balanced sweetness. They'll never be a favorite because I don't really care for white chocolate (and really don't know why I had a bag of it in the pantry) but they are quite good. Kind of like a fudgy brownie with white chocolate chips.
If you're a fan of white chocolate, I'd highly recommend these. Even if you're not, they're worth a try. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 6th July 2011)I was looking for a Greek dressing that would taste just like the one I buy from the supermarket but without the stabilizers and other nasty things. This dressing uses olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and dried herbs. It's quite good and will be my go-to recipe for Greek dressing. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 16th July 2011)This marinade is very good and kept the pork tenderloin nice and moist on the grill. I did not have enough time to let the pork marinate for very long so the flavor did not penetrate as much as it could have. I will try this again soon when I have time to let it marinate longer. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 7th September 2011)Delicious marinade! Used it for steak tips which were grilled and they were tasty and tender. Made with common pantry ingredients it's easy to pull together in a two cup measuring cup.
I used red winer vinegar in place of the balsamic as I didn't have any good quality balsamic and other reviews stated the vinegar flavor was pronounced. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 5th November 2011)Quite a nice thing to start simmering on the stove while you enjoy your coffee or get breakfast started. It makes the house smell wonderful.
This recipe does take about an hour to complete - 30 minutes of simmering and 30 to rest.
We served it with pumpkin pancakes (not the ones included in this recipe) and it was delicious! It wasn't as thick as I might have preferred but that wasn't a problem. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 27th January 2012)A two hour delay due to bad road conditions left me with a bit of time to whip up some muffins for the boys for breakfast. Alas, my pantry was almost bare. I did, however, have a bag of mini chocolate chips and a search through the internet and Eat Your Books led me to this recipe.
The only change I made to the recipe was to swap butter for shortening. The recipe made 18 mini muffins and probably should have made a few more but I made mine just a smidge too large. The muffins are quite nice little things - moist and chocolatey. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 19th July 2012)After buying a bag of peanut butter chips on a whim, I decided to bake some chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips.
This recipe is wonderful. Nice chocolate flavor. Plenty of peanut butter chips. A perfect marriage of chocolate and peanut butter.
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| From: All Recipes (reviewed 13th July 2013)2013 is the summer of the cocktail at our house! We've been enjoying new cocktails on at least a weekly basis.
This is a very refreshing summer drink made with ginger ale, vodka, cranberry juice and lemon. We've substituted lime because that's what we always have on hand. It's light and a bit fruity and very delicious. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 20th October 2013)Although I linked this particular recipe, I actually used a combination of recipes to make these pretty accordion potatoes. I kept the skin on and used the trick of cutting the potatoes between two cutting boards to prevent cutting all the way through the bottom.
They took much longer to cook than any of the recipes called for. In the end, although the potatoes were good they weren't anything special and certainly no better than regular baked potatoes.
I couldn't see going through the effort of making these again. |
| From: All Recipes (reviewed 24th October 2015)I saw this recipe in the All Recipes magazine while waiting for the doctor. I saved it in my phone to try someday and today was that day.
Although there were a number of flavors - honey, brown sugar, Thai garlic ginger sauce - we didn't find any of them contributed to making the chicken sweet, spicy or sticky. I even added some cornstarch to thicken up the sauce and it still didn't cling to the chicken.
This didn't taste bad in any way but it was under whelming and I wouldn't make it again. |
| Very easy, one pot meal. Lots of flavor - just a bit of spice. The sauce covered the ziti really well and the chicken stayed moist.
Next time I'd add the broccoli closer to the end as I like my veggies with more crunch. |
| I suppose most folks don't really need a recipe for fajitas but, having never made them before, I thought it might be nice to have a general guideline.
I made the Latin American Dry Spice rub (pg. 390) for the flank steak and it was quite good. The flank steak was grilled with the spice rub. Flank steak, sauteed onions and peppers, and flour tortillas - simple and delicious.
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| Light, fluffy waffles. Perfect!
These require a bit more effort than using a mix as they require whipping egg whites and melting butter but they are SO much better. I used soured milk in place of buttermilk and you couldn't tell the difference.
I believe we have discovered our new family waffle recipe. |
| Tastes just like a regular Tollhouse cookie only bigger!
I was looking for a recipe for large chocolate chip cookies like the ones found in bakeries and this recipe fits the bill.
This recipe uses melted butter and additional egg yolks which are designed to ensure a chewy cookie. If you put the cookies in an airtight container soon after they cool the cookies will remain nice and chewy.
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| Very fast and easy chicken fajitas! The spices were perfect.
Great dinner for those nights when you have almost no time to cook. |
| Everyone in my family is a big fan of pork but I've never really been able to make decent boneless pork chops until now. This recipe is wonderful! All the boys gave it two thumbs up.
The coating is made with crushed Melba toasts and spices and the chops are coated with mayonnaise before patting on the coating. It sounds strange and rather 70s but it's amazing. The pork stays very moist and the topping is delightfully crisp.
We'll be adding this to the regular rotation. |
| Alfredo sauce is pretty basic and recipes don't differ much from one cookbook to another.
The boys are used to jarred Alfredo sauce and didn't care for this at all. My husband and I liked it but it had a funny consistency - kind of grainy - and tasted sweet. I may not have chosen the right cheese. None of this stopped my husband or me from eating large portions.
I'll make the sauce again with different cheese. |
| These are very good buttermilk pancakes. The recipe comes together quickly and is enough for 16 good sized pancakes.
As usual, I did not have buttermilk in the house and used sour milk. The pancakes don't rise as much as my boys prefer and they were a little more floppy than they like but they tasted delicious. |
| I used this marinade for chicken breast prior to stir frying. The taste of the sesame oil was a bit overpowering. I believe 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil is simply too much.
Everyone ate it without comment or complaint but I probably wouldn't make it again. |
| Fail.
It's hard to believe it's the fault of the recipe so it must be the fault of the cook. I followed the directions exactly but the batter didn't stay on the fish and left a huge mess on the bottom of the pot. I rescued dinner by scooping the fish out of the hot oil, putting it on paper towels for a bit and then putting it in a 375 oven.
In the end, the fish was actually pretty good. It retained some of the spice from the batter even if it wasn't battered. |
| Absolutely, totally delicious marinade! There is no vinegar in this marinade - it's made with typical southwestern spices like cumin and cayenne pepper along with soy sauce and canola oil.
The steak tips marinated for about 7 hours and the flavor was very good when we grilled them. |
| A simple pulled pork crockpot recipe. I used store bought bbq sauce and it was still quite good. This recipe advises taking the pork roast out of the crockpot and then shredding by hand so the fat and gristle can be thrown away. The meat is then added back to the pot with some additional seasonings.
Even those in my family who are not big crockpot fans loved this meal. The pork was not shredded into tiny pieces nor was it mushy. It was delicious - especially served on the homemade hamburger buns that I made. |
| Homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning!
This is the first time I've attempted cinnamon rolls. I made the rolls the day before and placed in the fridge overnight. The sweet dough came together easily but took a full 2 hours to rise - even in the same room as the woodstove.
The dough rolled out easily but because I read the directions incorrectly I ended up with a longer roll than called for. This meant I had 3 extra rolls.
I warmed my oven to 200 degrees, turned it off, and put the rolls in there to rise in the morning after I took them out of the fridge. They were good to go in about an hour.
Although the recipe calls for a 30 minute cooking time, mine were done in about 20 minutes. Oh my! Warm, gooey, cinnamony rolls for Christmas breakfast.
I used this icing to top them off : http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-bun-icing-19239 |
| It's freezing cold outside and two of the boys have fevers. Seemed like a good day for some soup.
French Onion Soup recipes don't really vary all that much. This particular one uses Spanish onions and both chicken and beef stock.
The most difficult part was cutting all those onions. They caramelized nicely. I covered the individual bowls with toasted pieces of bread that I passed under the broiler with Swiss cheese rather than putting the bowls under the broiler.
The boys weren't excited about the soup but my husband and I both enjoyed it. I believe next time I'd use a recipe that didn't call for vinegar. I found the taste of the vinegar distracting though not overwhelming. I think I would have preferred the soup without it.
All in all, a nice dinner for a cold winter night. |
| Who knew that making chicken pot pie was so easy?
While my husband and I love chicken pot pie, I've always been happy with the refrigerated Mrs. Budd's. My children have never had pot pie because there's not enough in the premade ones I buy for all 5 of us.
This recipe is very simple and used mainly ingredients that I tend to have on hand. The filling was all cooked on the stove top - including the raw chicken which was cooked in the already thickened broth. The only change I made to the recipe was to add cubed potatoes which I cooked partway in the microwave (and perhaps should have cooked just a bit longer).
After cooking on the stove top, the mixture is poured into a 9x13 pan, covered with cream biscuits (or a pie crust), and baked for only 20 minutes. From start to finish, the whole pie took less than 45 minutes to cook.
A perfect meal after a cold day out on the slopes! |
| This Northern girl had never made biscuits before. I've made lots of breads and rolls but never biscuits.
From start to finish, these biscuits take only 30 minutes. Put ingredients in bowl, mix together, knead briefly, cut out and bake.
I used these biscuits as the topping for a pot pie and they were delicious. I'll have to make them again so I can taste them on their own. I was impressed at how quickly one could have a bread like product on the dinner table. |
| A very nice Mexican rice dish which bakes in the oven while you cook dinner.
I made a few modifications - substituting canned plum tomatoes for fresh (because that's what I had on hand) and pickled jalapenos for fresh. I also used three different kinds of rice - medium grain, basamiti and jasimine - because I needed all three to come up with two cups of rice.
The rice is started on the stove in a Dutch oven and moved to the oven. I should have kept a closer eye on the rice once it was in the oven as it was probably done about 8 minutes earlier than I had anticipated. The rice was still very good but a little dry.
This was a bit spicier than I had anticipated but quite good. It made a huge amount of rice, however, and I would probably try to half it next time. This is a dish that is well worth trying again to see if I could perfect it. |
| These are exactly the same recipe as the chicken fajitas from the same cookbook (though not listed together). Although my boys prefer beef, we didn't love these. I usually have great luck with flank steak but this was just too chewy. |
| Although this recipe keeps you in the kitchen near the stove for a bit, it's a simple week night dinner. It's easy enough to prepare the ingredients as other parts of the recipe are cooking.
I used boneless pork chops as that's what I had. Pork chops and onions are browned separately before going back in the pan with spices and chicken broth. Bacon is fried in the same pan and a gravy is made from the fat left over.
In the end, the reduced sauce is poured over the chops and the bacon is sprinkled on top.
I cooked the chops for about 15 rather than 30 minutes and they were cooked perfectly. There was an abundance of sauce which was very flavorful. I'd use less chicken broth next time. The bacon was good, of course, but it didn't really seem like a necessary part of the recipe and I'd probably omit it in the future.
The chops were moist and tender and everyone enjoyed this dinner. |
| This dish takes only as long to prepare as whatever you choose to serve with it. I served orecchiette. While the pasta boiled I shelled the shrimp and made the sauce.
Shrimp take only 2-3 minutes to cook and then the sauce is added. The sauce is wonderfully sweet and spicy due to the hoisin and ginger.
Delicious and super fast dinner! |
| Needing to bake something for a middle school potluck dessert using only ingredients in my pantry proved difficult. Thankfully, I had all the ingredients for these peanut butter blondies on hand.
Basically, a peanut butter bar cookie, these are made with peanut butter, butter, flour, eggs, and chocolate chips. They're spread in a 9x13 pan and baked.
Although I checked the blondies at the short end of the baking time, they would probably have been better had they been baked about 5 minutes less. Nonetheless, they have good peanut butter flavor and were super easy to make. They should go over well with the middle school crowd.
Next time, I'd make these in a smaller pan to get thicker blondies as that's my personal preference. |
| A sugar cookie made chocolatey by the addition of Dutch processed cocoa and chewy by the addition of molasses.
Simple drop sugar cookie with just a hint of something different. |
| I love a simple coffee cake with streusel topping. This one from America's Test Kitchen seemed promising.
The dough is made in the food processor and includes sour cream just 3 Tablespoons of butter. It's then spread into a baking pan and the topping is scattered over the top. Easy enough.
The cake tastes fine but it's more spongy than a coffee cake should be. I like coffee cake that is more crumbly than spongy. This was fine but I wouldn't make it again. |
| The latest in my attempt to find the perfect brownie recipe.
This recipe uses three kinds of chocolate - unsweetened, bittersweet and cocoa. These are melted together in the microwave with butter before being added to eggs, sugar, and finally, flour.
The brownies come together quickly using only two bowls and a few utensils.
Alas, although my husband thought they were very good, and my youngest son said they were good, they are still not what I'm looking for. |
| My 17 year old son chose this recipe to cook for dinner tonight. It starts with frozen breaded chicken cutlets so is low on the actual "cooking".
Nevertheless, it's a pretty good simple dinner or lunch made with simple ingredients. We all enjoyed the sandwiches.
The best part of the cooking was when the recipe instructs the reader to use a Dutch oven to weigh down the sandwiches. My son insisted he didn't want help but had no idea what a Dutch oven was. |
| This recipe is not authentic nor does it claim to be. In fact, it didn't taste like any Pad Thai I've ever been served.
That being said, it was a good noodle dish. We all enjoyed the mix of noodles, shrimp and sauce and we'd happily eat it again. |
| Delicious but not for the faint of heart!
The recipe is very well written. The different parts of the recipe - marinade, sauce, and main ingredients - are separated on the side bar which makes it really easy to prepare each part of the recipe.
Although there are many ingredients, they come together easily. While the chicken marinates, it's easy to pull together the sauce and additional ingredients.
I doubled this recipe to feed my family of five and hesitated to double the dried red chilies called for. The recipe calls for 8-10 and I went with 10ish. Everything else in the recipe was doubled.
Thank goodness I didn't double the red chilies because this dish was HOT! It was delicious but very spicy. It was hilarious to watch the sweat break out on the brows of my family. We all loved the dish but agreed that next time we'd cut the number of peppers in half.
The chicken was very flavorful and the sauce nicely covered everything. We'll definitely eat this again with one minor change. |
| Excellent hot fudge sauce made to celebrate National Ice Cream Day. The sauce comes together in no time with only a minimal amount of heating needed. It does need a little bit of time to thicken so plan accordingly.
I used a mixture of dark chocolate, semisweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolate - all various Lindt bars I had in the pantry. Yummy!
The recipe makes a very large amount so now we need to come up with ideas for the leftovers. What a problem to have! |
| Just starting to make my own salad dressings and this recipe couldn't be easier. Red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt pepper and Italian seasoning. Comes together in under a minute. |
| Light & flaky & delicious!
To the best of my knowledge, I've never had authentic biscuits so I'm not really sure what they're supposed to be like. These biscuits were super easy to make. I tried very hard not to overwork the dough though it seemed like it didn't want to stay together.
I rolled out the dough and got 9 biscuits. I brushed cream on them before baking. They came out wonderfully! So light and flaky. My middle son ate 3 and kept trying to convince me not to save any for Dad to eat later.
I could eat these every day. |
| I suppose it's rather silly to review a recipe for whipped cream unless, of course, one does not know how to make it.
I substituted confectioners sugar for granulated sugar because I don't like the grit that granulated sugar can give to whipped cream. Otherwise, a few minutes in the KitchenAid and three simple ingredients makes wonderful whipped cream to put on top of our Easter sundaes. |
| From: Baking Sheet (reviewed 27th April 2012)These no bake squares have a peanut butter, graham cracker, butter, confectioner's sugar base and a chocolate topping. The base is pressed into a pan and the melted chocolate is poured over the top.
Although it came together quickly, once the chocolate hard hardened, the bars were a mess when I tried to cut them to take them out of the pan. The peanut butter base was simply too crumbly and fell apart. Perhaps I didn't have enough peanut butter but I used my scale to be sure to have the correct amount.
I wouldn't make these again. |
| These are very good fudgy brownies. They have a nice shiny crust on the top and are soft in the middle. They're made with bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate for a rich chocolate taste. A mere 1/2 tsp. of espresso powder gives them a nice mocha flavor.
Why they're not perfect:
1. I'll have to try them without the espresso powder to see how the chocolate flavor fares on it's own.
2. They're quite thin - thinner than I'd really like. I wonder how the recipe would double.
They're quite easy to make - the entire recipe can be made in one bowl if you use the microwave to melt butter and chocolate as I do.
I would make these again. |
| A nearly perfect cookie. Chewy, fudgy, chocolatey, moist ... pretty much everything you need in a cookie.
The recipe is super simple - especially if you use the microwave to melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar together. I was a little bit nervous when I baked the first sheet of cookies as the dough seemed very loose. I needn't have worried because when I returned to set out the second sheet, the dough had firmed up nicely and the cookies in the oven had set up into nice looking cookies. |
| I hope the squirrels like this cake more than my family.
I've had this simple cake bookmarked for years. I was looking for something simple to bake today and had everything necessary for this small cake.
This is basically a glorified coffee cake. Half the batter is added to the pan, a sprinkling of chopped chocolate and a cinnamon mixture is placed on top, then the remaining batter is added. Finally, a very simple chocolate frosting graces the top.
Sadly, nothing about this cake is good. I checked it at the minimum time and it was already cooked though the center looked wobbly. Shortly after coming out of the oven the center caved dramatically. Thankfully, the frosting covered this up.
Even my teenage boys, however, would not eat this cake. Perhaps it was overcooked - though I don't see how. The cinnamon taste is completely overwhelming. Besides the cinnamon mixture in the middle there is a full tablespoon in the batter for a 9x9 pan. No one finished their piece of cake. It will go out to the squirrels tomorrow. |
| There's not much to say that hasn't been said.
I cut the butter and oil in half which worked out fine. I also used low fat sour cream and lite mayonnaise and the dip was plenty rich.
If you're going to be in the kitchen anyway and can watch the onions for 30 minutes, there's just no reason to use onion dip from an envelope. |
| I'm not sure what baked french toast is supposed to be like. I was surprised at how much the bread puffed up. The top of the bread was nice and firm while the middle was soft. I would have preferred a less soft middle but it firmed up a bit after it sat.
Even if I'm not sure about the texture, the dish was delicious and I'd make it again.
I halved the recipe and it made the perfect amount for three hungry people. |
| Yummy! Easy scalloped potatoes with cheddar cheese and homemade white sauce. There was plenty of sauce to cover all the potatoes. |
| Super easy chocolate mousse pie. This pie has become a Thanksgiving tradition in our family. |
| No more difficult than a cake mix and twice as delicious. Comes together in minutes with common pantry ingredients. Keeps well. |
| When plans fell through for my 14 year old, I offered to bake with him. This is one of his favorite cookbooks - probably because of the pictures - and he picked out this torte.
The cake portion is baked in a jelly roll pan and later cut in three parts horizontally. Simple enough and takes almost no time.
One is supposed to spread raspberry preserves between the layers but none of my boys like preserves of any kind so I used Nutella. Cake, nutella, whipped cream, cake, nutella, whipped cream, cake, cocoa glaze.
There was nothing difficult about this torte though making everything used a number of bowls, pans and utensils. It comes together pretty quickly and looks impressive to those who don't bake. |
| This is the basic chocolate frosting recipe that comes on every tin of Hershey's cocoa. It's simple and requires no fancy ingredients. You can even make it in the few minutes you have in the morning when you realize that although you did remember to bake a cake you forgot to make frosting.
It's smooth and chocolatey and everything you need in a frosting for a simple birthday cake. |
| Filled with amazing flavors! This is a super simple weeknight dinner that tastes like you've spent a ton of time cooking.
Turkey tenderloins are browned and then simmered in a wonderful sauce of orange juice, lime juice, chipotle in adobo, brown sugar and molasses. After the turkey is cooked, the sauce is reduced to a syrupy consistency.
This was spicy and citrusy and delicious. It was great served over white rice - plenty of sauce.
There are numerous links to this recipe online but none to the official website so I won't link them. If you want to cook this recipe, however, it's easy to fine. |
| Wonderful pumpkin bread with typical pumpkin pie spices. Full of flavor and very moist. Makes 2 large loaves. Freezes well.
Also makes 24 very large muffins. |
| This recipe was a little more involved than I had bargained for but that was completely my own fault for not reading the recipe all the way through before starting.
First of all, the recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice which I refuse to buy on principle. This meant I had to look up a recipe for pumpkin pie spice so I'd get the ratios correct. Later, I realized that the recipe called for melted and cooled butter as well as separated eggs with beaten egg whites. None of these were problematic on their own but while trying to fry bacon and get the rest of the recipe together, they threw me for a loop.
After I made the first 12 pancakes and they were rather flat, I took another look at the recipe and realized I left out the baking powder. I then added half the amount called for to the rest of the recipe.
Even with all these little problems, the pancakes were delicious. They had a nice, moist fruity flavor. The pumpkin lovers loved them while the haters were not so fond. We added chocolate chips to the pancakes because pumpkin and chocolate go so well together. |
| Yummy!
This dinner came together in no time at all. The spice rub was made with ingredients I always have in my pantry. I also had a can of chipotles in the pantry and sour cream in the fridge.
I broiled the chicken instead of grilling because it was too cold and snowy outside. The spice rub was delicious! The chicken breasts were juicy and the chipotle cream was wonderful.
We all enjoyed this very simple dinner much more than we would have predicted. |
| Not even close to best ever.
Fine maybe. Definitely not best.
It browned too quickly on the top and developed a thick crust. The bottom was kind of greasy. Too much sugar.
I'll stick with my tried and true recipe. |
| Simple muffin recipe (though aren't they all?) made with every day ingredients. I didn't include the pecans because my boys don't care for nuts. They have a nice mocha flavor - not too strong on the coffee.
Enjoyed by everyone. |
| What a waste of time and ingredients!
I have no idea what could have gone so wrong but these cookies are just plain nasty. They spread so much in the oven that they are completely flat. I thought they smelled funny, too but ignored that until I tasted them. They taste disgusting with some kind of weird after taste.
The Heath bits did not have an expiration date on them but they were not clumped together in the bag nor did they look "off". I threw the rest of the batter away and will toss all the cookies. |
| I imagine this peanut brittle is very good but I've now burned the sugar base two times. The first time was completely my fault as I left the room while the sugar was boiling. The second time, I should have trusted my instincts more than the thermometer as by the time the sugar reached 135 it was too dark.
I'll try again another time making sure to remove the sugar from the heat when the thermometer approaches 130.
Edited to add: The third time was the charm. I took the sugar off the heat once it was just a little lighter than peanut brittle ought to be (the vanilla makes it a bit darker). The peanut brittle was delicious and I successfully made three batches to give away as gifts.
I'm keeping my review at 3 stars because the peanut brittle is good but the recipe itself is faulty. If you keep cooking to 135 you will definitely burn the sugar. |
| From: Buns In My Oven (reviewed 20th October 2011)This recipe was adapted from a Taste of Home recipe. I chose to link to this recipe because I followed these adaptations and not the original.
The taste of pumpkin is synonymous with fall in New England and is one of my oldest son's favorite flavors. When looking for pumpkin muffins to bring to a concession stand, I ran across these lovelies with the streusel topping.
I doubled the recipe because it seems rather silly to use 2/3 cup of pumpkin. Doubling the recipe gave me 24 good sized muffins. The muffins rose nicely and have a nice texture. They are quite good but good definitely use more spice - I'd add more next time. The streusel topping is just okay. It also should probably have had spice added to it.
My youngest son served as the taste tester and he pronounced them very good. As the rest of the muffins will be served at a concession stand to starving cross country runners, I'm sure they'll be very welcomed. |
| Delicious but not for the faint of heart!
The recipe is very well written. The different parts of the recipe - marinade, sauce, and main ingredients - are separated on the side bar which makes it really easy to prepare each part of the recipe.
Although there are many ingredients, they come together easily. While the chicken marinates, it's easy to pull together the sauce and additional ingredients.
I doubled this recipe to feed my family of five and hesitated to double the dried red chilies called for. The recipe calls for 8-10 and I went with 10ish. Everything else in the recipe was doubled.
Thank goodness I didn't double the red chilies because this dish was HOT! It was delicious but very spicy. It was hilarious to watch the sweat break out on the brows of my family. We all loved the dish but agreed that next time we'd cut the number of peppers in half.
The chicken was very flavorful and the sauce nicely covered everything. We'll definitely eat this again with one minor change.
This exact recipe can be found on Ms. Juan's blog, Appetite for China. A link has been provided. |
| Very nice cashew chicken. The recipe is well organized and includes a marinade and sauce. Once the chicken is marinating, there is time to put on a pot of rice and cook the rest of the ingredients.
This is basically a stir fry of peppers, onions, chicken and cashews with a delicious sauce.
Serving sizes are small and need to be doubled for my family of 5. |
| In celebration of Chinese New Year, we tried another recipe from this cookbook.
Like the other recipes in the book that I've tried so far, this one starts with a marinade and a sauce that are made with basic Chinese pantry staples. Once those are made the flank steak is marinated while the broccoli is blanched. Finally, everything is stir fried together and the sauce is added to coat.
I would actually give this recipe a 3.5. It was delicious but somewhat salty. The flank steak was very tender and the broccoli was nicely cooked. My husband and middle son each gave the dish and 8 while my youngest gave it a 6. It was good, and I'd make it again, but it wasn't as good as the chicken recipes we've tried from this same book. |
| Another excellent meal from Ms. Kuan.
Marinated chicken is quickly stir fried with garlic and peas (we subbed pea pods) and then finished with a delicious sauce.
Very easy to put together. In the time it takes the rice cooker to make the rice, I was able to make the rest of the meal. |
| A very yummy fried rice which is hearty enough to serve as a main course. In addition to the rice there is both ham (or Chinese barbecued pork) and shrimp.
I made a few adjustments to the recipe. I used one medium onion instead of scallions and I used honey ham from the deli. I doubled everything except the peas. It was odd that there was no flavoring added to this rice so I added the flavoring for the rice recipe on the next page - soy sauce and sesame oil.
If you have cold rice on hand this whole dinner comes together in no time.
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| Excellent! Full of flavor and just the right amount of spice. Plenty hot but not so hot as to make my middle son break out in a sweat. The beef was very tender.
The whole meal comes together in the time it takes to make a pot of rice. A perfect week night meal. |
| Another excellent recipe from Ms. Kuan. This cookbook has yet to fail me.
That being said, this may not have been the best recipe for me to tackle at the last minute on a week night. The chicken is first marinated, then coated in a corn starch mixture, and then deep fried. I should have spread the chicken on a cookie sheet to coat in the corn starch because it kind of clumped together.
Once in the oil, it spattered everywhere! Ugh. What a mess. I followed the suggestion of frying the chicken twice to get it extra crispy and that worked really well. Finally, the chicken was put in another pan with a sauce that thickened and covered the chicken nicely. It was sweet and spicy and crispy and delicious.
As always, I doubled the recipe to have enough to feed my family of four. Served with rice and stir fried green beans this was a delicious recipe.
Thank God my husband does clean up duty. |
| College son and his girlfriend made this for dinner for us last night. As with every recipe in this book they doubled the ingredients to feed 6 of us.
This recipe was delicious in every possible way. It was flavorful and quite spicy. We all loved it. |
| The woman behind the fish counter offered me a free bag of mussels today while I was buying fish. Who could resist?
A quick search on EYB turned up this recipe from one of my most used cookbooks. I assembled everything only to realize I didn't have any five-spice powder.
It turns out it didn't matter. There was so much flavor from the aromatics, soy sauce and oyster sauce that we didn't miss the spice.
My boys have never had mussels before and both were willing to try them. The middle boy really enjoyed them and ate a bunch. The youngest liked them more once my husband suggested he could put sriracha on them.
I can't wait to have these again. |
| I already have a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken that I like and make often but was willing to try a different recipe from a different cookbook for Kung Pao Shrimp.
The recipe is tagged as Light and Fast and, once you have all the ingredients gathered, this comes together very fast with just a few minutes of cooking time.
The shrimp was tasty but could have used more flavor and definitely more kick. The kung pao chicken I make is quite spicy while this one had almost no spice at all. I think it would have been much spicier if the chili peppers had been cooked in some oil for a bit before the shrimp was added.
We all enjoyed this recipe but missed the heat. |
| Fresh swordfish needs so little to make it wonderful. This recipe has just a tiny bit of spice from chili powder and cayenne. We grilled it instead of broiling and it was wonderful. The avocado-grapefruit salsa was very good and went perfectly with the swordfish. |
| Asparagus coated in parmesan and panko roasted in the oven. Delightful! The recipe instructs one to poke holes in the asparagus, sprinkle with salt, and leave to drain on paper towels. At the end of the 30 minutes I didn't see any moisture on the paper towels so I'd skip this step in the future. These are so good they just might convince that person who thinks they don't like asparagus to give them a try. |
| This dish has so many ingredients in it to add flavor to the chicken. Unfortunately, although the chicken was very good, none of the flavors stood out for us. I didn't taste any ginger, cilantro, or jalapeno in the finished dish. We were disappointed that there was no heat.
I took the advice of reviewers on EYB and cooked the chicken for only 30 minutes - even then it may have been a bit over cooked. That being said, the chicken stayed very moist and we all enjoyed it. |
| Cooks Illustrated claims to have perfected the snickerdoodle recipe. Typically, I make the recipe from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion which I consider my cookie Bible. That recipe does not use cream of tartar which is common to most snickerdoodle recipes.
This recipe uses cream of tartar and baking powder as leaveners which is supposed to make the cookies rise in the oven and then fall leaving cracks on the top of the cookies. These cookies are also bigger than the ones I typically make - a Tablespoon scoop rather than a teaspoon scoop.
CI claims that these cookies will be chewy in the middle and crisp on the edges. I found them to be crisp throughout which is how I prefer snickerdoodles anyway.
In the end, I found this recipe produced very nice snickerdoodles which were identical to the ones I always make (though larger in size). The cookies were delicious but they weren't as described in the recipe. |
| Giant whoopie pies for an 18th birthday!
Having already made a cake for his party, I wasn't in the mood to make another one for the family dinner. After paging through a few cookbooks, I decided to make whoopie pies.
Normally, I'm not a big fan of whoopie pies because they have this nasty grainy filling made with shortening and sugar. Who the heck wants to eat shortening? These whoopie pies have a marshmallow fluff filling which is smooth and silky.
Beautiful dark chocolate cake and marshmallow fluff filling combine to make very large delicious whoopie pies. |
| Outstanding!
This is a wonderful shortcake recipe with three distinct parts. The shortcake is a brown sugar sweetened biscuit. The biscuit is made mostly in the food processor and includes both butter, sour cream and brown sugar. The dough is moist but still has difficulty truly coming together even when one uses one's hands as directed in the recipe. This is not a problem as the biscuits are formed by using a large ice cream scoop which worked perfectly for this dough. The biscuits are brushed with butter and sprinkled with sugar before baking which leaves them with a lovely crunchy exterior.
The fruit is macerated with brown sugar also which lends a nice flavor to the juice.
Finally, the whipped cream is made with heavy cream, sour cream and brown sugar. I like it even better than regular whipped cream without the sour cream.
Together, these three things make the most delicious dessert. Mmmm!
I will add that my very strange children do not like most fruits and had no interest in the raspberries I used. Instead, they had biscuits with whipped cream and chocolate sauce and were equally happy. One boy even had a biscuit for breakfast.
Very little effort for maximum taste! |
| A low calorie bread this is not but who would expect cheesy garlic bread to be anything but decadent.
Italian bread is slice horizontally and spread with a garlic butter mixture. This is baked first in aluminum foil with the loaf put back together and then separated on a sheet to crisp things up. Finally, each side of the bread is topped with shredded cheese (monterey jack because that's what I had) and broiled.
My boys devoured an entire loaf of this in one sitting after returning from a 10 mile hike in the mountains. They all proclaimed it delicious. |
| Best pancakes that I've made so far.
Pretty ironic that I found this particular recipe on the 4th of July - All American Pancakes. They were made with soured milk, all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder. The batter seemed thin at first but thickened up nicely after just a few minutes.
We all enjoyed these very much and they were easy to put together with common pantry ingredients. |
| I have no idea why I had a hankering for Sloppy Joes. I can't remember the last time I had them but decided it was time to make them from scratch.
This recipe is delicious. It's not overly sweet or tangy. It's delicious with a nice tomato flavor. It's got just a bit of a kick to it due to the Mexican chili powder I used and the teeny bit of hot sauce.
My husband liked it so much he ate the extra with chips as though it was dip. |
| A delicious marinade/sauce is made with whiskey, apple cider, cider vinegar and seasonings. After a couple of hours marinating the chops are briefly fried before the reserved sauce is added to the pan. The sauce decreases to a glossy, sticky substance that coats the chops nicely when they are added back to the pan.
I'd cook the chops just a bit longer next time before removing them from the pan but otherwise the recipe was wonderful. The sauce had lots of flavor and the chops were very moist. |
| From: Cooking Light (reviewed 16th June 2011)YUMMY!
Black beans, spices, cilantro ... all mashed up into a yummy vegetarian burger.
I baked them for 20 minutes in a 350 oven and then pan friend them to crisp them up a bit. They are very easy to make and are simply delicious.
The mango salsa could be a complete meal to me. It has just the right mix of fruity and hotness.
Also found here http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-burgers-with-mango-salsa-10000001973642/ |
| From: Cook's Country (reviewed 17th March 2013)Cookies should be rated on taste and so they were.
Although I don't usually have problems with recipes from the America's Test Kitchen Folks, I had a couple of problems with this recipe. This recipe calls for melted butter to which cold butter is added to cool it down. Problem was my melted butter never even reached the temperature it was supposed to be cooled down to so I wasn't sure if I should heat it more. How do you cool down an 80 degree bowl of butter to 93 degrees?
Secondly, I thought two Tablespoons of dough seemed like an awful lot for one cookie so I checked my measurements with both my regular Tablespoon and my cookie scoop and measured out dough that was 2 Tablespoons. This did not result in the correct number of cookies and my cookies melded together in the oven.
All that being said, the cookies are pretty good. They are not as sweet as you'd expect a sugar cookie to be but they are very chocolatey. I'll have to try them again in a smaller size. |
| From: Cook's Country (reviewed 31st March 2013)It takes longer to preheat the oven than it does to make these biscuits.
The secret ingredient is .... mayonnaise. Really. While this does not make for a flaky biscuit, it does make moist and tender ones that are very good to serve with a meal.
The dough for these biscuits is very sticky and is dropped onto parchment paper. I used my muffin scoop and greased it well and it worked perfectly to scoop out 12 lovely biscuits.
If you're already got your hands full with other dishes in a meal, these biscuits are easy and delicious. |
| From: Cook's Country (reviewed 1st July 2013)It's too hot to use the oven and too rainy to grill outside.
This mac and cheese is made entirely in one skillet. First, sliced kielbasa is browned and then removed to a paper towel lined plate. Then the fresh breadcrumbs are browned in the grease left behind. Those are then removed.
A mixture of water and evaporated milk is brought to a boil before the macaroni is added to the skillet. Once the macaroni is cooked it is taken off the heat and shredded cheese is added. Finally, the kielbasa is stirred in and the bread crumbs are put on top.
This is a 30 minute meal that can really be cooked in 30 minutes. It was delicious and my macaroni and cheese fans really liked it. Best of all, there is very little mess to clean. |
| From: Cook's Country (reviewed 16th September 2013)A fantastic week night meal that is much more than the sum of its parts.
A delicious sauce is made with orange juice, zest, garlic, soy, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and honey. Then the sliced flank steak is cooked in part of the sauce until it evaporates and the meat caramelizes. The meat is then removed from the pan and the snap peas are added along with the rest of the sauce. Finally, the meat is added back with the veggies.
We served this over white rice and there was just the right amount of sauce left over to spoon over the rice. There was just the right amount of spice and lots of flavor.
Everyone enjoyed this and asked for it to be cooked again. |
| These are the best grilled sausages we've ever had.
The great thing about this method - which is basically cooking the sausages in a disposable pan over a bed of onions - is that everything is cooked at one time on the grill. The sausages are nice and moist with no risk of burning and the onions are nicely flavored with sausage drippings and no additional oil.
Generally we end up with charred sausages with uncooked interiors but this method makes perfect sausages and onions. Yum! |
| A very nice marinade make from common pantry items.
This was a nice change of pace from the usual marinade we use. This was a hefty amount for three pounds of steak tips. We'd definitely use this again during the summer grilling season. |
| Excellent! Sliced potatoes are simmered on the stove top with onions, spices, chicken stock and cream until the potatoes are fork tender. Only then are the potatoes put in a gratin dish, covered with cheese and put in the oven.
I made this in my small Dutch oven which meant it was a one pot dish. Cooking on the stove top sped up the process and ensured the potatoes were cooked through and tender before putting them in the oven to get brown and bubbly. This makes for a much quicker side dish.
These were loved by one and all. |
| Spiral hams don't seem to need much of a recipe as they are already cooked and really only need to be warmed. That being said, I always end up with a dried out ham that is only partially warm.
Following the method outlined in this recipe, which involved soaking the ham prior to baking and using an oven bag, I was left with a wonderfully moist ham that was warm all the way through. I'm not very fond of ham but this was truly delicious. I'll never cook a spiral ham any other way. |
| Simple broiled asparagus. Young, tender asparagus are tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and then put under the broiler for about 8 minutes. They were perfectly cooked in the amount of time the other dishes needed to rest. |
| I've only ever had spice cake from a box so I found this recipe tempting when I found it.
This is a simple cake baked in a 9x13 pan. The spices for the cake were bloomed in browned butter before being added to the batter. In addition to the dried spices, there was a tablespoon of fresh ginger and some molasses added.
The top of the cake browned more than I thought was good and I was a bit worried. I needn't have worried a bit as the cake was quite moist with a very nice crumb. The spices were quite noticeable but not overwhelming.
The cake was frosted with a cream cheese frosting. Some of the spice mixture was supposed to be added to the frosting and I'm quite sure it would have been delicious but I forgot to add it.
Overall, a very good cake that was quite easy to make. |
| A nice tangy cream cheese frosting. Made with cream cheese, butter and just a bit of sour cream (and of course confectioners' sugar). It was smooth and spreadable with a very nice consistency.
This was a nice addition to the spice cake. |
| It's easy to make an expensive roast taste delicious. It's much more difficult to take a cheap roast and cook it so that it's moist and tender.
Eye of Round roasts are always marked down at my supermarket. I've never known quite how to cook them so they don't turn into leather. This method has you salt the roast for 24 hours prior to cooking (actual time was more like 19 hours). The roast is then cooked in a very low oven and finally finished in the oven with the residual heat after the oven is turned off.
At the end of the appointed time, I had a wonderfully cooked roast that was pink, juicy and tender. |
| It seems silly to follow a "recipe" for baked potatoes. Nonetheless, I decided to take a look to see what CI had to say about the humble baked spud.
CI says to wash, dry, rub with vegetable oil and bake in a 350 oven for 75 minutes. Only then is one to poke holes in the potatoes to release the steam. I was worried that my potatoes would burst in the oven without poking them ahead of time.
Sure enough, one of five potatoes burst open during cooking. It made a mess in the oven. The other four potatoes were very good - fluffier and drier than most baked potatoes. Next time, I'd be sure to poke at least one hole in my potatoes before baking. |
| This is one of our favorite family recipes from Cooks Illustrated Magazine. I'm pretty happy that it's been included in this compendium so I don't have to find the correct magazine every time I want to make it.
We loved grilled sausages but always have a hard time grilling them as they either burn or remain raw in the middle. This method has the sausages cook in a disposable pan on a bed of onions. After this, the sausages are moved to the grill to brown while the onions remain in the pan until the liquid evaporates.
In the end, you get nicely cooked sausages and well flavored onions. It's a perfect summer time dinner. |
| These have to be the easiest biscuits ever.
Remembering that I had some heavy cream in the fridge that needed to be used up, I did a quick search for cream biscuits. The dough comes together in about 2 minutes - including gathering ingredients and measuring flour. Basically, the cream is added to the dry ingredients. This is mixed and then kneaded for 30 seconds before patting out the dough to be cut.
20 minutes total time gave us delicious, surprisingly flaky biscuits for dinner. |
| Chicken breast are marinated in a mixture of lime juice, oil, cilantro, garlic and worcestershire sauce before being cooked on top of the stove. The onions and peppers are fried separately with some of the marinade added for flavor.
This wasn't our favorite fajita recipe. The chicken really didn't have much flavor from the marinade and cooking the chicken breasts whole meant that it was difficult to keep the outside from over cooking before the interior was cooked.
We have had better fajitas which involved a dry rub and cooking the chicken after it had been sliced. These fajitas were fine but I wouldn't bother cooking them again. |
| While she was pregnant with me, my mother lived on chocolate mayonnaise cake that my grandmother baked. It was the only thing that settled her stomach.
This is not my grandmother's recipe as is evidenced by the addition of bittersweet chocolate that is melted by hot coffee before being added to the batter. Nonetheless, this is a simple cake that comes together with basic ingredients and just two bowls. It uses mayonnaise in place of oil or butter but still uses one egg.
The cake was chocolatey and moist and was just the right thing after graduation. |
| Perfect fish and chips!
Okay, to be honest, I didn't actually make the chips because I didn't have the time and I didn't want to spend that much time frying.
I did, however, follow the recipe for the fried fish and it came out beautifully. This is a beer battered fish that is first dredged in a flour, spices and cornstarch mixture, then in the beer batter, and finally in the flour mixture again.
The two secret ingredients - cornstarch and baking powder - contributed to a very crunchy exterior on the fish. The triple coating stayed on the fish nicely while the inside was nice and moist.
Delicious!! |
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