BethNH's Profile

From: , NH USA

Joined: December 16th, 2010

About me: I've been cooking and baking since I was a child and collecting cookbooks almost that long. Years ago, I lost my entire collection in a flood and I've been slowly building it back up. I cook for my husband and three sons who are not very adventurous eaters. We're on the go a lot with sports and school schedules. I love to bake and my boys and their friends appreciate all manner of baked goods.

Favorite cookbook: King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion


Latest review:

April 1st, 2017

Ginger Pork Meatballs with Cilantro and Fish Sauce from Dinner: Changing the Game

These meatballs and the dipping sauce were to die for delicious. Although there was a lot of chopping the recipe was easy to follow. Everyone loved it and we will definitely make this again. read more >


recipe reviews (265)
book reviews (8)
useful review votes (161)

BethNH's Reviews


Search Reviews:

265 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title

Best Loved Hershey's Recipes

By Publications International
Publications International - 2007

29th February 2012

Viennese Chocolate Torte

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.

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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.

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The Best Simple Recipes

By Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Boston Common Press - 2010

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.

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The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

By Barbara Fairchild
Wiley - 2008

17th December 2010 (edited: 3rd July 2011)

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

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.

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5th November 2011

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

By Barbara Fairchild
Andrews McMeel Publishing - 2010

24th January 2016

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

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.

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Brittles, Barks, and Bonbons

By Charity Ferreira
Chronicle Books - 2008

8th December 2011 (edited: 25th December 2011)

Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle

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.

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Website: Buns In My Oven

bunsinmyoven.com
 

20th October 2011

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

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.

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The Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Quick and Easy Dishes to Prepare at Home

By Diana Kuan
Ballantine Books - 2012

26th December 2012 (edited: 27th December 2012)

Kung Pao Chicken

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.

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28th December 2012

Cashew Chicken

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.

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10th February 2013

Beef with Broccoli

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.

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14th February 2013

Stir-Fried Sesame Chicken

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.

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5th June 2013

Yangzhou Fried Rice

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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19th November 2014

Sichuan Dry-Fried Beef

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.

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10th December 2014 (edited: 10th December 2014)

General Tso's Chicken

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.

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28th February 2015

Dan Dan Noodles

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.

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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.

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The Complete Cooking For Two Cookbook

By Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Boston Common Press - 2014

6th March 2015

Kung Pao Shrimp

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.

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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.

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19th February 2017

Parmesan-Crusted Asparagus

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.

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Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make

By Melissa Clark
Hyperion - 2011

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.

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The Cook's Country Cookbook: Regional and Heirloom Favorites Tested and Reimagined for Today's Home Cooks

By The Editors of Cook's Country Magazine, Cook's Country Magazine
Boston Common Press - 2008

11th December 2011

Snickerdoodles

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.

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3rd April 2012

Whoopie Pies

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.

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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!

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13th June 2013

Cheesy Garlic Bread

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.

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4th July 2013

All American Pancakes

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.

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3rd December 2013

Sloppy Joes

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.

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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.

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Cooking Light
(April, 2011)

 

16th June 2011 (edited: 3rd July 2011)

Black Bean Patties with Mango Salsa

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/

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Cook's Country
(May, 2013)

 

17th March 2013 (edited: 18th March 2013)

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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.

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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.

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Cook's Country
(May, 2012)

 

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.

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Cook's Country
(Oct/Nov, 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.

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Cook's Illustrated
(Jul/Aug, 2008)

 

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!

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Cook's Illustrated
(June, 2011)

 

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.

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The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine

By Editors at Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Cook's Illustrated - 2011

8th April 2012

Scalloped Potatoes

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.

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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.

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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.

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8th April 2012

Spice Cake

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.

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8th April 2012

Cream Cheese Frosting

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.

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12th April 2012

Slow-Roasted Beef

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.

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12th April 2012

Best Baked Potatoes

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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26th May 2012

Easy Chocolate Cake

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.

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22nd July 2012

Fish and Chips

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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