BethNH's Reviews
265 recipes reviewed. Showing 101 to 150Sort by: Book Title 
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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
A delicious and very pretty quick bread that's just perfect for the holidays.
This quick bread is made in the typical fashion of adding the liquid ingredients to the dry ones. The liquid includes buttermilk and melted butter - mmm! In addition, chopped cranberries and nuts (I used walnuts but the recipe calls for pecans) are added last.
The bread is slightly sweet and slightly tart. The cranberries makes it quite festive looking.
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Homerun!
This fried rice can serve as a complete meal. I used the rest of the Easter ham and some small shrimp but left out the shitakes as my middle son does not care for mushrooms.
I prepared the rice in the morning and left it in the fridge to cool. Once all the ingredients were gathered and chopped, the whole meal came together in just minutes. The directions were spot on and the rice came out perfectly without that greasy feeling that fried rice often has.
Neither of my boys care for cooked eggs or peas and they devoured this rice and gave it high praise.
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A neighbor dropped off a beautiful basket of strawberries that she picked this morning so I decided to make strawberry shortcake.
This recipe has all three necessary parts of this quintessential summer dessert.
1. Strawberries - after being cut up, a portion is mashed while the rest are left sliced. They macerated on the counter while the rest of the dish came together.
2. Whipped Cream - I had some shelf stable cream from Trader Joe's. I put it in the freezer to cool it before whipping it. Sadly, I left it in there too long and it froze. I was able to thaw it AND keep it cool at the same time and it whipped up fine.
3. Biscuits - These biscuits are made with baking powder, half and half, and an egg. Eggs are an unusual addition to biscuits but they came together easily - even in the heat of a summer kitchen - and rose beautifully in the oven. The tops are nice and brown due to being brushed with cream and sprinkled with sugar. These are seriously the best dessert biscuits I have ever had. They are a bit sweet and a little crisp on the top but nice and flaky in the middle.
This recipe required many dishes but came together easily and relatively quickly.
Delicious!!
And, because my ridiculous boys don't like berries they ate the biscuits with whipped cream in the middle and homemade hot chocolate sauce on the top.
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I've never cooked Indian food and I believe I've only ever eaten it once. For reasons known only to him, my youngest son decided he wanted me to cook something Indian.
Chicken Tikka Masala seemed like a good place to start as it's fairly simple and made with ingredients my boys already eat with just a few new spices. This recipe was very well laid out and easy to follow.
The end result wasn't very spicy but had a lot of flavor. Everyone liked the meal enough - my youngest said he "appreciated the effort". I'd have preferred it a bit hotter. My husband was the biggest fan.
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Made during the Blizzard of 2015.
At the last minute we braved the grocery store lines before the blizzard hit to pick up the ingredients for this soup. Basically, onions, chicken broth, beef broth, some French bread and some Swiss cheese.
Despite what Serious Eats says, caramelizing onion in the oven in a Dutch oven worked wonderfully. Although it doesn't really cut down on time, it is certainly easier as you need to pay them almost no attention. Once I moved the onions from the oven to the stove they caramelized much quicker than the recipe suggested.
I omitted the the sherry because I didn't have any and I can't say we missed it. I also left out the thyme because I find the taste overwhelming. I also couldn't find Gruyere cheese at the store so we used Swiss. I didn't want to broil the soup in the bowls so I toasted the bread slices, toasted them again with the cheese on them, and then put them in the bowls and ladled the soup on top.
This was delicious and just what we needed on a snowy day.
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My pie crust making abilities are temperamental at best. I was happy with one recipe I was using but the last two times it's been more like cardboard.
This recipe is super easy. The addition of vodka for part of the moisture prevents gluten from forming. The dough is weird - like play dough - and very sticky. For best results, roll out between two sheets of well floured waxed paper.
This is the tenderest, flakiest crust I've ever made and it will be my go to recipe from now on.
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Website: cooks.com
www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1745,159186-246195,00.html
Very simple recipe that requires only almonds, water, sugar, egg white and cinnamon. I've been making these for years to give away at Christmas and they are a huge hit.
Beware - they are quite addictive!
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Desperation Dinners
By Beverly Mills, Alicia Ross
Workman Publishing Company - 1997
Disappointing!
It's a very basic recipe but I figured it was worth a shot. In the end, the rice was just too crunchy (brown rice) and had very little flavor.
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Desperation Entertaining!
By Beverly Mills, Alicia Ross
Workman Publishing Company - 2002
My husband suggested Spinach Salad for dinner and I decided we needed a homemade poppy seed dressing to top it. Normally, I use a mayonnaise based dressing that I got from my mother-in-law, but it's really much too sweet.
A trip to the coop got me some poppy seeds and a quick search with EatYourBooks found this recipe for me. I was surprised that there weren't more recipes for poppy seed dressing in my numerous cookbooks. The other recipes I found used raw egg which I wasn't too keen on.
This dressing comes together nicely in a blender and is sweetened by honey rather than sugar and flavored with onion powder and dry mustard. It's got a bit of a kick and is rather sweet - just like poppy seed dressing should be.
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Website: Dinner: A Love Story
Seriously delicious!
I don't know why I've never made fried shrimp at home before. This was super easy and very affordable. I could feed my entire family of 5 for what it would cost to buy one fried shrimp meal at a restaurant.
They were nice and crispy but moist on the inside. Perfect for a summer night dinner.
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Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table
By Jenny Rosenstrach
Ecco - 2012
A pretty basic breaded, fried fish recipe. The fish are simply breaded - flour, eggs, bread crumbs - and shallow fried in just 3 Tablespoons of oil.
A great dinner that is easy to have on the table in less than 30 minutes.
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WARNING: This could become habit forming.
An excellent cocktail to add to your summertime repertoire.
Following an impromptu dinner invitation in which we told to bring nothing, we decided to bring drinks.
This rum, ginger beer and lime drink is a perfect summer drink. It's fizzy and a bit fruity and goes well with anything you throw on the grill.
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Dinner: Changing the Game
By Melissa Clark, Eric Wolfinger
Clarkson Potter - 2017
This was the first recipe I tried from this book. Having never made Mapo Tofu before I found the directions very easy to follow. I may have cooked the pork just a tad too long because it got crunchy but it was still delicious. Both my husband and I enjoyed this but didn't find it spicy as the recipe indicated. After searching other Mapo Tofu recipes I found that most add chili oil. I added chili oil to the leftovers and that made the dish much better.
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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.
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Website: Dinner With Julie
You know those little brownie bites that you see in the stores? These are just like those only without a shelf life of many months.
Tiny little brownie bites, baked in mini muffin tins. They are low fat - calling for only half a stick of butter for 24 brownies. They use simple pantry ingredients and come together in no time at all. I used a Tablespoon cookie scoop to measure them out and they came out great with exactly enough batter for the 24 brownies.
Unlike brownies baked in bar form, these don't require hours to cool before you can eat them. You can bake, cool for just a bit, and pop them in your mouth.
Yum!
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Disney's Family Cookbook: 250 Irresistible Recipes for You and Your Kids
By Deanna Cook, Experts At Familyfun Magazine
Disney Editions - 1996
Written by Mollie Katzen and first published in Parents magazine in November 1995, this has been my go to recipe for banana bread for over 15 years.
This recipe, which is easily doubled, makes a moist delicious loaf of bread.
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Emeril's There's a Chef in My Soup! Recipes for the Kid in Everyone
By Emeril Lagasse, Charles Yuen, Charles Yuen
HarperCollins - 2002
A mix of dried spices which can be used on almost any meat. We like to use it as a dry rub for pork chops.
The recipe makes about 3/4 cup and it keeps nicely in the pantry in an air tight container. I often add some to meatloaf, meatballs or even scrambled eggs.
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My son convinced me to buy one of those cast iron corn stick pans just so we could try this recipe. He got the pan for Christmas and we made the recipe soon afterward.
We were sorely disappointed. These are nasty corn dogs. Corn muffin batter + hot doges does not equal corn dogs. Perhaps corn dogs should only be fried.
The boys ate a few but we ended up throwing most of them away. At least the pan is good for making cornbread sticks.
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The Enchanted Broccoli Forest
By Mollie Katzen
Ten Speed Press - 1995
I really wanted to like this. I love broccoli and tarragon and was looking forward to a nice cool broccoli salad. Unfortunately, it just has very little flavor and the dressing is kind of runny instead of creamy.
Disappointing.
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Website: Epicurious
My husband texted me from work and asked me to bake something for a party. Tonight. It's a good thing I love him.
I had just read a blog post about a bundt cake so I had that on the brain. Not that bundt cake but A bundt cake. As this was a party for some famous people who were in town recording a new cd I figured that the Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake by Melissa Clark would fit the bill. Sadly, I didn't have any unsweetened chocolate in the pantry.
An internet search led me to this cake instead and I had everything I needed. The cake was super simple to whip together with basic pantry ingredients. I had that one moment of panic where you wonder if the bundt will come out of the pan but it released with a satisfying whoosh.
The cake is chocolatey with a spicy note from the whiskey. It's quite moist. I drizzled on a chocolate ganache to which I added a good glug of Jack Daniel's. I'd heartily recommend it.
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
This recipe had everything I was looking for. It uses all purpose flour and makes one large pizza. I was shocked at how many recipes I had to go through to find one that met these simple criteria.
Although there is no suggestion of using a stand mixer, I used my Kitchenaid to knead this dough for about 5 minutes before covering it and leaving it to rise.
Good basic pizza dough.
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Perfect summer time meal.
Chicken is marinated in a delicious sauce made from cashews, cilantro, garlic, jalapenos (and a few other things). The sauce is put together quickly in the blender and then spread on the chicken.
I let my chicken sit for just about an hour before grilling. I was a little nervous about the spiciness before I put it on the chicken but after grilling it was perfect. The sauce has a nice kick to it but no burn.
All five members of my family gave this 5 stars.
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Very simple week night meal.
My youngest son requested pasta for dinner after summer running. My oldest doesn't really care for tomato sauce and I didn't want to make Alfredo.
This sauce was terribly simple to make. Just a few ingredients simmered together on the stove while the pasta cooks. Although there are tomatoes in the sauce, the sauce does not taste like tomatoes and my oldest liked it a lot.
There was the right amount of sauce to coat one pound of penne and, although there was both cream and parmesan in it, the sauce did not feel heavy.
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Very nice fish tacos.
There were three main parts of this recipe: pico de gallo,spicy sour cream, and fried fish. Each of these came together easily but did require multiple dishes.
Pico de gallo - I made this very quickly in my food processor. This meant that it was perhaps chopped too fine but it tasted good and was much quicker than chopping everything by hand.
Spicy sour cream - A simple mix of mayonnaise and sour cream with chipotle in adobo and a few spices. This was delicious inside the tacos with a nice mix of cool and spicy.
Fish - The fish is soaked in milk and then dredged in flour mixed with spices. I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of the milk soak was and I don't believe it added anything to the dish. The fish, however, was excellent.
The three components came together nicely in small flour tortillas and the fish tacos were enjoyed by all.
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Fat Witch Brownies: Brownies, Blondies, and Bars from New York's Legendary Fat Witch Bakery
By Patricia Helding
Rodale Books - 2010
Baked in an 8x8 pan instead of 9x9 and it still felt like there was not enough topping to cover the base layer. The base layer was just a bit over cooked which lead to a very crumbly bar. The taste was yummy but they dried out quickly.
Next time, I'd bake the base layer a shorter time and increase the condensed milk just a bit.
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The best thing about cocoa brownies is their simplicity. These brownies start with melted butter and then all the other ingredients can be added to the pot in which the butter was melted.
The brownies are moist and filled with chocolate flavor. They are neither fudgey nor cakey but something in between. They do not have the nice shiny crackled top that many look for in a brownie.
This would make a nice go to brownie recipe when one does not want to mess with melting chocolate. Who doesn't have a can of cocoa sitting around?
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What's not to love about bananas and chocolate together?
These bars take the best of brownies and mixes it with banana bread. The batter tastes like banana splits.
The brownies are moist and dense - more like banana bread than brownie. The taste is excellent with strong banana and chocolate flavor. The texture is kind of spongy and kind of threw me for a loop the first time I tasted them because I was expecting brownie texture. Once you accept that they're more like banana bread than brownie, they're actually quite good.
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If I could I would give this 3.5 stars. The recipe is basically a shortbread crust which is baked first and then topped with a coconut and condensed milk topping (with other ingredients of course).
The recipe calls for baking 30 minutes after the topping is added which seemed too long to me. I checked after 20 minutes and the topping was getting quite brown so I pulled it out.
The bars are very moist with a nice coconut flavor. I think they could be improved with the addition of coconut extract instead of vanilla (which I didn't think of until they were done). We would also have liked them to be a bit more "solid" in the middle.
All in all, if you like coconut you'd like these bars. They're simple to make and pretty tasty. The recipe says they improve over time so I'll see how they taste tomorrow.
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Fine Cooking
(, 2006)
In my never ending quest for the perfect brownie recipe, I took advantage of the cool weather today to try this recipe.
The recipe uses both unsweetened powder and cocoa powder along with 1 1/2 cups of sugar. It bakes in an 8x8 inch pan.
Sadly, the top was not shiny or crackly in the slightest. The brownies were too thin and they were not nearly sweet enough. I sent them on their way with a bunch of hungry teenage boys and they ate them without complaint.
The recipe calls for baking the brownies for 35 - 45 minutes which I knew would be an error. I baked them for 25 minutes and could have probably baked them for a couple of minutes less.
My brownie quest continues. Alas.
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Website: Fine Cooking
In my never ending quest for the perfect brownie recipe, I took advantage of the cool weather today to try this recipe.
The recipe uses both unsweetened powder and cocoa powder along with 1 1/2 cups of sugar. It bakes in an 8x8 inch pan.
Sadly, the top was not shiny or crackly in the slightest. The brownies were too thin and they were not nearly sweet enough. I sent them on their way with a bunch of hungry teenage boys and they ate them without complaint.
The recipe calls for baking the brownies for 35 - 45 minutes which I knew would be an error. I baked them for 25 minutes and could have probably baked them for a couple of minutes less. Odd that not one review on the website mentions this obvious error.
My brownie quest continues. Alas.
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Like a giant peanut butter cup!
I made this for my husband who loves peanut butter cups. It has a press-in cookie crust, a layer of peanut butter filling, and a chocolate glaze.
This is surprisingly easy to make and is delicious!
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Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round
By Marisa McClellan
Running Press - 2012
What a great idea for preserving some of the bounty from the garden!
Sea salt and chopped rosemary leaves are mixed and then baked in a low oven to dry the leaves and prevent the salt from clumping. The rosemary infused salt is then stored in half pint canning jars which are perfect for gift giving or adding to one's spice shelf.
This will be perfect rubbed over roasted or grilled chicken.
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Making and canning my own mustard!
This mustard is made with both yellow and brown mustard seeds, spices, and white wine. I kept having to put off making it because the mustard seeds needed to be soaked for 12 hours or so.
The mustard smelled delicious while cooking and thickened quickly. I was surprised at how easy it was to make. Although the recipe stated it made 3 half pint jars, I filled 5 of them.
I won't open the jars for at least a week to taste a jar and I'll edit my review then. I'm hoping to give the rest of the jars as Christmas presents.
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Website: food52
After searching eatyourbooks for a Chocolate Bundt cake, I discovered that not one of my cookbooks contained a recipe that appealed to me.
This recipe at Food52 sounded wonderful - even if the reviews on the site made a big deal about the fact that this same recipe is called an original by many different authors and sources.
The recipe calls for buttermilk (which was a bonus as I had an open container in the fridge) and Dutch process cocoa. The batter is very thin and I was glad that other reviews mentioned this fact. I forgot to set the timer when I put the cake in the oven so I had to babysit it and check it every so often.
I tried to dislodge the cake from the pan while still warm but it didn't budge. I tried again after it was fully cooled and still had no luck. Thankfully, when I cut the cake in the pan itself it came out in lovely, moist pieces that stayed together.
In a word, this cake is delicious. Eric was very happy to have it to celebrate his 12th birthday. Everyone agreed that the cake was wonderful and we'll definitely have it again. I'd try to grease the pan more heavily next time but this cake is well worth it even if it means it stays in the pan.
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Website: Food.com
My mother made orzo rice pilaf at least weekly while I was growing up. I was pretty shocked when I searched eatyourbooks to find that none of my cookbooks had a recipe for rice pilaf that included orzo as I thought it was pretty standard.
This recipe from food.com is much like my mother would make pilaf. I followed the recipe exactly except for subbing butter for margarine and cutting the amount in half. A full stick of butter would have made very greasy rice. The recipe does not call for any spices so is pretty bland and benefits from the addition of some salt and pepper.
The recipe was only marginally more work than using the Near East pilaf in a box and had no mystery ingredients in it. We all liked it very much and I'm sure to be making this often.
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Website: Food.com
Although I would prefer a cream cheese icing on my cinnamon rolls, my boys prefer the gooey icing you get in the tubs with Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.
This icing recipe stated it would taste just like that stuff in the but and it delivered. Just a basic icing of confectioner's sugar, half-and-half and vanilla.
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Website: The Food Network
A very simple way to cook sausages in the oven. I used some wonderful local sausages and they were cooked perfectly using this oven method.
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Website: The Food Network
Meh. Not worth the effort.
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Website: Glutenfree Girl & the Chef
I started making this stuffing a couple of years ago when we invited a family for Thanksgiving whose daughter has Celiac's disease.
I use Udi's white sandwich bread. Although the texture is not exactly the same as the stuffing I make with regular bread, it is quite good and we all enjoy it.
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High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking
By J.M. Hirsch
Ballantine Books - 2010
I've never been entirely satisfied with the shepherd's pie I usually make. It seems to lack flavor and no matter how much salt and pepper I add it needs more.
This recipe had some small adjustments from my regular recipe. It used canned corn in place of frozen - one can was creamed corn. It also used a gravy packet in the meat.
I didn't mention that I had done anything different until my husband asked. He wasn't sure if he liked the changes while my middle son and I were very impressed by the much more flavorful pie. I loved the gravy and the canned corn was so much better than frozen.
Definitely my go to recipe from now on.
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A slushie for adults. We made 1/2 recipe and it filled two large margarita glasses so I can't imagine that a full recipe is 2 servings. This was delicious! Used mango liqueur because I had some.
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The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making
By Alana Chernila
Clarkson Potter - 2012
My goal is to stop buying bottled salad dressings. They're definitely easy enough to make at home.
This dressing is different than the others I've made at home so far as it uses olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and lots of dried herbs. It looks like the Zesty Italian that you buy in the store.
She suggests letting the dressing sit for 15 minutes to let the dried herbs rehydrate which, now that I think about it, makes so much sense.
Delicious! A great salad dressing to add to my repertoire.
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I'm one of those people who are scared of pie crust. I'm not really sure why and it makes me feel ridiculous.
Anyway, Alana posted a tutorial along with this recipe on her blog and I gave it a go. Just as she promised the crust came together nicely in the kitchenaid.
I split it in two discs and refrigerated overnight. This morning I rolled them out and the dough was nice and pliable with no cracking or sticking at all. It baked up nice and flaky though we haven't tasted it yet. I have the best looking apple pie I've ever made and I have to wait over 24 hours to eat it. So sad.
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How to Cook a Turkey: And All the Other Trimmings
By Fine Cooking Magazine
Taunton Press - 2007
Very easy to make with pantry ingredients. Smells delicious while baking. Beautiful coffee color.
I'll update the review later after everyone has had a chance to taste at tonight's Christmas Eve party.
Also in Fine Cooking #41.
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How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food
By Mark Bittman, Alan Witschonke
Wiley - 2006
My husband is generally the waffle maker in our family and he's always used Bisquick for his waffles. This morning, however, there was no Bisquick and I suggested we just make our own.
I quickly skimmed a couple of books but this recipe required no special ingredients (not even buttermilk) and so it was chosen. The batter came together in no time and didn't need to rest before being used.
The recipe produced eight large waffles. The waffles were a little dense but had a nice crisp exterior. The taste was delicious and all three boys loved them.
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This is one of the variations listed with Bittman's Basic Muffins recipe. The recipe includes a streusel - half of which is mixed into the batter and the other half of which is sprinkled on top of the muffins before they're baked.
The muffins are pretty good - good enough that I ate two. The streusel, however, sank right through the muffins rather than sitting nicely on top. The muffins looked like they had little rivers running through them.
The muffins tasted quite good but they were certainly not the most attractive.
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Baking powder leavened pancakes. These cook up nice and fluffy - more like the Bisquick pancakes my boys grew up on.
These are quite easy to pull together with basic pantry ingredients. They're not the perfect recipe (I haven't found it yet) but they're really quite good.
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I made this dough with my KitchenAide and despite Bittman's warnings, it has no problem handling the dough. The dough came together quite nicely. I let it knead for about 5 minutes and left it to rise in the room with the wood stove.
It rolled out quite nicely with very little pull back.
I'd use this again.
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Icebox Pies
By Lauren Chattman
Harvard Common Press - 2002
What a brilliant idea! A crust for an ice cream cake made out of pulverized ice cream cones. The sugar cones came out of the food processor looking just like graham cracker crumbs and when mixed with butter made a very nice crust.
Yum!
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My middle son has been wanting to make a pie from this book and chose this as our first recipe.
The pie uses a graham cracker and coconut crust (this recipe is also found in the book) which must be baked first and cooled. The filling is a combination of unsweetened coconut milk, half-and-half, and bittersweet chocolate. The thickener is corn starch.
The pie thickened very quickly and set up nicely. I did not add coconut extract because I could only find imitation and was worried it would taste like suntan lotion. This meant the filling did not really have any coconut taste. The toasted coconut added on top made for a nice textural contrast but didn't do much for the coconut flavor.
I would make this pie again but next time I'd be sure to have some coconut extract. We look forward to making many more pies from this book.
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