| I bought this book when it first came out and was not that impressed. Then recently I decided to recheck their blog and try again with their suggestions. I put a large pizza stone on the bottom oven rack and the top of my La Cloche on the stone. Preheat oven for 30 to 45 minutes at 450 degrees. I shape the dough according to directions, put it on parchment paper and let it rise 1 hour in summer and 1 1/2 to 2 hours in cooler weather. When ready to bake, I sprinkle flour on top of the bread and make fairly deep slashes in a #shape. I remove the Cloche top, put the bread directly on the stone, replace the top and bake for 20 minutes depending on size of dough used. Then I remove the top and reposition the bread on a high rack and bake for 15 more minutes. This way the bottom is not overly brown and the top is wonderfully crisp. |
| I seem to be the only one who has this book, but I have added a link to the recipe on Epicurious. The recipe serves 12 and is a great side dish to serve at family gatherings. It has been on my Easter menu for years.
It has so many plus points. The vegetables include carrots, beets, and green beans and can mostly be prepared the day before. In fact they must be so that the beets and carrots can marinate in the delicious dill dressing. The dressing is added to the green beans right before plating. The dish is served at room temp which is another plus for a buffet table.
The dish is beautiful with the vibrant colors of the orange carrots, the red of the beets and the green of the beans. You must use fresh dill. I can't imagine using dried. The dressing is so refreshing and you sprinkle on more chopped dill after plating. I usually serve a bowl of crumbled feta on the side of the beautiful platter. |
| From: Cook's Illustrated (reviewed 30th September 2011)This roast chicken takes only one hour, thus the title. I had a 3 1/2 pound chicken and followed the recipe directions. I put my cast iron skillet in the oven and while preheating, I rubbed the chicken with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The chicken goes into the hot skillet and oven until breast is 120 degrees. Turn off oven and leave chicken in oven until breast is 160 degrees. While chicken is resting, make a pan sauce.
Cook's includes a Tarragon-Lemon Pan Sauce which I made and is very good. The very plain chicken needs a pan sauce. My small chicken actually took less than an hour so it is indeed a fast recipe. |
| If you are a biscuit lover but a little intimidated by the rolled out type, you need this recipe. It is very easy to reduce the recipe to make fewer than 12 biscuits because drop biscuits don't reheat well. I usually reduce it by a third which is just right for the two of us.
There are variations for Black pepper and Bacon, Cheddar and Scallion, and Rosemary and Parmesan Drop Biscuits. |
| This is an unusual way to cook boneless chicken breasts, a little fussy but good. You cook the seasoned breasts in a foil covered dish in the oven for 30 minutes, remove from oven and brush with butter mixture and brown in skillet for 4 minutes to a side. You then make a pan sauce. I substituted Sherry-Rosemary pan sauce from the September, 2002 for the one listed with the recipe because I always have fresh rosemary available. The chicken definitely needs a pan sauce.
Because it is so fussy, I doubt that I will make it often. However, I do love pan sauced chicken served with mashed potatoes or rice with a simple salad. That is easy enough. |
| This tomato sauce really can be cooked in 20 minutes while you are waiting for your pasta water to come to a boil and the pasta to cook. The recipe sauces a pound of pasta. The main ingredients include a large can of whole tomatoes, red pepper flakes, 7 cloves of garlic (yes, 7), olive oil, and the most important - fresh basil. I was very lucky with my garden basil this year so was inspired to try this recipe.
First you pour the canned tomatoes in a large bowl and crush them with your hands. (If you insist on perfectly smooth sauce, this may not be for you) You saute the garlic and red pepper flakes, then add the tomatoes to the skillet. This is the secret as far as I am concerned. You add an entire branch or sprigs of basil to the sauce. Add a little hot pasta water, cover and simmer until the pasta is cooked. Then you remove the basil from the sauce before adding the pasta. Add shredded fresh basil just before serving. Lidia suggests adding cheese to the sauce but I prefer to serve it separately. |
| Lidia classifies this as a 10 minute sauce and that is what it takes. I have all the ingredients in my pantry so the sauce is ready before the pasta is. You slice marinated artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, saute garlic and red pepper flakes. Serve with grated cheese. It really is a filling dish when paired with pasta, salad and bread. Simple and tasty. |
| I used a European cucumber with the peel on. It isn't easy to quarter this long cucumber lengthwise and then remove the seeds but I followed their instructions the first time. Now I cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, remove the seeds using a baby spoon, then quarter lengthwise before cutting into 2 inch lengths as instructed.
After salting and letting the cucumber drain for 20 minutes, I rinsed and squeezed and removed as much salt as possible. Still I thought there was too much salt. You can remedy this by later cutting slightly the amount of kosher salt in the dressing to adjust to your taste. Also after tasting, I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to add a little freshness to the taste. The recipe indicates that the red bell pepper is for garnish but I think it is equally as delicious as the cucumber so I add more. Maybe it is the sesame oil that makes this a great salad. |
| I followed the recipe exactly using sea bass. They also suggest red snapper, salmon trout, or pickerel.
The recipe is very simple but I would not change or add anything. Ingredients include fresh ginger, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine or sherry which I used, sesame oil, scallions. The fresh ginger adds all the zip you need.
My fish was a little under 1 1/2 lbs and I had the tail removed but kept the head on. It barely fit in my steamer and a pie plate was the only thing I had that would fit. I used a long strip of foil folded in thirds under the plate. This allowed me to remove the cooked fish and plate without spilling any of the delicious broth.
I served with jasmine rice and the Cucumber-Sesame Salad that I have also reviewed.
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