jenncc's Reviews
1256 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
This recipe makes for a moist, tender, juicy chicken. I did have a little trouble with the flipping of the chicken - it did stick even though it was thoroughly dry and my pan was hot when I put it in. No matter, it was tasty and I will be making it again. But for a "last minute" chicken you can't beat Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken (found on epicurious).
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Website: Zoe Bakes
These are the second or third blueberry muffin recipe I have tried recently and by far the best! Tender cake, loads of blueberries and a proper crunchy streusel topping (that didn't melt into the muffin) make these delicious. I used yogurt plus about 2 T. sour cream and had to bake the full 25 minutes in silicone cups in a standard muffin tin. Made 11 muffins.
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Website: Zoe Bakes
Made for Pi day 2022 and it was perfect. Strawberry sweetness + rhubarb tang + super flaky crust = best pie ever! I made the filling and crust the day before which gave the dough time to chill and the filling time to firm up a bit before putting it all together. The instructions are a little choppy in this one, but they are all there. Wish the video link took you to the specific pie making video and not just her entire instagram account, but oh well. I had to use 1 pound frozen plus 1 pound fresh strawberries as well as frozen rhubarb. This will be made again for sure!
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Zingerman's Bakehouse
By Amy Emberling, Frank Carollo, Antonis Achilleos
Chronicle Books - 2017
This comes together quickly (verses other pizza recipes I have made). Technique is very good - I achieved the crispy edges and bottom with additional 7-8 minutes in the oven (directly on rack). However the flavor of the dough is well, just bread. What makes it special is the crisp, cheesy edge and the fact that the sauce is on top (ladled on after pizza comes out of oven). Which brings me to the sauce - I found it much too sweet, even with half the sugar. Lesson learned - taste the tomatoes before adding sugar! Also, may let dough rest overnight in fridge to increase flavor.
Note: I got this recipe from Joy the Bakers site before eventually buying the book.
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This is a great oatmeal cookie! I did add about 1/2 cup of walnuts. The maple syrup is what I think gives this a special flavor, as well as the addition of nutmeg. I made these large (about 3 T.) as directed and they were soft on the inside with crisp edges.
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These were by far the most successful baguettes I have made, and in fact better than many I have had from bakeries. Great open crumb, crispy crust and perfect chew. I do wish there were photos of the techniques they use for folding and especially for shaping the loaves (I filled in the gaps with a little time on YouTube). I suppose the key to the great flavor would be the poolish and I would be curious to try this recipe with an overnight proof. I will be making these again for sure!
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Flavor was terrific - nice and spicy. The texture however was a little cake-y for me. I was hoping they would fall somewhere between where they did (Puffy and cake like) and Dorie's Princeton Gingersnaps (very chewy and flat). I may play with the butter/flour ratio a bit to try to achieve the perfect texture.
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Website: The Yummy Life
These are pretty good and get close to the flavors and consistency of a Kind Bar. I did not have brown rice syrup or enough corn syrup so I used some glucose syrup which may have led to the cooked syrup being a little too firm and the end product having a little more crunch than I would have liked.
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Website: The Yummy Life
These were great but a tiny bit salty. Next time I will decrease to 1/4 teaspoon, the parm provides enough salty flavor.
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A Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies
By Ashley English
Lark Crafts - 2012
This review is for the filling and topping only. These two components would garner 5 stars but the topping had way too much butter. I added 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour and 2 tablespoons brown rice flour. This was simple and delicious!
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A Year In My Kitchen
By Skye Gyngell
Ten Speed Press - 2011
These were a little too sweet for me, even with half the sugar called for. The will make a great pissaladiere or tart with the addition of some salty olives to offset the sweet. That said this recipe certainly has potential. Next time I will be more conservative with the sugar and I think they will nice along side a steak or in a warm salad.
useful (1)
This was hearty and flavorful. There was sweet, spicy, tangy in every bite! I subbed plums for the prunes which I thought may have been too sweet for this dish, and served it over couscous.
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This makes a nice silky puree and is a wonderful alternative to mashed potatoes. It has the usual sweet and spicy flavors that I love with my sweet potatoes but with some nice additions.
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The Wooden Spoon Dessert Book: The Best You Ever Ate
By Marilyn M. Moore
Grove Pr - 1990
I had lots of Meyers on my tree and was looking for something simple and sweet which is exactly what this recipe is. I did get more lemon flavor by zesting 4-5 lemons instead of just one. I also used a bit of juice in the batter. This was super tender, slightly tart, and very easy to make. I will certainly use this recipe again with the extra zest (otherwise I feel it would be too subtle for my taste).
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The Wooden Spoon Bread Book
By Marilyn M. Moore
Atlantic Monthly Press - 1987
Great texture and flavor.
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Love the sour flavor and luscious texture of this potato bread. Makes a most decadent sandwich!
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This is a keeper! I skipped the caraway seeds, used 1 tablespoon walnut oil, 1 tablespoon canola, but otherwise followed the recipe. This is not banana bread - it is a slightly sweet sandwich bread. Moist, tender crumb. Great for grilled cheese, french toast or a ham sandwich.
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I love this book - it has yet to let me down. These are simple, delicious recipes and the Perfect White Bread is no exception. Perfect indeed! This makes a wonderful loaf of bread - for sandwiches, french toast etc. It's light with a creamy crumb. I made this in a pullman loaf pan and halved the recipe.
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Used this batter for waffles and they were delicious!
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Great flakey biscuit! Tasty biscuit and a good way to use up sourdough discard. They didn't have the lift of my usual biscuits but I'm sure if I had given them a bit more time to rest/rise (or used recently fed starter) they would have been beautiful.
4/7/15 Made these again with a starter that was fed 24 hours before and they are incredible! Moist, flakey and they rose beautifully. This time I did use 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening. I let the cut biscuits rest 30 minutes before baking 25 minutes.
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These come together quickly and taste terrific. They stay crisp and go with just about anything - sweet or savory. I may like this recipe better than Peter Reinhart's Flaky, Buttery Crackers. I did brush these with melted butter and returned them to the oven for a few minutes as P. R. does in his recipe.
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Another tasty recipe from this reliable book. These were crisp if you get them thin enough (I prefer a bit thinner than the 1/8 inch recommended), slightly sweet, with a bit of tang. I cut some into squares but this dough was fairly wet, so I resorted to one large cracker that we broke into pieces and ate with cheese and fruit. I also sprinkles with kosher salt after brushing with melted butter.
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This is the first less than excellent loaf I have made from this book. That said I am not sure if I possibly over proofed the dough? It is quite wet with the potato water plus the two cups and I had a hard time getting any gluten structure to develop. There is also a lot of yeast in this one (about 2 T.). I did like the flavor and it did come out of the oven with a nice crisp crust but it was a bit crumbly. I also feel like this recipe is a little more vague than others in the book. I may try it again with less water and less rise time.
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Website: The Woks of Life
Another tasty milk bread. This one is not made with a Tangzhong but with heavy cream, milk, egg and sugar, along with the usual bread ingredients, in the usual manner. This produces a decadent bread. My dough didn't seem like enough for 2 loaves so I stuffed it all into a slightly larger loaf pan and left to rise overnight n the fridge. The next morning it had puffed over the rim nicely but certainly wasn't overflowing. Of course it did take longer to bake thru (reaching internal temp of 200 degrees) and I had to cover the loaf with foil after 20 minutes or so. The final product was a rich, soft fluffy, golden loaf. Probably because I used the wrong size pan, but I think this recipe made a slightly denser loaf than the KA websites' Japanese Milk Bread. Will try this again making a loaf and a pan of rolls as the author suggests.
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Whole-Grain Mornings: New Breakfast Recipes to Span the Seasons
By Megan Gordon
Ten Speed Press - 2013
Oatmeal deluxe! Toasting the oats first adds a great nutty flavor, and the milk makes this a creamy and hearty breakfast. I found I only needed to add a tiny bit of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon- the tablespoon of coconut sugar (recipe called for natural cane sugar) vanilla and raisins made it pleasantly sweet. I avoided using 2 pans by toasting the oats in the saucepan and then adding milk and water etc. and brought to a quick boil. The recipe makes 4 very generous servings.
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Whole Grains for a New Generation: Light Dishes, Hearty Meals, Sweet Treats, and Sundry Snacks for the Everyday Cook
By Liana Krissoff, Rinne Allen
Stewart, Tabori & Chang - 2012
I am always cautious about sweet and savory salads but I am slowly learning my lesson! This is delicious. I loved the spicy (and mine was very spicy) jalapeno against the sweet peach. I added an extra squirt of lime and used dried mint instead of fresh. This would also be good with quinoa.
useful (2)
These are tasty treats sweetened with only the dried fruits you choose to use. I made my own applesauce, used dried figs, raspberries and walnuts. Apricots, cherries and almonds would also be wonderful.
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I used the Mascarpone-Mushroom variation as a main dish and it was wonderful.
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What Katie Ate: Recipes and Other Bits and Pieces
By Katie Quinn Davies
Studio - 2012
Excellent! A "fix it and forget it dish" with a simple preparation. I had doubts about the feta and the herb and lemon dressing pairing with the lamb, but it was perfect - not too salty (I used a raw goat feta) and the dressing was nice and bright without being overpowering. I used leeks and fennel instead of onion.
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I would probably have liked this better if I had never had Chicken with Angry Sauce (Food and Wine). This was too sweet (ketchup, honey, and sugar) too complicated (skinning chicken legs) and too time consuming (cooks at low temp for an hour and a half) when compared to other similar recipes. The results were good, not great.
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Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat
By Melissa Joulwan, Mark Adams, Robb Wolf, David Humphreys, Kathleen Shannon
Smudge Publishing, LLC - 2011
After a 2 hour brine and a rub of spices this chicken comes out moist and tasty. Halved the recipe for two chicken breast. Baked at 400 for about 25 minutes.
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Website: Weekend Bakery
This recipe was very successful- the use of starter adds great flavor, the breads had nice chew and all of my pitas puffed up nicely. I did most of mine on a baking stone heated to 500 degrees. I found that when my oven temperature dropped the rise of the bread wasn't quite as dramatic. The author bakes them directly on the grates of her oven and this worked too, but I felt the ones on my stone were more evenly cooked. Each bread took about 31/2 minutes.
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Website: Weekend Bakery
This bread was easy to put together and tasted great. However my loaf was somewhat flat (in shape not flavor) even though the dough looked great prepped and shaped. Hmmm.. May try this one again. Loved the preferment/poolish as it created a really great flavor.
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Website: Washington Post
This was excellent with a few tweaks. First of all I had to sub about 1/2 cup of the "00" flour with AP. I made this on a very dry day and the water was excessive - only needed about 1 cup (even then seemed very "wet" for a pasta dough). Was afraid the strands of pasta would clump together in the boiling water but luckily it was fine. Made a mushroom cream sauce (allrecipes) to accompany. The flavor of the pasta itself was wonderful but the the sauce it was excellent. Next time I will add 1/4-1/3 cup AP flour, then if the extra water is needed I can add.
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Website: Washington Post
This was terrific and super simple to throw together. I halved this recipe and had 3 hearty portions.
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Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
By Deborah Madison
Broadway - 1997
This is a very simple, comforting rice pudding. I did add another cinnamon stick and a few cloves. !/3 cup sugar was prefect for my tastes. I turned the pudding off at about 23 minutes into the final 30- any longer and my rice would have broken down too much.
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This makes a delicious, slightly sweet sandwich loaf. My dough was quite stiff/ not tacky at all using the wheat bran and just 2 cups of flour so I added a bit of water. Next time I may use all oat bran or hold back/start with 1 1/2 cups flour. I will certainly make this again with the mentioned adjustments and look forward to trying some of the other bread recipes in this book.
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Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes
By Deborah Madison
Ten Speed Press - 2013
This is a delicious warm salad - barely tender broccoli, a nice zing from the lemon, sharp dijon, a salty hit from the olives and bright tomatoes. Very satisfying.
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Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
By Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero
Da Capo Press - 2007
Good stuff! Reminds me of a fish stick. I think I will play with the spices a bit and try baking them next time.
useful (1)
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats
By Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero
Da Capo Lifelong Books - 2009
Delicious, chewy, moist cookie! Every bit as good as my usual non-vegan recipe. I did not have quick cooking oats but instead used Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick Oats.
useful (1)
Super moist and gingery. I may decrease the sugar just a bit (maybe 1/4 cup) next time. Also I found 1 generous cup of macadamia nuts to be plenty - there was not enough batter in a couple of the cookies to hold all the nuts together.
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These were tasty. I used frozen berries and I think they needed a bit more something... A little more sugar would have helped. The crust was a nice "crumble" that was used both for the base and the topping. Even with 8 extra minutes in the oven the filling never got "bubbly".
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These were a little cakey, and not as chewy as I had hoped they would be. Flavor was good and I think they will be great with coffee in the morning. Looking forward to playing around with different spices, dried fruits and seeds.
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These came out tasty, however they were extremely oily. I did add more flour after baking the first small sample batch. The cookies were indeed soft in the middle and crisp on the bottom and the flavor was good, I just couldn't believe how greasy they were. Next time I will definitely decrease the canola oil. I added salted peanuts and used half chocolate/half peanut butter chips.
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These are terrific - extra moist without being gooey, cake-y enough to have a tender crumb but not crumbly or dry.
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Great cookie. Not as labor intensive as I thought they would be. Though my chocolate dough seemed really wet and sticky they came together nicely. The peanut butter dough did not need the extra tablespoon of almond milk and in fact I had to stiffen it up a little with some powdered peanut butter (I was trying not to add more sugar). Came out chewy with crisp edges - delicious.
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These were great, unfortunately I may have left them in about 5 minutes too long - next time no more than 25 minutes. They were a bit cake-y when I was looking for a more fudge-y/gooey bar. I added walnuts and was pretty generous with the vanilla.
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Love the flavor but the texture was a little too cakey for me. I prefer a dene chewy cookie, one that bends but has crisp edges. If you want carrot cake this is your cookie - moist, spicy and tasty.
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Really liked these. Watch out tho -if you want a chewy cookie center you need to bake no more than 8-10 minutes, 12 minutes gave me a tasty but crisp cookie.
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Really enjoyed this spicy chocolate version of a snickerdoodle. Like the City Girl Snickerdoodles these go from chewy with crisp edges to crisp through and through very quickly. If chewy is your thing than bake no more than 10 minutes and remove from the pan promptly after 5 minute cool down. I didn't have chocolate extract so I doubled the vanilla and they tasted great.
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