aj12754's Reviews
17 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 17Sort by: Title 
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
Buttermilk Roast Chicken : page 493
Although I followed the directions exactly for making the buttermilk marinade, I roasted only two leg-thigh pieces. The flavor was perfectly pleasant and the meat very moist. However the recipe says the skins will crisp up and turn bronze. Which it probably does if you are roasting the whole chicken. But my pieces were done just as the skin was beginning to crisp up and turn a golden brown. Worth trying with a whole chicken.
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Carmelized Endive : page 238
An unusual and tasty side dish. The sweetness of the carmelization is a nice counterpoint to the bitterness of the endive. Acid (in the form of lime juice) then cuts the sweetness, and the result was really appealing to me -- the endive had a silky texture and a sweet/tart/slightly bitter flavor.
The recipe called for lime juice but I only had a lemon on hand, so that is what I used -- and a bit too much of it at that. Still, I will definitely make this again, trying it with the lime juice next time.
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This is a very simple and quick soup that tastes exactly like the ingredient (cauliflower, mushrooms, one glove of garlic, water, S&P, a wee bit of heavy cream) list would lead you to expect. And in this case, that's a good thing.
I took the extra time to puree the soup in batches in my blender because I like a really smooth texture for cream soups, but I am sure a hand blender would be fine as well.
The finish with a drizzle of walnut oil gives it a nice subtle little something extra.
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This is basically a light lemony curried chicken. It is extremely quick to make -- cut boneless chicken breasts in half and place in a small baking dish, then cover with a sauce of mayo, sour cream, Major Grey's chutney, some curry powder and lemon juice. Then bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes.
Leftover chicken has been cut into chunks and refrigerated with leftover sauce; will try using it tomorrow for a curried chicken salad sandwich.
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Coda alla Vaccinara (Braised Oxtail) : page 562
I followed this recipe only through the first four of five total steps. The first four steps are a basic braise (and it smells wonderful as it cooks) and step five adds additional celery and continues braising another 30-60 minutes. I had fully intended to do step five until that wonderful rich aroma persuaded me to make a mid-course correction and turn it into a pasta sauce. So I skipped the additional celery, pulled the meat off the oxtail and added it to the pot, and skimmed some of the fat. And it was tossed with linguine although I do wish I'd had some paparadelle on hand instead. It stands up to a robust red wine too.
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Cranberry Liqueur : page 36
Very easy, very pretty, very seasonal.
Would be nice with champagne to make a cranberry kir royale.
Make at least three days prior to the day you want to serve it.
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Ed Giobbi's Sweet Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta : page 318
Another night of trying to use up a few things from past grocery shopping expeditions -- I had two tilapia loins, two not-as-beautiful-as-they-were-a-week-ago sweet red peppers and a huge Costco bag of frozen French style green beans. And then I remembered reading this review and making a note to try it.
Although I was tempted to go the pasta route, I remembered an old Fine Cooking recipe for a breaded tilapia (link below) with tomato sauce and decided to pair the red pepper sauce with the fish. And a happy marriage it turned out to be. This is a really nice sauce and I look forward to trying it with a little pasta in the future.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/herb-parmigiano-crusted-tilapia.aspx
Served with a side of green beans with pickled red onions from David Tanis's The Heart of the Artichoke (reviewed separately).
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A perfectly pleasant pasta-- very lemony. Once you have roasted the garlic (takes a bit less than an hour), the entire dish can be pulled together in about the amount of time it takes to cook the pasta (8-10 minutes).
Not sure you really need to use a preserved lemon for this -- the big yellow Gourmet cookbook has a similar lemon and parsley (no roasted garlic) pasta that is equally tasty but uses regular lemons.
I used preserved lemons made from the following Eric Ripert recipe.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lemon-confit
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Texturally, this dish seemed more souffle-like (albeit a bit heavier) than a frittata. I used spinach (since I am still trying to work my way through an enormous bag of the stuff from Costco) in place of Swiss chard, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. This recipe calls for ricotta rather than a hard cheese such as Gruyere or cheddar, and the result is a very mild but still tasty "breakfast for dinner." My husband liked this very much as is, but I kind of wanted some sauteed onion with the spinach and maybe a bit of parmesan mixed with the ricotta.
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Madame Larachine's Potato Gratin : page 284
Very rich and very delicious. Cooking the potatoes in a garlic/bay leaf infused mix of whole milk and water adds a real depth of garlicky flavor. The drained potatoes are then topped with creme fraiche and Gruyere and baked.
It's a heart attack on a plate but worth every step on the treadmill that it takes to work it off.
It was easy enough to halve this recipe (used two russets) and produce four small to moderate portion sizes. Although I reduced my cooking time (to 7-8 minutes from 10) for the potatoes in milk because I was doing a half recipe, I might reduce to 6-7 minutes as a number (not all) of my potatoes slices fell apart on being transferred to the baking dish. Made no difference at all to the flavor though.
Served with buttermilk roast chicken and sauteed spinach.
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Pasta with Fast Sausage Ragu : page 343
As I am not generally a fan of Mark Bittman's "Minimalist" recipes in the Times, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this very simple and very fast ragu. A lot of flavor with very little effort. Excellent weeknight meal. Worked well with small penne.
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Red Lentil Soup with Lemon : page 163
Nice soup -- healthy with a subtle spiciness -- better for lunch than dinner on a cold day -- not really a main course soup.
This soup is a Melissa Clark recipe and is also available in her new cookbook, "In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite."
Issue #105 of Fine Cooking had a good article on flatbreads -- and I can recall this info ONLY because I reviewed one of these flatbreads at cookbooker and thus could easily access the info -- so thanks cookbooker! I would like to try this soup next time accompanied by one of the flatbreads from the article.
Note: soup was even better -- as many are -- on day 2.
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Roast Salmon with Herb Vinaigrette : page 430
I'd rate the dish a three but the recipe a 4 because it has so much potential for greatness.
This is a nice change from my usual practice of serving fish over rice. The fish is roasted on a bed of thinly sliced potatoes (thanks again to my Kyocera slicer for making this prep a snap). The potatoes roast about 15 minutes and then the oven temp is reduced and the fish is added for another 12-15 minutes. Then it is topped with a simple herb vinaigrette.
The prep time on the dish is less than 15 minutes so this is a meal on the table in 45 minutes (or less if you make the vinaigrette while the potatoes and fish roast).
This is also a pretty healthy dish since each portion only has the equivalent of about 1/2 of a russet potato.
I do think the vinaigrette is a little top heavy on the vinegar/oil ratio. But this is one of those incredible recipes where the possible variations (creamy yogurt-dill vinaigrette, lemony garlic vinaigrette, balsamic-honey vinaigrette, Penzey's French vinagrette) start coming to mind even as you eat this.
This could even be great on a bed of left-over mashed potatoes dotted with butter and, in place of the vinaigrette, top the roasted salmon with an herb butter and a squeeze of lemon.
I used individual Le Creuset gratin dishes and they were the perfect size for one serving.
It's a pretty dish and guest-worthy once you find the vinaigrette that makes you happy.
Served with a spinach salad and left-over cauliflower gratin (even better day 2).
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Sherried Mushrooms : page 249
I was looking --at the last minute of course -- for a simple and quick side for empanadas. I had about 1/2 pound of mushrooms left after making the soup yesterday) and this tapas-style recipe fit the bill perfectly. It is barely a recipe (saute mushrooms in EVOO with some sea salt for 4-5 minutes. Add some sherry and saute a minute or two more -- check seasoning and done) but in this case that is not a bad thing.
One change I might make -- the recipe calls for sliced mushrooms but next time I think I'll quarter them as I like that presentation better.
Served with chicken empanadas and a salad of sliced avocado and clementine sections.
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Soupe de Poisson Jardiniere : page 122
If there had been no leftovers, this soup might have rated only a three ... but on night two this soup really stepped up and delivered.
Although there is quite a bit of chopping, the soup comes together quite quickly if you skip the step of making your own fish stock. You can use a mix of water and clam juice, but I used chicken stock and it was fine.
Cream and pernod are added as the last step before serving and, on night one, the flavors hadn't really blended, so the soup's broth was a bit harsh with the pernod standing out a bit more than we liked. By night two, the balance of flavors was better and we cleaned our plates.
The recipe calls for almost two pounds of bass or blackfish. I used 4 tilapia loins, totaling about 1.25 pounds, cut up into pieces about 3/4 - 1 inch in size). I also used canned tomatoes rather than fresh. The recipe calls for one cup of diced potato and this seemed just the right amount. I often think that veggie soups are dominated by potatoes, but not here. I also used an additional cup of broth since I wanted a more soup-like, less stew-like consistency.
The recipe is a modernized version of an old Pierre Franey recipe and makes 6-8 substantive servings -- or three meals for two. We drank this with a California sauvignon blanc that didn't quite complement the dish -- too light bodied and acidic. I think I would have preferred a Chardonnay of a slightly oakier stripe.
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Speedy Fish Stew with Orange & Fennel : page 133
Very nice option for a quick week-night meal. I used frozen tilapia and served over Israeli couscous rather than potatoes. A green salad and a crusty loaf and you might be in a small bistro in France.
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Zucchini and Vermouth : page 227
Well -- I don't know. This was easy and healthy. I liked it. But I didn't love it. And I can think of other ways I'd rather use zucchini.. That zucchini and goat cheese pizza springs to mind.
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