aj12754's Reviews
5 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 5Sort by: Title 
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Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2002
Coconut Macaroons : page 163
I am not a huge coconut fan. But these are delicious and moist and oh-so-pretty to look at.
They smell amazing and that amazing aroma lingers in your kitchen for a while too. I may make these just before the next set of house guests arrive -- they are the aromatic equivalent of "Welcome!".
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Lasagna with Turkey Sausage : page 100
This is a really delicious lasagna; the addition of goat cheese to the classic ricotta and parmesan is a great idea. Adds a tang that takes the dish from very good to excellent.
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Linguine with Shrimp Scampi : page 106
Another winner from the Contessa. Easy and delicious and if you buy your shrimp already peeled and deveined, dinner can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. Looks and smells great on the plate.
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Mustard Horseradish Sauce : page 79
Nice mild horseradish sauce to accompany the rib roast in this cookbook. Well-received at my holiday table this year by those who like this type of sauce. It makes a boatload.
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Tuna Tartare : page 39
Another Team AJ/Soupereasy Project
This is a delicious and easy version of tuna tartare. We used two flash frozen sushi-grade AHI tuna steaks from Costco that turned out to be wonderful. We were initially a bit worried by the brownish shade of the frozen steaks but they pinked up a bit as they thawed and the taste was first rate. The diced raw tuna is tossed with avocado, scallions, jalapeno, and some toasted sesame seeds. Then the dressing (soy sauce, wasabi, tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, some olive oil, and some lime zest and juice) is mixed up and added. Season to taste. Then into the fridge for an hour.
We made no changes other than using a lemon rather than a lime and that had to do with the fact that neither of us much cared for the quality of the last remaining lime. We also used wasabi paste rather than powder. We served on thin slices of bread. Wonderful flavors perfectly balanced. High five to the Contesssa.
We found that the dish was best right after that hour in the fridge. We both kept some to serve as a dinner appetizer and the flavors definitely muddied with the passage of a few hours.
Our original plan for the day was to compare two tuna tartares but I couldn't find a version of the one I wanted (from Lidia Bastianich's NYC restaurant Felidia -- my husband says it is the best tuna tartare he has ever eaten) so we made a last minute decision to sear the remaining tuna steak and serve it with a plum salsa from Fine Cooking (reviewed separately).
We got the idea from the Le Bernadin cookbook On the Line which pairs a seared tuna and a tuna tartare in one dish. We couldn't get the yuzu juice the Le Bernadin recipe called for so we just decided to run with the idea of two different approaches to preparing tuna. And, as it turned out, the dishes were very different from one another but together made an exceptional lunch.
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