aj12754's Reviews
696 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
Fine Cooking
(Aug/Sep, 2010)
This is a very light and refreshing salad. It is also very pretty, combining green and yellow zucchini ribbons with mild green olives and frisee lettuce. The dressing is a light lemony vinaigrette which is improved by the addition -- not called for in the recipe -- of a bit of honey.
June 1 -- I modified this recipe to make a pasta with zucchini and olives in a lemony garlicy vinaigrette with some grated pecorino romano cheese. I used basil this time rather than mint. It worked very nicely although next time I'd probably up the amount of zucchini (I used one medium sized for a pound of pasta and next time I'd go one large or two small) and try it with the mint.
useful (0)
Gourmet
(Autumn, 2010)
Oh my,Oh my,OH MY...
So simple and so delicious, I think I could eat this every summer night.
A mandoline or Kyocera slicer makes this about a five minute dish ... and you can spend the time you save on prep being creative in how you arrange the slices, which are then salted, dressed with lemon juice and EEVO, then sprinkled with grated parmesan and mint. I used basil instead because my husband doesn't care for mint.
It is so pretty -- good as a side dish but it would also be a lovely first course or as part of a summer buffet. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture.
Because this recipe originally appeared in Gourmet magazine, it is also available at Epicurious.
useful (2)
This is a remarkably pretty soup to look at -- lovely green color with long thin strips of julienned zucchini peel arranged on top of the soup. And the flavors are very clean and subtle as water rather than chicken stock is used. Still ... Soupereasy and I wanted a bit more oomph to the soup from a flavor standpoint so we added some lemon juice which was nice. But next time we would use the chicken stock.
Two nights later, I served this as an amuse bouche in cordial glasses and it was really nice.
useful (2)
Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys
By David Tanis
Artisan - 2010
Very nice Italian side -- the sliced zucchini (seasoned and brushed with EVOO) can be broiled (as I did) or grilled up to two hours beforehand. Just before serving the zucchini is drizzled with more EVOO and lemon juice and mixed herbs (basil, mint, chives) and the sliced or diced mozzarella is added. Would be equally good with parmesan shavings instead of the mozzarella.
useful (4)
The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
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.
useful (1)
Olive Oil: From Tree to Table
By Peggy Knickerbocker, Laurie Smith
Chronicle Books - 2007
The three rating is based on my slightly doctored version of this soup and the fact that my husband liked this better than I did. For me, this tasted much like a yellow pepper vichyssoise -- I used two large russets rather than the four called for and still the primary flavor here was potato. It was also pretty bland although a very nice shade of yellow -- pretty from a presentation standpoint.
I had some dipping sauce left from a shrimp dish I made (buttermilk, sour cream and sriracha) and I added a bit of that to each bowl which perked things right up.
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Fine Cooking
(Feb/Mar, 2009)
A very easy braised chicken (even doable on a weeknight if you have a bit of extra time) with good flavor. I do think that the smokiness of bacon (rather than pancetta) might better amp up the flavor. And -- as other reviewers at the Fine Cooking website noted -- the final dish is not as attractive and savory-looking as the picture in the magazine -- much paler.
I used a pinot grigio rather than the recommended riesling because, while I enjoy a fruity wine, I only like sweet wines with cheese.
Recipe is also available online.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/wine-braised-chicken-shallots-pancetta.aspx
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Fine Cooking
(Oct/Nov, 2003)
If you like wild rice, this is a very nice side dish -- especially in the winter months. The sauteed scallions, dried cranberries, OJ and orange zest, and toasted hazelnuts really dress up the wild rice.
It is a nice accompaniment for a duck dish, especially one braised in red wine or with a red wine or port sauce. It's incredibly easy to make but nice enough to serve guests.
Recipe also available online.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/wild-rice-dried-cranberries-hazelnuts.aspx
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Soup of the Day (Williams-Sonoma): 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year
By Kate McMillan, Chuck Williams, Kate Spears, Erin Kunkel
Weldon Owen - 2012
This was a very easy soup but needs a lead time of about 90 minutes since the rice has to cook an hour. I cut the amount of bacon (8 slices) in half since I didn't want one flavor to dominate the soup, and I was glad i did. I also chopped the bacon before cooking rather than breaking up the bacon after cooking (just personal preference). The soup is finished with a little heavy cream but I used half and half since we like slightly thinner soups. Both of really liked the taste and texture of this soup.
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Fine Cooking
(, 2010)
Very nice soup. Uses all fresh (no dried) mushrooms which gives the soup a nice lightness -- also, only 1/4 cup of cream is used -- adds creaminess without making the soup heavy or too caloric.
Would have been even better with more of a mushroom mix -- all I found at the grocery story today was baby bellas and oyster mushrooms. Will try again with shiitakes or chanterelles.
Can be done in about 30 minutes, including prep.
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The New Basics Cookbook
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins
Workman Publishing Company - 1989
I love mushrooms of all kinds and look forward to the fall cooking season and making various mushroom soups. This is a perfectly acceptable version which my husband liked better than I did. I prefer the version I recently made from the Les Halles cookbook although both versions are quite similar. I suspect that the difference was more a matter of the mushrooms I used (today's were newly purchased and I read somewhere that mushrooms that have been hanging around the fridge a while have more flavor) than a real difference in the recipes).
Note: I did end up using 2 onions rather than the combination of onions and leeks called for in the recipe because I forgot to pick up leeks at the store today.
Both this soup and the Les Halles version pair really well with a red wine.
useful (1)
Alfred Portale's Twelve Seasons Cookbook: A Month-by-Month Guide to the Best There is to Eat
By Alfred Portale, Andrew Friedman
Broadway - 2000
A substantive risotto with real depth of flavor. Recipe takes a bit more time than your average risotto as the first half hour is spent making a mushroom broth. But the extra time is worth it.
useful (1)
Fine Cooking
(May, 1998)
This is not my favorite wild mushroom risotto --my favorite is the one in Alfred Portale's 12 Seasons cookbook -- BUT, this is a really nice and easy option that takes next to no prep. You just need to allow for the 30 minutes to soak the dried porcini prior to starting the cooking.
As far as the fresh mushrooms, I used all cremini mushrooms since that's what I had in the fridge. A mix of different mushrooms would be even better.
Recipe is written to provide 2-3 main dish servings or 4 as a side.
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Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys
By David Tanis
Artisan - 2010
I have no idea why I had mushrooms in the fridge as generally those are a fall/winter ingredient for me. But I did -- some creminis and shiitakes totaling just under a pound. Enough for a half recipe of this ragout.
I enjoyed making this start to finish -- from the very simple porcini broth (about 1 oz. of dried porcini, 3 cups of water, a bay leaf, half a small onion, a small carrot and small celery stalk -- the last three coarsely chopped -- brought to a boil then simmered 20-30 minutes), to the sauteed mushrooms, chopped onion and fresh herbs (sage and thyme), to the pasta [I used penne] tossed with EVOO and parsley. When it all comes together in the end, it is as much fun to eat as to prepare. The broth gives it a really nice depth of flavor.
Note: even though I made only a half recipe of the sauteed mushrooms, I made a full recipe of the broth and ended up using all of it.
I will definitely make this again but in the fall/winter months.
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Cook Like a Rock Star: 125 Recipes, Lessons, and Culinary Secrets
By Anne Burrell, Suzanne Lenzer, Mario Batali
Clarkson Potter - 2011
Pasta with mushroom ragu is one of my favorite dishes and this is one of several versions I've tried. And it's fine although not my favorite. There is quite a bit of liquid in this recipe and it took a while for the liquid to reduce enough to move from a soupy to a sauce-like consistency.
I was only able to find fresh cremini and shiitakes qnd I'd like to try this recipe again with a greater varierty of mushrooms.
The recipe also uses dried porcini and this recipe includes a step I've never seen in any other mushroom ragu recipe -- after soaking the dried porcini in hot water, you squeeze the porcinis to get rid of excess water, then put them in a mini-food processor long with some of the soaking liquid, and process it until you get a paste. I did this but I would not say that what resulted was a paste. This is then added to the sauteed mushrooms along with the rest of the soaking liquid, and a cuo of chick stock.In the past I have just finely chopped the soaked porcinis and the paste approach didn't seem to make much difference --flavor or texture-wise in my opinion
useful (3)
The New Basics Cookbook
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins
Workman Publishing Company - 1989
Kind of an unusual pasta dish -- somehow more French than Italian. The sauce is basically a mix of dried and fresh mushrooms, with shallots, garlic, parsley and madeira. There is no cheese at all, and if you use all EVOO rather than a blend of EVOO and butter as the recipe directs, it's a good pasta dish for vegans.
The sauce is tossed with angel hair (I used thin spaghetti since that's what I had). There's a nice combination of earthiness and sophistication in the flavors here. All that mushroom slicing (1.5 lbs) can be a little time consuming (although I found it a nice and restful change of pace from the work I had been doing), but if you buy pre-sliced mushrooms, it's about a 30 minute meal.
I did finish the dish with an additional pat of butter to add some silkiness to the sauce and had no regrets.
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Fine Cooking
(Jun/Jul, 2006)
A fabulous Italian bean salad that is at its best made a few hours ahead and held at room temperature. The recipe calls for dried beans but it is just fine (which means absolutely delicious) with canned cannellini beans. Great for a picnic or backyard BBQ. Even if you think you don't like anchovies, don't omit them from this dish -- they add flavor not fishiness.
The recipe is actually in the insert (10E) opposite p. 10.
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Fine Cooking
(Feb/Mar, 2009)
This is a really delicious mix of flavors: white beans, diced red onion and red bell pepper, capers, sherry vinegar and EVOO. Really quick to put together and a great side dish when you are grilling meat or poultry on the back deck or patio. Flavors are assertive but not overpowering. And it is also visually appealing thanks to the mix of colors -- red, green and white.
Recipe is also available online.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/mint-and-red-onion-white-bean-salad.aspx
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Website: Fine Cooking
This is a very nice way to use up summer's bounty -- it takes a while to make the sauteed ratatouille [link below] used in the gratin, but it can be made ahead and left at room temperature for several hours, allowing the flavors to blend, before adding a can of white beans and the parmesan/bread crumb topping, and baking.
The sauteed zucchini recipe makes about 3 cups and the gratin recipe calls for 2 cups of the ratatouille. I used all the sauteed ratatouille I made and was not sorry. As is usual with this type of recipe, it was even better a day or two later.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/sauteed-ratatouille.aspx
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Website: Epicurious
One of my all-time favorite summer salads. A snap to put together and very light (no oil) and refreshing on a hot summer day.
My supermarket doesn't carry the glaze but you can get a small but over-priced bottle at Williams-Sonoma ... or if you have an Italian grocery nearby, you can usually find it there.
The recipe does give directions for making the glaze on your own -- but I ended up burning the heck out of my small saucepan. A real chore to clean up after.
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Summer on a Plate: More than 120 delicious, no-fuss recipes for memorable meals from Loaves and Fishes
By Anna Pump, Gen Leroy, Alan Richardson
Simon & Schuster - 2008
All the elements of this dish, the fish, the tartar sauce, and the bread come together perfectly. It really is the taste of summer on a plate.
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Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2004
Easy and flavorful but for me this salad had a little too much going on. The addition of prosciutto and sun-dried tomatoes was a little more than I wanted and took some of the focus away from the mushrooms, Parmesan and sherry vinaigrette. Also, while I am loath the disagree with Ina because the woman really knows flavor, I suggest stirring the mushrooms as little as possible while you saute them, which I think does a better job of bringing out the flavor of the mushrooms.
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Staff Meals from Chanterelle
By David Waltuck, Melicia Phillips
Workman Publishing Company - 2000
This was really tasty and easy. I followed the directions exactly and it was quite good. But I think the previous reviewer is correct about the addition of more of the veggies and agree as well that an entire stick of butter isn't really necessary ... and I never say no to more butter.
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Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2006
Although I gave this salad a 4, my husband insists it is a 5 and he may be right. I am not much of a raspberry fan (pretty as they are in this salad) and that may have affected my review.
There is a lot to like about this salad. Very easy to do. Duck and oranges -- a classic combination. The toasted pecans add a nice crunch (and I think Smitten Kitchen's candied pecans might be good here too). For me the raspberries added more color than flavor; next time I might try blackberries instead since I prefer them.
The sherry vinaigrette with orange zest worked very well. The recipe called for a mix of baby lettuces and endive. I mixed a bit of mesclun, some frisee, a small romaine heart and one endive and was very happy with the result. We found that one duck breast was enough for two salads.
Finally -- I loved the method of cooking the duck breast -- on a sheet pan skin side up in a 425 oven for 20 minutes. No need to score the skin -- just salt it and in oven it goes. I worried about duck fat spattering the interior of the oven -- but no. No spatter, no smoke, but a really nice aroma coming from the oven. You take it out, cover tightly with foil for 10-15 minutes and then remove the skin and slice the medium-rare duck into slim slices for the salad.
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Website: Emerils.com
I was looking for a walnut bread to accompany a nice blue cheese for tonight's dinner. Originally I had planned to make a yeast bread, but ran out of time, so I googled for a walnut quick bread and found this one. It turned out really well -- sweet but not too sweet and the walnut flavor really came through and was perfect with the cheese. I did toast the slices after the bread completely cooled so the texture of the bread was a little firmer, making it easier to spread the cheese.
This will also be good toasted and buttered for breakfast tomorrow morning.
Served with a French turnip/potato/leek soup.
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Fine Cooking
(, 2010)
This is a fairly sweet soup with just a subtle hint of gingery flavor. I made this the day before I served it and I think the overnight stay in the fridge was a good thing as the flavor seemed a little bland to me the day it was made. Soup is finished with some diced Fuji apple and a squeeze of lemon. It would be really good in a thermos on a cold day sitting in the stands.
Notes:
1) soup takes a bit longer to prepare than many carrot soups because step one is the making of a very nice one-hour vegetable broth. Since I don't care for store-bought vegetable stock, this is a nice quick alternative that I can use in other soups.
2) Had to add quite a bit of salt to bring out flavor as the vegetable broth has no salt. Also the carrots are so sweet that the salt balances the dish.
3) Served with toasted baguette rounds topped with "Last of the Yakima Peppers" peperonata (Fine Cooking Fresh -- Fall 2007).
4) Might play with this recipe a little bit next time -- add some curry maybe.
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Soup of the Day (Williams-Sonoma): 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year
By Kate McMillan, Chuck Williams, Kate Spears, Erin Kunkel
Weldon Owen - 2012
This was very quick with a nice depth of flavor achieved in a relatively short cooking time.
I do make one small change in technique to deepen the flavor when the cooking time is fairly short as it is here, adding the spices (cumin and smoked paprika) to the onions and other veggies as they are sauteed, rather than adding them later with the tomatoes and broth as the recipe directs.
Would be just as good without the spinach. Very good healthy eating even with the ancient lentils I pulled out from the back of the pantry.
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The New Basics Cookbook
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins
Workman Publishing Company - 1989
It takes some time and effort -- and it will add an inch or two to your waistline -- but this really is a delicious use of eggplants, peppers, mushrooms and three, count 'em, three cheeses. Easy to compose ahead of time and bake later.
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Le Bernardin Cookbook: Four-Star Simplicity
By Maguy Le Coze, Eric Ripert
Broadway - 1998
This is an incredibly rich and fragrant stock. The bones are first roasted at 500 (450 in my kitchen which is small and unbearably hot if the oven is at 500) for 30 minutes, at which point you add the standard stock veggies -- as well as few white peppercorns, a bay leaf, and tomato paste. Roast another 30 minutes. Then transfer everything to a stockpot (except the fat in the bottom of the roasting pan) and cover with cold water. Boil, skim and then simmer three hours.
The stock is velvety and smells fantastic. Will update this review once I have used this stock in a recipe.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Oh yumm. Simple and delicious. Good on their own or with ice cream. And the smell in the kitchen while the pears are roasting is simply wonderful.
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Fine Cooking
(, 2010)
Have you ever made something so good you can't believe it was you that made it?
This soup was that meal for me. Just wonderful Italian flavors (pancetta, cabbage, onions, carrots, garlic, and rosemary) coming together in a really healthy and delicious way. I followed the recipe exactly as written except that I skipped the finishing bit of chopped rosemary as my husband doesn't love rosemary. But the chopped rosemary that went into the soup earlier was just the right amount to add both a subtle flavor and aroma to the soup. Soup is finished with a little squirt of fresh lemon juice and a mound of grated parmigiano reggiano in the center and toasted bread crumbs (I used toasted panko and it was perfect) circling that mound. Lovely flavor and lovely to look at.
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Soup of the Day (Williams-Sonoma): 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year
By Kate McMillan, Chuck Williams, Kate Spears, Erin Kunkel
Weldon Owen - 2012
Hearty and healthy, delicious to boot. Can be on the table in under an hour.
useful (1)
My rating is based on my result which was compromised by the fact that I had to juggle some of the proportions since I had fewer turnips than the recipe called for. So I made a half recipe and found the soup to be slightly too sweet for my taste -- I needed a few more turnips for my taste ... but still a good soup. I served this as an appetizer, followed by steak sandwiches and the flavors worked well together.
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Fine Cooking
(Oct/Nov, 2016)
This recipe calls for brining and roasting a bone-in turkey breast, while braising the legs and thighs. I love cooking the parts of the turnkey separately because I find it so much easier to keep the white meat moist. The maple brine for the breast was excellent, and easy to get it all done the day before, pull out of the brine and roast for 2 hours. Actually a doable week-night turkey recipe if you don't mind brining a day ahead.
The braised legs and thighs had a slightly different, but very complementary, flavor profile than the breast. Also, can be made almost entirely in advance and reheated, which is very helpful in the busy holiday season.
Works well for a smaller crowd, say 10 or so people.
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Fine Cooking
(Oct/Nov, 2006)
A recipe for using up left-over Thanksgiving turkey. Flavor was just ok. I didn't think the broth mellowed enough in the 20-30 minute cooking time so the flavor of the broth was a bit harsh. But I like this idea of this soup enough to play around a bit with the broth to see if I could turn this recipe into a staple of my post-Thanksgiving repertoire.
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Fine Cooking
(Oct/Nov, 2007)
This was my first year making turkey broth in advance of the big turkey day. Usually I use chicken stock. I just picked up some turkey wings a few days before the holiday and made this broth. Nice aromas emanating from the kitchen really got me in the mood for holiday cooking and the use of turkey broth really did make a difference with this year's gravy. I look forward to making more of this for turkey noodle soups in the cold months ahead.
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Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2002
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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Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan, Alan Richardson
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2010
Nice flavors, easy to prep. I really enjoyed this and will make again.
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Website: Epicurious
The caper vinaigrette makes all the difference to this dish ... it really enhances the trout and is perfect with the white beans. Made a few changes to the recipe, substituting fennel for the shallots in the vinaigrette, broiling rather than pan-frying or grilling the fish, and we found our beans needed quite a bit more liquid than the recipe called for.
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Fine Cooking
(Winter, 2004)
I love citrus flavors in the cold months and these cookies are a very nice treat on a wintry day.
The orange flavor comes from orange zest, orange juice, and Grand Marnier (can substitute additional OJ for a non-alcoholic version). The recipe calls for 2 oranges to get 1/4 cup of zest but I needed a full three.
The dough is quite sticky so be sure your board for shaping the logs is well-floured. The recipe says that you will have enough dough for six 12-inch logs, but I came up with five logs.
Excellent with coffee, tea, or the cranberry liquor from the new New York Times cookbook (p. 36). A friend whipped up a batch of this liquor and was kind enough to share -- and it's delicious.
May try dipping some of these biscotti in bittersweet chocolate next time I make them. And there will be a next time.
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Fine Cooking
(, 2008)
Uses chocolate chips, Dutch-process cocoa, and white chocolate (which the finished cookies are dipped in). The flavor is boosted by the addition of finely ground coffee or espresso powder. Recipe calls for toasted hazelnuts but toasted walnuts or almonds would be great too. And it's a pretty cookie.
The recipe originally appeared in issue #5 of Fine Cooking magazine. Recipe is not available online.
Note: Although I listed this special issue as dated 2008, the issue actually has no date, only an issue number (23). It is the issue with a stack of raspberry-hazelnut linzer cookies on the cover. To the best of my recollection, it was the holiday issue from about 2 years ago, so I dated it 2008.
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Website: Epicurious
This was my first raita so my basis for judging is limited, but I thought this was excellent. I served it with Ground Coriander and Cilantro flatbreads (posted a separate review for these but I will say they were perfect for the raita). Next time I will probably do a smaller dice on the cucumber but other than that I would make no changes. Very simple and tasty.
This recipe originally appeared in the May 2008 issue of Bon Appetit.
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Fine Cooking
(Oct/Nov, 2006)
Page number is actually 98C as this is one of the "Quick and Delicious" recipes at the very back of the issue.
One of my go-to meals when I am heading home late. Most of the ingredients (with the exception of frozen tortellini and the leeks which I swing into the grocery store to pick up on my way home) are staples in my kitchen. Quick prep and even quicker cooking time. And next to no clean up.
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Marcella's Italian Kitchen
By Marcella Hazan
Knopf - 1995
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this recipe but I had plenty of spaghetti, about a half cup of heavy cream left over from ice-cream making, and a very ripe melon on hand. This was really quick to make and as I brought it to the table my husband said "Hmmmm ... smells like mac n' cheese" -- which it did although there is no cheese in it. We both thought it was good but just a bit too sweet for our taste.
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Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
By Judi Kingry, Lauren Devine
Robert Rose - 2006
This was quite a lot of work. We started with 40 pounds of plum tomatoes and -- with two people working -- it took about two hours to blanche, peel, core and quarter all those tomatoes. Filling the jars and processing took another 2-2.5 hours. On the plus side, we have 15+ quarts of beautiful tomatoes on the counter. And the directions in this cookbook are absolutely meticulous.
It was an interesting cooking experience but when it comes to canning and preserving in the future, I may just stick to jams and jellies -- smaller batches and significantly shorter processing times ... unless these tomatoes turn out to be food fit for the gods. Will update review when I open a jar and use them in the middle of winter when I want a little reminder of the tastes of summer.
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The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show
By Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Sally Swift
Clarkson Potter - 2008
This recipe definitely produced a moist burger, although a mite under-seasoned for my taste (but I have a high tolerance for salt).
I am not sure what is really added by taking the extra step of dicing the cheese and putting it in the middle of the burger. The addition of wine to the meat makes for a moist burger and I think that next time I'd just add sliced cheddar to the top of the burger after the final flip.
I'd also like to try a longer-cooking onion confit, (without the grape tomatoes) as a topping next time.
Might be nice to add some dried cranberries to the confit and switch the cheese to a mild blue.
But I liked these enough to embark on a search for more turkey burger recipes. That plus the fact that Costco had a special on 4 pounds of ground turkey.
useful (1)
Fine Cooking
(Aug/Sep, 2011)
This was just fine but not really special enough that I'd want to make it again. It calls for za'atar which is an interesting change of pace, but when I have good feta and peak of season tomatoes I think I prefer fresh herbs with them. Also, I love chickpeas but I think this salad would have worked better with cannellini beans.
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Soup of the Day (Williams-Sonoma): 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year
By Kate McMillan, Chuck Williams, Kate Spears, Erin Kunkel
Weldon Owen - 2012
Like a lot of the recipes in this cookbook, I think this soup needs some tweaking to get a good result.
I made a half-recipe and, since I was using some left-over crumbled bacon from another recipe, I sauteed my onions and garlic/ in butter instead of the bacon fat/butter combo the recipe called for. After these are sauteed, the canned tomatoes are added, with no additional liquid or seasoning, and they are simmered for 20 minutes. At this point the soup is cooled slightly and pureed, then the smoked paprika, S&P, and heavy cream (I used half and half) are added and the soup is reheated.
I found the soup to thick to be really appetizing so I added about 12 oz. of water. I also thought the late addition of the paprika made that flavor pretty overbearing. I doubt I would make this again, but if I did, I'd add the paprika to the sauteing onions and let it really meld with them and the tomatoes over the longer cooking time.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Easiest tomato sauce in the world -- can of San Marzanos, 5 T. butter and an onion --- simmer 45 minutes and the result is a lovely, fresh-tasting, velvety-textured sauce. The write-up at the website and the comments give some interesting background on the origins of this simple delicious sauce.
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Website: The Food Network
There may be no finer use for the mini food processor than the making of fresh herb mayonnaises in the summer. It only takes maybe extra five minutes to throw a garlic clove, some basil, one cup of mayo, 1 T. of EVOO, 1 t. of lemon juice and salt and pepper into the mini-chopper and push the on button. But the result is totally worth it. Really elevates the classic BLT or -- the sandwich I made it for --a turkey, tomato, arugula and avocado sandwich.
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