kaye16's Profile

Joined: December 21st, 2009


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October 17th, 2022

Pasta e Fagioli from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

An easy and delicious soup. I used lardons for the meat. We were thinking that chicken sausages would be good, saucisse de volaille or merguez de volaille, cut in quarters lenghtwise, then into little... read more >


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kaye16's Reviews


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16 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 16Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

The Best Ever French Cooking Course

By Carole Clements, Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen
Hermes House - 2002

24th April 2015 (edited: 25th April 2015)

Chicken and Pistachio Pâté (Ballotine de Volaille aux Pistaches) : page 127

This is not the kind of thing you'd make for dinner for two, so I've been saving this recipe for a party. Took it this afternoon to an apèro, where it was a big hit. Might also be nice at a picnic. The log is not too impressive to look at, perhaps, but the slices are lovely with bits of white (chicken breast), pink (ham), and green (pistachios). It can easily, and probably should, be made the day before you want to serve it.

The step where you're boning and detendoning chicken to end up with 900g (2#) for flesh is *very* tedious. I defrosted three legs, two thighs, and a chicken, and bought a package of about 10 thighs. (Legs seem to have more tendons than meat.) I ended up with ~1080g, rather than 900g, so upped measurements by ~20%.
This pile of meat gets puréed (thank you, food processor), then tossed with the rest of the ingredients, formed into a log, and baked for a good long while.
- There were no green onions in the shops (not a surprise), so I used aillets instead and skipped the garlic. It smelled of garlic after cooking, but tasted fine. (Neither I nor google seem to know what aillets are in English. Someone suggested ramps to me, but the leaves stay round like a green onion, not broad like ramps seem to be. Aillets look like green onions, with a purply tinge, and a pronounced but not overpowering garlic smell and taste. I chop them up in sauces and salads sometimes.)
- No fresh tarragon to be found this week, so I used dry.

Another super recipe from this cookbook.

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29th July 2014 (edited: 15th February 2015)

Salmon Steaks with Sorrel Sauce : page 92

A good enough version of this classic, which is easy to make.

Used fillets rather than steaks, because that's what 23 prefer.

The instructions are a bit odd, though. A photo clearly shows putting whole sorrel leaves into the sauce, but the photo of the completed dish shows that the sorrel has been chopped. In the end, is buzzed the sauce briefly with my immersion blender to get the sorrel into bits. Think I might remove some of the bigger stems also.

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23rd December 2009

Ginger Baked Pears : page 224

Simple and very tasty.

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23rd December 2009

Bitter Chocolate Mousse : page 222

Excellent, but serving portions are too big. A half recipe easily filled 8 small mousse dishes.

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23rd December 2009

Duck with Peppercorns : page 142

Very simple, very good.

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23rd December 2009

Guinea Fowl with Cabbage : page 135

We had this for xmas one year. A bit country style, and delicious.

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23rd December 2009

Turkey Scallops with Capers : page 134

Fairly standard at our house.

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23rd December 2009

Garlicky Scallops and Prawns : page 108

Simple and yummy.

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23rd December 2009

Sautéed Scallops : page 108

Good, simple sauce to go-with.

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23rd December 2009

Cod with Lentils and Leeks : page 101

I liked this; the DH thought the lentils were a bit overpowering. Seems a bit hearty, country-ish. Nice for an informal dinner.

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23rd December 2009

Salmon with Green Peppercorns : page 91

I've used this same sauce with turkey scallops and with real scallops.

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23rd December 2009

Grilled Goat's Cheese Salad : page 82

Of course, you really don't need a recipe to make this, but this shows the technique and has a good vinaigrette to go with it.

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23rd December 2009 (edited: 23rd December 2009)

Broccoli Timbales : page 58

Could be a side dish, but nice as a starter. I've made this with carrots and with broccoli. I've made all 4 for the two of us, intending to have the extras the next day, but we ended up eating them, and thought the ones that had been standing for a bit in the hot water bath (out of the oven) had a better texture.

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23rd December 2009

Glazed Carrots and Turnips : page 42

This is an excellent technique (called steam/sauté in other books) to use with root veggies of all kinds.

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23rd December 2009

Smoked Salmon Salad with Dill : page 35

Very good. Smoked salmon topped with fennel and cuke and a lovely vinaigrette. 100g salmon was plenty for 3 (recipe calls for 225g for 4). We're not big fennel fans, but it's quite good here.

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23rd December 2009 (edited: 8th December 2017)

Lamb's Lettuce and Beetroot Salad : page 32

A household favorite, outstanding and easy.
The dressing is good but the recipe makes way too much. I often make a half recipe, then have several more days of salad with the dressing. Good thing it's good.

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