kaye16's Reviews
1460 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating 
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Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By Marcella Hazan
Knopf - 1992
Seriously yummy. I served this as a main, but it would make a very nice starter indeed with smaller portions.
I had 400g of largish shrimp, which made about half a recipe. For this amount, I used all the water for the stock and the pot was very full of shrimp.
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Very good. Made the whole recipe and served it is a main for two people, this was 3 skewers each with 3 strips of meat per skewer. Easy and tasty.
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Very good stuff. I made a half recipe as a main for two people. Easy and fast to make. The toasted bread crumb topping was an unexpectedly nice touch.
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In a hurry? Have a sage plant in the yard? This is a quick sauce for a pasta dish, either fresh or stuffed.
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This must be the definitive carbonara sauce recipe. Really good. The portions are a bit strange. The recipe says it serves 6, using 20oz of pasta. I made a half recipe for a main for two people, but used only 6oz pasta rather than 10oz. That pasta amount was fine, but the sauce might have been a bit skimpy. But it tasted yummy.
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A really good risotto, made with ingredients I usually have on hand.
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These are not at all hard to make and delicious. I'm made some leaden spinach gnocchi before, so these were a real treat. We had four main portions (big enough, but not generous) from this recipe. Would probably make a nice side dish also.
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A very nice way to finish off those Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi (p262).
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This must be *the* way to roast a chicken. Very good.
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Very good grilled chicken, although Hazan's instructions for butterflying the chickie seem a bit complicated. Also, I found this worked better grilling in the oven because the oily marinade tended to flare up on the bbq. Nevertheless. a very nice tasting bird.
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So easy, so yummy! For two, I had two slices for veal shank and used about half the other ingredients.
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No Amarone wine to be found; I used a bordeaux instead. Easy and delicious.
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Another easy and good pot-roasted chunk of meat. Nice to get the butcher to cut it into chunks that will fit your pan.
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Delicious! It cooks a long time and looks unpromising for most of that time, but it's really good. The portions are a bit skimpy. I think this would serve 3 best; 4 only it's a big dinner with other courses. (This from folks who are not heavy meat eaters.)
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Yum!
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This was very good with haricots verts instead of regular green beans. A good company dish since the beans can be done ahead and the dish finished quickly, just before serving.
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Good! I used two small heads totalling about 1#; this served 2-3.
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It is a bit peculiar that the recipe title calls these potatoes "pan-roasted," since they're about as fried as can be. The potatoes are first fried until they are soft, then removed from the oil and allowed to cool. Then the oil is reheated and the potatoes fried again until they get a crispy, brown crust. Kind of refried potatoes. And very good. Indeed, the potatoes had a crispy outside and a soft inside. Since the initial cooking can be done ahead and the potatoes finished near serving time, this could be good for a larger meal. The potatoes took 15-20 minutes to finish off, but don't require much attention during that time beyond an occasional stir.
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The Cornbread Gospels
By Crescent Dragonwagon
Workman Publishing Company - 2007
The Cornbread Gospels is quite a new book for me. It's been fun reading so far and I'm pleased that the first recipe I've tried turned out so well. These are very good pancakes. The cornmeal adds a nice crunchiness, and the buckwheat flour an interesting taste. (I happen to have a stash of buckwheat flour that I'm trying to use up, so that made the recipe even more appealing.)
Dragonwagon says to use to medium bowls for mixing dry and wet ingredients. I mixed the dry in the largest of my 3-bowl pyrex set and the wet in the middle bowl; assuming this the medium bowl she means, I'm glad I used a larger bowl for the wet ingredients, since it was pretty full. I used dried buttermilk (the Real Thing being largely unheard of where I live), including the powder with the dry ingredients and adding water to the eggs.
The whole recipe made about 32 pancakes. We ate half (with maple syrup, rather than the Warm Maple-Apple Sauté suggested); I've frozen the rest for a future meal.
Lacking sugar in the batter, the pancakes are quite savory; not big sweet-eaters, we both liked this feature. I also thought they'd be a great base for a dinner meal. They'd be a good base for cream of something (SOP rather than SOS;-), and I like Dragonwagon's idea of making a stack with sautéed veggies between the layers.
This will likely end up the go-to recipe whenever we have a hankering for pancakes.
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Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking
By Madhur Jaffrey, Philip Salaverry
Chronicle Books - 1996
Good stuff! Having not grown up with a pressure cooker, I'm always amazed how it makes such tender meat in such a short time.
As with most recipes in this book, this is pretty easy to assemble. Except for the lamb itself, the other ingredients are things I usually have on hand.
I had 800g lamb cubes, so made one and a third recipe which was close to the limit of my pressure cooker.
- Knowing that Jaffrey's recipes often use quite a bit of oil, I didn't increase the oil. This was fine.
- I think I might coarsely chop the spinach next time.
- I used the max amount of cayenne. The result was nicely tingly, but not challengingly hot.
- There was a lot of liquid to boil off. It might be a good idea to measure the water a bit short.
- With the extra meat, we served two generously and have another biggish serving in the freezer. I served, only rice as an accompaniment. The advertised 4 servings must be for a meal where this is only a part.
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How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food
By Mark Bittman, Alan Witschonke
Wiley - 1998
I made the Curried Rice Noodles with Ground Meat variation, using ground pork. I had everything in-house, which was handy since grocery shopping isn't on the plan until tomorrow or the next day or even next week.
I made a half recipe for the two of us and we enjoyed it very much. It was very attractive on the plate with the red bell pepper and the green peas. I didn't cut the veggies back as Bittman suggests for the ground meat variation.
While the noodles were soaking I used a food processor to make the ground pork, got the chopping done, and measured out all the remaining ingredients.
Once the noodles are boiled and drained, I'd guess you could pause for a while (putting the pork in the fridge, of course). The final preparation is very quick once you start stir-frying. In the rush to the finish, I forgot to add the stock when I returned the veggies to the wok; can't say that it was missed though.
This recipe is very appealing because it's so versatile. Most of the ingredients are things we usually stock in the larder or the freezer. It can be varied based on what's on hand and mood.
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Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen
By Clotilde Dusoulier
Broadway Books - 2007
Easy and yummy. Serves 10? Those are very dainty eaters. Six, or possibly eight, but never ten!
I used a pâte sablée from the freezer rather than making one from her recipe. I still have 3 more frozen (a packet of 4, it was, that I bought!), but I think the homemade one would be better.
This is very easy to assemble. While the crust is having its first bake in the oven, you can easily make the filling and wash the blueberries. After the crust has cooled a bit, you add the blueberries, top with the almond cream, and put it back in the oven.
I think this might work with other fruits also, not really soft or liquid ones, but firmish, anything that would go with the almond flavor. Cherries? Raspberries perhaps?
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Totally Picnic Cookbook (Totally Cookbooks)
By Helene Siegel, Carolyn Vibbert
Celestial Arts - 1996
Easy and tasty, a nice picnic recipe. Put the birds on to marinate the night before, grill them in the morning, then pack and go. (I used a split coqulet rather than a game hen.)
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A good variation on the marinated mushroom theme.
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Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen
By Clotilde Dusoulier
Broadway Books - 2007
A very nice "dress-up" dish for zucchini. The leftovers were good cold also; this would be a good picnic food I think. Dusoulier also suggests that it could be a vegetarian main over pasta or polenta.
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Craig Claiborne's New New York Times Cookbook
By Pierre Franey, Craig Claiborne
Crown - 1979
This is my go-to recipe for banana bread. Nowadays I just buzz it up in the food processor, just pulsing at the end when the nuts are added. Claiborne says it doesn't slice well warm; we haven't noticed this.
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Tofu Cookery
By Louise Hagler
Book Publishing Company (TN) - 1991
My only note on this says Delicious.
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Simple to make and very good. Needs the salt (to taste).
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We like this a lot. Notes:
- Marinating the tofu for 2 hours was not necessary.
- 2 cups of sliced mushrooms, rather than only 1 cup, would be nice
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This is an excellent "marinade" for frozen tofu. (Any kind of nut butter can be used.) We thought the recipe served 2-3, but a half recipe served 2 when I added some steamed broccoli florets. A dash of cayenne didn't hurt either. :-)
Frozen tofu notes:
- Thawed frozen tofu looks like a sponge and tastes about the same, but takes up a marinade nicely (e.g., the one it this recipe). Crumbled and cooked, it's rather like ground meat.
- To freeze, makes slices about 1/2" thick and put them in baggies. These will defrost quickly in hot water.
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This is the best vegetarian chili recipe. I usually add some corn with the veggies at the end.
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Very good!
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Antonio Carluccio Goes Wild: 120 Fresh Recipes for Wild Food from Land and Sea
By Antonio Carluccio
Headline Book Publishing - 2001
Very good. Not the best risotto-making instructions I've ever seen. If you've done it before, this isn't really a problem. Very good to eat.
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The Tabasco Cookbook: 125 Years of America's Favorite Pepper Sauce
By Paul McIlhenny, Barbara Hunter
Gramercy - 2004
A yummy snack, definitely more-ish.
If you like things really spicy, you might consider bumping up the Tabasco sauce to 3 teaspoons or more. These are tasty, but not seriously hot.
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This is one of our favorite chicken recipes. The meat is tender and flavorful after marinating in lemon juice and Tabasco. Yum!
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Big Flavors of the Hot Sun: Recipes and Techniques from the Spice Zone
By Chris Schlesinger, John Willoughby, Alan Witschonke
William Morrow & Co - 1994
In one word, Yum! The glaze is delicious with the grilled shrimp. I made a half recipe, using one green mango and two ripe peaches for the skewers. I cut the peaches into eighths and the mango into chunks, mostly bigger than 1/2". (In the end I didn't use all of the fruit.)
My shrimp were 12/16 count, so slighty larger than required, but the timing was perfect. (For 16/20 shrimp, go with the minimum time.)
Our *only* criticism of this dish was that the onion and the mango bits (the green mango being a bit hard) did not get "done" on the grill in the short time that it takes to cook the shrimp. The peaches, on the other hand, were perfect.
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The swordfish recipe is pretty ordinary (rub with oil, S&P, and grill), but the Green Grape-Parsley Relish is a definite keeper. It sounds a bit odd (grapes, oil&vinegar, garlic, parsley, S&P) but is always a hit. It is nicest when it sits around for a bit (an hour at least) before serving.
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Very good glaze for salmon.
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A delicious relish.
26sep18: Again. This is simple to make and wonderfully delicious.
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I've never made this with pompano, but this recipe is good with any firm white fish, I'd guess. Simple to make.
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The recipe calls for a butterflied let of lamb. I've only done this with chunks of lamb on skewers. I made a full recipe of the rub from about 1# lamb and froze half the rub for later use. Very good.
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Very very very very good. We really like this one. Spicy/tingly. A half recipe seems too much for two people, so I'd guess it really serves 4-6 as an entrée.
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Good salsa! The whole thing is simple, tasty, and fast.
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My notes say: Dee-lish! Not for guest who may be faint of heart.
The heat depends on the pepper you use, of course.
Did this again with 2 small spatchcocked birds, marinated, then roasted in a hot oven. Very good.
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Good. I've noted that 6 tablespoons of oil for the pesto seemed too much; use 4 instead. Also, we prefer the red cabbage shredded, rather than thinly sliced.
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Very good! But, I made all the spice paste for 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves and froze quite a bit of the paste for another time. The recipe calls for 4 8-10-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Maybe they mean whole breasts, although they are hard to find skinless and boneless. And serving a whole breast to one person is a bit much. Anyhow, the paste is worth freezing to use another time.
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Very good.
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We thought the chicken was very good, spicy, but not terribly hot. The sauce was good, but didn't seem necessary.
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I've done this with chicken thighs, both boneless and bone-in, and have a note to try it with skinless, boneless chicken breast halves.
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This was an interesting combination that worked well. I served it over mâche rather than romaine.
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