Mary O's Profile

Joined: June 11th, 2014


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June 15th, 2014

Asian Turkey Meatballs With Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce from Skinny Taste

My daughter makes these meatballs often for her family and serves them with zucchini noodles. Directions for making the "noodles" are on the web site. I liked but didn't love the meatballs but will try... read more >


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26 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 26Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title

Website: Annie's Eats

annies-eats.com
 

Guess you need to be a garlic lover to love this pilaf and I am. This isn't a quick recipe. First you brown a cup of long-grain rice and 3 minced garlic cloves over medium high heat. You have to be very careful not to burn the garlic. With luck, I didn't but next time will use a lower heat to be safe. Then you add 1 cup of chicken broth, salt and pepper. She has you do all of this in a skillet and then transfer to a casserole dish with lid but I used a metal casserole so was able to avoid an extra pan to wash. Also I used rich turkey stock from my freezer. You bake this for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven and then add 1 1/2 cups of broth and bake for another 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes before pilaf is finished cooking, she suggests you add a squeeze of lemon but I forgot to do this. Next time if I don't have a rich stock, I think I will add a few sprigs of thyme and remove the stems before serving. Other variations are possible.

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Atlanta Cooknotes

By Junior League of Atlanta
Wimmer Cookbooks - 1989

This recipe is very easy, can be prepared ahead and can be frozen. Great party recipe. The meatballs are the usual mix of ground beef, grated onion, and bread crumbs. Shape into bite size meatballs. The sauce couldn't be easier or more delicious. Combine 1 lb can jellied cranberry sauce, a 12 oz bottle of chili sauce, 2 TBS brown sugar and 1 TBS lemon juice or to taste. After combining sauce mixture and bringing to a simmer, add uncooked meatballs and simmer until meatballs are cooked and sauce is thickened. The recipe says to simmer for 2 1/2 hours which seems a little excessive to me. I made this many years ago and can't remember exactly how long I simmered it. My daughter has made it for several of her parties. Serve in a chafing dish with picks for spearing.

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14th June 2014

Crab Meat Pie

I usually make this every year during the family beach week. It's a beach type recipe because it is easy and really must be prepared ahead. In the morning of the day I am serving, I blend cream cheese, mayonnaise, horseradish and grated onion and spread in a pie plate. Mix lemon juice and a bottle of chili sauce and spread over this. Then spread a well drained can of crab meat on top. Cover and chill before serving with crackers for Happy Hour. Not sophisticated perhaps but easy on the cook.

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14th June 2014

Three Chocolate Cake

Yes, this is another cake mix cake. But what a cake! At least in our family it is known as The Chocolate Cake. Easy. You bet. But very, very delicious. I substitute Kahlua for the 1/2 cup dark rum in the recipe and I think that makes the difference. Ingredients: Devil's Food cake mix, instant chocolate pudding mix, 1/2 cup espresso coffee, sour cream chocolate chips and the Kahlua. I bake it in a bundt pan for 55 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I have been making this for years and often on demand 3 or 4 times a year.

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14th June 2014

Applesauce Cake

I made this originally for a pot luck as I remember. We are not a dessert family, so it was OK but I haven't repeated it. Ingredients include raisins but I am not a fan of raisins in cakes or cookies. This cake has a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing that is very good but I could just eat cream cheese icing and be happy. The cake is supposed to serve 16.

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The Best of Gourmet: 1987 Edition: All of the Beautifully Illustrated Menus from 1986 Plus over 500 Selected Recipes

By Gourmet Magazine Editors
Random House - 1987

12th June 2014

Golden creamed onions

These Golden Creamed Onions have been on our Thanksgiving table since this book was published. In fact the book automatically opens to this page. No unusual ingredients here. Just simple perfection. We first used pearl onions but soon realized that baby boiling onions are much better. For years I was the cook for this dish but when one daughter married several years ago, she claimed the onion dish as hers. It isn't fast. You can't just put it on the stove and forget about it. My daughter comes over early to help with dinner but she keeps her eye on me so that I don't interfere with her onions. Don't forget the parsley at the end because it gives a touch of elegance to the creamy colored onions. As the recipe says, you can make it ahead but I don't recommend it. If we are lucky to have any leftovers, they taste OK reheated but you know the dish has now lost its perfection.

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Best of Gourmet, 1988: All of the Beautifully Illustrated Menus from 1987 Plus over 500 Selected Recipes

By Gourmet Magazine Editors
Random House - 1988

When I received the Gourmet magazine in the summer of 1988, I immediately made this recipe and it was easy and delicious. The fact that the crepes used cornmeal appealed to this southern girl (remember it was 1988). The filling has all of my favorite things, sour cream, limes, hot and mild peppers, fresh corn. A perfect summer dish.

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When I received my Gourmet magazine in the summer of 1988, I thought they were psychic when I saw their beautiful photo of this ice-cream bombe because I had just bought a melon mold at a thrift shop. It takes time but not much effort to make. You puree the cantaloupe and chill it in the fridge. While it is chilling, you put your mold in the freezer. Freeze the cantaloupe mixture in an ice-cream maker and when it is frozen but still malleable, spread the sorbet on the bottom and sides of your mold. Freeze the mold at least 1 hour before filling the cavity with store-bought vanilla ice cream and freeze the bombe at least 2 hours before unmolding and serving. Impressive and delicious.

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Website: Cook's Country

www.cookscountry.com
 

12th June 2014

Funeral Potatoes

Despite its ominous title, this is an excellent recipe for a crowd. "Potato mixture can be refrigerated in baking dish, covered with aluminum foil, for 2 days. To finish, bake potatoes 20 minutes. Remove dish from oven and uncover. Top with potato chips and bake until golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes." I usually cook in disposable foil pans for easy clean up.

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Cooks illustrated
(Nov/Dec, 2001)

 

This is really delicious. It is what I call a pantry recipe because I keep frozen shrimp always available. I reduce the amout of shrimp to serve two but make the whole sauce recipe. I usee dry vermouth for white wine

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Cooks illustrated
(Jan/Feb, 2014)

 

12th June 2014

Easy sandwich bread

I have recently been successful in making Artisan baguettes but often they require almost a whole day to make. I hoped that this recipe would give me a faster bread occasionally. The recipe promises a loaf of bread in about 2 hours and that is what you get. Basically you need 11 oz of bread flour, 2 oz of whole wheat flour, 1 tbs honey and 2 1/4 tbs instant yeast plus lots of very warm water. I have a personal dislike for sweet whole wheat bread and was afraid of the honey but the bread was not sweet at all. I am very pleased with this bread. We did make sandwiches using our leftover ham. The bread is not exactly the same as store bought sandwich bread, but we enjoyed our sandwiches. In fact they were delicious. The author warns that the bread is best used the same day made but we were very happy with the bread toasted the next day. The bread can be frozen. I plan to make this or other quick breads at least once a week.

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Website: Cooks Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
 

I have made this or similar recipes from Cooks Illustrated in the summer to take for our family's week at the beach. You use lasagna no-boil noodles rather than boxed manicotti noodles which are easier to use and are more tender when cooked. The manicotti can be prepared but not cooked and covered with a sheet of parchment paper, wrapped in aluminum foil, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. I freeze mine in a disposable lasagna pan several days before beach time. On the morning of departure, the frozen pan is put in the ice chest for the long trip to the beach. It is partially defrosted by the time we are in our rented house and ready for dinner. I follow the cooking directions but may have to add extra oven time depending on defrosted the maniccoti was. This is just one of several ahead of times frozen dishes that I take for the first night. We have a large group for our family beach week so food is never wased.

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Website: Cooks Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
 

This soup serves 6 and can be frozen for 1 month. Since I cook for 2, this means if I can freeze the soup base in separate containers and when needed, quickly defrost and add chicken or vegetable stock and simmer about 20 minutes. A great winter comfort soup.

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Website: Cooks Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
 

13th June 2014 (edited: 13th June 2014)

Four-Cheese Lasagna

I have made this lasagna twice for two summers beach vacations. First I must warn that most children probably will not even try this lasagna nor will some adults who are wary of out of the ordinary foods. The cheeses include Gruyère, Parmesan, fontina, and Gorgonzola cheese. Even though the web site does not list instructions for freezing the lasagna unbaked, either the magazine does (I don't have it in front of me) but I just follow the same instructions that I list for their Baked Manicotti with Sausage. I freeze mine in a disposable lasagna pan several days before beach time. On the morning of departure, the frozen pan is put in the ice chest for the long trip to the beach. It is partially defrosted by the time we are in our rented house and ready for dinner. I follow the cooking directions but may have to add extra oven time depending on defrosted the lasagna.




















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Website: Cooks Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
 

This is another do-ahead beach meal that I make every summer. Actually I only make the meatballs ahead, freeze them individually and then pack in bags to take in an ice chest for the first night's dinner at the beach. I have never made the sauce because beach cooking means you open a few cans of marinara sauce, toss in the partially defrosted meatballs, simmer and serve over spaghetti with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese on the side. Even the picky eaters like this dish.

The recipe calls for ground beef and pork plus 6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto. I did that for several years but I don't think the trouble and expense of the prosciutto is worth it. Now I use crumbled Italian sausage meat and think that it even tastes better.

Other ingredients include panko breadcrumbs, buttermilk (sub yogurt), and powdered gelatin. The gelatin is supposed to enhance the beef flavor.

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Website: Cooks Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
 

13th June 2014 (edited: 13th June 2014)

Foolproof Pie Dough for a Single-Crust Pie

I have been making this pie dough at least once a year for Cook's Illustrated Fresh Strawberry Pie. A grandson asks for the pie rather than a birthday cake. Since I can not claim to be a great baker, even this recipe is not foolproof for me. My problem is that the dough seem to melt down from the top edge. Of course, I went right ahead and filled with whipping cream and strawberries to hide the crust. Grandmothers have their tricks.

But this year someone's blog came to my rescue. My note just says "Blog". Duh. Anyway these are the wonderful instructions: After you have rolled out the pie dough and fitted into a pie dish, refrigerate for 40 minutes and then freeze for 20 minutes. Cover with heavy alum foil pressed down onto crust and bake. The blogger didn't add this, but I fill the foil covered crust with a layer of pennies, put in preheated 450 degree oven on lowest rack for 15 minutes, remove from oven and remove foil and pennies. (In fact I have a pizza stone on the lowest rack, so I put the pie dish on a pizza pan and put that on top of the stone) Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until browned to your taste. This worked perfectly for me.

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Website: Cooks Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
 

This is our family meatloaf recipe. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. Now I omit the bacon and brown sugar topping from personal preference. I use only ground beef and pork but don't use ground veal unless I happen to find a package of meatloaf ground meat at the store that includes veal. The leftover meatloaf makes great sandwiches.

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Website: David Lebovitz

www.davidlebovitz.com
 

13th June 2014 (edited: 13th June 2014)

Granola

This granola is so much work and takes a lot of time. But no matter how often I try other recipes, I always come back to this one. It is the best as far as I am concerned. David makes many suggestions for substitutions but thank goodness there is no chocolate, no m&m's, no candy of any kind. Even though it takes up much of my morning to make, since I am the only one eating, I keep it in the fridge for many breakfasts. It is delicious with yogurt.

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Website: Epicurious

www.epicurious.com
 

12th June 2014

Gai Pad Bai Gaprow

Chicken Stir-Fry with Holy Basil - Since I cook for only two, I often have leftover baked chicken or rotisserie chicken from the store. I usually stir-fry garlic, slice onion, and bell peppers. Then I add the shredded leftover chicken and the sauce. Easy, quick and good. I substitute regular basil for Holy Basil since that is what is available.

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Website: Food Wishes

foodwishes.blogspot.com
 

If you prefer Philadelphia style ice cream to rich egg based ice cream as I do, this strawberry ice cream is for you. Very easy, too, especially if you substitute frozen strawberries for fresh. Chef John used a pint of fresh strawberries, 12 oz. Even so, he said he was not able to fit the full recipe in his ice cream maker. My machine makes a quart so I gambled on using 16 oz of frozen berries. It was close but I used the full amount. Perhaps the defrosted strawberries result in more liquid than the fresh berries but the good news is that by the time the berries defrost, you add the sugar and then blend together the berries, milk, and cream. everything is very cold and can go immediately into your ice cream maker. Not too sweet but just right for me.

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Website: Food Wishes

foodwishes.blogspot.com
 

This is a very easy recipe because it is a Philadelphia style ice cream - no eggs so no cooking. You simply heat sugar, cream and milk until the sugar is dissolved, add vanilla and then chill several hours before freezing. I did add a pinch of salt which Chef John did not include. In my ice cream freezer, the ice cream was ready in no time and the texture was creamy just as I like it. But it was much too sweet for my taste. It is true that I do not have a sweet tooth so I wondered if it was just my taste that was the problem. I checked . If you don't care for very sweet desserts, I suggest you either increase the milk or decrease the sugar. Also I used no fat milk and with the 1 cup of cream it was still rich enough for me.

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Website: Food Wishes

foodwishes.blogspot.com
 

12th June 2014

Tomato bisque

This is an easy, delicious tomato soup. I used a can of crushed fire roasted tomatoes because that was in my pantry. I followed the chef's instructions in the video which are easy but not necessarily quick. First you saute chopped onions and celery with garlic added near the end. Then you add the canned tomatoes, chicken broth, and seasonings and simmer on low for 35 to 45 minutes. Chef John warns you to carefully taste the soup because you will probably need to add sugar. I added a heaping teaspoon of sugar which really tamed the acidic tomatoes. Using a hand blender, the soup became smooth and beautiful. Cream was added before serving. Next time I may omit the cream and let each person add sour cream to taste. I think you can easily substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth

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Website: Skinny Taste

www.skinnytaste.com
 

15th June 2014 (edited: 17th June 2014)

Asian Turkey Meatballs With Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce

My daughter makes these meatballs often for her family and serves them with zucchini noodles. Directions for making the "noodles" are on the web site. I liked but didn't love the meatballs but will try them again. The dipping sauce was good although I did add a little fish sauce and rice vinegar to my taste. Next time I would add some hot sauce also. Perhaps the heat was what I missed most. I wanted to serve with couscous but none was in the pantry but I easily cooked quinoa in my rice cooker. Still think I would prefer couscous.

Where they were most delicious was last night when my husband and I had leftovers as meatball subs. I mixed some of the leftover dipping sauce with mayonnaise and used that as a spread on toasted rolls. I reheated the meatballs in the microwave, dipped them in sauce, and put them in the rolls on a bed of baby arugula and cilantro. My husband even drizzled more sauce over the top of his meatballs. You could serve a lot of sandwiches with this recipe.

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Sunset Menu Cook Book (Parties * Holidays * Special Occasions)

By Sunset
Lane Magazine & Book Co - 1969

14th June 2014 (edited: 14th June 2014)

Shellfish Ramekins

This shellfish dish has been on our Christmas Eve dinner table for many years. The shellfish choices have changed but now we have settled on canned minced clams added to the sauce but the main shellfish is sea scallops. The cheese sauce is very rich and delicious but doesn't overwhelm the scallops. You could serve this as a first course using clam shells as containers. Very impressive. But we are now a many ages family so use one shallow casserole. Easier for the cook. Recipe serves 4 but can easily be increased.

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The Union Square Cafe Cookbook: 160 Favorite Recipes from New York's Acclaimed Restaurant

By Danny Meyer, Michael Romano
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1994

14th June 2014 (edited: 14th June 2014)

Fagioli alla Toscana

First I must confess my mistakes. I used Great Northern beans and soaked overnight. OK so far but I used my pressure cooker and followed Lorna Sass' instruction to cook for 8 minutes but 7 would have been better. The beans were slightly mushy. I removed the vegetables that cooked with the beans but then made the mistake of adding the 1 tesp kosher salt called for. I know better because now the beans were fully salted which meant I didn't dare add Parmesan later. I made the dish ahead to this point and then followed directions to saute garlic in olive oil before adding cooked beans and herbs. I ended up with almost a puree with only a few recognizable beans. But it was so delicious with the wonderful herbs that I did not have to confess my errors to my husband who had second helpings. Served with Buttermilk Roast Chicken (mistake free)

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Website: Washington Post

washingtonpost.com
 

12th June 2014 (edited: 12th June 2014)

Mice

You must go to the web site to see a picture of the darling mice cookies. I made these mice cookies for my daughter's annual Christmas party. My cookies looked exactly like the photo and tasted good. I followed the recipe exactly and the dough was very easy to handle. In fact any child who is good with play dough would have no problem forming the mice. I found it easiest to first roll the dough into balls in my hands and then slightly elongate the balls into ovals. I found that giving a slight pinch at one end helped define the face. I had trouble with the tiny mini-chocolate chip eyes but a child would probably handle them more easily. Next stick on the chow mein noodle tails and last the sliced almond ears. The ears are the most easily broken especially if you have to pack the mice in storage boxes. I overcooked my first mice slightly so I next followed the 15 minutes baking. Really cute and easy. My daughter not only had the cookies on a plate but also scattered the mice around the table as a decoration.

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