wester's Profile

From: Soesterberg, Utr Netherlands

Joined: September 24th, 2009

About me: I love cooking, I love eating, I love discovering new recipes. I have so many cookbooks I sometimes lose track of which recipe is where - though this site helps a bit. I have gone low-carb in 2010, so that's different recipes to explore again. This also means I may not agree with my own reviews anymore if they were written in 2009 or before. ------------------ I have a lovely husband and ten-year old twins who also love eating. ----------------- You can also find me on LibraryThing, BookMooch and EatYourBooks, using the same handle.

Favorite cookbook: The Complete Meze Table by Rosamond Man

Favorite recipe: Melissa Clark's Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp


Latest review:

April 4th, 2017

Daond Pasha (Meatballs with Pine Nuts and Tomatoes) from The Complete Meze Table

The meatballs were very tasty, but I did not really like putting all the pine nuts together - it made for fussy cooking and I think I would prefer finding a pine nut here and there instead of finding them... read more >


recipe reviews (741)
book reviews (74)
useful review votes (327)

wester's Reviews


Search Reviews:

4 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 4Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

The Borough Market Cookbook: Meat and Fish

By Sarah Freeman and Sarah Leahey Benjamin, Rachel de Thample, Emma Lofstrom, George Nicholson
Civic Books - 2007

A solid recipe, with all the things that are good with lamb: garlic, rosemary, anchovies... I actually wouldn't have minded a bit more of all of these, but if you want things subtle I suppose it's fine. The lamb was very tender.

I'm not sure the stuffing of all the flavorings in slashes is worth the work, especially at 11 am. I think next time I will just throw all in the pot and let it infuse in the oven. Browning things properly probably is worth the time though.

useful (0)  


I made this without the beans (too starchy for me). I'm quite sure it would be even better with them.

This was simple and very tasty. I let the kale cook for 10 minutes more, as I like it really soft.

useful (0)  


20th August 2011

Gurnard with flatbreads and avocado salsa : page 252

The combination of gurnard and an avocado salsa worked very well.

useful (1)  


14th August 2011 (edited: 24th September 2012)

Lamb meatballs braised in a saffron tomato spinach broth : page 115

I ignored several explicit directions in making this recipe. I used tinned chick peas. I didn't use high quality bread, as I didn't use any bread at all. And I used frozen leaf spinach instead of fresh.
All the same, the dish was excellent. Chunky meatballs and chickpeas, silky green spinach, all submerged in a broth of the brightest orange. And the smell was excellent, as was the taste. Exactly at the border between refined luxury food and coarse peasant food. It wasn't as much work as I had feared either. It did need a few drops of lemon juice to really finish it.

useful (0)