wester's Reviews
740 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date 
| Rating | Recipe Title
Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen: Fifty Recipes Introducing Indian Spices and Aromatic Seeds
By Madhur Jaffrey
Clarkson Potter - 1994
This is a lovely and very different way of cooking zucchini/courgettes, as a cooked salad with yogurt dressing. It combines well with lentil recipes.
It's very aromatic, not too hot and the mustard seeds add a nice nutty flavor. Very easy to make as well.
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Real Cooking
By Nigel Slater
Penguin Books Ltd - 2006
Even if you think you dislike beetroot, you must try this recipe! It has converted many people who thought the same, including myself. The taste is warm, sweet and deep.
You do have to start early, it needs a total of about an hour and a half in pan and oven.
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Eat Your Greens (Network Books)
By Sophie Grigson, Jess Koppel
BBC Books - 1993
Nice combination of ingredients. Sweet and aromatic.
Goes well with chickpeas.
My husband thinks there's too much vinegar in it, though.
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If you have turnips, this is a nice way to serve them.
Don't add the lemon zest too early or it will turn bitter.
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As the book itself says, cabbage cooked this way 'softens down to a nutty, mellow flavor'. Just lovely.
I like it with red cabbage too (increase the sugar a bit and add cloves, cinnamon and some cooking pears in small pieces).
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A very original way to serve Savoy cabbage.
If you want to make it a bit more substantial, some smoked tofu works well.
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A lovely way to serve broccoli.
Goes well with pasta carbonara.
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Just very nice. Different but not so different as to become uncombineable.
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Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book
By Jane Grigson
Penguin - 1998
Not much of a recipe, but this sure is a wonderful combination. These two complement each other perfectly.
I always ignore the serving arrangement she suggests though. I think it looks much better when they are mixed together and the beetroot gives some of that lovely color to the oranges.
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A lovely light soup.
I made it without the savory and I did not miss it at all.
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Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen: Fifty Recipes Introducing Indian Spices and Aromatic Seeds
By Madhur Jaffrey
Clarkson Potter - 1994
Lovely but unspectacular. I think there was a bit too much cumin in the recipe.
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A nice way of serving carrots that enhances their sweetness. The mint crisps up nice, which is a good effect.
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An aromatic way with tomatoes.
Good cupboard recipe as well, if you use canned tomatoes.
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Dill, rather than garam masala, is the flavor on the foreground here.
This is one of those dishes you keep on making because it's easy, everybody likes it and yet it is distinctive.
It's vegan if you replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.
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This is just so easy and so wonderful! Mix the sauce, wok the shrimp, heat it all through. Serve with rice. Enjoy!
I used passata where this called for canned tomato sauce, I suppose it could be done with fresh tomatoes as well.
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Very aromatic and the fish stays unbelievably moist.
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Roast Chicken and Other Stories (Ebury Paperback Cookery)
By Simon Hopkinson, Lindsey Bareham
Ebury Press - 1999
The taste of this stuff is pretty good, but it resembled a soup rather than a mash and the recipe does not really allow for control on that. Disappointing.
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A good version of a good basic recipe.
Why oh why does no cookbook ever tell you for how long you should cook leeks?
I need 10 to 15 minutes till tenderness when dropped in boiling water.
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Sophie Grigson's Sunshine Food
By Sophie Grigson
BBC Books - 2000
A lovely vegan omelette/pancake. Serve with drinks, or with soup or a salad as a light meal.
If you've ever had to buy a big bag of chickpea flour because you needed half a cup in a recipe, this is the recipe to use up the rest.
In the photo fennel seeds were used instead of rosemary. Also very good.
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This does make a pretty good limoncello, using wodka a a base. It does take at least 5 weeks though.
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Nice fruit cake.
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Nice enough pasta dish.
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The 30-minute Cook: The Best of the World's Quick Cooking (Penguin cookery books)
By Nigel Slater, Juliet Dallas-Conte, Kevin Summers
Penguin Books Ltd - 1996
My favorite way of cooking chicken livers, very tasty. I do usually cook the onions for a bit longer than he suggests.
I usually serve with oven potatoes and a salad.
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A heavily bastardized and therefore much easier to make version of a Sicilian pasta dish (I have seen a much more complicated dish with exactly the same ingredients in The Silver Spoon, I suppose that's the original). A wonderful and very unusual combination of flavors and textures.
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A good rich pasta dish.
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The complete vegetable book
By Clare Connery
Barnes & Noble - 1998
Nice spicy vegetable fritters.
You can use any vegetable you like for this, as long as they are reasonably firm.
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Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen
By Clotilde Dusoulier
Broadway Books - 2007
Nice aromatic meatballs with a hint of sweetness. Just not that special, really.
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Real Fast Vegetarian Food
By Ursula Ferrigno
Metro Books,London - 1996
Another case of "more than the sum of the parts". Nice plump figs in a thick orange-flavored sauce. Serve with thick yogurt.
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If you want a slight (and only a slight) deviation from cauliflower cheese, you might try this. It is fried in a cheesy batter.
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Today's Kitchen Cookbook
By Stephanie Karpinske, Laurie Dolphin
Meredith Books - 2005
My husband thought this one should have been sweeter, I thought it was fine.
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Happy Days with the Naked Chef
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2001
Very nice all-purpose curry sauce. Very spicy. You probably don't have all the spices yet - I bought fenugreek and curry leaves especially for this one. It is a base sauce, you still need to add meat or fish or something else.
I make a vegetarian version with cashew nuts as well. Very good, and a bit more filling than the mixed vegetables suggested.
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Filling and spicy, with the breadcrumbs adding some extra crunch. I usually have this with penne, not spaghetti.
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Festive, tasty and vegan. It looks spectacular and tastes good.
Pretty easy, except for scooping out the flesh from inside the squash. A teaspoon definitely does not work (it gave me big blisters), I will try a melon baller next time.
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Today's Kitchen Cookbook
By Stephanie Karpinske, Laurie Dolphin
Meredith Books - 2005
This is a recipe by Nigella Lawson.
The combination of flavors is brilliant and I'm going to have it again. However, next time I'm not going to bother with rolling everything up into stuffed bundles.
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On Rice: 60 Fast and Easy Toppings That Make the Meal
By Rick Rodgers, Frankie Frankeny
Chronicle Books - 1997
Nice easy aromatic vegetarian meal.
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Real Food
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate Ltd - 2000
Creamy and very tasty fish pie variation. Easy to make.
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On Rice: 60 Fast and Easy Toppings That Make the Meal
By Rick Rodgers, Frankie Frankeny
Chronicle Books - 1997
Strong-flavored mediterranean seafood. Maybe a tad salty, even without any added salt.
I made this with mixed seafood instead of just squid, which is nice too.
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Indian cooking;: With useful hints on good housekeeping
By Kala Primlani
Pearl Publications; sole distributors: India Book House - 1968
Good vegetable curry with aniseed.
I used sunflower seed oil instead of ghee, which worked just fine.
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A Taste of Heaven and Earth: A Zen Approach to Cooking and Eating with 150 Satisfying Vegetarian Recipes
By Bettina Vitell
Morrow Cookbooks - 1993
Sweet/spicy vegetable stew.
Makes a good soup as well, just add a bit more water and blend.
You don't have to include both carrots and sweet potatoes, either one will do. The cayenne is not needed. You can season with a stock cube (vegetable, or chicken if it doesn't have to be vegetarian) instead of tamari.
Vegan - just vegetarian if you choose to top with sour cream or yogurt.
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I felt this soup should really have been two soups: a summer soup with lemon and mint, and a winter soup with leeks and sage.
I have tried the summer version now (no leeks and sage, white wine instead of red, and carrots instead of parsnips) and that tastes fine. When I get to make the winter version, I will leave out mint and lemon juice, and take a bit more wine to compensate for the missing lemon.
It is quite good, not too heavy and quite aromatic. It looks colorful, too.
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Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen: Fifty Recipes Introducing Indian Spices and Aromatic Seeds
By Madhur Jaffrey
Clarkson Potter - 1994
Nice but not brilliant.
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Colorful, aromatic, easy to make. A nice alternative to plain rice.
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The Cookware Cookbook: Great Recipes for Broiling, Steaming, Boiling, Poaching, Braising, Deglazing, Frying, Simmering, and sauteing
By Jamee Ruth, Leigh Beisch
Chronicle Books - 2005
An original way to serve onions. I made it without Parmesan (cheese hater in the house) and it turned out fine.
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The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Vegetable
By Marlena Spieler, Chuck Williams
Free Press - 2002
A classic recipe. Also works well with other greens or lettuce.
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The Best of Food & Wine: Vegetables, Salads & Grains (ILLUSTRATED)
By Loretta M. Sala, Joanna Roy
American Express Publishing Corp - 1995
I usually make a heavily adapted version of this, with only fennel, lettuce and chicken stock. But the combination is brilliant, the slight bitterness of the lettuce perfectly complimenting the softness of the fennel.
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Okay, I guess. Just slightly too many ingredients with no particular synergy.
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Real Fast Food
By Nigel Slater
Penguin UK - 1993
This is one of my favourite dishes, but I hadn't realized I actually have a recipe for it! Easy, tasty, and the kids love it too.
I use 100 g of cream cheese instead of the cream, and I often use frozen spinach. Possible additions (not all at the same time please): some thyme, some garlic, some white wine or a drop of vinegar, mushrooms. I usually serve it with a simple tomato salad.
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Real Food
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate Ltd - 2000
Lovely home cooking. The chicken is brown and moist, the chicory is tender and the sauce is creamy but full of flavors.
It does take some time but it's not really complicated.
Things I've changed: I put in a bit more chicory and increased the sugar proportionally. I have taken the lid off after about half an hour to brown it a bit more.
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Real Cooking
By Nigel Slater
Penguin Books Ltd - 2006
Very aromatic, lovely texture. My husband won't have his parsnips any other way.
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Soft and soothing. Good comfort food.
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