wester's Reviews
740 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
I don't roast whole chickens that often, but this one was excellent. It was really succulent and very flavorful. It wasn't that difficult to make either, if you take the time to read the recipe, and don't forget to salt the chicken one or two days before roasting it. I made the bread salad with it as well (with flat-leaf parsley), and a tomato salad. The bread salad was finished way before the tomatoes.
I did have a problem with fitting the bread salad and the chicken in the oven at the same time: you might want to check the size of your baking dishes.
useful (1)
Easy Indian Cooking
By Suneeta Vaswani
Robert Rose - 2004
This was pretty nice and tasted quite Indian. I think next time I'll add more tomatoes and just a bit more spices.
useful (0)
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
Day-glo indeed! This makes a very pretty pickle, bright yellow with bright green. Almost a shame to keep it in the fridge - a cool place where it can be seen would be better. It is also very easy to make. And it tastes good, although it could have been a bit less sweet. My children loved it, probably partly because of the color.
useful (1)
Pretend Soup: And Other Real Recipes
By Mollie Katzen, Ann Henderson
Ten Speed Press - 1994
Not my favorite way of preparing zucchini. The addition of both butter and water, and the lack of herbs are the main culprits.
However, letting the children help with slicing (with a blunt knife) and with adding cheese were good ideas.
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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.
useful (0)
Roasting-A Simple Art
By Barbara Kafka, Maria Robledo
William Morrow & Co. - 1995
Fresh, summery, easy. Great when you have too many zucchini, and still worth making if you don't.
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Eat Your Greens (Network Books)
By Sophie Grigson, Jess Koppel
BBC Books - 1993
Nice zucchini salad, Italian style.
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Website: nrc next Koken
(Recipe in Dutch)
A good recipe if you have a glut of courgettes/zucchini. A good moist spicy cake.
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Ingrediëntenwijzer : smaken, texturen, recepten
By Sophie Grigson
De Lantaarn - 1992
I'm in two minds about this.
I do like the flavors, and I like having been introduced to dried limes. But grinding the spices in a pestle is near impossible with the combination of very solid star anise and somewhat leathery dried limes.
Next time, I will use preground star anise, or aniseed or even fennel seed, and I will make sure the limes are chopped very finely.
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Book of Middle Eastern Food
By Claudia Roden
Vintage - 1974
Also known as ayran (or abdug, or laban, according to the book).
The amount of salt needed is not given. If you haven't had it before: you should just be able to taste the salt, it should not be really salty.
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Easy Indian Cooking
By Suneeta Vaswani
Robert Rose - 2004
This tasted good and quite Indian, but not very distinctive.
useful (0)
Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen: Fifty Recipes Introducing Indian Spices and Aromatic Seeds
By Madhur Jaffrey
Clarkson Potter - 1994
Colorful, aromatic, easy to make. A nice alternative to plain rice.
useful (0)
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
Simple and nice. The wilting takes only a very short time - don't try to do anything else at the same time.
I thought the amount given was much too small - I easily ate two portions and I wouldn't have minded more, and escaroles are usually not too small either.
useful (2)
Real Fast Food
By Nigel Slater
Penguin UK - 1993
This tasted distinctly of peanut butter, which I hadn't expected. I didn't really mind either, but if I want my cabbage to taste of peanut butter another time I'll use peanut butter instead of sesame oil.
useful (1)
Sophie Grigson's Sunshine Food
By Sophie Grigson
BBC Books - 2000
When I read the recipe I thought it used way too much salt, and I was right. While this recipe does need to be well-salted, half the amount given is plenty.
Apart from that, it is as lovely as Sophie says: bright and clean and invigorating.
useful (0)
Website: Klary Koopmans : Alles over eten
Recipe in Dutch.
This was a great combination of the grilled, slightly bitter chicory, the soft, almost bland, tofu, the slightly sweet crunch of the almonds and the fragrant curry-butter.
And both vegetarian and low-carb.
useful (1)
Greens: A Country Garden Cookbook (Country Garden Cookbooks)
By Sibella Kraus, Deborah Jones
Unknown - 1993
Basic but very good.
It is important to mix the dressing well with the salad. I though the first few bites needed more vinegar, but after remixing it was fine.
I thought the eggs needed 4 minutes instead of 7, but maybe I count differently (start with cold water, count from the moment the water boils).
useful (1)
The River Cottage Fish Book
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Nick Fisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2007
This was totally delicious, even with supermarket mackerel and sausages. The sausages, smoked fish, chicory and creamy dressing blended together to a total that was definitely more than the sum of its parts. Even the kids loved it - my five-year-old daughter actually asked it she could have more chicory!
I think keeping the leaves of the chicory whole makes them too big. Halving them (except the really small ones in the middle) works better.
I used balsamic vinegar instead of wine vinegar with sugar.
useful (0)
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By Marcella Hazan
Macmillan - 1995
A good simple salad to be served anytime you could serve a green salad. Good in winter.
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The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook
By Niki Segnit
Bloomsbury USA - 2012
A good idea.
I used celeriac instead of potato and added a bit of walnut oil, to increase both main flavors, and I added a squeeze of lemon juice. The end result was very good.
The page number is from the Dutch version. The recipe is found in the "walnut" section of the book.
useful (1)
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.
useful (0)
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By Marcella Hazan
Macmillan - 1995
A lovely simple stew. I used chopped sage instead of whole leaves, and the taste of sage was quite subtle.
useful (1)
The Abel & Cole Cookbook: Easy, Seasonal, Organic
By Keith Abel
HarperCollins UK - 2008
This was OK, but not as good as the swedeophobia cure. And it still seems weird to put vanilla with something I don't like all that much anyway.
useful (1)
Italian Food (Penguin Cookery Library)
By Elizabeth David, Renato Guttuso
Penguin Books Ltd - 1993
Simple and good.
useful (0)
Ingrediëntenwijzer : smaken, texturen, recepten
By Sophie Grigson
De Lantaarn - 1992
A lovely deep-fried snack or appertizer of onion, almonds, lentils and vegetables, well spiced. Vegan.
When I saw her do this recipe on TV, she also served a simple sauce of dates and sherry vinegar with it. The recipe to that sauce is not in my book. Mix some dates with vinegar, chile and water, or make your own sweet and sour sauce to serve with this.
useful (1)
Great Food Without Fuss: Simple Recipes from the Best Cooks
By Frances McCullough, Barbara Witt
Henry Holt & Co - 1992
This is quite a nice way to serve turnips.
If the turnips are older, the cooking time should be doubled.
useful (0)
Salads - Food Writers' Favorites (Quick & Easy Recipes)
By Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, Jane Baker
Dial Publishing - 1991
Pretty straightforward coleslaw recipe - except it's with turnips.
The raisins are optional. The amount of mayonnaise needed is about 2 tablespoons.
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Great Food Without Fuss: Simple Recipes from the Best Cooks
By Frances McCullough, Barbara Witt
Henry Holt & Co - 1992
Together with the Zuni Café's brine this made an amazing turkey - succulent meat, brown crispy skin, and very tasty.
We used a baby turkey (6 pounds) and roasted it for 1 hour, covering it with foil about halfway. We then rested it for about half an hour. It was well-cooked throughout, no pink bits anywhere.
useful (0)
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook
By Marion Cunningham, Jeri Laber, Fannie Merritt Farmer, James Beard
Knopf - 1979
Basic tuna salad, no more, no less.
useful (0)
On Rice: 60 Fast and Easy Toppings That Make the Meal
By Rick Rodgers, Frankie Frankeny
Chronicle Books - 1997
This did nothing for me. It tasted well, but there was nothing special or even particular about the taste. Won't bother with this again.
useful (0)
Short-cut Rhodes: 60 Quick and Easy Recipes
By Gary Rhodes
BBC Books - 2000
While these were easy and tasty, I found the almonds did not add much to the recipe.
useful (0)
Sophie Grigson's Sunshine Food
By Sophie Grigson
BBC Books - 2000
Nice fruit cake.
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Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen: Fifty Recipes Introducing Indian Spices and Aromatic Seeds
By Madhur Jaffrey
Clarkson Potter - 1994
An aromatic way with tomatoes.
Good cupboard recipe as well, if you use canned tomatoes.
useful (0)
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By Marcella Hazan
Macmillan - 1995
Brilliant in its simplicity. Only 4 ingredients, hardly any work (except for waiting and checking there's still enough liquid), and it tastes totally lovely.
Officially this has to be done with veal shank, but I'm pretty sure most other types of braising meat will be fine: beef, lamb, even horse.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
Why did I wait so long to make this recipe? Over two years since I first saw it here. Maybe it looks too simple. All the raving in the blogosphere may raise the expectations a bit too high. You shouldn't expect miracles here. It is as velvety as advertised though, and the flavors are very well balanced. It is a bit plain, but that doesn't matter. I will definitely make this again, and I don't feel the need to add anything to it.
useful (0)
Bread tomato garlic
By Jill Dupleix
Conran Octopus Limited - 1999
Not bad, not very good either.
I felt something was missing, but I couldn't decide whether it would improved most with lemon or with cream.
useful (0)
Real Fast Vegetarian Food
By Ursula Ferrigno
Metro Books,London - 1996
A good tomato salad. I will make this again.
useful (0)
Eat This Book: Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2005
The toasting instructions were fine. I was afraid this would be very hot so I toned down the chile, but like that it was barely noticeable. Next time the full amount of chile, or possibly other spices instead.
useful (0)
Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain
By Penelope Casas
Knopf - 1985
These were very good. I would have liked to taste the saffron more though.
useful (0)
Website: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/series/hughfearnleywhittingstallonfood
A perfect store-cupboard snack, quick, easy and very tasty.
useful (0)
Happy Days with the Naked Chef
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2001
This does make a nice thick dressing.
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Real Fast Puddings: Over 200 Desserts, Savouries and Sweet Snacks in Under 30 Minutes
By Nigel Slater
Penguin Books Ltd - 1994
Great rice pudding, and easy. Except it's better if you cook it for 40 minutes, but then it wouldn't fit in this book.
For dessert, but also great as lunch (or breakfast, but then you have to get up really early or eat it cold).
See the suggestions for elaborations on this recipe as well. They add a lot of extra taste and hardly any extra work.
useful (0)
Luscious Lemon Desserts
By Lori Longbotham, Alison Miksch, Chronicle Books LLC Staff
Chronicle Books - 2001
This tasted great, the right balance of sweet and tart and creamy. I would have given it 4 stars had the instructions been clearer.
There are no instructions given for the required height of the tart crust, and mine was much too low for the amount of filling. I put the sides of the pan back on and it worked fine that way. I would have needed about an inch of crust height.
I also needed much longer baking times than given in the book, about 10 mins longer for both the crust and the filling.
useful (1)
Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cookery (Quick & easy cookery)
By Madhur Jaffrey
BBC Books - 1993
This was very good. Subtly but clearly spiced. Not really quick if you don't have a pressure cooker, but definitely easy.
I used goat meat for this, as it was said that was the original version, and it was available, and it worked very well. I am sure both beef and lamb would work perfectly too.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
More a technique than a recipe, but an excellent technique. Why didn't I think of this before? Because I'm too chicken to heat an empty pan on high heat. Will (probably) become my go-to method for frying eggs.
useful (1)
On Rice: 60 Fast and Easy Toppings That Make the Meal
By Rick Rodgers, Frankie Frankeny
Chronicle Books - 1997
This one is quite hot, and the hotness is unevenly distributed: the mushrooms get very hot, but the chicken not so much. I'm not sure I like that. I would also only just wilt the basil, not cook it.
Apart from that, a good bastardization of Thai kitchen.
Don't reheat, the basil doesn't like that.
useful (0)
Basil
By Janet Hazen
Chronicle Books - 1993
Excellent combination of flavors.
The cooking time given was much too short, I needed 15 minutes. I also used much less fish sauce.
I subbed red bell peppers for the chili peppers to make it suitable for children. I didn't have Thai basil so I used all ordinary basil. This was fine, but I can imagine this tasting even better with both basils.
useful (1)
Jamie's Kitchen
By Jamie Oliver
Penguin Books Ltd - 2004
This is the kind of recipe you can never have too much of: simple and very tasty. It does use a lot of butter so it's a bit heavy, but apart from that: just lovely.
useful (1)
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.
useful (0)
Tyler Florence Fresh
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2012
I used this as inspiration rather than following it to the letter.
I fried the eggplant like I usually do and added the vadouvan halfway and the sesame oil in the end. I halved the amount of vadouvan and sesame oil, and this was plenty. A nice change from other ways to flavor eggplant.
I used the vegetables I had: cucumber, celery and cauliflower. I did not use the bath of yogurt given in the recipe, two or three tablespoons was enough. This made a nice fresh summery salad.
There was not much synergy between the two components. Maybe this would have been better if I had used some of the sweeter vegetables in the recipe, the carrot and/or the squash.
Two good recipes that I will make again, but not necessarily together.
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