kateq's Reviews
558 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
Tartine
By Elisabeth Prueitt, Chad Robertson, Carlo Petrini, Alice Waters, Alice Waters, France Ruffenach, Alice Waters
Chronicle Books - 2006
This is so easy to put together by hand that it seems silly to use a mixer. Wet mixed in a bowl then added to dry mixed in another bowl. The marmalade/zucchini combination works beautifully. I have made it with marmalade both times. I know the recipe suggests that apricot jam would work as well, but the tangy-ness of the marmalade is an important feature of the cake. I personally prefer it without the nuts, but I am alone in that view.
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Great Breads: Home-Baked Favorites from Europe, the British Isles & North America
By Martha Rose Shulman, Steven Mark Needham
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 1995
A really pleasant loaf and the bits of apricot are a delicious surprise. I did make some changes--used a bit more sugar, all all-purpose flour, no nuts and I squeezed in the juice from the orange. I was a bit surprised at 4 eggs in a single loaf but when with it and am glad I did. Very moist, a very nice texture, slices beautifully.
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Website: The Wednesday Chef
www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef
This is a delicious cake, rich without being heavy, moist, dense. The cranberry orange combination is a winner and the ricotta/cornmeal combination is too. Plus, I was able to make this gluten free by using masa and a little tapioca flour in place of the all purpose flour. It's a big cake and overflowed my springform pan just a bit -- one needs to wrap the bottom with foil or place a sheet pan on the rack below the cake.
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Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery and Cafe
By Ana Sortun, Maura Kilpatrick
Ten Speed Press - 2016
Nice, straightforward, simple to do. The recipe yields 6 breads--I thought they were a little large; next time I think I'd make 8 or 9 breads. While it's delicious fresh and warm, I was very pleased at how good this bread is the next day, having been wrapped in foil and then warmed a bit in the oven.
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Marcella Cucina
By Marcella Hazan
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1997
Another very simple yet special cake. I very much like the slight tang from the yogurt combined with the subtle licorice flavor of the Sambuca. I have also made this using Frangelico which also works nicely. To make the presentation a little nicer--sieve some confectioner's sugar over the top of the cooled cake or shake the sugar on a doily or stencil for a sweet design.
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Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories
By Grace Young
Simon & Schuster - 2010
Another perfect recipe. Ms. Young's instructions are so precise and clear that it's impossible not to have a good result. In this case, we skipped the mushrooms and subbed peppers for the carrot, but followed the balance of recipe exactly. The timing is just amazing -- we were so delighted with the results. The texture of the vegetables was crisp yet tender, the seasoning just right.
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Website: Recipes for Health by Martha Rose Shulman
topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/index.html
This is delicious--but I don't know whether to categorize it as a side or an entree or a breakfast/brunch dish. It's a cross between a souffle and a frittata, rich without being overbearing, delightful as a side or as a brunch dish or as a light main course accompanied by a green salad. I followed the recipe, using a butternut squash and herbs clipped from my deck garden (the waning days of it as the weather is getting colder). It's really very simple to put together. While the squash roasts, there's more than enough time to prep everything else. While the squash cools, the onions cook and then everything is thrown together to bake. I'm thinking it could be beautifully served by piling a micro green/arugula salad (light vinaigrette) in the middle of a plate, packing the warm grating into a ring and popping it atop the salad. A few cherry tomatoes and some crunchy croutons and Bob's your uncle.
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Cold-Weather Cooking
By Sarah Leah Chase
Workman Publishing Company - 1990
Rich and satisfying. My vegetables took longer to cook than suggested in the recipe. Be careful with the cayenne--I overdid it a bit and it was a little too present, but I do like the addition of a bit of heat. I used homemade roasted vegetable stock instead of chicken.
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Website: Cooking
Easy, one-pot dish which is quite elegant and delicious. A couple of covid-dictated changes: skinless bonless breast instead of a cut-up chicken, the red wine option, yogurt instead of creme fraiche.
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
Thomas Keller does it again! This very simple preparation of cod results in the best tasting cod dish I've had. I did exactly as told, but for using some garlic-infusted oil I had on hand. The final result: perfectly done fish with a lovely crust and a delicate flavor. And, unlike most Keller dishes: one pan, two little custard cups for the coating, a pastry brush--simple prep, simple clean up. Super dish!!
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Website: Food.com
This may be the best rabbit I ever had! I did use the piment d'espelette and followed the recipe exactly. We had a gorgeous rabbit from D'Artagnan and this recipe was even better than anticipated. And it was so easy!
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I have been using Keller's method for roasting chicken (Bouchon) for a long time and so it was a natural to try it with the root vegetables. I did, however, omit some of the oil and most of the butter and trim excess fat from the chicken. I think that had I not done this, I would, like reviewer Andrew, have been unhappy with the fat which would have soaked into the vegetables.
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Golden: Sweet & Savory Baked Delights from the Ovens of London's Honey & Co.
By Itamar Srulovich, Sarit Packer
Little, Brown and Company - 2016
I make this with a combination of mandarins (clementines) and lemons and it is easy and delicious. When blood oranges are baack in the market, I'll use some of those and imagine the color will be brilliant.
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Baking with Julia Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers
By Dorie Greenspan
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1996
This is excellent white bread. When I want perfect toast this is it. This is also wonderful for a classic French toast, or my newest craze, French toast muffins. This recipe also can be adapted to make cinnamon raisin bread--fabulous toast.
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The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
By Alice Waters
Clarkson Potter - 2007
My friend served this to me for lunch today. She had used rosemary instead of sage and pureed the final product, so the soup was a smooth and pretty pale orange with flecks of green from the rosemary. It was absolutely delicious!
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Website: Cookie + Kate
I make this with spinach and up the amount of tomato. I puree it with an immersion blender and serve it with sriracha and sometimes a bit of thick yogurt or sour cream or creme fraiche. It's also good made with chicken stock.
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Website: Cooking
Delicious and easy. I marinated for about 2 hours which seemed perfectly adequate. Added a bit more liquid about halfway thru cooking--would have like even a bit more sauce.
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Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
By Vikram Vij, Meeru Dhalwala
Douglas & McIntyre - 2006
Having read the prior reviews, I felt pretty sure it would be good--it was Great! I used two chicken breasts cut into quarters but left on the bone, a large can of diced tomatoes (good fresh tomatoes being unavailable now) and otherwise followed the recipe. It is an amazingly simple recipe which results in a complex and rich tasting sauce. I like that it is really quite healthy--a small bit of fat from the canola oil and the sour cream, but mostly just good non-fattening ingredients. And the fresh cilantro just makes it perfect--it adds such a lovely freshness to the flavor and it makes it quite pretty.
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Website: Love & Lemons
Excellent and easy. No roasting, no oily pans to clean but a very pure tasting broth. I had no leeks or thyme, but I had everything else. I let it cook down a bit longer, so I have a concentrated stock which I will use with water added--storing extra stock in freezer takes up less room
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The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Muffins (Williams-Sonoma Collection (New York, N.Y.).)
By Beth Hensperger
Free Press - 2003
Excellent muffin--not overly sweet, lots of fruit and the fruit flavor shines. Happily my pears were just right, firm but really sweet.
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Website: Simply Recipes
A delicious crispy cookie which was a cinch to make. The tip about rolling out the dough between two sheets of parchment and then briefly freezing the rolled out dough (parchment and all) is brilliant. I cut out my hearts and my hearts within the hearts with not one break or crack.
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Website: Cooking
This is another terrific biscotti. This one is a crunchy version of a cross between a brownie and a chocolate truffle.
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Website: Canadian Living
Who needs another banana bread recipe? I discovered I did--this one is really quite delicious with a lovely moist texture. I went with the added chocolate chips and everyone loved the bread. The technique of mashing the bananas with the buttermilk and baking soda results in a lighter and very moist texture.
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Website: Love & Lemons
Excellent proportions. I skip the herbs if the food it's going with is herby. Draing the cukes is critical. If using regular yogurt, let it sit in paper towel in a strainer to thicken it up.
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Website: The New York Times
Great salad! Just as advertised, perfect for a weeknight. It's healthy, beautiful, delicious and super easy. I put white beans in the slow cooker earlier in the day and just before dinner, steamed the green beans, soaked the sliced red onion, whisked the dressing, picked the herbs and threw it all together. Loved it!
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The Italian Slow Cooker
By Michele Scicolone
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2010
A great soup and so easy--but I did make a number of changes. First, I made my dried beans in the slow cooker, then skipped the sauteing of the onion and garlic and instead added it right into the slow cooker. I chose not to puree the beans, but to allow some to become mashed and some stay whole, a texture I prefer. I didn't realize I had no sage until the soup was underway so I used rosemary. Finally, I skipped the croutons. But credit this recipe with creating a soup with a very rich flavor despite the simplicity of the ingredients and the method.
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Website: Recipes for Health by Martha Rose Shulman
topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/index.html
This is an excellent side or, with a bit more rice, a really good vegetarian entree. I shortcut the instructions slightly by simply wilting my spinach by running hot water over the spinach in a colander. I did add a bit more rice (I used brown basmati) and cooked it a bit longer in order for the rice to be fully cooked. This was a delicious side and then, the next day, warmed up, a great lunch dish. I think I was a bit over-generous with the lemon juice--will be more judicious with it next time.
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Website: Food.com
I posted this recipe on what used to be Recipezaar years ago. I have no recollection of from where I got this recipe--I certainly didn't invent it. I came home this weekend with lovely veg including okra from the Farmers' Market and remembered this recipe. Golly, it's good. I baked a loaf of "artisan" bread and what a meal! I did the stovetop saute-ing and then popped it into a convection oven. So I turned the temp down to about 360 degrees F and reduced the baking time to about 35 - 40 minutes. I also used less olive oil than what is called for in the recipe to no ill effect. Super!
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
This is such a knockout dish! I first ate it in Italy and loved it and was so delighted to discover this recipe in the Times. If you like pesto, you must try this--and don't be put off by the the combo of pasta and potato (quite common in Bologna and other places in Italy). It isn't a heavy dish. The pesto and the beans make it light and beautiful. Just don't overdo the cheese or the salt.
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Daisy Cooks: Latin Flavors That Will Rock Your World
By Daisy Martinez
Hyperion - 2005
A very nice sauce, but there is a danger of a slightly bitter aftertaste from the cilantro/culantro contained in the sofrito. Even as a cilantro lover, I do think real care is called for here and I'm not sure that the addition of additional cilantro or culantro is warranted.
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Website: The New York Times
This is really delicious and such a great use of over-ripe or 'seconds' tomatoes. I had two issues with the recipe. First, it does not suggest peeling the tomatoes but I'm so glad that I went ahead and did so. The resulting jam has such a lovely texture without needing straining. Second, given that jalapenos can be sweet or fiery hot, one jalapeno may be too much. My jalapeno was of the fiery variety and I used barely half and was very happy with the result. I used super ripe farm tomatoes -- not plum tomatoes as specified in the recipe. As a result, I had to cook my jam longer. I used it to spread atop a wheel of brie which I then wrapped in puff pastry and baked. My, it was good! And disappeared so fast! The jam that's left won't last long either...I'll be making more of this.
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Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook
By Richard Olney
Perennial - 1999
Another classic--Fabulous with the beautiful tomatoes of summer, but really quite wonderful with plum tomates or even cherry/grape tomatoes the rest of the year. The persillade makes all the difference...
Panko works well here.
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The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruits
By Hugh Acheson, Rinne Allen
Clarkson Potter - 2015
Simply delicious! I used colatura instead of anchovies and skipped the breadcrumbs. Otherwise, as written. Amazingly flavorful and so easy. Good hot or room temp.
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Backroad Bistros, Farmhouse Fare
By Jane Sigal
Broadway - 1994
This was so much better than I thought it would be (not that I thought it would be bad). I used panko and parmesan and followed the recipe but for the amount of olive oil. I used only a scant tablespoon for sauteing the vegetables, and a bare two tablespoons for the sauce. The mixture seemed a bit wet but once baked, the texture was lovely. It was very good served hot and also good as a leftover served at room temperature. The big surprise was how fabulous the sauce was--and so simple. On the other hand, we are in the height of tomato season and the ones I used were practically right off the vine, so it would be hard to make anything but great sauce. I am making a nice big pot of the sauce to put into freezer containers and tuck away for when tomato season is over.
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Flatbreads & Flavors: A Baker's Atlas
By Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2008
The first time I made these was in Bread Class and I left for home with 6 still warm little breads. On the thirty minute drive home, my friend and I ate every one--we couldn't help ourselves. He and I agreed these were the best version of pita ever. Of course it helped that they were still warm and the za'atar was delicious. These are always a hit. I've had good luck making these on a really heavy griddle and doing it all stovetop, tho the stovetop to broiler method works too.
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Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie
By Ken Haedrich
Harvard Common Press - 2004
An excellent pie filling. I used my usual all butter pie crust and an 8 1/2" inch aluminum pie plate (I was transporting the pie and didn't want to worry about taking a pie plate back). This leads to my only complaint about this recipe: it was sufficient to fill that pie plate to the brim. Had I used the suggested larger, deep-dish pie plate, it would have been insufficient. Now to the good part: the custard was velvety and rich tasting without being overly sweet. (I did use unsweetened coconut.) And much of the coconut rose to the top during and baking and browned beautifully which gave the pie a lovely appearance. I did not use the suggested garnishes as we felt they were unnecessary--the pie was delicious on its own. I used the heavy cream and half and half and the optional coconut extract. This will definite be made again.
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Website: Serious Eats
For a simple yeast bread, made with all purpose flour and no starters or preferments, the results here are fabulous. The instructions are impeccable. I followed precisely, using instant yeast and my stand mixer, and the result was two gorgeous boules with a great crust and some real flavor. My only departure from the instructions was that I baked both loaves at the same time.
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Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
By Ken Forkish
Ten Speed Press - 2012
This is no-knead bread to a higher power. Forkish combines autolyse and dough folding with the now-standard no-knead technique and the results are pretty terrific. This is the simplest recipe in the book. No preferments and, if started in the morning, the bread is ready for an early dinner. The instructions are very detailed and precise so even total novices or the yeast-averse can feel comfortable.
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Cakes (Maida Heatter's Classic Library)
By Maida Heatter
Andrews McMeel Publishing - 1997
For years, I made this cake every Christmas--in one big cake, in numerous mini bundt cakes. It made me addicted to bourbon raisins, a jar of which is always in my pantry. I had sort of forgotten it--but made it again this year. In the form of mediium sized bundts, it was a really successful present. In the form of cute little baby bundts, it was beloved. I really don't know why I stopped making it, but I did use up all my Maker's Mark and have it on my shopping list. It's not a one day deal--you need to have the raisins soaking in the bourbon for at least a while. And the cake really does improve if it can sit a bit wrapped up in a bourbon-dampened piece of cheesecloth. But even if you make it at the last minute, it's still a great cake. And the separating of the eggs and the folding in of the whites is really not daunting. A truly great cake.
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Baking: From My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
This has become my standard lemon curd/cream. I think it is absolutely marvelous. The first time I made it, it seemed a bit fussy. I came to the recipe again and made it with ease. It can be a bit tedious in the stirring to temp phase, but other than that, it comes together beautifully. I pour the hot creme into the blender jar and let it cool a bit. Then whizz it with the butter and strain it into a wide pyrex dish, cover with plastic film and refrigerate--the wide bottomed 2 quart measuring cup, pre-chilled, really speeds up the cooling process. It's ready to be piped into pie shells within a couple of hours. I use an unsweetened tart dough and mini tart pans and serve the tarts with a bit of whipped cream and some fresh fruit.
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Website: Food.com
These really are the best. Very easy--even with the extra step of separating the eggs and beating the whites. That folding in of the "meringue" makes a huge difference--these pancakes fluff up beautifully and are very tender.
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
We love this cake. It's very easy and seemingly foolproof. At first glance, the ingredients seem wrong--too much sugar, no milk or buttermilk--but it works beautifully. The batter is very thick and a bit unwieldy. It almost seems as if there is too much apple for the amount of batter. But the end result is fabulous. From a very simple group of pantry staples, comes a complex, rich tasting cake. A keeper for sure.
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Website: Food & Wine
The pastry is just fine but the filling is a huge disappointment. the sweetness of the potatoes is not balanced by the olives---it's just odd.
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Website: Cooking
Made with skinless boneless breast and homemade chicken stock. Loved it but would make the sauce a little thinner next time and a little zestier (shallots? tarragon?). Since I wasn't doing the whole de-boning thing, it was remarkably quick and easy.
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Website: Cookie + Kate
Really delicious. Very nice texture/thickness.
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Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009
We just finished our second of these gratins and every last bit got eaten. I think the bed of softened onions is such a brilliant idea. So far, I have made this without eggplant, using our own plum-tomato sized heirlooms, thyme from our garden, and zucchini and onions and garlic from local farms. The first time, I made it exactly as directed; the second time I sliced the veg thinner and cooked it for less time with really the same delicious result. It's a good sized gratin, yet we had only a small amount of leftovers which were actually even tastier the second day, so Chef Keller is right on that score as well.
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Website: Cooking
I love this, not least because of its versatility. First I made it pretty much as written, using canned beans and pesto (made earlier and frozen without cheese in ice cube trays). Next I made it with artichoke hearts instead of zucchini. Then I subbed broccoli florets for the zucchini. Outstanding every time.
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The Very Best Of Recipes for Health: 250 Recipes and More from the Popular Feature on NYTimes.com
By Martha Rose Shulman
Rodale Books - 2010
It's still just warm enough to keep some herbs going and to harvest the last of the tomatoes so this pasta is just right. I followed the recipe precisely, using feta cheese. I realize it would defeat the whole 'health' thing, but I would have liked more cheese. Other than that, this is good stuff. I think I would like it as well with lemon juice or champagne vinegar instead of the balsamic.
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Website: The New York Times
Simple, Straightforward and very tasty. The key is good tomatoes.
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Website: Cooking
Great soup and so quick and easy! Wonderful even without the pesto and amazing with it.
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