kateq's Reviews
558 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
By Michael Solomonov, Steven Cook
Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2015
In search of some undemanding (not a lot of clean-up or effort) comfort food, was quite happy with this. I made this in the laziest fashion possible--that is to say I had a package of frozen minced onion and another of frozen minced carrots and peas (ok--the peas were a bit of a finesse), two pounds of lovely very lean ground round and --voila--a recipe. The thing that is amazing is that the little hit of cinnamon is magical It really does sort of transform this from plain old ground beef to something a bit special. I ground in some good pepper and added salt but didn't play. Followed the rules--and now I know, next time, I could add some garlic, some other bits of whatever, but this is good basic beef for stuffed peppers or pastel. And off I go to make stuffed peppers and put the rest of this beef away till I'm ready to make pastel.
useful (1)
This is a very simple way to do stuffed peppers. Cover the bottom of your baking baking dish with tomato sauce, place the hollowed peppers in the dish and fill them with a mixture of the "Seasoned Ground Beef" (reviewed separately), rice and egg. Top off with some more sauce and bake. Simple as it is, it works perfectly. In some recipes, I have found it necessary to steam the peppers first. Not necessary here. After baking for 75 minutes in a moderate oven, they were fork tender and quite delicious. As noted in the review of the beef, it could use a bit more spice, garlic, but really quite delicious.
useful (0)
This is a meat pie made with Boureka dough or puff pastry. I had croissant dough and used that. It calls for lining a baking dish with pastry, filling it with Seasoned Ground Beef (reviewed separately) and eggs, top with dough, chill till dough is firm and bake. Because I was suspicious that the meat filling would made the bottom crust gummy, I made a mini version following the instructions and didn't like it. I made a larger portion with just a top crust and like it very much but for the small quibble that the filling should be a bit spicier, more garlicky.
useful (0)
Truly excellent Hummus--extraordinarily smooth
useful (0)
You Say Tomato
By Joanne Weir
Broadway - 1998
I ended up with truly delicious tomato paste--but not without a fair amount of tweaking of the recipe. First, what is a "case" of tomatoes? I had a huge box of farm tomatoes which I peeled and cored. I pureed them in the blender and my first batch (12 cups of puree) I started as directed. I quickly realized that if I kept the heat low, it would be days, not hours, before the mixture thickened. I raised the heat to medium/medium high, gave it a stir periodically and when it was quite thick, I spread it out on a foil covered, rimmed cookie sheet and put it in the oven. While that batch "baked" I pureed another 8 cups or so of tomatoes, brought it to a rolling boil, lowered the heat a bit and let it reduce--this took all told not quite 2 hours. By then, the mixture in the oven was really thick and lovely. I put the second batch in the oven and spread the first batch out to cool. I then packed it into small ice cube trays (to end up with about a tablespoon sized cube from one tray and teaspoon sized cubes from another). When all was done, I ended up about 24 ounces of really delicious tomato paste. It may sound like a lot of effort, but it really wasn't. Once I got the hang of it, it went very quickly. And the resulting tomato paste is sweet and without the sort of metallic, overly strong flavor of the tinned stuff and much fresher tasting than the stuff that comes in the tube. And because the farm markets sell these big boxes of "seconds" at bargain prices (and lots of my seconds could have been sold as 'firsts'), it's a remarkably cost effective process.
useful (0)
The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Muffins (Williams-Sonoma Collection (New York, N.Y.).)
By Beth Hensperger
Free Press - 2003
These muffins, with a few modifications, are fabulous. I took my cues from "Culinary Chronicles" and left the nuts out of the topping and used a cup of sour cream and 1/2 a cup of milk in place of the buttermilk in the batter. I added a bit of brown sugar to both the streusel and the batter. I used butter in the streusel but substituted canola oil for the melted butter in the batter. The resulting muffins were moist, tender, not overly sweet and the recipe really allows the flavor of the blackberries to shine. I think this will also work wonderfully with other berries/fruits and with orange or lime rind.
useful (0)
Good muffin. I substituted canola oil for the melted butter--much moister muffin and a little healthier. One and a half times the recipe makes ten large muffins.
useful (0)
Excellent muffin--not overly sweet, lots of fruit and the fruit flavor shines. Happily my pears were just right, firm but really sweet.
useful (0)
Website: Williams Sonoma Recipes
www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe
My second instant pot venture and a smashing success! I used Camellia red beans and andouille from D'Artagnan which I'm sure had a lot to do with how good this was.
useful (0)
Website: Whole Foods Market
www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe
This cake rates on all levels--it is delicious, it is easy, it is relatively healthy, it looks great. My only change is to spice it up a bit as we found the cake part to be a bit bland as written. I have added some ground clove and grated nutmeg and a touch of allspice. My larger cast iron skillet is only 11" so the batter filled it to the brim. I baked it on a sheetpan just in case, but it didn't drip at all. The trickiest part of this is turning the cake out. It comes out beautifully but it is very heavy so that "flip" is a little nervous-making.
Adding: I've now made it as individual upside-down baby cakes, using a Texas muffin pan. Filling the cavities is a little tricky--NOW I know how much to put in each one. But the baking time is a little shorter and they (with just a little coaxing) de-panned quite nicely. I wish I had taken a photo--they're very pretty.
useful (1)
Website: The Wednesday Chef
www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef
It really is worth making yet another banana bread. The combination of the brown sugar and the dark chocolate ( I chopped up some pastilles of very dark 85% cacao) and banana is just wonderful. And what a pleasure to line the pan with parchment--no greasing, easy release and easy clean-up. I mixed it all in my stand mixer. It took a little longer than the suggested 50 minutes, but it's easy to tell when it's done as the top browns up nicely and the bread becomes firm. A very big hit among all tasters.
useful (1)
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.
useful (0)
Website: The Wednesday Chef
www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef
This is a delightful soup. As recommended by Luisa, it is perfect served cold from the refrigerator. And it is so beautiful--a brilliant magenta. I made certain changes. I roasted rather than boiling the beets. I skipped the potatoes. As I had about 20 ounces of peeled, roasted beets, I went with 3 eggs and a whole bunch of scallions. I used the fine grating disc and did the beets and eggs in the food processor. I then removed the grating disc and put the metal blade in and added the scallions and yogurt in place of the sour cream. I then continued processing and gradually added the quart of buttermilk. Perhaps because I used low-fat buttermilk and no potatoes, I saw no need to add the water. Were I to want to serve this as part of a fancy dinner party, I would strain the soup. But it is delicious just as it is, cold and as vibrant tasting as it is in appearance. I left out the dill, though I think it would be quite good with it added as well.
useful (0)
Website: The Wednesday Chef
www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef
I'm not normally a fan of barbecued chicken, but this isn't your normal bbq chicken. It's fast, easy, stove-top, no mess and really, really tasty. Luisa recommends it as food for her toddler but this is perfect for grown-ups as well. I served it over steamed rice with an extra splash of dark soy sauce and loved it. I did (unlike Luisa) marinate it for a good 30 minutes and then threw the whole business into a hot wok and stir-fried it. It was done so fast and it was eaten pretty fast too.
useful (0)
Website: The Wednesday Chef
www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef
I never know how to rate something that with just a bit of change is fabulous. I made this exactly as written and it was good, but not great. I thought it was too thick, a little 'cake-y' and didn't have enough tomato. But it was so quick and so easy that I made it again. The second time I made it in a 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. I spread the dough out more (and probably worked in just a bit more flour). I then covered this bigger surface in tomato. It was perfect, and in fact, I'm making it again today. One caveat: make sure you mash your potato pretty well -- in the first version, I left a few small lumps and didn't like them in the finished product. The second time, I took a bit more care mashing and got a better result. Finally, just a note--I find a lot of focaccia to have just too much olive oil -- this one is just right.
useful (0)
Website: The Wednesday Chef
www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef
An excellent supper dish. The arborio rice method is relatively new to me--and a genius method. I did not peel my eggplant and was sorry. I will definitely make this again, but peeling the eggplant. I used a particularly sharp provolone which really worked well. This reheats very well.
useful (0)
Website: Washington Post
I can't get over how easy this is and how good it is! I've made Ratatouille the traditntal way, one vegetable at a time, lots and lots of oil and it's delicious. But this--all the vegetables chopped and popped into the crockpot, a mere 2 tablespoons of oil mixed with some tomato paste and salt and pepper and then mixed into the vegetables along with thyme and a bay leaf--after 4-5 hours on low, it is simply delicious. Next time I might up the herbs, play with the amounts of each vegetable, but the basic concept is wonderful. My only exception--I peel the eggplant.
useful (0)
Website: Washington Post
Very easy to throw together and really tasty. I used a third mini bittersweet chips and 2/3 regular semi-sweet chips. Recipe makes one nice plump loaf and one cute mini loaf.
useful (0)
Website: Washington Post
So easy and quite delicious. I was careful with the Sriracha--didn't want it o be too peppery. As I was baking it in convection, I lowered the temp a bit. Result is very juicy and tender chicken.
useful (0)
Website: The Wall Street Journal
A shortcut, really easy ratatouille with quite good flavor which is even better the next day. One pan to clean is also a plus. Not as rich and unctuous as the real thing but if the produce is really good, an excellent quick meal.
useful (0)
Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil
By Nancy Harmon Jenkins
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2015
So delicious! I went with angel hair pasta and the anchovy option, a lovely spanish olive oil, garlic and hot red pepper flakes. While the pasta cooked, I had my saute pan going and let the anchovies melt away into the oil, then added the garlic and pepper. When the pasta was al dente, I added it along with just a little pasta water--magnifico!!
useful (0)
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.
useful (0)
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
I adapted this for the slow cooker, thus skipping adding the oil and using organic garlic powder (a product I buy at Whole Foods and LOVE). I doubled, using a full pound of lentils, and froze several portions. I was afraid this might be a bit dull, but the addition of all that cilantro is magical. It really transforms the soup into an aromatic delight. (Obviously, no cilantro was added to the frozen portions.)
useful (1)
I think of this as white hummus. I add salt but otherwise follow the recipe (if you use canned beans, you may not need the salt). It's a great blank slate -- the taste changes so much from one herb to another. And cilantro, rosemary, flat leaf parsley, sage and chives all work. I love it as one component of a plate which includes olives, anchovies, chunks of feta, roasted red peppers.
useful (1)
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.
useful (0)
Vegetables: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking with More than 300 Recipes
By James Peterson
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1998
A delicious salad--and a unique (at least in my experience) method of dressing it. I did not do the rather fussy procedure with the onion--just sliced it very thin and added it--but otherwise followed the instructions precisely. (I will try the soaking/rubbing of the onion another time when I'm less hungry.) I ground cumin and coriander seeds and heated them in the oil--the scent is lovely. The combination of the cilantro and mint makes this a truly fragrant dish and a very pretty one.
useful (0)
Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate
By Patricia Wells
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2007
This is so simple and so delicious. It's becoming my current favorite dressing over salads of greens, herbs, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, avocado, chick peas---a regular summer meal that sometimes includes some shrimp or chicken. The dressing isn't oily or heavy but just gives a lovely light sheen to the salad.
useful (1)
Ms. Wells suggests this as a topping for toasted tomatoes and it is very good that way. But this has many uses--drizzled over a piece of grilled fish or chicken, as a sandwich condiment, or, my favorite so far, thinned with a bit more olive oil and used as topping for focaccia.
useful (0)
Simple, quick and quite good, The sauce is best if cooked down enough that it is thick enough to coat the chicken,
useful (0)
The Vanilla Bean Baking Book: Recipes for Irresistible Everyday Favorites and Reinvented Classics
By Sarah Kieffer
Avery - 2016
Ironically, I make these all the time, but as vanilla sugar cookies. Rather than adding 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, I up the flour amount to 2 1/4 cups. Otherwise, I follow the recipe. It results in one dozen absolutely stellar sugar cookies.
useful (0)
Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome
By Rachel Roddy
Headline Home - 2017
A lovely cake with the added bonus of being naturally gluten free. While it takes a bit of time (mostly inactive) it is quite easy to make. I dust my buttered pan with rice flour so as to keep it gluten free.
useful (0)
Website: Tasty Kitchen
Quite delicious, but a bit too sweet. Fewer figs, more olives and maybe a little heat and it would earn a five.
useful (0)
Website: Tasting Table
www.tastingtable.com/index.htm
These shrimp are perfect! Just the right texture. I'll never do poached shrimp or any shrimp for salad, etc any other way.
useful (0)
A Taste of Old Cuba: More Than 150 Recipes for Delicious, Authentic, and Traditional Dishes
By Maria Josefa Lluria De O'Higgins
William Morrow Cookbooks / Harper Collins Pub. - 1994
This recipe is amazing. The fish is ready to serve in half an hour and it's totally delicious. In addition it is a most forgiving and flexible recipe. You can halve it or double it; you can use almost any white fleshed fish (and I've done it with salmon and loved it). You can vary the herbs, sub lemon for the vinegar or use other vinegars. It's just so easy. And the only clean-up is the blender, your knife and the pan (if you make it stove-top) or baking dish. It's also really pretty.
useful (0)
Man these are good! And they could not be simpler--saute shrimps and garlic in hot oil for about 3 minutes; add lime juice and salt and pepper and guve it anothe minute or two. Done! I scraped the shrimps and sauce out of the saute pan and poured them over rice, sprinkled the dish with parsley--what a meal!
useful (0)
A Taste of India
By Madhur Jaffrey
MacMillan Publishing Company - 1988
Ms. Jaffrey gives two formulas for the spice mixture--I made hers and loved it. Cardamom, cumin seeds, whole cloves, peppercorns, nutmeg and cinnamon stick get ground together to make this spectacularly aromatic mixture. But it doesn't just smell good--it tastes wonderful as well. It's perfuming my home right now as a cauliflower stew cooks...
useful (1)
I categorized this as a "Side" but, as noted in the intro to the recipe, it's a very good little meal in itself. I changed only one thing--I used fresh spinach and, instead of steaming it separately, chopped the raw spinach in the food processor and added it directly to the rice. The spice mixture is so satisfying--aroma, flavor, color. I found it needed more salt and benefited from the addition of fresh cilantro at service.
useful (0)
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.
useful (0)
The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread: Cakes, Cookies, Bars, Pastries and More from New York City's Favorite Bakery
By Amy Scherber, Toy Kim Dupree, Aimee Herring
Wiley - 2008
This recipe is worth the price of the book. It is now my go-to banana bread. It never fails. I do add a bit more sugar and am a bit more generous with the banana puree and the berries. I have also found that the bread takes longer than the 55 to 65 minutes in the recipe (which may of course be on account of the additional fruit). I have made it on occasion without the berries and with walnuts added and sometimes with other refinements and it is always delicious.
It keeps well for a day or so and can be frozen, though I don't think it's as good once thawed. Do let it cool before slicing.
useful (0)
Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories
By Grace Young
Simon & Schuster - 2010
This dish is perfect. We blanched the broccoli florets briefly and then drained them in a colander as directed. We made the ginger juice and mixed it with soy in a small bowl; we sliced and smashed the ginger and had it at the ready. We followed the impeccable instructions precisely and the result was crisp-tender, perfectly seasoned, bright green broccoli florets.
useful (1)
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.
useful (0)
The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food
By Lynne Rossetto Kasper
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1992
Very rich and quite delicious. Excellent with grilled fish or chicken.
useful (0)
Website: Speciality Cake Creations
These are amazing! Not just as gluten free muffins, but as muffins period. I made only three slight changes: I substituted some freshly greated nutmeg for the allspice, placed 2 pecan halves on top or each muffin and sprinkled the top of each with a little turbinado sugar. The resulting muffin is tender and moist and just sweet enough. The coconut flavor is quite subtle and very pleasing. Really a terrific little recipe.
useful (0)
Southern Italian Desserts: Rediscovering the Sweet Traditions of Calabria, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Sicily
By Rosetta Costantino, Jennie Schacht
Ten Speed Press - 2013
Who would have thought it! It really is easy (though a bit boring) to remove the almond skins. Just as the recipe says, the almonds pop right out of their skins. I needed blanched almonds for almond paste and here is a method that's a snap.
useful (0)
I was very unhappy with the cost and the quality of the almond paste available for sale. Whole almonds however are available at a reasonable cost. I blanched the almonds according to the instructions in this book (excellent method) and made this almond paste. It was a little softer and moister than the tinned variety but it came together beautifully and tasted wonderful. Now I look forward to using it in lots of recipes.
useful (0)
Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations
By Nancie McDermott
Chronicle Books - 2007
I found this recipe through a recommendation on Orangette and loved the cake so much I immediately ordered the book. This is a wonderful pound cake. It is moist and tender with an amazing crunchy sweet top crust. As tempting as it was to add flavoring (almond extract, lemon rind), I resisted and made the recipe exactly as written. It's so easy to make. I used my stand mixer and was careful to give adequate time to beating the butter/cream cheese and then again to the butter/cream cheese/sugar and to the added eggs. The baking time (I used a tube pan( was right on. A truly beautiful cake...
useful (0)
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.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
This is, without a doubt, the best ricotta I have ever made. Heck, it's the best ricotta I've ever eaten.
Granted, it's not exactly slimming--whole milk and cream (or, in my case, half and half), but it is so smooth and so creamy and the lemon and the salt amounts are just right. I made double the amount and used 6 cups of milk and 2 cups of half and half. It was easy, relatively quick and I can give no information about how long it lasts because it lasted no time at all when offered up as a spread for crostini. I have to make it again (without telling) so I can try it in a baked pasta or some sort of stuffing for something savory or sweet.
useful (3)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
I'm giving this a five as mine baked beautifully and resulted in a pair of pretty, mounded loaves (I doubled the recipe). I was generous with the fruit and I used half white, half brown sugar in the streusel, skipping the nuts in the topping. As usual, I lined my loaf pans with parchment instead of greasing--much simpler release and much easier clean up.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
Really good, really easy biscotti -- and not nearly as sticky or difficult a dough as I expected from Deb's intro. I baked mine in convection and found the times in the original recipe pretty accurate -- 15 minutes for the first bake. I subbed walnuts for the hazelnuts (what I had on hand) and they were delicious.
useful (0)