The Ducks Guts' Reviews
154 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
1,000 Indian Recipes
By Neelam Batra
Wiley - 2002
Only used 2 chillies, Thai chillies, and used pressure-cooked dried chickpeas instead of tinned. We had it just with plain rice, and it really needed another dish, preferably containing yoghurt. Easy to make, but make sure you have everything ready, as once you start cooking, it is a quick process, just like a stir-fry.
useful (0)
Website: The Age - Life & Style
I would give this a six star, if I could. Much to our astonishment, it worked. The next batch of bananas are already chopped up in the freezer, as I write. Smaller pieces this time, the food processor rattled a bit at the start.
Also, I know that this is actually a TheKichn.com recipe, but I did like the article, especially the little girls comments. Haven't we all gazed sadly at a recipe in progress and said "it's not going to work"?
useful (0)
Arabian Flavours: Recipes and Tales of Arab Life
By Salah Jamal, Elfreda Powell
Souvenir Press - 2004
Made this with pumpkin instead of cauliflower, and it worked quite well. The method seemed a bit odd, and I ended up cooking the chicken and pumpkin together, and for quite a bit longer then the stated 10 minutes. It was cooked after 10 minutes, but it hadn't developed a "stewy" aspect. A poor way of putting it, but I can't think of a better. This recipe (or, rather, the book), had no recipe for the fulful bhar spice mix other than a vague description, so I ended up googling baharat spice recipe (a suggested alternative) and using the one on http://www.gourmetfoodsource.net/baharat.htm. Rather annoying. Also next time I would double the spices but I like spicy food.
useful (2)
The Art of Persian Cooking (Hippocrene International Cookbook Classics)
By Forough Hekmat
Hippocrene Books - 1998
Mild in flavour, but it might have been better if I had chosen one of the other additional ingredients, rather then potatoes, such as the sour cherries or quinces suggested.
useful (1)
Authentic Recipes from Thailand (Authentic Recipes Series)
By Sven Krauss, Laurent Ganguillet, Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, Vira Sanguanwong
Periplus Editions - 2004
Very good,usable sauce. We had it on baked snapper one night, and the leftovers with a (bought) charcoal chicken the next. Certainly jazzed up two plain dishes, rice and salad.
It was made in a about 10 minutes, and I quadrupled it, for four people. However, I didn't add as much sugar as recipe, cutting it down by about a third.
useful (1)
Barbecue Cook Book ("Australian Women's Weekly" Home Library)
By Pamela Clark
ACP Publishing Pty Ltd.,Australia - 1990
A cheats review, as this is really one of my sister's recipes, but over the years it has turned up at many a family picnic. Good to eat, easily assembled out of a cooler, and the dressing travels well in a jam jar.
useful (0)
Beef & Veal (Good Cook)
By The Editors of Time-Life Books
Time-Life Books - 1978
The recipe looked wonderful but the end result was too bitter for one member of the family to eat. I remembered afterwards reading somewhere not to use undiluted wine in stews & casseroles as it would make the dish bitter, and they are right. In "The French Kitchen" the author states that wine is normally broken down with water or stock since it is highly acidic. Also, I cooked it in the oven covered, and I am sure the alcohol didn't totally burn off. Took the leftovers to work the next day for my lunch and spent the next half hour feeling slighly intoxicated.
useful (2)
Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go
By Naomi Kijima, Laura Driussi
Japan Publications Trading - 2001
I halve the sugar as otherwise it is very sweet. Also, half the recipe makes enough for 3 servings.
useful (0)
Too salty, but that could be the brand of soy sauce I used.
useful (0)
We didn't like it, but I think this is personal taste, not the recipe.
useful (0)
A little dry. They needed a dipping sauce.
useful (0)
Really nice. Comfort food in a lunch box.
useful (0)
Delicious, although I must confess to adding a dash of oyster sauce. Don't leave the noodles draining in the colander for too long - they solidify into a solid lump, impossible to stir fry.
useful (0)
I substitute a 85g tin of flavoured tuna (lemon pepper or other) for the horse mackerel and mint for the shiso leaves. Its a good recipe.
useful (0)
Good.
useful (0)
Website: Best Recipes
With husband retiring, and going back to work full-time myself, he has taken on cooking dinner at night. So, not so many reviews from the Ducks Guts in the future. However, he doesn't bake, and I have discovered I can't always face breakfast, or I am running late, so I needed something I could have in the freezer, didn't have too many fats or sugars and I could eat politely and quickly at my desk. This cake fits all the requirements, except possibly the sugar. It has a lot of natural sugar from the dried fruit, so it is still too sweet, but I"ll work on that. Very quickly made in the food processor, and bakes quicker then the suggested times, about 1/2 to 3/4 hour at 150 C, but my oven is a quick oven so I always drop the recommended temperature.
It is more like a pudding, but still manageable in slices. I don't like sultanas so I use mostly prunes, which meant I could cut out the oil, except for a genorous dollop to oil the tin. Generously fills a 20cm ring tin, or a small square slice tin. Freezes well.
useful (0)
Biscuits (The Good Cook Series)
By Time-Life Books
Time-Life Books - 1982
This was the recipe I was looking for, in an attempt to make water crackers. They were very plain and crunchy, most suitable for cheese.
The pasta maker was a necessary piece of equipment in making them, as otherwise a lot of time would have been spent rolling and re-rolling the mixture. The instructions said to fold and roll 8 or 9 times, just like puff pastry, but instead the pasta machine did the trick, just putting it through like pasta dough until it was smooth.
The first batch I rolled to the second thinnest setting on my machine, and they were perfect. Then I read the instructions, and the biscuits were suppose to be 5mm thick, so I made the next batch on the thickest setting, with the end result that they puffed up like little balloons. Interesting, but tricky to keep the cheese on.
useful (0)
Bourke Street Bakery
By Paul Allam, David McGuinness
Murdoch Books - 2009
Sausage rolls a little bit different, and very good to eat. I must confess to using Pampus Puff Pastry (6 sheets) as I am not a good baker. Baked for 18 minutes at 200 C as that was the Pampus instructions for THEIR sausage rolls.
useful (0)
Buddhist Peace Recipes (Roli Books)
By Pushpesh Pant, Dheeraj Paul
Roli Books - 2004
Suprisingly nice soup. Very light and easy to make. Use the vegetable stock recipe in the book if you can, and I substitute fresh ginger for the galangal if there is none of the latter around.
useful (1)
Canapes
By Eric Treuille, Victoria Blashford-Snell
Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd - 1999
Nice rich little biscuits (savoury cookies for Americans, I think). VERY easy to burn so keep an eye on them in the oven.
useful (0)
Very good dip. I halve the amount of fegta and cream cheese, and put only 2 tablespoons of mint in.
Excellant on toast the morning after the dinner party, if you didn't put all of it out for the guests.
useful (0)
Horrible. Perhaps peanut butter just doesn't work as a dip.
useful (0)
Very good dip. I use 16 tomato halves and halve the amount of vinegar.
useful (0)
Lovely light refreshing dIip and a great colour. I halve the number of spring onions and always check the chilli strength before adding them in case they are extra hot.
useful (0)
Excellent little savoury shortbreads that you can make weeks in advance for a party. Recipe says it makes 40, but I find it only makes half that, so you may want to double the mixture.
useful (1)
Lovely looking appetiser and is good to eat as well. Can be pretty much made in advance except for the final assembling in the last hour or so.
useful (0)
China Moon Cookbook
By Barbara Tropp, Sandra Bruce
Workman Publishing Company - 1992
Good stock recipe. If you were wanting to make a noodle or dumplings soup, it would be best to double stock it as the author suggests.
Note to self 15 minutes in pressure cooker and leave out the peppercorns in case they block the valve. Remember to brown vegetables in wok including chook bits.
useful (0)
Chinese Cooking: Cantonese (International Gourment)
By Margaret Leeming
Ward Lock Ltd - 1993
Good recipe. Works well with chicken. I cut the sesame oil down to a dash and if roasting chicken breasts, cut the time down to 15 minutes. Don't double the marinade if doubling the meat - doesn't need it.
useful (2)
A very popular dish with the pork eaters in the family. I just brown the spareribs as per usual, rather then deep fry them and use about a third of the sugar. I also add more water as it does tend to stick.
useful (2)
Too bland. There are much better Soy Chicken recipes about.
useful (0)
Wonderful for dinner parties as you can cook it the day before and gently reheat on the day. It also tastes MUCH better if you can use Chinese red vinegar rather then the black vinegar used in the book. I leave the cornflour out of the marinade, and stir-fry the wings rather then deep-fry them.
useful (2)
A bit unusual, but nice once you get use to the idea. This recipe is very similar to the Portugese Chicken recipe found in some chinese cook books.
useful (0)
A good version of this well-known dish.
useful (0)
Not sure about this one. It's a bit ususual. Only one person liked the stir-fried cucumber and I never made it again after that.
useful (0)
Fiddly to make. Quite nice to eat.
useful (0)
Nobody liked this one.
useful (0)
A good family dish. Served with another dish, it will do two for dinner.
useful (0)
Good, but it is important to use a home-made stock. All the supermarket stocks left a noticable after-taste. A specialist stock might work.
useful (0)
A thinly-sliced chicken breast substitutes fine for the giblets if you can't face them.
useful (0)
Chinese Family Feast Dishes
By Zhang Lianming, Li Xiusong, Zhang Youmin
Shandong Science & Technology Press,China - 1993
A good family dish, even when made with tinned bamboo shoots. I leave out the MSG and fry it in oil, not "cooked lard", delicious tho' it sounds.
useful (0)
Chinese Food: An Introduction to One of the World's Great Cuisines
By Kenneth H. C. Lo
Faber & Faber - 1996
OK, this recipe isn't actually a soup recipe, but I make these balls to put in soup. They are a little bland - good comfort food. Make them small for soup. Quick and easy to make with a food processor.
useful (0)
Chinese Vegetable and Vegetarian Cooking
By Kenneth Lo
Faber & Faber - 1995
Nothing special.
useful (0)
Works well with a strong chicken stock. Small cubes of Spiced Tofu (bought) add body.
useful (0)
Very salty but nice.
useful (0)
Makes a very large quantity. Stir-frying the broccoli first fixes its green colour better. A tablespoon of Szchewan pickle works well as a substitute for the pickled amaranth.
useful (0)
Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory
By Lou Seibert Pappas, Maren Caruso
Chronicle Books - 2006
Good cake. A bit of a disaster initially, as I had substituted frozen blueberries for the strawberries which made for a much longer cooking time. Pulled it out at 40 minutes and most of the cake was still raw. However another 40 minutes at 160 C and it was fine. Definately the cook's fault.
The book ONLY uses American measurements, so a bit of time was spent Googling the conversions. There is a Table Of Equivelents in the back of the book, but it doesn't have the dreaded stick of butter which is so hard to remember if you don't bake often.
useful (0)
The Complete Bread Machine Book
By Marjie Lambert
- 2000
Didn't have any wholewheat or bread flour, so used plain white flour, but the pitta breads were still quite good. We were using them as wraps with left-over roast chicken, salad, pineapple , coriander and fish sauce, so the suggested size was a little too small. Instead of making 8 breads from the large loaf size dough we made 6. Also, the recipe was right about the dough not puffing up if too much flour was used in rolling it out.
useful (0)
The Complete Middle East Cookbook
By Tess Mallos
Lansdowne Publishing Pty Ltd - 2005
Not very spicy, but we like spicy food. I browned the meat, adding the baharat spice mix in the last batch, rather then follow the instructions exactly. The last time I didn't fry the spices, the family said the spices tasted "raw" in the finished dish.
Made it with beef, as lamb would have been too expensive.
useful (0)
I cheated and cooked the chickpeas in the pressure cooker, after soaking them overnight, for 14 minutes with natural release, then used the cold water shock treatment described at http://www.alwaharestaurant.com/recipes.htm. It worked well at getting the skins off, although I don't know if next time I would worry so much about them. Then, pureed everything in the food processor. Quick and easy, and tastes pretty good.
useful (0)
Nice, but we both agreed that it was "missing something". Strange, considering the ingredients. We had it on falafels, which were a bit spicy, but not very. Also, the jelly coating never formed, but I've since read in Roden's Jewish Food that the fenugreek needs to be ground first.
useful (0)