The Ducks Guts' Reviews
154 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date 
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A Month in Marrakesh
By Andy Harris
Hardie Grant Books - 2011
A good plain soup which made a large potful. I made it with water, not stock, and it still worked, which is always a good sign.
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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.
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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"?
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Website: Delia Online
The instructions were good, and the method simple, but the sauce didn't thicken. I think the problem was the cook, as I was nervous about pouring hot liquids into my 20+ year food processor, and didn't heat the vinegar and butter until it was foaming, as the recipe stated. It still tasted wonderful on steak.
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Delia's How to Cook: Book Three (Bk.3)
By Delia Smith
BBC Books - 2001
Good, not as good as the sour cream and bacon version I usually make, but we really needed a change. Again, it was very easy to make. I didn't have any shallots or chives, so used a quarter very finly chopped brown onion and two spring onions. Also, the potatoes were from a sack a friend had given as a gift (he lives in the country), so I have no idea what they were. They fell apart a bit, but still tasted good.
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This was surprisingly nice, and very easy to make. Putting the carrots through the food processor only took a couple of minutes, and the onions, although taking longer then I expected, only need minimal attention on the stove. However, my onions didn't drain easily, to the extent that in the end I had to squeeze the flavoured oil out with my hands. It isn't the prettiest of salads, and needs some decorating, a sprig or two of mint perhaps, or edible flowers. No tweaking was needed, which is a nice change.
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Pasta
By Julia Della Croce
Convent Garden Books - 2000
I chickened out, and only used 1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek, instead of the 1 tsp crushed dried chillies, so the bite was very mild. It has been a long time since I made pasta, and I didn't leave it quite long enough to dry before putting it through the cutting rollers, but it was only one of the sheets that stuck together. The instructions in this book are good, with plenty of pictures illustrating how to use a hand-cranked italian pasta machine.
I was interested to read that fredireike (sp? Sorry!) found the servings a bit small in a gnocchi recipe. I found that the serving size recommended here, I batch serves 4, was way off. Two of us ate it all in one sitting, but one of us is a big chap who is a good trencherman. Stlll, that only makes 3 ordinary servings, only just enough for a 1 course, 1 dish meal.
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The Essential Cuisines of Mexico: Revised and updated throughout, with more than 30 new recipes.
By Diana Kennedy
Clarkson Potter - 2000
The other half thought this was wonderful, and worth doing again. Made it with beef, as I don't eat pork, and used a spoonful of homemade sambal oelek instead of the chiles (South American ingredients aren't that easy to find in Melbourne). The cooking method is unusual, simmering the meat first, and then browning it, but it did work. I would have doubled the Mexican oregano and cumin next time, but husband said definitely not.
Pressure cooker 12 mins on high, natural release, 1 cup of water was enough in my pc.
At the end there was a little too much liquid for our liking, so I threw in the frozen peas that I was going to serve with it, and that worked.
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The Songs of Sapa: Stories and Recipes from Vietnam
By Luke Nguyen
Murdoch Books - 2009
Wonderful and easy to make. The stock was made in the pressure cooker, and was just the Christmas turkey with a few other roast chicken bones from the freezer, and some carrots and onions. It was a double stock, as the first batch was a little weak, so I put it back into the pressure cooker with the last of the turkey and the extra bones.
I didn't have some of the ingredients, the pork meats, the bean sprouts and the Vietnamese mint, but included the remnants of turkey meat, and a teaspoon of block shrimp paste. What really made this dish was the fresh mint, which was what we needed, after the last few days. You need a strong stock for this dish as well.
The recipe says serves 4 to 6, but it only does 3, or possibly 2, for a 1 dish meal, no desserts.
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Cookery the Australian Way
By Shirley; Suzanne Russell; Winifred Williams CAMERON
Macmillan - 1993
Simple but good, mostly due to the use of fresh parsley and lemon thyme. The recipe only specifies thyme, but I was getting tired and didn't want to defrost a lemon so cheated. It didn't have any egg, just a little butter and milk, so it was safe to make it the night before cooking the turkey, and leave it in a sealed container in the fridge (not in the turkey!)
Doubled the amount for a small turkey.
And it's not seasoning, it's stuffing. Had to update the books index again.
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Taste of the Middle East (Creative Cooking Library)
By Soheila Kimberley
Lorenz Books - 2000
The other half liked it, but I found it a little bland, and even a bit odd. Think crunchy lettuce baked custard. The saffron didn't come through at all, but it was perhaps too old. However, if it gets the non-vegetable-eating member of the house to willingly eat vegetables, I'll make it again. We had it with rice, not the suggested yogurt and pita bread.
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Stylish Indian in Minutes: Over 140 Inspirational Recipes
By Monisha Bharadwaj
Kyle Cathie - 2002
Worked well, despite my initial doubts about the sugar and yoghurt. You cannot taste the sugar, and the meat did sort of brown in the yogurt. I didn't have any garam masala, and resorted to a bought curry powder but fortunately it didn't end up tasting like curried egg sandwich, which is what it first smelt like.
Cooked in the pressure cooker, 12 minutes on high with natural release and 250 ml water (more then the recipe). There was no sauce, so I only just scraped it in with the water.
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Taste of the Middle East (Creative Cooking Library)
By Soheila Kimberley
Lorenz Books - 2000
This was good, and reasonably simple to make. In the first half of the cooking (which I did in the pressure cooker) I was concerned about the strong cinnamon scent, but once the lemon juice and parsley was added, it settled down and blended in. Tired from Christmas shopping, I added in frozen peas in the last 5 minutes to make it a one-pot meal (2, if you include the rice-cooker for the rice).
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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.
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The Complete Middle East Cookbook
By Tess Mallos
Lansdowne Publishing Pty Ltd - 2005
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.
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Website: King Arthur Flour
After reading lemonadesandwich's review, I had to try them, and they were excellent. Very easy to make, and the batter really did bubble up in an hour (I find yeast has a very poor concept of recipe time, as I usually let it rise without any heat source). No messy beating of eggs. We had them at dinner, with ice-cream and home grown raspberries and tayberries. Wonderful!
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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.
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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.
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Flavours of Greece (Penguin Cookery Library)
By Rosemary Barron
Penguin Books Ltd - 1994
Actually, we didn't have a bottle of red wine on hand, and I certainly wouldn't have used the whole bottle as suggested by the recipe. Not after the last time I used a whole bottle and the stew was so acidic as to be almost inedible. However, the stew was very good with just the herbs and spices, and a bottle of tomatoes. It is still too early here for good tomatoes. Halved the amount of allspice, as 1 1/2 tablespoons ground allspice seemed a lot.
Just used my standard method of browning everything, quick (very) browning of the spices with the last batch of meat and the add the liquids. Finished it in the pressure cooker, 15 minutes.
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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.
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Website: Tess's Japanese Kitchen
I made these with self-raising flour, instead of plain plus baking powder, and it worked fine. These are really very good crackers. A bit time consuming to roll out, but I am not sure if the pasta machine method would work on the dough. Also, rice flour can set like cement, and I don't want to ruin my pasta machine for a batch of biscuits. I was careful to wash up as soon as I had finished rolling out the dough.
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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.
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The Red Cross Recipe Book, 9th Edition
By The Longreach Branch, Queensland Division
As above - 1993
Only fair, but I think that it is the cook more than the recipe. The biscuits needed to be rolled thinner than I managed, and I forgot the salt. Also, I used liberal amounts of flour to stop them sticking, which resulted in a floury after-taste when cooked. Next time I will try the log chilling method, slicing the raw dough into thin discs when it is cold. Worth a try.
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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.
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The Italian Baker
By Carol Field
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1985
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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.
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Dim Sum: Chinese Hors d'Oeuvres and Light Meals
By Margaret Leeming, May Huang Man-hui
TBS The Book Service Ltd - 1985
A very good beef and black bean sauce recipe. I used mince steak this time, as we had a large amount of mince in the freezer, and it worked well. Also, I use the black bean garlic sauce in the jar, not the fermented black beans, even though the author says not to, but I have cooked with it for years and it works for me. Served it on stir-fried greens, not rice noodles, as I already had two white dishes, and it saved cooking a separate dish for the greens.
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Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking
By Fuchsia Dunlop
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2003
I am not sure about this one. It took at least 8 minuets of vigorous stir-frying to get the potato's cooked to what I would consider edible, and even then, they certainly didn't look enticing. The recipe calls for them to be al dente, but we all agreed that potatoes were one vegetable that needs to be cooked " to mush". At the very least, a garnish of spring onion or coriander is neded against the mass of white slivers. Also, the Chinese may consider potatoes as a rice accompaniment, but I felt like I was serving carbs with carbs.
However, we did like the flavor of the sichuan peppers and chillies with the potatoes, and maybe I would consider this dish in another way, such as frying up the pepper mix to sprinkle over bought Fish and Chip shop chips, which are the golden, crunchy chips we prefer.
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A good way to serve cauliflower, and very easy to make. This time I tried blanching the cauliflower as suggested, as I was trying to get as many dishes on the table at once as i could, and it did work. I also used supermarket stock powder, which made it a little salty, combined with the bacon.
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The Fine Art of Italian Cooking: The Classic Cookbook, Updated & Expanded
By Giuliano Bugialli
Gramercy - 2005
Looked and smelt wonderful whilst cooking, but the end result was very bland. 3 basil leaves does not flavour a stew serving 4. It needed more aromatics - one of the guests suggested lemon zest and more black pepper. It was edible but next time I will try another recipe.
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Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook
By Madhur Jaffrey
Tiger Book - 1992
Disappointing. Possibly if I hadn't read the paragraph at the start of the recipe, I wouldn't have expected so much, but I certainly wouldn't sneak out of the house for this. I used tinned chickpeas, and had to double the cooking time to get them close to the mushy stage that I prefer, but that is the cook, not the recipe.
I might try the recipe again, but will be prepared to tweak it substantially. Also, 5 tablespoons of oil is way too much for frying the onions. Possibly the recipe is just showing its age / era.
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Website: One Page Cookbooks - For the first time cook
Combined Base 7 (roasted chana dal) with flavoring 2 (mustard & asafetida). Quintupled the recipe to make what I would consider 3 lunches, along with grits (trying to use them up) and stir-fried spinach.
A nice curry, very mild. Dry roasting the legumes gives them a nice nutty flavor.
The only concern I had was pressure cooking the legumes. My pressure cooker instructions are a bit wary of cooking beans as apparently they can froth up, and can block the vent. So, I didn't use the sites method, but followed my manual and nothing blew up.
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Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking
By Yamuna Devi
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust - 1987
I really didn't like this, but to be fair, I had forgotten to add the chili, so when I took it to work for lunch the next day, it was so bland as to be inedible. I don't think I will try this again, but it might work as a side dish to a spicier mains.
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Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book (At Table)
By Jane Grigson, Amy Sherman
Bison Books - 2007
Used only about half the spring onion, and added nettles, recommended as a variation. Will definitely make it again.
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Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook
By Madhur Jaffrey
Tiger Book - 1992
OK, but nothing to rave over, even substituting chicken stock for the vegetable stock.
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If I can't find fresh gluten at the asian shops, or gluten flour in the supermarket, I use this recipe to make it out of ordinary bread or white flour. Good detailed instructions. I always bake them or simmer in meat stock, rather then deep-fry, just to minimise the calories. I've seen it in other books as seitan.
Just a warning, if you do simmer it, it expands to an astonishing degree.
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Cookery the Australian Way
By Shirley; Suzanne Russell; Winifred Williams CAMERON
Macmillan - 1993
Feels very odd, reviewing this recipe, bit like reviewing one's mother. Anyway, it is excellent for guests that turn up without warning, even when made with powdered milk. Today I added a chopped up very ripe banana, which received a tick from all. Usually I serve it with jam, or lemon and sugar, or even just plain butter. Also known as pikelets in other cookbooks.
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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.
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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.
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The Delia Collection, Soup
By Delia Smith
BBC Books - 2003
Surprisingly good, as there is no meat stock in it. Used the sharp cheddar cheese alternative (Jindi cheddar) suggested by the author and a cup of milk instead of the creme fraiche ( not something I would ever have on hand). A good family soup, perhaps a little plain for guests.
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Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain
By Penelope Casas
Knopf - 1996
Made this with weak beef stock instead of white wine, and it was thought good by the rest of the household. If I make it again will tweak the paprika a bit. Also, I wouldn't make this without the pressure cooker.
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South East Asian Food (Penguin handbook)
By Rosemary Brissenden
Penguin Books Ltd - 1970
A nice mild soup. Added noodles to make it a light dinner and used a lot more chicken stock then the amount listed, about 2 litres.
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The Songs of Sapa: Stories and Recipes from Vietnam
By Luke Nguyen
Murdoch Books - 2009
Good if you like lily flowers. I used chicken stock instead of water, as soups made with water can be a bit flavourless I find. Also didn't do the knot tying after the first 5 or 6. It does look better if the lily flowers are tied in knots, but I was running out of time.
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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.
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Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from My Moroccan Kitchen
By Kitty Morse
Chronicle Books - 1998
Really more a note to myself to try this one again, as I made a lot of sustitutions, so it is not a true review. Substituted beans with dried beancurd sticks (they were getting close to their use-by date), lamb shoulder chops with left-over roast lamb, water with vegetable stock, tomatoes with bottled tomatoes, and left out the parsley, cilantro and lentils. Also, this is a good one for the pressure cooker, browning the meat and onions then adding all the rest, except for the orzo, and cooking on high pressure for 10 minutes. Then I added the soup pasta and cooked for another 10 minutes un-pressurized.
Husband thought that there was a little too much cinnamon, so next time will only use 1/2 teaspoon.
The lemon wedges are definately needed.
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Website: The Cook and The Chef
www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/default.htm
This is how we cook our roasts now (beef and lamb - I don't think I would do it with pork and maybe not fowl. I don't roast chicken any way as the charcoal chicken shop down the road does a better job). The meat becomes incredibly tender and even if you over cook it, it just falls off the bone, still moist and tender.
Potatoes are a little tricky though. My husband is happy to eat his roast with rice, but it still seems wrong to me. Will just have to figure something out.
This TV show went off air a while ago, after years of production, but the website is still up,
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The Moosewood Cookbook
By Mollie Katzen
Ten Speed Press - 1977
Good, despite not having butter, buttermilk, yoghurt or fetta cheese. The oil, vintage chedder and milk with vinegar worked fine. Used half a standard sized pumpkin. Will definately make this one again.
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The Middle Eastern Kitchen: A Book of Essential Ingredients with Over 150 Authentic Recipes
By Ghillie Basan
Kyle Cathie - 2001
OK, but didn't get rave reviews. Next time I would try sauteing the spinach first in oil or butter to try and keep the spinach a brighter green. and use fresher prunes. Despite soaking, the ones I used were still bit old and dry.
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Grains, Pasta & Pulses (The Good Cook Series)
By Time-Life Books
Time-Life Books - 1980
Even substituting the suet with smoked pork, it was still a very very ordinary dish. However, I will be making it again -why? To add to spaghetti bolognaise. Seriously, only a tiny amount was eaten, so the husband-cook mixed what was left in the pot into the sauce he was making, and it was a definate improvement. The beans add an extra rich smoothness to the sauce, and being already tomato & smoked meat flavoured themselves, not too plain beany in taste.
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