The Ducks Guts' Reviews
154 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating 
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The Cook's Companion
By Stephanie Alexander
Viking Australia - 1998
THE potato salad in our house, made so often I am starting to look around for another hot-day potato recipe, just to make a change. Easy and delicious. Usually double it for a dinner party.
useful (2)
Good instructions, easy to follow for cooking your first tongue. Works well with just water (no stock). She doesn't use a tongue press, so it isn't neccessary to have one. No idea why, but ox tongue tastes exactly like very soft roast lamb.
useful (0)
Thai Food
By David Thompson, Earl Carter
Pavilion Books - 2002
The best chicken curry EVER. It takes hours to make it tho', so perhaps make it the day before you plan to serve it. It is not a recipe you can leave to cook by itself.
useful (0)
The French Kitchen
By Diane Hokuigue
Methuen (Australia) - 1983
Excellant recipe with detailed instructions at the start of the section on how make a good French ragout. This book is a teaching book, not just a collection of recipes.
useful (1)
Excellent recipe, but as with the casserole recipe, its the instructions at the start of the section that tell you how to make a good creamed vegetable soup with ANY vegetable that are worth their weight in gold
useful (2)
Canapes
By Eric Treuille, Victoria Blashford-Snell
Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd - 1999
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)
Chinese Cooking: Cantonese (International Gourment)
By Margaret Leeming
Ward Lock Ltd - 1993
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)
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)
Cooking The Indonesian Way
By Alec Robeau
A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty Ltd - 1970
Delicious and a good light meal if you only want to cook one dish. Recipe uses pork, or beef mince but any leftover meat will do. I never use the 7 chillies - just one or two does fine.
useful (0)
The Food of China: Authentic Recipes from the Middle Kingdom
By Periplus Editions
Tuttle - 1997
The smoking oil burns the spring onion and ginger into the fish. A very little sesame oil (1/2 teaspoon?) added in is even better. The fish only takes a few minutes to cook.
useful (0)
The French Kitchen
By Diane Hokuigue
Methuen (Australia) - 1983
Excellent light potato dish, not at all heavy. I don't add the cream, but I do use full cream milk.
useful (1)
Ken Hom's Chinese Kitchen: With a Consumer's Guide to Essential Ingredients
By Ken Hom
Anova Books - 1996
Delicious. A family favorite, always requested. I soak the lily-buds , wood ears and black mushrooms (Shiitake), especially the last, before cutting up and use the Shiitake soaking water with a chicken stock cube instead of Chicken Stock. Reheats very well for dinner parties.
useful (4)
Fabulous way of cooking chicken in hot weather. Easy and the chicken is always moist and tender. Cook it in the cooler part of the day and leave in the fridge for a meal that night when it is too hot to cook and you don't want to heat the house up any further.
The Cantonese-Style Dipping Sauce on page 131 is the favorite to go with it, but I usually do a couple of others as well, Thai or European. I have served it with home-made mayonnaise, but that was a little bland.
This recipe (or method, really, I suppose) is sometimes known as Velvet Chicken.
useful (0)
Tacos
By Mark Miller
Ten Speed Press - 2009
Wonderful and fresh. I simmered the sauce down to 1 cup to make a thicker sauce (for nachos), which took about 15 to 20 minutes as I had used ordinary supermarket tomatoes, not Roma.
Also the dry-roasing and rehydration didn't seem to work on my dry chillies (which were from China) so had to throw those out and resort to a spoonful of sambal oelek. Still delicous but probably not authentic Mexican. And the oregano - had to use a handful of fresh ordinary oregano from the garden.
Still, after all that it was a big hit which says something for the recipe.
useful (1)
Recipes From World Vision
By World Vision of Australia - Shepparton Branch
World Vision of Australia - Shepparton Branch - 1981
Very good recipe - this is the glace fruit type of fruitcake, with minimal flour.
useful (0)
The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accessories
By David Lebovitz
Ten Speed Press,U.S. - 2007
A great hit with the only person who took milk in her coffee. Fun to make.
useful (1)
Italian Family Cooking: Like Mamma Used to Make
By Anne Casale
Ballantine Books - 1984
Excellent, very detailed instructions on how to make your own pasta. She gives methods for either making it fully by hand, or else by using a food processor and a hand-crank pasta machine. I use a Kitchen Aid now to make the dough, but have used the food processor instructions in the past and still use them as a guide whenever I make pasta (not as often as I should) and always use the pasta machine instructions, rather then the ones that came with the machine.
useful (0)
If you make your own pasta, this is an excellent means of getting the family to eat leafy greens without complaining. The spinach colours the pasta, but doesn't flavour it greatly.
useful (0)
This is the recipe that I always use for pesto. Wonderful and freezes well. Be very careful browning the pine nuts as they burn if you walk away from the stove, even if just for a minute.
useful (0)
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,
useful (1)
Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook
By Madhur Jaffrey
Tiger Book - 1992
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.
useful (1)
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.
useful (1)
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)
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!
useful (1)
Delia's How to Cook: Book Three (Bk.3)
By Delia Smith
BBC Books - 2001
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.
useful (2)
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)
The Cook's Companion
By Stephanie Alexander
Viking Australia - 1998
Great recipe, very quick and easy to make and always popular with guests. The reason I have only given it 4 stars is becuase I have never made it with the rump steak & bok choy. I always make it with chicken ribs and it's cooked on the BBQ.
useful (1)
Thai Food
By David Thompson, Earl Carter
Pavilion Books - 2002
Delicious and very rich. Paste smells almost unpleasent whilst it is cooking, hence the instructions to cook it at least 5 minutes, but once it is cooked,and the palm sugar and fish sauce added, it all comes together.
I must confess to doubling the amount of chicken as Thai curries can be hours of work, and I wanted SOME leftovers for the next day. However, re-heating it in the microwave wasn't a success. The chicken toughened and the sauce flavour flattened to a dull, almost boiled taste. No idea why.
useful (0)
The best description of this sauce is "woofy", so you may not want to give it to guests, although I did have one guest thoroughly enjoying it, mixed equal amounts with another sauce,
useful (0)
Doesn't make a very large salad, but it is good.
useful (0)
The French Kitchen
By Diane Hokuigue
Methuen (Australia) - 1983
Very good soup. Its the pesto that makes it.
useful (0)
Canapes
By Eric Treuille, Victoria Blashford-Snell
Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd - 1999
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)
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)
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)
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)
Indian Vegetarian Cookery
By Jack Santa Maria
Red Wheel Weiser - 1977
If you cut the amount of water to 3 cups and use stock instead, this makes a very good soup, warming in cold weather. Quick and easy to make.
useful (1)
Small Food: Snack-sized Bites to Share with Friends (Cookery)
By *
Murdoch Books - 2002
Very rich, so better with fresh vegetables, rather than the crackers recommended.
useful (0)
Ken Hom's Chinese Kitchen: With a Consumer's Guide to Essential Ingredients
By Ken Hom
Anova Books - 1996
Very good and easy to make. I use Carnation Evaporated Milk instead of the coconut milk, but that is just a family tradition from the in-laws.
useful (0)
Very good family dish. Easy, and as Ken Hom writes, you can substitute your own favorite ingredients.
useful (0)
Winter fare. Very good, but I only put a litre of water in at the most. Works well with gravy/stewing beef if you don't feel like oxtail.
useful (0)
Vegetables (The Good Cook Techniques & Recipes Series)
By Time-Life Books
Time-Life Books - 1979
Lovely light soup. The lemon juice is essential and the chicken stock must be real - no stock cubes. Use a gentle heat or the microwave to re-heat.
useful (1)
Tacos
By Mark Miller
Ten Speed Press - 2009
Very good. I substituted spring onions for the red onion and it worked.
useful (0)
Iris Country Fare
By Lyndall Muellar and Robyn Boyce
Winifred West Schools - 2002
Very good robust cake. Good for picnics. The "1 carton" of sour cream is 300 ml.
useful (0)
Contributor: Geoff Janz. Very good family recipe. I don't like drumsticks, so a couple of breasts get thrown in as well. Reheats well.
useful (0)
Digby Law's Pickle & Chutney Cookbook
By Digby Law
Hachette Livre NZ Ltd - 2006
No matter how tempting, do NOT cook the vegetables. Just follow the recipe (note to self).
Very good family pickles.
useful (0)
The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accessories
By David Lebovitz
Ten Speed Press,U.S. - 2007
Everybody liked this one. The mixture was too thick for my Sunbeam ice-cream maker to churn, so next time I will try substituting the half and half with full-cream milk instead.
useful (2)
Definately one to remake, but perhaps with a little less brown sugar.
useful (1)
Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go
By Naomi Kijima, Laura Driussi
Japan Publications Trading - 2001
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)