Queezle_Sister's Reviews
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The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook: A New, Healthier Way to Cook Everything from America's Most Trusted Test Kitchen
By America's Test Kitchen, America's Test Kitchen, America's Test Kitchen, Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine, America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen - 2010
Apricot-Orange Glaze : page 296
Extremely easy to prepare and the flavor packs a big punch. I skipped the chopped dried apricots, as my home-made preserves had plenty of chunks.
I used this glaze for this pork tenderloin. They were a match made in heaven.
I have not prepared a pork tenderloin for years - everyone enjoyed this low fat meal.
useful (1)
Arugula, Grapefruit, and Feta Salad : page 69
This couldn't be easier - a tub of washed arugula, grapefruit segments (supremed), and crumbled Feta. I used the suggested lemon herb dressing, which was a perfect complement.
Not only easy, the flavors went together so beautifully, you'd be very happy if this were served to you at a restaurant - and even more so to get it at home.
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Better-For-You Banana Bread : page 427
An easy sweet quick bread, a bit of yogurt keeps it light, and toasted walnuts provided a bit of bitter counterpoint. Only the smallest hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, not distracting.
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Confession: I skipped the porcini and shallots (none on hand), and instead used this recipe as a guide for braising. I used only four chicken thighs, and found that the recipe produced a very tender chicken, but in general I find thighs are pretty consistently tender. The liquid is lovely, and I saved it for another day, as I wanted to try the chicken with this Fig-Cranberry Sauce. I think it would have been better, though, with the suggested sauce.
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Easily prepared from garden and pantry items, this healthy dish is tasty, but a bit bland.
Zucchini are sliced, salted, and water squeezed out. They are mixed with oil, garlic, and herbs, as are some tomatoes. These two vegetables sandwich a piece of chicken, and the whole thing is sealed in foil packets, and baked.
One nice thing about this dish is that there few dishes are dirtied once the packets are in the oven, and they cook just the right amount of time to get the kitchen cleaned up.
I served this with short-grain brown rice (my favorite). Substituted thighs for breasts, and lime for the lemon. The basil was pretty much lost, I didn't taste it, despite it being lovely fresh leaves from my garden. But the tomatoes were wonderful.
Just OK, nothing amazing.
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Chicken Parmesan : page 250
Easy and delicious!
Chicken breasts are pounded into thin cutlets, dipped in flavored flour, then egg white, and finally a panko-parmesan mix (we substituted Asiago). The breasts are baked for 8 - 10 minutes, and the result was tender, moist, and flavorful.
We skipped the suggested topping of tomato sauce and mozzarella. I thought it was a perfect stand-alone meal, but my son (home from his first semester at college) opined that it would be elevated by an acidic sauce, perhaps tomato, and perhaps something creamy. But his room mate, who is joining us for the holidays, said it was perfect, and way better than anything served in the dining hall (faint praise, but very cute).
This came together quickly, and I wouldn't hesitate to prepare it again.
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Chocolate Sheet Cake : page 450
For a nice chocolate cake, this came together quickly. It produced a light cake with good chocolate flavor and only 2g fat per serving. We served it with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and it made kids and husband smile.
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Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti : page 438
Crunchy, nice hazelnut flavor, slight chocolate flavor.
I prepared these for my son to munch on while he takes the USAMO (USA Math Olympiad exam). These were a sentimental choice, as I used hazelnuts from the my Aunt's farm, and she just recently passed away.
Tasted great with my morning cup of coffee. The recipe in this book is simple, relatively low fat, and is accompanied by great pictures and detailed instructions. But I don't think these are quite as good as ones with anise.
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Everyday Denver Omelets : page 21
Lovely rich flavor from the ham and red bell potatoes, yet light from the mostly-egg-white-eggs. You are instructed to cook the eggs and then put just a bit of Parmesan cheese on it, then the pre-made ham etc. filling.
This recipe was a natural for us - we had leftover ham (reviewed here) and egg whites from preparing lemon curd. It was greatly enjoyed by all four eaters at my house.
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Everyday Macaroni and Cheese : page 490
Good cheese flavor, but not the perfect recipe.
This is a stove-top Mac & Cheese, not baked. It was prepared by 13-daughter. We couldn't find the reduced-fat cheddar cheese called for, and so used the normal full fat version. Our major problem was that there was too much sauce for the amount of noodles. We countered this by adding a generous layer of panko - but wished we'd cooked about 10% more noodles.
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Fudgy Brownies : page 440
Soft and fudgy, sweet but not too sweet, and it forms that nice top crust that I normally associate with box mixes! There are distinct butter and vanilla flavors, a rich chocolate flavor, and the perfect texture.
This recipe does dirty up three bowls (never a good thing), but I think its worth it. Weights are given as well as volume!
Three forms of chocolate - bittersweet chocolate (we used semi-sweet chocolate chips), cocoa, and chocolate sauce (we used this one). The recipe also includes one egg plus an egg white, and a bit of low-fat sour cream. I think they would be even better with toasted walnuts.
Very precise instructions for testing doneness allows you to pull it out of the over before it overcooks, but for us cooking time was 28 minutes, not 20-25. Also, we didn't believe these had to cool for two hours, they tasted great after 25 minutes cooling time.
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Going Green Smoothie : page 39
Who knew kale could make a delightful smoothie?
Kale, 1% milk, oj, banana, 2 tsp sugar, frozen peaches (recipe called for apple, but I sub'd the peaches because I had them), and ice cubes. I wasn't expecting much, but it tasted great.
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Lemon Bundt Cake : page 460
Great flavor, but problematic recipe.
13-daughter prepared this cake for my birthday. It was a good choice - lots of lemon zest and a healthier, lightened cake.
The major problem was that the cake fell. My daughter was so sad! I think one reason it fell because the recipe instructs you to rotate the pan half way through cooking - but the cake seemed to be highly vulnerable then. Another factor that probably contributed to the cake falling was that there were no high altitude instructions.
The cake also stuck to the pan, but that might reflect inadequate greasing on our part.
We applied a citrus glaze (page 461), which was a nice addition.
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Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette : page 61
This is a simple salad dressing that uses lemon juice as its acid, shallots, and fresh herbs. Because its winter, I replaced the fresh herbs with some frozen basil/garlic/olive (pesto minus cheese).
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Meat and Cheese Lasagna : page 202
This lasagna was OK - but nothing special. It is a "lightened" version, and my kids thought it was vegetarian (though it contained chicken).
The cheese layer was made with cottage cheese (my substitution for ricotta), mozzarella, Parmesan, and fresh basil. Because its not in season, I substituted in a basil-garlic-pine nut mix (pesto without cheese).
I ran into one unexpected problem. The recipe suggested a 9 x 13 inch pan, which I did. The instructions say to place 4 lasagna noodles per layer, but I could only fit 3. Each noodle was maybe 11 or 12 inches long, so there was a bit of space on the end of the pan. Have any of you noticed this?
This was enjoyed by the teenagers, but I won't bother with the recipe again.
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Orange-Anise Biscotti : page 438
Great texture and amazing flavor. This cookbook gives a basic biscotti recipe (almond biscotti), and then suggests two variations (chocolate-hazelnut and orange-anise). This particular version takes toasted anise seed and orange zest, and those flavors come through in a lovely and not overly assertive way.
This cookbook also had very nice instructions - it includes pictures of patting out the log, cutting the cookies, and the second baking. My husband prepared these to bring to his buddies at work - the instructions were clear and he had a stress-free baking experience.
I'd recommend this recipe for anyone. With its lower calorie (70) and fat content (only 4T butter and 2 eggs for 30 cookies), these delicious cookies could be prepared for any occasion.
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Parmesan-Peppercorn Dressing : page 65
A nice change from my usual vinaigrette. This dressing uses buttermilk, light mayonaise, and low fat sour cream (for which I subbed greek yogurt). Its flavored with grated Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, shallot, pepper, and garlic. It was a creamy dressing with a nice tang.
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Pasta with Meat Ragu : page 181
Delicious sauce with many vegetables (celery, carrot, onion, mushrooms) and a bit of ground turkey. Not the prettiest sauce, but it had a good mild flavor. Be sure to add a bit of pepper.
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Pear-Oat Crisp : page 475
An impending vacation but a big bag of pears gave me the impetus to try this recipe. The key here is that the fruit and crunchy topping are first baked separately. Also, the topping has a lot of chopped up almonds.
I baked the topping a bit longer than suggested - it was slower getting crunchy. I thought I'd overdone it. The topping is then poured over the fruit, and baked another 10 minutes. It sat about 20 minutes before I served it, and it was perfect. Crunchy top, which becomes soft where it contacts the pear. And not very sweet - just the right touch of sweetness.
This is definitely a recipe to remember, and put into active rotation.
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This was a full meal - lots of vegetables, whole wheat penne pasta, in a broth-based sauce. Nice flavor but it needed a bit more salt.
The recipe suggests that it serves six. However, it probably could serve at least 8 - it makes a lot!
This was prepared by 13 daughter and her father. I am lucky indeed.
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Roast Pork Tenderloins : page 294
An excellent set of instructions that leads to tender and flavorful pork. I followed the brining instructions (page 240), brined for 30 minutes, dried, seared, baked, and tented. So many processes - none of them difficult but they do keep you tied to the kitchen.
I prepared this using this Apricot-Orange Glaze.
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A fine salad - but didn't thrill me.
A bed of lettuce, layered with potatoes - cooked, dressed in a mustard-lemon sauce, and salmon. The recipe also calls for green beans, but no beans here, so we skipped that.
I like the general concept of this recipe. The salmon-potato combination was pretty good. Lettuce from our garden yielded a spider on 13-daughter's plate, which added excitement to the meal.
This is a fine way to use leftover salmon, but I wouldn't cook salmon just for this recipe.
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Sesame Snap Peas : page 137
This recipe presents a simple way to cook sugar snap peas. First they are sautéed to give a bit of color, then they are steamed, and finally, when the water is gone, a bit more oil is added, along with soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, and garlic.
All that messing around with lovely local snap peas had me worried that they would be over-cooked. To my surprise, these were perfect. A bit tender, but with a good crunch, and an excellent sesame touch.
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Super-Crisp Oven-Fried Fish : page 215
The fish turned out moist and perfectly cooked at the 18-minute timepoint, but the crumb coating was not all that great, and it took a lot of work.
If I make this again (and I might), I will use Panko instead of making whole wheat crumbs. I will also increase the spices in the egg batter. This will turn it from a one-hour hand-on prep time recipe to about 10 minutes of hands-on time. It is certainly a lean fish dish, and that I did appreciate.
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Tangy Apple-Cabbage Coleslaw : page 85
Easy - and no mayo! For this crunchy slaw you prepare a warm dressing (vinegar, mustard, honey, etc), dress the prepared fruit & veggies, and chill it for an hour. I substituted a new-season gala for the granny smith that the recipe suggested.
As is typical for me, I didn't prepare ahead and so only refrigerated for about 15 minutes. Instead of boiling the dressing, I simply warmed it up in the microwave.
I really linked the tangy flavor of this slaw, and would definitely make it again.
This slaw accompanied salmon burgers for dinner (costco); DH and I enjoyed a child-free dinner on the patio, watching the sun set.
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Ultimate Oatmeal with Honey and Figs : page 36
I prepared this for a special birthday breakfast for myself. Its a bit involved -- steel cut oats are sautéed in butter and then toasted, then cooked in a water/milk mixture for 20 minutes, then figs, salt, honey and vanilla added - and another 10 minutes of cooking. But the effort was worth it. The steel cut oats were just slightly chewy -- just the way I like. And the figs and honey give it just the perfect sweetness and flavor.
And lucky me -- I've got enough for all week!
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A very nice fritatta - the flavor was enhanced by including lemon zest and goat cheese with the eggs. The combination of mushrooms, asparagus, and onion was lovely.
The recipe calls for 12 eggs and another 6 whites. Instead, I used five eggs, three large, and two came from our tiny silkie hen. Nevertheless, I used the called for amounts of other ingredients.
The cooking instructions went well. Mine stuck a bit to my cast iron frying pan, and so it didn't come out of the pan as nicely as the one in the pictures, but it tasted great.
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Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Waffles : page 34
Nice flavor and texture. These waffles used both WW and AP flour, and buttermilk helped them to be light and tender. A full batch was OK for four of us. These were a bit fussy as the eggs are separated and the whites folded in. But aside from the extra bowls, they tasted good.
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