Queezle_Sister's Reviews
11 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 11Sort by: Title 
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The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
By Deb Perelman
Knopf - 2012
Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns : page 49
My husband wanted to prepare this for our Sunday breakfast, but hadn't realized that it required two risings. Perhaps the instructions need a caution on this - or (as its called "breakfast buns") - provide instructions for starting the night before.
Aside from that technical glitch, these made a lovely late lunch. Very savory and flavorful. We used part WW flour and they turned out well.
useful (2)
Cinnamon Toast French Toast : page 7
Nice cinnamon flavor, and this french toast is baked, making it easy on the cook.
But what doesn't work so well is the way its put together. First, you bake bread that has been buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The idea is to give it a nice crunchy top. Then you place these prepared slices so they are on a diagonal, with the upper crust of each one sticking up. The egg-milk mixture goes in next, it soaks, and then bakes.
The soak of course dissolves 75% of the nice cinnamon crust that you spent time developing in step one. And by baking on the diagonal, the top crusts (which still have the cinnamon crust) are very very dry.
I didn't dislike this, but it wasn't brilliant, and if preparing a brunch for friends, this is not the recipe that I would select.
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Cranberry Crumb Bars with Mulling Spices : page 206
This basic bar cookie has crumb/shortbread layers on the top and bottom, and chopped cranberries in the middle. The combination of tart with sweet was rather nice. The crumb topping had a lovely mix of spices, including cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
It was a good cookie - no problems - but I felt it was a bit boring. The cranberry layer is quite thin - possibly if it were thicker the cookies would have more zing and be a bit more satisfying. The crumb layer was delicious, but a bit more texture would have been nice (include oatmeal perhaps?).
On the plus side, these are a breeze to whip together, and one batch in a 9X11 pan feeds a lot (or a few hungry teenagers).
useful (1)
Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby : page 11
This was a very flavorful version of an oven pancake. Ginger, molasses, cinnamon, and cloves give this a real gingerbread-like taste, but it has the delightful eggy and light texture of an oven pancake. A sprinkling of powdered sugar sets it off perfectly. It takes a bit longer to cook than many oven pancake recipes, so if you are planning this for a weekday morning, plan carefully.
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Gooey Cinnamon Squares : page 207
Not high-altitude friendly (explained below), but this 2-3 layer cookie truly does taste wonderful.
The first layer is a bit like a thick cake batter - which you spread out as a bottom layer. The second layer is the amazing one. In addition to creamed butter, sugar, egg, you add a sweetener (3 suggested, I used Lyle's golden syrup because I happened to have some), milk (I used heavy cream), and vanilla.
This second layer spreads a bit easier. Then you put a thick layer of sugar and cinnamon on top.
Deb says that the second layer will rise and fall again, and that the cinnamon-sugar topping will become creme brulee-like. At my altitude, this layer rose a lot, and when it fell, it was very uneven - like mud that knobby tires have driven through (see the second picture). Adding to the effect, the cinnamon-sugar mix broke up, leaving some very dark brown areas, some white areas, and some medium. So - if you live around 5000 ft, and are expecting company, don't select this recipe.
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Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake : page 241
An uncomplicated recipe that produces an amazing product. The cake itself has grapefruit zest, but additional grapefruit is supplied through a syrup applied to the bottom after baking (it readily soaks in), and then a frosting with grapefruit juice. What I think I like the most is that my mouth continues to have the grapefruit flavor long after the cake slice has been eaten.
I decided to prepare this after reading the final Piglet contest on Food52. The judge said that this one recipe was reason enough for one to purchase the SK cookbook, and you know what, he might be right!
Also I got to meet Deb last night, picture 2 shows us together at the signing.
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Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish and Dill : page 177
Lean pork loin chops are first browned, then finished off in a very flavorful sauce.
My 14 yr old daughter selected this recipe, and I was skeptical about the sauce (cider vinegar, apple cider, and horseradish - and I hate horseradish). But the final sauce was surprisingly good - the horseradish was mellowed by the cider and gave the sauce good depth of flavor.
It might be that the sauce was too strong for the pork, which was mild, but others at the table wanted the sauce to be even punchier.
We served this with rice and a large salad. The meat cooked quickly (maybe 30 minutes start to finish), so it could easily work for a week night.
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Excellent deviled eggs! These are not spicy, but they have an excellent flavor. This starts out like a regular deviled egg -- mayo and mustard -- but then you add lemon juice (brilliant), olive oil, minced garlic, and smoked paprika. Just before serving, you sprinkle crunchy ham, almonds, and more smoked paprika.
I took several shortcuts - used ham from the freezer - left over from Christmas - not the thinly sliced deli ham. I used raw almonds, which I toasted but did not blanch (in place of Marcona). And I think my smoked paprika is running out of umph.
Nevertheless, these were amazing. I wouldn't hesitate to prepare these for a fancy party, or to satisfy a craving.
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Sugar Snap Salad with Miso Dressing : page 69
This recipe's dressing is to die for - salty umami flavor - we love it equally on sandwiches and this salad.
The salad has one blanch the sugar snap peas, though I think you could easily skip this step. The dressing would be good on any robust salad, and I think it will be a staple in my refrigerator.
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Whole Lemon Bars : page 217
Excellent lemon flavor in an incredibly rich cookie.
I prepared these because I brought a bag of lemons home with me from a recent trip to california. I appreciate that there are special instructions for using meyer lemons (less sugar required).
The bad: clearly this is a case of gratuitous use of butter. Seriously, in an 8X8 pan, 1 stick (1/2 C) for the crust and another 1/2 C (stick) for the filling - yowza! Traditional lemon square do not have butter in the filling.
These cookies are rapidly disappearing at the hands of the teenagers, and I'm doing all I can to resist. Next time I'll go back to the traditional recipe (less butter), but if you want a truly decadent lemon square, this is the recipe for you.
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Whole-Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones : page 15
I prepared this recipe with the tweaks suggested by Sprouted Kitchen - where the raspberries are replaced by fuju persimmons - and reviewed it in both places. I prepared my own ricotta using this recipe, and followed the Sprouted Kitchen's version suggestion to use fuyu persimmons in the place of the raspberries suggested in the SK cookbook. I also substituted skim milk for the 1/3 C heavy cream (but don't tell anyone!).
These scones came together easily and looked just beautiful. They were sweet - but not too sweet - had a lovely texture - and the combination of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger gave an excellent subtle spice. I found that the persimmons were a bit lost in the recipe, but I will definitely repeat with other fruit. Note that this recipe was also recently put on the 101cookbooks blog using blackberries.
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