Queezle_Sister's Reviews
13 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 13Sort by: Title 
| Date | Rating
High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking
By J.M. Hirsch
Ballantine Books - 2010
Balsamic Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream : page 247
This was the first recipe that caught my eye in this book. It just sounded so odd - mixing balsamic vinegar with ice cream!
I bought the ingredients (and using Breyers ice cream). Unfortunately, the oreos mostly "evaporated" before I had time to put it together, so I scaled back the recipe and made two different small batches. In one, I made it as suggested, and for the other, I tried gingersnaps as the mix-in. Both were amazing, but I think I liked the tiny zings of chocolate from the oreos (original recipe) more than my variation using gingersnaps.
This recipe will be made again - but next time I will do a better job hiding the cookies beforehand!
useful (0)
Brown Sugar and Ginger Pumpkin Bread : page 250
This was easy (15 minutes to throw it together) and it tasted great. Grated fresh ginger gave each bite an extra zing. Enough to notice, but not so much that my kids wouldn't eat it.
And with only 1 egg and 1/3 cup oil, this was a pretty healthy quick bread. My kids loved this recipe and are always talking about it now!
useful (0)
Chocolate Cherry Truffles : page 253
Postive aspects - these are easy to make. They take only a few ingredients and there is no fancy cooking technique. Another positive is that they look very nice and they do not taste too sweet.
I made these with Ghirardelli dark chocolate (60%), and I didn't scrimp on the other ingredients. But I think the two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar is just too much. It gives the entire truffle a sour note that competes with the cherry flavor, and takes away from the intensity of the chocolate. To my utter surprise, my children won't even eat them, and so I will send them to work with my husband to get rid of them. Quelle domage!
useful (0)
Chocolate Marzipan Sugar Cookies : page 258
Wow were these ever great! True to the description, the cookies were soft inside, and crackly on the outside. These are not inexpensive to make - they call for an entire tube of marzipan - but they are oh so worth it! The final product had only a subtle almond/marzipan flavor, but with the chocolate from the cocoa, the texture, and how easy they were to put together, this is a winner!
useful (0)
Dolmades Wraps with Feta and Fresh Mint : page 191
This recipe was fairly easy and delicious. Instead of flatbread, we used pita, and could only find small whole wheat ones, so these were served open faced instead of rolled up. We also substituted swiss chard for the spinach. But WOW - the combination of flavors was great. If I made it again, I'd back off the onion a bit, and ramp up the mint a bit. Really delicious.
useful (0)
Fig and Manchego Puff Pastries : page 21
I really liked this recipe, and based on flavor, I should have awarded it a 5. But I down-graded it because of its high fat and low nutrient content.
I made several variations. First, I wanted this for finger food for a get-together, so instead of 2 inch squares, I made 1 inch squares.
Second, I couldn't find fig jam (darn those Utah stores!). So I substituted my own home-made tomato-ginger jam (recipe in the new york times). With the Manchego cheese, it was sublime.
Finally, I had never used puff pastry, so was a bit nervous. But it was super simple! YUM!
useful (1)
This is a pretty easy recipe - it took me about 25 minutes, from start (getting out the pan) to served at the table. It was also good because it could shake me out of my pasta rut (tomato sauce or pesto). And it had a combination of ingredients that I love.
The final product was pretty good, but not good enough to go into high rotation. The melty goat cheese didn't look very appealing, and I had a difficult time tossing the pasta to combine all the ingredients. Nevertheless, it tasted pretty good, and my son even ate the leftovers for breakfast this morning.
useful (1)
Maple-Roasted Squash with Prosciutto : page 217
This was very tasty. I made one big mistake - I halved the amount of squash, proscuitto, maple syrup, but not the spices! Nevertheless, it tasted great. I baked it in very large pyrex baking dish, and after 45 minutes it was nearly black. Next time I will try baking at a slightly lower temperature.
I was impressed at how well the smoked paprika, cinnamon, and nutmeg went with this dish.
useful (0)
Pesto-Drenched Tomato Wedges : page 35
This salad was OK. I did make my own pesto, and used a garden-grown tomato. The usefulness of this recipe is that its a good reminder that a salad can be very simple. However, my whole family thought that the pesto/tomato combination needed more punch. It might be better with more salt, or pre-salting the tomatoes before adding the pesto.
useful (0)
This is the BEST corn chowder I have ever tasted, and true to its intent, it took less than 40 minutes to prepare.
My husband made this for our family last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We followed the instructions except we cut the whole milk to 50% whole and 50% skim. Simmering the cobs in the milk did add a big fresh corn taste. The prosciutto crumbled on top really added a great punch.
My one complaint is that this is a HIGH FAT soup. Its true that it tastes amazing, but I'd prefer a great soup that is also low fat.
useful (2)
Rosemary and Ginger Vegetable Soup : page 50
There is a lot of chopping in preparation, but by dicing vegetables to small pieces they cook quickly. I usually think of soups as something that cooks all day, but this one truly cooked up quickly. I was also intrigued that the recipe was very much a traditional mix of vegetables, but it included a healthy dose of ginger. The final product had only a mild ginger note, but the broth's flavor had surprising depth. Everyone in the family gave it a positive evaluation.
I did need to modify it a bit. The mushrooms had been commandeered for last night's dinner, and I didn't have regular potatoes, so I put in a sweet potato. It would have been even better had I had all the right vegetable.
useful (0)
Stovetop Brocc Mac and Cheese : page 169
This was a very quick meal - we were able to get home from the matinee (HP7), and dinner was on the table within 35 minutes. Mac and cheese is my kid's favorite, and they really like a recipe I invented that uses tofu. Here I tried to stick with the recipe (but I did substitute yogurt for the cream), and I was especially curious about the ginger in the sauce. I'd have to say that it was a bit bland. I doubled the hot sauce, and put in more ginger and more black pepper, but it wasn't exactly the flavor we were going for.
Summary: pluses are fast and includes a vegetable, minus is that its a bit bland. If I make it again, I'll use silken tofu instead of the yogurt, and a spicier mix with the cheese sauce.
useful (0)
This is an amazing recipe. We didn't have pre-grated carrots, but it was easy enough to grate up 2 large carrots. The beauty of bright green asparagus and orange carrot gave this salad real eye appeal.
However, this salad is so much more that eye candy. A dressing, which really was an amazing reduction using rice vinegar and other ingredients, set this recipe apart. My husband, a salad lover, said that this was the best salad he has ever had.
This recipe will be in strong rotation whenever asparagus is in season!
useful (0)