Queezle_Sister's Reviews
1394 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook
By Beth Hensperger
Harvard Common Press - 2004
A delicious chili with distinct flavor from beer and green chilis. Another easy to prepare meal, except that onions and ground beef need to be browned. Other than that, its canned beans, canned tomatoes, canned roasted chilis, and a light Mexican beer.
We used fewer spices than called for - half the amount of green chilis, only one of two cans of diced tomatoes had chilis, and 1/3 the called for chili powder. Still it had a kick, almost too spicy for 13 daughter.
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Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
By Jeff Hertzberg MD, Zoe Francois
Thomas Dunne Books - 2007
This is an easy way to make an ok 100% whole wheat bread. Mine did not have great internal texture - it was a bit too wet despite cooking for longer than called for. It was not nearly as nice as this 100% whole wheat bread, but it did take considerably less effort.
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Website: Leite's Culinaria
This is yet another version of a no-knead bread. Unlike the recipe from Mark Bittman, which includes lagar beer as part of the liquid ingredients, this is all water. The instructions differ a bit from other recipes in that it doesn't include cooking the break initially in a dutch oven (for crust formation). Nevertheless, it did fine, as did my new oven (first bread in the oven).
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Website: Epicurious
Good flavor, and a light texture. My comparison is home-made granola from the 1970s, which I recall as requiring a lot of oil. In contrast, this takes just 1/4C oil (I used coconut oil), plus an egg white. I cleaned out the older nuts from my freezer, using filberts, walnuts, pecans, and almonds. I baked mine for 40 minutes, and only the edges were browning. After cooling, the non-browned portion had large clumps. I really like that this is easy to make and healthier than prepared granola. Next time I will add the called-for sesame seeds.
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Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
By Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero
Da Capo Press - 2007
Delicious! I started with dried garbanzo beans, and prepared a batch for a small party. It was a bit mild, so I increased the garlic, cumin, and salt and pepper.
These instructions suggest using a blender (instead of a food processor) to get a really creamy texture. I tried, but my blender was not up to the task, so I had to move it to my food processor. Other than the annoyance of more dirty dishes, though, the instructions are solid.
Smoked paprika really gave this a nice kick.
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Website: Food Network - Alton Brown recipes
www.foodnetwork.com/alton-brown/index.html
This is an easy pressure-cooker based beef broth. I needed broth for Achiote Rice Supper with Pork Carnitas, and couldn't bring myself to buying canned. I used a small package of sliced beef shanks - with bone and marrow. This recipe includes standard vegetable, and cooks in the pressure cooker for almost an hour. It had good flavor, and other than an initial browning, this was easy.
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Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant flavors of a World-Class Cuisine
By Rick Bayless
Scribner - 1996
Delicious, and not too heavy.
Step one is preparation of Essential Garlicy Achiote Seasoning Paste. I resorted to an old coffee grinder, as the achiote seeds were very difficult to crush with my mortar and pestle. This smells heavenly!
Pork carnitas are first prepared by boiling cubes of pork shoulder until the water is gone, and then browning them in oil produced from the meat. I was pretty skeptical, and it didn't smell very good, but was surprised by how tasty these were.
After cooking the meat, rice (medium grain - I used goya brand from the hispanic store), onion, roasted and diced poblanos, and diced carrots are cooked in beef broth + the achiote seasoning paste. At the end, I threw in frozen (thawed) peas.
I really enjoyed this dish. If you've got the seasoning and broth, its not too difficult to prepare - mostly hands off time.
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Latin Grilling: Recipes to Share, from Patagonian Asado to Yucatecan Barbecue and More
By Lourdes Castro
Ten Speed Press - 2011
A lovely flavor, albeit a bit too salty for me.
Chicken is marinated in an achiote (annato seeds)-cumin-orange juice-vinegar-oregano mixture. We substituted boneless thighs for breasts, and marinated for about 10 hours.
My husband did a superb job of wrapping with the banana leaves and grilling. Be sure to use a sweet onion (I used white onion - not so good).
Also avoid getting the excess salt on the chicken as you wrap it. Some bites were too salty.
I agree with Andrew - these would be spectacular for a party. We found the banana leaves and aciote (annato seeds) in a local hispanic market.
If you click through the pictures, you will see the packets pre-cooked and after cooking. So pretty!
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The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
This was a very easy dish to prepare, and it was beautiful. For me, this dish was also an education. It called for thinly sliced bresaola, an Italian air-dried beef. I had never tasted this before, and found it at our small Italian market (Granatos). Wow - lean and smokey, this sliced beef is a treasure!
For this recipe, the bresaola really shows its stuff. Its paired with sweet Fuyu persimmons, fresh fennel, and a bit of dressing.
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The Science of Good Cooking (Cook's Illustrated Cookbooks)
By The Editors of America's Test Kitchen and Guy Crosby Ph.D
Cook's Illustrated - 2012
If you like your cornbread on the slightly sweet and slightly rich side, then this recipe is for you. The corniness of this recipe is amped up by addition of fresh corn (frozen was called for, but I used 2 ears of end-of-season corn cut from the cob). I was somewhat shocked by the full stick of butter called for (for an 8 inch square pan), and included 1/4C brown sugar.
My old standby recipe for cornbread is this one from Vegetarian Epicure, but I had not remembered only rating it a 3, and I guess I don't prepare cornbread as often as I used to.
I would love to try this one again, but reducing the fat, and with only 1/2 the sugar.
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Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse
By John Stage, Nancy Radke
Ten Speed Press - 2009
This recipe prepares a large batch of a dry salt-spice combination. It is used to flavor meat prior to its going on the grill, and it is an essential first step for excellent grilled meats. This particular recipe includes a bit of sugar, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, cayenne, etc. One batch makes 2 3/4 cups, so it will last you a very long time. We have also given this rub to friends as Christmas gifts.
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Website: Cooking
This is a fantastic cake! Be warned that it will rise a fair bit (or at least it did at my mile-high elevation). I split out a bit of batter for an additional pan, and am glad I did so.
I used the entire 2 tsp of freshly ground cardamom, and the flavor was great - not at all overpowering. The almond aroma during baking is powerful enough to bring teenage children out from behind closed doors, and earn their appreciation.
I prepared this for my 17 1/2 year old daughter's half birthday. We skipped the pistachio because we didn't have any - but some additional decoration would have been nice.
I should also note that this cake is EASY. If you keep ground almonds on hand, the most difficult part is opening the cardamom pods and grinding them.
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The Food Of Morocco
By Paula Wolfert
Ecco - 2011
Mmmmmm, almond flavored milk!
In this recipe, you grind up blanched almonds with a bit of sugar and a bit of orange blossom water, add water, sieve, add milk. And enjoy.
Compared to the avocado and date milk shake, I did a much better job grinding the almonds (I used a small chopper that fits on my stick blender) and I did a better job of sieving out the solids. It helped that I made a 1/4 sized batch - not so much patience required.
The result was refreshing. It felt like a light and healthy drink. The almond flavor was present, but not aggressive. The sweetness was just perfect. And only a small hint of the orange water.
I could grow to really like this one!
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The Savory Way
By Deborah Madison
Bantam - 1990
Our family loves marzipan, and I was excited to discover this recipe. We followed it exactly. We used 2 C of almonds, blanched them, warmed them in the oven, dried them, and prepared a syrup that we added to the ground almonds. We ended up with 1 lb of almond paste (which I separated into four 4-oz aliquots, wrapped in saran, and then in a second sealed container). There was still enough left in the food processor to scrape off and enjoy.
Two difficulties were encountered. First, I have an off-brand food processor, and it was hard to really get the almonds ground very fine - and hard to know what "fine and smooth" really means. The second problem was that after adding the syrup, it was so stiff, we needed to add about 2 T water. Also, I suggest removing it from the food processor quicky, it hardens up fast!
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Recipes for an Arabian Night: Traditional Cooking from North Africa & the Middle East
By David Scott
Pantheon - 1984
Surprisingly tasty - for a simple and unusual recipe.
My assignment for our next cookbook club is soup, and because there is generally a lot of food at these events, I want something not too heavy. This recipe caught my eye as I've never tried an almond soup.
An onion is sautéed in butter, flour added, and then chicken broth is carefully mixed in. This is cooked to thicken slightly, and 1C ground blanched almonds are added (I used Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour/meal). This is then allowed to simmer for about 1/2 an hour, and then 1C cream is to be added (I used 1/2C half and half, and 1/2 C whole milk). Salted and peppered and you are ready to go.
Both my teenage kids thought this sounded terrible, and they were begging me for top raman. But once they tasted it, they loved it. In fact, I might have given this soup a 3 (flavors are nice, but not really complex), but they insisted it should be a 4.
This soup is probably good enough to take to my dinner, but I'm hoping to test another recipe or two before Saturday.
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Mediterranean Paleo Cooking: Over 150 Fresh Coastal Recipes for a Relaxed, Gluten-Free Lifestyle
By Caitlin Weeks NC, Chef Nabil Boumrar, Diane Sanfilippo BS NC
Victory Belt Publishing - 2014
This recipe produced some nice flavored cookies, but only by modifying the recipe so it will actually work. The instructions say to prepare a batter and roll it into balls, which are then rolled in chopped nuts. This batter is so loose and sticky there is no way to form it into balls. We added extra almond flour to get the texture a bit closer, and still just dropped spoons of it on a bed of chopped nuts, which were then carefully moved to the baking sheet.
The cookies had a nice flavor, not too sweet, and the sliver of apricot really added a nice touch.
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DK Children's Cookbook
By Katharine Ibbs
DK Publishing - 2004
This was a great meal. I would eat it every day if I could. This recipe uses regular couscous, but you add various things including apricot. It really elevated the couscous to something very special.
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Website: Cooking
This recipe actually worked, and the tortillas were delicious.
In the past, I tried pressing tortillas using masa that had already been made (could purchase in the refrigerated section of the hispanic market). However, I could never get the tortilla to release from the plastic that you use to line the press.
This time I changed two things - I used a bag of masa harina and prepared it according to this recipe, and instead of plastic to line the press, I used parchment paper. I am pretty sure the parchment made all the difference in pressing, but the resulting tortillas were delicious.
My only quibble with the recipe is that it states that its enough for a taco party. That is true if your party is only for three people! The three of us had no problem demolishing the tortillas, which we used to prepare Smitten Kitchen's charred corn tacos, which I previously reviewed here. It was a delicious summer dinner.
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Pie in the Sky Successful Baking at High Altitudes: 100 Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Breads, and Pastries Home-tested for Baking at Sea Level, 3,000, 5,000, 7,000, and 10,000 feet (and Anywhere in Between).
By Susan G. Purdy
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2005
Perhaps I just don't like angel-food cake? This is the first one I've ever prepared, and I had to go buy a pan to prepare it. The instructions were good, and I fared fine despite having to use a hand mixer (no stand mixer). The front piece was very interesting -- the problem with angel food cake at high altitude is that our lower pressure can make the air bubbles pop. Therefore, one doesn't beat the whites quite a much, allowing each bubble to have a thicker egg white shell.
The cake cooked fine, came out of the pan, etc. It seemed a bit sticky, and even the teenagers felt it was too sweet. I prepared a sauce with sour cherries, which helped, but not enough to bring this into the "make again" category.
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Website: 101 Cookbooks
An excellent chocolate pudding. Easy to make, healthy, and delicious.
I substituted Grand Marnier for the amaretto to get the chocolate-orange rather than almond flavor. And next time I will probably use ginger liqueur.
A highly adaptable recipe that is sure to please anyone - vegan or not!
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
The name says it all! As Zosia said, these are wonderful smelling and great to eat. The aroma of yeast makes you think -- perhaps bread? -- but the flavor is not bread at all. The outside is super crispy, and the inside very custardy. The salt keeps it savory, and balances out a nice dollop of syrup.
I was very surprised to discover that this recipe was first developed by Mollie Katzen, of Moosewood fame. I've made versions of this from other cookbooks, but this one might be the best. Probably because I went ahead and added all the called-for butter.
Note that you'll have to play around to figure out the timing. When my waffle iron beeped, the outside was brown but it was very soft inside. We liked them a bit more brown, and less gooey inside.
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Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day
By Moosewood Collective
Fireside - 1994
This recipe is a general instruction, with a menu of possible ingredients. It was sufficiently detailed for my 15-yr-old son to decide to do on his own (!!!). We gave each person a plate with chopped lettuce, and then we added the antipasto to the salad. It was delicious!
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How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food
By Mark Bittman, Alan Witschonke
Wiley - 2007
This versatile recipe calls for peas, gives brief technical advice (a bit of butter or EVOO), and a menu of fragrant additions from which you can select. I chose orange zest, and then spotted my bottle of dried shallots, so gave it a dash of that, as well. When it first started cooking, I was afraid it was a bad combination, but in the end it was pretty good.
I imagine that this recipe could be better - by using different additions, or paying better attention to cooking time (my woops). I highly recommend this as a simple way to cook peas, and a method that offers great flexibility.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This recipe produces exceptionally light and crispy scones. The cheddar flavor is somewhat assertive (I used sharp), but nicely balanced by the apple. I used a very coarse turbinado sugar on top (on the egg wash). Start to finish took me about 75 minutes.
There are three sources of milk fat in this recipe - cheese, butter, and cream. This seemed excessive to me, and so I substituted nonfat milk for the cream, and they taste great.
I had cut in the butter, then tried to use my wimpy hand mixer for the rest of the ingredients. But the mixer was supposed to also chop up the semi-dried apples. A sticky mess ensued when I dug them out of the semi-mixed batter and chopped them up. Worry about over-mixing led me to empty the bowl too soon - lots of flour and barely mixed in butter. I very gently kneaded it (2 times). No problems, it worked out fine.
Final note --- I formed a freeform rectangle, and cut it into about 10 scones, and underbaked by 4 or 5 minutes.
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Jamie's Great Britain
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2011
A fresh, crunchy salad - with an amazing blue cheese dressing with walnuts. Huge think slices of apple were gorgeously displayed over a bed of watercress. The blue cheese dressing was very delicious - with cider vinegar, onion, and yogurt. The result was a light salad with great texture, visually appealing, and excellent flavor.
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Website: Recipes for Health by Martha Rose Shulman
topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/index.html
This recipe is a very healthy version of dessert. Whole grain noodles are first partially cooked. They are mixed into apple chunks that were sauteed in butter. A custard of eggs, yogurt, a tiny bit of sugar, and nutmeg is prepared, and then the whole lot is mixed together and baked.
As the recipe warns, noodles at the top become brown and crunchy. I wished I had added the optional raisins, but some in this house do not like raisins...
Mine cooked a bit faster than the recipe says - it took about 35 minutes instead of 40.
Not fantastic, but slightly sweet, so might hit the right note for some.
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Website: food52
This cocktail proved to be delicious, and a perfect addition to our dinner party. Apple cider was the major ingredient, with rye next (we used wild turkey rye). The recipe suggests hard cider but under the comments on the recipe, it seemed that ginger beer or ginger ale were popular substitutes. I bought some very strong ginger ale, and it was perfect. The flavor profile was very nice, not too sweet, the rye flavor was definitely there, but not overwhelming.
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New James Beard
By James Beard
Knopf - 1981
A no-milk and no-egg tapioca!
I'm a big fan of puddings, and so this recipe intrigued me. Apple slices are sauteed with caramelized sugar, pearl tapioca is soaked and then cooked in a double boiler, and then these two components are layered in a baking dish. Finally, the dish is topped with brown sugar and bread crumbs.
I had a fair amount of trouble with the sauteed apple slices. The sugar wanted to burn, and I added the apples a bit too early. They first cooled the sugar, and then they gave off a lot of water. I terminated cooking when the apples were soft (as instructed), but the caramel sauce was very runny. In retrospect, I should have cooked it down, but I didn't.
My second problem was that I only had about 2/3 of the called for small pearl tapioca, and so added about 2T of instant. After cooking in the double boiler I was amazed at its glue-like consistency.
I made about four layers of apples, with three layers of tapioca. Used panko with brown sugar for the coating on the top.
I used a slightly larger pan, but it still overflowed. The recipe calls for six apples - mine were big, so I only used five, but probably should have used 3 or 4.
13 daughter suggested that smaller apple pieces would be better. Despite these problems, it tasted good, especially with a bit of vanilla ice cream.
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Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse
By John Stage, Nancy Radke
Ten Speed Press - 2009
crunchy topping included nuts, a nice touch. It had a good balance of cinnamon and nutmeg. The filling was really nice - with apples and raisins. The cook couldn't find cranberries, but successfully swapped out raspberries.
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Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
By Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero
Da Capo Press - 2007
Spicy muffins with small touches of sweetness.
These muffins came together quickly - bran, whole wheat pastry four, and apple sauce contribute to a healthy muffin. The spices include cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon. This is a great spice combination but perhaps there is a bit too much cardamom - it seems a bit too spiced. I substituted currents for the raisins.
I liked these very much, just didn't WOW me enough to go up to a 4. I would consider making these again, mostly because they were good enough and easy to prepare.
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Beard On Bread
By James Beard
Knopf - 1995
A beautiful loaf flecked with golden nuggets from the apricots. This is a baking soda bread, rich with eggs and butter. It produced a fine densely textured bread with a wonderful flavor.
We didn't add the nuts (kids with braces). Our apricots were cut into fairly large chunks (size of a whole almond), which tended to sink to the bottom. I would advise cutting the apricots into pieces more like the size of a pea so they will remain suspended in the loaf.
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Website: New York Times - Recipes
topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/recipes/index.html
A lovely almond-apricot dish with very little sugar!
Apricots are placed in a buttered dish, and a batter composed of milk-soaked bread chunks, egg yolk, vanilla, almond extract, almond flour, sugar, honey and salt has egg whites folded in, and then is spread over the apricots. This bakes for 40 minutes, and it puffs up nicely.
I cooked this in a shallow 2 qt pan. When I prepare it again, I will use a deeper and narrower pan. Note also that the recipe tells you to soak bread chunks in milk for 2 hours. I didn't have the time, and so cut my bread pieces smaller - and soaked them only an hour. Once they fell apart easily I knew it was ready for me to proceed. I also skipped the pretty almond slices on the top - and didn't miss 'em.
Eat this warm. Its got a slightly gritty texture from the almond flour, but a lovely flavor. The barely-sweet dough brings out the sweetness of the apricots. This is a low calorie and healthy dish that tastes wonderful.
Apricots are in season now. If you, like me, are blessed with a friend with a large apricot tree, make this dish now!
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Website: Saveur Website
I used this recipe just for the glaze. I used apricot jam that I prepared last summer, and of course fresh ginger. The apricot-ginger combination was nice, but it wasn't very noticeable on the smoky ham.
To cook the ham, I instead followed these instructions - a sous-vide sort of approach.
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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
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.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Forty minutes, mostly hands off, and you, too, could be enjoying a creamy, vanilla-infused pudding. The addition of a bay leaf gave an interesting flavor, but next time (yes, definitely a next) I will select the option with almond extract.
I had no trouble with it sticking to the bottom of the pan, but it did tend to form a viscous skim.
I like that this is not too sweet, it seemed to be missing something - so I added salt - bingo! Perfecto.
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Website: Cooking
This recipe will produce a lovely meal in around 30 minutes! Cooked soba noodles are tossed with a pesto-like mix of pine nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice (both replaced with lime) and garlic. This is served alongside fish, oven roasted with olive oil and cumin seeds.
I appreciated that you didn't have to grind the cumin, but instead toasted the seeds and then sauéed with the oil. We substituted salmon for the char, and the oil topping did make the fish super moist. However, I didn't think cumin tasted right with the salmon.
The soba, on the other hand, was easy and delightful.
Next time, I will use an alternative spice for the salmon, and keep the soba exactly the same.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This is a rice pudding unlike any I've ever made before.
It took me quite a bit longer than suggested in the recipe. The two cooking stages (first rice+water+spices, and second rice mix + milk & egg) each took about 25% longer than suggested. But its mostly hands off, so not really an inconvenience.
What makes this particular rice pudding a stand out is its amazing flavor. That flavor comes from a soak, and the two cooking stages with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and lemon peel in the mix. Somehow those flavors meld, and are transformed into an entirely new entity.
I should also mention the texture. This pudding does set up some while cooling, so be patient in that last cooking phase, and bring the mixture really close to your optimum texture.
Also, I added the raisins. If you really love raisins, add extra, they are not dense in the final product.
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The Very Best Of Recipes for Health: 250 Recipes and More from the Popular Feature on NYTimes.com
By Martha Rose Shulman
Rodale Books - 2010
My DH prepared this as an appetizer for cocktails with our neighbors, one of whom is lactose and gluten intolerant. The pecorino cheese was fine, and the can of non-brined artichoke hearts located in an Italian market ($7/can!), were superb. Very delicious, and just the right thing.
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Website: Epicurious
Surprisingly good and well balanced.
I substituted 1C edamame for the fava beans - cooked them, ground them in the food processor, and mixed in arugula, Parmigiano-Reggiano (grated), lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil. After grinding these up, you mix in some less-ground-up beans and some chopped arugula.
I found that this dish needed twice the lemon juice and twice the olive oil.
Kids and husband were surprised at this. It was devoured in an appetizer-only dinner - with ciabatta bread instead of crostini.
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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
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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The Best Vegetarian Recipes: From Greens to Grains, from Soups to Salads: 200 Bold Flavored Recipes
By Martha R. Shulman
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2001
Spectacular!
This salad not only looked attractive, but each individual ingredient both stood out and complemented the other ingredients perfectly. I used bosc pears, and had to substitute feta for the goat cheese. I've come to love arugula relatively late in life, and this recipe showcased this lovely green beautifully. With the sweet pears and walnuts, arugula provided the perfect flavor complement.
I also should say that I really like Shulman's salad dressings. This one was no exception. Balsamic and red wine vinegar, a bit of mustard, and a bit of oil (in this case, walnut oil is called for, but we substituted what we had - hazelnut oil).
If you are lucky enough to have great pears don't hesitate - make this - its amazing.
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Crockery: Dinners (Great Recipes Collection)
By Grand Avenue Books
Grand Avenue Books - 2003
This extremely easy recipe produced a decent dish. Round stak is sliced into strips, and cooked with tomatoes, soy sauce, cider vinegar, and garlic. We used the optional high setting (3 hr) rather than let this cook all day. Ath the end, broccoli florets are added and cooked a bit. It was served with linguine.
My 17 yr old son wanted an easy crock pot recipe, and we borrowed this book from the library to give us a few more options. The sauce seemed a bit too strong, and I think it overpowered the round steak. But it certainly fulfilled the desire for quick food preparation.
I should also say that the flavor profile was not particularly Asian. A bit of soy sauce was the only nod this recipe made toward the east.
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Steamy Kitchen's Healthy Asian Favorites: 100 Recipes That Are Fast, Fresh, and Simple Enough for Tonight's Supper
By Jaden Hair
Ten Speed Press - 2013
A nice crunchy slaw made from Julienned jicama, bell pepper, cucumber, and shredded red cabbage. The suggested dressing though was way too bland.
This was prepared by my DH for my cooking club.
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Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals
By Ming Tsai, Arthur Boehm
Clarkson Potter - 2003
Sloppy joes are mostly made in the traditional way - sautéed onions, celery, and browned meat. Flavor in part comes by using beef and pork. But then the magic happens. You add diced tomatoes (we used the last of our garden's roma, but really canned would have served just fine), and the Hoisin-lime sauce.
My husband called this "a screaming 5" and "the best sloppy joe I've ever had".
It certainly satisfies, and it truly is an east-meets-west recipe.
It takes about 1 hour to prepare this (assuming the sauce is already made), and so its quite possible for a week night meal.
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The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods
By Sara Forte, Hugh Forte
Ten Speed Press - 2012
Very tasty, and a better product by following advice from @kfranzetta. Would have given it a 3 1/2 if that had been an option.
I pressed my firm tofu under the weight of a 2 qt juice bottle (full) for 45 minutes. It gave up a lot of water. Then I cut it into ~1/2 to 3/4 inch squares, and marinated for perhaps 20 minutes (ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, 5-spice powder, and sesame oil). I prepared 1/2 the hoisin-rice vinegar-yogurt dressing for the cabbage, but only used ~2/3 of what I prepared.
I really liked the crunch from the asian pear, the sweet-tart hoisin dressing, and the tofu. Even the tofu dislikers were very pleasantly surprised.
We served this on corn tortillas and in large flour tortillas (burrito-style). Other than tofu pressing time (which could go on in your refrigerator while you are at work), this is a manageable week-night dinner. Served with left-over roasted root vegetables. A light and tasty dinner.
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The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
Very nice soup, especially considering how easily it went together. I agree with all the other comments!
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
At first glance, I thought this recipe might be an asparagus version of this cocktail, but instead sieved hard-boiled eggs decorate the asparagus in an imitation of the flower.
The cool asparagus was delightful, the lemon played off the vegetal goodness of the asparagus, and the egg added only a small bit of smoothness. This is a dish for your good olive oil, and its the perfect thing for an unseasonably warm spring day.
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The Savory Way
By Deborah Madison
Bantam - 1990
The browned butter and slight dusting of pepper elevated this asparagus to new heights. My DH kept saying that the browned butter made the asparagus taste like lobster. I don't know about the lobster part, but all of us greatly enjoyed this dish.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This was easy and a nice crunchy contribution to dinner. I didn't have any beans, and so skipped that ingredient (an option given by Deb). Also, I didn't have chorizo, but I did have a nice local mild Italian Sausage, which I used instead. An Italian bread was cut into squares.
Because my sausage was very lean, I needed to use a bit of olive oil to keep the bread from sticking and to help it get crunchy. Everyone loved this, but I felt it needed more vegetable.
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The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
Umami flavor from miso is a perfect complement to asparagus. Then tying the two flavors together is a poached egg. Although this is presented as a side dish, it is rich and so flavorful that it easily carries out the role of a main.
For me, the amount of miso butter is too much for the asparagus. However, a bit of bread to mop it up might have been perfect.
This was lovingly prepared by my dh for mothers day.
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