The detailed instructions provided with this recipe were easy to follow, and the result was amazing. I started 2 days before serving with the preparation (jamming salt/herb mixture under the skin), and then cooked the chicken in a cast iron frying pan.

I have not roasted many whole chickens, and certainly not recently. I remember chickens sticking to the pan, and so I was nervous about flipping the chicken over half way through. But the instructions - to start with a hot pan and a dry chicken - did seal the skin, and flipping it over wasn't too much of a problem.

The only problem, from my perspective, was all the splattering grease. I'm very thankful for my self-cleaning oven.

The succulence of this chicken was amazing. Delicious and moist! My 15-yr old son has been unwilling to eat more than one bit of chicken for at least 5 years. But this, he ate, enjoyed, and even had seconds.

This recipe provides excellent detailed instructions on how to make chicken stock. I looked for chicken feet, including the local Asian market, to no avail, and still was able to make great broth using a standard grocery store whole chicken. I followed the instructions (except no feet and no extra wings), and the resulting broth has an excellent bright chicken flavor. I really enjoyed following the instructions for how to remove the breasts. It made me feel like Julie in the move "Julie and Julia".

One concern I had was with skimming off the foam. I did this, as per instructions, stirred, and skimmed again. However, foam continued to come up, and I was unsure whether to remove it or not. I decided not to, and it seemed to go away, but I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this.

This cookbook instructs us to do a lot of tasting, and in this recipe, to taste from the beginning. I was nervous about sipping a spoonful of water that contained a raw chicken carcass, but I did, and lived to tell about it. I found it instructive to monitor the development of this broth's wonderful chicken flavor, and I look forward now to trying recipes calling for high quality broth.

A simple and humble soup, with fresh ingredients. The soup's mildness in part comes from using water (called for in the recipe), but if I repeated I would substitute a broth. If your ingredients are truly fresh (other than the rice and cheese, all came directly from the garden), its very nice. Its fine for a light family dinner, with toast, or would be OK as a first course. It used most of an over-grown zucchini.

I was leafing through the cookbooks at the library, and this book opened directly to this page. Not having to go buy anything is a huge bonus. It seemed as if I were meant to prepare this. Unfortunately, my quick trip to the apple store (my son's phone ended up being replaced by a new one) took longer than expected, and lucky me, my DH prepared it for us.

A good use for an over-grown zucchini. This takes those mamouth excapees, and tames them by stuffing with a sausage, mushroom mixture rich in sage. The flavor was good, but don't be shy with the sage. I used garden fresh, and at least the 2T the recipe called for. As the reviews on TheKitchen say, it might be better with rice and less sausage. But don't skip the walnuts - they added an irreplaceable crunch.

A rich, moist cake that helps to use up that zucchini.

If you are worried that the zucchini will be too assertive, don't worry - it adds only color and moistness, and perhaps nutrition. This was simple to make - a cake mix, spices, oil, eggs, spices, and 2C grated zucchini. We substituted greek-style yogurt for the sour cream, and we skipped the frosting. We baked this in a bundt. It was delicious, but so rich that you really didn't need a second slice.

Better than it sounds!
Zucchini is grated, salted, and the water squeezed out. Then it is tossed with - you guessed it - cheese. The recipe suggests an assortment of lovely cheeses, but I used what we have on hand - a medium cheddar and pecorino. Also a generous hand with the pepper.

To get the somewhat wet filling to warm enough to melt the cheese, you need to cook these on the cooler side of the grilled cheese cooking temperatures. But other than patience, this recipe is a winner!

Daughter (now 18) loves grilled cheese, and DH enjoyed it too. An easy summer weeknight dinner.

Great concept - zucchini scones with sun dried tomatoes - but the recipe had lots of errors!

I discovered this recipe, and the blog, from TheKitchn. The scrumpdillyicious blog states that the recipe is originally from "Recipes from the Wilderness" by Craig Higgins, and I think that errors arose when the blog copied it.

First problem was that 250 g of flour were to be mixed with 7 g of butter - that was only about 1/2 tsp. I guessed that 70 g were intended, and so used 1/4 C butter. The amount of cream of tarter also seemed impossibly small (2 g), and so I used 1 tsp. Before I added the buttermilk, I realized the batter was already pretty moist from the zucchini, so I threw in another 1/2 C flour.

The blog also failed to tell us the baking temperature. I tried 410, but the bottom of the scones became a tad dark - next time I'll try 375. I baked them for about 35 minutes.

The instructions say to roll the dough into balls. For me it was still too moist. But the scones were pretty good, all things considered, and very moist. My low rating mostly came from all the errors.

A strange recipe prepared by my MIL. This cookbook is from an old community of summer cabins in Prescott Arizona. This recipe has only 3 ingredients - bisquick (2C), shredded cheese (2C), and Jimmy Dean sausage (1 lb). The three ingredients are mixed together (requiring considerable effort), and then formed into bite-sized bits and "baked till done" at 350.

I never would have selected this recipe to make, but I tried them - and surprisingly good. The teenagers couldn't get enough of them. I think they would be suitable to take backpacking or on a long hike.

This is a light lemony soup. Barley is precooked, and then mixed with broth (I used fish), herbs (dill, cilantro, and thyme), and brought to a boil. Once its hot, you whisk in yogurt and lemon juice.

The flavor is pretty good - very lemony - next time I'd use a bit less.

The down-side of this soup is that the yogurt-lemon ingredients did not mix in very well. In fact, it would separate as soon as you stopped stirring.

I thought it tasted pretty good, but 14-yr-old daughter didn't like it at all.

Chicken on the grill - but this one - no thrill...

This recipe had a lot of promise - Indian spices in yogurt, and a long time marinating in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, the chicken ended up bland - none of the flavor of the spices I had added.

It was moist, and I think pretty tender, but there are much better recipes out there for chicken in the grill.

Sweet, a great tomato flavor, and with a bold basil base note. The perfect trifecta.

Its that time of year - every night I'm roasting or freezing or simmering -- all to allow me to remember our garden this winter.

Tomato and basil is one of my favorite combinations, and so this recipe caught my eye. It did not disappoint! Lots of tomato, simmered with sugar, lemon juice, and near the end, I added the basil. The picture shows the filled jars prior to processing.

Chocolate heaven.

The many 5-star reviews led me to make these cookies. I did weigh my ingredients, but my dough was very crumbly. I over-mixed mine (my single biggest cooking problem -- plunging in and doing things before I read it carefully). The instruction suggest covering your bowl with a dish towel and pulsing your mixer on and off. I use those old 1940's pyrex mixing bowls, though, which are low and wide. So I used two sheets of plastic wrap (one on each side). I was so thrilled that there wasn't flour everywhere I just kept on mixing.

More than half my cookies were a pile of crumbs that I compressed into a blob. Cooked up fine, but not pretty. The other half were less crumbly, and looked ok. But they all tasted amazing.

I used regular chocolate chips (chopped up). I think the suggestion of crunchy salt is a very good one.

We prepared this punch for our Christmas Eve dinner party. I really liked that it wasn't too sweet, and that one could dial down the alcohol by addition of sparkling water. It is a gin and prosecco based punch, with additional flavor from rosemary simple syrup and ginger juice. Getting several tablespoons of juice from a ginger root was the most difficult step of the recipe, and the overall flavor went well cheese-based appetizers.

Why knew that pickled red onions were the perfect complement to chard? But when I noticed that this was an adaptation of a Deborah Madison recipe, it all made sense.

The red onions do not need much time to pickle. Like Amanda Hesser, I needed more vinegar/water for the pickling than the recipe suggests.

I could easily eat this all the time. It was seriously addicting.

Note that the instructions say to slice thick rings. I think mine were too thick, though they did turn out beautiful imho.

This is a simple 3-ingredient recipe. So simple, and yet it was the perfect addition to these croquettes.

I have to admit to an eye-roll when preparing this condiment, and nearly skipped it. I mean, how good can a bit of wilted parsley really be? The red wine vinegar, though, elevated the parsley, and the salt brought much-needed salt to the croquettes. My parsley did NOT wilt, though, yet that was no problem. I would guess that the alternative cilantro would wilt very quickly. The slow wilting of parlsey means you don't really need to wait until the very last minute before preparing this add on.

Nice concept, but the recipe has a couple problems. The salad is pretty simple - a couple types of rice, some lightly steamed asparagus, herbs, walnuts, and a dressing. I prepared as described, except I doubled the asparagus.

The dressing called for 1/2 C of oil, and as I was adding it, I became skeptical. I added ~2/3 of the dressing, and the salad felt quite greasy. I didn't care for the dressing on the day I prepared this, but as leftovers for my lunch, the flavors had melded, and it was better.

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.

This recipe yielded thick fluffy pancakes.
The flour was 2/3 whole wheat, 1/3 all purpose - but by using buttermilk, baking soda, and baking powder, they were rather light, and nobody complained. The recipe prepared enough for four light eaters.
The recipe called for blueberries to be added while cooking; we didn't have any and didn't miss 'em.

As usual, 13-daughter ate hers au naturale, but my DH used a generous dose of maple syrup. Both were happy!

One note - I used butter in the pan to cook them, and it imparted a very good buttery flavor (but made them slightly less healthy).

A striking presentation for cauliflower!

This recipe first caught my eye because I think it could be tweaked to make a Halloween dinner dish - by carving the cauliflower to look like a brain.

To prepare this, the instructions first tell you how to make a batch of tandoori spices. I didn't want yet another spice mix, so I scaled it down and just guessed the amounts. Once you have the spice mix, you mince ginger and garlic, combine them with the spices and yogurt and lemon juice and oil. You rub this all over your cauliflower, marinade (I let it go 1.5 hrs, but the recipe advises that longer is also OK). It then roasts for about 1 hour.

This looked beautiful and was easy to slice. I think the flavor profile of mine was a bit off - but perhaps because I estimated the tandoori spice blend amounts for a single serving. Nevertheless, its aroma was wonderful, and I will happily eat the leftovers.

Very flavorful, and if prepared from canned beans, its also quick!
A flavored oil is prepared using garlic and fresh rosemary. It is mixed with the beans, mashed in a food processor, and almonds, salt, and lemon juice added. At the end, a bit of additional oil and some lemon zest is put on top, and some toasted almonds.

This paired really well the the pita chips, from the same cookbook (and pictured above with a pita chip).

This recipe was prepared by my 13 yr old daughter for our cookbook club. It was very popular, and was nice with beer, wine, and cocktails.

This recipe has potential to be five - its just too salty.

A fennel bulb and white onion are sliced thinly, and caramelized (3T olive oil) (with fennel seeds). Instructions say 25 minutes - mine was starting to caramelize by that time, and I gave it an additional 7-8 minutes. I think another 10 would continue to enhance this part of the calzone.

The other part is a mashed up white bean-lemon zest-olive oil mix. I used canned beans (not my favorite), and we had a lot of trouble with this step until we turned to an underused kitchen tool - the muddler. That mashed up the beans well.

After rolling out the pizza dough, you spread the bean mixture and then the fennel/onion mixture, seal it up, brush it with oil, and apply some salt.

20 minutes at 500F and its done - beautiful!

The lemon squeezed on at the table adds a lot - and helps to cut the salt. I'm not sure if the salt came from my canned beans (I did rinse them well), or the many parts, each well salted.

I liked the combination of flavors, the final look of the calzone, and how well it sliced. This recipe is worth tweaking!

This salad was amazing!

Once you've cooked the wheat berries, the rest is easy - onions are fried till slightly charred, and then kale takes a turn in the frying pan. A good dose of salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Its really that simple.

This salad also really beautiful. I'd be happy to eat this any day.

A nice bright dish, with zucchini, asparagus, and cauliflower cooked to crunchy perfection. The veggies are sautéed in coconut oil (which in our current heat wave is suddenly a liquid!), and then further cooked in coconut milk.
I agree with Andrew that the spicing is too mild. However, this was an easily prepared dish that my DH made for my return home (30 hrs transit). It was fresh and delicious.

The author does caution to be sure to add salt. My DH added about 1 tsp salt, and we still needed more at the table. Served with brown rice and a green salad.

This is a nice idea - adding wasabi to a rice vinegar/soy sauce/honey/oil dressing. It is dressed up a bit with sesame seeds.

This just didn't give the salad enough of a punch. I am thinking a pinch of cayanne or other spicy hot thing would have made it better.

I have searched for a chocolate pudding cake that matched that of my youth, and you can track my efforts here, here, here, and here. This one finally earns the coveted top rating. The ratio of pudding to cake was perfect, the texture of the pudding was thick, and the cake was truly cakey. The only change I made was to use boiling water instead of cold, because that was what we did, back in the day.

This was what my son wanted for his birthday cake, and it performed perfectly.

Don't forget the scoop of vanilla ice cream for the top.

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!

We loved this cake! It contains very little flour, and instead the body is largely composed of chopped walnuts and the crumb of your choice. Like Peckish sister, I used Panko. This mixture also contains separated eggs, with the whites beaten and folded in. I was quite skeptical, it looked different from almost every cake I've ever prepared, but my worries were unfounded.

Like PS, the most difficult part, we found, was waiting. First you wait for the cake to cool, then you slice and apply syrup. Then you wait for the syrup to penetrate - over night. I will confess to snitching a small piece for breakfast, and it went very well with a cup of strong coffee.

Surprisingly Good!

So simple: an egg yolk and sweetened condensed milk are mixed together, and then club soda is added. The result is milky, somewhat bubbly, and rich tasting. If you like the flavor of sweetened condensed milk (I do), and are not squeamish about raw egg yolk, then you should try it!

It would be easy to also added more things to change the flavor - like some cinnamon or a bit of lemon zest. But really, just like it is, its great.

So many lovely cocktail recipes in this book....

This particular one I selected because I have no idea what to do with the cream of cassis in my liquor cabinet. Admittedly, this recipe calls for cassis syrup, not the liqueur, but all I could find was online, the Torani Cassis syrup (on line), and none in my local shops.

So - I did substitute the liqueur, and it made the cocktail a beautiful color. I felt there might be too much club soda, though, and did go back and add another 1 tsp cream of cassis. It was a refreshing drink, with a mild amount of alcohol -- something I could sip all afternoon.

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.

A fun cake for a lucky new years!

My contribution to a group cooking event - making a good luck New Years Day meal - was Vasilopita. This is a Greek cake in which one bakes a coin. The person who received the slice with the coin will enjoy the most prosperity in the coming year.

I found many different recipes across cyberspace, and decided on this one with large amounts of orange and lemon zest. The batter is very thick, but it rose nicely as it baked. I also did as suggested - write the new year with cloves in the top of the cake.

The cake did have a nice orange-lemon flavor, and the cloves also added a good bit of flavor. But the texture was nothing special.

A perfect combination of flavors. The topping, and lets face it, we all eat upside down cake for the topping - had pineapple, cranberries, and pecans - a lovely mix of sour, sweet, soft, and crunchy. Richness of the gingerbread was a perfect complement.

This cake was prepared previously by my mother for her rug hooker group, and they rated it "wow!" and "loved it". I wouldn't change a thing about this recipe.

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!

Delightful umami flavor with thick noodles - a filling but not heavy soup that is perfect for a hot summer day.

Selecting this to prepare has an ironic start - I found locally made udon noodles at my farmer's market - but locovore I was not, as I had to buy a bag full of Japanese ingredients to prepare this. But no regrets here. Preparing this not only led to a delicious meal, but I learned so much!

I prepared this with my 15 yr old son. We had never cooked with kezuri-bushi or mirin before. The kezuri-bushi is dried flaked bonita tuna, which you boil in water along with some soy sauce and mirin (which is sake-like, but with extra sugar). After only a minute boiling, and then a minute sitting, you sieve it to remove the tuna, and are left with a beautiful rich broth.

An egg/scallion mixture is then swirled into the broth, which turns it very thick with ropes of egg.

It is served with noodles, topped with broth, and then ginger.

I am so glad we made this - very delicious.

To serve, you cook the udon, rinse, place in bowl,

Beth's review caught my eye, and YUM! My daughter says "these taste just like the ones at Costco", but I think they are even better (the secret is a bit of coffee).

The hardest part about making these is letting them cool in the pan for 5 minutes - take them out too early and they fall apart.

Really delicious!

This was a very simple recipe, but for me, the combination of carbs with carbs wasn't my cup of tea. This was my 16 yr old's selection, which he prepared for dinner. He did a nice job. The bread was grated - this took quite a bit of work - then sauteed with garlic in a large amount of olive oil.

Looking for the perfect fall cocktail? This might be just the ticket. Not a complicated list of ingredients (Bourbon (wild turkey 101), muddled sage leaves, pumpkin butter, lemon, and angostura bitters), and the result is complex while not being overly pumpkin sweet. Yes, this is no pumpkin spice latte, its got a lot of booze (2 oz), is a rich dark orange-brown color, and the sage is an amazing addition. I served this to my girlfriends and it was warmly received.

Perfect for fall, I served this along with this appetizer.

A delicious alternative to my usual sesame seared ahi. Here, you make a quick topping of sautéd onions, tomatoes, garlic, and basil. It really pays to use the fresh stuff. As per suggestions on the epicurious web site, I also added white wine to the tomato mixture - it needed some additional liquid.

I also lightly marinated the tuna -- olive oil, rice vinegar, and a touch of tamari. Then seared the steaks for 1 - 2 minutes per side.

Very tasty!

This is an advanced recipe for kids, and it led to a wonderfully flavored broth. The base was chicken broth (we made fresh), and a sofrito of onion, garlic, and tomato is first fried, and then added to the broth. This part is simple, and well targeted for kids. The difficult part is frying tortilla strips.

I didn't care for the cubes of Monterey Jack cheese that were added at the end, but the broth was delicious - complex and satisfying.

This was prepared by 13-daughter, who is about to become 14-daughter.

I really liked this salad. It is simple, and the flavors of arugula, tomato, and feta are an excellent combination. The dressing that is provided along with the salad is also simple - sherry and balsamic vinegars, olive oil, and pepper. I used four different types of home-grown tomatoes - different colors and sizes.

I'd make this salad again, possibly expanding to add additional veggies that are loitering in my crisper drawer.

Great sauce! My 13 yr old daughter was amazed - this sauce has all those good flavors, but it isn't actually hot.

I used 2 Jalapeno peppers that were carefully seeded. Part of the trick here is grinding up the onion, garlic, and peppers (I used my stick blender).

I used this sauce for these zucchini black-bean enchiladas - it was just about perfect.

Amazing flavor - the taste of summer on your fork - and better than any sweet cobbler I've ever tasted. And it turns out to be one of Mark Bittman's favorite recipes, too.

It didn't hurt that we have a great tomato crop, and could use peak ripeness tomatoes (mostly romas, some other heirloom varieties thrown in for fun). The tomatoes are quartered, and tossed with some corn starch, salt, and pepper. Larger tomatoes were cut into smaller pieces. I used a healthy dose of pepper, and am glad. I also was worried that it might be bland, and so added about 1/4 C fresh basil. It probably would have been just as good without.

The topping was easily prepared in a food processor. Flour, corn meal, butter, baking powder, b. soda, salt, an egg, and buttermilk. The instructions say it should come together as a ball, and if it doesn't, to add more flour. Ours didn't, we added another 1T flour, and it was still in a wet mess on the bottom of the food processor. We just went ahead, and it turned out great.

Like most recipes in this cookbook, there are many variations. Because we had fresh sweetcorn, I made the variation where you mix fresh corn with the cornmeal. It amped up the corn is a very good way.

I would gladly eat this most every day of tomato season.

Delicious, and the blue cheese (from the biscuits) really works with the tomatoes!

I have a prolific cherry tomato plant - my favorite type - Mexican Midgets. We picked 2 1/2 lbs (from one plant!), and used just these to prepare this recipe. I also did a full onion caramelization rather than the 20-minute version specified in the recipe. I recommend cutting your onions into small-ish pieces so that they are more easily distributed among the tomatoes.

The biscuit dough was very wet, but as promised in the recipe it took on better form after kneading 10 times.

I prepared this in a larger pan - maybe 7 X 11? - and I cut the biscuits into squares and used all of them.

The one person who does not like blue cheese didn't care for these, but the rest of us enjoyed them.

Excellent flavor with distinct cinnamon, curry, and pepper notes. We did not use the can of diced tomatoes, and instead used home-grown tomatoes roasted last summer, and frozen (yum!). We served this over brown rice. It was an excellent mid-week dinner.

Very fresh and bright tasting! This salsa is like a marriage between guacamole and a regular tomato-based salsa, and what a happy marriage it is!

Red onion is soaked in cold water for a bit to mellow it out, minced, added to diced tomatoes (I used four or five different types from my garden), diced peppers (again I used peppers from my garden), avocado, and cilantro. A bit of lime juice and salt, and that is it.

I'm not much of one for chips, and this chunky salsa easily made little mountains on each chip. This was perfect - mostly the well rounded flavors of fresh produce, but with a definite corn crunch.

This salsa is elevated by broiling the tomatillos, onion, and garlic first, and then grinding them up. Spice comes from chipotle peppers in adobo. We found that the final salsa was lacking in acid, and some lime juice made it much better -- delicious. We prepared and served this with the Tacos from the same site.

I loved this version of mayo. The spices recommended included paprika, I used smoked paprika, which gave it anexcellent flavor. I am always looking for a vegan mayo and I have tried a few but this one was one of the best. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was a little too thin for my liking but my daughter loved it all the same. This recipe used less oil than the one in Mark Bittman how to cook everything vegetarian which I appreciated..

Really sweet, but then, what did I expect?

It was great fun to broil the marshmallows and grind them up in my blender. The sour cream helped give it a deeper flavor. I made a half batch, and divided it up into four small servings. That was just perfect for a lazy Sunday.

Another ingredient for food preparation. This was simple - throw some chickpea flour into a dry frying pan, and don't forget to stir!

It takes about 10 - 15 minutes, and again was surprisingly fragrant.

This mysterious dessert intrigued us - how is it made? After it was a challenge on the TV show MASTER CHEF, we decided it was time to learn how to make it.

We looked at lots of recipes - basically lady fingers are soaked in a coffee-alcohol mixture, and layered with a creamy egg-based custard, with some chocolate or cocoa in the mix.

What sold me on David Lebovitz' version was his cream layer. All of them use raw eggs and mascarpone, but they vary in the the number of egg yolks and other ingredients. Most are heavy into the yolks, do not use the whites, and some add whipped cream. This recipe skips the whipped cream, and uses the whites (beaten separately then folded in) to lighted the custard.

We learned a bit about soaking lady fingers. They can accommodate a lot of liquid - and we didn't care for the "gush" of liquid produced, but this would easily be remedied by merely soaking until they are only half saturated. We also added a layer of grated chocolate and put cocoa over the top.

This recipe suggests serving after 4 hours, but it was much better after 24 hours. But why the had the master chef contestants serve theirs immediately I do not know.

I think this is a good recipe to know how to make. Its remarkably easy, and looks like you worked on it all day. This version would be great for serving to company.