A quicker treatment than the classic recipe for beef Bourguignon, which requires a long cooking time. This recipe uses slices of beef filet, which cook up very tender and tasty. The downsides: a 3-pound filet of beef is very expensive, and the recipe didn't make enough sauce.
Continue reading "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: Filet of Beef Bourguignon" »
In the name-dropping introductory paragraph to this recipe, Ina Garten says that "Lauren Bacall gets cranky" if the Barefoot Contessa store is sold out of this chicken. Since the store doesn't exist any more, I suppose that's not a problem these days. I guess I'm no Lauren Bacall (shocking, I know), because while this is an okay treatment for chicken, it's nothing spectacular.
Continue reading "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: Indonesian Ginger Chicken" »
I have yet to find a turkey meatloaf that tastes as good as the old standby made with beef, pork, and veal. Alas, this rendition from Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook fares no better than any other turkey meatloaf I've tried: the flavor is bland and the texture leaves much to be desired.
Continue reading "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: Turkey Meatloaf" »
This butterflied chicken cooks quickly and tastes great. A couple of quibbles: Wolfgang Puck could have been a bit more thorough in his instructions. And he's awfully parsimonious with the sauce.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Port & Whole-Grain Mustard" »
A very good pizza recipe from Wolfgang Puck. The dough is the same recipe that I've already tested from Live, Love, Eat! , and just as with my previous test, the dough was easy to work with and tasted great. The only variation here is the toppings.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Pizza with Caramelized Onions & Crispy Bacon" »
Wolfgang Puck is the last chef in Food Network Favorites ! We're starting his chapter off with a very good recipe. This goulash has a great flavor and is pretty simple to put together. The spaetzle that goes with it isn't quite as simple, however.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Wolfgang's Beef Goulash" »
A very good, albeit slightly too salty, spice rub for pork from Michael Chiarello. The sweetness of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves combine with the richness of unsweetened cocoa powder and white peppercorns for complex, sweet-savory flavor.
I realize that Mario Batali is getting short shrift, and all I can say is: his recipes aren't looking appealing. I'm ready to be done with Food Network Favorites, so Batali is going to have to be the one that got away.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cocoa-Spice Rub" »
A very simple, very tasty treatment for clams from Mario Batali. If you're not a clam fan, this is not the recipe for you, since there's nothing here disguising the essential clam flavor.
Another quick grill idea from Bobby Flay. No problems with this one; proportions were good, and the sauce makes a tasty accompaniment to the grilled shrimp.
A fast dinner idea from the Bobby Flay chapter in Food Network Favorites . The tomatillo sauce is easy to make and tasted great mixed with rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. The proportions were off, however.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Shredded Chicken & Tomatillo Tacos with Queso Fresco" »
From Bobby Flay, a very good recipe for pork tenderloin. I've had to add some information to the ingredients and the instructions for clarity, but the end result is a very good dish.
It's summertime, and I'm ready to start grilling, so it's on to Bobby Flay's chapter in Food Network Favorites . This is a delicious spicy salad topped with grilled marinated steak. It's a wonderful meal for a summer evening.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Grilled Steak & Papaya Salad" »
Not just any Bubba, but Paula Deen's younger brother, whom she taught to make this steak. Like all of Deen's cuisine, it's a calorie-laden dish. The flavor is merely okay; I didn't think it was worth making again, to be honest.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Bubba's Country-Fried Steak & Gravy" »
Very rich, with tons of calories, this recipe from the Giada De Laurentiis chapter of Food Network Favorites is delicious, and absolutely not diet food. My only nitpick: I thought there could have been a little more cinnamon.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Cinnamon-Pancetta Carbonara" »
Very simple to make, and extremely tasty. These pork chops are seared in a hot skillet, and served with a spicy, herby tomato sauce. My only issue: Giada De Laurentiis doesn't seem to allow quite enough cooking time, unless you like rare pork.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Pork Chops Alla Pizzaiola" »
A very good stuffed pasta from Giada De Laurentiis' chapter in Food Network Favorites. The sauce is quite spicy, and the contrast with the creamy ricotta filling is delicious.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce" »
A very tasty treatment for fish. It's essentially halibut with picatta sauce, although Tyler Florence doesn't call it that. If you like the classic combination of lemon juice, white wine, and capers, you'll like this recipe.
Is it an adequate version of roast chicken? Sure. Is it the "Ultimate"? Eh, not so much. Like most roast chicken recipes, this one tries to be unique by stuffing the chicken with various stuff (in this case, herbs, onions, garlic, and an orange). But roast chicken always ends up tasting like...roast chicken. There's not a whole lot you can do to it to make it interesting.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: The Ultimate Roast Chicken" »
Another offering from Tyler Florence. The title of this recipe really should be "Broiled Tomato Salad," since all you do with the beef tenderloin is season it with salt and pepper and throw it on a grill. As far as I'm concerned, that's not actually a recipe. It's the accompaniment to the steak that's the recipe here: cherry tomatoes are broiled and combined with onions, chiles, and cheese to create a warm salad. It's a tasty side dish, but I have some quibbles.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Spicy Grilled Beef Tenderloin" »
Another test from the Rachael Ray chapter in Food Network Favorites . It definitely took longer than 30 minutes to cook this one, and while the marinade for the steak is delicious, the potatoes are merely okay. And the instructions for the recipe are baffling.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Marinated Flank Steak with BLT-Smashed Potatoes" »
Even when Rachael Ray's recipe titles aren't aggressively cute, they're ridiculously long. Once again, however, a few gripes about the title are all I can muster up; this dish is very good, and for once, it actually does take only 30 minutes to prepare.
Well, okay -- I do have a couple of other gripes...
Seriously, that's the title. And when you've got a cutesy title and a recipe that takes way longer than 30 minutes to prepare, you know you're in Rachael Ray territory.
However, aside from the title ("Fake-Bake"? Really?) there's not a lot to fault this recipe for. It's a tasty combination of egg noodles, mushroom béchamel sauce, and sautéed mushrooms.
My last test from the Alton Brown chapter in Food Network Favorites. The success of this dish all hangs on how you feel about eggplant. It's a polarizing vegetable; people who like it tend to really like it, while those who hate it...well, they loathe it. If you fall into the latter camp, this recipe is not for you.
My last test from the Emeril Lagasse chapter in Food Network Favorites. In this dish, whole chicken legs are boned, filled with a cornbread and andouille sausage stuffing, wrapped in puff pastry, and served with an andouille cream sauce. There are several steps, and it's definitely not fast food, but the end result is very good. There is, however, a glaring error in the ingredients list.
Another selection from the Emeril Lagasse chapter in Food Network Favorites . This one suffers from too much of a good thing -- too many sweet elements, and not enough contrast.
Whew! We're back to good things from Emeril Lagasse's chapter in Food Network Favorites . These ribs take only a few minutes to prep, then they braise gently in the oven until tender. The flavors are excellent.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Asian-Style Braised Short Ribs" »
I'm moving on from Dave Lieberman, and the next chapter to tackle in Food Network Favorites is Emeril Lagasse. This fantastic mushroom recipe gets us off to a very good start. I do think that a rather large question is left hanging, however.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Mushroom Confit with Pasta Rags & Truffle Oil" »
From Food Network Favorites , a tasty entry from Dave Lieberman. This Thai-inspired treatment for shrimp can be made in stages, and tastes fantastic. As usual, my only quibble with Mr. Lieberman is proportions.
A fresh, light-tasting salad from Dave Lieberman. The preparation is extremely simple and the results are very good. My only quibble is with the yield.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Curried Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups" »
When I started testing Food Network Favorites , I thought I'd pick and choose recipes from the book at random. I've decided to change my approach, however, and work through the book in a more methodical fashion, one chef at a time. Since I've already done one recipe from Dave Lieberman, I'm sticking with him for now. This beef stew recipe is quite tasty, although I'm not sure about the green beans.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Red Wine Beef Stew with Potatoes & Green Beans" »
I was skeptical that this recipe was going to work: slices of unpeeled apples and butternut squash, plus wedges of onion, are scattered atop a pastry base and baked for less than an hour to create a savory tart. I didn't think the vegetables would get tender enough. Happily, my fears were baseless. This is a very good recipe.
Continue reading "Food Network Favorites: Butternut Squash, Apple & Onion Galette with Stilton" »
A simple cheese-and-spinach pasta dish from Off the Shelf that could use a tad more oomph. The addition of garlic livened this recipe up quite a bit.
Continue reading "Off the Shelf: Spinach and Ricotta Baked Pasta" »
Amazingly enough, for a dish that features the spicy North African chili paste called harissa, this recipe was bland and boring. I have a few suggestions for how to liven it up.
Continue reading "Off the Shelf: Harissa and Yogurt Baked Chicken" »
Off the Shelf has a chapter on Asian food, with lots of streamlined preparations for classic dishes. This is a very simple curry that tastes great.
Continue reading "Off the Shelf: Green Curry Chicken with Sweet Potato" »
This oven-roasted pork dish from Off the Shelf requires very little hands-on attention, and tastes great. I would, however, change the technique a bit (a refrain that's becoming common with this book).
Continue reading "Off the Shelf: Honey and Mustard Baked Pork" »
The "Pasta" chapter in Off the Shelf features many fresh new renditions of old classics. This flavor combination -- sage, brown butter, and pumpkin -- is always delicious, and Hay's recipe is easy to follow and tastes fantastic.
Continue reading "Off the Shelf: Pasta with Pumpkin and Sage Brown Butter" »
A very attractive-looking dish from Donna Hay's Off the Shelf . It tastes great and couldn't be simpler to put together: slice up an eggplant, top the slices with chicken breasts, tomatoes, capers, and a balsamic sauce, and bake for 20 minutes. An excellent idea for a cold, wintry day.
Continue reading "Off the Shelf: Balsamic and Tomato Roast Chicken" »
Another recipe from the "Cooking Ahead" chapter of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals . The flavorful marinade makes for a tasty, tender pork roast.
My reaction to this dish was, "Eh." It's really not all that exciting, and for the amount of work it takes, not worth the effort. Chicken thighs are braised in cider until tender, and the sauce thickens itself because the thighs are dredged in flour before being browned. There are a lot of steps to get this dish ready, and the payoff doesn't reflect all the work.
Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals has a chapter titled "Breakfast for Dinner," which features omelettes, quiches, and other breakfast staples that also make a quick dinner. This sandwich, says Moulton, is "a takeoff on you-know-what served by that fast-food restaurant." In other words, an Egg McMuffin. Instead of the English muffin, however, Moulton serves this scrambled egg and cheese combo on a rich cream biscuit.
Continue reading "Sara's Secrets: Egg, Canadian Bacon, and Cheddar Biscuit Sandwiches" »
What should be a very flavorful sauce for fish becomes amazingly bland with the treatment that Sara Moulton gives the black beans in this recipe. Remove the unnecessary soaking step, and the sauce is vastly improved.
Continue reading "Sara's Secrets: Salmon with Black Bean Sauce" »
A recipe from the "Shop and Serve" chapter of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals . In this section of the book, Moulton gives several ideas for recipes that can be put together with the help of convenience products from the supermarket. Here she uses a rotisserie chicken for a hearty, tasty soup.
Continue reading "Sara's Secrets: Green Posole with Chicken" »
A tasty pasta offering from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals . Broccoli and pasta are cooked in the same pot (though not at the same time), and tossed with sautéed garlic and prosciutto. Moulton's time estimates were right on the money, and this would be an easy weeknight dinner idea.
Continue reading "Sara's Secrets: Fusilli with Broccoli and Prosciutto" »
I've had a pretty high degree of success with Giada De Laurentiis so far; mainly, the problems I've encountered in her recipes have to do with technique. And with this recipe, we come to the sloppiest chapter in the book: Everyday Cutlets. While the dish itself is tasty and quick to make, I had quite a bit of frustration trying to figure out exactly how thin I was supposed to pound the chicken, or indeed if it even should be pounded at all.
Frankly, this isn't the best vegetable lasagna I've ever had. While the flavors are good, the texture is way too dry, and some of the technique is unnecessarily fussy. With a couple of simple changes to the recipe, the lasagna was much tastier, as well as easier to make, and to eat.
Continue reading "Everyday Italian: Individual Vegetable Lasagnas" »
As Giada De Laurentiis notes in her introductory paragraph to this recipe, braciola can mean different dishes depending on which region of Italy you're in. This version uses flank steak wrapped around a cheese-and-bread-crumb filling. The meat is tasty and tender, and the filled slices look lovely. I did have a few issues with the technique, however.
A perfect recipe for the slow cooker or Crock Pot. I've been making various versions of this chili for years, and it's particularly easy when you make it in the slow cooker.
Continue reading "From My Kitchen: White Bean Chicken Chili" »
Very rich, very tasty, and very easy. The salmon is slowly baked in the oven while you make the accompanying sauce. This would be a lovely dish to serve for a holiday brunch, since you can put it in the oven and ignore it for nearly an hour while it cooks. It can be served warm, or at room temperature, which makes it a nice option for a buffet.
Continue reading "Fast Food My Way: Oven-Baked Salmon with Sun-Dried Tomato and Salsa Mayonnaise" »
It sounds weird, right? I have to admit that's partly why I chose it; chicken and cauliflower with salsa? Really?
But it works. Crazy as it sounds, the combination is a good one. It's easy to put together, and the three elements work together to make a successful dish.
Continue reading "Fast Food My Way: Chicken on Mashed Cauliflower with Red Hot Salsa" »
The name is a bit misleading; this is more of a meat-and-vegetable skillet than it is a stew. There's no real sauce, since the veggies and steak are cooked in separate pans and then combined at the last minute. It's a very good recipe, although I'd make a couple of small adjustments.
Continue reading "Fast Food My Way: Instant Beef Tenderloin Stew" »
This is an excellent rendition of an Indian-restaurant classic. Jamie Oliver understands the necessity of slowly cooking the spices to coax the most flavor out of them, and the results are excellent.
An excellent example of Puck's California cuisine. The burgers are paired with a cooked salsa that complements the savory mushroom flavors. This would be a fun recipe for a weekend picnic or barbeque.
Continue reading "Live, Love, Eat!: Turkey Mushroom Burgers with Chunky Tomato Salsa Compote" »
This recipe is a good example of the problems I found throughout 30-Minute Get Real Meals . To keep things “low-carb,” Ray substitutes cauliflower for the traditional noodles or rice pilaf that are usually served with stroganoff. And while this might sound interesting on paper, in practice it just doesn’t work.
A fairly easy dinner to throw together. You can use lean turkey or fat-free. Same with the ricotta: low-fat, part-skim, or whole-milk all work fine. Avoid fat-free ricotta, as the texture isn't that great. Be sure to squeeze the hell out of the spinach, otherwise the filling will be watery. You can use the entire package of spinach if you want, but I prefer to leave out a good handful (1/2 to 3/4 cup), for a creamier filling. If you've never filled manicotti before, it can take a couple of tries to get a feel for it. I don't bother with a pastry bag, since that's one more thing to clean up. Just use a smallish spoon and put a tablespoon or so of filling into the pasta tubes at a time. If a tube splits, don't worry. Hold it flat in your hand and place the filling on top, then roll it back up and place it seam-side down in the baking dish.
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