What We're Cooking Now

What We're Cooking Now - My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz

Friday, May 22, 2015





Curtis Stone wrote this cookbook because he believe that "through tasty, well-cooked food prepared with fresh, quality, and seasonal produce you can have an incredible life."  He describes his book as providing inspiration and encouragement towards the end of an incredible life and writes of bringing joy and goodness to the bellies of his family.  This is big talk and sets a pretty high bar.

Good Food Good Life is a beautiful hard-bound book with many lovely photos and high quality paper stock pages.  Overall, the recipes worked as written and some even did provide some joy (HELLO Magic Caramel Bars!).  We did have a few challenges with this book however:

First, it is divided into seven chapters but the order of the chapters is a bit confusing, with "In the Morning" coming after "Sweets."    

Second, some of the instructions are imbedded in the ingredients list, and it's really important to read the ingredients list, therefore, with attention, before setting about to make the recipe.  This is not fatal, but I would have preferred that the instructions were in the instructions.

Third-while this book has some lovely, almost vintage feeling photographs, they are not always aligned with the recipes they accompany--this is especially vexing with a recipe like King Crab Legs with Avocado Chimichuri...I want to see this in all it's glory!! Show me Curtis...show me the masterpiece.



LIGHT MEALS

Roasted Beet and Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Fennel and Pecans (p7)
Deb:  I cheated a bit with this recipe as I had a big bowl of already cooked quinoa and some cooked beets.  So I cannot speak to the technique for those elements of this recipe.  Overall, this is a recipe that tastes good/good for you.  What's not to like? Arugula, pecans, beets and quinoa in a pleasing vinegary tarragon dressing.  Pleasing and complementing textures, colours and tastes.  Yum!

Baja Salad p11
Bonnie: This is my new favourite salad and have made it a number of times since my first test run. While making the Pickled Red Onions (p 12) is a bit of an extra step, once they are made and in your fridge, you'll turn to them over and over again. They are great on sandwiches, burgers, and as Curtis suggests, his Mulita-Style Quesadillas (p217). They really do add a zesty element to not only the salad dressing, but also a great crunch to the salad.
 Celery Root Soup p22
 Kristi:I actually made this soup twice as it was Whole 30 compliant, and our “diet” fell during part of our testing period.  It is indeed a bowl of health!  Adding turnip and celery root were on the surface a nice addition, although I realized how upset my stomach became because of the turnip.  (TMI?)  I believe there was an error in this recipe though—it didn’t seem to call for enough water when making the stock.  It also seemed to me that you should also be adding more herbs to your bouquet garni as it was a little light on flavor.  Oh wait, he didn’t actually suggest that you use cheese cloth to help you fish out the lemon zest-- that would have been helpful!   There are some minor tweaks that you can figure out on your own—the principal is good.
Pork Burgers with Spicy Ginger Pickles p37
Bonnie: mmmm kimchi mayo. Really really good! And the addition of the Spicy Ginger Pickles (p38), added a nice amount of heat and crunch to the burger. The patty itself was very tasty and juicy.

DINNERS
Piri Piri Chicken with Slaw p47
Bonnie: My husband made this on a week night for dinner and blew me away. The chicken was so succulent--but also on the spicy side...so if you are not a fan of chili heat, this may not be the right recipe for you. Keep in mind-the recipe calls for Fresno Chili Pepper which I have not been able to source here in Toronto. This may have contributed to the heat, as my hubby used a mixture of chili peppers we had on hand. At any rate, no matter how hot the chicken was, the slaw was SO refreshing with mint and cucumber.

Simple Roast Chicken and Potatoes p48
Bonnie: Really could NOT be simpler...seriously, chicken, s&p, a bit of flour and broth. But honestly, sometimes simple really is best.

Chicken with Ranchera Salsa p50
Julie:  This recipe was incredibly easy to assemble and visually appealing with the colourful heirloom tomatoes as the main component.  We really enjoyed this dish but I was extremely frustrated making it as I found the broiling time to be way off mark.  The chicken required triple the broiling time before it was done.  If I were to make this dish in the future I would bake it for approximately 10 minutes before putting it under the broiler to speed up the process.



Chicken and Broccoli Casserole p51
 Deb:  This recipe is easy to put together, and the first time I realized that the ingredients had instructions.  As such, my chicken thighs were not cut in to large bite-sized pieces.  Oops.  I did manage to see the instruction to blanche the broccoli, but only because of the "blanching basics" instruction at the bottom which caused me to search for the relevance of such an instruction.  Overall, this recipe is fine.  It has lots of sauce, which was more liquidy than I had expected, and it needs a lot of salt (okay, it was a bit bland).  Otherwise, though, this is a solid basic recipe which easily serves 6.
 
Julie:  After reading the list of ingredients for this casserole I was skeptical about the recipe as I thought it would lack flavour.  However, Stone’s description of the dish made me give it a try.  Unfortunately, I found that the bland image I had conjured up lived up to my expectation.  There was a lot of sauce and no real depth of flavour.  I would not make this dish in the future as I was quite disappointed in it.


Parm-Crusted Pork Chops with Lemony Kale Salad p57




Deb: This recipe is a lot of work and although the pork chops are quite tasty, they are not worth a solid hour of effort to me.  The recipe says to pound the pork chops to 1/2 inch thickness, but you're using bone-in chops, so that yields an uneven thickness which impacted a lot on the equal done-ness of the chops.  The panko/parmesan crumbs were fantastic and nicely crusted the outside when fried.  There was a lot of leftover flour/panko which had to be thrown out, and 9 tablespoons of fat is a lot for 4 pork chops, at least in my world.  Now I must say that the keeper part of this recipe is the very simple yet delightful accompanying cherry tomato and kale salad.  It is unclear from the recipe whether the tomatoes are meant to be part of the salad - they are listed under salad ingredients but the final instruction refers to them separately.  A picture would have helped.  However, I have taken to just tossing the tomatoes and their salty olive oil into the kale salad.  Big hit at a dinner recently.  Very easy, very tasty.  This is a keeper of a salad which I have made multiple times and the recipe has been requested every time!
Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with White Barbecue Sauce and Grilled Asparagus p59




Sandra: A wonderful family meal.

Braised Pork with Spicy Chipotle Sauce p58

Deb: I tried this recipe because it uses the crockpot which made me happy.  I put it all together and had it on HIGH with only 20 minutes work in the morning.  As with many of Curtis's recipes, it is key to read the ingredient list carefully as many of the preparatory instructions are there and not in the body of the recipe.  After 8 hours in the crockpot, the meat was falling apart.  It shredded nicely, as suggested in the intro, but it really wasn't much up to slicing.  We served the pork in corn tortillas with a cabbage slaw and guacamole.  Very nice. The potatoes were a bit of a curiosity.  In some ways, it seems like this is trying to be a traditional pot roast when it's better as a Mexican dish.  For burritos or tacos, I'd for sure make it again - likely omitting the potatoes.  The recipe says it serves 6.  There was certainly extra for the freezer.

Pene with SAusage and Broccoli Rabe p61


Julie:  As a pasta lover I was immediately drawn to this recipe and it was the first one that I tried from the book.  It was quick to prepare and used very few ingredients which is always a bonus but the taste was the best surprise of all.  It was absolutely delicious and I can see myself making this pasta again.


Porcini-Braised Beef with Horseradish Mascarpone p65
Deb: I'm always confounded by names of beef cuts we don't use in Canada - like beef chuck roast.  Turns out it's known here as a blade roast, among other things.  This recipe came together easily.  Grinding the porcini was a new technique.  I had great hopes for the taste.  Sadly, the taste did not wow us.  This was a good old fashioned pot roast, which we served with mashed potatoes and green beans.  The Horseradish Mascarpone was super easy and the kids loved it and the way it melted onto the beef.  I enjoyed the taste but found it pretty mild flavoured.  Overall, a solid B.  Easy to make, great texture, but bland.
Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Fennel p77
Bonnie:  Not sure what was going on with all this fennel. It made a nice roasting rack for the lamb, but there was WAY too much of it. Timing was a bit off with this as the lamb was VERY rare when it was time to stop cooking based on the recipe. We had to cook it for an addition 5 minutes and as you can see it was still on the rare side.

Stracci with Braised Lamb Ragu p78
Bonnie: Well, in my opinion, this was my favourite recipe from this book. I did not use Curtis' pressure cooker method, and instead did a long slow bake in the oven because I had the time. The sauce could not be easier and it was extremely tasty. I also loved the technique of  breaking lasagna noodles into random sized pieces into 'stracci' meaning rags. Really delicious!

King Crab Legs with Avocado Chimichurri p90
Kristi: This was a hit during our dinner party, and a fun entrĂ©e to share with close friends (read those you don’t mind making a mess in front of).  I had never prepared crab at home, so was glad to read how easy it was and that I shouldn’t be intimidated.  After spending $95 on the crab at the fishmongers, I was indeed a little worried that I would mess it up.  The addition of the avocado to the chimichurri was terrific, and liked that his version was chunky.  The grilled bread with avocado chimichurri would be a great side to a nice steak as well.  I’ll return to this recipe. 
Risotto with Shrimp, Arugula, and Lemon Cream p93


Sandra: This came together quite easily and was delicious.

Winter Vegetable Curry with Chile-Mint Chutney p98
Bonnie:  This recipe was a fail for me. Cooking instructions did not work in terms of timing--After 45 minutes of cooking (recipe calls for 20), my rutabaga was still hard. At that point, the squash was essentially mush. Now perhaps he used fresh/young rutabaga vs the wax covered ones we have access to in the winter.  The chile-mint chutney did add some zip to this dish (thankfully), but it was still bland and unexciting.

Potato and Zucchini Enchiladas with Habanero Salsa p101

Bonnie:  Again, I found some timing issues with this recipe (like the Winter Veg Curry). When roasting the peppers and tomatoes in the oven, my peppers had not even started to brown up in the allotted time. It took more like 30 minutes to get a char on them. Also, the potatoes were still crunchy even after baking in the enchilada shells. Next time, I would par boil them, cool them, then cut them into a 1/2 inch dice for adding into the enchilada mixture. The recipe also made far too much filling (see above photo). Having said that, the salsa was fantastic and with the modifications outlined above, I would most definitely make this again. It's an excellent, flavourful and exciting vegetarian main.

Spaghettini with Lemon and Ricotta p104
Julie:  This recipe intrigued me as it was different and seemed to be so simple.  I also found myself with some leftover ricotta and lemons on hand so it seemed an obvious choice to make this dish.  Upon first taste I found there to be a slightly bitter and unusual flavour but perhaps some of the lemon pith made it into the pasta.  As I continued to eat the pasta I started to like it more and more.  It was interesting and quick for a weeknight but I’m not sure I’d consider it again.

Jasmine Rice p128

Kristi: I don’t think that you need a full recipe on how to make Jasmine Rice (I don’t see how this was different from directions on the bag).  I liked the idea of adding the vegetables to the rice.  It was good and will make it again!  (It was great with Gwyneth’s Best Chicken Stir-fry!)  
Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Gratin p133
Bonnie: I really enjoyed this recipe--an innovative way of serving green beans. We all really liked the hit of acidity from the tomatoes and the delicious crunchy topping.

Crispy Potato Cakes p134

SWEETS
Rum Pound Cake with Lime Glaze p150
 Sandra:  Our new family fav! I will make this again and again.
 

Bittersweet Chocolate Sabayon p154
Kristi:  This was the winner of the book, in my opinion!  Very delicious!  Admittedly, after trips to two separate liquor stores looking for Madeira wine with no success, I used Chambord, and the results were divine.  Very easy to prepare, and love that it’s a great make-ahead dessert appropriate for a dinner party.  We just couldn’t figure out how to get six servings out of this—clearly only four!
Magic Caramel Bars p167


Deb: De-light-ful!  Yum!  I was a bit sceptical about these bars when they were just cooled.  They were sticky and I wondered if they would ever harden.  But they did.  And they are like eating a chocolate bar.  I am a big fan of the Hello Dollies, and these bars are a slightly more grown up version of same.  The recipe was easy to follow.  My crust was a bit crumbly, but that might be due to overwatering the dough.  I really liked the use of coconut milk (which really does not taste in the final product) and espresso powder, which nicely cuts the sweetness of the chocolate.  Yum I say again.
IN THE MORNING
Bircher Muesli with Seasonal Toppings p183
Bonnie: I quite liked this easy, healthy and fast way to eat oatmeal in the morning. I think I'll enjoy it more through the summer months--in the winter, I still like my oatmeal nice and hot.

Walnut Date Muffins p186

Bonnie: A wonderful, heatlhy muffin to add to your stash of recipes. I loved how the dates were just sweet enough to make you feel virtuous whenever indulging in one of these muffins.

Golden Granola p187


Deb: I make a lot of granola - usually every week.  This recipe used some usual ingredients and also some new ones, like ground flaxseeds, diced figs, almond extract and orange zest.  Overall, we found this granola heavy on fruit compared to most and we all agreed that the orange taste was overwhelming - 2 tbsp zest was perhaps meant to be 2 tsp?  The chopped whole almonds were a lovely added crunch.  None of us enjoyed the diced figs.  The recipe said to bake on an oiled baking sheet; I usually use parchment.  Using the sheet made for a big and unnecessary cleanup.  I might tweak this granola to reduce the orange zest and substitute or eliminate the figs.  However I wouldn't make it again as is, even though my son's first observation was that it tasted of popcorn and candy.  I did not make the homemade almond milk.

Croque Madame p200
Bonnie:  I made this on a lazy Sunday morning for my daughter and we both agreed you could not get anything better at any restaurant. The sauce was so silky which contrasted nicely with the crispy bits of bread and ham. Make this next time you have company--or make it just for yourself. You won't regret it.

SNACKS


Manchego Crackers p214
Kristi: These were tasty and easy, but couldn’t manage to roll them out as thinly as he implied since I didn’t have a rimless baking sheet.  (which wasn’t actually called for)  I ended up trying to roll them out as thinly as I could on a board, and flipped them onto a baking sheet.  In the end, they didn’t crack as readily as I expected or as I expect Curtis intended.  Nothing wrong with them, but were just fine.  

Popcorn with Bacon and Parm p223

Kristi:  Adam made this after I had just finished making myself some spaghetti carbonara, and the ingredients inspired him to try.  We wanted to love this, but both agreed that we missed sweet, salty butter on our popcorn.  Call us purists.  (And this was clearly after we were off our Whole 30 diet!)


DRINKS

French Press Coffee p269
Kristi:  Again, not sure why these directions were in here since it seems rather obvious how to make coffee.  But we did try his technique—noting that he called to wait a minute after bringing water to a boil before pouring over the coffee.  I can’t say that I noticed a difference, but it did indeed work out.


Also saw the recipe for mint tea (251).  After being served tea like this in restaurants like The Oxley, I started using leftover mint this way.  While it seems more like a tip that could have been added to a recipe that called for mint, rather than a dedicated recipe, it does indeed make nice tea.

There was a bit of a trend of "filler" recipes-- coffee, tea, rice.  Vegetable soup is pretty basic too.  Not sure why he couldn't come up with other recipes to fill the pages.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

My Paris Kitchen by is a lovely book with beautiful stories and easy to follow recipes.  It is an accessible "French cooking" book for North Americans, which makes sense since its author, David Lebovitz, hails from Northern California.  All but two of the recipes we tested worked as written, in the sense that following the instructions led to the suggested result, however not all of the recipes were to our taste.  That might just be an issue of french cooking.

We enjoyed this book as much for the recipes as for the stories and the wonderful photography. This book is a keeper.  For the most part we were pleased that these recipes were simple, and used readily available ingredients.
 
We all found that Leibovitz’s stories of adapting to life in Paris as an American were quite delightful and add to the overall charm of the book.  There are lovely photos to accompany many of the recipes, as well as a number of shots that capture daily life in Paris.

We liked that he offers many tips related to essential cooking equipment and techniques which many would find useful.  For someone who is interested in trying French cooking but feeling somewhat intimidated by the idea, this book would be a great starting point.


Buckwheat crepes with Seaweed Butter, p. 47

Kristi:  I love crepes, especially savory buckwheat ones.  But the seaweed butter was pretty gross.  We ended up throwing out those crepes and eating them on their own with a little butter and Malden salt.  Wish that we had had some nice cheese at home when I made them.  But a very good crepe recipe with batter that was easy to work with.



Black Olive Tapenade, p. 57
Debra:  This is an easy to assemble tapenade that is fabulous.  I've never put dijon in tapenade before but as I love dijon, it was a welcome addition.  A keeper recipe.

David's Black Olive Tapenade

Hummus, p. 60
Debra: It seems like every cookbook we review has a hummus recipe and I feel the need to try out each one.  This one takes top place away from Ottolenghi (high praise indeed!). They are virtually identical methods and ingredients (including the important secret ingredient - baking soda) but this recipe makes less than half the volume of the recipe in Plenty, which is better for home consumption.  It requires a bit of planning as you have to soak the dried chickpeas overnight, and picking out the loose chick pea skins after cooking and rinsing made me sigh, but the end result was fabulous.  I like that the recipe suggests using tinned chickpeas, but I really do think using dried is the key to an over the top hummus.


David's Hummus

Spiced Meatballs with Sriracha Sauce, p. 74
Debra:  This recipe sounded so lovely.  Overall, however, it was a solid B.  The meatballs, while tasty, were not life altering.  The amount of mayonnaise sauce you make yields 1/2 tbsp of mayo for EACH MEATBALL, which is a bit of overkill.  And the recipe is kind of misnamed as one is inclined to use the homemade harissa for which he provides a recipe rather than the lovely sriracha.  I used the baking method for the meatballs and suggest that you be sure to use full fat ground meat if you do plan to make it as lean ground beef becomes too dry.  We all quite liked the yogurt tahini sauce (recipe at bottom of page 75) and I am going to use that as a salad dressing in future.  It was also better, in our view, with the meatballs than the sriracha mayo.  (Seriously - 3/4 c mayo to 1 tbsp sriracha for 20 meatballs?!!)

Julie:  My husband is a meatball fanatic and we both adore spicy food so this recipe was an absolutely must try for me.  I wanted to love this dish but it was completely lackluster.  In my opinion, the spices did not enhance the meat, in fact I found them to be less than complementary, but I did think the sriracha sauce was excellent and I would use it for other dishes in the future.  The sauce was simple and easy to prepare and would make a great condiment for sandwiches.


Sardine Spread, p. 78
 Debra:  I grew up eating fish spread like this prepared by my German grandfather, so this was a welcome recipe for me.  Because of the cream cheese and butter (not used by my grandfather), it was very accessible to my children (ie. mild).  It is high in protein and it tastes good.  It's now a lunchbox staple.  (And the cream cheese also seems to mellow that fishy smell.  :)  Oh, and did I mention how easy it is?!

Raw Vegetable Slaw with Creamy Garlic Dressing, p. 96
Debra:  We love this slaw.  It is creamy and taste-filled and allows for endless variations based on what is in your fridge or what you are planning to accompany it with.  In the introduction, DL suggests pumpkin seeds or almonds and leftover roast chicken.  I tried the pumpkin seeds and the chicken, and both were lovely.  In addition to the suggested add-ins, we like dried cranberries.
 Kristi:  Simple and delicious.  I liked the flexibility to use my imagination on what specific pairings I wanted, and found that the vinaigrette kept the salad very light.  I’ll be returning to this.
 Julie:  This dish was delightful.  It sounded so basic I thought “how good could this be” but it was excellent.  The best part of this recipe is that you can use any combination of a number of crunchy vegetables that most of us would already have in our refrigerators.  It would make an excellent dish to bring to a party as its flavours would accompany so many different foods.  I will make this dish again and again.



Frisee Salad with Bacon, Egg and Garlic Toasts, p. 99
Julie:  To me this was the French equivalent of a Caesar salad with slightly more interest.  We loved this salad.  We enjoyed it with soup for dinner one night but it would be substantial enough to have for a lunch or light dinner.  It is a total winner, in my opinion!

Frisee Salad – DRESSING only, p. 100
Debra:  I am still waiting for the perfect occasion to make this salad properly.  This recipe reminds me of a salad that I had in Paris with a view of Notre Dame and I want to do it right – soon.  In the meantime this salad dressing is delicious on plain salad greens or drizzled over a plate of “accompaniments” (see photo on p. 146). It was a nice light summer dinner with a fresh baguette.
 
Celery Root Puree, p 104
 Kristi: We made this several times and loved it!  We had been on a kick of making cauliflower puree, and celery root is a nicer option for Fall and Winter.  I have cooked with celery root a number of times, but generally in braises, so it was a great suggestion as a side on its own.



Cherry Tomato Crostini with Homemade Goat Cheese, p. 110
 Sandra:  I served these wonderful little toasts with a super casual late summer Sunday night bbq steak dinner and wow – they were gone in no time.  (Now they have stopped asking for the avocado crostini and are asking for this one.)  Of course the tomatoes and fresh herbs were in their prime at the time, but I think that this method of slow roasting the tomatoes will take winter tomatoes to a new level.  You need to plan ahead for the goat cheese spread, but it really takes very little time to prepare.  The goat cheese on the toast provides a nice base for the tomatoes (and prevents the tomatoes from falling off).


 

French Onion Soup, p. 118
Sandra:  This was the first time I had ever made French onion soup.  I had grown up with my mom’s “rush hour” French onion soup made with a beef stock (oxo).  No wonder I never bothered to make it myself.  I loved the rich delicate flavour of this soup.  Will definitely make it again.  I cooked the onions and grated the cheese the day prior, when I had time, and finished it the next night before serving.  It made a satisfying low stress dinner, with a green salad on the side. I used Gruyere cheese (nod to mom).  I would like to try the Comte.

Kristi:   Adam made this recipe all on his own (he asked me to step away).  It was great and very easy for him.  French Onion Soup is a favourite of ours, but I had never made it at home before since I didn’t have oven-proof bowls.  Found cute ones ½ price, and am now hooked.  I am interested in trying it with beef stock this winter, and perhaps adding a bay leaf or two next time.  We originally made it with Compte cheese which is delicious, but it could stand a bolder-flavored cheese, so will try Gruyere next time. 

Julie:   This soup took a bit of time to prepare as you need to carmelize the onions for 1 ½ hours but the end result is delicious.  We thoroughly enjoyed this soup.  However, I have a few “go to” recipes for French onion soup that yield equally good products so I am not sure I would use David Leibovitz’s recipe over my usual recipes.  For someone who has never made French onion soup before this recipe would definitely wow them.

Bonnie: Wonderful! Funny that Kristi's husband took ownership of this recipe...my husband did the same thing, and he has made it a number of times this winter.


Grated Carrot Salad, p. 123
 Debra:  I think you might have to be French to get this salad.  I like the idea very much, but it is very very plain!  I might try it with my own vinaigrette, with vinegar rather than lemon juice.  As is, this is a large bowl of carrots with very little flavour in the dressing.
Julie:  Coincidentally, before our group had decided upon a cookbook I had tried David Leibovitz’s grated carrot salad.  I had been looking for a simple side dish for a summer barbeque and this recipe turned up repeatedly on my search.  It was fresh and easy to prepare which was exactly what I had wanted in a carrot salad.  Although I would not say it was an incredibly flavourful salad it was a nice way to serve fresh carrots as an alternative to cooking them.  I would consider making this dish again for a summer salad option.



Fried Ham and Cheese Sandwich (p. 137)
Julie:  I liked the idea of the prosciutto instead of the ham in this sandwich and you can’t go wrong with Gruyere cheese, however, I was wrong.  The prosciutto just didn’t work as it was too salty once cooked and the flavour of the Gruyere cheese was masked by the bĂ©chamel.  It was a very rich and heavy sandwich and it was not a success.

Potato, feta and basil tortilla (p. 148)
Julie:  The cooking time for this recipe and the fact that it had a limited number of ingredients was appealing for a light summer meal with a salad.  The potatoes ended up with a nice dark crust on the bottom of the tortilla and the result was a dish with fresh and pleasant flavours.  The tortilla would lend well to any items you have in your fridge or pantry that you would typically pair with eggs.  My husband and I eat egg dishes quite regularly, specifically frittatas, so although it was a very nice dish, it was not something that was outstanding in any way and would most likely not make an appearance on a weekly menu.


Chicken with Mustard, p. 169
Sandra:  I love chicken and I love Dijon mustard.  We made this a few times, switching up the chicken – using white meat, sometimes skin, sometimes no skin.  The best tasting was using the chicken thighs!   Will keep making this dish.

Julie:   The ingredients in this dish were a huge draw for me as they are items and flavours that we enjoy a great deal.  Preparation took a little bit of time as it required cooking bacon and browning the meat before assembly, however, it was not onerous and worth the effort.  The Dijon coating of the chicken didn’t seem to brown well for me but it did not seem to have an impact on the finished product.  The sauce was abundant but I typically am a sauce lover so this was not an issue for me.  We liked this dish a great deal but in the future I would experiment with boneless chicken thighs or breasts as I do not generally enjoy navigating bones on my plate.

David's Chicken with Mustard 

Chicken Lady Chicken, p. 173
Kristi:  Fun and a different way to cook chicken.  A little more planning than I’m used to since it does need to marinade the night before.  I also simplified the deboning by asking my butcher to do this for me (and be sure to take the backbone home for your stock!).  A crowd pleaser!

 David's Chicken Lady Chicken

Chicken in red wine sauce, p. 177


Sandra:  This was good, but I have had better.  When I prepared David’s version of coq au vin, I was serving a crowd and I doubled the recipe.  Maybe this is why it wasn’t as good as I was hoping.  My usual coq au vin recipe is slow cooked in the oven and l prefer that method.  I will go back to my old recipe.




Braised Guinea Hen/Chicken with Figs, p. 183
 Sandra:  “Figgin awesome” is how my family described it.  I used a chicken instead of the hen because it was what I had on hand.  The figs made this a special Sunday night dinner that filled the house with a wonderful aroma as it was cooking.  The baked figs were delicious and sweet.  They also looked beautiful.  I served it with couscous and roasted broccoli and wished I had followed David’s suggestion and served it with celery root puree to soak up gravy/sauce and provide a better contrast with the richness of this dish.



Caramel Pork Ribs, p. 186
Debra:  I tried this recipe with some trepidation.  I've never melted sugar before.  But the technique worked well.  The rest of the recipe was simple to prepare.  The ribs were a lovely moist texture when done, however I didn't love the taste.  Too bad.

Sandra:  Personally – NOT my thing.    This is just way to sweet, and I prefer the grill for finishing ribs.  I used Sriracha sauce.

Barbecue-Style Pork, p. 190
Debra:  This is one of the recipes that did not work as written.  The recipe suggests 2-3 hours, however even at 3 hours, the pork did not pull apart.  Also, we really did not enjoy the smokey taste.  Yuck.



Lamb Shank Tagine, p.199/200
Sandra:  We loved this dish!  And it was super easy. The Morrocan inspired flavours of this dish were a welcome change to the Dijon/wine flavours in this book.  The meat was “fall off the bone” tender - perhaps shortening the cooking time would make it a little easier and more attractive for serving to guests.  The flavours and textures of this dish were lovely. Did I mention the flavour?




 David's Lamb Tagine


Scalloped Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Roasted Garlic, p. 211
Julie:  I love scalloped potatoes and blue cheese so I thought I would love this dish but I didn’t.  From the list of ingredients I expected the end result to be a boldly flavoured potato dish which is what I was hoping but it had a very mild flavour.  It was less than exciting and I would not consider making this dish again.  C’est dommage!

Steak with Mustard Butter and French Fries, p. 206 and p. 219
Sandra:  Bill prepared this steak for us and we really like it.  I was disappointed with Bill’s frites because he did not follow the recipe and cut the potatoes into small enough “sticks”.  
 As for the Mustard Butter, I repeat – we really liked it.  We started making mustard butter and putting it on plain simple grilled salmon.  Yum.  

Mustard Butter - Kristi: 
Mustard butter for the Steak—We made the ribeye steak to go with the fries one night, and while I couldn’t convince Adam to season the steaks with anything other than The Keg seasoning, he did make the compote mustard butter to go with it.  A very tasty addition!  (But can you go wrong with a perfectly cooked ribeye in the first place?!) 


Julie: 
The rub for this steak was very simple and flavourful and the compound butter it was served with really enhanced the steak.  The technique for the French fries yielded a very crispy oven baked “fry” that surpassed any baked French fry recipe I have found to date.  I would make both of these dishes again if I was looking for a steak-frites combination.  They were both delicious.

David's Steak With Mustard Butter & French Fries 

French Fries, p. 221 
Kristi:  LOVE these!  Made them twice, and they’re very easy and delicious.  Will continue to make these often—great technique to get crisp & fluffy fries with little oil. 




Butternut Squash Crumble, p. 215
Julie: If you love butternut squash than this is your dish!  I enjoy butternut squash but I do find it a little on the sweet side so I assumed the savoury ingredients would make this dish a winner.  The typical sweetness of the butternut squash was not masked by the savoury ingredients so I would give this dish a pass in the future.  However, it was a pleasant dish and I did find that it tasted even better the second day so it would be a great make ahead dish if you were looking for something different to do as a side for a gathering.

Bonnie: My daughter and I loved this recipe. I made it at least 4 times during the testing period. I agree with Julie that it tasted even better the second day--but either day you make it, it's a total winner!
Celery Root Puree, p. 217
Julie: I used Yukon Gold potatoes for this dish so my puree did not have the pearly white appearance of the photo in the book so if you were looking for the same colour and texture as the photo I would suggest a white potato.  My husband had never tried celery root before and he absolutely loved this recipe.  I found the celery taste to be a little too overpowering for my taste and after several forkfuls I had reached my limit for this dish.  Definitely not a keeper for me.


Green Beans with Snail Butter, p. 222
Debra:  A fan favourite!  This recipe is easy and delightful and lends itself to variation (tried it with gnocchi and beans...potatoes would also be nice).  It tastes wonderful.  My only comment is that garlic in butter over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes is too long.  Lower heat or less time next time.

Sandra:  Until now, my father-in-law always had green beans left over on his plate.  These are good!  Perfect for serving to company.  I cooked the beans ahead and finished them in the skillet just before we were ready to eat. 
Kristi: I’m a fan.  Did notice the mistake in the recipe though—you can’t cook the garlic at med-high heat without burning it, so be careful to adjust the flame. 

Julie:  Unless you were someone who did not like green beans it would be hard to imagine anyone not loving this dish.  Crisp green beans covered in delicious garlic and butter with a dash of lemon juice for interest.  This recipe was simple but fantastic and it will frequently be on our dinner table.

David's Green Beans with Snail Butter 
 
French Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts, p. 233
Debra:  This was the first recipe I tried from this cookbook and when I read that it is David Lebovitz's "number-one, go-to salad," I was super excited.  So there was a fair bit of lunch bag letdown.  We found the dressing a bit flat - 1 tbsp vinegar to 1/3 cup oil may be a bit too oily.  It needed a lot more salt and, as suggested, especially so after having been refrigerated.  I love walnut oil, but I felt it was wasted on this salad where I used the suggested 1/6 cup but didn't really notice it shine.  The bottom line I think is that it is still a Puy lentil salad so you really have to love lentils - they are the centrepiece to the salad.  In my world lentils are a vehicle not the centrepiece.


Sandra:  I want to make this once a week- I love it so much.  I thought it was great the following day for lunch.  It made a great dish to make and take.  It travels well, and can be served basically at any temp.  I liked room temperature.
Julie: This salad came together quite quickly and easily and made a filling and healthy lunch for several days.  Initially I found it to be quite salty but the flavours mellowed by the next day.  This recipe yields a large quantity and eventually I became quite bored with it as the flavour and texture seemed a little too uniform for my liking.

Bonnie: LOVED this salad...it was a staple in my lunch bag many times this winter. 
Lemon-Pistachio Israeli Couscous, p. 237
Debra:  From this recipe I discovered preserved lemons.  Wow!  Grateful to DL for this.  Overall, we enjoyed this recipe for warm israeli couscous.  Like not love.  The recipe says to add the couscous to boiling water then "cook according to the package instructions."  The package instructions are to fry couscous first - oops too late.  As a result, the couscous was kind of anemic and missing the characteristic nutty taste.  The dish was easy to prepare and lovely to look at, but we just didn't love the taste.  Sensing a theme here?



Salted Butter Caramel-Chocolate Mouse, p. 258
Kristi:  I served this to company and everyone really liked it.  I thought I did anyway until my stomach was very upset with me that evening.  It’s incredibly rich, so I find that the recommended portion size is too much.  A little goes a long way in satisfying an after-dinner sweet tooth.



Bonnie: Make this...make it now. BUT be warned that a little goes a long way. This is so rich, that you really only want a few spoonfuls. Maybe serve it with some fresh berries to balance out the sweetness.

Individual Chocolate Cakes with Dulce de Lech and Fleur de Sel, p. 261
Sandra:  Decadent.   You have to love chocolate, and be able to handle sweet.  Ice cream on the side or a large glass of cold milk is mandatory.  When I make it again (and I will) I will try dividing it into 8 ramekins (instead of 6) and serve it with fresh raspberries and ice cream.   One complaint that I had with this recipe was having to go to David’s website for the Dulce de Lech recipe.  As it turned out – it was a pretty simple recipe (only 1 ingredient) – hard to believe that he did not include it in this book. 



Une Autre Idee, (plum raspberry compote), p. 299  

Sandra:  This is good competition for strawberry rhubarb compote.  If you like stewed fruit, try this combo.  I loved it served warm on vanilla ice cream. 


Chicken Stock, p. 326
Debra:  I'm not sure about the alchemy of this stock recipe.  I've made a lot of stock in my day, but this one was the best I've ever made and on paper there's nothing special about it.  (Somewhere in this book he also gives a thumbs up to Better than Bouillon which I've been loving and using for years).
Kristi: Very reliable and good.  Made it twice over the past 6 weeks, including doubling the recipe one time—you really do need it in your freezer at all times, very versatile.  I had been taught that you should carefully keep your herbs and peppercorns in a cheesecloth pouch, and after making it in David’s more carefree way, I realized it really didn’t matter.  I also found that my local butcher sells bags of chicken backs in their freezer for only $.99/ pound.  Perfect for this!


 Harissa, p. 330
Debra:   I've never had this is Paris or anywhere in France, so I've nothing to compare it to.  I used three different types of dried chills.  The first step was fussy - stemming and slicing and seeding dried chills.  Charring the red pepper on the stove - also fussy.  End result?  Pretty boring in my view.  Sadly.  Won't make it again.