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 entrée 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.