This is an outstanding collection of some of the best recipes that you will want to have become part of your cooking lexicon. We are unanimous in recommending this book. it is a must have - each of us absolutely loved this book and it will have a permanent place in our cookbook collections. I suppose it's hard to go wrong when your book is a carefully curated collection of winning recipes from chefs such as Marcella Hazan, Nigel Slater, Yotam Ottolenghi and Paul Bertolli. The collection also includes recipes from Canal House, Le Bernardin, Moro and ABC Kitchen.
Do yourselves a favour and pick this up for your collection--it's so wonderful to have so many fantastic recipes in one collection--ready and at your fingertips.
BREAKFAST
Fried Eggs with Wine Vinegar p2
Three of the 4 of us tried this recipe--while the vinegar in this recipe does indeed temper the richness of the yolk of the egg, none of our testers were particularly wowed by it. Not something anyone will make again.
Chocolate Muscovado Banana Cake p 5
Touch of Grace Biscuits p6
What a soupy mess...it does indeed look like cottage cheese. HOW will these ever turn out?
I could not see how this recipe could possibly work—but work it did, resulting in the most fluffy, light ‘angel pillowy’ biscuits. It really did look like cottage cheese until it baked. Amazing technique and result.
English Porridge p11
We loved the mix of both regular oats and steel cut oats which yielded an almost rice pudding texture to this highly satisfying cold morning breakfast.
Olive Oil & Maple Granola p15
This has now become our house granola. We typically test every granola recipe we get, so making this our 'one and only' is high praise indeed. It is everything you want in a granola-fool proof, delicious, and easy. We have it with fresh berries and milk, or over yogurt...or even over ice cream as a fast dessert.
Poached Scrambled Eggs p19
First of all—let me say I hate scrambled eggs. If scrambled eggs are the only breakfast option…I will eat toast. Shudder. BUT…I do love a good soft poached egg so this recipe intrigued me. A crazy technique but it did yield a very tender scrambled egg with none of the rubbery-ness that I hate in a regular scrambled egg. Having said that, at the end of the day, it is still a scrambled egg—a whole lot of palaver for just a scrambled egg.
Raised Waffles p29
The yeasted dough after a night in the fridge.
Ready for the waffle iron.
While you do have to think ahead to make these since the yeasted dough has to rest in the fridge over night, you won’t be sorry. Once they start cooking, your kitchen will smell like a French bakery—as if you were baking off 100 croissants. Knee-bucklingly yeasty and buttery these waffles have a crunchy exterior with almost a pudding like internal texture in places. Very different from any waffle I’ve ever made, but this might just be the only one I make from now on.
SNACKS & DRINKS
Bar Nuts p33
This recipe has been around for years-and we've been making for year! It's lovely to see it in this great collection. It's always a hit with cocktails.
Deviled Eggs p35
A bit fussy in the preparation in that you are supposed to pass the yolks through a fine meshed strainer--then put them into a food pro. I suppose we're not that picky about our deviled eggs since we didn't do those steps and still liked this recipe.
Basic Hummus p36
While we didn't actually test this recipe this time 'round, we did test it when we worked on Ottolenghi's Plenty a few years ago. It is so velvety and delicious--the trick is the addition of baking soda.
No-Knead Bread p39
A great recipe, and one we tested in Ruth Reichl's book most recently. Kinda foolproof.
Classic Guacamole p45
Well, this one left us feeling sad...and missing the crunch of some red onion, or more heat. It was ok...but just.
Salt-Crusted Potatoes with Cilantro Mojo p49
WOW. This is such a great dish--the potatoes are soft and buttery inside their super tasty skins--and the mojo? I would personally like to put that on EVERYTHING...toasted bread with fresh tomatoes and some feta or even as a marinade for chicken or fish. SO good!
Watermelon, Mint & Cider Vinegar Tonic p50
We were divided on this one-3 of us didn't care for it, but I think it will be a standard fixture in my fridge this summer. This is so fresh and tasty--on it's own with some water or soda water...or with a hit of gin for a hot summer day cocktail.
Cliff Old Fashioned p59
I loved the Coriander Syrup used in this drink, and in fact used it in a Vodka tonic as well. I have learned in making this that I’m not really an old fashioned fan, but it was a fun experiment. We made them with both bourbon and whisky. I preferred the whisky version.
SOUPS & SALADS
Romaine Hearts with Ceasar Salad Dressing p63
This was a disappointment. Not the best caesar by far.
Use a Spoon Chopped Salad p67
This is an EXCELLENT salad as it is chock full of hearty veggies that won't wilt making this a great make and take dish.
Radicchio Salad with Manchebo Vinaigrette p68
So...I hate radicchio. At least up until this recipe changed my mind. I've always found it too bitter to enjoy. But this recipe calls for soaking the radicchio in ice water which actually takes away that bitter taste. The other great learning in this recipe is the infusing of vinegar with garlic and onion--then discarding them--keeping all the flavour but none of the sting. Brilliant idea!
Warm Squash & Chickpea Salad with Tahini p70
I loved the addition of allspice to the squash. I did think that if the chickpeas were also roasted instead of just out of a tin, this salad would have been even better. The Tahini dressing was delish-I ended up thinning it out as a salad dressing throughout the week.
Kale Salad p74
VERY simple but with all of my favourite things so this was a bit of a staple throughout the winter at my house.
Wild & White Rice Salad p80
This made a massive quantity...and unfortunately none of my people wanted anything to do with it the next day. It was so boring-rice, onion, celery and parsley with some uninspired dressing. Bleh...
Spicy Tomato Soup p87
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| We kept the strained solids and served with pasta. |
One of our testers loved this soup...and the other did not. Either way, the process was an arduous one--straining the tomato pulp, then blending in batches then straining again.
Cauliflower Soup p88
I just couldn't get my head around this one-onions cauliflower and water (with a bit of seasoning and some olive oil). No way could this work. And yet it does. It's wonderful soup-so simple yet satisfying.
Potato Soup with Fried Almonds p91
This soup is absolutely delicious. Everything you want a cold winter soup to be. As I write this it is snowing...even though it is the beginning of April in Toronto. I might just make this tonight!
Chicken Stock p92
Key learning from this one was to put your fresh herbs into the broth toward the end of cooking. Not rocket science, but a great tip that yields a much fresher flavour.
Red Wine Vinaigrette p92
This is a keeper dressing-standard fair, but a great one to have on hand.
MEATY MAINS
Salt-Baked Herbed Salmon with Red Onion-Caper Vinaigrette p97
So- this is a stunning way to make salmon-great flavour and really pretty presentation.
Crispy-Skinned Fish p101
Well, I am in love with Eric Ripert, so of course I had to try his fish cooking technique. As I suspected…it was perfect. Nothing more to say.
Rosemary-Brined Buttermilk Fried Chicken p102
This is not a quick, weeknight affair, but if you have the time to devote to the pursuit of a fantastic fried chicken recipe, look no further.
I’ve never been a big fan of the brine, but i this case the addition of rosemary and onions and lemons yield up a ton of flavour to the bird. This really was a very tasty meal that the 3 of us enjoyed both hot and cold.
Simplest Roast Chicken p106
This is ridiculously easy-500 degree oven, 10 minutes per pound and you have the perfect roast chicken. Moist and succulent with a crispy skin. There is some smoking involved which is to be expected with such high heat cooking, but it's worth it.
Chicken Thighs with Lemon p108
This essentially is the only way to cook chicken pieces. This seems crazy--put the chicken skin side down in a barely hot pan and leave it there for about 30 minutes before flipping it. What happens is miraculous-the skin becomes crips, the flesh is moist and tender. It's just awesome!
Sticky Balsamic Ribs p119
Super delicious--but NB make sure you use a disposable pan...clean up is impossible!
Carnitas p120
Pork, water and salt. No thanks. Just nothing going on here. You'd have to put so many condiments on your taco to make this bland meat taste of anything interesting.
Brisket of Beef p 127
A wonderful recipe--easy and good--and a great use of a rather inexpensive cut of beef.
Meatballs p131
My husband made these - and we still have a bunch in the freezer for last minute dinners. They are very tasty and reminded me of something my mom made when I was a little girl. A Romanian meat dish called Mititei which is essentially a meat sausage with out the casing. the flavours of these meatballs were very similar in that they also incorporated three kinds of meat with parsley and garlic. I was worried about the addition of so much water (2 full cups) to the meat mixture…it was quite wet, but it did end up yielding a very tender meatball.
MEATLESS MAINS
Pasta with Yogurt & Caramelized Onions
This was kind of meh. If it wasn’t for the onions, there really would not have been much flavour going on here. I won’t be making this again.
Mushroom Bourguignon p147
I have made this a couple of times since testing this for 4Cooks. Very rich and ‘meaty’ tasting stew—and served on polenta it made a fantastic veggie main course for a cold winter night.
Tomato Sauce with Butter & Onion p151
We all know this sauce from testing Marcella Hazan’s book a couple of years ago. It really is my favourite sauce—and this combined with the wonderful meatballs on page 131 made for a super Italian dinner.
Spiced Brased Lentils & Tomatoes with Toasted Coconut p159
I had high hopes for this one and was a bit disappointed. I found I needed to spice up the lentils with some chilies and the coconut topping was just bland. There was a problem with the recipe too…it made WAY too much topping that I ended up having to throw away.
Baked Brown Rice p159
Revolutionary! So easy and foolproof this is the only way to cook brown rice.
Pasta with Let-My-Eggplant-Go-Free! Puree p161
This was ok. Just ok.
Green Lentil Salad p 169
We had higher hopes for this recipe considering it comes from Patricia Wells who surly knows her French lentil recipes. Sadly, we were disappointed. Boring Boring Boring....
VEGETABLES
Broccoli Cooked Forever p176
Such an unappealing look--and texture. And yet...there is something weirdly addictive about this dish. Once it's in front of you...you just can't stop eating it.
Garlic Green Beans p179
Nothing earth shattering here—beans, garlic, butter and salt. The magic comes in with the browning of the beans in the butter. So delish!
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette p184
I really loved this dish-easy to do in a cast iron pan and the dressing just makes it zippy and relish.
Potato Dominoes p197
This is an impressive dish-fussy to prep, but really tasty--especially the browned and crispy bits. Save this one for a special holiday meal.
DESSERTS
Fresh Blueberry Pie p205
The filling of this pie was perfect, but this was not our favourite pie crust recipe.
Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake p218
As Nigella would say--this is a 'squidgy' cake. So moist and dense, almost pudding like. Very good!
Marie-Helene’s Apple Cake p221
I’m a huge fan of Dorie Greenspan’s recipes. I’ve never made anything of hers that wasn’t outstanding. And this cake is no exception to this. I can’t get over how easy this is—no equipment, not even a handheld beater is needed. And I always have butter, apples, flour and eggs on hand. This is the kind of cake you just always want on hand-not too sweet (hi breakfast), just sweet enough (hi afternoon tea) with a neighbour. It’s just awesome.
Molasses Cookies p225
We loved these. A little too much. Made and re-made a few times during our testing period.
Fresh Ginger Cake p226
I remember having ginger cake in Nova Scotia many years ago--and I've never forgotten how zippy it was. Well this one comes pretty close with the addition of fresh ginger the size of an egg!! We loved this cake! And when you serve it with the Sweet Potato Caramel sauce--heaven on earth.
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies p229
These are so good! But with one cup of butter in them, how could they not be. I would like to have these around everyday…but that would be a dangerous proposition…because i would eat them everyday.
One Ingredient Sweet Potato Caramel p230
This recipe flipped us all out-it really is only one ingredient. Sweet Potatoes that end up yielding a caramel sauce that works so well on the ginger cake on page 226-but tastes great on vanilla ice cream too.
Eggless Lemon Curd p236
This one didn't work out for us-a total fail.
Orange and Almond Cake p239
This was my one and only fail out of all the recipes I tested. Maybe it was the types of oranges I used, but the cake was so bitter it was inedible. The timing was also off on the baking. The cake was supposed to bake for 1 hour, but mine was dark brown and solid with 20 minutes to spare.
