Cook Club: Nigella's Christmas

NIGELLA'S CHRISTMAS

TOTAL SCORE: 3.84

Highest Scoring Dishes: Boozy British Trifle / Poinsettia

Lowest Scoring Dishes: Roast Squash and Sweet Potato Soup / Panettone and Sausage Stuffing

For Christmas 2009, I received Nigella Lawson's "Nigella's Christmas" as a gift!  Even just reading it, I LOVED this cookbook.  It had Nigella's typical lovely commentary -- little bits of insight into her life as well as her own suggestions and solutions for a fun holiday season.  Even better, the recipes looked applicable to all sorts of parties and even just your everyday dinner.  All in all, it was a very jovial and enjoyable cookbook to read through.  So when November/December cook club rolled around, I thought Nigella Christmas would be a wonderful cookbook to try out -- many of our members are quite busy around the holiday season, so I wanted a cookbook that would be applicable for all those holiday parties and gatherings that everyone would go to.  So thanks to everyone for taking part!  Here's how it all turned out:


APPETIZERS

Amanda's Roast Squash and Sweet Potato Soup with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Swirl

Score: 2.5

Of all the recipes I chose, I was most excited about this one, so, I was a little disappointed in how the soup turned out. Overall the dish was a bit bland, and missing some flavor...I am still unsure what. While I was preparing the soup, I liked the fact that the recipe said to leave the potatoes and squash unpeeled (much easier prep!), but disliked it when the soup was put together. The flecks of skin gave the soup an odd texture (yuck!). As a whole, the recipe was very straightforward and easy to prepare, I just wish the flavor would have been better. 

Jackie's Cranberry and Soy-Glazed Cocktail Sausages

Score: 4.0

These sausages were SUPER simple to make and a big hit at the holiday party we had my house!  I ended up using small cocktail sausages instead of breakfast sausages, and all it required was mixing up the marinade, letting the sausages marinate for several hours/overnight, and then baking it up.  These definitely had a bit of a zing -- I love the slight heat with the tangy flavor.  Definitely would make again!

ENTREES


Sonia's Butternut Orzotto
Score: 3.5

I made this dish the night before my company's Thanksgiving potluck lunch, and with a bit of extra vegetable stock, it reheated nicely.  This recipe made A LOT of orzo, so I would recommend scaling it down if you're not cooking for a crowd.  I interpreted the "mace" in the recipe as cayenne pepper, and halved the amount in the recipe (1 teaspoon would have been overkill), which gave the dish a substantial and unexpected kick.  The combination of the mascarpone cheese and pureed squash with the cubed pieces, along with the the pine nuts, was a nice blend of textures.  The taste was good, but it lacked a depth of flavor (parmesan cheese? salt? herbs?) that would have really elevated this dish to something special.


Suzie's Cornish Game Hen

Score: 4.75  

As someone who had never made any type of whole poultry before, I was surprised that they are actually very simple to make (except for the fact that I forgot to defrost them).  The prep is easy, and then you just have to put them in the oven while you do anything else you need to do.  They take over an hour, so its not a quick meal, but certainly not difficult. They turned out super yummy and moist, and I was told they were even better than the ones we had at an actual restaurant the week before  :)  The flavors were nice and complemented the couscous that I will comment on later.  Only problem was that my spice rack was a little lacking in the spices, so it made it a little more expensive the first time.

SIDE DISHES


Amanda's Redder than Red Cranberry Sauce
Score: 4

Cranberry sauce is one of my favorites, so when I saw this recipe, I HAD to try it! Honestly, I was expecting the recipe to have a few more ingredients or steps, but the dish did not disappoint. I chose to use Cointreau instead of cherry brandy, (mainly because I couldn't find a small bottle of cherry brandy) and was glad I did! I loved the orange flavor the Cointreau added to the dish, and the simplicity of the flavors were perfect. The entire recipe took 10 minutes, start to finish, so it's definitely an easy one to throw together when lots of other cooking is going on. I will definitely make this again!

Anjali's Beet and Ginger Chutney

Score: 3.25

This was a totally random pick. most because I love condiments and have never cooked with beets.  It was fairly easy (apart from the fact that chopping beets is hard!). The end result was fine, but I had to wonder with what Nigella intended me to eat it.  The British do have a somewhat odd palette...

Jackie's Panettone and Italian Sausage Stuffing

Score: 2.5

We made this dish as part of our Thanksgiving dinner with my family...  I was disappointed with the dryness of the stuffing, but my husband and my dad loved the stuffing with its sausage.  This makes a HUGE portion of stuffing (well, I suppose the fact that we made another stuffing along with this one made us a little ... overstuffed :)).  I didn't feel like this stuffing had much more to it other than sausage, bread, and a few veggies, and that it wasn't very flavorful.


Suzie's Festive Couscous

Score: 4.75

Once again, super easy to make.  I had the same problem with the spices as with the hen, but I certainly needed to expand my spice rack.  Other than that, you could certainly subsitute different components for this dish.  I added cranberries and pecans because I had them for the cookies, and couldn't find pomegranite seeds.  But quite delicious and a nice break from the usual side dishes I make.

DESSERTS

Sonia's Gold Dust Cookies
Score: 4

This dessert wins points for its aesthetic appeal.  The gold dust (I used pearl dust, not real gold powder) gives the cookies a subtle sheen, and the star shape definitely gives it a holiday feel.  I served the cookies at Jackie's holiday party on a gold-colored plate, which made them look extra pretty.  But, the real surprise here is the flavor.  It looks innocently like a sugar cookie, but the ground ginger is a nice twist that gives a bit of warmth and spiciness.  My only complaint is that they are crunchy, and I prefer a soft and chewy cookie.  This did not vary despite tweaks of thickness of the dough or decreased baking time.  The taste was still very good, though!

Amanda's Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake

Score: 3

I opted to make the "spiced" version of this cake, with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and I think that was a good choice. This recipe reminded me of a bread (Friendship bread) that my mom used to bake. The cake was very easy to put together, but I was a little nervous to bake it in a bundt pan. In my experience, cakes are not cooperative in these types of pans. I was correct...the cake completely fell apart when I turned it out of the bundt pan! Overall, I was not a huge fan of the flavor. I thought it needed more spice, but my parents loved it! It flew off the plate within a matter of days. I will probably try this again, but with more spice. :)

Lisa H's Boozy British Trifle

Score: 5

I should first start out by saying I like trifle.   Correct that I LOVE trifle!  Whenever I have a chance to have it, I will.   So, when I saw this recipe I had to try it.  Well it turned out GREAT!  I think this recipe calls for a bit more sherry than most recipes, which is good because I think it makes the cake more moist.  An additional trick that I used was to lay the pieces of pound cake on a cookie sheet when applying the sherry.   It helped to spread the sherry more evenly.  This made the cake layer significantly more moist.   Which is always, as Martha says, “a good thing”.   I’ve never used frozen berries before but they turned out surprisingly well.  They held their consistency and tasted fresh even in the dead of winter.  I did not use the rose petals as suggested, but if I had some I would.  

Jackie's Sticky Gingerbread Cake

Score: 4.25

I made this for a holiday party at my work.  The cake was moist and had a wonderful light ginger taste -- it smelled and tasted just like the holidays.  I definitely recommend taking Nigella's suggestion in frosting the cake with a cream cheese frosting or a lemon frosting or dusting it with powdered sugar (I didn't do either due  to transporting issues and figuring that people dressed in dark colors wouldn't want powdered sugar all over themselves!) -- without, it looked a little bit plain, which may have explained why those cupcakes covered in icing flew off the dessert table faster than the gingerbread cake!  No worries though, I took the leftovers home to my parents' house and my dad devoured the cake. (...and then I powdered sugar on it for the photo ;)) So, I think it was a success :)


Suzie's Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Score: 4

Basic cookie from scratch as far as technical difficulty.  Uses pecans and oatmeal, so makes for a nice grainy, healthier feel for it :-P.  They came out a little crunchier than I prefer for cookies (I like mine super soft), but I found even when I cooked them less, they didn't have the chewiness that I like.  But I certainly liked the flavors of the cranberry and white chocolate.

BREAKFAST

Amanda's Triple Cheese and Onion Strata

Score: 4

Typically, I am not a huge fan of stratas because of their soggy nature, but this recipe caught my eye. The recipe said to let the bread stale throughout the day, but I decided to leave it out for a good part of the day and overnight to see if that would help some of the sogginess. It turned out to be a good decision. The strata was flavorful, and not at all soggy. Yay! The recipe was very easy to put together. The only problem was that I used the tops of green onions to garnish, instead of chives, which made the onion flavor a little too strong. I will definitely make this again! 

Anjali's Pumpkin Pancakes

Score 3

I chose these because I love both pumpkins and pancakes! I also thought this would be a good breakfast dish for the holidays.  It was very straightforward, sadly, when I see the words baking soda and baking powder, my "non-baker" self starts getting scared! Additionally, my mother does not own measuring spoons.  Indian food doesn't require them. ;) Therefore, I had to approximate...which I knew would alter the final product. And it did; the batter was a bit thick. Nevertheless, we happily ate our pumpkin pancakes

BEVERAGES

Sonia's Poinsettia
Score: 5

Party punch is an irresistible delight for me, and this recipe did not disappoint as the signature cocktail for our Christmas party.  I used a cranberry-pomegranate juice blend, the tartness of which was sweetened with the orange flavor of the triple sec.  I loved the bubbles of the sparking wine--it made the drink feel fun and fancy. The color was also quite stunning, so don't even think about serving this in Solo cups!  I garnished each glass with a few pomegranate seeds, and it was perfect.



And as a bonus... the recipe to one of the top scoring recipes: 


BOOZY BRITISH TRIFLE


INGREDIENTS
For the custard:

4 cups heavy cream
8 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the base:
2 plain pound cakes (12 ounces each)
One 12-ounce jar strawberry or blackberry preserve
2 cups cream sherry or sweet sherry
Two 12-ounce bags frozen mixed berries, thawed zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons superfine sugar (not needed if using fresh fruits)

For the topping:
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup shelled pistachios
1 tablespoon crystallized rose petals (or crystallized violet petals)

DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the custard, heat the cream in a large, wide, heavy-based pan and while it's heating, whisk the egg yolks, whole eggs and superfine sugar in a bowl.

2. When the cream's at boiling point--though, do not let it actually boil--take it off the heat and pour it over the eggs and sugar, whisking as you go.

3. Wash out the pan (boring, but it does have to be done!), then pour the uncooked custard back into it and return to the heat.

4. Cook over a medium heat (people will tell you it should be low heat but that is just too tedious for words!), stirring all the time, until it has thickened. It must never boil!

5. After 10-15 minutes, it should be thick enough, so straightaway pour it into a cold, clean bowl, add the vanilla extract, and whisk a bit to help bring the temperature down.

6. Cover the very top of the custard, as well as the bowl, with plastic wrap and leave to cool, while you start assembling your trifle.

7. Cut each pound cake into 16 slices and make into sandwiches with the preserve. Squidge these into the base of your trifle bowl. A trifle bowl should, I feel, be glass so you can see the layers from the outside. The proportions vary and, since the point of the trifle is the layers, the dimensions of your bowl will determine how these build up and the amount of cake etc. you will need.

8. Pour the sherry over the cake sandwiches and let it soak in.

9. Now tumble in the thawed berries, with a little of their liquid. (It might seem unseasonal to use "summer" fruits, but I love their tartness against the sweetness of the custard that will drape over them.) Then grate the zest of the orange over the fruit and sprinkle with the superfine sugar; if you're not using frozen fruit (which tends to be sour), don't bother with the sugar.

10. When the custard's cool, remove the plastic wrap. Pour and scrape the custard on top of the berries. It will be soft-set: thickened but far from solid. Cover the bowl (not the custard this time) with some fresh plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half a day or up to 2 days--it's this standing time that makes the difference.

11. When you are ready to serve, take the trifle out of the refrigerator to stand for about 1 hour. Whisk the cream until softly whipped. You don't want it to merge with the custard, but nor do you want it stiffly peaking.

12. Remove the plastic wrap from the trifle bowl and spread the whipped cream on top of the custard with a rubber spatula.

13. Finely chop the pistachios, sprinkle over the top of the trifle and adorn with a few, beautiful crystallized rose petals (or crystallized violet petals, if you prefer).

Cook Club: Bon Appetit, Y'all

BON APPETIT, Y'ALL BY VIRGINIA WILLIS


FINAL SCORE: 4.25

HIGHEST SCORING DISHES: Amanda's Vidalia Onion Confit with Garlic Toasts and Jackie B's Green Beans

For September/October Cook Club, the lovely Amanda picked out Bon Appetit, Y'all by Virginia Willis. Here's a little bit about why Amanda picked this cookbook: "The book I chose for this month's cook club is Bon Appetit, Y'all by Virginia Willis. Virginia Willis is a native Southerner who was French trained as a chef, and all of her recipes have heavy influences of both cultures. I adore Southern culture and cooking, so this book seemed like an obvious choice! :) My parents introduced me to this cook book over a year ago, and they love it!" The list of dishes looked AMAZING to me -- it was so hard to pick out dishes to make. And I was very happy with my selections! Thanks Amanda for leading us this round!

STARTERS AND NIBBLERS

Amanda's Vidalia Onion Confit with Garlic Toasts

Score: 5

This recipe was super easy to put together and very straightforward. I actually made it the night before to allow the flavors to develop,and was so glad I did! The only problem I ran into was the availability of vidalia onions...they were nowhere to be found! After a call to my mother, the gardening guru, I learned that vidalia onions are more of a "summer onion"(who knew?), so I had to settle for yellow onions. My mom swore that these were acceptable substitute, and she was right! The dish was flavorful, and was only enhanced by blue cheese--per the author's suggestion. I will definitely make this again, either as a starter, or as a condiment with pork or chicken.  (Anjali's thoughts: 4.75!  So yummy, loved the blue cheese with the onions.  Simple!).  

Anjali's Mama's Sausage Pecan Balls

Score: 4.0

So this was actually Stephen's recipe, but Amanda accidentally sent it to me and I TOTALLY stole it. ;) Again, another simple appetizer recipe for all the fabulous parties I attend. (in my dreams) One tip for the recipe. I attempted to make the batter without the food processor and failed, but once I did put it in the food processor, it came together beautifully. Use your tools! Otherwise, it was simple and yummy!  I felt they were a little dry but the other guests did not feel that way.  You know me, I like hot sauce with everything. ;)

(Jackie's note: I was jealous that someone grabbed this before I could!  I definitely will want to make this too...)

Anjali's Heirloom Tomato and Olive Tartines

Score: 4.5

Thought this would be a good, easy appetizer recipe to have under my belt.  It was so simple! I was really surprised to see the addition of thyme and rosemary, but I LOVED them in the tapenade! They really cut the strong flavor of the olives, which I feel often scares people away from anything olive-related.  This had a really mild, rich flavor and was so simple to make.  Will definitely make this again!

Amanda's Thyme Toasted Pecans

Score: 3.5

Virginia Willlis was correct about this recipe...the fragrance is amazing when all of the ingredients are combined with the warm toasted pecans. Unfortunately, they were not very flavorful. I still love this recipe, and will make it again, just with more pepper, salt, and thyme!

Lisa H.'s Pimento Cheese

Score: (by Anjali) 4.5 

MAIN COURSES

Jackie's Coca-Cola Glazed Baby Back Ribs

Score: 3.75

I've always wanted to make my own ribs and what is more perfect than a Southern cookbook to try out a ribs recipe?  This dish was actually a lot of fun to make... and the smell of the ribs was AMAZING while they were cooking.  The ribs were sweet (use lots of napkins!), but lacked depth in flavor.  Still tasty though.  I think next time I would maybe add a bit more salt or maybe hot sauce? 

Jackie's Country Captain Chicken

Score: 4.5

I hadn't realized how prevalent curry flavors were in the South until I did some research on Country Captain chicken!  And this does not disappoint.  I used boneless skinless chicken breasts here -- Ms. Willis suggests cooking the chicken for a shorter period of time if using boneless skinless breasts... which I tried, but the chicken was still not cooked enough.  I think next time I would cut the breasts down in a size so they are all the same size and would cook quicker!  The chicken is coated in flour with a bit of a paprika kick and the coating gets browned a bit at first to give the chicken a nice taste.  Then the chicken is piled into a pot with tomatoes, golden raisins, peppers... yum.  Mr. J LOVED this dish and happily ate it for dinner for days to come.  Definitely will make again!

SIDE DISHES

Jackie's $20,000 Rice Pilaf

Score: 4.5

Amanda sent this recipe to me to go with my Country Captain Chicken and I am sure glad she did!  When I was growing up, I always loved when my parents made for me rice with "vegetable sauce"... or rice with some chicken broth that had vegetable cooked in it.  And this reminded me of that.  Unlike other rice recipes I've tried, this one was cooked in the oven.  After toasting the rice a bit on the stove, the pot goes into the oven for the rice to cook up in chicken broth.  Yesss, yummy chicken broth.  It takes no time at all, the rice was super fluffy and very flavorful.  I could have actually just eaten the rice by itself. 

Jackie B.'s Green Beans

Score: (by Anjali) 5

Anjali's thoughts: this was possibly the biggest hit at the party. FIVE POINT OHHHHH :)

BREADS

Amanda's Cheddar Cornbread

Score: 4

In my opinion, cornbread is generally pretty amazing. Cornbread with cheese? Even better! The recipe was very easy to throw together, and had a great flavor. I liked that the recipe used buttermilk instead of milk, which makes the flavor a little richer. I usually make cornbread with shortening, and this recipe recommended butter, which was equally yummy! This definitely isn't a substitute for regular cornbread, but it will be nice to have something different every once in awhile.

DESSERT

Lisa H.'s Pecan Brownies

Score: (by Anjali) 3.5

Thanks so much to Amanda for heading up this round!!

Cook Club: Lost Recipes: Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget

LOST RECIPES:

KITCHEN-TESTED HEIRLOOM RECIPES TOO GOOD TO FORGET

TOTAL SCORE: 3.63

Highest Scoring Dishes: Sunday Sago and Salted Butter Cookies

Lowest Scoring Dish: Brown Sugar Fudge

Rachel headed up our July/August Cook Club and picked out the recipe-filled Lost Recipes: Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget.  In Rach's words:  "I think I found something that will be fun for everyone. The July/August cookbook is actually a hefty magazine from Cook's Country - Lost Recipes: Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget. I love to read old cookbooks - the older the better - but I rarely cook out of them because the recipes seem so weird or the ingredients are too hard to find in a modern store.  The promise of this collection of recipes is that they are original recipes that let you "taste our culinary past" without the risk - they have passed the Cook's Country test and each one should be worth making. You can find the ingredients without a time machine, and the techniques have been updated where necessary to fit the modern kitchen."

I was excited to try this cookbook (I quite heart Cook's Country and its sister company, America's Test Kitchen).  I decided to check out the cookbook for myself at my local Barnes & Noble, and as it turns out, this cookbook has expanded into not one, but two cookbooks: America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget and Cook's Country Best Lost Suppers.  The recipes we sampled span these two cookbooks . . . and the cookbooks offer many more recipes (with loads of helpful tips and hints).  The first cookbook tends more towards desserts and baked goods, and the second cookbook, as its title implies, more entrees and savory dishes.

Thanks Rach for introducing us to this cookbook!

APPETIZERS

Lisa W's Brooklyn Cheese Puffs
Score: 4.0

I chose this recipe because I am always looking for fun appetizers for entertaining. Other cheese puffs/ball that I have made in the past have been fried. Needless to say, I was very excited when this recipe required baking of the puffs. This is a very simple and tasty recipe. My only suggestion is that if you make puffs that are ping pong ball size (as I did), I would bake them for 20 minutes , instead of 10 minutes. I will definitely make these again!

Amanda's Corn Oysters
Score: Corn Oysters Alone = 2, With Remoulade = 4.  Score = 3.0

I was both intimidated and excited to make this recipe. Intimidated, because it involved deep frying, and excited, because I like fried food. :) The corn was very fresh and sweet, which gave the "oysters" an interesting flavor. The recipe was fairly quick and easy to assemble, and I managed to live through my first deep frying experience without any major disasters. Once cooked, the oysters were kind of...bland. They needed salt, at a minimum, and lots of other spice intervention. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to make remoulade sauce in advance, which helped quite a bit! I think this recipe is great, but I will definitely add spices to the batter next time...or make remoulade again. :) (Anjali scored this dish as 3.25)

MAIN DISHES

Anjali's International Date Line Chicken
Score: 4.25

I picked this dish because I feel like I always make the same old chicken dishes. The recipe was straightforward, as was the prep. It is the first time I have worked with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, but I didn't find them to be difficult. The end result smelled so good and it tasted yummy. It is relatively healthy, too! (The recipe calls for removal of the skin after cooking) I will definitely keep this in my arsenal.

Jackie's Oh My God Chicken
Score: 4.4

I was in search of recipes that I could make and enjoy the leftovers for days to come...  I admit I was intrigued by the name of this dish and thought that I had vaguely heard of "Oh My God Chicken" before.  And really, how could "Oh My God Chicken" not be good?  Happy to say, it was delicious.  The mixture of slow cooked onions and peppers with the chicken broth and white wine made the chicken thighs deliciously flavorful (boned-in, skin-on ... how rarely I used chicken thighs these days, but didn't want the chicken to dry out!  So chicken thighs was the cut of choice!  Not til after I already bought the chicken thighs did I notice that the recipe also provided times for chicken breasts... note to self!).  Our house smelled amazing.  A note that I should have heeded better -- the recipe warns to be careful with your salt seasoning...and I should have followed this because I was a bit heavy handed on the salt, which was perhaps the only downside to this dish.  Definitely will make again!

Stephen's Sunday Sago
Score: 4.5

I tackled the Sunday Sago and the Salted Butter Cookies. Overall both were excellent, I'd give each a 4.5. A few modifications were made to the sago, sorry, but it was totally necessary. I grew up with a family who literally made this every Sunday. Old Italian tradition, and a damn good one! The original sauce had almost no flavor. So to help it out, I doubled the oregano, added an equal amount of thyme, and 2 bay leaves. That still wasn't enough so I then added 2 teapsoons vegetable base, a bottle of pinot noir, and let it simmer an extra 2 hours. That did the trick :) So I mighta went a little overboard, but I can't help it, this is one dish I have high standards for, and will always be the one that only mom could make.  (Anjali scored this dish as well with 4.25 and YUM!)

Amanda's Galveston Shrimp Creole
Score: 3.5

This recipe was fun to make...mostly because it involved making a roux, and I am always interested in learning new and different techniques to make one.(Before making this recipe, I wasn't aware that different techniques existed...thanks for the tip, Dad!) The recipe was fairly involved in the begininng, but was very easy towards the end (simmer for 2 hours, add shrimp, serve). Overall, I thought the finished product was lacking quite a bit in flavor-it needed more salt, and Tabasco! :)

SIDE DISHES

Anjali's Maryland Caramel Tomatoes
Score: 3.5

I like Maryland, caramel, and tomatoes, so this seemed like a good option for me. Again, incredibly straightforward, which I always appreciate. Not that it wasn't disconcerting to put brown sugar on tomatoes! Nevertheless, they turned out well and all of us enjoyed them. An easy side dish.

Lisa W's Great-Grandma's Corn Fritters
Score: 3.0

Great-Grandma needs some spice in her life! These corn fritters were very simple to make, but the flavor was greatly enhanced by the addition of red chili pepper. I made two batches, one following granny’s recipe and one adding some spice. My husband definitely preferred the batch with the chili pepper. Since the batter required tartar sauce, I served them with the tartar sauce. The tartar sauce was a nice complement to the fritters.

DESSERTS

Stephen's Salted Butter Cookies
Score: 4.5

As for the cookies, I was surprised. Didn't know what to expect, but I liked them a lot. I didn't change anything in the recipe. I was really nervous about the chocolate filling. I've never heard of mixing it in that fashion, but it worked for the most part. It would have been much better to use heavy cream. The cookies had a nice crunchy/chewy texture, the salt flavor stood out just a bit more than a usual cookie and I liked it. The leftover cookies were taken care of that night with a big glass of milk. This was followed by the next night where I demolished the rest of cookies from the leftover dough that I saved.  (Anjali scored this dish with a 4.5 and "I jokingly called these Pepperidge Farm Cookies - SO GOOD")

Jackie's Sugar Cookies
Score: 4.25

These cookies were pretty fantastic!  I originally picked these a dish I could make with my niece, but ended up baking these for my office instead...  These cookies don't actually contain much sugar -- just a 1/2 cup -- and they were just sweet enough.  Even better, they were wonderfully fluffy, soft, and cakey.  If you like crisp cookies, this isn't the recipe for you.  Lucky for me, my go-to cookies are soft...  I think that I rolled my dough out a bit too thick, but I didn't mind having thicker cookies!  The recipe was a multi-step process that included at least a 2 hour chilling period, so plan accordingly :)  I think next time I might try these as snickerdoodles with sugar AND cinnamon.  Yum.

Rachel's Brown Sugar Fudge
Score: 2

I don't like fudge, but I love brown sugar, and since I don't make candy very often I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have a candy thermometer, and I don't recommend trying to make this recipe without one. It never really lightened or got matte the way it was supposed to when I was stirring it after cooling, which probably means I did not cook it for long enough, or maybe didn't get it hot enough. After an hour in the pan, it thickened but never set up and it was clear I wasn't going to be able to cut it into pieces.

The flavor is very good - butter and molasses notes, mostly - but not very interesting at all. I think it would make a good frosting for a not-very-sweet spice cake, so I scraped it all into a tub and stuck it in the freezer to use sometime this fall. I'll just thaw it and thin with a bit of whole milk.

Not recommended. You can make normal brown sugar frosting with a lot less work (this recipe requires 10 minutes of vigorous beating by hand!).

Amanda's Peach Puzzle
Score: 3.0

I found this recipe to be a little frustrating. The directions were a bit unclear-it said to peel the peaches, but I wasn't sure what to do after (half, slice, leave whole), because the recipe didn't mention it. I finally decided to halve them, for the sake of time, which worked out pretty well. The crust completely confused me, simply because I don't have tons of experience with making my own crust (pillsbury makes great ones, just saying :)), but I pressed on, and ended up with a lumpy, cobblerlike crust. The flavor was fine, but it definitely did not match the description in the recipe! Ha. I would have added a little cinnamon to the sauce before drizzling it over the peaches, had it occurred to me to taste it beforehand. Inverting the dessert made for a nice presentation, but overall it was not one of my favorites. (Anjali scored this dish with 3.5 - "always love peach desserts!")

BREAKFAST

Jackie's Fluffies
Score: 3.3

I originally picked this recipe based on its name (I had no idea what "fluffies" would be) and it made perfect sense when I found out they were pancakes.  I made these small pancakes for my pancake-loving parents-in-law one weekend while we were at the beach.  Although I loved just how fluffy the pancakes were (the secret is in the whipped egg whites!), I wasn't as big of a fan of the sour cream flavor.  My parents-in-law were very kind, and said they enjoyed their "fresh" flavor (from the sour cream), but that flavor wasn't for me.  Still though, a good recipe, although I don't know if I'll be making these for myself again.

Cook Club: Jamie's Food Revolution

May/June Cook Club: Jamie's Food Revolution

Final Score: 3.78

Most Favorite Dishes: Chicken Korma, Pork Kabobs, Evolution Tomato Salad

Least Favorite Dishes: Everyday Green Chopped Salad, Quick Steamed Microwave Pudding Cakes

I headed up May/June Cook Club and couldn't resist picking Jamie Oliver's new-ish cookbook -- Jamie's Food Revolution.  I received this cookbook for Christmas last year.  After trying a few recipes out of it, I knew I was in love, and wanted to share this love with our Cook Club and see how the recipes would turn out on a broader scale!  I even enjoyed just reading through the cookbook.  Well, perhaps I should back up a little bit.  I loved this cookbook not just because of Jamie Oliver (who admittedly is cute as a button), but because of his mission behind the book -- to get people to cook more, to show people that cooking doesn't have to be a struggle, and to show what a difference passing on a few recipes can make in people's lives.  There is even a pledge in the book where the owner of the book promises to pass on multiple recipes to people (ok, so technically Jamie's asking us to teach the recipes to others, but I think we are doing this in our own way!).  The cookbook is filled with stories of people that he met and "passed" recipes on to and, well, it definitely inspires me to avoid ordering delivery and, instead, cook up one of these dishes.  I hope that you enjoy them as well!

And some feedback from the Cook Club about the cookbook in general!

Amanda: Can I start by saying how much I LOVE Jamie Oliver. The way his recipes were written were so laid back and user-friendly, I would definitely recommend this cookbook to anyone, no matter what their level of cooking experience. I'm thinking about buying this book for myself!

Michelle: I love this cookbook! It's the first one that we've cooked from that I'm absolutely going to go out and buy because I found the recipes to be not only delicious, but easy to make! And I had two more "complicated" items to make! Also, as an aside, I was recently at Rancho La Puerta (a spa just across the border from San Diego) and the nutritionist recommended this cookbook for everyone! I was so excited that we were cooking out of it!

And on to the dishes...

ENTREES

Silvia's Shrimp and Avocado with an Old-School Marie Rose Sauce
Score: 4.0

I love shrimp and am always looking for new ways to use them in dishes, so I was really excited when I saw this recipe in Jamie Oliver's cook club. The recipe was very easy to follow yet it was still creative with bringing different ingredients together. I really didn't know what to expect from the sauce before I made it--the recipe called for mayo, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and whiskey! But it turned out to be very unique and delicious. The shrimp smelled superb as it was cooking in the olive oil and garlic. I loved how flouring the shrimp gave it a bit of a crisp texture. The paprika added both a beautiful coloring and lots of flavor. The fresh avocado and sprouts made for a great addition to the shrimp + sauce. We first ate the avocado and sprouts as kind of a mini salad and then had the shrimp dipped in the sauce separately... but then we went all out and made little stacked combos of the shrimp plus the garnishes--it came together very nicely and was very yummy!

Rachel's Bolognese Sauce
Score: 3.75 (Jen = 3.5, Rachel = 4)

Looking at the ingredient list, I expected this to be super-flavorful. Bacon, onions, garlic, herbs, cheese - sounds delicious! I was surprised to find it a bit dull as I tasted it through the cooking process though, and ended up adding more sea salt and a mix of dried Italian herbs. About halfway through the meal I realized how much I was enjoying it - it really is a great combination, after adjusting for taste. Very much looking forward to eating the leftovers!

I used lean ground beef, and unfortunately had to omit the fresh basil as my grocery store was out. This recipe isn't difficult at all, but it does require a lot of time since it has to simmer for an hour. I couldn't make it on a normal weeknight, when I typically work a bit late, hit the gym and walk the dog before making dinner. It would be great for a Saturday afternoon when you're puttering around the house doing other things, enjoying the yummy smells.

One tip: definitely do not add the amount of water recommended (28 oz!). I don't know a lot about authentic Bolognese, but halfway through the cooking process it was obvious that I was going to have soup, not sauce, if I didn't do something drastic. I took the lid off and turned the heat all the way up for the last half hour. I would say add a cup of water and just keep an eye on it - if it seems like things are getting too dry or sticking together, throw in a bit more as needed.

Rachel's Hardly-Any-Prep Shrimp Stir-Fry
Score: 4

I had to make some adjustments to this one since I didn't have five-spice powder, fresh red chile, or cornstarch. I subbed in cinnamon, allspice and extra garlic for the five-spice and just went without the chile and cornstarch. My review is simple: this is a great recipe! The flavors are wonderful - I typically just use soy sauce and seasoned rice wine vinegar when I make stir-fry, and this is much fuller and richer. I've also never used rice sticks before, and they were a great alternative to rice. We both give this a 4.

Jackie's Mini Shell Pasta with Creamy Bacon and Pea Sauce Score: 3.8

I had been eyeing this particular dish for weeks now and we had contemplated cooking it while visiting with our little nieces (who are 4 and 5) because Jamie commented on how he loves to make it for his girls (and that him and Jools eat it up as well).  We ended up making the bolognese that weekend instead (Rachel made the bolognese for our Cook Club, see her review above!  I definitely agreed with Rachel's thoughts that this recipe called for much too much water and I would suggest not using diced tomatoes, but perhaps a mix of diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.  Our 5 year old niece LOVED the bolognese -- she ate almost her entire bowl of pasta), but I cooked up this mini shell recipe last night for dinner.  It took a bit longer than the recipe called for (Jamie's 5.5 minutes compared to my approx 30 minutes) because the water took awhile to boil and then the pasta needed about 10-11 minutes to cook.  But the actual sauce was super simple and very quick.  I used turkey bacon instead of regular bacon and threw in four more slices (love bacon!).  Also, instead of mint, I used fresh basil.  The sauce didn't come out nearly as smooth or creamy as Jamie suggested it would in his recipe, but the pasta was still quite good and surprisingly light, so great for even a hot summer day (which we were most certainly having yesterday). 

Jackie's Chicken Vindaloo (with Cilantro/Lime Rice)
Score: 4.2

Much to my delight, Jamie offers a whole chapter of different curries (mostly Indian, but also a Thai green curry) in his cookbook.  J and I love Indian food, and J particularly loves the spicier curries so we decided to make the vindaloo.  The recipe calls for pork shoulder, but we had boneless skinless chicken breast in our freezer so we used that. (On an aside, I accidentally defrosted way too many chicken breasts, so I put in three rather sizeable chicken breasts in, more than the recipe called for -- as a result, I just topped it off with more water than was required, so that most of the mixture was covered). The recipe itself was straightforward -- in most of Jamie's curry recipes, he suggests using the Patak brand of jarred curry pastes and he also provides recipes for each of the different curry pastes if you want to make it yourself.  We went for the jarred curry paste to save time.  The rest of the recipe really called of just some chopping (which took no time at all with my new mini cleaver!) and then occasionally stirring the pot while the vindaloo is cooking up (the worst part of that is smelling the wonderful aroma and getting hungry!).  We piled the vindaloo on top of cilantro/lime rice (kind of based on Jamie's recipe) and then a dollop of plain yogurt.  Very tasty and not toooo spicy, just how I like it.  Will definitely make again (and will try other of the curry recipes). 

Lisa W's British Beef and Onion Pie
Score: 3.0

I chose this dish because I had never made a “British dish.”  Interestingly, I spoke to someone from England who laughed when I told her I made it.  She said that British pie is a “very old-fashioned dish that only people in poverty consumed.”  Very interesting prospective from a 60 year old native! Making this dish was quite the adventure as I used an unfamiliar ingredient – Marmite.  Marmite is made from yeast extract and according to my husband is not palatable when eaten alone! The dish took 3+ hours to create, which I believe is too long for the end result.  The day my husband and I made the dish, we rated it 2.5.  However, the next day, we rated the dish 3.0 as the flavors combined very well the next day!

Lisa W's Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Score: Lisa's husband = 3, Lisa = 4; Average = 3.5

If you want a simple, quick, tasty recipe (prepped, cooked, and eating in 20 minutes), this is it!   I did not have the tikka paste, so I combined the dry tikka spice with water to create my own paste.    The salmon was also a little too “fishy.”  Next time, I would drizzle lemon juice on it prior to cooking vs after cooking (as the recipe indicated).

Stephen's Salmon En Croute
Score: 4.0
I made the Salmon en Croute. I used fresh King Salmon. I did make a substitution. I used green olive tapenade instead of black. Overall, the dish was good. The puff pastry crust is what set it apart. Crusty outside with a meaty inside, mmm. Good saltiness from the tapenade. My only hesitation is the tomato. I've personally never been a fan of a wedge of tomato in a hot, savory dish. If it were up to me, I'd switch to leeks next time. Also, crab was on sale :) so I bought some and made one with salmon plus crab. The crab gave it a really rich seafoody flavor along with a little sweetness. That one was my fav. (Anjali scored this dish a 4.25)


Michelle's Chicken Korma
Score: 4.5

First, let me say, this is my FAVORITE curry. I've tried millions of different store bought korma curries, and they never live up to the flavors of what you get at a good indian restaurant. This came shockingly close! It absolutely satisfied my craving for korma and it smelled AMAZING in my apartment. That being said, it is a bit of work (especially if you make the curry paste out of scratch like I did), but it's completely worth it. The textures are great and the flavors blend amazingly. I would add slightly less water to the curry the next time I make it (because it tells you to add water as you go to keep it moist), but that's because I like my curry a little bit thicker. I also added some sliced red bell peppers to mine, because I think all korma should have bell pepper. I would saute them first next time, because I think that is where a good part of the water came from. I will definitely make this dish again and again.

Michelle's Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce
Score: 4.0

This was quite a tasty little treat! I definitely recommend the trick of using the chilled rice, don't use hot rice, because it won't work properly. I would use a little bit less soy sauce than I did, but I'm not sure if that's because I used more than the recipe calls for or not (because you're told to just keep adding "a little more" throughout the recipe). Everything is to taste, but with soy sauce, the liquid reduces and leaves behind a lot of salt, so be sure that you use a light touch with the soy sauce. It takes a lot of arm strength to make this dish, because you have to keep stirring to prevent anything from burning. I will make this again when I'm not too tired and when I'm looking for something with a little kick. The flavors were great and, for a beef dish, it felt very healthy.

Amanda's Cherry Tomato Sauce with Cheat's Fresh Pasta
Score: 4.5

When I was a kid, the joke in my family was that I would eat anything that had tomato sauce on it, which still pretty much holds true today, hence my recipe choice. The sauce for this recipe was very easy (like all of the others) and had only a few ingredients, but big flavor. I loved the combination of balsamic, fresh tomatoes, and basil! I will add more tomatoes next time (or use less pasta), simply because I love tomato sauce. Needless to say, this dish will make another appearance in my kitchen soon. (Anjali's score = 3.0)


Amanda's Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle
Score: 3.5

No cook club session is complete in my apartment without some type of mishap or grocery store search. This recipe presented a small challenge of locating tagliatelle. My usual store didn't have it, nor did whole foods. So, I consulted Wikipedia (don't tell my students ;)) and Epicurious and learned that tagliatelle is closely related to fettuccine. (This is what I love about cook club, besides the yummy food...I generally learn something new every time! :)) Anyhow, after solving my pasta problem, I got cooking. Again the recipe was super easy to follow, and took relatively little time. I liked the combo of broccoli and pesto, and the broccoli gave the pasta a nice texture. Overall, I thought the pasta was a bit lacking in the flavor department, and needed more salt, pepper, and pesto (I added lots of extra) than the recipe called for. This recipe is still a keeper, and I'm glad I have a new pasta dish.

Tracy's Moroccan Stewed Fish with Couscous
Score: 4.0

This was very tasty and not hard to make at all. I had to adjust the cooking time because I used frozen seafood instead of fresh. The flavors were well balanced and the fish was just toothsome enough to place itself squarely in the star position of the dish. Great as leftovers, which is rare for a seafood dish!

Becca's Pork Kabobs
Score: 4.5

I made the pork kabobs and the mexican style corn. The kabobs were very easy to make and I appreciated that the seasoning was more of a rub than a marinade, so it's the kind of thing you could make any day of the week and still get good flavor. The cooking times were a bit unpredictable, but I think that's because I didn't cut the onions right so it was hard to get the kabobs down on my grill pan uniformly. If I ever figured out how to use my grill it would probably be much easier to get the cooking times down. I should have been more careful to avoid putting small pieces on the ends of the kabobs, those were harder to cook. Overall though I thought the kabobs were delicious and enjoyed them for dinner and for lunch the next day. The pork was very tender and it was fun to learn a good recipe for pork since I get a little burned out on chicken now and again. That said, I think the same recipe would work well for chicken as well.

SIDE DISHES

Jackie's Evolution Tomato Salad
Score: 4.7

This salad was simply fantastic.  Perhaps it is because it is the perfect season for tomatoes, but I loved how all the elements of this salad came together.  I picked this recipe for a family barbecue we were having -- our barbecues are filled with grilled proteins (chicken wings, pork chops, hot dogs, etc), so I wanted something light to accompany everything.  This recipe was very simple to make and took no time at all.  The recipe called for a mix of tomatoes -- I used vine-ripened tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and grape tomatoes -- and basically a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, basil, sea salt, and black pepper (note: I did cut back a little bit on the olive oil because it seemed like a bit too much for the amount of tomatoes I had).  The olives added just a bit of saltiness and the cannelini beans gave a touch of creaminess and a different texture.  This recipe came from the cookbook's series of "evolution salads" -- basically, Jamie gives you the recipe for the basic salad (here, the tomato salad, but he also does a green salad, carrot salad, cucumber salad...) and then the salad "evolves" through three additional steps.  I incorporated all but the last step -- which was to add tuna in because we were certainly protein filled already!  I'm quite excited about all the leftover tomato salad I have (brought it for lunch today!) and definitely would make this salad again!  (Addendum: So, I slightly downgraded this recipe from a 5 to a 4.7... this salad really doesn't hold up as a leftover -- and I'm all about having leftovers to bring with me for lunch!  The tomatoes become mushy, the beans become too creamy, and all in all, it starts to not look very appetizing.  Still a fantastic recipe though for a fresh salad to be eaten THAT DAY.)

Rachel's Everyday Green Chopped Salad
Score: 2

Chopped salad is my favorite kind of salad - I just love all the flavors mixed together and all the nicely uniform pieces are so pretty. The veggie mix here - butter lettuce, scallions, sprouts, cucumber - is really nice. But once you add in everything else (oil! cheese! mustard! vinegar!), this seems like a salad for people who don't like vegetables. It's so creamy and over the top that all you can taste is the dressing, and that's even after I cut the dressing ingredients down from 2 avocados to 1, and from 6 tablespoons of oil to 1.5. This salad was a great reminder that butter lettuce and avocados should be getting in my cart a lot more often, but I can't say I will be making this one again.  I give this a 2 - great ingredients, but proportions are all wrong for me.

Anjali's Minted Peas
Score: 4.25

I really do love Cook Club, but some months just get too busy!  So this time I picked a side that looked simple and sounded yummy.  And it was!  I was taken aback by the addition of lettuce to the peas, but the end result was great.  The mint is the perfect complement to the buttery flavor of the peas.

Amanda's Dressed Asparagus
Score: 4

I LOVE asparagus, so when I saw this recipe, I had to try it! The recipe was so very simple and easy; it took twenty minutes start to finish. The "dressed" portion of the recipe included balsamic and dijion mustard, both of which added a nice flavor to the asparagus, but wasn't too overpowering either. Overall I thought this was a fantastic recipe and will definitely use it again! Next time, I would like to try grilling the asparagus (my parents do this quite a bit and it's amazing), then drizzling the dressing over it-I think it would make the flavor a little different.  (Anjali's score = 3.75)

Becca's Mexican-Style Corn
Score: 4.0

The corn was also really yummy. I forgot to pick up fresh parmesan so I just used grated. It didn't look as pretty but it tasted good. The pepper bits added some nice heat which was a good contrast with the sweetness of the corn.

DESSERT

Tracy's Quick Steamed Microwave Pudding Cakes
Score: 1.0

The texture of this cake was terribly heavy. The batter was gummy. The flavor was dull. All in all, a poor dish. I won’t be trying it again.




Silvia's Cheat’s Sponge Cake with Summer Berries and Cream
Score: 4.25

I am not the most skilled when it comes to making desserts. This recipe was the perfect answer to my quest to be a dessert diva! It could not have been easier. I got a plain cake and added delicious berries and cream to it, sprinkled some chocolate on top, and VOILA--a delicious dessert for me and my guy. I did have to improvise a bit, as I couldn't find panettone cakes at the store, which the recipe called for. But the lady at the bakery was very helpful--she suggested that I tried using a pound cake instead. It turned out wonderfully. Since Luke doesn't eat nuts, I skipped the sliced almonds and instead just used chocolate morsels. Before dinner, we had told ourselves we would only each have one slice, but the cake was so delicious we kept going back to the kitchen for more!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Jamie's Food Revolution Cook Club!!  Can't wait to see how everyone's dishes turn out for the next round...

And for those of you keeping track, here is the rankings for our cookbooks so far:

Barefoot Contessa Parties: 4.175
Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen: 3.975
Giada's Kitchen: 3.87
Jamie's Food Revolution: 3.78
Cooking Up a Storm: 3.717
Cooking the Austrian Way: 3.09

GREECE: Hot dogging in Crete

Despite the nationwide, planned strike in Greece, many of the government ran sites in Crete were up and running -- including the ancient Minoan palace, Knossos, our main destination that day.  We drove about 1.5 hours to the capital of Crete, Iraklio (also spelled: Heraklion), a sprawling metropolis and the largest city on Crete (and the fifth largest city in Greece) -- we were going to venture back to Iraklio later in the day, but had to drive through Iraklio to reach Knossos.  The ruins of Knossos, surrounded by green hills and dusty roads, was uncovered in 1900 by British archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans.  According to our tour guide, the excavators were stunned by what they found -- a sophisticated civilization from four thousand years ago that had running water (that they brought in from a mountain, miles away, through a complex piping system), flushing toilets, beautiful frescoes, and such. Unlike the other archaeological sites / palace ruins around Crete, Knossos was "reconstructed" in part to give visitors an idea of what the palace would have looked like when ruled by the Minoans.  The day we visited, the weather was brilliant... literally.  Not a cloud in the sky, the sun was beaming down on Knossos.  And it was quite warm.  I loved exploring Knossos and learning about the myths that interweave with the actual "history" of Knossos ... as the legend goes, King Minos hid the mythological beast, the Minotaur, down underneath Knossos in the Labyrinth.  Although it is unlikely that a Minotaur was actual hidden in a Labyrinth, our tour guide explained to us that some believe that the word "labyrinth" comes from the Minoans -- one of the symbols of the Minoans was the double axe.  The word for the double axe was "labrys"... leading to the word, labyrinth...  This was just one of many fun facts that we learned as part of our tour!  (On a sidenote, if you do visit Knossos, you can find a tour guide once you enter the palace area.  There is a booth where you can hire a guide -- either as part of a small group or for a higher fee, for a one-on-one tour ... often, the tour guides will approach you before you even get to the booth.)

After we visited Knossos, we were starving and drove into Iraklio for a later lunch.  We had a few spots in mind, some that overlooked the water... but after 45 minutes of navigating through the very narrow streets of downtown Iraklio and attempting to find parking, we decided to forego lunch and just go to the Archaeological Museum.  On our walk to the Archaeological Museum, we came across a hot dog/sandwich food stop... we were going to just purchase a water or two, but well, could not resist getting something to eat.  So we shared the "double hot dog" and also had the good fortune to meet some very nice locals, who we chatted with a bit to find out more about the layout of the city and the culture of the city.  Again, we were struck by the generosity and friendliness of the Greeks.  And we were very happy with our tasty grilled hot dog...(Oh and we did make it to the Archaeological Museum...covered in sweat...the original Arch Museum was undergoing renovations, so all the "highlights" of the Arch Museum had been moved to a rather small one story rectangular building.  They sure jammed quite a few artifacts into this small room.  It is wonderful to see after visiting Knossos, because many of the items at the Museum are from Knossos, and include several beautiful frescoes.  But I don't necessarily think this Museum is worth a side visit to Iraklio unless you are already there.)