This recipe was adapted from recipes from America’s Test Kitchen, in both the “Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook” and the “Complete ATK TV Show Cookbook”. I found that processing the tomatoes until completely smooth and pre-cooking the tomato sauce made it taste and look more like traditional sauce instead of canned tomatoes. Adding the mushrooms…
I remember making cream cheese brownies with my mom as a kid. Stir together an egg and some oil with the brownie mix, then stir together an egg and some oil with the “cream cheese” mix. I think it may have been a Pillsbury boxed mix, but the brand didn’t matter – it was the…
This recipe is based on Ina Garten’s “Honey White Bread” recipe in Barefoot Contessa At Home. It’s an easy to follow recipe for plain, but good (and sturdy!) white bread perfect for sandwiches, toast, and making bread crumbs. Since there’s butter in the dough, the bread bakes up wonderfully fragrant, and homemade bread also has…
Here’s a quick and easy recipe that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner. Everything is already cooked, so it’s just a matter of warming the enchiladas up until they’re nice and bubbly (preferably a little crisp on the edges, too!). This dish is also a great way to use up any leftover rotisserie chicken — at…
This wonderfully quick and easy one-pot dish is literally prepared and cooked in a single pot. It’s a recipe I saw floating around the internet to different variations, and the options are endless with this basic technique. It may take a couple of tries to get the sauce to the consistency you want (relying on…
This recipe is based on one from an Ina Garten cookbook that uses raisins and apricot preserves instead of my substituted cranberries and apple jelly. But since there are pieces of fruit in preserves you have to purée it first which is a hassle, and apple jelly (smooth texture already) is also cheaper. This is…
This chocolate banana crumb cake is an Ina Garten recipe from Make it Ahead. It was my first time making it, and I think it was a bit too rich, next time I’d decrease the chocolate in the topping or halve the amount of topping! This is the recipe as I made it, which is…
Shrimp scampi is a perennial favorite, and great served with just a side of green salad or over a bed of linguini. This version is based on Ina Garten’s recipe in Back to Basics. Baking (roasting) the shrimp for just a few minutes ensures they are still moist, while the high temperature crisps up the…
I was initially very excited to come across a copy of The Food of Taiwan by Cathy Erway. I really wanted to like it, but in the end I decided not to keep it because I was quite disappointed. Here’s why. This beautifully photographed book contains plenty of history in the introduction, and is very…
Browsing through some favorite blogs, I stumbled upon these gorgeous, mouth-wateringly plump and chocolate-filled beauties from Pinch of Yum. She calls them “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies” – and that they are! The batter sits up nice and high so you get a perfectly thick, chewy cookie. I’ll let you link over to her site for…
A few years back, we went out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant called BoBo Garden. Our friends told us to order the Claypot Rice, since it’s their specialty. The rice comes in a heavy – what did I expect? – clay pot, steamed and crisped all in one dish. To be honest, the flavor…
America’s Test Kitchen is my absolute favorite TV show to watch. Their scientific approach to recipes ensures that the recipe is foolproof and gives the best aspect of everything (flavor, texture, etc.). I’m a scientist by training, so I can’t help but geek out at their explanations for various phenomena at a molecular level and…
Wonderfully Made 