July & Aug Feedback

[LSB]

I've made a few new dishes lately and thought I'd pass along some feedback:

Penne w/ Zucchini (Aug 00)- made this tonight because of all the rave reviews on the BB and I loved it! I added some fresh herbs (basil, chives and parsley). It reminded me of another favorite - Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese (May 97)

Brown Sugar Peach Pie (July 00)- I made this for our CL Supper Club. I thought it was good, but the streusel got kind of mushy. Maybe the oatmeal cooked too much? I could have used more coconut too - altho' that would have upped the calories!

Blueberry Crisp (July 00)- this was good, but don't know if it was any better than the crisp I usually make.

Malaysian Lime-Coconut Swordfish (July 00)- this was awful! The sauce was very sharp tasting and the flavors of lime and coconut are almost non-existent. I much prefer the Indian version with a mixture of cilantro, coconut and lime on top of the fish. If anyone wants that recipe - let me know.

Eggplant, Potato and Chickpea Casserole (July 00)- I liked this - but it wasn't very exciting. Probably wouldn't make it again unless I had some eggplant to use up!

Well, that's all. I hope this wasn't too long and boring! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Louise

[KateH]

Louise -- Cilantro, coconut, and lime? I'd love to see that recipe!

[LSB]

Here's the Indian recipe. Hope you like it!

Patrani Machi

Chutney:
1 cup unsweetened grated coconut
1-2 small chilies (like serranos)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp ginger, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)

2 lbs firm fish fillets
6-8 large lettuce leaves
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Combine chutney ingredients in a food processor and blend till quite smooth.

Rinse the fish and cut it into 6-8 serving pieces. Place each piece on the bottom of a lettuce leaf and spread a generous portion of the chutney on top. Fold the rest of the leaf over the fish and tuck in the edges. Place the fish packets on an oiled baking sheet and drizzle the lime juice over them. Bake, covered at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until the lettuce is wilted and brown.

Discard the lettuce and serve.

*I have used both swordfish and catfish. You can skip the lettuce leaves if you're in a hurry and just cover the dish with foil - bake about 10 minutes less.

Enjoy!


[This message has been edited by LSB (edited 08-07-2000).]

[Grace]

Hi Louise...

This is one of my favorite things about this board - all the reviews!!!

I have a few of my own to add....I too made the Penne with Zucchini and Ricotta, and while I added fresh basil, I still thought it was unbelievably bland and boring!!! I will still eat the leftovers (there are lots!!) because it wasn't gross, and I don't like wasting food, but definitely not a repeater for us.

I also made the Fragrant Chicken in Creamy Almond Sauce. This was just OK. It smelled WONDERFUL while it cooked, but the taste was bland, and I had already substituted 1 tsp. of hot curry powder for one of the teaspoons of regular curry powder, plus I added about a 1/2 tsp. of sweet curry powder too. Still bland. This was good enough though to attempt again, and next time I will use both teaspoons of hot curry powder for the regular called for, a full teaspoon of sweet curry powder and I will probably add a package of chopped spinach too. My husband agreed, with those changes we'd probably have a "winner" (his words!).

One last thing I made were the Citrus Cream cheese Pull Apart rolls.... holy cow are those addictive!! I made a half a recipe (1 pan instead of 2, supposedly 12 servings instead of 24), and I ate half the pan myself (6 servings???!!!). I was disgusted with myself. A pan of totally refined food - white bread and sugar - ugh - and I couldn't stop myself!! I won't be making those again anytime soon! They tasted like Cinnabons without the cinnamon. And they were awesome! And usually I have total self control with desserts - one serving is almost always enough for me - oh well. I'll just go run a little extra this week...

Grace

[sharonf]

Hi. This is my first posting here.

I made the Oriental Chicken Salad (Aug 2000) tonite and ran into a couple problems. There was not nearly enough dressing, and the noodles were too crunchy after almost a 1/2 hour (the recipe says to soak for 15 minutes).

Has anyone else made this dish?

[This message has been edited by sharonf (edited 08-07-2000).]

[MrsReber]

Grace, I am glad that I am not alone. I made the penne with ricotta and found it to be very bland. I did eat some of the leftovers, my husband won't touch it since it has zucchini. I added some garlic powder to make it more tasty. I was quite surprised it was so bland because everyone else seemed to have loved it. I didn't think it was anything special. So, after your review of the Citrus cream cheese pull apart rolls I will have to try those!! They sound great! Maybe I should only make 1/4 of the recipe?? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[rissole]

I have made 8 recipes in the July and August so far. Here's what I thought (I can't remember the titles exactly, since I'm at work):

July
Vidalia Onion Risotto -- Of all the dishes I made, this was my least favorite. I tried it several years ago and had mixed feelings about it then. But I decided to go ahead and try it once more, and I have the same mixed feelings. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif First of all, each time it took about *40* minutes for all the liquid to soak in, instead of 20, as the recipe indicates. And I just don't think it's that flavorful, though it did taste better the first day than later on. I'm glad a lot of other people like this dish, but I just don't find it that special.

Malaysian Lime-Coconut Swordfish -- excellent. I thought all the flavors blended really well together.

Black Forest Cheesecake -- Excellent, but not supereasy to make.

Lasagna with Prosciutto -- I thought this was pretty good, but not all that out of the ordinary for lasagna.

Blueberry Crisp -- quite good, but not outstanding. Wasn't that hard, though.

Heavenly Apricot Bars -- very good, and not that difficult.

August
Arugula Salad with Fresh Figs -- excellent, and fairly easy.

Whole Wheat Linguine with Arugula -- very good, but it's a bit of a pain to have to clean all that arugula, which wilts down to such a small volume.

[LIsaP]

Hi All,
I made the Vidalia Onion Risotto with Feta last night and was dismayed at how salty it was! I think it was the combination of the canned vegetable broth and the feta..I should have probably bought reduced sodium broth.
It was my first time making risotto and I did not realize that you had to stir it constantly for 20 minutes! Is there an easier way?
My husband, who is a salt fanatic LOVED it though!

[Vanessa]

Lisa
Yes risoto has to be stirred constantly. I did read a few months back (Gourmet or Bon Appetit) that you could make it in the microwave saving you time (& stirring) I will search for the article...

[food girl]

I just made the confetti chicken pasta salad. My husband loved it. It was not outstanding-especially considering the number of dishes it involves.

[Angela]

I made the Penne with Zucchini and Ricotta tonight and thought it was good, I'd make it again. I didn't have enough regular penne, but I did have on hand Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Rotelle so I ended up with half penne and half rotelle. I think the flavored rotelle helped the flavor and would make it next time with all flavored pasta. The taste and texture reminded me of Fettucchini Alfredo.

[JodiL]

I also made the penne with zucchini last night and thought it was VERY bland. I even crushed the garlic after it cooked and mixed it in, along with lots of extra pepper and salt. Maybe it had something to do with using fat free ricotta since Harris Teeter didn't have the part skim...but this is definitely not a repeater for us either. I don't even think I can bring myself to eat the leftovers. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif Oh well, this is probably my first "miss" from CL.

Jodi

[This message has been edited by JodiL (edited 08-09-2000).]

[Ralph]

Sharon, I had exactly the same problem. I suspect it's because ALL of the noodles weren't in contact with the liquid/dressing. After refrigerating the leftovers in smaller portions, the noodles were just fine, in fact the salad itself was phenomenal then!!! For the future, I'd do one of two things: Either let the salad with the noodles soak in a large but short dish, such as a baking pan, or I'd cook the noodles for 1/2 or 1/3 the time recommended on the package. But again, THE LEFTOVERS WERE GREAT!!!!!!!!


Originally posted by sharonf:
Hi. This is my first posting here.

I made the Oriental Chicken Salad (Aug 2000) tonite and ran into a couple problems. There was not nearly enough dressing, and the noodles were too crunchy after almost a 1/2 hour (the recipe says to soak for 15 minutes).

Has anyone else made this dish?

[This message has been edited by sharonf (edited 08-07-2000).]

[Lchiles]

Penne w/Zucchini- Found it to be extremely bland, added all sorts of spices to help it. The consistency was a little too thick for my taste also. I tried adding basil, garlic powder, garlic salt. Just didn't do it for me, will not repeat. LaurieC

[valeriek]

I also made the vidalia onion risotto and found it to be way, way too salty. I've used regular vegetable broth before and have never had that problem, so it must be the combination of the feta and the vegetable broth. I couldn't even eat the leftovers! I do love risotto though, the stirring time doesn't bother me that much. I think eating the risotto is worth the effort of making it!

[karen w]

Ralph and Sharon, In another post I mentioned that I made the oriental salad from August. However, my recipe did not call for chicken. Did you guys have a different recipe or make modifications? (or a typo?). I followed the recipe exactly and both my husband and I loved it fresh and leftover.

[Kristilyn1]

Originally posted by Vanessa:
Lisa
Yes risoto has to be stirred constantly. I did read a few months back (Gourmet or Bon Appetit) that you could make it in the microwave saving you time (& stirring) I will search for the article...

I make it in the microwave exclusively now--this recipe definitely needs the low salt broth--though someone here mentioned soaking feta to take out some of the sodium.....

I have noticed no difference in taste in the microwave. I saute the onions on the stove, then dump everything into a microwave safe dish and I will stir two or three times while cooking for the 40 minutes my brown rice requires to cook.

Kristi

[Ralph]

Karen, I didn't even notice it said chicken!! I just notice what Sharon had said about the noodles being too crunchy and ran with it!! I did NOT use any chicken, myself. What was your trick to getting the noodles just right?


Originally posted by karen w:
Ralph and Sharon, In another post I mentioned that I made the oriental salad from August. However, my recipe did not call for chicken. Did you guys have a different recipe or make modifications? (or a typo?). I followed the recipe exactly and both my husband and I loved it fresh and leftover.

[Peggy]

I made the Penne with Zucchini and Ricotta earlier this week. Thanks to all of the feedback, I spiced it up with lots of garlic and oregano and chives from my garden so the flavor was fine. My BIG mistake was trying to cut the fat further by using fat-free ricotta cheese. It didn't "melt" and become creamy like it was supposed to. It gave it a very dry, thick consistency. I added some milk and got it alittle thinner, but still not terrific. Thought I would share my failure in case other people get tempted to reduce the fat content further.

Peggy

[CillaB]

I've taken the summer off from work and have been having a ball trying several new CL recipes that I just haven't had time for previously.
I'm working out of issues from the past year but can comment on a few for July and August issues.

7/00 Double-Chocolate Cream Pie was outstanding. My husband is still raving about it. It was very easy to make.

7/00 Chinese Barbecue Pork was good enough to eat but not good engough to repeat. It was just okay - not all that flavorful.

7/00 Black Bean Taco Sald was yummy. Lime flavor in dressing was very subtle. Next time I'm going to make it more pronounced.

8/00 Italian Meat Loaf was the best meatloaf I've ever had. Even my husband who just tolerates meatloaf like it!

[Shirley Panek]

I just made the Chicken Bruschetta last night, and boy was it yummy! My first zucchini of the season came out of the garden for it. I substituted big portabello mushrooms (cubed) and grilled the chicken instead of broiling. I also used a combination of regular basil and Thai basil (lemon-flavored) from my garden. Even my 3-year old liked it.

It was very tangy, and I liked the garlic powder mixture added to the chicken before grilling.

[This message has been edited by Shirley Panek (edited 08-11-2000).]

[karen w]

Ralph, when you saute the noodle mixture for the oriental salad, stop just as they begin to get a hint of color. At least that is what I did, and they were not too crunchy. I also made the noodle mixture and the dressing the night before, and refrigerated both in seperate covered bowls. The next day I combined noodles, veggies, and dressing and allowed it all to come to room temp. before eating. Good luck!

[KateH]

According to Cook's Illustrated, you can reduce the stirring required by risotto by first adding 3 cups of the liquid, bringing to boil while stirring, then reducing to simmer. After the bottom of the pan is dry when the rice is pulled back, you then start adding the liquid 1/2 cup at a time, stirring. At least this cuts out some of the stirring. I haven't tried it yet, but they claim it is still creamy and al dente.

[Teresa]

I made the vidalia risotto last night (using regular broth and regular onion) and loved it. It was not too salty. Perhaps you should taste the feta cheese first, some brands might be more salty than others. Same goes for the parmesan.

[Dorothy]

We just made the flank steak with corn-tomato relish last night. It was excellent--would definitely do this again. I used skirt steak instead of flank steak because that was what I had in the freezer. The corn-tomato relish is so easy & delicious. I would make this as a side for other meals.

[gardnrl]

I also made the Penne w/Zucchini. After reading the preparation instructions I realized the dish would be somewhat bland. Instead of following the original directions, I lighted misted the sliced zucchini with olive oil then sprinkled the slices with salt and pepper. I broiled the zucchini, and while the zucchini was broiling, I cooked the pasta. Once the zucchini and pasta had both finished cooking, I drained the pasta and gently mixed the oil, garlic, pasta, zucchini and cheeses together. My husband and I both enjoyed the dish and we ate the leftovers. I will definitely make the dish again following this revised preparation. Hope this helps someone else with the recipe.

[skylarc]

Originally posted by Vanessa:
Lisa
Yes risoto has to be stirred constantly. I did read a few months back (Gourmet or Bon Appetit) that you could make it in the microwave saving you time (& stirring) I will search for the article...

One of the absolute best quick risotto recipes I've ever made was from the Oct '99 CL -- Rapid Risotto - it's made in a pressure cooker & has tomatoes, prosciutto, & parmesan. Everyone in my family loves it and it's incredibly easy to make.

[kentgirl]

skylarc, could you please post the recipe you mentioned for Rapid Risotto? I'd like to try it.

Thanks!

[karen w]

My husband and I had the Provencale Fish soup from August 2000 last night. It was very good, and worth repeating. I used Orange Roughy though, since that's what I had in the freezer at the time.

[bijoux22]

Hello Karen, I agree with you regarding the fish soup. I have made it 3 times already! I have used cod, pollack and hake. The past two times I used fat free half&half, a lot less fat with the same great taste. Leftovers were a great first course for the next nights dinner!

[CLustik]

Just a note, after reading so many different opinions about the Penne with Zucchini recipe in the August issue, I finally got around to trying it. Due to the number of people who thought it was bland, I added alot of fresh minced garlic to the water (can never have enough garlic), most of it stayed on the zucchini and pasta and added extra marjorham. I also used fat free ricotta but not the set amount. I just added until I thought it was enough. I used less than they suggested. And most importantly I was almost out of parmesan so I used what was left and then used fresh grated Asaigio cheese. I think that added a nice edge to the dish. We really enjoyed it.

I will make this one again.

[This message has been edited by CLustik (edited 08-24-2000).]