Misc. March 2001 Reviews

[jliah]

Apricot-Oat Squares. These were very, very crumbly, falling apart with every bite. These were too dry for my taste. Rather than using Apricot preserves, I used peach preserves on one side and strawberry on the other. I won't make these again.

Chicken Breast Fillets With Red and Yellow Peppers. Our family really enjoyed this recipe. The only change I made was to add 2 cloves of pressed garlic when I sauted the bell peppers. I plan on making this again.

Beef With Rosemary-Mushroom Sauce. YUM! No changes made.

Lombo di Maiale Coi Porri (Pan-Roasted Pork Loin With Leeks). Excellent recipe (no changes made).

Layered Chili, Cheese, and Roasted-Corn Dip. I probably wouldn't made this again. Mixed reviews among those who tried it at my house. I thought it was dry.

Gingerbread Cake with Blueberry Sauce. This was good without the sauce also with just Light Cool Whip. If I made the sauce again, I would leave out the ginger in it as it became a little overwhelming. Overall, we liked this recipe. Very pretty.

Irish Bread Pudding With Caramel-Whiskey Sauce. We liked this except the whiskey flavor was way too strong for us. (We don't drink alcohol at all, so maybe that's why we would like a lot less of that flavor.)

Baked Ziti With Vegetables and Mushrooms and Mac 'n' Cheese With Chipotles. We rated both of these recipes as being "OK." I added some Italian seasoning to the Baked Ziti, but it still lacked much flavor. Actually, the Mac 'n' Cheese tasted better the second day--unheard of normally for macaroni and cheese.

Pan-Seared Chicken With Artichokes and Pasta. We loved this recipe. I did not use the olives, but I'll try them next time. Instead of chicken thighs, I cut the meat off of 2# of chicken quarters. Definitely a repeater here.

Broccoli-Sausage Calzones. We enjoyed these. They tasted really rich and were very filling. I served them as suggested on page 214, only we didn't have room for the mixed greens. These reheat very well. I will probably plan on making these again, although rolling out that dough was a chore! I may make my own dough next time to avoid that problem.

Portobello "Steak" Burger With Caramelized Onions. The vinegar flavor was so overwhelming that we didn't enjoy this recipe.

Broccolini Sauteed With Olive Oil and Garlic. Our family enjoyed this. Even my broccoli-hating son said he didn't mind eating broccoli like this. We do love garlic!! I'll make this again.

[This message has been edited by jliah (edited 04-01-2001).]

[This message has been edited by jliah (edited 04-01-2001).]

[RUSTYSMOM]

Wow- thanks. What a great synopsis!!

[bossy]

Wow you got a lot out of that issue! The only one on your list I tried was the Oatmeal Apricot squares (used Raspberry) and agree completely they were falling apart and too dry. Won't be making them again - if you have the inclination do try the mixed fruit cobbler - it is out of this world yummy!

[chefbec]

Thanks for the reviews. We had our CL club dinner tonight and everything was a hit. We had the Sun-dried Tomato Dip, Carrot-Ginger Soup (from April's issue which I STILL don't have), Shrimp & Apple Curry, Pan-Seared Chicken with Artichokes & Pasta (the olives were great!), Zucchini Casserole with Red-Pepper Aioli (she used half the chicken broth and it wasn't soupy at all like the recipe said; excellent), topped off by the Irish Bread Pudding with the sauce. I'm no lush, but I thought the whiskey tasted great and was not too overpowering!

[phantomcg]

I made the Chocolate-Cherry Biscotti and the Sweet and Sour Beets this weekend. I used dried cranberries in place of the cherries and brought the biscotti in to work today. They were a big hit! I had the Sweet and Sour Beets for dinner last night. They were good, but nothing spectacular - I thought that the taste of the sauce needed to be a little bit more pronounced.

Cheryl

[Grace]

Cheryl, I made the Sweet and Sour Beets last night too! I had never made beets from fresh before (I always used the jarred or canned ones). The recipe was not bad, but I agree that it was kind of bland, certainly not worth the effort and mess of making beets from fresh. I have some leftovers, and I will eat them (I love beets!), but next time I make them from fresh I will try a different recipe!

I bet you could double the sauce, and just use the canned/jarred ones and come out just as good or better....I may do that for a quick and easy side dish, as I always keep a can or jar of beets on the shelf in my pantry!

[ElinorC]

Grace,
I agree with you on the Sweet and Sour Beets. It was a lot of trouble for what is a simple recipe using canned beets. The recipe is similar to a recipe for Harvard Beets that I've used for years using canned beets. I'm glad I tried cooking the fresh beets but wouldn't do it again for this recipe. The beets are very messy and stain everything they touch and since I'm pretty messy - that's a lot.

[emilycat]

I've already posted about some of these, but I wanted to offer my feedback for March:

Gingerbread Cake with Blueberry Sauce:
One of the women in my dinner group made this, and we loved it. She made it with blackberries instead, and I thought the cake was extremely moist and the sauce especially delicious -- I loved the ginger in it.

Shrimp and Apple Curry with Golden Raisins: This was yummy and quick to make, but not stellar. I did leave the raisins out, but I don't think that affected it much. The sauce was tasty, but not very complex, since it got most of it's flavor only from curry powder. Of course, I love curry, so I enjoyed it.

Thai Coconut-Curried Salmon with Greens: I'll definitely do this one again. I thought it was delicious, and especially wonderful served over basmati rice -- the sauce was delicious, and it was soupy enough to soak the rice -- the watercress was great in it, too.

Tofu, Asparagus and Red Pepper Stir-fry with Quinoa: I liked this dish, but only because I love asparagus, red peppers, and quinoa is probably my favorite grain. I thought the sauce was relatively dull, and I could have made up something more interesting myself.

Tuscan Bean and Barley Soup:I've already raved about this once, but I loved this soup! I thought it was so yummy -- the beans and escarole were just great together, and it was so satisfying. It's definitely on my do-again soup list.

Grilled Fennel (blech), Leeks, and Eggplant with Garlic-Miso Sauce: Needless to say, I left the fennel out of this, since I loathe the stuff. The miso sauce was great, though, especially if you're fond of salty dishes, and I loved it on the leeks and eggplant. A little goes a long way, though, and I had plenty left over to use on other veggies.

Sweet and Sour Beets:I have to say that I agree with the others -- I just wasn't that impressed with the viniagrette here. I of course enjoyed the dish, since I love beets (and oddly enough, I've never thought of them as being any trouble at all to prepare -- the red stuff washes right out of everything), but it just wasn't that memorable.

Zucchini Casserole with Red Pepper Aioli:Oh my gosh.... I thought this was incredible, and while I agree that the aioli was wonderful, I don't think that it made the dish. I loved the casserole by itself; I thought it was full of flavor, and certainly qualified as the main dish (at least for me http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif ). I know I'll do this one over.

Okay, that's it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[jliah]

I tried a few more March recipes, so here goes:

Pepper, Coriander, Sesame Seed-Crusted Salmon. We loved this recipe. I'll definitely make this again.

Turkey Meatloaf. I used regular ground turkey because I couldn't find any ground turkey breast. We thought this was pretty good, although it wouldn't be my favorite meatloaf recipe. I would rate it about a 6 out of 10.

Rosemary Potatoes. This is a winner!! So quick and easy. Delicious. We LOVE rosemary!

Sun-Dried Tomato Dip. This received split reviews in our family. Some thought it was OK, but some of us (including myself) LOVED it. I did think it was bland until I doctored it up a bit. I used 1 1/2 t. of oregano rather than 1/2 t. and used 5 cloves of garlic rather than 3. I used a 15-oz. can of tomato sauce for the "2 cups chopped seeded tomato." YUMMY.


Mixed Fruit Cobbler. A fantastic recipe. All of my guest and my whole family LOVED this. I served it with vanilla ice cream (but meant to buy ice milk). I used 12 oz. each of frozen (thawed) blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Well, that's all for March. I'm fixing April recipes now and will post a few that I have tried so far.

[This message has been edited by jliah (edited 04-15-2001).]

[schuh]

I am so impressed with all of you. If I get to two recipes per issue I feel good. Thanks for posting the reviews.

[BeckyM]

Just wanted to add that my mother-in-law tried the Apricot Oat Squares, and they were really crumbly like everyone else's. I tried one just to see if they tasted better than they looked, but they didn't. They were dry and bland. I felt badly that my MIL had tried them, because I think that's the first CL recipe she has ever tried, and it discouraged her!

I've already posted my thoughts on the Zucchini Casserole with Red Pepper Aioli, but I'll say again that I LOVE this dish! I just had leftovers of it for lunch today -- I think this was the third time I've made this casserole already!

[patsyk]

I made the chicken breasts with red and yellow peppers and they were a hit with me and dh! I'll definately make this again, and use your suggestion of adding the garlic when doing the saute - we LOVE garlic in everything!

Thanks for all of the reviews! I don't always get to so many recipes in one month... but, I am working on doing better this month! 8)

[patsyk]

I made the sun-dried tomato dip today and while I thought it was very yummy, my dh said "it tastes like cold tomato sauce which would be fine if you were putting it on pasta"! So, I guess you would say that the reviews were split in my house as well! LOL! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

I would make it again, but not to share! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif