Indian-Style Vegetable Curry

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2007)

This recipe does require a bit of prep (onions, potatoes, serrano, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, toasted spices, and more) but it is very good. I used less oil (1.5 T instead of 4T) and had trouble with the potatoes sticking. I probably should have used more. It is a completely lean dish otherwise, so it wouldn't hurt to use a little bit more.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Prep Time: 32 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes (per sheet, 1 at a time)

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (March 2007)

This recipe is more work than most cookie recipes. You have to brown your butter first, and allow it to cool. And there is also the step of rolling in sugar. I won't make these a lot, but they are very good, so I will probably do it again if I want to make some cookies to share, and want to make something a little different. They are very rich (and I guessed they would be) so I made them smaller than the 2 tablespoon size called for. I ended up getting 3 dozen instead of 2 dozen cookies and that was a good size.

Lemon-Drizzled Lemon Muffins

Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Muffins A to Z

These are really nice muffins (a little bit cake like), but the recipe makes very small muffins. I usually get 9 more reasonably sized muffins from this. I should probably double the recipe next time, if I have enough lemons for zest.

Skillet Cincinnati Chili

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 80 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cover & Bake

This recipe is a little different, because you cook the pasta in the chili. It makes it fairly easy. A little bit of work at the beginning, and then it is easy after that.

This is supposed to be a one pot meal, but I use my dutch oven to cook onions while using my skillet to brown the beef. It saves some time, and it isn't the end of the world to have to clean two pans.

The only problem with this recipe for me is that it doesn't save as well as others. The spaghetti soaks up any extra liquid. So the consistency of the leftovers are not great. They still taste good though. I could take some of it out before putting the pasta in, but I sometimes don't feel like doing that.

New York Style Crumb Cake

Prep Time: 22 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Cool Time: 30 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Maybe?

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2007)

Honestly, this is a very good recipe, but I made a few mistakes, and I am just not the biggest cake lover, so this is not a favorite. I like coffee cake type cakes that are moist, but this is more like a regular cake with the richness coming from the topping. The topping was good, but I could pass on the cake. Again, it is my tastes, not that the cake is bad.

My mistakes - used 1/2 t. of baking soda instead of 1/4 t., which probably made my cake poof up in places. Also, I didn't create the crumbs properly and they were too large. I skipped making them first, because my crumb was a little dry, and just sprinkled as I went. The cake burst through in some places, and the pieces were really too big in some places.

I probably won't make this again, unless I had a specific request from someone for this type of cake. If I made it again, I would be more careful with the crumbs, and maybe use a little less flour, because mine was a little bit dry.

Spicy Tuna Pita with Cilantro

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (December 2006)

So this isn't any earth shattering recipe. But it is the reason I like Everyday Food. Sometimes they present a combination of flavors I wouldn't have thought of trying on my own. There isn't anything crazy about combining tuna with cilantro, cumin and lime, but I just never would have thought of doing it on my own. This is a very nice flavor combination with tuna. The recipe does call for light mayo, and I did use some, just not as much as it called for. It was very good.

Cream Cheese Brownies

Prep Time: 21 minutes
Bake Time: 50-60 minutes
Cool Time: 4+ hours

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source:

Cook's Illustrated (January 1999)

Baking Illustrated

Roasted Cauliflower with Curry-Yogurt Sauce

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2007)

Some of the prep time can happen while the cauliflower starts roasting. It actually took me 8 minutes to prep the cauliflower and get in in the oven, so this recipe really takes less than 40 minutes, and most of it is unattended while roasting. I prepped all the sauce ingredients, and sauted my onions (should have been shallot) and spices, then waited to prepare the sauce until the cauliflower was almost done. I used less oil than the recipe called for (2 T instead of 4 T) and used some olive oil spray to spray florets instead.

I'm not sure if I love this recipe. It seems more complicated than my previous way of roasted cauliflower, which was just to cut florets and season with 1 T of olive oil and salt. I might use the sauce recipe again which was good, but very spicy.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Prep Time: 16 minutes
Cool Time: 45 minutes (freezer)
Cut Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 14-16 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Glaze Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source:

Cook's Illustrated (March 2003)

Baking Illustrated

If you like lemon flavor, these are really good. Glazing is a little bit of a pain, but they make the cookie, so it is worth it.

This last time I sliced the cookies a little thin and they got a little more browned than normal. I also was a little short of lemon juice from my lemon and the glaze was a little thick and didn't spread as nicely as it should have.

French Onion and Bacon Tart

Crust Prep Time: 10 minutes
Crust Freeze Time: 30 minutes
Filling Prep Time: 50 minutes
Bake Time: 20-25 minutes
Cool Time: 10 minutes

Note: The crust is cooked initially before the tart, but this is done while prepping the filling.

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2007)
Recipe: America's Test Kitchen TV Show (Season 10)

This is actually a very easy recipe that doesn't take too long make, despite what the times above may indicate. There is a lot of down time during the prep. The only knife prep includes the bacon and slicing the onions which is easy. There is very little stirring or attention that needs to happen, so this is a great recipe.

I didn't do it perfectly, because I was impatient, and didn't really let my crust brown before adding the filling. It was still very good, but I bet it would have been even better, if I had let the crust cook more initially.

Ginger Molasses Muffins

Prep Time: 13 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: C+

Make Again: Probably Not

Recipe Source: Muffins A to Z

These muffins are just OK. They don't taste bad, but they didn't have enough flavor for me. Perhaps my ginger is too old. I probably wouldn't make them again.

Brownie Hearts

Prep Time: 18 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (January 2003)

This isn't probably my favorite brownie recipe, but it is a good recipe for a thin brownie that can be used to cut out shapes. I sometimes frost them with a a ganache and then cut them out with a little biscuit cutter, which makes a nice presentation.

Cinnamon-Ripple Coffee Cake Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 22-25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Muffins A to Z

This recipe seems easier and less messy than the Streusal Muffins, and I like these better. Probably because there is a lot of cinnamon in them. For some reason, this time they didn't rise very much. It might be because I mixed in the ripple part too much and there is too much butter in batter. They still taste great though.