Kate Cooks The Books
Kate Sheehan
Like you, I have a “real” job that has nothing to do with food and a more than full-time child so I cook in my so-called free time. Fortunately for all of us, cooking is my golf and I don’t mind spending hours doing it in order to help find the cookbooks worth having.
The Food Lab
Sometimes the hardest part of all of this is choosing a worthwhile book to review. Why? Well, frankly there’s a lot of merde out there. From a cursory Amazon search of 7,663 [actual number not a re-enactment] cookbooks published in the last 90 days the vast…
Ultimate Sugar Cookies
Even though I have a perfectly fine recipe for sugar cookies, I’m always open to try a new one. Because resisting new things makes you old and gives you frown lines and age spots and turkey neck. True story. This one is from the December 2013 issue of Bon…
Grilled Shrimp and Vegetables with Pearl Couscous
I made this dish a long time ago and then forgot to tell you about it. Forgive me. It has been one of my favorite summer meals for a long time because it’s got so much going for it. It’s healthy, it’s quick, and it’s a self-contained complete…
Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash and Greens Over Bow-Tie Pasta
This scrumptious looking dish came across my facebook feed one day and, completely out of character, I just decided to make it. My dear friend Anne was coming to town to run ihe Hot Chocolate 5K with me and this seemed like the perfect pre-race dinner. It’s…
Sweet Potato Soup
You know how I get all excited when a recipe turns out to be way more delicious than the ingredients suggest? That happened. It happend when nothing more than 2 lbs of sweet potatoes, a shallot, a little butter, and water for crying out loud, came together….
Maple Glazed Sour Cream Doughnuts with (or without) Sugared Walnut Streusel
If I may quote myself: “never eat doughnuts you didn’t make yourself.” Such inspiring words to live by and I wouild certainly live by them myself if this damn place weren’t two blocks from my office. Oh, and as if that weren’t bad enough…
Vegetable and Bean Tostadas
It occurred to me, as I was eating these mind you, that they are very, very healthy. Corn tortillas that are just sprayed with a little vegetable cooking spray and baked, sauted onions and peppers with garlic, some cole slaw mix tossed with lime, and your own…
A+ Salad
I would like to say that I invented this salad but I flat out ripped it off. Because when I eat something delicious in a restaurant my first thought isn’t “wow, this is so good I’m just going chew slowly and live in this amazing moment” but…
Roasted Carrots
Insanely good. My daughter said “these taste like sweet potato fries” and she was 100% on the nose. This is one instance where a recipe meant for two was not nearly enough. I could have eaten an entire baking sheet of these. And all it is is carrots and a…
Sticky Buns
Please wipe that skeptical look off your face when I tell you that these are not that difficult to make. The dough is much easier to work with than pie dough; it shapes easily and doesn’t stick like crazy to the counter. And it doesn’t fall helplessly…
Teriyaki Chicken
I have made the “super size” version of this so I already knew it would be good. And it was; the sauce tastes authentic (as far as I know) and is sweet without being cloying. Using chicken thighs ensures that you will not dry them out. I can see the…
Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper and Pistachio Pesto
I made this dish for my dear friend Jennifer who I have known for many many many years. Because she is so wise she decided recently that the two of us — just the two of us, no kids, no significant others — needed to commit to a monthly date. And by…
Easy Skillet Cheese Pizza
I make a lot of pizza. Deep dish, grilled, french bread, “grandma,” you name it. But this might be the best yet. The crust, made with bread flour, is a near perfect combination of light with a tiny bit of crunchiness. And although it may sound simple,…
The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook: Chicken and Orzo with Spinach and Feta
One of my favorite things about cooking is when I am surprised. And given how much I cook, that doesn’t happen very often. Disappointingly, I pretty much know what’s going to happen when I, for instance, saute a plain old chicken breast, which is…
Tuscan Beef Stew
I appreciate that Cook’s Illustrated has a scientific explanation for why its recipes are superior to others, but most of the time I’m content to take it at face value and not read their lengthy dissertation. I don’t dislike science, I just feel…
Lamb Chops with Dried Cherries and Port
I love when a dish can be both elegant, special, and yet an absolute snap to make. Gnaw-on-the-bone delicious doesn’t hurt either. This — from the April 2008 issue of Bon Appetit — checked all the boxes. It’s laughably simple: lamb…
Toasted Bread with Burrata and Arugula
Or Bocconcini if that’s what you discover the kid in the cheese department gave you right before you assemble this. At least it was buffalo. This was meant to be a first course but I doubled it and served as an appetizer. It was a bit of a mess to eat…
Italian Vegetable Stew
As I write this local Chicago weather professionals are going bonkers over a predicted record-setting temperature tomorrow. National weather folks are saying there will be wind chill factors in FLORIDA. And what most experts will tell you is that the best…
Jerusalem: Mejadra
It’s lentils. It’s rice. It’s fried onions. It’s like an onion ring salad but rendered guilt free because…it’s got lentils! And they’re good for you! No wonder it is ancient and “popular throughout the Arab…
Jerusalem: Spiced Chickpeas and Fresh Vegetable Salad
There was a lot to like about this salad, like the spiced chickpeas. However, if you think Yotam and Sami are going to let you just pop open a can you have come to the wrong grotto. No, this is old school and you are going to soak dried chickpeas overnight…
Jerusalem: Hummus
So, believe it or not, people get very heated on the topic of food, particularly when it comes to tales of origin and authenticity. And poor hummus, such a humble yet deeply satisfying food, makes people just bonkers in Israel. According to Ottolenghi and Tamimi,…
Jerusalem: Chermoula Eggplant with Bulgur and Yogurt
See, this is why I bought this book. I knew it would contain recipes for things I didn’t even know I wanted to eat. Eggplant that has been perfectly seasoned and roasted into submission, topped with a nutty, sweet, briny grain. Finished with Greek…
Jerusalem: Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Cardamom Rice
I am such a sucker for a chicken and rice dish and I know I’m not alone. Why do we love this combination? Many reasons: it’s easy (one pot) and comforting, it’s substantial, it’s adaptable ( riso alla pitocca , chicken biryani, arroz con…
Jerusalem: Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds
A cookbook with great salads has a good shot at winning me over and this is a great salad. I rarely eat dates or use them in anything and now I’m wondering why. Where have you been all my life you sticky little gems? Their pleasant chewiness is a nice…