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.
My Father’s Daughter: Macaroni & Cheese (One Way)
The real title of this recipe is Macaroni & Cheese (A Few Ways) but I only made one so…full disclosure. Here’s a funny thing: I have never, ever, in my life had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I don’t know how that could be since I ate every other kind of processed…
My Father’s Daughter: Spaghetti Limone Parmeggiano and Cacio e Pepe
The next time life hands you lemons and about 12 minutes to cook dinner, remember the first of these two recipes. When life says “you know what? I can’t even give you the lemons today” then you’ll need recipe #2. Both can be made in the time it takes the pasta to…
My Father’s Daughter: Arugula Salad with Smoked Mozzarella and Slow-Roasted Tomato Crostini and Playwright’s Melt
I’m categorizing these two recipes together because 1. they’re both very simple and 2. good as they are, they are only marginally “recipes” in my mind. First, Arugula Salad: Nothing more than toasted slices of baguette with cheese and sun-dried tomatoes on them with…
My Father’s Daughter: Bruce Paltrow’s World-Famous Pancakes
I’m going to make a bold statement here so stop reading if you don’t like your beliefs challenged: Pancakes are hard to make. Everybody makes them, or has made them, and yet it’s taken me an awfully long time to perfect mine. Making a souffle was much easier…
My Father’s Daughter: Artichoke and Parmesan Frittata
This is very serviceable frittata but not the best one I’ve ever made. I prefer the thicker, heartier versions I’ve made before use 12 eggs vs. the 6 in this recipe. I have come to truly love and appreciate frittatas. It’s like a great, big, easy omelet that can…
My Father’s Daughter: Homemade Turkey Sausage
Right here is a perfect example of what I like this cookbook so much: this is turkey breakfast sausage and it will take you about 5 minutes to make. It’s ground turkey plus some herbs and spices (fennel, herbs de provence, sage), and a little maple syrup just to add…
Butter Lettuce, Chicken and Cherry Salad
Do not let the word “salad” lull you into thinking this is a quick dish. Or low-fat. It will require as much of you as any other type of main dish but it is well worth the effort. There’s so much to like here: crisp-roasted chicken thighs, fresh…
The Next Book: Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen
Why? For one thing, this book kept popping up on lists. Good lists. Lists I trust. First NPR’s “Best Simple, Summery Cookbooks” of 2011. Then in the New York Times Book Review’s summer round up of of books. Also swaying me: her previous cookbooks are…
Long Time No Cook/Nutella Buttercream
As highly profitable as this site is, my team of therapists say I should go to a “regular” job every day just to maintain my mental equilibrium. It keeps me grounded and in touch with my fellow humans. It gives me a place to wear my little outfits, as well as a…
Turkey Burgers with Cheddar and Smoky Aioli
You know how turkey burgers can sometimes be sad, dry little hockey pucks of compromise? Often eaten under the mistaken assumption that turkey is always better for you than ground beef? Well let me introduce you to possibly the best turkey burger you’ve ever…
Flank Steak Tacos with Grilled Corn Salsa
From the June 2011 issue of Cook’s Country magazine comes a wonderful addition to your summer cooking/grilling bag of tricks. This is a quick and absolutely delicious steak taco with carefully edited garnishes (proving again that you do not have to drown every…
Beef Satay
This has been one of our favorite grilling recipes for a long time and it’s always one of the first things I make when the weather gets warm. Although Cook’s Illustrated categorizes it as an appetizer (as do most Thai restaurants) I didn’t see why it couldn’t be the…
My Father’s Daughter: Lalo’s Famous Cookies
If you had told me 2 hours ago that I could love a cookie without butter, or sugar, or chocolate, or butter, I would have taken you by the hand and, in a pitying tone, explained how you can’t have cookies without butter. How cookies were invented, essentially, as a…
My Father’s Daughter: Fish Tacos
It’s like my husband’s two favorite dishes — fish & chips and tacos — got married. And after making these, I am never getting rid of that man! These are really fantastic. The beer batter is wonderful and easy and even though I did not make all of the…
My Father’s Daughter: Homemade Veggie Burgers
One afternoon I spent 135 hours making homemade veggie burgers. It was a recipe from the July 2005 of Cook’s Illustrated and it was a long day’s journey into night, I’ll say that much. You know what a fan I am of Cook’s but this recipe involved cooking lentils,…
My Father’s Daughter: Challah French Toast
Damn, she even makes good french toast. Her value added elements: coarse sugar (I used some demerara sugar that someone — was it you Mary Jenner? — brought me from Hawaii) and real vanilla seeds scraped from a bean. The sugar adds a really nice crunch. In my…
My Father’s Daughter: Chicken & Dumplings
Ok, this is getting scary. It’s beginning to look like Gwyneth Paltrow is a very talented cook. How could this be? Even if you think she can’t act or sing she has successful careers doing both of those things, despite your opinion. To find out she knows her way…
My Father’s Daughter: White Bean Soup
Ok skeptics, haters and nay-sayers, prepare to question your reality. This is an incredibly delicious soup. One of the best soups I’ve made all year. A soup for the ages. First you should really make Gwyneth’s vegetable stock (pg. 36) because it’s easy and…
The Next Book: My Father’s Daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow
When I threw this book out as a possibility on my Facebook page I was stunned at the visceral reaction many people had. “Anybody but Gwyneth!” for example. Or “I just want to smash her face into her own vegetable paella” (ok, I made that one up but I think it…
Review: Salad as a Meal
I can’t tell you how hopeful I was when I picked up this book. I’ve always heard enthusiastic praise of Patricia Wells and feel a profound spiritual kinship for anyone who is living my dream of running away to Paris. I am also a huge advocate of salad for dinner…
The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado
I was not wowed by this dish but I think it has potential. The instructions tell you to slice the zucchini as thinly as possible but you will realize that how thin you slice them will (duh) influence the number of slices you end up with. I had it in my head that this…
Review: The Essential New York Times Cookbook
What can you say about a book that contains more than 1000 recipes? That it is comprehensive and exciting and a bit overwhelming? That the passion of the editor/author is apparent in every page? That it could use some pictures? You’ve probably heard by now that…
Bon Appetit: Bucatini All’Amatriciana
What’s not to like about a quick pasta dish with tomatoes, bacon and onion? And cheese? I’ve always loved the Cook’s Illustrated version of this but this one, featured in the May 2011 issue of Bon Appetit is really delicious too. This one, I think, is more tomato-y…
The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Seared Tuna in Black Pepper Crust
I adore tuna and I would eat it once a week if it weren’t $549/lb. Expensive fish makes me nervous. Plus I’m a native Midwesterner so cooking fish well comes about as naturally as surfing. But I love it so I keep trying to perfect my skills. This recipe…