Cook Book Reviews | Kate Cooks the Books

Deep Dish Pizza

by Kate | Feb 17, 2018 | Featured, Serious Eats | 0 Comments

I don't know why I keep trying to replicate Lou Malnati's pizza; I live in Chicago so I am never more than about 60 minutes away from eating the real thing. But I do. Perhaps because even when it doesn't quite get there what you're probably left with is a damn good...

Artichoke and Spinach Relish with Walnuts

by Kate | December 17, 2022 | Featured, Original Recipes | 0 Comments

Friends, if you've ever lost a recipe you truly loved you will understand my excitement today. For I have recovered two of my favorite appetizer recipes thanks to other bloggers (and some dodgy sites that may now be harvesting my data or something idk). These were...

Pasta al Pomodoro

by Kate | August 29, 2022 | Featured | 0 Comments

Hope you are all enjoying a safe and happy Tomato Season. For many of us, it's a celebratory time; a time to consume tomatoes every way we can imagine: BLTs, bruschetta, panzanella, galettes, caprese salads, tomato tarts, gazpacho... And fresh tomato sauce....

Blueberry Cream Pie

by Kate | July 22, 2022 | Featured | 1 Comment

Get a load of this stunner. If summer were a pie... The blueberry flavor is optimized and heightened by combining whole berries with a blueberry puree and finished with a touch of lemon. All poured into a graham cracker crust and topped with a heavenly alloy of...

Cherry Pie

by Kate | July 6, 2021 | Featured, The Hoosier Mama Book of Pies | 0 Comments

Cherry pie is my favorite pie I don't even have to think about it. Last week I managed to hit the farmer's market at the exact right moment to get the tart cherries I needed for this recipe and therefore achieved pie nirvana and am now deceased. I did not grow up...

Blueberry Biscuits

by Kate | July 3, 2021 | Featured | 39 Comments

I was intrigued by this recipe when it took a certainly nonconsensual ride on the social media rollercoaster on a facebook cooking group I belong to. It went like this: popular>wildly popular>backlash ("would people PLEASE stop posting about these biscuits!" and...

Pork, Fennel, and Lemon Ragu with Pappardelle

by Kate | March 31, 2021 | Featured | 5 Comments

Sometimes you make a dish so sublime and so chef-y that you ask yourself "do I ever need to eat out again?" This is certainly that dish. Close your eyes and you could be in any high-end, trendy-neighborhood hotspot. You know the place. It doesn't have a drink menu it...

Cornmeal Lime Shortbread Fans

by Kate | December 11, 2020 | Featured | 0 Comments

Recipe first, blah, blah, blah later. God I'm already so tired of sweets and it's only December 11th. But we must persevere. There are so many cookies, candies and pies to eat before we're done. This recipe was part of a brilliant article by the brilliant...

Classic Martini

by Kate | September 8, 2020 | Featured | 3 Comments

I know everyone is joking about how much drinking is going on right now. Oh, were you waiting for a "but..." and then something witty? Something Nick-and-Nora-Charles-ish? No time for that because I need to talk about my new hobby: the Classic Martini. It's taken me a...

French Summer Sandwiches with Zucchini and Olive Tapenade

by Kate | July 20, 2020 | Cook's Illustrated magazine, Featured | 0 Comments

I'm going to assume we've all had it up to our masks hearing about Covid cooking. Sourdough starter, banana bread, air-frying, everyone's done it, blogged about it, made a Tik-Tok, and written a New York Times think piece. Whatever you're going to get out of this...

(David) Hasselback Challah French Toast

by Kate | January 13, 2020 | Featured | 0 Comments

My book group meets on Sunday mornings and brunch is typically served, so when it's my turn I'm always looking for something that can be made ahead and is, of course, worthy of the fine women who attend. With a small amount of effort this dish from our friends at Real...

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Pasta a la Vodka

by Kate | May 2, 2011 | The Essential New York Times Cookbook | 0 Comments

As any Italian or Italian-cooking snob will tell you, Pasta a la Vodka is not authentic in any way. Even though it was, allegedly, created in Italy, it was only embraced by us ignorant Olive-Garden perpetrators. But love it we do and there are a few really good...

Off Topic: Grilled Spicy Lime Chicken with Black Bean and Avocado Salad

by Kate | Apr 23, 2011 | Cook's Country | 0 Comments

Ok, you are seriously going to love me for this one. Get ready to name your next child Kate. (You could even name your next dog Kate. I won't be offended). This is absolutely scrumptious and easy and efficient (you don't hear that word describing a recipe often, do...

Off Topic: Spring Vegetable Pasta

by Kate | Apr 18, 2011 | Cook's Illustrated magazine | 0 Comments

Spring. In Chicago. Sigh. Some people say we don't really have spring here. Just a bitter arm-wresting match between winter and summer. On days like last Sunday, when it reached 85, summer seems just about to push winter's fist into the table. Today, April 18th...

Perfect One-Dish Dinners: Chicken Biryani American-Style

by Kate | Apr 17, 2011 | Perfect One-Dish Dinners | 6 Comments

I originally tagged this post as "Indian" but when I searched for "biryani" on Wikipedia I realized that calling it Indian is about as accurate as calling rice Chinese. Biryani has been adapted by many countries and all the variations sound delicious (although I'd...

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Spicy, Garlicky Cashew Chicken

by Kate | Apr 13, 2011 | The Essential New York Times Cookbook | 0 Comments

I'm going to need you to go out and make this immediately. And while you're at it, you might as well corner the market on cashews because this could become your go-to dish of the summer. I mean, think about it: your smearing chicken with cashews. It doesn't get much...

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Italian Roast Potatoes

by Kate | Apr 9, 2011 | The Essential New York Times Cookbook | 4 Comments

Nice, right? I think I just invented potato porn. Not to stereotype myself but I am, in fact, Irish and I do, undoubtedly, love potatoes in all forms. I think real mashed potatoes were the first thing I ever learned to make. Even my mother, who has made not cooking...

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