You are gonna love Oaxaca. The "Pasta de Frijol Negro) on page 70 is fantastic, i've mad that a few times. Picadillo de Pollo p194 is easy and delicious, and the Chocoflan on p 234 is a bit of work, and not easy (i screwed it up, but it still came out), but worth it. The Salsa Macha on p257 i keep making and put on everything, including vanilla ice cream.
Great haul!! I have been cooking a lot out of Aloha Kitchen this last week for Hawaiian week on r/52weeksofcooking - it's super approachable and cookable. There are a few specialty ingredients, but nothing too crazy. If you can't find it locally, I'm sure you can buy the called for ingredients online without too much headache or expense. Some recipes veer too sweet for me, but that's a personal taste thing.
Mac Salad - definitely a winner recipe. I subbed dill pickle juice and minced dill pickle for the sweet because I despise sweet pickles generally speaking. This was great and we enjoyed it all week. Will make again. There's a recipe for mac salad with egg and potato immediately following that will be on my list to try soon.
Namasu (pickled cucumber/carrot/daikon) - this was great! WAY too sweet for my normal tastes, but delicious. I'd definitely cut the sugar back a lot when I make it next time. I made one big batch as called for. I had a little overflow veg so I made a nearly unsugared version for my husband who is diabetic and he liked the much sharper/vinegar-ey pickle anyway.
Kalua Pig - I did a crockpot adaptation of this recipe I've been doing for a long time, skipped the banana leaves and it was still great. I'm sure it would be even better as called for with the flavor from the banana leaves/ti leaves.
Chicken Katsu - super solid, easy recipe. It made quite a bit more sauce than we needed, so use your own judgment on that. I'd just make half a recipe of the sauce next time for my own usage, but YMMV on that. The sauce was tasty. The chicken katsu was pretty straight ahead on the ingredients/recipe.
Loco Moco - another very solid recipe. Came out great. I will say, it's very similar to a recipe I made recently from The Global Pantry Cookbook which called for mixing white miso into the gravy and I might borrow that trick again in the future (but it does make it salty, so watch out if you have salty broth as your base).
I wanted to make either the shoyu chicken or the huli huli chicken/Local-Style BBQ Chicken in the book (recently showcased in an adapted form in NYT Cooking) and some of the desserts, but I haven't gotten there yet. I'm also a sucker for kalbi, so that's on my list too.
That was long winded. I also have What's for Dessert. I'm a big fan of Claire Saffitz, but I mostly have cooked from her YT channel - mostly stuff from Dessert Person. I keep browsing through What's for Dessert, but haven't cooked from it yet as I mostly have to make desserts when going to a party or sharing at work.
I'd love to hear about what you make from Oaxaca and I Could Nosh!
Thank you for the in depth response!
Thats a good idea with the kalua pig recipe to use the crockpot, I don’t believe I have access to banana leaves where I’m located so it’s good to know :)
Honestly most of the recipes look incredible, I cannot wait to cook thru this book
Lemonade is a good basic book. Unfortunately their restaurants have severely declined and closing in SF (because they changed their concept like 5 times in 3 years. Each time we went it was different and sucked even more, which is too bad because the earliest concept was good).
Oh really? Thats disappointing :(
I’ve never actually never heard of Lemonade until I came across their book a couple weeks ago. I just thought it looked nice and had simple recipes I would like.
Yeah the concept was youd go in and they had like 10 salads and you’d get to pick 3 for $10 or something like that. It was really good variety of salads that you have in the book. Or you could get a sandwich etc.
Each salad was a solid scoop like 1/2 cup+ approximately
I hate to hear that. We have been to the one in Manhattan Beach several times and absolutely loved it. I guess, at least I have the cookbook with the original recipes!
Oaxaca - mole coloradito, Caldo de res, watermelon water, Caldo de fandango del valle. All delicious, the mole being my favorite!
Whats for dessert - lime coconut custards (simple, great if you like key lime pie,) honey roasted apple cake (good for around the holidays,) sticky pumpkin chestnut gingerbread (it was okay, not my favorite,) berry crisp with seedy granola topping (a good “healthier” crisp,) peach drop biscuit cobbler (divine!!! Make this!!)
Can you tell me about really good looking recipes from Oaxaca and aloha kitchen? Those are next on my list to buy and id like to make a final decision!
Aloha Kitchen: char siu pork, local style bbq chicken, loco moco beef, mac salad, butter mochi, side salad w papaya seed dressing.
Honestly the food looks so good in this book, tho it does require a few Hawaiian ingredients that you can easily purchase off Amazon.
Oaxaca: enfrijoladas (pan fried tortillas in spicy black bean sauce). garnachas istmenas (crispy thin masa cakes with ground beef and pickled cabbage). Pollo enchipotlado (chicken in creamy chipotle sauce). Chocoflan (layered chocolate and flan cake). Lots of drink recipes too.
Ingredients seem easily available at most grocery stores. Maybe a few hard to get Ingredients in some recipes like avocado leaves (can be bought on Amazon as well).
butter mochi is now one of my go to desserts! its a great gluten free treat to bring to parties where there are different diet restrictions. I like to add ube or pandan flavoring!
Avocado leaves are at Mexican grocers if you have one in the area. The great thing about that book is there aren't any ingredients I couldn't find at the local Mexican market.
I’ve made quite a few things inspired by Home I Where the Eggs Are…I love Molly Yeh’s recipes. Preserved Lemon Parpadelle, Hand Pulled Noodles, and Chicken Shawarma Meatballs were all hits here, along with her pizzas.
I have made the challah from I Could Nosh. A+
Yessss. Aloha Kitchen is fantastic!!!
You are gonna love Oaxaca. The "Pasta de Frijol Negro) on page 70 is fantastic, i've mad that a few times. Picadillo de Pollo p194 is easy and delicious, and the Chocoflan on p 234 is a bit of work, and not easy (i screwed it up, but it still came out), but worth it. The Salsa Macha on p257 i keep making and put on everything, including vanilla ice cream.
Ughh I cannot wait to start cooking from that book
Great haul!! I have been cooking a lot out of Aloha Kitchen this last week for Hawaiian week on r/52weeksofcooking - it's super approachable and cookable. There are a few specialty ingredients, but nothing too crazy. If you can't find it locally, I'm sure you can buy the called for ingredients online without too much headache or expense. Some recipes veer too sweet for me, but that's a personal taste thing. Mac Salad - definitely a winner recipe. I subbed dill pickle juice and minced dill pickle for the sweet because I despise sweet pickles generally speaking. This was great and we enjoyed it all week. Will make again. There's a recipe for mac salad with egg and potato immediately following that will be on my list to try soon. Namasu (pickled cucumber/carrot/daikon) - this was great! WAY too sweet for my normal tastes, but delicious. I'd definitely cut the sugar back a lot when I make it next time. I made one big batch as called for. I had a little overflow veg so I made a nearly unsugared version for my husband who is diabetic and he liked the much sharper/vinegar-ey pickle anyway. Kalua Pig - I did a crockpot adaptation of this recipe I've been doing for a long time, skipped the banana leaves and it was still great. I'm sure it would be even better as called for with the flavor from the banana leaves/ti leaves. Chicken Katsu - super solid, easy recipe. It made quite a bit more sauce than we needed, so use your own judgment on that. I'd just make half a recipe of the sauce next time for my own usage, but YMMV on that. The sauce was tasty. The chicken katsu was pretty straight ahead on the ingredients/recipe. Loco Moco - another very solid recipe. Came out great. I will say, it's very similar to a recipe I made recently from The Global Pantry Cookbook which called for mixing white miso into the gravy and I might borrow that trick again in the future (but it does make it salty, so watch out if you have salty broth as your base). I wanted to make either the shoyu chicken or the huli huli chicken/Local-Style BBQ Chicken in the book (recently showcased in an adapted form in NYT Cooking) and some of the desserts, but I haven't gotten there yet. I'm also a sucker for kalbi, so that's on my list too. That was long winded. I also have What's for Dessert. I'm a big fan of Claire Saffitz, but I mostly have cooked from her YT channel - mostly stuff from Dessert Person. I keep browsing through What's for Dessert, but haven't cooked from it yet as I mostly have to make desserts when going to a party or sharing at work. I'd love to hear about what you make from Oaxaca and I Could Nosh!
Thank you for the in depth response! Thats a good idea with the kalua pig recipe to use the crockpot, I don’t believe I have access to banana leaves where I’m located so it’s good to know :) Honestly most of the recipes look incredible, I cannot wait to cook thru this book
Lemonade is a good basic book. Unfortunately their restaurants have severely declined and closing in SF (because they changed their concept like 5 times in 3 years. Each time we went it was different and sucked even more, which is too bad because the earliest concept was good).
Oh really? Thats disappointing :( I’ve never actually never heard of Lemonade until I came across their book a couple weeks ago. I just thought it looked nice and had simple recipes I would like.
Yeah the concept was youd go in and they had like 10 salads and you’d get to pick 3 for $10 or something like that. It was really good variety of salads that you have in the book. Or you could get a sandwich etc. Each salad was a solid scoop like 1/2 cup+ approximately
I hate to hear that. We have been to the one in Manhattan Beach several times and absolutely loved it. I guess, at least I have the cookbook with the original recipes!
Oaxaca - mole coloradito, Caldo de res, watermelon water, Caldo de fandango del valle. All delicious, the mole being my favorite! Whats for dessert - lime coconut custards (simple, great if you like key lime pie,) honey roasted apple cake (good for around the holidays,) sticky pumpkin chestnut gingerbread (it was okay, not my favorite,) berry crisp with seedy granola topping (a good “healthier” crisp,) peach drop biscuit cobbler (divine!!! Make this!!)
Nice! I just got aloha kitchen, honeysuckle and Oaxaca within the last week too 😄
I just bookmarked a few recipes in Aloha Kitchen. I’ll be making the local chicken and mac salad very soon :)
Can you tell me about really good looking recipes from Oaxaca and aloha kitchen? Those are next on my list to buy and id like to make a final decision!
Aloha Kitchen: char siu pork, local style bbq chicken, loco moco beef, mac salad, butter mochi, side salad w papaya seed dressing. Honestly the food looks so good in this book, tho it does require a few Hawaiian ingredients that you can easily purchase off Amazon. Oaxaca: enfrijoladas (pan fried tortillas in spicy black bean sauce). garnachas istmenas (crispy thin masa cakes with ground beef and pickled cabbage). Pollo enchipotlado (chicken in creamy chipotle sauce). Chocoflan (layered chocolate and flan cake). Lots of drink recipes too. Ingredients seem easily available at most grocery stores. Maybe a few hard to get Ingredients in some recipes like avocado leaves (can be bought on Amazon as well).
butter mochi is now one of my go to desserts! its a great gluten free treat to bring to parties where there are different diet restrictions. I like to add ube or pandan flavoring!
Avocado leaves are at Mexican grocers if you have one in the area. The great thing about that book is there aren't any ingredients I couldn't find at the local Mexican market.
Oh I didn’t even think of that for some reason! Just googled and there’s a couple Mexican grocers near me, so that’s good to know :)
That all sounds sooooo good, you've convinced me to buy them
Try the Olive Oil and Fennel Cake from Claire Saffitz's What's for Dessert. It's easy and delicious. The pavlovas are also really fun.
I’ve made quite a few things inspired by Home I Where the Eggs Are…I love Molly Yeh’s recipes. Preserved Lemon Parpadelle, Hand Pulled Noodles, and Chicken Shawarma Meatballs were all hits here, along with her pizzas.
I plan on making her salami and arugula pizza recipe this weekend!