r/CookbookLovers

Baked Ziti with Charred Tomatoes

1½ pounds grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon tomato paste

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

12 ounces (3 cups) ziti

3 cups water, plus extra as needed

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (2 cup)

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 cup)

Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Heat 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Toss tomatoes with oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Add tomatoes to skillet and cook, sturring occasionally, until lightly charred and blistered, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, coarsely mash tomatoes using potato masher.

Stir in pasta and water and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to vigorous simmer, cover, and cook, stirring often, until pasta is tender, 15 to 18 minutes.

Stir in Parmesan and adjust sauce consistency with extra hot water as needed. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with mozzarella.

Transfer skillet to oven and broil until cheese is melted and spotty brown, about 3 minutes. Serve.

Okay so a few things didn’t go quite as planned. I should have 20 cookies but I only have 12 (my scoop is too big) and because they were bigger I was afraid to underbake them so they ended up overbaked 😑😭

BUT the flavour is still there, pretty tasty. The centre is still a bit gooey but the edge is pretty crisp. A little too crisp for my taste.

This my first post on reddit, ever!

I’m doing a cook-through of Mi Cocina by Rick Martinez,I started in January 2025-ish and already have some favorites. My original goal was to finish in 2025, but I now realize that this was quite the undertaking and I’ll be lucky to finish in 2026!  I put stickers in my cookbooks for items that I enjoy and would make again.

Here are the five recipes that I made in March/April:

1. Frijoles de Olla.  4/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Yes. Such a good basic bean recipe. I make a big batch of these beans in the instant pot and then freeze to use as I need them.
2. Arroz Verde. 4/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Yes. Really, really delicious rice. Very quick and easy to throw together. I added extra cilantro and a few big handfuls of spinach to the vegetable broth for more greens.
3. Pollo al Pastor. 5/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Yes. I made this Pollo al Pastor using a whole chicken and it was extremely impressive coming out of the oven (dinner party worthy). I added some sliced Yukon Gold potatoes to my onion and pineapple mixture and it really helped to bulk up the tacos while taking advantage of the delicious marinade. I’m convinced that the oven temperature is a typo though - I have not been able to get this chicken to a safe temperature at 350 solely, ever. I followed Ina Garten’s guide to roast chicken and cooked at 425 with much better results. 
4. Guacamole. 1/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Meh. For just how good the salsas tend to be in this book, this guacamole was … not great. I much prefer the guacamole method of great salsa + avocados + fresh garlic.
5. Birria estilo Aguascalientes. 2/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? No. I’m able to find really excellent birria locally, so I was excited to find a recipe and learn how to do it myself. This birria was only okay and it was a lot of work. I wasn’t able to get a goat or lamb shoulder, so I used a bone-in piece of beef, and the birria mixture contains blended nuts which really threw off the texture of the consomme.

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My Top Ten So Far (In no particular order):

1. Pollo al Pastor
2. Morisqueta Michoacana 
3. Salsa de Chile de Arbol
4. Torta de Lechon
5. Burritos de Chilorio
6. Albondigas en Chipotle
7. Pescado a la Talla
8. Sopa de Lima
9. Cafe de Olla
10. Champurrado

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Exemptions:
(Recipes I won’t be making due to allergies, availability, ethics, or aversions. I try to limit this to no more than ten in a book.)

1. Brochetas de Pulpo y Camarones (may make with just the camarones…)
2. Ceviche de Camaron y Leche de Coco
3. Ceviche de Pulpo y Habanero
4. Arroz a la Tumbada
5. Aguachile
6. Ceviche de Almejas Chocolatas
7. Ostiones a la Parrilla con Chicharrón

i always see people requesting regional cookbooks & this (plant-based) Ghanian cookbook came into my inbox!

this isn't sponsored or anything like that at all :)

https://eatwithafia.com/eat-with-afia-cookbook/

Just got this from ThriftBooks. Slowly continuing to complete my Ina collection.

What are your favorites from this one??

Back again - I've been on a dessert kick, here's my rankings for the latest round of Thomas Keller's goodies.

Pineapple Chop - a reluctant 10/10. Too fussy for a weeknight dessert or even a dinner party (in my opinion) but SO good! I would recreate this with chunks of pineapple rather than dealing with shaping the fruit to look like a lamb chop. Also, caramel sauce is hard, people.

Banana Split - 10/10, and I don't even like bananas. Each component is simple, fun, and delicious. Would definitely make again!

Lemon Sabayon Tart - 7/10. Yummy but nothing to write home about. Would make again for a work potluck as it's not too tricky, but I was hoping this would be a little more exciting

Simple is the book I cook from most—i have many favorites. I have grown to trust Ottolenghi’s flavor combinations. I don’t really like bell peppers, but I just KNEW this would make them taste good. I love the flavor of preserved lemon, and the book has many recipes that include it.

The “sauce” is really more of a full veggie side, and it tasted really good alone or with a bite of the steak. The recipe calls for a can of canned tomatoes, which is another ingredient I love cooking with. The technique for the bell peppers in this recipe is a bit labor-intensive: you broil them whole (i had to turn them 3 times over ~25 mins), to be able to then remove the skins easily. I wonder if removing the cores/seeds before broiling would work…or if it would dry out the peppers too much. Removing the slimy seeds from the broiled peppers was slightly annoying.

As for the steak—if I make this again, I might make a simple rose harissa sauce to drizzle on at the end rather than a marinade. I am not an expert at cooking steak, but they usually turn out pretty good when I sear them dry. I want to make the pepper/tomato/lemon “sauce” again as a side for rotisserie chicken or some salmon. I think it would work with canned roasted red peps if I’m pressed for time but want to taste these awesome flavors again!

Edit: the recipe calls for a can of DICED tomatoes :)

Dinner tonight was Vietnamese Grilled Steak and Cabbage Salad from Favorite Recipes From Melissa Clark's Kitchen.

Here's a link to the recipe: https://thehungrylovers.blogspot.com/2014/04/vietnamese-grilled-steak-salad-with.html?m=1

I made a few changes based on personal preference. I added a little brown sugar to the vinaigrette, I thought it needed rounding out. I also added red chili flakes instead of cayenne. I used bagged coleslaw mix to save time and used cilantro, mint, and Thai basil because more herbs are better! I served the salad and steak slices on a bed of rice noodles. This meal was SO delicious!

We loved the slaw and noodles the best (a rarity for my husband!) so next time I'll skip the steak entirely and toss in precooked shrimp. Super fast and tasty dinner!

I'm also considering omitting the the oil from the vinaigrette and adding peanut butter.

Recipe: The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

Used the recipe from the Tartine book. Every time I try making the dough I have to add more flour, there is no way it would absorb all the liquid. tastes delicious though! Anyone else experience something similar with the Tartine recipes?