"The 150 Best American Recipes"

[snowangel]

I'm just back from a weekend up north with three close friends, and the menu (we don't eat out, but cook) is heavy on the munchies, and three from this book.

Vodka-spiked cherry tomatoes with pepper-salt: worth every bit of peeling the cherry tomatoes. (helped that the kitchen is open and allowed me to be part of the group while I did the deed). We used Shakers vodka (rye version), which is a local vodka, and darned good. One of the great things about this is that you can prep everything, and just do a few tomatoes at a time, ensuring a supply all weekend long.

Smoked salmon rolls with arugula, mascarpone, chives and capers: Spectacular. While I might quibble that there is more filling than necessary, this is a show-stopper, both visusally and taste wise. Makes a nice brunch with a good salad. Any leftover mascarpone filling is a good addition to mashed potatoes.

Sweet and spicy pecans. I made these, using ancho chili powder. This is the one dish from this book from this weekend upon which we straddled the fence. I also brought along a batch of JAZ's Spicy Sweet Walnuts. Two of us (me in the group) preferred Janet's walnuts, the other two the pecans. But, none of us refused to eat the pecans!

As we say in hockey country, a hat trick.

[Marlene]

I remember doing that tomato dish. It was really good! A bit of a pain to peel the tomatoes, but doing it with friends makes it go faster!

[Smithy]

Has anyone else tried this book's method of cooking prime rib? If so, what did you think?

The method goes basically like this:

*Preheat the oven to 500F

*Put the seasoned roast in, in a shallow roasting pan, uncovered

*After roasting for a time period based on weight (strictly timed), turn off the heat

*Let the roast continue cooking until the oven cools down to lukewarm, an estimated 2 hours

The two striking things about this method are that you only have the 500F heat on for something like 30 - 45 minutes, depending on the size of the roast, and you don't open the door until it's time to take the roast out. (They do add a note that you can remove the roast and set under tented foil to finish its cooking, if you need the oven for other purposes, but say the treatment is less than ideal.) They claim that this strict timing method makes a thermometer unnecessary. (! Sounds like heresy to this gizmo geek!)

I tried it last night and thought the roast still ended up too done, and the ends had the texture of cardboard. The texture business may have been because of freezer damage. (I bought more than I could use during the holidays, but this wasn't really wrapped well for freezing.) The too-done part may have been because I left the roast in the oven too long. I certainly liked the simplicity of the method, but wouldn't care to wreck a roast in the name of simplicity. Has anyone else tried this method?

[Anna N]

Has anyone else tried this book's method of cooking prime rib?  If so, what did you think? 

The method goes basically like this:

*Preheat the oven to 500F

*Put the seasoned roast in, in a shallow roasting pan, uncovered

*After roasting for a time period based on weight (strictly timed), turn off the heat

*Let the roast continue cooking until the oven cools down to lukewarm, an estimated 2 hours

. . .

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This is the method I use most often with a prime rib and I get excellent results. However:

It works best with roasts that weigh at least 5lbs.

You must calculate the intial time at 500 degrees very precisely based on precise weight.

The meat must be at room temperature throughout and that means taking it out of the refrigerator many hours before you put it in the oven.

You MUST not open the oven door for at least 2 hours after you have turned off the heat.

Initially it takes a lot of courage to believe it will work but it does.

[Jujubee]

I tried the Roasted Asparagus with Panko Breadcrumbs and it was DELICIOUS. We couldn't stop eating it. However, technically the recipe is sort of a failure. The crumbs didn't really adhere to the asparagus spears (I used fat spears, just as the recipe directed) so it looked sort of messy and unappetizing. Since it was just a family meal, it didn't matter - we just scooped up some coating with every bite of aspargus - but I would like to make it more presentable, since the flavors are awesome.

Can anyone suggest a way to make the coating stick? (For anyone without the book, fat asparagus spears are rolled in a mayo/mustard/lemon juice mixture and then rolled in panko bread crumbs, put on a greased baking sheet, drizzled with a bit more oil, and then baked.)

[Kim Shook]

I tried the Roasted Asparagus with Panko Breadcrumbs and it was DELICIOUS.  We couldn't stop eating it.  However, technically the recipe is sort of a failure.  The crumbs didn't really adhere to the asparagus spears (I used fat spears, just as the recipe directed) so it looked sort of messy and unappetizing.  Since it was just a family meal, it didn't matter - we just scooped up some coating with every bite of aspargus - but I would like to make it more presentable, since the flavors are awesome. 

Can anyone suggest a way to make the coating stick?  (For anyone without the book, fat asparagus spears are rolled in a mayo/mustard/lemon juice mixture and then rolled in panko bread crumbs, put on a greased baking sheet, drizzled with a bit more oil, and then baked.)

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Ask Marlene - she makes these and they were beautiful. You might want to PM her in case she doesn't see your post.