Rehfwitz Recipes

Welp, it’s been a year since we started on this culinary journey! Hard to believe. We didn’t reach our goal of cooking 200 recipes in the first year, but that’s OK. It’s been a ton of fun so far. Thanks to all of you who have been roped into this escapade as taste testers. I have some reflections to share in a future post, but for now here are the recipes we cooked for the first time in November and December.

#109 Marinated Flank Steak with Lime, Chile and Basil Slaw, 1999 (p. 570) Thanks to unusually warm weather that extended into early November, we were able to squeeze in one last grilled dinner. Both the steak and the slaw were amazing. Next time, we will double the amount of slaw. Even though I messed up by adding the basil with the other vegetables, it came out beautifully. This will definitely be part of our regular rotation when grilling season rolls around again. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

#110 Supernatural Brownies, 2007 (p. 362) I believe we have found the perfect brownie recipe. These really do melt in your mouth. Unanimous rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

#111 Fresh Salmon and Lime Cakes, 2000 (p. 438) I love a good salmon cake and this recipe has much to recommend it. It is a good weeknight recipe and the overall flavor was excellent. Be sure that the oil is VERY hot before adding the cakes. The instructions were not completely clear about how to shape them. Mine were about as tall as they were wide, which was not optimal. In the future, I will experiment with a shorter shape. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

#112 Shepherd’s Pie with Curried Meat, 1984 (p. 554) This recipe was relatively simple with clear instructions. It benefitted from the addition of a little parmesan cheese. Next time (and there will be a next time) we will try adding some cream cheese to the mashed potatoes. We froze the leftovers, which held up better than expected – and were quickly devoured by SAH who was staying with us over the holidays. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5

#113 Pasta with Fast Sausage Ragu, 2001 (p. 351) This recipe delivered on all of its promises. It was fast and immensely satisfying on a cold night. It’s so simple, but a bit more special than your typical weeknight red sauce. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

#114 Jalepeno Corn Bread Muffins, 1987 (p. 129) If you like your corn muffins salty, spicy, and substantial, this is the recipe for you. I used standard muffin tins and ended up with 10 very generous muffins. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

#115 Coconut Loaf Cake, 1998 (p. 825) This thing is amazing. It is the best cake we have tried so far and that’s saying a lot. It is simply brilliant. Do use a high-quality coconut. I used Let’s Do Organic brand found locally at Papa Joe’s Market. Make it now. And save some for me. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

#116 Barley Risotto, 1990 (p. 336) This was one of those recipes that seemed to be missing some key information. Specifically, it calls for “barley” without any additional explanation. We searched for several weeks at grocery stores, gourmet and otherwise, and could only find “pearled barley”, which the internet told us was not the same as just “barley”. Reluctant to go the mail-order route, we decided to attempt it with the pearled variety and the result was delicious! Hooray! Also, we have had good luck with using vegetable broth from a carton, which shaves an hour off the prep time and makes this a very manageable weeknight recipe. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

#117 Salty Sweet Peanut Butter Sandies, 2014 (p. 758) Reactions to these adorable little peanut butter balls varied widely, with some tasters proclaiming them “amazing” and others, including me, finding them a little weird. They are very peanut-buttery and quite substantial. Also, if you use a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop as directed, you will end up with a lot more than the 3-4 dozen promised. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ 3.5/5

#118 Takeout-Style Sesame Noodles, 2007 (p. 362) This is a dandy recipe that avoids the pitfalls I have encountered in past attempts to cook homemade sesame noodles. The texture and flavor were wonderful! We ate this as a main dish, but it could (will!) make an excellent side dish or serve well as part of a buffet. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

#119 Mrs. Raymond Schenks’s Pumpkin Cake, 1980 (p. 812) Another polarizing confection, this was heavier than expected, which turned some people off and delighted others. Watch it carefully at the end as it’s one of those that can go from underbaked to overbaked very quickly. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5

#120 An Honest Loaf of French Bread, 1978 (p. 704) Honest, maybe. Confusing, for sure. I will admit to some frustration with this one. As I have said before, the lack of photos in this cookbook is challenging at times, and there is no better example than this recipe. Step 8, which describes how to shape the loaf, remains a mystery to me despite having read it at least 10 times. It didn’t help that I made this on the coldest day of the year, which meant it took forever to rise. The result was a perfectly decent, if underproved (shades of Paul Hollywood!) loaf of French bread (as promised in the title) Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

#121 Spoon Lamb, 1998 (p. 564) For reasons I won’t go into here, we ended up making this with a bone-in lamb shoulder roast instead of the boneless, trimmed roast called for in the recipe. The result was delicious if a bit fattier than we are used to. I am confident that had we used the recommended cut of meat, there would have been less fat. As I write this, the price of meat is out of control and I admit to being skeptical about investing so much in a piece of meat that was going to cook for 4 hours, but I am here to say that I would do it again! Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

#122 Rice with Peas (Jamaican Rice with Coconut and Red Beans), 2008 (p. 364) I love this stuff. Deceptively simple and deeply satisfying, it makes a fine vegan main dish. In addition, it has endless potential as a side dish and was just yummy with the addition of some leftover bacon we had hanging around. I think it would be excellent with pulled pork, chicken, or fish. Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5

#123 Stir-Fried Chicken with Creamed Corn, 2002 (p. 498) Based on the title and my lifelong aversion to creamed corn, I approached this one with trepidation. Thankfully, the reassuring headnote turned out to be accurate. This came together very quickly and was surprisingly flavorful and satisfying. Once again, I was reminded of the benefits of this project as there is absolutely no chance that I would have made or eaten this under any other circumstances. Next time I will pair it with String Beans with Ginger and Garlic (p. 261). Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5