Most of the recipes posted on this site have been tested by my growing family of volunteer recipe testers. Want to join them? Learn how.
Learn to cook at your own kitchen counter via single lessons or as a curated “class” designed as a online companion to the The Kitchen Counter Cooking School.
In addition, take a look at a handful of free lessons that I put together in my own kitchen on my YouTube channel.
$ = Good budget cooking recipe
V = Vegetarian
Q = Quick
W = Watch an online video lesson
Starters & Sides
Ahi Tuna Ceviche
Provencal spread V
Golden Onion Quiche V
Skinny Deviled Eggs V, $, Q
Wild Salmon Mousse
Grandma’s Yeast Pancakes V, $
Mushroom and Lentil Pate V, $, Q
Zucchini with Brown Rice (or pasta) V, $
Salade Niçoise
Soups
Chilled Asparagus and Spinach Soup with Avocado Garnish
French Onion Soup V, $
Cajun Gumbo with Turkey, Sausage and Seafood
Carrot and Rosemary Soup V, $
Chicken Noodle Soup for Flu Emergencies $
Main Dishes
Seafood
Fragrant Salmon Cakes with Avocado Basil Dressing
Delaware-style Crab Cakes
Spicy Creole Shrimp Pasta in Saffron Tomato Broth Q
Fish Sauteed with Garlic and Tomatoes $, Q
Moules à la Mariniére
Paella Valencia
Garlicky Planked Halibut
Proscuitto Wrapped Stuffed Fish
Fish en Papillote (cooked in parchment/foil) $, Q (Video)
Poultry
Chicken Braised with Mustard Sauce $
Spicy Seared Chicken with Vermouth Q
Boneless Turkey Legs Stuffed with Wild Mushrooms
Butterflied Turkey Breasts Stuffed with Apples, Celery and Calvados
Cabbage and Chicken Stir-Fry $, Q
Risotto with wild mushrooms, chicken, arugula and lentils
Vegetarian (or can be made that way)
Risotto with lemons and peas V, $
Pasta with Green Olives, Tomatoes and Garlic V, $, Q
Miso Ramen with Shrimp, Chicken or Tofu V, $, Q
Thai Stir-Fry (for tofu, chicken or beef) V, $, Q
Pasta Pomodoro (simple tomato sauce) V, $, Q, (Video only)
Beef, pork, lamb
Mushroom-crusted steak with red wine sauce
Classic Beef Stroganoff Q
Braised Pork with Cabbage, Tomatoes and Pasta $
Fundamentals
Ted’s Stock $
How to Use a Whole Chicken $
Basic risotto V, $
Simple vinaigrette (Video only)
Tips for Budget Cooking $
How to Bone and Stuff a Whole Turkey
Thoughts on Buying Fish
Basic Fruit Tart with Whole Wheat Crust
hi This is Laura Wilson again. I contacted you while I was at Le Cordon Bleu studying Basic Patisserie in the Intensive Session last winter. i am going back in November for Level II. I would like to test your recipes. i had trouble receiving the info on my computer while in Paris, but maybe it will be better now. I am so excited about your second book! Yea! My website is ladolcevitaculinary.com if you want to look at it. Please let me know how to test your dishes…
I am currently reading “The Kitchen Counter Cooking School”. I am blown away by your thoughts on cooking and serving processed packaged foods. Rethinking what I serve my 6 year old daughter and am trying to stop any processed box cooking and am appalled and the ingredients list on such items. Can it really be that easy to serve fresher dishes on the fly? We both work and it is a challenge to put healthy food on the table with my unpredictable schedule. I am attempting this challenge…wish me luck.
Tara Cook
NC
I am reading your book Kitchen Counter cooking………..wonderful.
Made your chicken stir fry with cabbage to resounding comments then tried the rustic zuchinni with penne recipe and my family did not like it at all and I, found it barely tolerable. I don’t believe I did anything wrong in cooking it.
Have you heard similar comments?
Lisa B from Oxford MI
Hi Lisa,
When we did the testing, one thing we found was that it really needs to caramelize. Did you use a stainless steel pan, or a non-stick pan? With non-stick, I found that the zucchini never caramelized to achieve the “nutty” flavor that makes the recipe work. Let me know, as I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts.
Just finished the new book and I can’t WAIT to pick up your first. As someone who loves to cook but feels inept at times in the kitchen, I really connected to the women and their stories and am so thankful that you can help simplify things! I’m looking at your recipes but some of your links are broken (French Onion Soup and Chicken Braised with Mustard Sauce, for example). Hoping you get things fixed soon!
Kathleen: I read your book through while sitting in the jury duty waiting room. That was Monday. Since then I have made a loaf of artisan bread, roasted a chicken, made lemon asparagus risotto with leftovers and items in my kitchen cupboard, and made 14 cups of homemade stock from the chicken carcass. I will make a casserole with the leftover chicken and a soup from the broth. I am astonished by what I have learned from your book and how it has changed my attitude towards cooking in less than a week! I just googled your website today (why didn’t I think of that earlier in the week) and will definitely be signing up for the cooking classes. Oh, and just started your first book which I will devour as well. I am also excited by how my new learning skills will inspire my family.
Just finished your book and loved it. Have loved cooking all my life and at 75 yrs. old I am just getting around to thinking about a good chef knife–about time! Is the Victorinox a good one? I need to watch the price and your book said between $25-50. What brand would you suggest
I like that brand as a low-end version, although I wish that it had a full tang, the metal part that involves the blade. Henckels as a good knife with decent steel and balance that you can find online (at Amazon or similar) for around $60. It’s so hard to recommend knives as I feel they are ultimately very personal, like selecting a mattress!
I just finished Kitchen Counter Cooking School and found it to be the best non-cook cookbooks ever! I sprung a surprise salt taste test on my family, and we immediately made the switch to kosher salt. I adapted a favorite recipe according to your braising suggestions, and it was beyond fabulous! I’m planning to pick up The Sharper the Knife later today.
I’m disappointed to come here and find broken links to both recipes I clicked on, French Onion Soup and Provencal. You need to get those fixed, or remove them from the recipe list!
Thanks for the nice words, Kristine! And ack! Those recipes are from Sharper and were on my old site and so they stopped working over christmas. I’ll email them to you now and I will remove for now until I refresh them as new posts on this site.