Very good soup-- the tartness from the tomato paste and lime juice contrasts well with the creamy sour cream. At first I thought I'd like to cook the carrots for longer but the crunchiness of undercooked carrots is nice with the smooth pearl barley.

Reviewed On: Jun. 20, 2009

This is always a hit at social events. For people who are concerned with the cracking-- just add a nice berry topping and no one will really notice. Who has time to wait for the cheesecake to cool 6 hours or the energy to set up a bain de Marie?

Reviewed On: Nov. 26, 2008

You can't really miss with heavy cream and Italian meats. I did modify some things-- I used thinly sliced breseola (Italian cured beef) instead of the sausage. I think this cuts down on the fat a little bit and gives the sauce a nice smoked flavor. Also, instead of adding the vodka to the sauce, I add it to the meat once it starts to brown. This helps lift up the bits of browned meat off the pan (I think this is called deglazing) and also allows most of the alcohol to evaporate so you don't get as much of that alcohol taste. I also tried adding diced eggplant (about 2 cups) right after browning the meat. Very tasty.

Reviewed On: Nov. 26, 2008