cook's profile


Kate56
 
Home Town: Holland, Michigan, USA
Living In: Canaan Valley, West Virginia, USA
Member Since: Feb. 2006
Cooking Level: Expert
Cooking Interests: Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Gourmet
Hobbies: Quilting, Sewing, Gardening, Hiking/Camping, Music, Painting/Drawing, Wine Tasting
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Me, with my husband, Wayne
About this Cook
I'm a Mom of two grown boys, and both my Hubby and I love to cook. I have a strong Art background and have done some private catering for friends on occasion. My husband is a retired Fireman from Baltimore,MD,,,and a wonderful cook himself.
My favorite things to cook
Anything with Veggies and fresh Herbs from my garden. Love using wild ingredients from our surrounding woods and rivers, i.e. wild morels, blackberries,ramps and trout to name afew.
My cooking triumphs
cooking for friends and having them enjoy it. What better triumph could a cook have?
My cooking tragedies
never "twick" your hubby's cooking, while he is in the bathroom. I added an extra "kick" to his crab-corn bisque.....but so did he! It was like eating fire.
Recipe Reviews 32 reviews
Flounder Florentine
I used this recipe as a guideline to duplicate a dish my Husband and I had in a restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland that we LOVED! I did make changes, so the 4 star rating is for that reason. I used a lg. bag of fresh spinach ( approx 9 oz. ) and sauteed' it with 3 cloves of sliced garlic til the spinach was 'just' wilted and drained well in a colander. Also blotted out as much liquid as possible between paper towels, chopped and added 1/4 cup grated Parm. cheese to the filling. I followed the Bernaise Sauce to the letter with the exception of 1/4 of Parm. Cheese, and Smoked Paprika. In a baking dish coated with Olive Oil, I placed each fillet and filled it with the Spinach/garlic mix and rolled the fish gently around the stuffing. After all the fillets were rolled, I topped with the Sauce and baked according to the directions in this recipe. 20-25 mins. I think this presentation is alittle nicer to the eye and it was very close to the wonderful dish we enjoyed in Baltimore. The only thing I might try next time, is to add Lump Blue Crabmeat to the Spinach filling. Overall a very delicate dish and has many possibilities for variation.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Oct. 10, 2009
Gramma Bertha's Banana Cake
Very good cake...Moist and certainly Heavy in density. I gave it a 4 star rating, only because I added afew suggested changes. Walnuts, afew Choc. Chips and vanilla. I think the best added suggestion was to add cocoa to 1/3 of the batter, and marble it into the banana batter. It gave the cake a very interesting flavor, and not at all too sweet. I would not consider this to be a "bread" at all,,,more of a pound cake. Well worth trying.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Sep. 5, 2009
Tomato, Cucumber and Red Onion Salad with Mint
This is a DELICIOUS salad...and the only reason that I gave it 4 stars is due to the revisions that I made. The best advice I can give anyone looking to try a new recipe, is to read the reviews from other cooks who have tryed it first. Very valuable and well worth afew extra mins to do some reading! I used Rice Wine Vinegar rather than the much stronger suggested Red Wine. I cut back abit on the sugar and added one minced Garlic Clove and alittle Celery seed as well. I cut the seeded Cukes in chunks and salted them in a colander in the frig for about an hour to draw out some of the water. Other reviews mentioned that the Red onion was over-powering. As a result I used only 1/4 of a red Onion;sliced very thin and steeped it for 5 mins. in hot water and then drained to 'soften' the sharpness,then added 5 Green onions; sliced to make up the difference lost in the amount. One other thing that was unclear is WHAT KIND of Mint to use. I have 3 different kinds growing in my herb bed. I used Peppermint in this recipe and minced it finely ( again a suggestion from another review )Peppermint was brighter in taste than the Spearmint I sampled in the garden. Top with Feta Cheese if you have some..yummy! Overall.VERY GOOD salad. Both my Husband and I really enjoyed it with Rosemary Salmon and fresh Corn-on-the-Cob. Well worth trying and adjusting to your own personal tastes. :)

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Aug. 22, 2009
 
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