ALLEYCAT27 Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (18398587)

The Best Vegetarian Chili in the World

Reviewed: Oct. 25, 2007

I dont know if it's the best in the world but it is good! A healthy dish sure to please most people. I use the Yves brand of fake ground beef. I have prepared this for meat eaters and they had no idea that it was faux ground beef until I told them at the end. Highly recommended!

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Asian Ginger Dressing

Reviewed: Oct. 25, 2007

This is just marvellous! Not the orange thick kind of dressing I was expecting (Like at my local Japanese restaurant) but it is very delish in its own right. I think there are very few people that would not enjoy this dressing. Its worth checking out, go ahead and make some already! You'll enjoy it.

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Hot and Spicy Tofu

Reviewed: Oct. 25, 2007

This has become one of my all-time favorite tofu dishes. Very fast prep time and easy for beginner's to make. I love how it comes out consistently good every time I make it despite my alterations. Careful with those red pepper flakes because if you go overboard you will ruin the dish. I recommend add only 25% of what the recipe calls for and then add little more at the very end while you stir and taste the finished product. Make sure that you press the tofu for 1 hour before you begin. Look up "pressed tofu" on the internet if you dont understand what this means.

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33 users found this review helpful

Pasta Primavera Sauce

Reviewed: Oct. 25, 2007

This is a wonderful dish. Its really such a healthy dish and you can substitute your favorite veggies and it will still come out awesome. I love to make this for my vegetarian pot-luck dinners. Its always a hit! i like the spiral pasta or maybe bow-tie pasta with it.

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Orange Beef-Style Tofu Stir-Fry

Reviewed: Nov. 17, 2006

THis was absolutely delicous! Dont skimp on the cornstarch used to batter the tofu slices. You may need a little more than 1/4 cup. Make sure tofu is not dripping wet when you batter it or it will turn the cornstarch from a powder into liquid. My supermarket did not have chili paste so I used tobasco saude and a little chili powder. Next time I will use the chili paste, gotta go to the oriental market to get that. I recommend that you split the tofu into 2 portions and then fry them one section at a time. This makes it much easier to manage turning the tofu over to brown on both sides. Took me about 10 minutes per side. I used fresh mushrooms and brocoli instead of the carrots. I think you can use any vegetable you want, just eye ball the right amount volume wise which is easy to do once you see the amount of sauce. Defiantely double the amount of sauce. Yumskers!!!

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34 users found this review helpful

Hearty Lentil Soup

Reviewed: Nov. 10, 2006

This was absolutely delicous! It was comfot food and I felt so good about eating it, knowing how healthy it was! I substituted corn oil, 1 large onion, 2 real tomatoes diced, chicken stock, cooking wine, 1/4 bunch of cilantro. I also omitted the parsnip because they dont have them at the supermarket. Other than that I followed the recipe to the letter and it came out so great. I served half as a soup (using most of the liquid). And the next day I served it with brown rice like rice-and-beans. Any vegetarian will be like "yumskers!"

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26 users found this review helpful

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Reviewed: Jan. 19, 2006

Marvelous! I used the pressure cooker to save time. Added the beef to the pressure cooker with some water. Also added a beef boullion cube (to make beef broth). After pressure cooker stabalized I cooked it 20 minutes. I used London Broil steak. Turned off heat and let it sit 10 minutes in the PC. Then took meat out shredded it with a fork. Took out 1.5 cups of beef water to use as broth. Next stir-fried the onions, peppers garlic 3 minutes. Then added the other ingredients + a bay leaf. Simmered it covered for 30 minutes. Used apple cider vinegar, it still is delicous! Served it with black beans and rice.

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39 users found this review helpful

Black Bean Chili

Reviewed: Jan. 19, 2006

It was absolutely delicous! I omitted the mushrooms. I forgot to put the diced tomaotes in but it was still awesome! I used dry beans (12 ounces) and put them in the pressure cooker with water to soften them up. Stabalized the pressure and cooked for 20 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then removed beans from the pressure cooker. They grow to 32 oz of beans after the soak. After that I just followed the instructions as listed. Depending on how much stuff you put in there, you just adjust the amount of chicken broth. I used 1 3/4 cups. And I omitted the jalapeno pepper, its spicy enough as is. Also added a little garlic powder and a bay leaf. The puree step is definateley worth it, gives a very nice appearance. (I just used my blender).

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3 users found this review helpful

Cuban Shredded Pork

Reviewed: Jan. 19, 2006

It was very good. I made it in the pressure cooker to save time. After cooker reaches stabalized pressure I let it cook for 10 minutes. Then I turned off heat and let it sit for 30 minutes without removing the lid of the pressure cooker. The pork was so tender it fell apart as I tried to remove it from the pot. My advice if you do use pressure cooker is to only add the 16 oz of water or else the flavor is not as strong. I used 24 oz water and I had to add more spices later while It was frying. To avoid dry pork, I stir fried it on ultra high heat until it was toasted on the outside and added the onions during the last 5 minutes. Remember, you want it moist and tender inside and crispy on the outside so you must use high heat to accomplish this. Maybe a couple of bay leaves might make it better too.

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26 users found this review helpful

Fiery Fish Tacos with Crunchy Corn Salsa

Reviewed: Nov. 23, 2005

I LOVE spicy food but this was way too much cayanne papper. I should have cut it back to about half of what is called for. I used canned corn nibblets but did not cook the corn first. BIG MISTAKE. The recipe doesnt tell you to cook the corn but I should have figured it out. Cook the Corn first! The salsa is the best part of the dish. Magnificent! But the fish is so-so. I couldnt find the jicama at the market. So I rated it 4 because of my own errors but I will make it again the right way and we will see....

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29 users found this review helpful

Honey Curried Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Reviewed: Sep. 13, 2005

It was ok but nothing to write home about. I thought it was a little too sweet for my tastes and I used 1/3 cup of honey. Not a bad recipe but it was not what I was looking for. I had very little sauce after inserting the vegetables the recipe called for. I used 1 4 lb chicken because the reviews said there would be a surplus of sauce. Maybe thats where I went wrong.

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Asian Barbequed Steak

Reviewed: Sep. 9, 2005

It was a dream come true! I sliced the 2 pound slab of steak into 6 individual steaks. I used a gallon size freezer bag to marinade it in rather than a dish. I didnt have a bbq grill so I used my toaster oven to broil it (3 pieces at a time). 6 min on one side at 8 minutes on the other (it came out medium well). Does not taste fishy at all. The fish sauce is salty so dont add soy sauce or salt until u taste it first. I used normal sesame oil. It was delicous! "Score" means cut a diagonal slice into the steak.

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23 users found this review helpful

Louisiana Shrimp Creole II

Reviewed: Apr. 16, 2005

5 Stars! One of the best recipes EVER!!! I followed the recipe down to the letter (almost). I am an amateur cook but these directions where simple. Did what SIENNA1929 suggested and added 1 extra pound of shrimp making it 2 pounds total. I also had to add 4 ounces extra of tomato sauce. It was delicous! I like spicy food and doubled the amount of chili powder with great results. I also put about 3 spurts of the hot pepper sauce and its still not too spicy for me! But others say that flavor gets more intense after you refrigerate it and warm it up the next day so I will not add any more spicy stuff until I taste it then. I used medium size white shrimp because they where on sale this week. A wonderful taste. Be careful not to cook over 5 minutes! After that if shrimp are too al dente just let them sit in the saucepan because they continue to cook in the hot liquid even after you turn off the stove. That is why I say turn off the heat after 5 minutes. Truly exceptional recipe and I used 1 entire red bell pepper. I think the red bell pepper really made the presentation effect extravagant and I recommend using red or orange bell pepper if you are serving it to guests.

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Skillet Chili

Reviewed: Apr. 6, 2005

Very tasty. It is best to follow recipe as outlined and then tweka it later to make it as spicy as you like. I had to add more chili powder and cayanne pepper for my tastes. I used dry beans and did not soak them enough beforehand. Please do not make this mistake. If you use dry beans they will need to soak 18-24 hours before you start the recipe. The beans should be able to easily squish in your fingers, otherwise let them soak longer.

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22 users found this review helpful

Teriyaki Chicken

Reviewed: Apr. 6, 2005

Made the following substitutions because I am an indigent college student: table sugar, 2 month old ginger root (minced), Garlic cloves that come chopped up in that clear plastic container. Added cornstarch to the sauce to make it thicker. It was wondeful! I marinated the gizzard overnight in its juices. I basted it about 3 times toal at 20 minute increments. It came out fall off the bone and quite succulent. The next day when eating the leftovers I decided to pull all the meat off the chicken and stir fry it in its own sauce. OMIGOD! That was delicious. The water evaporates and the flavors go into the gizzard chunks. Very tasty! And chicken turns a brown color so it looks like the stir-fry terriyaki chicken from the restaurants. It was better than those little pieces of chicken on the end of a toothpick that they offer as free samples at the food court of the mall. Miked this with the recipe for Chinese chicken fried rice (using brown rice) on allrecipes.com and it was irresistable! And for those on a diet that dont like to stir-fry cuz they are fat, keep in mind that I did not add oil but used just the same sauce to stir-fry the chicken so it is as healthy as can be.

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3 users found this review helpful

Maria's Pepper Steak

Reviewed: Apr. 6, 2005

Excellent! I made the following substitutions because I am an indigent college student: Used red apple cider vinegar. Also added frozen mixed veggies (on sale) for extra nutrition. It was delicious! Leftovers tasted even better the next day after microwaving. Made this with chinese chicken fried rice recipe from allrecipes.com I like salty so i would add more soy sauce next time and I thought the honey was too sweet so I would cut that down by 25%. I guess I am used to the pepper steak from the chinese restaurant and wanted to emulate that one. Terrific recipe. Note: Just stir fry the steak until it is brown outside rather than a full 10-15 minutes unless you like super-well-done steak. I like medium well so that is why I didnt leave it frying that long. It was about 5 minutes and then I added the onions/pepper/garlic. Remember that the steak sits in the wok for a long time [10-15 minutes] more as the veggies cook so use common sense. Also I am cooking with a real chinese wok that heats up quick and also on a gas stove so maybe that is why my cooking times are shorter. Thanks Maria! This recipe is a real winner!!

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5 users found this review helpful

Chinese Barbequed Spareribs

Reviewed: Apr. 6, 2005

Excellent taste. First time I have made ribs and these came out excellent! I followed the recipe down to the letter including using the red food coloring. I like salty so when I make it next time I will put a little more soy sauce. Also I will puncture the ribs with a fork before marinating them to absorb more flavor. I will let them marinade at least 3 hours. This is important because as the ribs cook, the sauce drips down into the pan of water so it is wise to saturate the ribs and maybe basting every 15 minutes may not be a bad idea. But I dont want to be bothered, so I think the steps above will improve the recipe to give more flavor on the inside. These ribs where fall of the bone and succulent but I like mine a little crispier and burnt a little which is why I advise after the hour in the oven is done I would turn up the heat in the oven and let 'em roast an extra 5-10 minutes to make the outsides more crispy. Must also say that the leftovers taste even better than the fresh batch. The leftovers that sat overnight in the fridge had even more flavor the next afternoon when I microwaved them. I made them with the chinese chicken fried rice recipe from allrecipes.com and got many compliments. A+++++

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22 users found this review helpful