Well I kept my resolution last year to try at least one new recipe a week, and ended up trying 67 new recipes! Here are a few of the highlights and lowlights...

The Good
Red Lentil and Carrot Soup -- my new all time favorite lentil soup recipe!
Beef and Butternut Squash Stew -- SO good with marsala wine and rosemary
Barley, Cannelini, and Swiss Chard Soup -- A recipe from Marcella Hazan that is amazingly flavorful and has no meat or meat broth in it so it is perfect for vegetarians.
Lemon Scented Quinoa with Asparagus and Shrimp -- I could just eat this every day in the spring...
Indian Spiced Pork in Tomato Sauce -- a cooking light recipe I'd had sitting in my file forever and was very glad I finally made!
Easy Jam Tart -- An incredible and easy tart from David Lebovitz that actually gets better if you make it a few days ahead of time. Perfect to bring to someone's house for desert.
Eggplant Gratin -- Recipe from Ina Garten that is just heaven, especially with a layer of zukes added in.
Rajma (indian spiced kidney beans) -- my new favorite indian dish, and so nice that I almost always have all the ingredients in the pantry
Seeded / Rosemary Crackers -- a recipe from fine cooking that is delicious, easy, an impressive (a trifecta!)
AnnT's Stewed Greenbeans Fassolakia -- absolutely delicious, can be made with green beans frozen from the garden, and my favorite when made with a piece of tilapia steamed over the vegetables at the very end.

The Bad
Summer Vegetable Pancakes -- just couldn't get these crisp enough.
Chipotle Pork Tenderloin with Sundried Tomato Salsa -- YUCK! I like Rick Bayless, but I found this recipe of his inedible -- at least the salsa part.
Rigatoni with Leeks and Cannelini Beans -- love all the ingredients, but the cream in the sauce just drowned out all the flavors
Crumbly Oat and Apricot Bars -- Blech. Tasted like raw flour!
Rhubarb Cake with Candied Ginger -- Yuck. Learned I HATE candied ginger

Kathy, that recipe isn't mine, it's SharonCB's, but I loved it, even with canned salmon. It's definitely one of those love-it-or-hate-it dishes, I think.

Heck, I don't even remember most of the year, LOL, but I can tell you that I won't order chicken tortilla soup again in a restaurant and I won't be repeating the cauliflower with sesame and curry except strictly for Elery's consumption. He loved it, I hated it.

Oh, and I'll definitely be making some of that apricot conserve that Readinglady sent me, it was yummy!

Annie

I love this thread!

The Good:
-That crustless cranberry pie recipe that Caliloo posted. It's a rich treat though!
-The spinach and tumeric rice pilaf recipe that I got from Joe.
-Cinncinati Chili, recipe I got from the Food Network Web site, with some adaptations due to my being vegetarian. I subbed TVP crumbles for the ground beef and put the kidney beans and onions in with the sauce.
-Soup with ditalini, peas, panchetta, etc, that I got from the back of the pasta box. I just love soup with ditalini and I like to make italian soups with no tomatoes once and a while.
-Pear and candied ginger cake, recipe from Penzey's. Awesome and so nice and light.
-Roasted beet and potato salad, recipe from one of the Moosewood cookbooks
-Moroccan chicken in the crockpot--amalgam of recipes from here, the Web and my Cook's Illustrated "Cover and Bake" cookbook.
-Squash agrodolce, recipe from "La Cucina Ebraica" by Joyce Goldstein
-Spaghetti with tuna, same cookbook as above.
-Variations on ketchup/peanut asian stir fry sauce that I gleaned from a post here
-Annie's recipe for Cherry Yogurt and Maple Oatmeal Bread in the bread machine.
-Pork loin roast. DELICIOUS. I made this for my family. I won't be making it much being a vegetarian, but it was dead easy and good to boot. Marinated overnight and half a day in Soy Vey Marinade and a half a bottle of gingerale. Got the gingerale idea off of the Food Network Web site.

So/So Need Work:
-Pasta with butternut squash sauce. I've made it twice, once with the recipe posted here by I think Khandi, and once with a recipe from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarain" cookbook. I haven't quite found how to make this concept live up to its potential for me.
-Root vegetable gratin--first time too runny, second time too rich for my taste. 1st recipe from the Bittman cookbook, second time from Cook's Illustrated "Cover and Bake" cookbook
-My turnover adventures--First time I tried with phyllo--good but too greasy and crumbly. Second time a Martha Steward Everyday Baking or whatever recipe--the dough was too short IMHO--also too crumbly but in a different way. I have some frozen puff pastry in the freezer to try again sometime soon.
-My curried kidney beans. Recipe from Bittman. Parts weren't cooked. I liked the flavor though. Fearless, I'd be interested in your recipe for Ramja.
-Chappitis--OK but I don't quite get the appeal.
-Cucumber Raita--was OK but the ginger I used was woody. I think the recipe came from Rachel Ray.
-Baked samosas--same recipe thread from RR. Made easy by using premade pie crust, but hard to assemble and the crust just wasn't good, I could taste the BHT! Plus, ya kinda gotta fry samosas I guess.
-Blueberry and Peach Buckle. I don't make buckle and i tried it twice this year. It's OK, but I prefer either pie or crisp or cobbler.
-Cook's Illustrated scones--OK, PITA to make, (constant chilling of the dough, folding in berries a special way, grating frozen butter. etc.), Ann T's are better and easier.

Not Good:
-Potato and pea curry. I have to admit, I have limited passion for curries so far. Not the recipe's fault.

Off the top of my head and very recently made...

and of course easy and tasty from Martha's Everyday Food mini mag..

Chopped Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

and
Chicken, ham and Cheese Roll Ups I didn't coat with mustard~guys don't like it..and I put both "slices" of cheese inside.. Salt, pepper and garlic powder on cutlets before putting the "insides" on and rolling.

Other stand outs.. Annie's Grandmothers Blueberry Cobbler and Lou's Pizza dough..I use it every Friday with only 1 T of honey and 1 T of EVOO.

I know there are more..but I'm not "looking" at my book right now.

Terri's post reminded me of another "Not Good" experiment. I tried a MS recipe for buttermilk cucumber salad dressing on potato salad. It separated. I think it would have been fine on a fresh lettuce salad. From now on if I want cukes in my potato salad I know to chop up and add some dill pickles.

LOL...I like sweet pickles in my potato salad and dills on my burgers and sandwiches..
but I love cucumbers too...
How long had it sat before it started to seperate?

Well, I put it on the salad and then chilled it and it separated almost from the get go. It got worse and worse until I had to throw the salad out after a day or two. My bad, good recipe, wrong application! Plus as I recall, I think I undercooked the potatoes. I am such a distracted cook! I think the big problem is the cucumbers have a lot of water which you can deal with by salting them, etc. but easier just to chop up some type of pickles and add sour cream to the dressing if you want a creamy taste to the potato salad. I'm also really liking feta in my potato salad these days.

Well, I did not try a lot of new stuff this year I must say. However, I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the salmon quiche in a walnut crust. I almost ate the whole thing myself.

Also, I love to see what everybody loved, but I would not really want to list what I didn't like and whose recipe it was for fear of making them feel bad. Of course, if we are just saying "Cook's Illustrated's such and such that would be OK. I don't want to hurt any feelings, although I can't think of anything that I have tried from someone here lately that I did not like.

Lpinkmountain, when I want the flavor of cucumber but don't want the dressing or sauce to separate I'll use Burnett leaves instead of cucumber. It has all of the cucumber flavor without any extra water. This is really works well in a "cucumber" yogurt sauce. I grow it in the backyard, use fresh during spring and summer, and dry the rest of the leaves in the fall.

I haven't tried much but loved these -

Popcorn Cauliflower
Lemon Ginger Biscotti
Parmesan-Coated Sweet Potato Fries
Habanero Gold jelly - large batch variation

I don't have a list:( I've tried tons of new recipes throughout 2008 - some really good and some real bad. I need to remember this for next year so I can post on the 2009 thread.

Fearless - "Red Lentil and Carrot Soup -- my new all time favorite lentil soup recipe!".......I would be interesed in this recipe if you wouldn't mind sharing. It's soup weather here and I am always looking for new stuff to try out. Thank you!

Sue, would you mind posting the Onion Rye Bread recipe. It isn't one that I remember.

One of the recipes new to me this year was Sol's Zucchini Pancakes. Have made them often. We love them.

And another was the Creamy Coconut Cardamom Rice Pudding from Kate Zuckerman's The Sweet Life Cookbook.

I'm sure there have been a few things I tried and didn't like but nothing comes to mind at the moment.

Ann

I joined in on this forum late summer, so I missed some of the recipes listed above. This post made me think I should keep a small notebook to list each new recipe I try and indicate if it's a keeper, the source and any adjustments I'd make.

Off the top of my head, I'd have to say

Ann T's high heat turkey
Woodie's make-ahead gravy
Ann T's raspberry scones
Coffeehaus's No-Knead Bread

are among my all-time favorite recipes

2 recipes from here that were hits at a dinner party last summer were White Peach Sangria and Zuchinni Pancakes served w/ chevre.

2 new family favorites from 2008 came from Saveur -

Chicken Savoy - chicken parts (I use all bone-in breasts) browned on the stovetop, then topped with an herb/garlic paste and cooked in a very hot oven, and finally finished with a vinegar glaze.

The Godfather II - A linguini dish with mussels, shrimp, fresh herbs and a surprisingly light & fresh lemon garlic sauce.

Discovered Cook's Illustrated Pie Crust w/ Vodka recipe and turned out some fine pies.

2008 was a good year!

Ann's pork butt...got huge raves!! I made panninis w/swiss cheese, relish, and pulled pork on individual ciabatta bread...awesome. Maybe some sliced red onions next time. Made the pork tacos with the l/o's...except I used store bought corn tortillas, lots of cilantro, salt and lime.

The creamy chicken tortilla soup from another post has also been a huge hit here.

Didn't care for the Paella salad...think it was the frozen shrimp (should have known better) and not so good saffron threads.

Idiot pork chops also well liked. Also homemade marshmallows. Caramel cheetos...not so well...think it was the name...witch's poop that turned everyone off, just couldn't get past it. Made southern dumplings and finally got them right thanks to Ann's recipe (again). They were very good.

Still thinking....

I just saw the chicken wings post when I went back to the main page and have to add it to my list of "greats." We had them New Year's Eve and everyone loved that they were crispy, yet not greasy. Simple, easy recipe - greater than the sum of its parts.

I picked up cardamom at Penzeys this past weekend so I can finally try that Creamy Coconut Cardamom Rice Pudding!

amck, since you have cardamom, try Sol's Dirt Bombs too. They're very sweet, very fattening, very good!

Annie

Cathy, I have to take credit for Spicery rolls, they are good, aren't they!

I will be back with my list later.

I keep seeing Habenero Gold. Must be good.

Here you go Ann. Not sure if this is your recipe. It was good, but just not what I'd expected.

Onion Rye Bread

2 cups milk
cup sugar
4 tsp salt
¼ cup salad oil
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
6 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 T caraway seeds
1 cup chopped onions
2-1/2 cups unsifted rye flour, approximately
¼ cup cornmeal
2 T cream

Scald milk and add sugar, salt & oil. Cool mixture to lukewarm. Soften yeast in water & add to the milk mixture. Add white flour & mix well. Stir in caraway seeds, onion & 2 cups rye flour & mix. Turn onto surface sprinkled with remaining ½ cup of rye flour & knead until smooth & elastic, adding enough rye flour to give a fairly stiff dough.

Place in a greased bowl, grease top, cover with a towel & let stand in a warm place until double in bulk - 1 hour.
Punch down, cover & let rise again until double in bulk. Grease three 9 x 5" loaf pans & sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide the dough into 1/3Âs-shaped loaves and place in pans. Brush tops with cream & sprinkle with salt. Cover with a towel & let rise in warm place until double in bulk, about one hour.

Bake at 350 deg for 1 hour or until loaves have a hollow sound when tapped. Turn out on rack to cool. Makes 3 loaves.

I must post here to say I accumlated many good recipes this year from many sources including right here and appreciate all he recipes shared! That said....I loved Ann's Brownie recipe the kids flip over them Lindas Carrot Cake is the BEST Ive ever had..anywhere. Im am addicted to Daisy Martinez cook book "Daisy Cooks!" havent made a recipe yet I didnt love especially her yellow rice recipe soooooooo goooooood!!

Marigene Please post Spicery Roll recipe.........Thanks

Fotomat, I was going to ask Marigene to post that recipe too.

Eileen, can you post the yellow rice recipe please.

Kathy, I don't know whose recipe that is, but it isn't one I posted. I have a walnut and onion bread but it doesn't contain rye flour.

Ann

Found the recipe

The Spicery Rolls
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup margarine (I use butter)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water (hot but not boiling)
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/4 cup yeast (yes, that is correct...I use Instant yeast)
9 1/8 cups flour
In a large bowl, pour boiling water over butter. Add salt and sugar and stir well. When butter is melted, mix in additional water. Stir in evaporated milk. Slowly add flour and yeast. Turn out onto floured board and knead for about 10 minutes. Next grease a large bowl thoroughly, put the dough in it and turn it over so the surface will be greased. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, punching down twice, about an hour. form into dinner-size rolls. Let rise until doubled. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 36 large rolls.

Kathy, the "good" were too many to mention.

The "bad," however, was a rather elaborate and painstaking, apricot dessert, from an expensive book by a world-renowned French chef (who shall remain nameless, because men have feelings too ;-Þ) which tasted like something my 10 yr. old son would've made...if he were blindfolded.

Sol

I've made cioppino for years & have several recipes most of them with long ingredient lists & time-consuming to make. This year, I tried this simple recipe & it was voted the best I've ever made. Sometimes, I guess simplier is better.

CIOPPINO

¼ Cup Olive Oil
2 Onions, Chopped Small
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1-1/2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1-1/2 Cups Good Quality Red Wine (Trinchero Family Cabernet Sauvignon)
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Fish Stock
1 28 Ounce Can of Whole Plum Tomatoes, juice reserved
12 Clams Quahog Clams
¾ Pound Shrimp, Peeled, De-veined but with the tail left on
1 Pound Sea Scallops
1-1/2 Pounds Alaskan King Crab, in shell & Cut into 2"-3" Pieces
1 Pound Snapper, Cut Into 2" Pieces
Basil, One Good-Sized Bunch, cut into a Chiffinade
Lemon Slices, Garnish

In the olive oil, sauté the onions with the oregano, salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes for about 5 minutes or until onions are nicely wilted. Add garlic & sauté another minute. Then, stir in the tomato paste. Add the red wine & simmer until reduced by about half (about 5-7 minutes over medium heat).

Add the chicken broth, fish stock, & tomatoes plus the reserved juices. Crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 30 minutes. After simmering, the broth may be refrigerated & reheated to continue finishing the dish & cooking the seafood.

Bring the broth to a strong simmer & add the crab and clams. Cover & cook for 5-10 minutes. After 5 minutes start checking to see if the clams have opened. Discard any clams that haven't opened after 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of simmering, remove the clams & crab with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Put the shrimp, scallops, & snapper into the broth, cover & simmer for about 5 minutes. Return crab & clams to the stock pot, stir & simmer for another 2 minutes.

Pour into large serving bowl & top with the basil chiffinade. Garnish with the lemon slices. Serve with warm sourdough bread

{{gwi:1472727}}

Another very good, easy, & FAST pasta/shrimp meal I've made this year. I think it's from RR.

LINGUINI & SHRIMP

Olive Oil, about 4 tablespoons
Onion, chopped finely
Garlic, 2 minced cloves
Anchovy, 1 tablespoon paste or 2 fillets
1 Cup White Wine
4 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Cups Water
Pasta, 1 pound (I used linguini)
Shrimp, 1 pound (tails on & deveined)
Parma Cheese - 1/2 Cup grated

Sweat onion in EVOO. Add the anchovy & cook until softened. Add minced garlic & saute for another couple minutes.

Add the wine, broth, & water. Bring to a boil. Add pasta & shrimp. Cook until shrimp & pasta are done. Stir in parma cheese. Serve. Do not drain.

I wasn't sure this would 1.) work and/or 2.) the pasta wouldn't be good. But, it's excellent. DH loved it & has requested it again for this Friday night. The pasta wasn't overcooked & the liquid was the perfect amount for the one pound pasta. One pot, less than 30 minutes, few ingredients, what could be easier? Nice that it's also so good.

/tricia

The picture is double the recipe. I used a 12 quart stockpot...wouldn't want to use any smaller.

/t

kathy, I think that onion rye bread was actually mine, LOL.

I liked it, along with the onion braid that Readinglady gave me the recipe for, but I know some others didn't like it as well and that's fine. We all have different tastes.

for instance, none of my favorite recipes contain Jello. Or spam. Or grits. (grin) That's OK, though, more of that for those who really like them!

Annie

The worst recipe I tried this year was for some ginger cookies with grated orange rind in them. The ingredients looked like they'd work, they baked up beautifully but they just seemed to be "missing something". I think the recipe make about 6 dozen and I ended up throwing about half of them out.

The best recipe I tried was a fresh ham with an herb/garlic crust. My step-daughter got the recipe from Martha Stewart's website and we made an 18 lb. roast on Christmas Eve. It turned out great and since I'm not a M.S. fan, I wouldn't have seen that recipe.

I don't use recipes much but I liked Rachael Ray's Tarragon Polenta chicken pot pie, Oly's Chicken Avgolemono (was that 2008?), Carla Fitzgerald Williams Indian Butter chicken.

I am another who just loves Sharon's Salmon Quiche! Yum! And I adore Deborah's Paella Salad, too!

I wouldn't have hurt feelings if someone wasn't too crazy about a recipe I posted as long as they don't "bash" it and just nicely state that it wasn't for them. We all have different tastes as is so obvious by this thread alone! But I do see Sherry's point, too. There are a couple of recipes I've tried that many of you rave about and I just scratch my head and go "huh?", but we'll leave those be.

I tried lots of new recipes this year, and just some that made my "keeper" file:

Pear & Candied Walnut Salad....Rachel Ray
Stuffed Pork Chops...The Neely's
Chicken Alfredo Pizza....Cooking Light
Great Lakes Salmon Chowder....Midwest Living Magazine
Ultimate Shrimp Scampi....from allrecipes
Roasted Carrots with Thyme & Garlic....rosemarythyme
Capuccino Mousse....Midwest Living Magazine
Peppermint Bark....Sharon (Chase)
Pork Saltimbocca with Polenta....Cooking Light

The only bomb I can remember was a knock off recipe that really tasted nothing like it's namesake, Boston Market Meat Loaf. But I try lots of new things and if we don't like them I simply toss the recipe so I don't remember most of the others.

Linda

I had mostly positive experiences with what I tried in 2009:
Chinese Five Spice Edamame
3 Envelope Pot Roast - TeresaNC
Backwoods Flank Steak Wizardnm
No Knead Bread
Chicken Feet Stock
Low Carb cat food
Better Butter Spread
Awesome Oven Ribs
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Spirited Pork Tenderloin with Fig and Chipolte Onions
Arugula Salad with Figs, Prosciutto, Walnuts, and Parmesan
Pre-Salted Turkey

Thank forum friends for your support.

I haven't been on CF for too long, but have gotten such inspiration.

My three greatest finds from here are SharonCb's Parmesan Sweet Potatoes, Kframes Mac and Cheese and Ann's Cream Cheese Danish.

I finally perfected a copy of a thin crust pizza that I had in South Carolina called Wing Pie.... (think buffalo wing pizza).

I'm excited to make the Danish this week since it is perfect for King Cake!!!

Thanks all,
Grace

Linda (doucanoe), I loved that Great Lakes Chowder recipe too!

Annie

And Mustangs's arugula salad with figs, prosciutto, walnuts, and parmesan is to die for

I tried quite a few new recipes in 2008 some were hits and some were dismal disasters.

Hits for 2008
Popcorn Cauliflower
Chili Lime Prawns
Cauliflower with Farfalle
Chocolate Chipotle Cupcakes with Chipotle Cream Cheese Icing
Vanilla Pear/Cardamom Jam
Swiss Jelly Roll
Minestra de Verdura
Cilantro Rice
Celery and Green Olive Salad
Chicken Tarragon Soup
Orange Water Madeleines
5-Minute Artisan Bread
AB's Bolognese Sauce

Marigene care to post the recipe for Celery and Green Olive Salad? I'm having friends over for a lasagne dinner next weekend and that sounds like a good appetizer.

I was going thru my notebook tonight and thought of two more recipes I tried:

Good
Curry with chickpeas and cauliflower from Imrainey
Peas and Rice Italian style recipe from some guy I saw on Sara Moulton's PBS show.

So So
Lower calorie peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, recipe from Ellie Krieger. Not bad, I made them with half Splenda which I just cannot take to. I am still trying to experiment with some lower fat/calorie cookies, maybe I'll try the oatmeal recipes I have saved this weekend as we are going to get a snowstorm.

Thanks for the endorsement Sherry!