Garlicky Mashed Potato Cakes (page 264)

I learned to make potato cakes from my father-in-law who liked to serve them for breakfast with fried eggs.  He used leftover mashed potatoes taken straight out of the frig, formed them into patties and fried them in Crisco in a cast iron skillet on the stove top until they were golden brown.  They were delicious!  This recipe is very similar except it is a lot more work. 

First, you have to cook the potatoes.  Once again, Hamersley is not very specific on the quantity specifying only "3 russet potatoes".  Since the recipe serves 4 to 6, I used  3 pounds (1/2 pound of potatoes per person) which made 6 nice size potato cakes. 

Next you make your garlic-infused cream--a 20 minute process.  The cream is used as the liquid in mashing the potatoes.  After the potatoes cool, you make the cakes and then chill for at least 2 hours. 

Finally, you fry the cakes and serve. 

After all of that preparation, I had pretty high expectations.  Sadly, these cakes were not much different than my father-in-law's version. 

The bottom line:  I will stick with my father-in-laws approach.

Sear-Roasted Rack of Lamb with a Curry, Date, Chile and Almond Crust (page 232)

This dish is a real show stopper and yet the preparation is relatively easy.  A few chef's tips:

•  The "rub" is the most time-consuming part.  However, it can be made a day or two ahead.  I also froze it successfully.
• Costco carries frenched lamb racks at wonderful prices. They also had fabulous fresh dates when I shopped for this recipe. 
• If you don't want to make your own chicken broth, be sure to use very low sodium chicken broth.  If you use regular chicken broth, eliminate the salt from the sauce. 
• Since you are cooking the lamb at a high temperature, there will be some smoke so start your fan as soon as you put the lamb in the oven. 
• At my house, two to three chops per person was more than adequate. 

The bottom line:  The best of Hamersley to-date!

Grilled Flank Steak with Coffee and Black Pepper Marinade (page 213)

Flank steak looks so meaty and appealing, and grilling is so satisfying.  This should be a winning combination.  And it is--if you like flank steak.  The marinade is a snap to make and lives up to its hype:  making the steak "richer with a slight sweetness that complements rather than drowns out the flavor of the meat."  Plus, the cooking time is less than 10 minutes.  However, you still have flank steak--extraordinarily flavorful but extraordinarily chewy. 

The bottom line: If you like flank steak, this recipe is for you.  But, why buy flank steak when you can buy fillet mignon at Costco for just a little bit more?

Chicken Piperade (page 188)

We eat a lot of chicken breasts at our house--usually grilled.  This recipe is a nice change of pace.  Just a few comments:

• Piperade means pepper in Gascon so this dish is spicy.  If you use the recommended amount of cayenne, you will not over power the dish but be careful not to add more than Hamersley calls for.
• Unlike most recipes, the watercress in this dish is NOT a garnish but is an integral part.   Don't skip it. 

The bottom line:   A great way to dress up chicken breasts.  Takes only about an hour from start to finish, including marinating the chicken breasts.

Chicken Liver Mousse (page 80)

Like Hamersley's best recipes, this one is appealing because it has just a few ingredients and is fairly simple to make.  Unfortunately, I found the pate dry and heavy as opposed to light and creamy as the title implies.  The visual appearance also detracted from the end product  The color was too dark/black and the mouse ragged looking due to difficulty removing it from the mold.

The bottom line: If you like chicken liver pate, try the recipe below. 

Mushroom Liver Pate (The Best of Bon Appetit, copyright 1979, published by Knapp Press, page 21)

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

3 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 pound chicken livers, cut into small pieces
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons minced parsley
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons soft butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and saute 2 to 3 minutes.  Add livers and mushrooms and cook until livers are no longer pink.  Transfer with slotted spoon to blender, food processor or meat grinder in small batches and process into a paste.  Add remaining ingredients and seasonings to taste and mix thoroughly.

Country Pate (page 78)

Who doesn't like pate? And homemade pate can be a real crowd pleaser.  That was my attitude as I shopped for the ingredients for this recipe--my first challenge.  Although I've never purchased "slab bacon", I didn't anticipate a problem finding it as I live in the South.  After trips to Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Lowes Food and Food Lion, I ended up with "chunk pork side meat".  It looked just like chunks of unsliced bacon when it was in the package, but when I put it in the food processor to grind I noted it was far fattier than bacon.  Later I looked for substitutes on the web and found that Canadian bacon would have been a better alternative.  Also, I found that the higher end supermarkets did not stock chicken livers but the blue collar markets had them in abundance.

Groceries in hand, I turned my energy to the preparation.  The assembly is straightforward. The baking is the difficult part.  Not trusting my judgement about "juices running clear", I relied on the trusty meat thermometer.  After the minimum bake time of 1 1/4 hours, the thermometer didn't even measure 120 degrees F.  I lost track of how long it took to get the center of the pate to 140--a long time.  Much to my dismay when I removed the pate from the mold and sliced, I found that the middle was still very raw. 

The flavor of the cooked pate was great and it did slice nicely, but the end result was disappointing as most of the pate was uncooked and ended up in the garbage.

The bottom line:  Great flavor but not worth the effort.