Thursday, November 5, 2009

Loving Cook's Country

I've gotten hooked on my new magazine subscription to Cook's Country (from America's Test Kitchen). I've heard great things about it from different people, and have had a chance to try several recipes. Chad's very supportive, and although he doesn't like everything I make, he will always give me his honest opinion. And if the meal doesn't turn out perfectly he'll say, "I'm just grateful that you cook for me. I'd rather have you try new things and have them be a little different, than have you not cook at all." So, what have we tried? In order as shown above: Southern-Style Skillet Cornbread (loved the texture and full cornmeal flavor, but unlike Southerners, I like my cornbread to have SOME sugar in it!), Tangy Apple-Cabbage Slaw (sweet, tangy, spicy, and no mayo), Texas Chili Con Carne (I actually added beans to this no-bean chili; amazing flavor), Cider-Braised Pork Chops (I loved this one; great apple flavor, and perfect texture: tender without being too soft), Creole Fried Chicken (reduced the spices by half for the kids and regretted it; fried chicken was a first for me--splattered oil everywhere!), Crispy Parmesan-Pepper Pork Cutlets (really yummy, and the kids gobbled these up, pepper and all!).
It's been really fun trying one or two new recipes a week. I think the best thing about this magazine is that (aside from being ad-free, and featuring"normal" food with accessible ingredients) it teaches you the reasoning behind the recipes' steps/ingredients. And I'm learning a lot about technique, and the purpose of different ingredients, plus there are a lot of neat product reviews in there too (I just stocked up on 99-cent Ghirardelli Chocolate Syrup Brownie Mixes because they got the best rating...you know, if you don't want to make brownies from scratch).
I'm really looking forward to trying a couple new twists on our Thanksgiving dinner. And maybe I'll have to try that Hot Fudge Pudding Cake...

5 comments:

Frances Wallace said...

TEASE!

Are you going to make me all those foods when I come?

elise said...

i LOVE them too! that's where i got my brownie recipe from in the first place (i just use cocoa and butter instead of baking chocolate, cause it's TONS cheaper). they're great! looks like fun too.

and ps, you can cook for us too when we come out in december if you want to ;)

Rachel H. said...

oh dear, I didn't need to know about that too! I love Cooks Illustrated put out by americas test kitchen, now a country one? That could be dangerous. Between that and Everyday food I am in recipe heaven!

Jaime Lynne said...

I am so glad you like Cook's Country. I have tried none of these recipes and now I am going to add them all to my list. I do plan on doing the hot fudge pudding cake. Are you going to ask for the back order magazines bound in a beautiful book for Christmas? Great gift idea!

Did you get your November/December issue? That was my least favorite one so far but I was still pleased.

I have a great chicken tortilla soup recipe from Cooks Illustrated. I love it so much that I made it last night AND tonight and I plan to make it again this weekend. Delicious!

Tina said...

Wow that sounds so great! The food sounds so good! I'll have to check this magazine out! By the way Bree's witch costume and the baby shower cake were amazing! You are your mother's daughter!

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