8/10/2004
More Recipe Critiques
Way I plan it, Kaitlyn Mae, you shall compile a fine collection of grandmother’s recipes as listed and critiqued in this book, and shall invite your beloved mother once removed to break bread with you quite often. On those occasions you will prepare entire meals crafted from the recipes I’ve tried, tested and passed on to you.
At least that is my plan, Kaitlyn, but the result remains unknown.
Below are five recipes I’ve tried recently, all culled from various Internet or cooking magazine sources. I picked them from the thousands to actually prepare based on no other criteria than my own preferences. Some were successes, some not.
+++++++++
Championship Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened (no substitutes)
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup toasted pecans
1 pkg (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chip cookies ***
*** I will sometimes substitute the semisweet chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a mixer bowl, cream butter, shortening, and the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto 2 ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: about 6 dozen
------
Rating: Out of a possible 5-4.5
Comments: Actually this recipe should probably be rated 5 based on the fine combination of ingredients and end result. I’m being a bit tough with this because of the vaunted name. When I see “championship” I’m expecting, well, championship. I expect a cookie that is way better than just a very good chocolate chip cookie, which they all are. If this makes any sense.
This recipe will deliver a very good chocolate chip cookie. For “Championship” status the recipe requires a certain more “oomph” that I cannot define.
+++++++++
Barbecued spare ribs
6 pounds pork spareribs, cut into serving-size pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
In a large skillet, brown ribs in batches in oil. Place ribs, bone side down, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Drain ribs; brush with some of the sauce. Bake, uncovered, 1 hours longer or until the meat is tender, brushing frequently with remaining sauce. YIELD-6 servings
--------
Rating: out of a possible 5-5.
Okay, Kaitlyn, this is a pretty good recipe and when you prepare it for grandmother add some piping hot cornbread and a nice salad and I shall be a happy guy.
Understanding, naturally, that these spare ribs are NOT prepared on any sort of grill, which I am sure violates spare ribs’ rules across this great land.
Kaitlyn, grandmother has a grill that once a week she may hand husband a plate of steaks and tell him to have at it. Beyond that, such as smokers and deep-fried turkeys are not something grandmother would attempt. YOU, Kaitlyn, may try these things and invite grandmother over for critique.
So a spare rib recipe that uses an oven with a result that is quite good, is a valuable addition to grandmother’s cooking database. These ribs will never be mistaken for the slow-cooked, smoky ribs with a pink center served in the BBQ joints across the country. On the basis of where these ribs are coming from, I rate them a 5.
+++++++++
Sour Cream Biscuits
4 cups biscuit/baking mix
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 cup lemon-lime soda
ORANGE-HONEY BUTTER
½ cup butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
Place the biscuit mix in a large bowl. Combine the sour cream and lemon-lime soda; stir into biscuit mix just until combined. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 4-5 times. Roll to ½ in. thickness; cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400 deg. For 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the butter, honey and orange peel until fluffy. Serve with biscuits. YIELD: 1-1/2 dozen.
--------------------
Rating out of a possible 5-2.
Kaitlyn, grandmother was simply beside herself when she made these biscuits. Because the kitchen resembled an out-of-control dough factory with flour all over the counters and gooey dough on every handle in the surround.
When I first saw the recipe I thought, hey, a couple of ingredients, a recipe that could be memorized easily and prepared with but a snap of the brain bank to become, who knows, a family treasure cherished through the years.
I must wonder if ANYONE ever tested this recipe. Because the dough came out so darn wet that grandmother could do nothing with it. The proportions, Kaitlyn, of the liquid to the dry has to be out of whack.
Grandmother did, Kaitlyn, add some more bisquick to the mix but by the time I got the dough to some sort of reasonable consistency I lost count of how much flour I had to add. Seemed at the time to be a couple of cups but I was exasperated.
When I finally got the dough to resemble dough enough to be rolled out and cut into circular biscuits I was cursing the gods. Flour was everywhere and even with all the flour I kept adding to the dough the biscuits rounds still were soft, limp and difficult to maneuver.
The result wasn’t too bad. It was edible. Grandmother finally gave up trying to cut the dough into rounds and just scraped up piles of wet dough and plopped them onto the baking sheet. These turned out to be the best of the lot as the dough rounds were flat and lame.
At a future date, Kaitlyn, grandmother will adjust this recipe to the correct proportions, try it out and present it anew with a hope and dream.
If you hear nothing further about the matter, assume I never bothered.
++++++++++++
Chicken Pie
a.. prepared pastry for two-crust pie, homemade or package
b.. 6 tablespoons butter
c.. 6 tablespoons flour
d.. 1/2 teaspoon salt
e.. 1/8 teaspoon pepper
f.. 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
g.. 2/3 cup half-and-half
h.. 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
Prepare pastry; divide in two portions, about two-thirds in one portion and one-third in other. Roll out the larger portion and line a shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish (about 10x6). Melt butter in a medium saucepan; add flour and seasonings and stir until smooth and bubbly. Add liquids and cook slowly until thickened; add chicken. Pour into pastry-lined pan. Roll out remaining pastry; cover chicken mixture; pinch edges together. Bake at 425° for 35 minutes, or until pastry is nicely browned.
Chicken pie serves 6.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
--------
Rating out of a possible 5-2.5
Husband did not like this dish, Kaitlyn, and for that the recipe has failed grandmother on a major level.
The recipe gets a rating above zero only because were grandmother’s expectations not so high the dish would likely be quite satisfactory for feeding children and such. Grandmother, Kaitlyn, was seeking the quintessential chicken pot pie type of a affair that would suit Billy’s standards, which are, as always, very unreasonable.
Husband likes those little frozen chicken pot pies, Kaitlyn, the kind that are put in the oven solidly frozen and baked to a crisp, homey and meaty result.
Well I don’t agree with that notion either, Kaitlyn, but as you will someday learn, husbands have a whole different way of looking at the world than wives.
Only Billy does not like those little frozen affairs if they have any vegetables within the crust. But of course, Kaitlyn, arguments will be made that is what a chicken pot pie is: chicken, gravy, and some vegetables with a double pie crust.
The above recipe sure seemed to fit the bill and in fact I was pleased with the result. I had absolutely no intention of eating even a bite of it, Kaitlyn, but grandmother doesn’t like chicken pot pie so don’t ever make me any.
Billy didn’t like it. I don’t know why and I do not expect the man to eat something he doesn’t like.
Give it a 2.5 in hopes that someone with more normal tastes might like the result very much.
+++++
French Banana Cake
2/3 c Water
1 tb Vinegar
1 ts Baking soda
1 pk White cake mix
2 Eggs
1 1/4 c Very ripe bananas; mashed
2/3 c Walnuts; chopped
Don't be afraid to use almost black bananas (ripeness improves the
flavour) and refrigerate cake for 24 hours before serving for the best
flavour Mix water, vinegar and soda. Combine with cake mix and eggs. Stir
until moistened. Scrape bowl with spatula. Add mashed bananas. Beat with
electric mixer 3 minutes at medium speed (300 strokes by hand). Blend in
nuts. Pour into greased and floured 9x13" pan. Bake at 350~ for 35
minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).
------------------
Rating: out of a possible 5-5.
This one’s a winner Kaitlyn and you may make it for grandmother during any visit.
I don’t know why it’s a “French” banana cake as there doesn’t appear to be anything French about it. That thing about using very ripe bananas makes this an excellent recipe to have in the database. There are times we all have very ripe bananas with no foreseeable use for them.
The week I would plan to bake this cake I’d have a blow-out banana week. To be extra organized about it, I’d combine it with a nice sale on the fruit at the market.
All week I’d have cereal with bananas, put bananas on Billy’s ice cream, maybe make Kaitlyn a banana and marshmallow sandwich.
At week’s end I’d throw the last of the bananas, by then, conceivably, very black, into this cake and get all my dietary banana needs out of the way in one week.
Also, consider eliminating the nuts in this recipe, Kaitlyn, Nuts really don’t belong in cakes sweet granddaughter and remember grandmother told you this. Nuts belong in cookies.
No comments:
Post a Comment