Notes about Recipes in this book

• Authentic beef enchiladas

  • twoyolks on June 27, 2013

    Instead of simply braising the beef, I pressure cooked it at high pressure for 50 minutes. I also made sure to season the meat after it had been cooked. I only ended up with 10 enchiladas instead of 12.

• California barbecued tri-tip

  • twoyolks on May 18, 2013

    I cooked the beef in a marinade sous vide. Then chilled it and cooked it on the grill. Because it was a thinner piece, it ended up overcooked. It did have good flavor but would be better only cooked on the grill.

• Wood-grilled salmon

  • twoyolks on May 28, 2013

    The salmon became much too smokey.

• Sweet and sour sauce

  • twoyolks on October 24, 2012

    I used apricot jam in place of the apple jelly. I think apple jelly would be superior to the apricot jam. Because of the sweetness of the jam, I needed to add additional white vinegar.

• Crunchy potato wedges

  • twoyolks on March 24, 2013

    The crust for these is very reminiscent of fried chicken.

• Crispy potato tots

  • twoyolks on October 24, 2012

    These turn out very reminiscent of the hash browns from McDonald's.

• Crispy baked potato fans

  • chawkins on January 10, 2014

    Impressive looking baked hasselback potatoes and pretty tasty to boot. Seemed like a lot of work but was actually quite simple. I was pretty liberal with the olive oil when brushing it on the potatoes, but somehow the potatoes did not seem to be able to soak it all up, there were little puddles left on the pan, so will use less oil next time.

• Morning glory muffins

  • chawkins on March 17, 2013

    They are good muffins but not sure if they are worth all that work. Coconut and walnuts need to be toasted and then processed to a fine powder in the processor, pineapple and shredded apple need to be strained and resulting juice cooked down and cooled before everything is combined.

• Cincinnati chili

  • Rinshin on May 18, 2015

    Was intrigued by this recipe after watching the show. Never lived in Midwest so never heard of this unique American style of combing chili and pasta. Loved it. I made it Chili 5 ways.

• Oklahoma fried onion burgers

  • Rinshin on March 23, 2018

    Although this is a technique more than a recipe, it works very well. 3 oz per burger and 1 large onion for 4 burgers. Salting onion slices ahead and squeezing the water out before going into the pan makes browning the onion slices faster and easier. This has nothing to do with the recipe directions, but my onions were not quite grilled brown to my taste at 6-8minutes at medium. I will adjust that to longer time or higher temp next time. The burgers were perfectly cooked right into the onion slices.

• Amish potato salad

  • Rinshin on April 14, 2014

    Simple and tasty. The balance between tart and sweet is spot on. The inclusion of sour cream tempers the sweet/tart flavor perfectly. Having lived in the Amish area in during my teen years, I have many fond memories of food from the area and this one reminded me of those simpler times. I know they were going for the traditional taste, but I wish they added green onion as a topping for color and taste. Otherwise, I plan to repeat this recipe with just minor changes.

• Cat head biscuits

  • damazinah on January 17, 2016

    Really good biscuit, easy to make, and as the recipe warns, they're huge - definitely as big as a cat's head!

• Beer-battered onion rings

  • damazinah on March 26, 2016

    Very good, batter cooks up light & crispy.

• Italian cream cake

  • Piebaker on November 27, 2016

    An excellent, attractive cake. Will make again. Light and very flavorful. Awesome icing. Four and a half stars because the coconut flavor is too subtle. Cream of coconut in the frosting is overpowered by the cream cheese. In the cake, ground toasted coconut adds depth of flavor, but is overshadowed by the pecans. Frosting: instructions call for creaming the butter and confectioners' sugar, adding cream of coconut and then chunks of cream cheese. Even with softened cream cheese, some small lumps remained after the required mixing time. Next time I will remove the butter-sugar mixture from the bowl, add the cream cheese and beat smooth, then add the butter-sugar mixture in gradually. If you have access, it is worth watching the video to see how they assemble and frost the cake. Pecans: I chopped the pecans more finely for the cake than the ones pressed on the outside of the frosted cake and was pleased with the results. Fresh pecans are a must, I got mine by mail order.

• Skillet-roasted chicken and potatoes

  • angrygreycat on August 25, 2018

    I made this today. Very good easy preparation for a whole chicken and roasted potatoes. The chicken is juicy and flavorful and the the potatoes are crispy and brown beautifully. I've made this recipe a few times in the past. Always has good results.