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Cookbook Project, Books #144, 145, and 146
Feb. 6th, 2010 02:23 pm"Dinner In A Dish," Betty Crocker
This is one of my mother's Scary Old Cookbooks. I inherited it from her, just like most of the others, out of a sense of responsibility and an inability to throw books away, but I've never actually looked through it. The pages have almost completely separated from the spine, the edges are yellowed, and it is full of "international" recipes that include canned pineapple or cream of celery soup, food "in a cloud," and quick-n-easy dishes that only take an hour and a half.
On the other hand, it's not as bad as some of the other books in the same category, and I actually managed to find a couple of reasonable recipes. Ultimately, because we needed an *actually* quick and easy recipe, we wound up making Tomato Club Sandwiches.
They were... odd. The flavors, individually, were all good - toast, tomatoes, bacon, pickles, and a mustard-cheese sauce. The only problem was the construction. For some absurd reason, the recipe specifically called for assembling the sandwich completely, then pouring the cheese sauce over the whole thing. The end result was a dry sandwich that you couldn't pick up or eat neatly. Other than that? Unexciting, but fine. Oh, well.
"Chili Madness," Jane Butel
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umbran's book, a gift from his mother. He makes the best chili in the world, and this was apparently intended to further that interest. He says he's never actually made any of the recipes from it, but that he has used it as a guide and reference.
You see, I don't make chili. Mostly because, as I said, my husband is the Chili Master. So I was a bit afraid to try this in the first place. He doesn't use a recipe, and somehow he just throws about a hundred different ingredients into a pot just so and several hours later we have amazing, richly flavored, spicy-but-not-lethal, gorgeous food. I can't beat that. But I would at least try.
I was hoping to find an unusual recipe, so that I could try something that wouldn't be in competition - a white chili, or one with an unusual meat. But all of the recipes were for red-meat chili with tomato sauce. I decided to try First-Love Chili, though, because it was listed as being "highly recommended for a chili newcomer," and because the spicing looked a bit interesting, with celery salt and cinnamon sticks and cloves.
It was, well, another interesting one. The most unusual part was smelling it cook and wondering why my house smelled like an SCA event, before realizing that at this point the combining smells of cooking meat and cinnamon automatically parse to my hindbrain as historical cooking. The end product, though, while good, wasn't anywhere near Husband Chili. There wasn't enough tomato, there was too much burn and not enough flavor, and in spite of the odd spicing and long cooking, it wasn't as rich and three-dimensional as I had hoped.
We'll keep the book; it's a good reference, at least. But I am done making chili. I'll leave that to the expert.
"Celebrations," Campbell's Favorite Brand Name Recipes
Yet another glossy checkout lane booklet, yet another gift from my mother. I've had this one for years and years, and I think I've used it at least once before, but it's hard to remember. At this point, they all start to blur together. This book, at least, I've looked through in the past, and it has a handful of useful recipes.
Ultimately, we wound up making Creamy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas. Because... well, I think because we were just in the mood for Mexican-ish food, and this was the closest we could find, and because we had most of the ingredients in the house.
Surprisingly, they weren't bad at all. Real enchiladas are better, of course, but these were quick and easy, and they did the job. I could have done with less sauce and sour cream, but when I scraped off a little of the extra Mexi-glop that was on top of the enchiladas, the underlying food was pretty good. I won't make them again, but it's enough to remind me to at least look at the other recipes in the book.
Blah, three mediocre recipes in a row. I'm ready for a winner....
This is one of my mother's Scary Old Cookbooks. I inherited it from her, just like most of the others, out of a sense of responsibility and an inability to throw books away, but I've never actually looked through it. The pages have almost completely separated from the spine, the edges are yellowed, and it is full of "international" recipes that include canned pineapple or cream of celery soup, food "in a cloud," and quick-n-easy dishes that only take an hour and a half.
On the other hand, it's not as bad as some of the other books in the same category, and I actually managed to find a couple of reasonable recipes. Ultimately, because we needed an *actually* quick and easy recipe, we wound up making Tomato Club Sandwiches.
They were... odd. The flavors, individually, were all good - toast, tomatoes, bacon, pickles, and a mustard-cheese sauce. The only problem was the construction. For some absurd reason, the recipe specifically called for assembling the sandwich completely, then pouring the cheese sauce over the whole thing. The end result was a dry sandwich that you couldn't pick up or eat neatly. Other than that? Unexciting, but fine. Oh, well.
"Chili Madness," Jane Butel
This is
umbran's book, a gift from his mother. He makes the best chili in the world, and this was apparently intended to further that interest. He says he's never actually made any of the recipes from it, but that he has used it as a guide and reference.You see, I don't make chili. Mostly because, as I said, my husband is the Chili Master. So I was a bit afraid to try this in the first place. He doesn't use a recipe, and somehow he just throws about a hundred different ingredients into a pot just so and several hours later we have amazing, richly flavored, spicy-but-not-lethal, gorgeous food. I can't beat that. But I would at least try.
I was hoping to find an unusual recipe, so that I could try something that wouldn't be in competition - a white chili, or one with an unusual meat. But all of the recipes were for red-meat chili with tomato sauce. I decided to try First-Love Chili, though, because it was listed as being "highly recommended for a chili newcomer," and because the spicing looked a bit interesting, with celery salt and cinnamon sticks and cloves.
It was, well, another interesting one. The most unusual part was smelling it cook and wondering why my house smelled like an SCA event, before realizing that at this point the combining smells of cooking meat and cinnamon automatically parse to my hindbrain as historical cooking. The end product, though, while good, wasn't anywhere near Husband Chili. There wasn't enough tomato, there was too much burn and not enough flavor, and in spite of the odd spicing and long cooking, it wasn't as rich and three-dimensional as I had hoped.
We'll keep the book; it's a good reference, at least. But I am done making chili. I'll leave that to the expert.
"Celebrations," Campbell's Favorite Brand Name Recipes
Yet another glossy checkout lane booklet, yet another gift from my mother. I've had this one for years and years, and I think I've used it at least once before, but it's hard to remember. At this point, they all start to blur together. This book, at least, I've looked through in the past, and it has a handful of useful recipes.
Ultimately, we wound up making Creamy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas. Because... well, I think because we were just in the mood for Mexican-ish food, and this was the closest we could find, and because we had most of the ingredients in the house.
Surprisingly, they weren't bad at all. Real enchiladas are better, of course, but these were quick and easy, and they did the job. I could have done with less sauce and sour cream, but when I scraped off a little of the extra Mexi-glop that was on top of the enchiladas, the underlying food was pretty good. I won't make them again, but it's enough to remind me to at least look at the other recipes in the book.
Blah, three mediocre recipes in a row. I'm ready for a winner....
