hipcook's Reviews
9 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 9Sort by: Title 
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I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking
By Alton Brown
Stewart, Tabori and Chang - 2002
Alabama Alchemy : page 146
Once again, Alton shows that a dish I usually make on the stovetop is actually better suited for the oven. The recipe takes more than 4 hours, but most of that is baking time which doesn't need supervision. The texture of the collards comes out terrific, and it's a very forgiving recipe.
So why only 3 stars? Because I prefer more vinegar and some heat in my collards. Of course, you can dress with hot sauce at the table. Also, because it takes 4 hours, and while the tradeoff of effort to dish is good, it also makes collards not a weeknight dish, which is a shame.
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Bourbon Apple Pear Sauce : page 239
Very nice take on applesauce. I made it to use up some overripe pears, and it worked just fine. It's also amazingly easy, and using the microwave means no worrying about whether the fruit's going to scorch.
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Chicken in Garlic and Shallots : page 125
A delicious dish of very slow-fried chicken (almost like a confit) with garlic, shallots, and herbs. One of those great recipes where a small amount of effort looks like a big production number. Save the oil for reuse, now that it's infused with chicken, garlic, and herbs!
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Eggplant Parmesan : page 113
This is an excellent recipe for eggplant parmesan. The panko crust cooks up light and crunchy, a nice contrast to the meatiness of the eggplant slices. The sauce and cheese work nicely with the crust, but they don't overwhelm it in either taste or texture. It's also a perfect balance of work and time to quality.
A lot hangs on the quality of your tomato sauce here. Get the absolute best you can. I'll also suggest using a mandolin to get consistent eggplant slices, and the 12-inch skillet was definitely the way to go.
I do want to ding this recipe on one issue, though. Perhaps Alton thinks a "medium" eggplant is a lot smaller than I do, but I needed double the amount of panko and parmesan. (Which, of course, I only discovered when I ran out of breading and had half an eggplant left.) I also needed extra sauce for plating; the one cup called for only lasted me through assembly.
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Get Breakfast : page 66
Any recipe which starts with "1 pound 12 ounce package frozen hash browns" looks like trash cuisine. But it's a fun take on breakfast casserole meets the morning after a big party.
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Meatloaf : page 85
Alton starts off by saying there are 300 ways to make a meatloaf, and this is just one of them. Well, it's a pretty nice base, heavy on the Worcestershire and ketchup. I added strips of bacon on top because my wife believes that's what makes it a meatloaf. (Probably just a typo that they were left out of the book.)
I baked it free-form, instead of in a loaf pan. I find this makes the loaf a lot less greasy, but I have to remember to cut 10-15 minutes off the cooking time. (My wife also suggests... wait for it... more bacon, as a heat shield. Reader, I married her.)
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No-Backyard Baby Back Ribs : page 168
This is a fabulous technique, producing ribs which are ready to fall off the bone nicely perfumed with the spice and cooking liquid.
I say "cooking liquid" because I completely deviated from the recipe. (Tomato juice and lemon made delicious ribs, but I gave up on reducing it into a glaze and just used a bottled sauce.) I'd like to do some more experiments with different flavor profiles.
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Pilaf : page 147
Rice cooking is one of my great struggles - I seem to have either wet mushy stuff or a burnt layer at the bottom pretty frequently. But Alton's approach to pilaf is darn near bulletproof, including the facts that it's flavorful, and saves well in the fridge.
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Smoked and Braised Beef Short Ribs : page 166
Certainly tasty, but I'm not convinced it was worth the extra time and work. How close could I have gotten with a bottle of liquid smoke?
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