BethNH's Reviews
7 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 7Sort by: Title 
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The Cook's Country Cookbook: Regional and Heirloom Favorites Tested and Reimagined for Today's Home Cooks
By The Editors of Cook's Country Magazine, Cook's Country Magazine
Boston Common Press - 2008
All American Pancakes : page 155
Best pancakes that I've made so far.
Pretty ironic that I found this particular recipe on the 4th of July - All American Pancakes. They were made with soured milk, all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder. The batter seemed thin at first but thickened up nicely after just a few minutes.
We all enjoyed these very much and they were easy to put together with common pantry ingredients.
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Brown Sugar Berry Shortcakes : page 553
Outstanding!
This is a wonderful shortcake recipe with three distinct parts. The shortcake is a brown sugar sweetened biscuit. The biscuit is made mostly in the food processor and includes both butter, sour cream and brown sugar. The dough is moist but still has difficulty truly coming together even when one uses one's hands as directed in the recipe. This is not a problem as the biscuits are formed by using a large ice cream scoop which worked perfectly for this dough. The biscuits are brushed with butter and sprinkled with sugar before baking which leaves them with a lovely crunchy exterior.
The fruit is macerated with brown sugar also which lends a nice flavor to the juice.
Finally, the whipped cream is made with heavy cream, sour cream and brown sugar. I like it even better than regular whipped cream without the sour cream.
Together, these three things make the most delicious dessert. Mmmm!
I will add that my very strange children do not like most fruits and had no interest in the raspberries I used. Instead, they had biscuits with whipped cream and chocolate sauce and were equally happy. One boy even had a biscuit for breakfast.
Very little effort for maximum taste!
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Cheesy Garlic Bread : page 221
A low calorie bread this is not but who would expect cheesy garlic bread to be anything but decadent.
Italian bread is slice horizontally and spread with a garlic butter mixture. This is baked first in aluminum foil with the loaf put back together and then separated on a sheet to crisp things up. Finally, each side of the bread is topped with shredded cheese (monterey jack because that's what I had) and broiled.
My boys devoured an entire loaf of this in one sitting after returning from a 10 mile hike in the mountains. They all proclaimed it delicious.
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Sloppy Joes : page 141
I have no idea why I had a hankering for Sloppy Joes. I can't remember the last time I had them but decided it was time to make them from scratch.
This recipe is delicious. It's not overly sweet or tangy. It's delicious with a nice tomato flavor. It's got just a bit of a kick to it due to the Mexican chili powder I used and the teeny bit of hot sauce.
My husband liked it so much he ate the extra with chips as though it was dip.
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Snickerdoodles : page 435
Cooks Illustrated claims to have perfected the snickerdoodle recipe. Typically, I make the recipe from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion which I consider my cookie Bible. That recipe does not use cream of tartar which is common to most snickerdoodle recipes.
This recipe uses cream of tartar and baking powder as leaveners which is supposed to make the cookies rise in the oven and then fall leaving cracks on the top of the cookies. These cookies are also bigger than the ones I typically make - a Tablespoon scoop rather than a teaspoon scoop.
CI claims that these cookies will be chewy in the middle and crisp on the edges. I found them to be crisp throughout which is how I prefer snickerdoodles anyway.
In the end, I found this recipe produced very nice snickerdoodles which were identical to the ones I always make (though larger in size). The cookies were delicious but they weren't as described in the recipe.
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Tennessee Whiskey Pork Chops : page 351
A delicious marinade/sauce is made with whiskey, apple cider, cider vinegar and seasonings. After a couple of hours marinating the chops are briefly fried before the reserved sauce is added to the pan. The sauce decreases to a glossy, sticky substance that coats the chops nicely when they are added back to the pan.
I'd cook the chops just a bit longer next time before removing them from the pan but otherwise the recipe was wonderful. The sauce had lots of flavor and the chops were very moist.
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Whoopie Pies : page 446
Giant whoopie pies for an 18th birthday!
Having already made a cake for his party, I wasn't in the mood to make another one for the family dinner. After paging through a few cookbooks, I decided to make whoopie pies.
Normally, I'm not a big fan of whoopie pies because they have this nasty grainy filling made with shortening and sugar. Who the heck wants to eat shortening? These whoopie pies have a marshmallow fluff filling which is smooth and silky.
Beautiful dark chocolate cake and marshmallow fluff filling combine to make very large delicious whoopie pies.
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