southerncooker's Reviews
174 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Title | Date | Rating 
Website: Leite's Culinaria
My family agreed that this was the perfect soup for a cold winter's night. A bit spicy so beware you may want to use less sriacha sauce if you don't like heat. This was one of my test recipes.
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This potato soup has a wonderful flavor from the Swiss and a nice bit of spiciness from the paprika and cayenne. Perfect on a cold winter night.
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This recipe is from Screen Doors and Sweet Tea and is wonderful. I made it as a test recipe for Leite's Culinaria with the help of my great niece and all our tasters agreed it has a wonderful sweetness to it that would satisfy anyone's sweet tooth.
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This is an excellent soup. Especially good on a cold winter's night. It'll warm your heart and soul.
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This bread did take a little waiting, and I wasn’t sure it’d be worth it, but it sure was. We enjoyed some as soon as it cooled and then toasted a few slices for sandwiches the next day, and it was good both ways. I think this is one I’ll make again the next time we’re craving chili.
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The cake is tart but not to tart The lemon juice and sugar that you cook together to make the syrup didn’t get very thick but sure gave the cake another jolt of luscious lemon. I’ll definitely make this one again and next time will take it to the next level by making some lemon curd to serve on top of the slices, as suggested by Ina.
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These pretzels were so much fun to bake with my 28 year old daughter and 10 year old great niece. The great niece caught on fast and with help from my daughter was soon kneading dough and shaping pretzels. If you have kids this is a great recipe to get them into the kitchen and having fun. I like the fact that you don't have to boil the pretzels before baking but you still get a tasty pretzel not quiet as chewy as the boiled ones, but I love the soft texture of these. They are wonderful still slightly warm from the oven with a little mustard or cheese sauce for dipping.
Even though the pretzels were best slightly warm they were still quiet good the next day, still soft but a bit more chewy. They took a little coaching to get them into ropes but once that was accomplished, by using a a little more flour on our hands and work surface, they were very easily shaped, even by our 10 year old helper. The cook time was right on the money with this recipe and the pretzels were nicely browned at exactly 14 minutes.
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This is an interesting twist on potato salad. I agree with one of the author's taste testers, it does taste alot like a twice baked potato. The recipe is easy to follow and the dish is easy to put together. Since my son doesn't like celery I divided the recipe into two bowls and only added celery to one. This would be a great addition to a picnic menu. This recipe is from the book Potato Salad 65 Recipes from Classic to Cool by Debbie Moose.
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We enjoy potatoes almost every way you can cook them and we do enjoy shepherd's pie. The author tells us in the recipe that this is the Arab equivalent of shepherd's pie. This is an easy enough recipe for even a work night supper.
At first it seemed like a lot of onion for the amount of beef but it tasted great once all was assembled. I do like the crunch of the pine nuts but I had a hard time finding them. When I finally did they were in a bag, 1/2 cup size, which was just what I needed but they were almost $6. So unless I can find these in the bulk packages like I use to, this will only be made as a splurge meal. My son actually thought the pine nuts were shoe peg corn until I told him different. Maybe I could substitute that next time.
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I have one word for this recipe "Awesome". I love the flavors of the sage roasted turkey breast combined with the onion marmalade, crispy bacon and smooth and creamy avocado. A word of caution about the onion marmalade, if you taste this you may not have enough left to go on the sandwiches, it's delicious. The crusty ciabatta rolls gives this sandwich a college education. I can't find the ciabatta rolls in my area so I baked my own from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Everyday. We could hardly wait for the onions and turkey to finish cooking, as the smells in the house were making us begin to drool. I wouldn't change a thing in this recipe and will be making it again and again.
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I love bruschetta and make it often when I have fresh garden tomatoes. I have always added basil and was afraid I would miss it. Boy was I wrong. This was still great, even without the basil. Such a simple but tasty appetizer that just screams summer!
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This recipe is so easy to make and tasty as well. I did find the baby vine tomatoes and they make a beautiful presentation but I think it would be just as tasty with the grape or cherry tomatoes and less expensive. I made this for my Mom, sister and daughter for our Sunday lunch. We all enjoyed it.
We divided it between four plates so we only had 4 instead of six servings. I think 6 servings might be alright for a side dish. I will definitely make this again and add a little more tapenade.
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This salad is so colorful and is as pretty to look at as it is good to eat. I have always enjoyed cornbread salad at a local restaurant but never make my own. I knew when I saw this recipe I had to give it a go. I am so glad I did. I made it for my daughter, Mom and I for lunch and we all enjoyed it very much. We did think it got better the longer it had to soak up the dressing. The only thing I would do differently is to not seed the cucumber or tomato. I think so much flavor lives in the seeds and see no need for this step unless you can't tolerate seeds. I don't think the little bit of liquid from the seeds would hinder the taste of this lovely salad. I will be making this one again.
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This is a quick put-together for an easy weeknight meal. I’ve had raw tomato sauce before and enjoyed it very much, as I did this one. The only thing I’d do differently next time is to cut the garlic cloves in half to add a bit more garlic essence to the tomatoes. Just adding them whole didn’t seem to lend much garlicky flavor to the dish. I was skeptical about the small amount of tomato to the amount of spaghetti, but it worked out well. We only got three servings instead of four, though (good thing hubby isn’t much of a spaghetti eater).
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Being a southern gal, these are right up my alley. I did use lard, as I often do when making biscuits, and I also always pat out the dough with my fingers instead of rolling it. The only thing I’d do differently next time is use buttermilk instead of plain milk. I used some really good white extra-sharp cheese and I loved this with the crispy applewood-smoked bacon—a marriage made in culinary heaven. We had one warm, and it was wonderful, but they’re also good once they cool. I’ll definitely make these again.
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I love to make scones and am always on the lookout for new recipes to try. I wasn’t sure I’d like the flavor of these since I’ve never enjoyed cheddar on my apple pie and the author compares these scones to that. I loved them, though, and will definitely be making these again. I’ve never made scones with a mixer but wanted to try this method, so I borrowed my daughter’s KitchenAid for the task. It did help the ingredients come together nicely and quickly, but I think next time I’ll just make them with my fingers as I normally do. I cut my apples into 16 chunks instead of slices since chunks just seemed like they’d distribute better in the ingredients. I used a Silpat on the pan for baking the apples, as well as the scones themselves. I don’t think you need to sift the sugar with the flour; so just add it to the flour and other ingredients on the waxed paper. Instead of a rolling pin, I used the author’s suggestion to pat the dough into a circle before cutting. This is the typical way I make scones, anyway.
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These are delicious and I've made them several times. Lovely way to have your bacon, egg and bread.
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This recipe is oh-so-simple, but packs a powerful taste punch. We loved it. Even my 10-year-old niece liked it, without the blue cheese for her though. The contrasting flavors of the sourdough, blue cheese, smoky bacon, and honey make for a party in your mouth. I’ll definitely add this simple but tasty treat to my list of go-to appetizers.
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This was easy to prepare, and delicious to eat. I love the crunchy bits of bacon on top of the creamy lentils and chewy mushrooms. The onions and garlic give it a tasty boost as well, and the parsley adds brightness and a little color. Paired with a salad and cornbread sticks, this was the perfect meal for a cold winter night, after a hard day at work.
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We really liked the flavors of the cheeses I chose (a good Swiss, sharp cheddar, and Havarti) on the sourdough bread. I omitted the fromage blanc because I couldn’t find it in our local market. I’ve never grilled a sandwich with the cover on the pan, but I was pleased to find that the bread didn’t become soggy.
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These are fantastic. Very rich so you'll only need a small one but you'll keep coming back for more.
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This is so simple, but oh-so delicious. I've been craving some good Eggs Benedict lately, but was dreading making the hollandaise. Well, guess what we had for Sunday breakfast? We love hollandaise sauce, but until now, it hasn’t been that easy to make. The instructions for making clarified butter are much easier than the way I usually make it, as well. This recipe is a breeze, and the results were fantastic. It’s definitely going into my recipe files, and I can't wait for some asparagus so I can make it again.
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This was delicious. I doubled the salsa recipe and used one whole habanero, and it was a bit on the spicy side. A little of this salsa goes a long way. If you don't like spicy, I suggest only using only a quarter of the chile in a single recipe. We added Queso Fresco to our tacos, and it helped to calm down the heat a bit. I know we'll be making this one again.
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This was a big hit here—I know we'll be making it again. We made homemade vanilla ice cream to swirl the brownies in. This is a great one to get the kids involved in.
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I can't believe how good these biscuits are with only flour and cream—simple, but divine. I didn't use a metal spatula to move the biscuits to the pan, I just used my hands. I baked them in a cast-iron skillet, close together, since we like a soft exterior. They came out perfect. I got 7 rather tall biscuits. We had them for breakfast with strawberry jam. I did split a couple and toasted them, adding in extra butter. We liked those, too. I'll be making these again.
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This recipe was easy to prepare, even with having to cut a small pocket in each chicken breast half. If you're careful, this step is not that hard—but just as the recipe says, don’t cut all the way through. Everything else is a breeze. Even though I forgot to cover the chicken while in the oven, it still cooked in the 30-minute time frame. I did let the breasts rest for about 10 minutes before slicing, so the cheese mixture wouldn't ooze out, then I topped it all with the pan sauce. I seasoned the breasts with a little salt and pepper before frying, but you need very little salt since there’s plenty of it in the olives and bacon. The filling has a great mixture of flavors, from the crunchy, smoky bacon, to the briny olives, creamy cheese, nutty almonds, and flavorful thyme. We served ours with some roasted asparagus and a simple risotto. I’d make this again.
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I debated marking this as a TC since there are quiet a few steps and waiting periods in making this recipe but my family agreed that if I made this again they'd happily devour the results. We all decided it's worth the extra effort to make this dish. We also all agreed the Octo Vinaigrette would be great on almost anything. My daughter put some on corn we had and declared it very tasty. I couldn't find a bird's eye chili at the two stores I visited and my daughter went to three more also with no luck so we substituted a serrano chili. I got the smallest whole chicken our market had and it was about 5 pounds instead of the 3 to 3 1/2 pound size suggested by this recipe. I opted to cut mine in 8 pieces instead of 4 and steamed in my Chinese bamboo steamer for the suggested 40 minutes since I had a bit more weight than called for. I also fried in two batches for 8 minutes and it was perfect -- moist, juicy, a bit spicy but delicious. Love the Asian flavors but didn't care much for the skin since after tossing with the vinaigrette as the skin lost it's crispness.
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These were easy to make and very refreshing for a hot day. My daughter said they tasted very similar to the Italian fruit ices I used to get for her and her brother when they were growing up. Since I didn’t have Popsicle molds I used some small (3 ounce) plastic cups. Once sticks were in place and the pops frozen all I had to do was run a butter knife around the inside of the cup and they popped right out.
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I made it for my family and it was an instant hit. I made a double batch and it was devoured. My sister and several other family members wanted to know how soon I could make it again. And my son-in-law scraped the last bits out of the bowl. I used peach schnapps for the booze part. I didn’t use the optional hazelnuts. We used our trusty ice cream maker, and when the machine stopped I popped it in the freezer for a few minutes to harden a bit more. Since most of us had a tiny taste before popping in the freezer, we could hardly wait for it to get a bit harder. I think I’ve found my new go-to peach ice cream for our Sunday summer ice cream sessions at Mom and Dad’s. My Mom is a diabetic and it’s nice to have a recipe from a diabetic cookbook for her that the rest of us enjoy so much, too.
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This was, amazingly, very good. All my tasters enjoyed it. We loved the salty, sweet, chocolaty, creamy, crunchy goodness on a stick. I think a whole banana is too much for a serving, though, and next time I’ll cut my bananas in half. I will also only use about 3 cups of chocolate chips since I had a large amount leftover after dipping four bananas. I had a bit of a problem with the pop sticks. My bananas split when I inserted two of them, and one banana fell off the stick when I started to dip it. Maybe a bamboo skewer might work better since it has a sharp end? I might try that next time. Despite these minor problems, the end result was delicious.
Read more: http://leitesculinaria.com/76001/recipes-frozen-chocolate-covered-bananas.html#ixzz1SsWy47mI
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These were easy to make and delicious to eat. Our local market only had grape tomatoes this week so I used those. Since the recipe didn’t suggest what to use these for I decided they might be good on pasta and I was right. I ate mine on some angel hair pasta with some grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. This made a great work night meal. Once you toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, sea salt, and, in my case, natural cane sugar, the oven does the work for you. With the grape tomatoes, 45 minutes was the perfect time. These also tasted great straight from the pan and I bet they’d make a great snack.
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I’ve only had one iced coffee drink that I enjoyed since I normally only like mine hot and black. This was really refreshing though. I made some for my daughter and I as an after-dinner treat. Great for a hot summer night. I’ll be making this again. Very easy and refreshing.
I've made it several times since I tested it for Leite's Culinaria.
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Fantastic! I wanted to grill something for our 4th of July celebration, and this caught my eye. I searched several stores in our area for sherry vinegar, with no luck. I did an on line search and several suggested substituting balsamic vinegar, so I forged ahead. Flat-leaf parsley is often hard to find in our area as well, but I found that at the second store. I also made some marinade for some chicken breasts, since our daughter doesn’t eat red meat. She loved her chicken as much as we did the steaks. I know I’ll be making these again, hoping one day to actually find some sherry vinegar. I served the steaks with a recipe also on the LC site, Green Bean and Potato Salad, along with some garlic bread and an apple pie my daughter made for dessert. We were all happy campers.
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I opted to boil my shrimp and make all three dipping sauces. Boy, I’m sure glad I did. I enjoyed all three sauces, but the lemon chive mayo was my absolute favorite. It went so well with the shrimp, and I bet it’d be great with fish. My second favorite was the garlic buttermilk. Not only was it good on the shrimp, it was also delicious on my baked potato and as a dipping sauce for baby carrots. I liked the sriracha buttermilk dip too, but only after I added a bit more sriracha than the two teaspoons called for. The siracha was hubby’s favorite after adding about triple the amount called for. He loves spice. He also liked the garlic buttermilk, but didn’t care for the lemon chive mayo. These three just got added to my dipping sauce favorites to make again and again.
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I halved this recipe, since I knew my daughter and I would be the only ones eating it. I baked some ciabatta bread from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Everyday for our sandwiches. We liked the goat cheese spread with the Balsamic Vinaigrette and grilled veggies. All the flavors mingled together nicely. Makes a great summer lunch or supper. The leftover grilled veggies were great warmed as a side dish for supper the next night.
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These were great. Loved all the flavors mixed together. I opted for the veggie version but bet they would also be good with the addition of chicken.
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My daughter and I love wasabi peas, so we knew we’d have to try that, and we both agreed it was our favorite of the night. Son-in-law’s favorite was the one I coated with a mixture of Ritz wheat crackers and bacon bits. I didn’t try that, since I’d gotten full on the other two I ate but he devoured three of them and kept giving me the “two thumbs up” sign. The third thing we came up with is credited to my daughter, who picked corn nuts. I used the Ranch flavored ones. It was good, but not as good as the wasabi peas. I just found out that corn nuts come in a flavor I hadn’t saw before, Chorizo Chipotle. I’ll be looking for those to try next time. I did 12 drumsticks instead of eight, and used two beaten eggs for dipping. I used butter-flavored cooking spray, but next time, I may just try melted butter. I decided to leave the skin on and was rewarded with nice crunchy skin. We had some leftovers and I can’t wait to try them and give some to my son when he gets home. We’ll be looking for more things to try next time.
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I have an electric range, so on my first attempt I set the button halfway between high and low. It took my eggs so long to come to a boil that at the one minute and 40 second mark, the yolks were almost completely done. I like my whites set but the yolks runny. Since hubby likes his eggs hard-boiled, I just added those two to his hard-boiled ones to make egg salad. My second attempt caused me to lick the bowl. I turned the setting to a couple notches past the high setting, and when the eggs started to boil, I set the timer for one minute. When I cut one open, the yolks were perfectly runny and the whites not quite completely set, but I found out I like them like that. I then placed them in my bowl and placed that small hunk of butter on top. Then I sprinkled on some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Once I dipped my toast in that heavenly concoction, my mouth became very happy. I guess it was the butter. I’ll be making these again. Who’d have though that a pat of butter would crank up a soft-boiled egg to such delightful heights?
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These were delicious. Even my hubby and my picky son enjoyed them. Mine only took 10 minutes for the crumbs to become golden brown during the second bake. Love the zesty taste the lemon gave, and the herbs de Provence helped enhance the taste of the tomato.
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I loved this one, as did all my tasters. I highly recommend using the optional orange extract, as it lends a wonderful flavor to this bread. I used walnut pieces, which saved me some chopping. This is a breeze to put together, and I used my daughter’s stand mixer. It does smell heavenly while baking. This makes a great take-to-work snack and is delicious with a tall glass of cold milk or a hot cup of coffee. I know I’ll be making this one again and again.
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The recipe is straightforward and works just as written. I used yellow vidalias, since they are in season now and are the best onions we can get in the market. I used homemade puff pastry, since it’s so much cheaper than store-bought, and I have a wonderfully easy recipe I’ve had for several years from a friend. These were delicious after the 10-minute wait after removing from the oven and also delicious at room temperature. They would make a great addition to an appetizer menu, but also make a great lunch, which is how my daughter and I devoured them. I will be making these again.
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This only lasted two days here. Everyone who tried it fell in love. My daughter even had me make her this one for her birthday cake this year. I was afraid after it was mixed up that it wouldn’t work, since the batter was so thin. It was definitely a pouring batter and not a scraping one, at least for me. Never fear though: it baked up beautifully, and the bittersweet chocolate made the perfect topping for this super-moist and delicious cake. I opted for using corn syrup instead of the agave nectar, since I already had that on hand. This one goes in my “to make again and again” file.
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These are spicy, cheesy, buttery, crunchy, delicious and addictive! You may want to make two batches if you plan on sharing. My daughter and I couldn’t stop eating them when the first batch came out of the oven.
They’re a breeze to make in the food processor. For the first half of the dough, I cut them with a 2-1/2″ fluted round cutter and then cut them in half to make crescents instead of diamonds. These baked on my silpat in about 29 minutes to a perfect crunchy golden brown.
The second batch, my daughter rolled out and cut into diamonds with a knife. These were smaller than my crescents, and they baked much faster. In fact, I got them a little too browned. (I thought they still had a nice flavor, although my sister said they tasted burnt to her.) So be careful and watch them near the end. I ended up with 100 crackers.
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We’ve enjoyed Grace Neil’s Chocolate and Guinness Brownies from Margaret Johnson’s Irish Table cookbook for years now. I never thought I’d say this, but I found something even better—these. That’s a big compliment, since I love the brownies. All my eager tasters agreed they were great. I was a bit skeptical when they came out of the oven, since they hadn’t fully risen to the tops of my jumbo muffin tins and there was a small indentation in the tops of each one. Not sure if that’s the way they were supposed to be, but it made the perfect place for that scoop of icing, and they tasted heavenly. I couldn’t find jumbo muffin liners in the two stores I visited, so I sprayed my tins with baking spray. The muffins came out perfect. I liked the ease of mixing up the muffin batter with a whisk and the frosting with the electric mixer. I wasn’t really clear on how to “shine” the frosting, but my tasters enjoyed them with the frosting scooped on with the ice cream scoop as suggested. I did use the optional crushed chocolate-covered pretzels sprinkled on top of the frosting, which, as they say, was icing on the cake. I’ll definitely be making these again.
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This is a great standard mac and cheese recipe. It’d be wonderful for those who don’t know how to make homemade and need a little guidance, because if you follow the directions, you’ll end up with a wonderful, no-fail mac and cheese. This is pretty much the way we make ours, although we vary the cheese we use. We used sharp Cheddar this time, as the directions state. It’s actually also very good with Velveeta, although I’ve never tried crushed saltines instead of bread crumbs. I do love it with tomato slices on top, but since we can’t get good tomatoes now, we didn’t do that. It might serve four or more as a side dish, but we ate it as our main course, so it was about the right amount for two, maybe three, if you’re not real hungry.
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I decided to make the Crab Rangoon and Hot Chinese Mustard from the Pupu Platter
Upon first reading the instructions on filling the wontons for the Crab Rangoon, I was a bit confused, but after I had my daughter read them and watched her fill and fold one, it became clear. It’s nice to have someone help with the filling and folding, and it’s a good, fun family project. We made them ahead of time and put in the fridge as suggested, then when we were ready to eat, we fried them in batches. They are best eaten fairly soon after frying, as they toughen up after sitting a bit. They were good with both the duck sauce that my sister had (in packets left over from Chinese takeout) and the homemade hot Chinese mustard. Beware, because the mustard is really HOT, a little dab will do most. Even my daughter who likes hot stuff thought a drop was all you needed. Who’d have though making your own Hot Chinese Mustard would be so easy. This stuff is delicious.
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I grew up eating a similar dish, but hadn’t had any in a number of years. My family really enjoyed this. This recipe was a little different than what I ate growing up, since Mom didn’t double-coat or use eggs and milk. I really liked the crispy outside of the steak this way. I used buttermilk with the eggs. I’ve never used a recipe to make cream gravy, since it just came naturally. Being southern, I suppose, helped. The cream gravy was easy to follow, though, and came out great. Although this is not something I would want to eat often, it’s great for a treat. I served ours with mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade biscuits.
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I make sweet potato fries often, since my daughter and I have loved them for years. I’ve made them with some of the spices and herbs suggested in this recipe, including the chili, but usually with other spices at the same time. I made a half recipe of these for myself since hubby doesn’t like them. They were heavenly, as expected. I did just use chili powder and the salt instead of trying one of the other seasonings, and I was a happy girl. I love the technique of mixing the chili, salt and olive oil together and brushing on the wedges, since this gives an even coating to all of them. Simple, but hadn’t occurred to me since I usually just toss them in the oil and sprinkle on whatever seasonings I plan on using. I like the brushing method better, and will do that from now on. 25 minutes was the perfect time, and I chose to not turn half way through to get the flesh blistered and golden brown, as suggested by the author. I was surprised to see the author suggest ketchup for dunking, since my family makes fun of me for eating sweet potato fries with ketchup. My daughter eats mayonnaise on hers. Give these a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, no matter what you choose for your dunking.
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I wasn’t sure this would be a hit here, since we don’t care for sugar in our biscuits, but these were great. I didn’t tell hubby and son about the small amount of sugar until they had taken a couple bites and proclaimed them a winner. They were really surprised, but said I could make these again. I can see where the Lodge Drop Biscuit pan would come in handy to keep them from spreading together, but don’t let that stop you from making these lovely biscuits. I didn’t have one, so I used a large cast-iron skillet to drop the biscuits in instead. They did run together while baking, but that didn’t cause that much of a problem. All I had to do was run a knife through where I could see each biscuit was and they popped right out. I like the ease of stirring the ingredients together and dropping them from a spoon into the pan. I mixed the butter in with my hands like I do with scones, to get the preferred crumbly results.
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