southerncooker's Profile

From: Boomer, NC USA

Joined: January 3rd, 2010

About me: I collect cookbooks and love to cook and try new recipes. I tested recipes for Leite's Culinaria for almost eight years. I learned to cook from many good southern cooks including my Mom, Dad, several Aunts and my Grandmothers. My children and husband also like to cook and try new foods and recipes. My son still lives with us but our daughter is married. She often visits to cook with me. We are adventuresome eaters willing to try new things.


Latest review:

November 19th, 2018

Bourbon Roasted Pork Loin from Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook

This was delicious. I know she says in the book not to use the good bourbon but all I had was Woodford Reserve so that's what I used. I marinated for about 8 hours in fridge. Loved the apples and onions... read more >


recipe reviews (2277)
book reviews (117)
useful review votes (491)

southerncooker's Reviews


Search Reviews:

Cookbook Reviews

117 books reviewed. Showing 101 to 117Sort by: Rating | Title

Southern Plate: Classic Comfort Food That Makes Everyone Feel Like Family

By Christy Jordan
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2010

October 23rd, 2010

I love this book. It's filled with southern recipes just like I grew up with and still make today. I enjoyed reading Christy's family stories in this book too. It's as much fun to read as it is to cook from. Christy's family sounds similar to mine in several ways and I can relate to the foods. I think this could finally be the book I can cook my way through.

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking

By Martin Jacobs, Beverly Cox
Stewart Tabori & Chang - 1991

January 3rd, 2010

This book is filled with information about the foods the Native Americans across the US ate and used in ceremonies. The recipes included are ones that you can make today. There are traditional dishes from tribes such as Cherokee, Chippewa, Navajo, Sioux, Mohegan, Iroquois, Comanche, Hopi, and many others.

Also included in the beautiful, artfully arranged photos of some of the recipes are an array of historic Indian artifacts. This book is equally fun to look at and read as it is to cook from. There is a map in the beginning to show you where each of the tribes was located and the foods they ate most, grew or harvested.

If you are interested in Native American food and history, I think you would enjoy this book.

Spirit of the West: Cooking from Ranch House and Range

By Beverly Cox, Martin Jacobs
Stewart, Tabori and Chang - 2002

January 3rd, 2010

This book is filled with over 100 recipes that are from the first western ranchers who originated from Mexico, as early as the 16th century and continuing through those still working at dude ranches today. It tells the story of the American Frontier thorough the food they ate. Also included are stories about and from descendants of the first ranchers and those that work on today's ranches. The book is sprinkled with beautiful color photos of the foods, artfully displayed for the viewers enjoyment.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history served along side their recipes, as well as those intrigued with the old west, cowboys, outdoor cooking, cast iron cooking and or the frontier. This is a very interesting read filled with tasty sounding recipes, many of which have a Mexican influence.

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery)

By Moosewood Collective
Fireside - 1990

January 3rd, 2010

This is a nice thick book with 734 pages. It includes a helpful chapter on a guide to ingredients, techniques and equipment. There is also a chapter on menu planning and one called "What we mean when we say one medium onion", as well as a suggested reading list if you want to know more about a particular cuisine.

I love trying new recipes from different cuisines and I enjoy the other Moosewood books that I have, so this was a welcome addition to my Moosewood collection.

If you don't already know or haven't already guessed Moosewood is a Vegetarian restaurant located in Ithaca, NY. It is collectively owned and operated by the same group who puts out the cookbooks. In the introduction they explain Sundays at Moosewood are different from the rest of the week. Sunday night is Ethnic night.

If you enjoy vegetarian cooking, experimenting with different cuisines, or are looking for some interesting recipes then this is a great book. Bits of info are included with most recipes so this is a fun one to read as well.

Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet: A World of Recipes for Every Day

By Padma Lakshmi
Weinstein Books - 2007

January 3rd, 2010 (edited 3rd January 2010)

This book is filled with beautiful color photos, as well as interesting sounding recipes from around the world. Also included are personal essays about Padma's connection to food and cooking. I enjoyed reading the notes she included with each recipe, usually where the recipe came from or a bit about it.

One problem I found with this book is that many of the recipes call for hard to find ingredients. I'm listing some of them to give you an idea: Yuzu Juice, black cumin powder, sumac powder, za'atar powder and Labneh goat cheese to name a few. If you're lucky enough to live in an area that has many different ethnic grocery stores then this might not be a problem for you, as it is for me.

Despite the fact that some ingredients are hard for me to find there are several recipe I want to try that I wouldn't have that problem with. I started with the Chicken for the Bold recipe, which was very spicy and we really enjoyed.

I have enjoyed reading this one since I got it from paper back swap. I put it on my wish list there after making the Mexican Mac and Cheese (which was fantastic), for one of my Leite's Culinaria test recipes a few months ago. I was really surprised to get it so quickly since it is a fairly new book.

This book would be well suited to those that enjoy trying new and different dishes. It's a feast for the eyes as well, if you enjoy beautiful color photos in your cookbooks.

Taste of Home 1996 Annual Recipes

By Janet Briggs, Julie Schnittka, Julie Schnittka
Reiman Publications, LLC - 1999

May 7th, 2010

I have always enjoyed the Taste of Home magazines and love their annuals. A years worth of recipes in one neat package. Love the photos included as well.

Taste of Home: Busy Family Cookbook: 370 Recipes for Weeknight Dinners

By Taste of Home
Readers Digest - 2008

June 14th, 2010

This book has over 220 color photos and 370 recipes. The recipes take from 10 minutes up to 60 minutes and each recipe is labeled 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 30 minutes +. They are also labeled if you can use microwave shortcuts, or need to plan ahead for things like marinating,, chilling, freezing, or standing. The ingredient lists are usually short, use simple prep methods, easy techniques, and ingredients you can find easily at your local supermarket. This would be a great beginning cookbook or one for those who work and want to put a fast, easy but tasty meal on the table for their family after a busy day. I enjoy the Taste of Home family of cookbooks but hadn't heard of this one until I stumbled on it at a yard sale recently and for only a quarter! I'm so glad I found it. I think I see some great fast weeknight suppers from this one in our future.

Taste of Home Recipe Book

By
Country Store Reiman Pubs - 1996

May 18th, 2010

I love the taste of home family of books and magazines. This is one of the first ones filled with a year's worth of magazines. Great recipes.

Taste of Home Recipe Book

By
Country Store Reiman Pubs - 1996

May 18th, 2010

You can't go wrong with Taste of Home books and magazines. Filled with wonderful recipes. This is one of the first ones with a year's worth of magazine recipes.

Taste of Home\'s 1999 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes

By Julie Schnittka
Taste of Home Books - 1999

May 11th, 2010

I love the Taste of Home Family of magazines and cookbooks. You can always count on some good eating from these books. The QC ones help you get dinner and even some breakfasts on the table in no time. A year's worth of the magazine in one place.

Taste of Home's Light and Tasty Annual Recipes 2002

By Julie Schnittka
Taste of Home Books - 2002

April 28th, 2010

hese annuals have all the recipes from the previous years issues of the Light and Tasty Magazines. All nutritional information is included. There are also lots of color photos all through this one. I do enjoy many of Taste of Home's family of magazines and these are my favorites so I'm delighted when I find one of the annuals. I think Mom found this one for me at a yard sale.

Instead of being divided into months like the Cooking Light Annuals this book is divided into categories that are included in each issue of the magazine. As with the Cooking Light annuals it's nice to have a year's worth of magazine recipes in one place instead of stacks of magazines laying around.

Top Secret Recipes Lite

By Todd Wilbur
Penguin Group - 1998

January 29th, 2010

This book gives you recipes for some of your favorite restaurant foods make lighter. It gives nutritional information for all the recipes. If you're familiar with Todd Wilbur's other restaurant copy cat recipes and enjoy them, you'll like this one two.

Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen

By Elizabeth Sims, Chef Brian Sonoskus
Andrews McMeel Publishing - 2011

December 12th, 2011 (edited 18th December 2011)

Tupelo Honey Cafe is in Asheville, NC. My daughter and I had the pleasure of eating there a couple years ago when we attended the bread festival in Asheville. There are actually two of the restaurants in Asheville now. We had wanted to eat there since we saw it featured on Rachael Ray's $40 a Day show. As soon as I learned they had a cookbook coming out I put it on my wish list at Paperback Swap. When it was offered to me recently I was thrilled and even more excited when it arrived this past Wed. I immediately read it from cover to cover and started drooling and planning what to make.

I have already made Warm Pimento Cheese p.55 (very good), Bacony Egg Salad p.87 (nice), Sweet Potato Pancakes (p. 199) with Peach Butter (p. 40) and Spiced Pecans (p 200). Rachael ate these pancakes on her show and as she would say Yum-O. I plan to make their Ginormous Biscuits later in the week to use up that left over Peach Butter. They give everyone one of those biscuits before your meal. I have so many more recipes marked to try including the Tomato Soup Sarita ate while we were there as well as the fried green tomatoes I had. I just wish they had included their recipe for Rosemary Peach Lemonade.

The recipes are what are called New South Cuisine, southern with a twist. What ever they're called I call them good eating. Besides all the delicious sounding recipes the book is filled with gorgeous photos of the recipes and scenes around Asheville. Most of the recipes have a little note at the beginning telling about the recipe. There are also interesting facts about some people and places famous to Asheville sprinkled through out. Asheville has over ten microbreweries and NC also has many wineries. Included in the book are suggestions for Beer and Wine pairings for many of the recipes. Can you tell I love this one?

Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen: An Indispensable Guide for Anybody Who Likes to Cook

By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2003

January 4th, 2010

This book has great color photos of many of the dishes. I enjoy watching
Tyler's Ultimate and some of the other shows he has had on the Food Network
and so naturally I had to have this book.

I only have one complaint about this book some recipes continue on the
following page so you often have to keep turning the page back and forth when
making a recipe. This is Tyler's first cookbook and at the time it was wrote
he was host of Food 911.

You'll find recipes for down home country type food such as meatloaf and
chicken pot pie. Also included is the less familiar to home cooks, things
such as Dim Sum and Sushi. Finally there are also recipes that many might
consider gourmet, such as Chilled Pea Shots with Spicy Crab and Roast Prime
Rib of Beef with Horseradish Crust and Wild Mushrooms. Seems there is
something for everyone no matter what type of things you're looking to cook.

For Mother's day one year, Sarita chose to make me the Blueberry Scones with Lemon
Glaze. Unfortunately the blueberries weren't ripe in NC and they were
extremely expensive at the local stores, so she substitute strawberries
instead. They were delicious with the lemon sauce and even good cold. Besides
having a warm one on Mother's Day I took one a day for my morning coffee break
until the rest were all gone. Of course I shared a few with Harold and Sarita
as well. Dexter doesn't like them.

The Vegetarian Option

By Simon Hopkinson, Jason Lowe
Stewart, Tabori & Chang - 2010

August 21st, 2010

his is the book I won from Serious Eats. It is filled with wonderful color photographs. The author is from London and is noted on the back cover as one of the UK's finest food writers. He has two other books, Roast Chicken and Other Stories and Second Helpings of Roast Chicken. You can tell by how some of the book is worded that it isn't an American Cookbook. I still enjoy reading the little blurbs included with each recipe and the recipes themselves.

The book is divided into the following sections: Vegetables, Herbs, Pasta, Legumes & Grains, Rice, Eggs, and finally, Fruit. There is one recipe from Mario Batali included in the book, almond and jalapeno relish. Before the recipe the author writes about his first trip to NY and meeting Mario at a party at Babbo. They share mutual friends.

Some of the recipes look and sound very inviting and I really enjoyed the tomato recipe I made recently for the ingredient contest, Tomato Salad with Basil Cream Dressing and Olive Oil. One problem with this book for me though is that quiet a few of the recipes call for ingredients that are either hard for me to find or too expensive for my budget. Some of those things are saffron, agar flakes, sunflower oil, Amontillado Sherry, Chervil, and carnaroli rice. I do occasionally purchase saffron but if you made several of the recipes that call for it, it could push up those numbers on the cash register considerably. He also uses Maldon Sea Salt in many of his recipes and white pepper. He says he prefers white over black pepper but you can use whatever you like.

There probably aren't a lot of recipes in this one I will make but it's a fun read and the photos are very easy on the eyes. Sarita does want to borrow this one and make the cauliflower with cheese and I can't wait for cooler weather to try the Lima Beans with Sage, Olive Oil and Dried Chili and the Thyme, Onion and Gruyere Tart sounds like one I'd make as well. I think I'll try the macaroni and cheese with tomatoes soon, with some of our garden tomatoes. So even though there are recipes I know I wouldn't make there are also some I will. I guess that is probably true of most of our cookbooks. I probably wouldn't have bought this one for myself but I'm sure glad I won a copy.

Weight watchers take out tonight

By
Weight Watchers Publishing Group - 2002

January 3rd, 2010

I love this book! Out of 150 recipes there are 111 I'd love to try. Several
more really but there are a few items in those that are harder to find here such
as miso, wakame, fresh tuna (can sometimes but the price is outrageous), mirin
and a few others. Most recipes use ingredients that are readily available in our
area or they offer substitutions that are.

This book includes lots of favorite take out items made healthier. Each of the
recipes includes easy how to tips and nutritional information as well as weight
watcher point values for each serving. Each recipe has a fraction of the fat and
calories of it's restaurant counterpart but in my opinion all the flavor. At
least that's true for the three recipes we've tried so far.

Mom picked this one up for me not too long ago at a yard sale. I'm sure glad
she did as I'm gong to be using this one quiet a bit since there are so many of
our favorite dishes included. Things like Hot and Sour Soup, Shrimp & Pork Won
tons, Shrimp Fried Rice, General Tso's Chicken, Chicken Empanadas, Spinach Rice
& Black Bean Burritos, Nachos Supreme, California Vegetable Rolls, Pizza
Margherita, Vegetable Calzones, Scampi, Shrimp Pad Thai, Tandoori Chicken, and
too many more to mention. Am I making you hungry yet?

To start off I made out a list of 25 recipes I thought our family would enjoy.
I then listed all the ingredients I don't normally have on hand beside the
recipe to take with me to the grocery store. That way I can check my list
against sale items and pick a dish or two to try each week.

Most of the recipes include a clever cook's tip. In the back are a dry and
liquid measurement equivalent charts, and three lined pages for notes. There is
also a section in each chapter for the perfect pantry for that particular
cuisine.

A few days ago I made two recipes from the Indian section, Dal with Spiced
Tomatoes and Potatoes and Chapati (an Indian Bread). Sarita and I loved them
both. Harold and Dexter don't care much for India food but Harold did taste of
it. When Sarita was in college we occasionally had lunch together at an Indian
Buffet place near her college either when I took her back or picked her up. Now
we can make some of these items when ever we're in the mood.

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant

By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002

January 11th, 2011

I placed this book on my wish list after a friend told me it was one of her husband's favorite cookbooks. I was thrilled with I got it from Paper Back Swap. I looked through it at the time then it got put on the shelf and i pretty much forgot about it..... Until cookbooker.com picked it as a challenge book. I pulled it back off the shelf for another look. I then begin reading and choosing recipes to cook.

I've learned some new ideas about some inventive ways to use some ingredients. Such as vinegar with eggs, kale on toast, eggs baked on leftovers and gizzards in pasta sauce. This book not only contains interesting and sometimes different recipes but also teaches you techniques such as how to remove a chicken breast from a whole bird, how to make perfect mayonnaise and risotto among other things.

When you start reading one of the recipes it's like Judy takes you by the hand and leads you in the right direction as you begin the cooking process. Even if you're a seasoned cook you'll find many useful tips and instructions in this book.

There are only two things that I don't like about this book. One is that not all recipes give serving sizes. The other is that there are ingredients used in several of the recipe that are hard for me to find. People who live in other areas might not have that problem. The other recipes more than make up for the few with hard to find ingredients though.