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:

2276 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title

At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking

By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2017

This serves two so I made it for mine and sons supper. We enjoyed it but decided not enough to make again.
Image may contain: food

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Website: Aunt Bee's Recipes

www.auntbeesrecipes.com
 

13th January 2018

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Quick Easy and delicious. Calls for 1.5 cups brown sugar though and I cut it to 1 cup. Think it could have been cut a little more.

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The Austin Food Blogger Alliance Cookbook (American Palate)

By The Austin Food Blogger Alliance
The History Press - 2013

10th June 2013

Fried Egg Taco

Once you roast your jalapeno this recipe is a breeze to make. I thought I had some Mexican cheese but it was moldy so I used Montery Jack since it said to use whatever cheese you had on hand. The only other ingredients you need are corn tortillas, some sliced onion and a fried egg. It easy you can add what ever else you want so after taking a bit I tried some salsa which was good but it's also good as is. I had mine for supper but it'd be a great breakfast too.

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Website: The Awe Filled Homemaker

awefilledhomemaker.com
 

Not the prettiest dish in the world but was very good. All you need to go with is a salad.

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Bake Happy: 100 Playful Desserts with Rainbow Layers, Hidden Fillings, Billowy Frostings, and more

By Judith Fertig
Running Press - 2015

Delicious. Light as air with a hint of lime that complements the taste of the blackberries in the frosting. I got 21 cupcakes instead of 18.

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Oh my these were fantastic. Loved the little bite of chipotle powder. Next time I'll gild the lily and add the suggested Venezuelan Spiced Chocolate Ganage from page 27.

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These were amazing. So moist and loved the cream cheese mixture for the filling. Made these with my 15 year old great-niece. She's been baking and cooking with me since she was very young. She's becoming a great cook. We frosted them with the Chocolate Ganache from page 27.

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6th August 2015

Chocolate Ganache

This an excellent frosting for cakes and cupcakes. We used it on the Secret Filling Devil's Food Cupcakes from page 155.

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Baking

By James Peterson
Ten Speed Press - 2009

6th December 2014

Banana Nut Bread Muffins

Very easy but tasty muffin. Great use for over ripe bananas. I had some about to go to waste and had all the other ingredients on hand to make these. They are delicious.

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Website: Balancing Cinderella Recipes

www.balancingcinderella.com
 

I had some smoked sausages left over from when I made mustard sausages last week and some fresh thyme also left over from another recipe. When I saw this recipe I decided it was the perfect thing to make. Son doesn't care for cooked onions but he does like cooked leeks so I substituted those for the onions. The smoked paprika gave a nice touch to the dish. I added some salt to the potatoes. I had kraut and corn bread to round out our meal. All three of us enjoyed it.

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Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again

By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2006

28th August 2010

Mustard-Roasted Potatoes

Son, hubby and I loved this simple but delicious side dish. Great way to spice up potatoes. Daughter thought they were a bit sweet tasting to her.

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Loved the flavors here. Tomato, basil and mozzarella.... how can you go wrong? We don't have a panini press but it worked great in our grill machine.

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28th August 2010

Summer Garden Pasta

We made this with some homegrown tomatoes and the flavor was out of this world. I will make again.

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28th August 2010

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

A delicious chocolate cake. Great with the frosting on page 167. I love the flavor that coffee gives to this cake and a good cup along side is great also.

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28th August 2010

Chocolate Frosting

This frosting is perfect for the cake on page 165. Delicious and chocolaty!

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29th August 2010

Fresh Peach Bellinis

None of us really cared for these. I won't be making them again.

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Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients

By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2008

3rd January 2010 (edited: 4th January 2010)

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

I made this one for my daughter's birthday in 2008. A wonderful fall salad. The fall flavors go together so well. It was enjoyed by all. The dressing goes well with other salads.

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The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

By Ina Garten, Martha Stewart
Clarkson Potter - 1999

6th September 2010

Fresh Corn Salad

This is an excellent summer side dish. We make it with fresh corn cut from the cob just as Ina suggested. My son liked it without the basil and I liked it either way. Easy and delicious.

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28th August 2010

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

A very simple way to fix Brussels sprouts but oh so delicious. My daughter doesn't care for them but will eat them this way.

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3rd October 2011

Pan-fried onion dip

This is an excellent dip. The only thing I might try differently next time is to use about half the amount of butter and oil. My onions were practically swimming in oil which I had to drain off before cooling. I don't have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment but this worked well with a hand held mixer. My tasters all agree this was much better than store bought dip and it's really a easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for the onions to get nice and browned. I'll be making this one again.

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3rd October 2011

Roasted Carrots

Such a simple recipe but so delicious. I used dill and it was a hit. This is one I know I'll be making often as I love carrots.

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10th October 2011

Cheddar Corn Chowder

We all thought this was very good. We made a half recipe and it was still enough to feed an army though. My daughter took a quart home with her and I still have a huge bowl of left overs in the fridge. It went well with the Parmesan Croutons from page 87.

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10th October 2011

Parmesan Croutons

Like Peckish Sister my French loaf was rather large so my croutons were on the large side. They were delicious with the Corn Chowder from page 74 and also good with some radish butter I made from the Lee Brothers Simple Southern Cookbook. I think these would also be great with many other soups and also as a snack by their-selves.

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Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family

By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2002

28th August 2010

Chicken Noodle Soup

Roasting the chicken in this recipe really gives the soup a great additional flavor. This is a great chicken noodle soup.

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28th August 2010

Challah French Toast

A great version of French Toast. I made this one for hubby after seeing Ina make it on one of her shows a few years ago. We have since made it a couple times more and it's delicious.

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I made this recipe for part of our Easter 2014 family supper. My daughter said I'm going to have to make this for myself sometime. My sister, daughter and I loved it and hubby said it was pretty good. Easy and delicious way to roast asparagus. Ina serves it as an appetizer but it also makes a great side dish.

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Made this to take to work for my lunch and it was so good. Summer in a bowl.

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Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust

By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2012

2nd June 2013

Green Beans Gremolata

My daughter and I loved this one. The lemon zest, parm, and garlic give the beans such a lovely and bright flavor and the pine nuts a little nutty crunch. I'll be making this one again.

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This chicken was wonderful. The crispy crust from the panko almost makes you think you're having fried chicken. The dijon, wine, lemon zest, garlic and thyme also make for a wonderful treat for your taste buds. I decided to use bone in thighs instead of a whole cut up chicken since most of my family prefers dark meat.

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I made this recipe from the Food Network magazine so wanted to link to the book:
http://www.cookbooker.com/recipe/35802/easy-tomato-soup-and-grilled-cheese-croutons

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2nd June 2013

1770 House Meatloaf

I made this recipe from Food Network magazine so wanted to link to the book:
http://www.cookbooker.com/recipe/35597/1770-house-meatloaf

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My daughter took my copy of Foolproof home with her so she could make these for my birthday and anniversary picnic. They were awesome! German chocolate was often my choice of birthday cake while growing up, made by my Granny and after she passed away my Mom. This is a nice version and in addition to pecans the icing has almonds. The cupcakes were moist chocolaty and delicious.

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Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips

By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2010

This was very good. It was indeed a bit spicy. The Italian sausage, although only a 1/2 pound to 2 pounds ground turkey (I used ground chicken), was a dominate feature in the meatball mixture. It seemed to overpower the prosciutto, so think it would probably be just as good with lean bacon. I liked the addition of asiago cheese in the meatball mixture.

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26th November 2010

Herb-roasted Turkey Breast

Since my Mom just had by-pass surgery and is still in the hospital we decided to hold off on our big Thanksgiving celebration until she's home. I decided to just roast a turkey breast and fix a few sides this year. This turned out delicious and just the right size for 8 people. We usually have 18 + I will be making this again. We loved the flavor the bit of wine in the roasting pan gave as well as the herbs. Very flavorful and the rub was easy to put together.

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6th January 2012

Rich Beef Barley Soup

Need something rich and hearty for a cold winter night? Then this just might fit the bill. We all enjoy barley and my son likes oxtail stew, this seemed to be a good combination of the two. I didn't have leeks so I used some sweet onion in their place in addition to the other onion. I also left out the celery since neither hubby nor son enjoys celery. At first bite I though this was a little on the sweet side but after adding crackers to mine I enjoyed it much more. It's definitely filling and will warm you from the inside out. Next time I might leave out the bay leaf since hubby tends to object to them lately. Next time I might also add some mushrooms since we enjoy mushrooms and barley. I did make half a recipe.

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Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun

By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2001

Great way to make lovely and tasty garlic roasted potatoes. I didn't have parsley so I just omitted that although I'd use it if I had it. These were still great and a nice side for meatloaf.

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Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company

By Virginia Willis, Helene Dujardin, Anne Willan
Ten Speed Press - 2011

These were very good. I made half a recipe for six muffins. I think I could have used the whole jalapeño though since they weren't that hot. I did decide to make the Cheddar Butter to bring the recipe to brilliant and was glad I did since the muffins were delicious with the butter. These muffins were the perfect accompaniment to the Lentil Soup from Soup's On.

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3rd March 2012 (edited: 3rd March 2012)

Cheddar Butter

This was wonderful on the Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins from the same page. This was a Brilliant Short Recipe. It was easy to whip up and so tasty. I know it would be good on other things as well. Cheddar, softened butter, garlic, hot sauce, salt and pepper, I agree!, Brilliant! Be sure to serve at room temperature so it spreads easy.

I didn't bother with the food processor since it stirred up easily with a fork. I only made half a recipe.

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Hubby and I both agreed we like the way I cook pintos better either with peanut butter, ham hock or ham bone. Although we enjoy salt pork as a seasoning didn't care for it with the beans. Hubby also didn't like the taste the thyme and bay leaves (I used dried since I couldn't find fresh ones) lent to the dish. We didn't mind the broth nor the onions. I did top mine with some of mine and Mom's homemade Mexican Chow-Chow and served the beans with cornbread. For us these beans were just ok and not a recipe I'd use again.

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9th March 2012

Creme Fraiche

I can almost never find creme fraiche in my local supermarket when I need some for a recipe. I was planning on testing a recipe and it called for creme fraiche and I found the recipe in this book and decided to give it a go. It worked perfectly and tasted great in my recipe. Now any time I need some I can make my own for a lot cheaper than I can purchase it , if I can find it in the first place.

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12th August 2012

Sweet Peach Pancakes

I made these for Mom and I the other day with a nice ripe white peach from a local peach farm. We really enjoyed them. They look nice with the peach slices in the middle of the pancake but my pancakes came out a bit lopsided. They still tasted great though.

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15th December 2012

Deviled Chicken Thighs

I was expecting a little more flavor but this was still quiet good. I think it will be even better next time by bumping up the chili flakes a bit and adding some salt to the thighs before spreading on the Dijon, coarse grain mustard and chili flakes, then dipping in egg and finally panko. The panko gives a nice crisp crust straight from the oven. I did use the optional butter dotted on the tops before baking.

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6th September 2013

Okra Cornmeal Cakes

A neighbour gave us an abundance of okra so after frying a mess I went looking for some more ways to use it up. I made my daughter and I some of my okra, tomato, corn gumbo and made these to go with. We loved them and they went fantastically with the gumbo.

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30th December 2015

Sweet Potato Biscuits

While these were very good especially made into country ham biscuits I enjoy a version from Martha Stewart better. I made a half recipe and got 6. Whole recipe says it makes 16. Maybe I compromised the recipe by halving it.

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BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America

By Steven Raichlen
Workman Publishing Company - 2003

We really enjoyed these fixed on the charcoal grill. The sauce is fantastic and served with the kebabs. My son in law said we could make these again any time.

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1st August 2011

St. Louis Pork Steaks

I bought some pork steaks on sale and was looking for a way to fix them when I ran across this recipe. I had all the ingredients on hand so I decided this was the on. It turned out great on the charcoal grill. I wasn't sure if the guys would like the BBQ sauce suggested to go with on page 283 so I had our grill master (son-in-law) only put BBQ sauce on half the steaks. They did like the sauce so I served more on the side. It was a bit spicy but very good.

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1st August 2011

St. Louis Barbecue Sauce

I made this to go with the pork steaks from the previous page. I had most of the ingredients already on hand. Since I didn't have tomato puree I used some of my home canned tomatoes to which I added some tomato paste from the freezer and pureed with my immersion blender. Also didn't have dark corn syrup so I used my light, and didn't have OJ concentrate so I subbed some fresh OJ. I omitted the 1/4 tsp. cloves since we tend to not like it in savory dishes. It turned out good and I would make it again. It got nice and thick even with my substitutions. It does contain a lot of ingredients but just a little of each. The flavors blended together for a nice BBQ sauce.

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Website: The Bearded Hiker

thebeardedhiker.com
 

This was the first recipe I made in my Instant Pot and I ended up finishing it on the stove due to user error (me). We loved the flavor combination of cheeses he used so those are the ones I used as well - sharp cheddar, Parmesan and Habenaro Jalapeno Jack Cheese - all from Walmart and Great Value Brand. 2nd time I made it it turned out perfect.

I cooked for half the time on my macaroni box the second time and followed all his other directions and it came out great.

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The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook: 100 Delicious Heritage Recipes from the Farm and Garden

By Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Brent Ridge, Sandy Gluck
Rodale Books - 2014

This could actually be a main course or a side. My daughter and I loved the addition of plum tomatoes, yellow squash and onions in this one as well as the use of white cheddar popcorn instead of the usually bread crumb topping. Son said he would have liked it better without the tomatoes and squash and hubby though a bit dry.

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4th August 2014

Tomato Tart

I love trying new tomato pies and tarts in the summer so I knew I'd have to try this one especially after seeing the stunning photo in this book. We really enjoyed it but have tried others we liked better. Still quiet amazing. I used a variety of heirloom tomatoes both big and small and several colors.

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