| This recipe prepares a large batch of a dry salt-spice combination. It is used to flavor meat prior to its going on the grill, and it is an essential first step for excellent grilled meats. This particular recipe includes a bit of sugar, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, cayenne, etc. One batch makes 2 3/4 cups, so it will last you a very long time. We have also given this rub to friends as Christmas gifts. |
| crunchy topping included nuts, a nice touch. It had a good balance of cinnamon and nutmeg. The filling was really nice - with apples and raisins. The cook couldn't find cranberries, but successfully swapped out raspberries. |
| Way too salty!
This recipe has you dredge steaks in a large amount of salt and pepper, and they pan cook. It is dressed in a very nicesauce with shallots, OJ, worcestershire sauce, mutha sauce, and crumbled blue cheese.
I really couldn't taste much other than the salt - but they were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was quite nice.
I'd like to try this again but cut the salt by at least 1/2. |
| Very delicious, good depth of flavor - vote came to 4 1/2 (2 fours, 2 fives). Just spicy enough to make a spice wimp nervous, but so good that they just keep eating.
I selected this recipe to use up some of the ham leftovers from Christmas. I omitted the chicken, modestly increased the vegetables (onion, celery, pepper), and kept all other ingredients at their suggested amounts. I also substitute red bell peppers for the green, vegetable stock for chicken stock, and short-grained brown rice for the Uncle Ben's.
In this recipe, you sauté onions, celery, pepper, then add garlic. After that you add liquids (tomato sauce, stock, mutha sauce (reviewed here), seasonings, and rice. You are instructed to simmer it over low heat for 25 minutes. I simmered for about 30 minutes, and then left the hot covered pot to sit on the stove for the day. When we came home, the rice was perfectly cooked, and the flavors had unified in a lovely way.
This is surprisingly kid friendly! Enjoyed by all. |
| My husband prepared this dish, and it turned out superb. He substituted chicken thighs for the breasts, and marinated for 4 - 5 hrs, not the 48 hours that are recommended. Nevertheless, the spices and yogurt did manage to give the chicken an exotic Indian sort of flavor.
I should also note that my husband grilled these outside in the frigid 12˚F (-11C) weather, in the dark, and still produced moist and perfectly cooked chicken.
After grilling, you are instructed to put mutha sauce on it -- I do not think this flavorful chicken benefited from that strong sauce, and would omit it in the future.
The chicken is also served with sauteed onions and red bell peppers, again mixed with mutha sauce. The final product was delicious.
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| This coleslaw uses both cabbage and carrots, which can be shredded to the texture of the cook's choice. The dressing recipe produces about twice what is needed for the cabbage/carrot mix. The result is a pretty strongly vinegar flavored. |
| This is a dry spice mix that is rubbed onto meat prior to putting it on the grill. This recipe includes oregano and thyme, and it gives your meats a wonderful deep flavor. |
| Perfect ribs. This recipe makes the kind of ribs that are gorgeous to look at, and are oh-so-tender. We always make the suggested "mutha" sauce and "mop" sauce. We make these every year, typically on Memorial Day or the 4th of July. I don't care for meat, but these are totally addicting. |
| Delicious, moist, fluffy, and a chocolate-like flavor that is hard to place.
This was my daughter's first from-scratch layer cake, and she frosted it all by herself. Its a rich recipe, with lots of butter, and a bit of Dr. Pepper both in the batter and in the frosting.
We found that the cake took about 40 minutes to bake - not the 30 - 35 called for in the recipe. The frosting was amazing!
2014 update -- this cake remains a favorite of my daughter. |
| Crunchy, sharp-flavored, and vinegary - these are a perfect complement to a meat-heavy meal. |
| Fully flavored salmon - yet not mouth-burning hot.
This is an amazing salmon. A paste of ginger, brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil is rubbed into a fillet, then cooked in a grill with woodchips. The recipe calls for apple wood, but we didn't have any, so substituted hickory.
The sauce uses "mutha sauce" - the base for most sauces in this book, and reviewed here. To the Mutha, you add lemon juice, lime, mint, jalapeno, and rice wine vinegar.
Its an amazing sauce, and was also good on the brown rice, which accompanied this dish.
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| Terrific guacamole, and twice-fried plantains, with generous salt, for dipping. Oh my but this was great.
This was prepared for our cookbook club. We have previously made their guacamole, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never even noticed the fried plantain slices. They were a perfect complement to the guacamole, sweet and a bit crunchy with the smooth spiciness of the the guacamole. |
| This is a sauce that you apply to meats on the grill. It does not have sugar, so it does not lead to your meat burning, and it keeps the meat moist (important for those long-cooking ribs), and adds a dazzling flavor. |
| This sauce is the key ingredient for many recipes in this excellent BBQ cookbook. Its a very complex, deeply flavored sauce, and as you might suspect, its ingredient list is long. We like this so much, we have canned jars of it and given it to friends for Christmas gifts. It also freezes well. It takes 2 hours (or more) to make a batch, so its well worth making a huge batch and storing it, that is - if you enjoy using the barbecue. |
| Chicken breasts are pounded out thin, stuffed with asparagus and goat cheese, scallions, garlic, etc. Cook these on the grill, and then ladle some mother sauce over the chicken before you serve.
We've had problems with the stuffing falling out when they cook, but if you really pound it thin and press to seal, it can work.
This is an impressive dish - looks and flavor. We like to make it for company. |
| This was an amazing flavored soup - and prepared with canned tomatoes so OK for any season. Two types of garlic - roasted and fresh (sauteed) - added flavor but didn't overwhelm the dish. Made as part of our cookbook club dinner. |
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