A Little Country Cooking and a Give Away
I've been a supporter of the Cooks Illustrated Magazine almost since its inception in 1993. A very good friend, and fantastic home cook introduced me to the magazine while we were living in Okinawa and a whole new world opened up for me. The company has grown over the years to publish two magazines, compilation cook books, sister websites to their magazines, and now has two cooking series on PBS-America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.
What we all love about the magazines, websites, and shows is that they take a scientific approach to cooking and are willing to take you through the steps they discovered to make every recipe the best recipe for that particular dish. Wingnut and the kids also enjoy reading the magazines and finding out why you would use baking powder rather than baking soda in particular recipes, why you don't want to mix your pancake batter until it is smooth, what is the difference between all-purpose flour and cake flour, etc.
The latest issue from Cook's Country is a real winner. We've tried four recipes from it already and each was absolutely fantastic. This last weekend we had a little dinner party and I made the South Carolina Boil. It was an absolute hit! Karate Kid followed the instructions for making better salsa and it was the best she'd ever made. She also made the Angel Food Cake recipe for dessert. I've never even made Angel Food Cake. It was the best Angel Food Cake I'd ever eaten. Last evening we tried their version of easy chicken tacos. Quick, easy, and absolutely delicious!
So, I'm all about sharing my love for cooking, and what better way to do that than to offer a give away. Just leave a comment on today's post telling us all your absolute favorite dish to cook. A randomly chosen winner will receive their very own copy of the latest issue of Cook's Country. Entries will be open until 8 p.m. on Sunday, August 2nd(one entry per person, please) and the winner will be announced here on Monday. Good luck and happy cooking!
Comments
Here are the links to each:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=569451
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1662914
I like taking live chickens, cuttin' their heads off, boiling their newly dead bodies in water, pulling out all of their feathers and finally romoving their internal matter. Now that's Southern Loving! Remember the smell sis???? Actually I like to make Chicken Enchiladas...a recipe I developed over time. I use store bought chickens not freshly butchered.
Love ya Mau,
Your Bro
PS I had better win or else!!!
Cook's Country has been publishing since 2005. You've had recipes from it at our house--Mahogany Chicken!
I did a little research on the site and did not find a single reference or recipe for pie dough with vinegar. I did find they've now adopted a fool-proof pie dough that uses vodka. Yes, vodka. Evidently ethanol prevents gluten from forming and gluten is bad for flaky crusts. Use vodka and you'll get a nice flaky crust.
Interesting on the vodka. I've seen many recipes w/ a tsp or Tbs of vinegar added to the pie crust.
I do like to cook pasta dishes, because I love to eat pasta dishes: ziti with italian sausage and ground beef and lots of sauce and garlic and crusty bread slathered with butter and chunks of garlic and broiled until just browned...mmm, maybe I know what to make tomorrow for dinner...
OK, so the vodka and the pie crust: do you use vodka in lieu of water or in addition to water?