Molasses-Glazed Turkey Breast and Acorn Squash

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours

Grade: B+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (September 2006)

I made this on Christmas Eve, mostly because I wanted something simple and I was feeding a lot of people. It was good. Well, the turkey was good, I'm not a huge Acorn Squash fan. Those that like squash, seemed to like it though. I liked the turkey - it had a spicy dry rub and then a sweet glaze.

The biggest problem was that it took way longer to cook than I thought it would. I used a boneless turkey breast that was tied up in netting and the package instructions say to keep it in the string until done cooking. That makes it more like a roast, I guess. But it probably would have cooked longer if I let it flatten out a bit, so next time I will do that.

For what it was, a simple dish, it was good. Nothing too exciting, but I will do this again on my own when turkey breast it for sale. I might try using the extra glaze on green beans instead and roasting them. I think that would be pretty good.

Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Rise Time: 90 minutes
Assemble: 10 minutes
Rise Time: 90 minutes
Bake Time: 22-25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour

These are really good. They don't actually have a ton of butter in them - just 4 TB in the dough. And I brushed 1 T of melted butter on top of the 16 rolls after they baked (recipe calls for 2 T). Just that little bit of butter on top really flavors them.

The only problem with this recipe is you need some dry milk and potato flakes. But maybe they are so good, you can use this recipe a lot and use them up. :-)

Like most yeast breads you need to save time to make these, but if you have a good standing mixer, these are not hard to make.

Red Beans and Rice

Soak Time: overnight
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2010)

This was delicious and easy. I have wanted to make red beans and rice for a while, but never have before. I think the recipes I've seen often require something I didn't have. But the most unusual ingredient was andouille sausage, which was easy to find. You can also substitute kielbasa. It wasn't the most attractive dinner ever, but it was very flavorful. I was glad to have a simple meal before I have a lot of more complex cooking to do for Christmas.

The recipe says small red beans are better than kidney beans and will cook up creamier. I could only find kidney beans, and they were fine. I did end up cooking them longer than 90 minutes total though. But they were very creamy, so I don't think it necessary to search for red beans if they aren't at your grocery store.

Crisp Thin-Crust Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Rise Time: overnight
Prep Time: 15 minutes (I actually use Trader Joe's Pizza sauce, so making your own will add some time.)
Cook Time: 10 minutes per pizza

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2001)

This recipe was in my very first Cook's Illustrated magazine. It was the first recipe I tried, and I was instantly a convert. I loved how they explained in detail how and why they arrived at the final recipe. This is very good, but I haven't made it much lately. I end up making the pan pizza recipe from Cook's Country more often, but I should remember this one too. They are both easy, but this one is even easier I think.

The only problem with this one is you have to remember to make the dough the night before. It is done in a food processor which makes it even faster than other doughs.

The trick to making the crust really crispy is a baking stone and to roll it very thin (put some plastic wrap on top.) You roll it on parchment so you can easily transfer it with the paper to the baking stone.

Our crust yesterday wasn't too thin because it was 2-10 year olds rolling the dough. Still a very tasty pizza when a little thicker. :-)

Sausage Cheese Biscuit

Prep Time: 30-35 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour

The pictured biscuit actually used bacon instead of sausage. I've done these both ways. These take a little longer than regular biscuits because you have to cook the sausage or bacon. I like them a little better with the sausage, which is faster for me.

The hardest part is rolling out the dough. The sausage pieces were falling out a bit for me, so that slows me down. But these are a tasty breakfast treat, and freeze pretty well. They certainly are not "light", but in moderation, I enjoy these.

They were not a favorite of my nephews - I'm not sure why. And someone else told me theirs was a bit dry. I think I overcooked them just a bit. I like them though, and think the recipe is pretty good.

Best Beef Stew

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 2.5 hours

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2010)

Between Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country, the ATK tv show and all the cookbooks, I'm sure ATK has a LOT of stew recipes. They are all good, if you like beef stew. I really liked this one also. It was rich tasting and perfect comfort food for a very cold day.

It does take a while to make, of course, but I love dishes where you can get all the work done early and don't have to do much work after that. There is a tiny bit of work in the last 15 minutes, but it is pretty negligible, so I don't even count it in my time.

I did make a few substitutions. I used some frozen wine, and it was probably a Merlot, instead of Pinot Noir. I also used a tiny bit of anchovy paste instead of chopping anchovies (yuck!) I skipped the pearl onions. The biggest sub was to just put a few rinsed off pieces of bacon in the stew instead of the salt pork. I just didn't feel like trying to find it, and wanted to use the ingredients I had on hand. It worked fine, but I didn't use 4oz. I think it added a little taste in a good way.

This one got a thumbs up from the somewhat picky eater in my life, so I will definitely be making this one again.

Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake

Layer 1 Prep: 28 minutes
Bake Time: 18 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hours
Layer 2 Prep: 20 minutes
Layer 3 Prep: 15 minutes
Chill Time:2-3 hours

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes


Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (December 2009)
Recipe Source: America's Test Kitchen (Season 10)

I made this for Thanksgiving dinner and it was liked by all the adults. The kids didn't love it - maybe because it wasn't super sweet. I give this one an A+ after only making it one time for these reasons:
~ can be made ahead of time
~ very pretty with the 3 layers
~ tastes great
~ the leftovers still tasted good a few days later
~ although it takes a while to make, it really is not too hard

The hardest part for me making this is chopping all the chocolate. I hate chopping chocolate in the winter - it generates a lot of static electricity and I get little chocolate dust everywhere. I did it all in the beginning for the entire recipe. Everything else is fairly easy. I maybe didn't whip the last layers cream enough - it kind of poured into the pan. But the gelatin kept it stable enough so it wasn't a problem when slicing the cake.

I actually worried that my pan was too small (9" x 2.5"), so I made a mini cake at the same time. But I still had space at the top, so I shouldn't have worried. (Although I enjoyed getting to try my mini cake the night before.) Next time I may try to cut this one in half and use in my 7" pan, because I won't be as worried about the size. This one does make a large cake.