Cream Biscuits

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine (January 2000)

Baking Illustrated

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

This is not my favorite biscuit recipe. However, it is a nice way to use up cream, and it is an extremely easy recipe. The biscuits are on the table in under 25 minutes, which cannot be beat.

I prefer other buttermilk biscuits because I like the butter flavor. These are just slightly bland. I will make these again when I have some cream I need to use up, but otherwise, I will stick to other recipes.

Pumpkin Bread

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

This is a nice simple recipe for pumpkin bread and I will definitely make again. It was very good.

Penne and Chickpea Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated Magazine (Sept 1999)

This is such a simple soup recipe, and very flavorful. It calls for 4 pieces of bacon (including rendered fat) and 1/4 c. olive oil. However, I soak up much of the rendered fat from the bacon (leaving about 1 T.) and then add only 1 T. of olive oil. This still leaves you with a very rich broth. The broth flavor comes from the bacon, garlic, rosemary, and the tomatoes.

The biggest problem with the soup is that it doesn't save well, because of the pasta. The pasta soaks up all the broth in the leftovers. So, I take some out of the pot for freezing before I add the pasta and then add less pasta.

Ginger Cookies

Prep Time:45 minutes (includes 20 minutes in freezer)
Cook Time: 12-15 minutes per sheet

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (December 2003)

This recipe is supposed to make 12 giant cookies, but I always make smaller cookies and get at least 3 times as many cookies. The recipe would take less time if you made the giant version. These are really good, if you like ginger cookies.

Orecchiette with Broccoli, Sausage and Peppers

Total Time: 30 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (November 2002)

I like this recipe because it is quick and easy. It uses a pretty small amount of sausage, which gives it flavor, but the meal remains fairly light.

Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Rise Time: 90 minutes
Prep Time: 30 minutes ?
Cook Time: minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook


This recipe calls for a food processor and some hand kneading, but I used my mixer and skipped the hand kneading. This worked fine.

Putting the pizzas together was easy for a 3 and 6 year old.




Rolling the dough between parchment paper and a piece of plastic wrap, allows you to roll the crust out fairly thin.












I used the Trader Joe's Pizza sauce and it was pretty good.











Adding cheese.










Putting on special toppings.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10-12 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe, but have lots of other great biscuit recipes.

Recipe Source: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

This recipe is quick and easy, and the results taste good, but other biscuits may be better. This may be the recipe I reach for when I want something really fast, however.

Pork Bulgogi

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Marinate Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (Jan/Feb 2004)

This is very good but a little too spicy for me. I need to use less red pepper.

6 small cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (or less)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 lb pork tenderloin, very thinly sliced
1 large onion, cut into 12 wedges
1 Tablespoon olive oil
sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in bowl. Add pork and marinate for at least 10 minutes.

2. Heat oil over medium heat. Cook pork and onions in 3 batches, 3-5 minutes per batch. Discard extra marinade.

3. Return all batches to skillet to warm. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, if desired. Serve over rice or with lettuce leaves.

Banana Bread

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Cool Time: 10 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine (March 1998)

Baking Illustrated

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

This is a very good banana bread recipe, that I use often. The only flaw is you do need to have a little bit of plain yogurt on hand.

Pork Cutlets Parmesan

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

Grade: C

Make Again: No

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (January 2004)

This recipe tastes fine, but I think I will stick to using chicken cutlets for this type of meal. It seems a waste of good pork tenderloin and I prefer the taste of chicken breaded. Also, this recipe didn't seem to provide enough breading ingredients, so it didn't work perfectly for me. Finally, this type of recipe makes a bit of a mess and requires more clean up than average.