Season's Besgt S/S 2010 Recipe Reviews

[robochick84]

Yes, I peeked at the recipe in the book at Spring Launch, and it does call for champagne.

Yay! You just made my day!

I am looking forward to making it. I don't have any of our cake pans yet so I will have to see which one's it calls for.

 

[Rosechef]

Artichoke bacon bites are FABULOUS!!!!

 

[Symara]

Hubby requested the Artichoke bacon bites for an app and the Chipolte Chili Bake for dinner Saturday. I made them both and he really like the bites, I was suprised, he's kind of picky at times. I thought the saltiness with the zingy artichokes was different and very good.

He also really loved the bake, but I thought it reminded me more of Barbecue than Chili. Not sure if maybe it was the brand of chili beans I used or what. I like the thought of using the Southwest seasoning in it, I will have to try that.

 

[Symara]

Making the one pot pasta tonight, even though it's not technically a new recipe, but it is in the new book.

 

[LeslieSGI]

I just made the Bacon, Linguine, and Tomato toss (hereby referred to as BLT pasta to make my life easier) and while I think it tastes delish, I had a LOT of liquid leftover in the pot. Next time I'll try it using less broth. I'd like the sauce to be thicker.

I'm making this tonight and I could only find 16 oz boxes of linguine at Kroger (I shopped on my way back from Spring Launch) but since they were on sale 10 boxes for $1.00 (!!!) I decided to get 3 boxes to make 4 recipes worth. I sure do hope we like it! Can't imagine that we won't love it though.​

 

[leftymac]

I did this one Sunday night for DH's super bowl treat. I made a lot of modifications (as usual) since the recipe's aren't that healthy.


We do not eat read meat and I instead used turkey. Worked great. I wish we had a tool to drain the DCB though!

A tool to drain the DCB is definitely a nice idea! It was hard to not dump out the beef when I made the Chili Cornbread Bake.

I enjoyed that dish too, but felt the cornbread was lacking in some flavor. I used Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. Not sure what else I could add to it to make it better. I thought of maybe some jalapeños, but it's seriously already spicy enough for me. Any suggestions?

 

[Chefstover2]

A tool to drain the DCB is definitely a nice idea! It was hard to not dump out the beef when I made the Chili Cornbread Bake.

How about the Drainer? My exec suggested it.

 

[leftymac]

That's a good idea. Now if only I had it!

 

[cochef]

How about the Drainer? My exec suggested it.

I made this last night and, as I was contemplating how I was going to drain the liquid while trying to hang on to the hot DCB, my husband suggested I use my Baster. Worked like a charm :thumbup:

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Personally, if I made that recipe, I would be using a collander for SURE. Either that, or tilt to one side, hold the beef with the slotted spoon, and blot with a paper towel.

 

[DessertDivaFL]

I made the Strawberry Coconut Tres-Leches Trifle for the Super Bowl Party. Well...it was gone in 5 minutes! Does that tell you anything? My husband was upset that he didn't even get to taste it. Well, neither did I for that matter. The only thing was that I couldn't find the soft lady fingers and used pound cake instead. It was easy and smelled amazing and looked like I spent all day on it.

 

[etteluap70PC]

I made this last night and, as I was contemplating how I was going to drain the liquid while trying to hang on to the hot DCB, my husband suggested I use my Baster. Worked like a charm :thumbup:

Yup the baster works like a charm. I also use it when doing the Make ahead ground beef in the 12 inch skillet. That sucker is big and heavy. I have almost burned myself many times before I tried the baster.

 

[Fluffy215]

I made the Strawberry Coconut Tres-Leches Trifle for the Super Bowl Party. Well...it was gone in 5 minutes! Does that tell you anything? My husband was upset that he didn't even get to taste it. Well, neither did I for that matter. The only thing was that I couldn't find the soft lady fingers and used pound cake instead. It was easy and smelled amazing and looked like I spent all day on it.

I made this yesterday and took it to work. I call them my guinea pigs, and they love that fact LOL Anyway, I barely got to try it. They absolutely loved it. There was just enough left to bring home for myself and DH.

I am a little confused on the lady fingers as well. The directions say 3 (3 ounce) packages for a total of 24. However, our 3 ounce packages around here have 12 in them so do I need 3 or just 2? I used just two and it seemed kind of mooshy. Next time I will try with 2 1/2 and see if that helps. I know it sucks up the milks quickly though.

Did you ask your bakery department about the lady fingers? They also sell them in the commercial dessert/bread aisle at the grocery stores around here.

 

[PamperedSD]

Chicken Pesto and Tomato Flatbread :love:

I just made this - LOVED it!! I cooked 2 chicken breast in the DCB while the crust cooked and I added a little of the sun dried tomato herb & chopped it up with the salad choppers. I used chopped pecans & then used the shears to cut up the basil. I wasn't sure how much 1oz of cheese was so I guessed. I also used the microplane to grade the cheese over the top. I wish I made the mandoline but otherwise I LOVED this recipe. Its going on my list for dinner recipes at home for sure! :sing:

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Karen I believe they are the Kiwi-Lime Dessert Cups

We made these at our cluster meeting last night. We demoed and assembled together. They were awesome! The presentation of these was amazing. I would definitely suggest these for a show. We did find that the amount of 1/2 inch slices in the roll of cookie dough, needed to be more. They were originally too big for the mini muffin pan. When made smaller, it made a lot more and they looked great.

 

[ajhunt2]

Any suggestions on a substitue for the whipping cream in the Churro dip? I have a hubby that is allergic to dairy, but know he would love the caramel and coffee flavors in it. He liked the churros too.

I am going to try the churros but with the apple sprinkle instead and maybe some kind of more caramel dip.

 

[robochick84]

How about the Drainer? My exec suggested it.

Is this the one for the pots, etc? I will have to go check it out....


We didn't mind the brand of corbread that we used, it was the perfect blend for the spicyness of the base. One thing I did add to the top (but once again, that's just the health nut side of me) was a dollop of plain yogurt (sour cream substitute) for us it gave a serving of dairy. Other's may do it to add taste to the top of the cornbread.

Did the BLT in the DCB last night. It works but I learned the hard way that the skillet recipe used much more broth than the DCB version would do. We did chicken instead of "bacon", and DH loved it.

 

[jnsr96]

I made the Mango Margaritas for a Girls Night Out party at my house. Yummy and looked SO pretty in the martini glasses! Very very painstaking to make though. I don't like my drinks to take that long to make! I felt like I was in the kitchen the whole time instead of visiting with my friends. I'm not sure what I would do to make this faster. Unless you prepped the ingredients before the party and made enough for lots of batches. We had 6 ladies, who drank about 2 each. The recipe made 4 drinks. But even just doing 3 batches made it take FOREVER it seemed like. But it was tasty!

I thought the same thing whem making the chocolate raspberry martinis, but what I did was triple the recipe and prep it in the quickstir pitcher. Then when the party started, I just poured some into the shaker with ice and served...It was a hit! It will probably work with this recipe as well.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Is this the one for the pots, etc? I will have to go check it out....


We didn't mind the brand of corbread that we used, it was the perfect blend for the spicyness of the base. One thing I did add to the top (but once again, that's just the health nut side of me) was a dollop of plain yogurt (sour cream substitute) for us it gave a serving of dairy. Other's may do it to add taste to the top of the cornbread.

Did the BLT in the DCB last night. It works but I learned the hard way that the skillet recipe used much more broth than the DCB version would do. We did chicken instead of "bacon", and DH loved it.

Could you give some pointers in how you did this?

 

[etteluap70PC]

yes definitely would like pointers on doing BLT pasta in the DCB!

 

[robochick84]

I precooked the chicken, and then realized I probably didn't have to do it, and that I could of done it all at the same time.

I dumped the broth, garlic (and other seasoning), canned tomatoes, and pasta in the DCB and microwaved for 10+10 with stirring in between. When it came out I added my chicken, the fresh tomatoes, and the cream cheese.

 

[esavvymom]

I made the Chipotle Chili Cornbread Bake tonight. Very good!! I did tweak it a bit, but had some thoughts for future:
(1) I used half the called for amount of Chipotle peppers (didn't have Rub) because didn't know how much of a kick it would have and my kids wouldn't appreciate too spicy . 1/2 Tbsp of diced peppers was just a bit of a kick - kids still didn't like the kick/meat, but did like the bread part.(2) I added about 1/2 cup of Sweet Cream Corn to the muffin mix batter. Next time, I'll use 1/2 cup of Sour Cream, and 1/2 cup of the Cream corn. The batter was too runny if I used all of the sour cream and the 1/2 cup corn....I had to use part of another box of muffin mix and then it took longer to cook because it was thick- but the cornbread was super moist, perfectly sweet, and YUM!!!(3) I think it needed more meat mix. I may try to double the beef/beans mixture. There wasn't very much of that- nothing like the photo shows. We figured they scraped it all together just for the photo! But it was delicious flavor!! Can't wait to try some other ones. Still not sure why they put this in a Spring/Summer theme though- seems more of a Fall/Winter food to me.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

We had our Recipe Tasting Cluster Meeting tonight....so I'll go through what we tasted - EVERYTHING was excellent!

Bacon,Linguine,Tomato Toss: This is the one that I did - and it was soooo good! it was getting two thumbs up from my guys as I was leaving (I left it for them for dinner too) and everyone loved it at the meeting too. I'm not sure that I would ever do it for a show, but I know it will be a regular for our home!

Atichoke Bacon Bites : Yum Yum Yum! I would definitely do these for an appetizer show!

Cool Caramel Cafe Con Leche This was just okay - I love cinnamon, but the cinnamon in this was overpowering. I'd cut it in half - and probably use dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate.

Thai Peanut Chicken Stir Fry Salad I think this will be my new Salad demo! This was sooo good, and used a ton of products, and looked BEAUTIFUL on the large bamboo platter!

Warm Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad This one was a surprise for me - I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did - very yummy! The consultant who made it did saute the pepper, onion and sugar snap peas briefly - so they were still crunchy, but also a bit cooked. I would probably do it the same way. I can't wait to make this at home!

Ham & Cheese Brunch Squares This is already a favorite of mine - but people who'd never had it before were raving about it too.

Sweet Churros w/ Dulce De Leche dip. The consultant made these with the new Apple Sprinkles....YUM! These will be a great 2nd recipe, or make ahead recipe. I could have eaten the whole batch! (I just had one!)

Quick Fudgy Brownie Surprisingly good - and noticed afterwards that it could also be made in the DCB!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars YUM YUM YUM! I don't do dessert shows - but I will definitely be making these at home!




Every recipe other than the drink recipe was under $2 per serving, and showed at least $350 in products....it was a successful tasting meeting!

 

[pamperedcheflori]

We had a few at our meeting last night and just finished making the BLT pasta. I made the kiwi lime cups for our meeting and EVERYONE raved about how good they were. (I thought so too!) We had a demo of the Cool Chicken Tacos, which no one has mentioned yet......They were awesome! I don't even like mango, jicama or avocado and I thought they were super yummy! My BLT pasta was really good, I thought too that it needed some chicken or something. I left out the onion also.

 

[StacieB]

Made the Warm Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad tonight and it was awesome!! Everyone at my cluster meeting loved it too. Nice and lite!

 

[flemings99]

Here's what we've tried:

Chipotle chili cornbread bake: LOVE IT!!
I don't even like chili. I subbed SW seasoning instead of the chipotle. Husband has had it 3 xs left over and said it is still good. We used the jiffy corn bread mix. Also cooked beef on stove, and then in oven b/c my micro is going out.

Bacon, Linguini & Tomato Toss Gonna have to pass on this one.
None of us cared for it. Also don't think it would be great for a show b/c of lots of steps/chopping. 2 thumbs down for me.

Kiwi-Lime Dessert Cups: YUMMY!!!! I could have eaten the entire batch. Everyone loved these. Great demo recipe. FYI--we didn't get all of them eaten so I refrig. the rest. Base gets very soggy. So recommend leaving filling out if you won't use all of them.

Tomorrow night we'll be trying more.

Lady Fingers were in the freezer section at our store. Very expensive when you have to x by 3. I think they were almost $4 each! I haven't made the trifle yet, but purchased the ingredients. If I recommend this for a host, I'd let her know that it is one of the more expensive recipes to make. Coconut milk was hard to find. Located it in the Asian section. Around $2/can.

 

[DessertDivaFL]

I made this yesterday and took it to work. I call them my guinea pigs, and they love that fact LOL Anyway, I barely got to try it. They absolutely loved it. There was just enough left to bring home for myself and DH.

I am a little confused on the lady fingers as well. The directions say 3 (3 ounce) packages for a total of 24. However, our 3 ounce packages around here have 12 in them so do I need 3 or just 2? I used just two and it seemed kind of mooshy. Next time I will try with 2 1/2 and see if that helps. I know it sucks up the milks quickly though.

Did you ask your bakery department about the lady fingers? They also sell them in the commercial dessert/bread aisle at the grocery stores around here.

I did ask the management at Publix and they said they used to carry them but they don't anymore. I will have to search the other areas stores.

 

[ajhunt2]

Don't forget that you can subsititue pound cake for the ladyfingers. Or I know someone who used twinkies and said it was good too. You're going to put that creaminess on them anyways so why not add more with the twinkies?

 

[pamscookingshows]

If you have made the Fresh Mango Margaritas, did the mango turn into a puree or was in more like a juice?

 

[luvmyfamily]

I made the Strawberry Coconut Tres-Leches Trifle for the Super Bowl Party. Well...it was gone in 5 minutes! Does that tell you anything? My husband was upset that he didn't even get to taste it. Well, neither did I for that matter. The only thing was that I couldn't find the soft lady fingers and used pound cake instead. It was easy and smelled amazing and looked like I spent all day on it.

I made this as well for a Super Bowl Party. It was gone so fast, I never even got to try it for myself either! I guess great minds must think alike. I noticed that you live in Florida. You can get the lady fingers in the bakery at Publix. I had to use 3 packages of them and I had to ask for them because they did not have them out. It does make you feel good when people rave over something that really was so simple and easy.