CaliPoutine

CI must be very fond of this method. In their chicken fajita's( white meat, yeah!!) part of the marinade is saved and then tossed with the cooked chicken/veg. They are really the best fajitas I've ever had. Oh and that chicken/rice looks fab. What kind of rice did you use?

I really should mind my own business with this one because I know it's probably going to offend even though I don't mean for it to. But I've never been the king of tact so here goes. I don't think anyone should cook anything that someone is going to pay to eat that they're not willing to taste. I'm not saying you should compromise your beliefs but maybe you shouldn't include red meat on your menu. Anyway, that's just one asshole's opinion. Hope it doesn't make you hate me. ← Of course I totally disagree with you. I actually did taste the liquid, I swished it around in my mouth and then spit it out!! ( I didnt write that originally because it sounded gross ). I did NOT taste it again after it sat overnight. I did have THREE other people taste it though. I'm Jewish and I don't eat Ham. Should I never cook the Seniors ham( which they totally love?). I also hate raw tomatoes, should I never include them in a salad? I actually think I'm a pretty darn good cook, because I can prepare foods that I hate/avoid and they turn out pretty damn good!!

I forgot to add that I also included a Thai shrimp appetizer w/ a chili-lime mayo. I used 16-20 shrimp( 2lbs).

It took about 1.5 hrs. It was very hot when it was time to serve.

I usually triple my food costs. I cooked a dinner for 8 people( spinach salad w/ warm bacon dressing, pan roasted chix breasts with a vermouth sage sauce, smashed poatoes, green beans w/ almonds, and a trio of mini desserts). I charged 50 a person!! I made a nice profit!!

I made a recipe from TAH magazine. The original recipe calls for this stuffing mix to be placed in a baking dish and then boneless pork chops cooked on top. You glaze them w/ a mix of brown sugar and mustard. Chicken breasts were on sale for 1.97lb( very cheap for this area) and I havent made chicken for them for awhile. I got a frantic call from the director yesterday morning. She was worried that I was going to place raw chicken on top of the stuffing. I told her it would be fine( people around here stuff their turkeys, although I never do). I decided just to bake the chicken separately to assuage her fears. The stuffing is a boxed mix, creamed corn, onion and celery. We did it in the crock pot. I ordered 25 breasts and had the butcher cut them in half cross-wise. The coordinator didnt think that would be enough( it was, we had tons left over) and had me order another 15. I knew most of the women would only eat half a breast. I just baked them with some S & P and then used a high qaulity BBQ sauce( Diana's sauce, no HFCS) for the last 10 min of cooking. One lady said " I could just cry because there is no potatoes and gravy" I said " You have stuffing" and she said " where" and I pointed to the bowl and she said " with corn in it? and I said " Yep". Another lady said " This is an exceptional meal". I also made glazed baby carrots and they had ice cream and hot fudge for dessert. I baked off a boxed mix of oatmeal and honey bran muffins for their bread.

We served a soup a couple of weeks ago, which used the last bit of (frozen) Easter ham. One of the guests, asking where the ham came from, looked rather dismayed that we used Easter ham leftovers. We reassured him that the food had been frozen RIGHT AWAY after dinner in March. ← Thankfully, they didnt ask. They seemed to enjoy it a lot. It thickened up quite a bit overnight. I did notice a lot of people using salt. I didnt taste the soup because I don't eat red meat, but I'm glad it wasnt oversalted. I used Better Than Boullion Beef base.

Here is a fish taco I did about a week ago. The recipe came in an email newsletter from CAH. Its a baked tilapia w/ a mango relish. As you can see, some of the coating is still dry. I liked the relish, but I much prefer grilling a meatier fish.

I made the Spinach Lasagna the day before yesterday and baked it off yesterday for a dinner party. I also made the German Chocolate cake. I made it in a 9 x 13, but I much prefer it layers. I dont like crusty edges, but the chocolate flavor was intense!!

Thats the Costco I used to shop at. We don't eat that much rice, but I think I'll go get a big bag just in case.

I cook for the Seniors tomorrow. I went to the main office to make up a soup ( instead of salad) to use the roasts that were left over( I think they were from January). I used Barley and canned tomatoes, better than boullion beef broth and some spices along with onions, celery, carrots and potatoes. I'll add some frozen peas tomorrow.

If you go to their website here, you can sign up to be an ambassador and they'll send you 1 free coupon and a few other cents off coupons to hand out. I just bought a 750ml container of the vanilla ( full fat) for 4.69 but with the coupon it was FREE!!!

Chris, Thats been on my list to try forever, but I hate dark meat( my spouse loves it though) so I wonder if I can just use breast instead???? I made CI's fajita's for gas grill tonight and they were great. I didnt take a pic because they werent that photogenic. I do have one on my foodblog( I've made them many times before). I'll go dig up a link. Go here and scroll down to December 11th, 2005 eta: I forgot once again about the Chicken Tikka Masala!! Excellent.

Speaking of PB cookies, dont know if you've all heard this. The winner of the Pillsbury bake-off was a stuffed peanut butter cookie using premade dough. Its a very simple cookie filled with a pb filling( pb and confec. sugar) topped with a cinnamon sugar and chopped peanuts. There is a lot of controversy going on( from what I've read) regarding that recipe wining the million. Our own Claire797 aka cookie madnesswrote a few blog entries on this. She also baked the cookie as written and with dough from scratch.

Just made these the other day. CI's big supernutty peanut butter cookies. I didnt make them so big though. I used a meat pounder to make the marks. My peanut butter loving spouse loved them. I started out by making half a batch, but then accidentally used the full amount of PB. I had to make the full batch but didnt have the full amount of softened butter out, so I reduced the butter by 6 Tbls and they were still good.

I'm sure this is a totally tacky question, but how much was your oven? Also, will this take the place of your regular oven?

I forgot to mention that I make the scalloped potatoes for The Seniors and they just love them. They're so easy too, cook onions and garlic( I leave out for seniors) in butter, add sliced russets to 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup heavy cream( I make 4x a recipe) and the simmer for 10 min. Dump it all into a roasting pan and bake. Perfect every time. This recipe is from ATK family cookbook!! ( Big props to Snowangel who pointed this out to me last year)

I was in that market on Tuesday and I was totally thinking about you Tammy. I love See's and am always lamenting the fact that they're arent any local. Well, now at least there is one 3hrs from me instead of 3,000 miles. My favorite is coconut buttercream and I was thinking " I wonder if Tammy can make this". I was {} close to buying a pound but 20.00 a pound, while a good value( especially for the quality is a bit more than I can afford right now. Did you try the scotch mallow bars?. Those are another favorite and I did buy 2 bars to bring back home with me. Sadly, they're gone now : (.

I'm looking for a recipe for Honey Glazed Walnut Shrimp, anyone have one?

We started that today!! Both Chris and I posted some our faves on an existing CI thread. I can't really say I have a list of duds because I've only had 1 from all the CI recipes I've cooked. Btw, Kim I just checked out your online cookbook. I'm flattered that you included my adaption of the Magic Brownie recipe!! You even quoted me

Have you ever been around a hungry Dachshund? They would eat themselves to death if given the opportunity.

I'm just about to put together a foccacia from Fine Cooking( peter reinhardt) and I wanted to see the CAH recipe, but the link if for members only. Could you PM it to me please???

Chris, what does the T/O/B stand for? I forgot that I've also made the enchilada's and the skillet chicken pot pie w/ cream biscuits. Both fabulous. I'm urging CI downers to just try a few of these, you wont be dissapointed.

HOST'S NOTE: This topic was split from the more general discussion of Cook's Illustrated HERE to focus on cooking and analyzing specific recipes from the magazine. Please continue to use the original topic in the "Food Periodicals" forum to discuss more general aspects of the magazine, subscriptions, customer service, etc. Thanks! I've baked a lot from CI and the only recipe I didnt like was the coconut cake(march 2001). I make so many of their baked goods ( and savory recipes) over and over because they are really excellent. Here are some of my favorites. Chicken fajita's ( fabulous, but I always add a bit of tequila to the marinade) Spinach lasagna(bechamel based, will be making this again next week for a dinner party) Tall and fluffy buttermilk biscuits( there is a pic of these in the biscuit thread) Pineapple upside down cake( a friend told me this was the BEST pineapple upside down cake ever, better than his mom's) German chocolate cake( pic on my blog) Chicken, green bean mushroom stir fry along with the baked brown rice Pan sauteed chicken breasts w/ sage vermouth sauce spinach salad( pic on blog) chocolate pots de creme( we made and served this at a former job) multigrain pancakes multigrain bread( fabulous, makes 2 loaves) scones( blueberry and maple oatmeal pecan) Strawberry cream cake( YOU MUST MAKE THIS!!) Big super nutty peanut butter cookies( just made these a few days ago, pic on my foodblog) Lemon layer cake Grilled pizza( omg, so good) calzones( fabulous) Baby back ribs eta: NY style crumb cake I love their bulletin board too( Hi Darcie!!). I learn a lot from the folks over there. The new issue is out and I want to try the Hummus, and the Berry fool along with the oatmeal snack cake( I think I'll make this today) Ok, whose next? What have you tried and loved? Hated?

Maybe people who subcribe to Cook's Country, their sister publication!!