Sunday, April 25, 2010

Test Cooking Trisha Yearwood

In anticipation of our annual Kentucky Derby Party on the 1st, I decided to give authentic (according to Trisha Yearwood anyway!) Southern cooking a shot. So I ordered her latest book, Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood, from the library and chose a few recipes that looked party friendly.

First up was the Hot Corn Dip, which was basically canned corn and green chilies floating in mayonnaise and some melted cheese.

When Trisha was on The View to promote the book, the ladies had gone NUTTY over this dip, but I have to say that I don't see the appeal. I guess if you luuurrve mayonnaise and corn, this would be right up your alley. But for me (and my step-mom and Hubby) it mostly just made us feel a little queasy. I guess we're not used to eating mayo as a meal!

Next up were Warren's Chicken Bites, which were chicken tenders combined with a dollop of cream cheese and jalapeno all wrapped up in bacon. The instructions said to grill them, but it wasn't grilling weather around here, so I tried frying some and baking others. Baking worked better, but I had to tell you that they all came out so ugly that I didn't even take a picture! The cheese leaked out and burned, the bacon crisped on the outer layer, and not at all in the center... I think I failed this recipe! Nonetheless, Hubby enjoyed it for the jalapeno kick, though he ended up pulling the bacon off after the first couple because combined with the cheese, it was a bit heavy! I again, experienced queasiness more than pleasure on this one.

Third and last, I gave the Vegetable Pie a shot.


Finally, a winner! The recipe is quite simple and called for onions, garlic, zuchinni and yellow squash all sauteed and layered on top of raw sliced tomatoes in the prepared pie crust, topped with water chestnuts. In lieu of a top crust there is a coating of mayonnaise (more!) and cheddar cheese. In the intro, however, she mentioned this recipe has worked equally well with whatever vegetable happened to be taking over the garden at the moment, so I used what I had in the fridge! Mine was tomato, zucchini, eggplant, portabello mushrooms, onion and garlic with the water chestnuts on top. This one was by FAR the best! Sweet from the tomatoes, fresh and light (especially if you scrape off the mayo topping!), Hubby and I both enjoyed this. The best part is that the recipe actually makes two pies, which is also how many crusts come in a box from the store making it an easy party addition! I think next time, though, I'll leave off the mayo entirely and just sprinkle the top with cheese.
Mmmm... cheese.... I guess we all have our weaknesses!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

OK. I guess you never noticed but what southern people love best is disgusting white gravy made with sausage drippings and then poured over a biscuit. This would be paste on top of cooked paste in my book. They also put either bacon, mayonnaise or brown sugar in everything. All too rich and too sweet for any educated pallet. Go for southern deserts and call it good enough....Pecan pie, sweet potato pie

Anonymous said...

Hey Dorothy! Ever tried bacon and brown sugar biscuits covered in white gravy and a side of mayo?? MMMMMM! stay up north if you don't like the cookin down here!!

Anonymous said...

I have to wonder where Dorothy has been eating southern cooking. Truth is mayo is NOT used much in southern cooking, I don't know why Trisha uses it so much other than she may just like it. That Paste she mentioned is not paste at all, and most times it is not made with sausage, just oil, flour, salt pepper, and maybe some onion, it is called Bechamel. Where she ever got the idea we put brown sugar in everything really makes me wonder about her eating habits. We simply do not put it in much at all. In most southern kitchen we freeze our brown sugar to keep it fresh, otherwise we would throw out most of the packages of it because it gets hard as a rock.

Why people seem to think the southerns are the last bastion of people it is okay to slander and pick on is beyond me. That is culturalism and as bad as racism. Only a few things we actually do eat has been picked up by the media and fast food restaurants and those seem to be the worst of what we do eat, so what does that say for the rest of the world that has created this market for them???
Dorothy here is a saying from the south you need to listen to..."If you can't say anything nice, then do not say anything at all."

Unknown said...

Drothy, seriously?!?! You couldn't have been more of a lady or a cook by decomposing the ingredients? She dresses her vege dishes with mayo, a salad dressing. You can make your own with oil, vinegar, eggs (if you want an emulsion), and your choice of seasonings to make your own vege topping. I like low sodium so went with just an oil & vinegar mix with some fresh basil and lemon balm - the cheese was low sodium swiss and provolone and wow - the cheese crumble topping was excellent! Who am I kidding - the whole pie was excellent though next time I am going with a layer of green tomatoes for the extra tartness and no crust as I don't care for carbs. Bless your heart, so glad I don't have to suffer thru any of your educated palate's concoctions. :P

Unknown said...

Drothy, seriously?!?! You couldn't have been more of a lady or a cook by decomposing the ingredients? She dresses her vege dishes with mayo, a salad dressing. You can make your own with oil, vinegar, eggs (if you want an emulsion), and your choice of seasonings to make your own vege topping. I like low sodium so went with just an oil & vinegar mix with some fresh basil and lemon balm - the cheese was low sodium swiss and provolone and wow - the cheese crumble topping was excellent! Who am I kidding - the whole pie was excellent though next time I am going with a layer of green tomatoes for the extra tartness and no crust as I don't care for carbs. Bless your heart, so glad I don't have to suffer thru any of your educated palate's concoctions. :P