Crispy Potato Tots From Cook's Country October/November 2011

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: We recently found that our nostalgia for frozen tots, like many kid-friendly foods, outshone the reality. Determined to right this wrong, we hit the kitchen in search of potato tots with a golden, crunchy exterior and light, fluffy interior. Many recipes simply mix coarsely ground potato with flour and egg, but these tots fried up into raw, dense nuggets. Parcooking the chopped potato in the microwave was a step in the right direction, but the tots were still too heavy. Reducing the flour and omitting the egg helped, but the tots were still not light and fluffy. To minimize the gluey texture of potato starch, we tried processing the potatoes with water. Perfection. This step rinsed off the excess starch, and a small amount of salt in the mixture kept the interior downy white.

Neely's Deep-Fried Turkey

Neely's Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe courtesy The Neelys

How to Freeze Cookies and Decorate Later at TidyMom.net

Sending love to my homies because I don't want to imagine how dull & boring my life would be without you in it! "I'm Straight, Not Narrow"

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES Polvorones

INGREDIENTS 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup pecans, ground or finely chopped 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting 1 egg TO PREPARE Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large cookie sheet. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, pulse the pecans until they are finely chopped. Add the powdered sugar, flour and salt, and pulse again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary. Drop in the butter and shortening chunks, and pulse a couple of times. Add the egg and pulse again, just until the mixture starts to come together. Roll the dough into 1- to 1 1/2" balls with your hands. Place the balls on the baking sheet, spacing them 1" apart; give them a light pat on the top. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 15 minutes. You may need to bake two batches. Generously, really super generously, dust extra confectioners' sugar over the top of the cookies.

Salmon Croquettes Recipe by Paula Deen "Paula's Home Cooking" show episode "Money Saving"

Beer-Battered Onion Rings From Cook's Country June/July 2009

Serves 4 to 6 In step 1, do not soak the onion rounds longer than 2 hours or they will turn soft and become too saturated to crisp properly. Cider vinegar can be used in place of malt vinegar. Use a candy thermometer to make sure the oil gets to 350 degrees. Ordinary yellow onions will produce acceptable rings here. INGREDIENTS 2 sweet onions, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds 3cups beer 2teaspoons malt vinegar (see note) Salt and pepper 2quarts peanut or vegetable oil 3/4cup all-purpose flour 3/4cups cornstarch 1teaspoon baking powder INSTRUCTIONS 1. SOAK ONIONS Place onion rounds, 2 cups beer, vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in zipper-lock bag; refrigerate 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. 2. MAKE BATTER Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. While oil is heating, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Slowly whisk in ¾ cup beer until just combined (some lumps will remain). Whisk in remaining beer as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until batter falls from whisk in steady stream and leaves faint trail across surface of batter. 3. FRY RINGS Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Remove onions from refrigerator and pour off liquid. Pat onion rounds dry with paper towels and separate into rings. Transfer one-third portion of rings to batter. One at a time, carefully transfer battered rings to oil. Fry until rings are golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through frying. Drain rings on paper towel-lined baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and transfer to oven. Return oil to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining onion rings and batter. Serve. TROUBLESHOOTING BEER-BATTERED ONION RINGS PROBLEM: Crunchy Onions SOLUTION: Soak in Beer Soaking the rings in a combination of beer, vinegar, and salt softens and flavors the raw onion. PROBLEM: Bad Battering SOLUTION: Add Beer Gradually If the batter is too thick, the rings will be doughy; too thin and it will run off. Add the beer gradually until the batter falls from a whisk to form a ribbon trail. PROBLEM: Fused Onion Rings SOLUTION: Don't Crowd the Pot Fry the battered onion rings in small batches and transfer them one at a time to the hot oil so they don't stick together.

Chocolate Eclair Cake From Cook's Country June/July 2011

Serves 15 You can use 6 ounces of finely chopped semisweet chocolate in place of the chips. INGREDIENTS 1 1/4
cups sugar 6
tablespoons cornstarch 1
teaspoon salt 5
cups whole milk 4
tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 5
teaspoons vanilla extract 2
tablespoons water 1 1/4
teaspoons unflavored gelatin 2 3/4
cups heavy cream, chilled 14
ounces graham crackers 1
cup semisweet chocolate chips 5
tablespoons light corn syrup INSTRUCTIONS 1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in large saucepan. Whisk milk into sugar mixture until smooth and bring to boil, scraping bottom with rubber spatula, over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to medium-low and cook, continuing to scrape bottom, until thickened and large bubbles appear on surface, 4 to 6 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer pudding to large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours. 2. Stir water and gelatin together in bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, 15 to 30 seconds. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip 2 cups cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add gelatin mixture and whip until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute. 3. Whisk one-third whipped cream into chilled pudding, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream, 1 scoop at a time, until combined. Cover bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish with layer of graham crackers, breaking crackers as necessary to line bottom of pan. Top with half of pudding-whipped cream mixture (about 5 1/2 cups) and another layer of graham crackers. Repeat with remaining pudding-whipped cream mixture and remaining graham crackers. 4. Microwave chocolate chips, remaining 3/4 cup cream, and corn syrup in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cool glaze to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Cover graham crackers with glaze and refrigerate cake for 6 to 24 hours. Serve. (Éclair cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Cook’s Country's Cake Lifters June/July 2011

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WINNER Fat Daddio's Cake Lifter A little heavier than other models, this square-shaped cake lifter felt very sturdy for its small size, particularly when we moved a finished cake. Plus, it sported a comfortable offset handle. Its rounded edges let us see just enough of the edge of a cake layer as we stacked it, while still supporting the thin, delicate layers. The runner up RECOMMENDED Wilton Cake Lifter Its compact size works well for assembling a cake layer by layer, while its sturdy construction made it possible for us to move a decorated cake with ease. An ergonomic silicone handle gave us plenty of control with each task. Our only quibble was its square edges, which obstructed our view slightly when we lined up layers.

Strawberry Dream Cake From Cook's Country June/July 2011

Serves 8 to 10 INGREDIENTS CAKE 10ounces frozen whole strawberries (2 cups) 3/4cup whole milk, room temperature 6 large egg whites, room temperature 2teaspoons vanilla extract 2 1/4cups (9 ounces) cake flour 1 3/4cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar 4teaspoons baking powder 1teaspoon salt 12tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened FROSTING 10tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 2 1/4cups (9 ounces) confectioners' sugar 12ounces cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces and softened Pinch salt 8ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thin (about 1 1/2 cups) INSTRUCTIONS 1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment, grease parchment, and flour. 2. Transfer strawberries to bowl, cover, and microwave until strawberries are soft and have released their juice, about 5 minutes. Place in fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan. Firmly press fruit dry (juice should measure at least 3/4 cup); reserve strawberry solids. Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk milk into juice until combined. 3. Whisk strawberry milk, egg whites, and vanilla in bowl. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add half of milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand. 4. Scrape equal amounts of batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discarding parchment, and cool completely, about 2 hours. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.) 5. For the frosting: Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix butter and sugar on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add reserved strawberry solids and salt and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 days. 6. Pat strawberries dry with paper towels. When cakes are cooled, spread 3/4 cup frosting over 1 cake round. Press 1 cup strawberries in even layer over frosting and cover with additional 3/4 cup frosting. Top with second cake round and spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Garnish with remaining strawberries. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.) GETTING STRAWBERRIES TO WORK Eliminate excess moisture and maximize flavor. FROZEN STRAWBERRIES Easy to find. Always ripe. SOLIDS FOR THE FROSTING We press thawed frozen strawberries through a fine-mesh sieve. SYRUP FOR THE BATTER We concentrate the strained juice on the stovetop.

Banana Pudding The Traditional Southern Way with ScooterSMcGee

I actually made this, and yes, honey hush!  It was to die for, and I'm famous among my friends for it!

Paula Deen's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen Show: Paula's Home CookingEpisode: Dessert Cocktail Party Recipe categories: Fruit, Banana, Dairy, Cheese, Cream Cheese, I actually made this, and honey hush! It WAS to die for!

The Neely's twist on Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe courtesy The Neelys Show: Down Home With the NeelysEpisode: If Pat's a Good Boy: Pat's Favorites Recipe categories: Meat, Bacon, Dairy, Noodles, Cheese, Cheddar, more http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Mac & Cheese with Gremolata Breadcrumbs

What I'm looking forward to making and trying the most from: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012 GIRLS' NIGHT IN ON FOOD FOR THOUGHT WITH CLAIRE THOMAS Is the "Mac & Cheese with Gremolata Breadcrumbs"!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012 GIRLS' NIGHT IN ON FOOD FOR THOUGHT WITH CLAIRE THOMAS

"My sister and I are pretty busy ladies, and even though we live together, "quality time" isn't necessarily a guarantee. I'm an early bird, she's a late sleeper. I pass out by midnight and she'll burn that oil until two or three. So setting aside a night to just hang out on the couch requires both of us to pull out our calendars and see what can work. This week on Food For Thought, I make some of Amanda's favorites and she swings by the set to try them out. Delicious Roasted Brussels Sprouts with homemade aioli, gooey mac and cheese, molten chocolate cake with maple whipped cream, and Amanda's favorite salad with mango chutney vinaigrette round out this decadent meal for two."...