The Cookbook Game #1

This is what DH will be making for the cooking game #1

Lemon Shrimp
serves 2 to 4

1 lb. large raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 TB. oil
Sweet and Sour Lemon Sauce (recipe to follow)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 325F. Butterfly the shrimp. Cover and refrigerate until 5 minutes before cooking. Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast until golden, about 8 minutes.

Place a wok over high heat. When the wok is very hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and stir-fry until they turn slightly pink, about 2 min. Pour in the sauce and stir and toss until the sauce glazes the food, about 30 seconds. Stir in the cilantro and pine nuts.

Sweet and Sour Lemon Sauce

1 TB. grated lemon zest
1 TB. finely minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup chicken broth
3 TB. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TB. thin soy sauce
2 TB. honey
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. Asian chile sauce

Source: "Wok Fast" - Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison

What is very interesting about this book, in the front are 18 other sauce/marinade recipes. They say that all sauce and marinade recipes are interchangeable and can be used with any recipe in the book that calls for sauce or marinade. Looks like the possibilities are unlimited for something different for quite a long while.

I hope you all find out something just as good about your cookbook for the week. If it wasn't for this game, this cookbook might have sat there for years to come without being used.
After this, I will link my recipes here.

DH made this recipe last night. He made full sauce recipe even tho I only used 15 shrimp because he wanted to use 1/2 the sauce on his chicken breast. He said his chicken was very good, but I would say the shrimp got a just good rating.
 
Well, I guess it is a good thing the game has been extended to the 20th. Normally the game would just about be over now and out of 8 players, only 3 players have completed the game. So, hope to hear from the rest of you soon. I hope everyone is enjoying their cookbook #14. Do you wonder what cookbook you will be using for the next game?
 
SatNav., yes, you can use a cookbook that you have cooked from before, just the recipe you use for the game has to be new to you.That way, everyone will still be exploring the book again, which is the main idea behind this game. Use them, use them, use them. lol

Can't wait for the results of those soups, they both sound like they will be very good. !!!!
 
A tip for all who don't know - if you click on the 'the cookbook game' tag (top left of thread) you will see all entries displayed on one (or two) screen pages. This applies to all our challenges.
 
Well I'll be darn. Cool. Thanks MG

Just for the record, I have a form that I use to keep track of the game. That is how I know that 8 players have posted their cookbook, 7 players have posted the name of their recipe and 4 players have made their recipe and 3 players have reviewed their recipe. lol
 
Here's my finished baked spinach dip. I'll write it up and review it later.

I do want to point out that I had to change the method a bit, so that may eliminate me this time around, but I still wanted to include it here, since this is where it started.
9ECC4BBB-07D8-4C1F-995E-B38F69079DEE.jpeg
 
Link to baked spinach dip:

https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/baked-spinach-dip-loaf.15951/

First, where I went off script: I should have made bread yesterday for this, to give it time to cool completely and then be hollowed out, filled with the dip, and baked again for an hour+.

Because we didn't want to be eating too late, I chose to follow the ingredients list (so that's the same), but to bake it separately in a greased 8-in X 8-in baking dish, at the same temp, for 30 minutes.

Saved me an hour and I didn't have to dedicate a whole loaf to one dish.

The review of the recipe:

This is easy and quite good. Nothing unusual in the way of ingredients or technique. Using a stand mixer with the flat beater, it comes together in short order; really more of an assembly exercise than any kind of involved cooking effort.

The end product is on the mild side, no bold flavors, and very creamy (as expected), though it holds together well and isn't messy at all. For someone who doesn't like spinach, this would be a good intro recipe to introduce them to it.

Review of the cookbook:

Wide variety of homestyle recipes and comfort foods; dishes that are good for church suppers and potlucks.

The cookbook is arranged with the usual chapters for appetizers, soups, beef, desserts, etc. It also includes a chapter of "kitchen basics" and a DVD of all the recipes.

Where it falls short is Taste Of Home's way of listing recipes in the table of contents and the index. They don't seem to follow any kind of standardized way, which can make it hard to find a recipe.

One thing I really like, though, is that the cookbook is spiral bound and folds flat, so it's easy to cook from.
 
At the rate everyone is going, we might be able to up the start date of game #2. I know I am anxious to see what my next cookbook is going to be.
 
I've just finished cooking my first entry... still writing it up.

https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/vegan-welcome-home-soup.15941/

I'll add to the thread when we eat it tonight, including some photos of it.
My review... copied here

I'll try for a better photo of the recipe tonight. One that perhaps doesn't feature an egg in the middle of it.
View attachment 30678


We're not certain about the recipe. Don't get us wrong, it's not bad but it doesn't remind us of a tex-mex dish but more of a Thai dish we know as lhaksa (or some variation of that spelling wise). Perhaps it's the curry powder we use, or perhaps it is the coconut cream/milk that came through a touch too much for us not to think Thai. We're using Clive of India (brand name) Hot Curry Powder which we're very fond of. But 1tbsp wasn't anywhere near enough and after eating it like that once, we both wanted more added which we will do tomorrow.

Would adding sriracha sauce to it help? We're not certain. I think switching out the coconut cream/milk would probably help. Or just halving it (remember we only used 1 tin, the original recipe called for 1 tin of coconut cream and 1 tin of coconut milk but failed to say what size tin. Both coconut milk and coconut cream come in a variety of different sizes and if you go with a standard 400ml tin, 1 of each is just excessive). I reckon it would probably work equally as well with a cashew nut cream to give it a slight creaminess.

Would we cook it again. Certainly but with some changes. More garlic for 1, more curry powder, switch coconut milk and coconut cream for cashew nut cream/milk. You could easily mix and match with the veg. Even serve it over noodles if you stayed using coconut milk/cream. But for me as a soup for a vegan meal, it lacks protein (hence why we added an egg or two with us being vegan plus eggs). How to add extra protein, kidney beans would help with that tex-mex theme and some protein.

Edmame beans would add loads of protein and work well with noodles and even tofu chunks which would probably give a well balanced meal. That gives me an idea for tomorrow nights portion. I've also got a spare fresh red chilli...
 
SatNav, a beautiful job in describing the soup.

Thank you so much for playing. Hope you had fun!!!
 
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