CANADIAN LIVING: THE ULTIMATE COOKBOOK
Recipe Reviews, Sneak Peeks and Book Giveaway
Jicama And Apple Spinach Salad
I have to say the photo of this salad in the cookbook grabbed my attention right away! I hope my photo does it justice. Like the title says, the salad includes jicama, apples, spinach and BACON. Wait, what? Yes, it calls for BACON but doesn’t include the word BACON in the title. What’s up with that? I couldn’t find jicama in my grocery store but I did manage to find the recipe’s alternate ingredient, fennel. I enjoy fennel. It’s like celery with an attitude. My family liked this salad so much they requested it two nights in a row. I don’t think we can ever have a spinach salad again without including fennel, apples and BACON!
Easy Baked Herbed Chicken
The title starts with the word “easy” so I decided to give it a go. I know from experience using fresh herbs can make a big difference especially if you're going for favour intensity. This recipe calls for fresh parsley, rosemary, and thyme. You can just smell the aroma, am I right? I swapped the parsley for fresh basil since I had that on hand. I’m all about being flexible with ingredients. I was encouraged to see this cookbook suggesting variations on recipes. The Easy Baked Spiced Chicken is a dried herb version of this recipe which includes garlic powder, onion powder, and sweet paprika. Can you say winner, winner, chicken dinner? My family did!
Peach Sour Cream Coffee Cake
I decided to test this recipe because my family likes coffee cake and peach upside down cake. This recipe looked like a combo of the two. The recipe calls for fresh peaches but I used sliced peaches from a can, "Oh no she didn’t! Oh yes she did!", and surprise-surpirse, it worked out well. The nutmeg gave the cake an intense flavour and the sour cream made the cake super moist. The only thing I would change in this recipe would be the addition of a streusel topping and maybe the same running through the centre of the cake. I think a brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter mixture would make this recipe taste more like a traditional coffee cake if that's what you're expecting. Family consensus is this Peach Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe is a keeper!