Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book was given to me by my daughter because she has heard me talking about when my husband and I went on a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and met Crescent Dragonwagon (as a consumer, not personally). Her restaurant did indeed serve wonderful food and the entire trip was a fantastic experience. I must confess, when I found out that this recipe book concentrated solely on cornbread I was skeptical about it holding my interest. I was wrong.
Let's get the negatives out of the way first:
1. There are no pictures of the finished dishes. I REALLY like pictures.
****EDIT 1/3/2010**** In fairness to Ms Dragonwagon I would like to point out that she added pictures of some of the finished recipes here on the Amazon book page. They are really good photos and will give you an idea of how some of the recipes will look after they are prepared. I'm still cooking up a storm from this book and I'm sure you will too if you decide to try it. Enjoy!****
2. With the exception of the cover, the entire book is black, white, and a kind of pumpkin/orangie color. Not very exciting visually.
3. It is my opinion that much too much emphasis was given to the differences between cornbread as made in the South and cornbread as made in the North. Why go to so much trouble? Just put in the recipes and let me decide if I want to try them.
4. After a while (by about page 100) I really wasn't paying very much attention to the huge amount of information regarding cornmeal and history. Too, too much information.
Now for the positives:
1. It is very obvious that this book was a labor of love for this author. She knows her cornmeal from top to bottom. She even states in the book that this project was six years in the making and I can certainly believe it.
2. Each recipe begins with an anecdote concerning where it came from, who gave it to her or how it evolved over the years. These were simply fascinating to read.
3. Each recipe has obviously been tried, used, and tried again by Ms Dragonwagon. Even within the instructions for the recipes she puts in little nuggets of information to help with preparation, cooking or presentation. I appreciated that and it made each recipe seem very warm and personal.
4. These recipes are GOOD! I have tried four so far and absolutely loved each one, my hubby on the other hand only liked two.
DAIRY HOLLOW HOUSE SKILLET SIZZLED CORNBREAD - The first words out of hubby's mouth were, "Does this cornbread have sugar in it?" He didn't like it, I liked it but will not add the sugar next time. We are firmly entrenched in the no-sweetener-in-cornbread camp. On cornbread, now that's a whole other story. I must confess to liking this but I'm more lenient in food basics than my sweet darlin'.
JANE'S TEXAS-via-VERMONT MEXICAN CORNBREAD - I invited two friends over to taste test this with me. (Thanks Bonnie and June for being willing to sacrifice in the name of research!) We LOVED this cornbread and so did hubby when he got home. I paired it with.....
UNCANNILY GOOD SANTA FE STYLE QUICK GREEN CHILE SOUP-STEW - The recipe says it serves 4 to 6 generously. No, make that 10 to 12 generously. It was a fabulous vegetarian bean soup which just took wings and flew when combined with the cornbread mentioned above. For non-vegetarian consumption I would add some shredded chicken or a nice grilled polska kielbasa sausage.
PATSY'S CORNBREAD SALAD - I have this recipe in a pamphlet/recipe book from Lodge Manufacturing (makers of cast iron cookware) and it has always been a favorite of mine (hubby doesn't like this no matter what I do to it!). The difference here is that Patsy developed the recipe over time and hers has a different dressing and believe you me, that dressing makes that salad completely scrumptious! I'll never use bottled dressing again.
I am impressed with this cookbook. Yes it may seem to have a rather narrow focus but it isn't just about cornbread, it is about cornMEAL. That ingredient can be combined with others to make some pretty wonderful dishes. I can imagine myself using this book over and over and over for years to come. If you don't already have a well seasoned cast iron skillet, invest in one. They are relatively inexpensive and come from the factory pre-seasoned now so you get to skip that step. The cast iron skillet makes that indescribably delicious crunchy/crispy crust which makes cornbread a food of the gods. With this book you will have recipes to try out for months, and that's just counting the cornbreads.
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