Recipe Reviews! Week 16

I'm going to start this week's reviews off with our Memorial Day meal. Not going to lie, though- it was not our healthiest meal of the week!

Hush Puppies

I remember having Hush Puppies once as a kid. It was at some benefit dinner that we went to with Grandma and Grand-daddy (it's quite possible
my family was the entertainment for the dinner). All I can really remember about the Hush Puppies is that my grandparents really liked them and, after I tried one, I couldn't figure out why anyone would like Hush Puppies. I haven't had them since, but Jason has asked for them a few times since he found out I have recipes for Hush Puppies. He says he only ever had them at Long John Silvers as a kid. (I've never been to a Long John Silvers....) I believe my personal cookbook has two recipes for Hush Puppies, and they were nothing alike. So, I chose to make this one as I had most of the ingredients. Jason did have to hunt down some white cornmeal for me, though.

The Honest Review: I should've made a half-batch; it made a LOT of Hush Puppies. When frying these Puppies up, they actually were fairly tasty. Not what I remembered eating as a little kid. Little Pumpkin kept begging for more, so I think she approved. Jason also thought they were really good. I did find that I didn't need to eat too many of them, and I also didn't think they were good as left-overs. Jason still enjoyed them later in the week, though. We are curious to try the other recipe that I have, and then we will determine which one is best. This recipe is staying in our collection at this time.

Fried Shrimp

I actually made this recipe up on the fly. We had leftover frozen shrimp from Week 13's Soy Chicken Kabobs, and Jason has wanted to try frying shrimp for a long time. I made a liquid dip of egg and milk, and a seasoned coating out of flour and this Wildtree Scampi Blend that was given to us as part of our wedding present from Jul and Linden. (Yes, I have kept seasonings that are several years old!) I did a double dip in both the wet and dry coatings for the shrimp and deep-fried them.

The Honest Review: They were honestly pretty good! We all liked it, but Jason did comment that the seasoning has probably lost some of it's potency due to age. Jason was impressed with how well my double-dip coating did, and we feel like our deep frying skills have improved. I don't really have a recipe to keep, or toss, but I think we have more knowledge on how to batter meats for deep-frying.

Seasoned and Grilled Wild Turkey Breasts

Again, I don't really have a "recipe" for this. Jason has been turkey hunting this spring, but sadly with no luck. One of his hunting partners kindly shared a pair of turkey breasts with him from their kill. The last wild turkey Jason got, he tried to smoke the breasts and he was not pleased with the outcome. (The flavor was really good, I thought, but it was dry and a bit tough.) This time, he decided to try grilling the turkey breasts. He decided to use my Aunt Eva's Raw Meat Seasoning blend (also found in Week 13), along with a little pepper and garlic, to season the turkey. He grilled it to perfection, along with the corn on the cob that you see, to complete our Memorial Day meal.

The Honest Review: It was delicious! The turkey was just absolutely delicious! As was the corn, but we were both shocked at how well that Seasoning blend worked on the turkey. It was so good! We all thoroughly enjoyed the turkey, and corn, and are glad we found a seasoning that works so well with wild turkey. I will say, that while the turkey was super moist this time, it still was not the super tender, flaky turkey that you get from a store-bought turkey. It wasn't tough, but since wild turkeys actually fly and use their breast muscles, it has a tougher texture. (Wild turkeys also stink to high heaven, in case you wanted to know! But that's a bit off topic...) We will be using Aunt Eva's Raw Meat Seasoning for turkey, wild and domestic, in the future.

Ham Pot Pie

I grew up with Ham, Potatoes, and Green Beans being quite a treat for a meal. I don't recall it being called "Ham Pot Pie," or that we ever put dumplings in it, though. The other week I cooked our last ham (frozen from the Christmas and Easter sales) and used part of the leftovers to make this recipe from my sister, Gail. I've made a version of this before, but never really used a recipe.

The Honest Review: It was very tasty and we quite enjoyed it! Having dumplings in my ham and green beans was a little different for me, though Jason thought it was fine. They tasted good, but I felt that since it already had potatoes, why have dumplings- another starch? In the future, I'm not sure that I would do dumplings AND potatoes; probably I would just do one or the other. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Best Sausage Cakes

I honestly don't recall ever seeing this recipe, or having it, before. Apparently it is from my Grandma and sister, Gail. I wasn't sure what Jason would think of it, but I made it one morning for breakfast. It was pretty simple and easy to make!

(Unfortunately, I must have forgotten to take a photo!)

The Honest Review: These were good, but also different. There was a definite sweet, apple flavor which was nice but, depending on what type of sausage you use, it may not always marry well. (How's that for some cooking show lingo!) Jason actually kind of liked it and said that he would make it again. I think he did mention that it may not go well with all flavors of sausage, so I will have to keep that in mind when I buy sausage. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Cream of Mushroom Dried Soup Mix

I have flipped over this recipe several times and have wanted to try it, but never did. When I was menu planning the other week, I was going to need a cream soup. Instead of buying it, I decided to mix up a half-batch and try this instead.

The Honest Review: It smelled really good when I made the dry mix. I made one portion of it as Cream of Mushroom Soup (cooking with water), and have done another portion as Cream of Chicken Soup (cooking with chicken broth). I tasted the Cream of Mushroom one by itself and thought it was pretty tasty, actually. I forgot to taste the Cream of Chicken one before mixing it into the recipe I was making. One thing I did notice was that it didn't seem to get quite as thick as what you dump out of the can. But, I also thought that it may gel more if you let it cool. Since I was mixing it into food that was going in the oven anyways, I figured it was all good. So far, I have been pretty pleased with using this dry mix, and I haven't had any complaints from Jason or Little Pumpkin. I do want to compare the ingredients in this mix to what is in the cans of cream soup- I'm curious if one is healthier than the other. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: I would like to try adding dehydrated mushrooms to the mix.

Applesauce Cookies

I had some applesauce that needed used up the other day, so I went through my desserts to see what all took applesauce. I came upon this recipe that is from my maternal great-grandma, whom I never knew, and I don't think I have ever had this recipe. I decided to give it a go.

My baking buddy, Little Pumpkin, also wanted to mix up a batch of "cookies."

The Honest Review: Warm, straight out of the oven, I thought these were pretty good. They weren't overly sweet, which I liked, but that could be from using unsweetened applesauce. The cookies look very plain, though. Jason thought they had good flavor, but that they either needed an icing, or to be a muffin. They are a pretty light, cakey texture. I never did try making an icing for them, but put them in the freezer to enjoy over time. As I have gotten them out of the freezer, I didn't think they were as good left-over. The flavor becomes kind of non-descript. I'm debating on whether to keep this recipe, or to toss it. What would you do?

I believe that wraps up my recipes for this week. I hope you enjoyed it- I feel like our food was all over the map from fried to made-from-scratch condensed soups to bland-looking cookies! If you were the cook, which of these recipes would you keep, and which would you never make again?