" BOB" > wrote in message
...
> sf wrote:
> > On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 04:23:02 GMT, Wayne >
> > wrote:
> >
> >> "Paul M. Cook©®" > wrote in
> >> :
> >>
> >> > I'm just curious here. I have both JC and NJC. Am I the only one
who
> >> > has consistent bad results with their recipes and techniques? I
mean
> >> > I fancy myself an able cook, not a chef by any means, yet I always
> >> > seem to have to make a JC recipe a couple of times and make changes
to
> >> > it to get it to come out right. I have so much better success with
> >> > other cookbooks it seems.
> >> >
> >> > Paul
> >> >
> >>
> >> Must be you, Paul. <G> I've used an early 70's edition for years and
have
> >> absolutely never had a problem or failure, save a few that were in
fact my
> >> own fault.
>
> Like substituting un-like ingredients? Like changing *anything* the first
time
> trying a new recipe?
> Been there, done that. *NOT* the fault of the cookbook or the recipe at
all.
>
> >
> > Ditto
>
> Me three.
>

Ok guys, be fair. But I do make all recipes exactly the first time - to the
very letter of the recipe. I don't claim to be a chef but after making a
recipe in JC I know I might like a tad more of this or a tad more of that
the next time I make it. Substitutions take longer of course. I'm talking
cooking here, not baking which as we all know is more like chemistry.

OK for example, the JC has dozens of chicken dishes. One of them is
smothered chicken. Cooked to their recipe the dish is flat, bland and not
too good. I hazard to guess it may be like a lot of food cooked in the 30's
and 40's. Now when I add some seasoning, much more olives, pan fry the
chicken first to a high degree of crispiness rather than just brown it, plus
use 1/2 the liquid they call for, I get a really nice dish that pleases
anyone who eats it.

Now for some of the breakfast foods. Their pancake recipes suck. They
really do. Their sour milk pancakes have no body, are flat and generally
tasteless. I use extra eggs, more salt, and less baking powder and I get a
really great pancake - thick and light and full of flavor. It is still very
much the JC recipe though with just a few minor changes that make a huge
difference.

Then there is the roast category. Cooked the way they instruct the roasts
turn out dry and ruined. I used to think it was just me until I tried Alton
Brown's method. Now I can make a roast to serve royalty. So I have
abandoned their roasting techniques.

Now don't get me wrong. JC is a fine cookbook. Where else can you get a
decent pineapple upside down cake recipe these days? But it is not perfect.
My hunch is it is based more on some cooking techniques from 70 or more
years ago.

Paul