Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Potluck Club Cookbook



The first recipe I tried was "Shepherds' Big Batch Chili" and I warn you, it's BIG. I made a half recipe and it's a good thing because a full recipe would not have fit in my 5 quart crock-pot.

This recipe was made for the St John's Moms' Ministry Night Owls group of about 15 women. The recipe was a smash hit; there was little chili left and multiple ladies asked for the recipe. Big Batch Chili was simple to prepare, needed no fancy hard-to-find ingredients and was quite tasty on both rice and baked potatoes. This one is a keeper.

The only negatives are that the recipe didn't state the size of Crock-Pot needed and it failed to say "remove the bay leaf before serving" which is standard when cooking with bay leaves.



Just three days later I prepared Linda's Pecan Crusted Baked Chicken for my family. Initially it was going to be for dh, myself and two children (11yo dd and 9yo ds) but then plans changed and I had two extras to feed (14yo dd and 16yo ds). Unfortunately I had only purchased and thawed 1.5 lbs of chicken tenders so dh and I got takeout while the children enjoyed a new recipe.

The chicken was easy to prepare, again no fancy ingredients needed and it was loved by my children - including the 14 yo daughter who supposedly doesn't like pecans. There were no leftovers and I was advised that this is a keeper.

The only problem for a less experienced cook is that the recipe called for 'boneless chicken breasts (halves or tenders)" but called for a cooking time of 45 minutes to an hour. While that would be an appropriate time for chicken breasts; it's far too long for chicken tenders. I adjusted, cooking them about 24 minutes and they were juicy but full cooked. I skipped putting foil in the bottom of the cookie sheet and didn't spray with Pam but that didn't seem necessary.

Available September 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

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