Good Morning!
If you read my blog, then you know how much I enjoy cooking and baking. I don’t read tons of cookbooks because it’s so easy to just google search for recipes anytime, but occasionally a cookbook comes along that piques my interest so much that I purchase it. And today I’m talking about the one cookbook that I purchased in the past year: Magnolia Table.
Around the holidays last year I picked up the Magnolia Table cookbook by Joanna Gaines. Even though I’m not huge into HGTV, I am well aware of Chip and Joanna and what big stars they have become. I actually picked up the cookbook to put in a Yankee Swap gift exchange for Christmas because I figured that she is so well-liked that surely someone would want her cookbook. (Side Note: I think any cooking tools or cookbooks make great gifts in a gift swap because everyone has to eat and there is usually someone who will be happy with such items!)
However, I never ended up putting it into the gift swap because I thumbed through it one day and decided I wanted to keep it and make some of the recipes! But then I put on my counter and sort of forgot about it. Months later, I picked it up and started leafing through it again and decided that I really needed to try some of the recipes out!
Fast forward to today, and so far I’ve made six recipes from this book and they have all been amazing! So I’ve put together a little post to share some pictures of the recipes and my thoughts on them.
BLTs with Easy Herb Mayo
This is first meal that I made from this cookbook! Who doesn’t love a BLT?! These were really good, but maybe a touch on the rich side for me. The richness came from the mayo that I made from another recipe in the cookbook, Easy Herb Mayo. This mayo was really good and definitely kicked this recipe up a notch! But while slathering it on both sides of the bread before toasting helped to keep the bread moist, it also made it a bit heavier and it’s not something that I would make all of the time. However, it’s nice to change it up once in a while and indulge, so this would definitely be a meal for that!
This recipe also advised cooking the bacon in the oven, which I never do, but will definitely do more often because it was easier and less messy than cooking it on the stove-top!
Banana Bread
I’m a huge fan of banana bread so I couldn’t wait to try this recipe! I make banana bread quite often, but I don’t usually make it from scratch because I find the Chiquita Banana Box mix to be quite tasty and super easy to make. I was curious to see how this recipe could compare and if the extra effort of making it from scratch would really be worth it.
Well, I made this one morning and it was TOTALLY worth the extra effort! It didn’t take that long to mix the ingredients and the result was delicious. When comparing this bread to the Chiquita banana bread, both this recipe and the boxed mix yield a flavorful bread, but this recipe really delivers much more on moistness. I think perhaps it being baked in a square pan and not a loaf pan may have helped with this. The boxed mix is great if you are short on time and/or missing ingredients, but I will definitely be making this Magnolia Table one from scratch again and again.
This bread was gone in no time in my house. In fact, I had to text my mom to tell her to save me a piece, because she texted me that it was delicious and that she needed the recipe and I knew what that meant…she would surely eat the rest of the pan unless I instructed her not to!
Sour Cream Enchiladas
I had never made enchiladas before, so I figured it would be a nice change from my usual Mexican dinners of tacos or quesadillas. This recipe required a bit of prep work because it calls for 4 cups of shredded cooked chicken. To save time, I deboned a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store the day before to have the chicken ready to go. I also made the recommended side dish of Mexican Rice (also in the cookbook) the night before so that way I would just simply have to reheat it before putting it on the dinner table. Getting these two things done the day before really helped to speed up the cooking process, but this recipe still took roughly 30 minutes to put together and then another 35 minutes to bake it.
To me, the star of this dish was the Mexican rice! The enchiladas were quite tasty, but the rice was really great! I even missed adding an ingredient because I happened to not have it on hand, and even without the cumin this was still so delicious! This rice was the perfect accompaniment to the enchiladas and I’m certain that adding the cumin would make it even better!
Meatloaf
Since it’s been getting chiller, I’ve shifted a bit and have been back to making some comfort food dinners. Meatloaf with mashed potatoes is definitely up there on my list of top comfort foods and the meatloaf recipe in this cookbook is probably the best one I’ve ever made.
I think what helped to make this meatloaf better than normal is that you first caramelize the onions, let them cool, and then add them to your meatloaf mixture. This really added a more intense onion flavor, which seemed to give the loaf an overall better taste. I also liked the addition of crushed saltines to the mixture, which added a twist to the meatloaf texture. This recipe also calls for adding shredded cheddar cheese to the meat mixture and it’s topped with ketchup for a sweet, tomato-y touch! This was so yummy and definitely a dinner I will make again and again!
Overall, I’ve been so impressed by this cookbook! I really don’t know much about Chip and Joanna, but I can tell you that Joanna can cook and has some great recipes in here! I also found almost all of her recipes to be relatable and attainable. Some cookbooks that I’ve read, I just know I’m never going to make some of dishes – either they look too complicated or are too fancy for me to ever try. But with the Magnolia Table cookbook, almost all of the recipes that I have read through seem achievable and aren’t intimidating.
This cookbook splits the recipes into simple categories like Breakfast, Lunch, Soups & Salads, Appetizers, Side Dishes, & Desserts so there are a ton of recipes to pick from! Next up, I’m hoping to make the Brownie Pie recipe this weekend!
I highly recommend this cookbook and the holidays really aren’t far away! If you buy gifts for anyone who likes cooking then I truly think they would love this cookbook! Or be like me and get it to throw in a Christmas swap! It’s under $20 so it’s very reasonably priced! Get this cookbook (I got mine at Target, but it’s everywhere!) and the ‘Ove’ Glove and you have an excellent swap gift!
I hope everyone has a great day!
xo
Holly
Comments are closed.