BURTRAM Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (1514903)

Spinach Brownies

Reviewed: Jan. 1, 2010

A keeper, but needs a few adjustments. I can't imagine why you wouldn't cook the onion first, and I was using fresh spinach, so I fried 2 strips of bacon then sauteed the onion & some chopped garlic in the pan drippings. I added the spinach to cook it all the way down, crumbled the bacon & added it to the spinach mixture. I only used 1/2 the butter called for (& mine was borderline greasy -- I know I added bacon grease, but I can't imagine the outcome w/ a full stick of butter & you simply don't need it, anyway). Skim milk worked great & so did Mexican blend cheese, which was what I had on hand. Made them in a muffin pan, so everyone gets nice, crispy edges (might lower the temp to 350 & let them cook longer next time). I think this recipe has a lot of potential for all sorts of add-ins. I'm looking forward to making it again!

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Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men

Reviewed: Dec. 24, 2009

I adjusted the spices per other reviewers' recommendations -- they obviously would have been pretty mild, otherwise. Here's the thing about this (& probably every) gingerbread cookie recipe: it requires a LOT of precision. Unless you are meticulous in rolling out the dough (which is, of course, sticky, -- I used powdered sugar rather than flour when rolling them out), they won't all be the same thickness & therefore won't cook evenly. Also, I was using 3 different cookie sheets & could tell a pretty big difference in cooking times, etc., depending on which sheet I used. This is a good, solid recipe, but there's lots of room for error here, so proceed with caution if you don't have a lot of baking experience -- or even if you're simply in a hurry!

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Easy Roasted Pork

Reviewed: Nov. 12, 2009

Good flavor, but it would be nice to play around with some ways to counterbalance the incredible sweetness. My kids ate it, and we all enjoyed it, but I think next time I'll do a little more experimenting with this as a base recipe (as it was I rubbed in salt, pepper & garlic powder & browned the meat before roasting, but it still felt a little one-note to me).

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Southwestern Chicken Lasagna

Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2009

I just don't "get" this one. There was a sweetness that I couldn't identify (maybe from the jarred spaghetti sauce?) and even though the chicken mixture seemed well seasoned before assembly, the finished product needed salt. I added some pinto beans, which thankfully added some texture -- the cooked chicken stews into a fine shred, which would be fine if there was some texture built into the recipe elsewhere. It was good enough, but not at all great -- and not one that I'll make again.

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Sunflower Seed Spread

Reviewed: Apr. 26, 2009

With a good bit of tweaking this came closer to 5 stars, but the combination of raw onion and that much lemon created such a bite that I had to spend a lot of time adjusting the flavors. I ended up adding olive oil and plain yogurt to get it more the consistency of hummus, and it was great. Loved the nuttiness of the sunflower seeds, so it was a great change of pace!

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Baked Creamed Corn II

Reviewed: Mar. 10, 2009

I'm giving this 4 stars, because I think it's a great preparation and I would encourage people to try it. HOWEVER, I think the proportions of the recipe as written are ludicrous. I changed the 10 oz bag of corn to the 32 oz FAMILY SIZE bag and thought the recipe came out perfectly. I would imagine a corn soup would result from the way the recipe is written! The white pepper and nutmeg are truly what make the flavors so great, so trust the recipe in that regard. Enjoy!

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Cabbage Beef Soup

Reviewed: Feb. 23, 2009

I think soup is an opportunity to layer all sorts of flavors, but no matter what I did to this one, it just tasted like a bunch of stuff that came out of a can. My kids liked it, though (of course, they also like canned ravioli), and they didn't notice the cabbage, so I suppose that was a good thing. But this is not one I'll be making again.

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Crispy Herb Baked Chicken

Reviewed: Feb. 16, 2009

It was good and definitely one my family will want me to make again. Not terribly refined, but the kids liked it. The mashed potato flakes I had were flavored, so I think mine would have been better with garlic powder rather than the strength of garlic salt. Next time I will try to cook it on a baking rack, since the juice from the chicken actually formed little blobs of mashed potatoes around the chicken, which don't brown very well. Overall, the taste was a lot like KFC, which leads me to believe that the heavily guarded secret recipe might contain a powdered version of dehydrated potatoes!

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Pretzel Turtles

Reviewed: Jan. 7, 2009

The perfect little treat, and my 5 year old did most of the work! We would never snack on the butter-flavored Hanover pretzels, but they did add just a touch of depth to this recipe, so I'd recommend those (and use the square pretzel if you can, regardless). I used toasted pecans that we put in place before baking & Dove caramel chocolates. I personally thought they looked better without any drizzle on top, although others have suggested it. Such a hit!

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Marinated Cheese

Reviewed: Dec. 4, 2008

This has been a favorite of mine for years. It's lovely and so, so good. The flavors are supposed to be strong, but I guess that doesn't work for everyone's palate. However, I have never served it without it disappearing quickly (and people begging for the recipe).

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World's Best Scones! From Scotland to the Savoy to the U.S.

Reviewed: Nov. 2, 2008

I chose this recipe because I just don't keep whipping cream (as is called for in most recipes) in the house. I was very pleased with how well these turned out, but I might cut back on the baking powder next time -- I felt like I could actually taste it a bit. I think the important thing to consider here is using this recipe as a base to build on. Personalize it to your taste (no currants, using gingerbread seasonings, adding a bit more sugar, whatever), but don't expect a whole lot of flavor as written. This is a classic, understated British scone -- not the hulking, iced variety you buy at Panera. I also have to say that I followed another reviewer's tip about freezing and grating the butter. Fantastic idea! I may never cut in butter again. Also, the suggestion to cook in a cast iron skillet (I buttered mine for good measure) was priceless.

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Best Ever Banana Bread

Reviewed: Oct. 20, 2008

"Best Banana CAKE Ever" -- it's wonderful, but as written: it's flat-out cake. Cut the sugar a tad (and use at least some brown sugar, no matter what), increase the bananas, substitute half the oil with applesace and about 1/3 of the flour with wheat flour, and you'll have a delightful, moist banana bread. That's how I usually make this, but I was out of applesauce and forgot to cut back on the sugar until it was too late. Even with more bananas and the wheat flour, it still tastes like something Little Debbie would make. Which means it tastes FABULOUS, but I'm only giving it 4 stars, because I don't think the title of the recipe accurately reflects the finished product.

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Bacon Crackers

Reviewed: Apr. 22, 2008

I have made these for years and just realized that I don't think I've ever reviewed the recipe. Quite simply, these things can ruin your life. They are so easy and so yummy, and so small that you can eat them and eat them and eat them -- and find it hard to stop! I've never made them that I haven't had people clamoring for the recipe. I always use Townhouse Reduced-fat crackers (the bacon adds enough fat to go around) because the oblong shape works well. I also try to cut off the parts of the bacon that are pure fat -- in other words, I like to see as much pink as white in the pieces of bacon I use. I always give them a good, bubbly broil at the end of cooking and transfer each cracker to a cooling rack ASAP, as they will stick to the pan in no time. I've even given them a light dusting of cayenne pepper before cooking for an added kick, but they're great either way. Always a hit!

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Baked Tilapia

Reviewed: Apr. 21, 2008

I'm giving this four stars because my kids gobbled it up, but I would say that the four stars are a bit generous otherwise. As it's written, this recipe would have to be too greasy to eat -- I cut the oil both in the paste and in the pan, and I omitted the butter completely. Also, tomato paste is such a strong flavor, so I mixed in some bottled minced garlic and a generous sprinkling of sugar, just to make it edible. The final product reminded me of good, solid cafeteria food. You'll notice that another reviewer said that her fish-hating husband liked it? That's because you can hardly taste the fish at all. But it was super fast, used ingredients I had on hand, and a hit with the kids, so I can't complain too much. Just be advised that this is not a dish that would appeal to a refined palate.

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Peppermint Patty Brownies

Reviewed: Sep. 27, 2007

I have made these for years -- always my husband's request for Father's Day and birthdays. I always make them in a metal 9x12 cake pan and I only put enough batter on the bottom to cover the pan (thick, but less than half the batter on the bottom) -- it always seems to require more than half the batter to cover the peppermint patty layer. When in doubt, undercook! You can almost never get an accurate toothpick reading because of the peppermint brownies, so I generally take them out when the edges start to crisp and the middle is set when I give the pan a giggle. I also think it helps not to overbeat the batter. Too much time in the mixer or the oven will make them dry and cakey, at which point they're really not worth eating. But a good, gooey center underneath that crisp, flaky top layer? Absolute heaven.

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Mexican Cornbread II

Reviewed: Jun. 23, 2007

Yummy -- but this is SPOONBREAD, ***NOT*** cornbread! I made it with Jiffy cornbread mix and pepper jack cheese, and it tasted great (I would call it very sweet, though, so that might be the difference in using Jiffy, compared to what other reviewers said) and cooked it in a 10" iron skillet. After I took it out of the oven and saw the consistency, I put it back in at 450 for 10 minutes, and it was STILL the consistency of spoonbread -- there is no way on earth you could eat this stuff with your hands, as you would a piece of cornbread. So, again, it tasted very good but was not at all what I had in mind.

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Delicious Southern Cornbread

Reviewed: Apr. 26, 2007

Okay, here's a revelation for everyone out there: not all southerners agree on the way cornbread should taste! Probably the only true constants are a pre-heated iron skillet, and I would say lard (Crisco) instead of butter, but maybe that's just me. This recipe is, hands down, the best one I've tried in a long time. I have to qualify that by saying that I made it with sorghum syrup and I don't think it would have worked as well with honey. The tang of the sorghum, combined with the sour buttermilk was what made it really work for me. I do think cornbread can be too sweet (or too eggy or too cakey), but I've never tried it with sorghum before -- perfect!!! Also, I doubled the recipe for my 10" skillet because cornbread goes really fast at my house and I needed each slice to be pretty hefty. Finally, I'm not a big fan of sprinkling the cornmeal in the hot skillet -- if you're skillet is hot enough (okay, I also made this at 425 instead of the suggested 400), I don't think you really need it, and it can cake up if you're not careful. Having said all that, this will be the only recipe I use from now on.

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Cheddar Baked Chicken

Reviewed: Apr. 2, 2007

Not bad -- my kids liked it, which is always a good thing. But my cheese got a little rubbery and the rice krispies seemed like they were just sort of tacked on there. I really like the seasoned flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, so I'll probably do that again, but I think I can live without the cheese and cereal.

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Garlic Butter

Reviewed: Jun. 20, 2006

Waaaaay too salty as written -- I had to add half again as much butter, as well as some milk to have it be edible. I wish, wish, wish, I would have used garlic powder instead of garlic salt...which I would have if I'd read the reviews first! Other than that, the flavor was excellent. I'll definitely make it again, but with the garlic powder adjustment.

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Upside Down Supper

Reviewed: Feb. 9, 2006

For a quick, easy "pantry meal," I thought this was great. Gourmet? Of course not; but quick, tasty & satisfying. I followed another reviewer's suggestion to add garlic & more Worschstershire, which I would not recommend -- overpowered the sweetness of the creamed corn, which I think is really meant to complement the cornbread topping.

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