We got a hold of the latest Cook's Illustrated magazine. It is the Fall Entertaining copy and we tried out a couple of recipes and I thought I'd share with all of you our experiences.

The lemon layered cake is extremely good. Light with a lot of flavor. The custard in between the layers is not for the faint of lemon lover. This cake does not keep very well. After about two days in the fridge it was dried out beyond redemption. Freezing really isn't an option either as the frosting wouldn't take to it too well.

The Ultimate Beef Tenderloin: AKA: Beef Tenderloin with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms... OMG... This is a truly GREAT recipe. While a bit time consuming, it isn't very difficult to make. The recipe calls for a chautebriand, but I wound up using a normal tenderloin, I just asked for a center cut (which is essentally what a chautebriand is). My local meat shop is pretty good about those types of requests and they gave me a great cut of meat. The only thing I would suggest is to cut back a bit on the salt rubbed on the inside of the tenderloin (you spiral cut it, stuff it and roll it back up.) Also the butter w/ mustard and parsley is very yummy.

I made Caramelized Carrots to accompany the tenderloin, plus salads and a nice Cotes Du Rhone red wine.

We plan on trying out some other recipes as time permits, I'll post our results, but just based on those two I'd say buy that particular magazine if you see it on the shelf.

CanopyFlyer

 

 

I like chautebriand, tastes good, tender enough, and is relatively inexpensive.

 

<---- Has never had it.