Cook's Country August/September 2021

HOW DO YOU like to make your cornbread? The Fresh Corn Muffins featured on page 7, created by Deputy Food Editor Morgan Bolling, took me back in time to a cornbread and common-ground experiment I devised that invited friends to whip up their favorite recipe—in a plastic bag. The idea flowed from a conversation I had a long time ago with my friend, and award-winning Appalachian food writer, Ronni Lundy about whether sugar belonged in the mix. Ronni emphatically believed it did not. I argued that cornbread took on all kinds of new personality traits in the hands of enterprising cooks. My ancestors, for instance, developed a taste for sweet cornbread that we still call cornbread. Ronni called it cake. I shared my experiment during a workshop for TerraVita Food…

HOW DO YOU like to make your cornbread? The Fresh Corn Muffins featured on page 7, created by Deputy Food Editor Morgan Bolling, took me back in time to a cornbread and common-ground experiment I devised that invited friends to whip up their favorite recipe—in a plastic bag. The idea flowed from a conversation I had a long time ago with my friend, and award-winning Appalachian food writer, Ronni Lundy about whether sugar belonged in the mix. Ronni emphatically believed it did not. I argued that cornbread took on all kinds of new personality traits in the hands of enterprising cooks. My ancestors, for instance, developed a taste for sweet cornbread that we still call cornbread. Ronni called it cake. I shared my experiment during a workshop for TerraVita Food & Drink…

GET OUT AND GRILL These are Deputy Food Editor (and barbecue expert/fanatic) Morgan Bolling’s all-time favorite Cook’s Country grilling recipes 1 NORTH CAROLINA BARBECUE PORK “I’m from North Carolina and believe that N.C. barbecue is the pinnacle.” 2 CEDARPLANKED SALMON “This was my first grilling recipe for the magazine; it’s an easy way to make delicious fish on the grill.” 3 GRILLED SWEET POTATO SALAD “I make this salad all the time—it’s a superflavorful side dish.” 4 SMOKED CHICKEN WINGS “I love chicken wings, and adding smoke only makes them better.” 5 TENNESSEE PULLED TURKEY SANDWICHES “I make this every year for Friendsgiving; it reminds me of good people and good times.” These recipes are available for free for four months at CooksCountry.com/grilling. TIMESAVING TRICK We love making stir-fries, but…

GET OUT AND GRILL These are Deputy Food Editor (and barbecue expert/fanatic) Morgan Bolling’s all-time favorite Cook’s Country grilling recipes 1 NORTH CAROLINA BARBECUE PORK “I’m from North Carolina and believe that N.C. barbecue is the pinnacle.” 2 CEDARPLANKED SALMON “This was my first grilling recipe for the magazine; it’s an easy way to make delicious fish on the grill.” 3 GRILLED SWEET POTATO SALAD “I make this salad all the time—it’s a superflavorful side dish.” 4 SMOKED CHICKEN WINGS “I love chicken wings, and adding smoke only makes them better.” 5 TENNESSEE PULLED TURKEY SANDWICHES “I make this every year for Friendsgiving; it reminds me of good people and good times.” These recipes are available for free for four months at CooksCountry.com/grilling. TIMESAVING TRICK We love making stir-fries, but they can require a lot of prep work. Since many stir-fry recipes call for…

MANY AMERICANS ARE lactose intolerant, and many others choose to limit their intake of animal products, creating a lot of demand for vegan foods. Could we find a vegan chocolate ice cream that was comparable in flavor and texture to dairy ice cream? We rounded up 10 options. (These products contain no dairy, but we’ll refer to them as vegan ice creams for simplicity.) The ice creams in our lineup contained a range of base ingredients, from almond milk to coconut cream to pureed avocado, apple, and banana. Some of those ingredients competed with the flavor of the chocolate. We liked the ice creams that tasted of pure chocolate and those made with neutral bases that complemented their chocolate flavors. How Sugar and Fat Affect Texture We also looked at…

BOURBON CHICKEN—tender morsels of dark meat slathered in a sticky, sweet-savory sauce—is a popular offering at Asian- or Cajun-themed fast-casual restaurants all over the nation, especially in mall food courts, where it is famously served as samples. You may know the dish from the ubiquitous American food court franchises Cajun Cafe and China Max, which are owned by the same parent company, Magic Wok Management. There is a theory that the dish was named after Bourbon Street, but bourbon chicken’s origins probably have little to do with the city of New Orleans and even less to do with Cajun cuisine. Rather, bourbon chicken has more in common with teriyaki chicken, sesame chicken, and General Tso’s chicken and was likely created to capitalize on the appeal of those dishes—namely, pieces of…