Magnolia Table By Joanna Gaines

First and most importantly, I love the content of the book, the pictures, and the recipes. The first recipe I tried was the chicken pot pie since I just bought a rotisserie chicken and was debating what to make with it. I didn’t have crescent rolls, so I made the book’s pie crust to go on top. I made half of a recipe for my smaller family and it was really delicious. I like that I had most of the ingredients on hand and I improvised for the rest.

The things that I think could use improvement are:

1) Hardcover cookbooks should always lie flat. In the “olden days”, cookbooks came as 3-ring binders. I still use my cookbooks from the ’60s and ’70s all the time. Other hard-cover cookbooks, I don’t use as much because they are a pain in the neck to keep open to the recipe I am using. I’m afraid this cookbook will be added to the “not use so much” category over time. I’m also not convinced that the binding will hold up over time, but we shall see.

2) I would prefer a slightly larger font overall (personal preference).

I love Joanna Gaines cookbooks! I am always browsing through her cookbooks for recipes. The recipes are easy to follow and so delicious. I keep her cookbooks on my counter so they are easy to look at. Don’t hesitate to purchase one of her cookbooks as you will find so many great recipes to make.

My husband bought this book for me for Mother’s Day. I had no idea what to expect and I’m delighted with it. It’s a collection of their family recipes from both sides, so it’s a great blend of mostly southern comfort food, with a few Syrian and Korean dishes with a family friendly, yet sophisticated vibe. Her recipes are easy, flavorful, and call for everyday ingredients. I think she has a slight crush on Gruyere cheese. I’m fine with that because I do, too.

My thoughts and pics of the dishes we’ve tried:
1-2) Gaines Brothers Burgers – p 81 with Bacon-Tomato Sweet Drip Jam – p 82. These were great burgers! They were huge, so next time, I’m making them 6 oz each instead of nearly 11! The tomato drip jam makes enough to make this dinner twice. I considered scaling it back, but I’m so glad I didn’t because it’s soooo good!
3) Layered Arugula Salad with Pear Vinaigrette – p 121. Beautiful and lovely flavor balance. The punch of the blue cheese is perfect against the sweet pears and candied walnuts, and the tart pomegranate arils are a nice contrast.
4-5) Stew with Jalapeño Cornbread – p 261. This is delicious. The beef stew has tons of flavor. The cornbread isn’t sweetened at all beyond corn’s natural sweetness. The corn kernels, jalapeños, and pimentos make it really yummy, and not too spicy, and the texture’s great. This dinner’s a total keeper.
6-7) Buttermilk Blueberry Puff – p 291. So rich and sweet. This is easy peasy, but a wonderfully decadent croissant bread pudding for brunch. (I think she has it in desserts.) I prepped it the night before and let it come to room temperature while I gave the oven plenty of time to preheat. It added a few minutes to the baking time, but worked really well.
8) Potato Gratin Mini Stacks – p 179. As yummy as they are cute.
9) Beef Tenderloin with Pickled Jalapeno Sour Cream – p 249. This is delicious. The marinade’s great, and we loved the jalapeno sauce.
10) Roasted Asparagus with Red Wine Bernaise Sauce – p 163. This was really good. The sauce should be silky. You wont stop whisking to answer your darling child’s text, so you wont break your emulsion, and yours will be much more aesthetically pleasing. Lol!
11) I sliced the leftover tenderloin paper thin and piled it on hoagies toasted with butter and garlic salt with a little thin extra sharp cheddar melted on it, and spooned that jalapeno cream over it. That was a fantastic sandwich!
12) Mom’s Bulgogi with Cucumber Kimchi Salad – p 240. Fantastic bulgogi. It marinates for 5 hours then gets a short spin on the grill. Her cucumber kimchi doesn’t require any fermentation. It’s a lovely, spicy, crisp, fresh, pickled tasting salad.

I’ll update this as I play in the book more!

Some others I have flagged to try: Jojo’s biscuits – p 18 with Bob’s Classic Gravy – p 21 * Garlic Cheese Grits – p 31 * Eggs Benedict Casserole – p 35 * Syrian Donuts – p 45 * Quick Orange Walnut Sweet Rolls – p 57 * Curry Chicken Salad with Toasted Nuts – p 79 * Country Potato Soup with Crumbled Bacon – p 103 * Sausage and Kale Soup – p 109 * White Cheddar Bisque – p 111 * Autumn Butternut Squash Soup – p 113 * Brussels Sprouts Salad – p 115 * Peach Caprese – p 117 * Deviled Eggs – p 133 * Party Queso – p 135 * Baked Brie – p 150 * Sheet Pan Nachos – p 151 * White Bean Hummus – p 153 * Souffled Broccoli Casserole – p 171 * Creamy Squash Casserole with Green Chiles – p 177 * Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas – p 193 * Chicken Pot Pie – p 197 * Dedication Casserole – p 197 * King Ranch Chicken with Mexican-Style Jicama Salad – p 207 * Mom’s Bulgogi with Cucumber Kimchi Salad – p 240 * Jo’s Fatayar with Lebanese Salad – p 244 * Broiled Honey Thyme Peaches with Ice Cream and Aged Balsamic – p 281 * Chocolate Orange Bread Pudding – p 293

My mom loves to cook, she really loved the way the recipes are so easy to follow and her meals and ingredients are so delicious, she impressed several guests with her cooking from all 3 Johanna Gaines cookbooks, very reasonably priced. Tells a story about her life as well!! Amazing read too!

This is a wonderful cookbook. I like trying the recipe as written. Then I can put my spin on them. It is written in straight forward terms. If you cannot cook. Watch her cooking show then use the book as a reference. If you are a good cook there a many great recipes to try one by one with yummy delicious options. Wonderful cornbread! My best recipe for cornbread to date.
*I do have a problem with William Morrow publishing. This new faint saving ink style in their books is unacceptable! I thought it was a mistake in my first WM cookbook. I will not buy anything else with this style of printing. These books will not stand the test of time. Add some bolder or more ink to the pages of your books!

Tout aimé. J’ai regardé Johanna faire les recettes sur sa série télévisée et le livre est pareil