Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook by Lynne Tolley and Pat Mitchamore: My Review

I like cookbooks, but find they are often divided into two types: 1) "Kitchen Porn"--those with pretty pictures of fantastic food that are utterly impractical for the average family or 2) Basic cookbooks filled with the kind of food real people cook, but not many pretty pictures. Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook is one that transcends those categories. It is an attractive, photo-filled book with recipes that real people actually make. However, most of the photos are of the people and places in Tennessee, not of the food in the book. There are chapters on Drinks, Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Vegetables, Breads, Entrees, Outdoor Cooking, Desserts and Cakes & Pies. Given the name of the book, it should come as no surprise that many of the recipes contain Jack Daniel's whiskey; however not all do.

In general the recipes are short and contain ingredients found in most kitchens. I'll share two with you--one with Jack, the other without.

Mashed Potato Casserole (page 71):

6 medium potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
butter

Preheat oven to 400. Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender. Drain and mash. Add onion, sour cream and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into greased 1.5 quart casserole. Sprinkle with bread crumbs dot with butter. Bake until brown.

Pineapple a la Jack Daniel (page 36)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Jack Daniel's Whiskey
2 fresh pineapples, cut into cubes

Bring sugar and water to boil, simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat. Add Jack Daniels Whiskey. Pour over pineapple cubes and chill for a few hours in the refrigerator.

I can hardly wait to start cooking some of this food!

Thanks to the Thomas Nelson Book Review Program for providing a complimentary copy of this book for my review.

To purchase from Amazon: Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook

Thomas Nelson Product Page

Note: The cover of my book does not look like that shown above; mine resembles the Jack Daniel's label.