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Yearwood family takes readers to a country kitchen

By Kim Davaz

If what you’re looking for is good old down-home cooking, you can’t get much more good old down-home than “Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends.”

Trisha Yearwood, her mother, Gwen, and her sister Beth have brought together even more of their family’s favorite recipes in their second cookbook, combining them with family stories and cooking tips. They have everything from spring strawberry shortcake to wintery stuffed cabbage, from blueberry pancakes to a low-country boil. There’s even a Southern version of hummus made with boiled peanuts.

Whatever time of the day, the Yearwood family wants you to eat well.

You will find some recipes that make use of items such as canned cream of mushroom soup, canned biscuits, food coloring or green gelatin, any one of which is usually a book-closer for me. But I’ve become more open-minded as I age. Some of those ingredients, depending on the brand, aren’t half bad. The dishes made with them can be quite good and very nostalgic.

The Shamrock Salad (lime gelatin, crushed pineapple and cottage cheese, among other ingredients) reminds me of my mother-in-law. Not because she makes a similar salad, but because it is the color of her wall-to-wall carpeting. You take good memories where you can get them.

Watermelon Salsa from “Snacks and Appetizers” makes a very pretty dip for chips, but it could also be a salad, especially if you leave the watermelon in bigger chunks. Yearwood says you can add other fruits; she likes chopped mango.

In the “Soups and Salads” section, don’t miss the recipe for Yearwood’s version of a Thai salad she first ate in California. Her sour cream cornbread is featured in another salad, which isn’t strange, if you think of the Italian bread salad, panzanella. The colorful chicken poppyseed salad would be perfect for a ladies’ lunch. If you made it with leftover chicken or a store-roasted bird, you wouldn’t even have to turn on the oven.

And then there are the desserts: Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese frosting, an impressive 12-layer torte and a big biscuit strawberry shortcake.

Often cakes are glazed rather than frosted: coconut cake with coconut lemon glaze, spice cake with lemon sauce and apple walnut cake with caramel glaze.

“Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood” reminds me of potlucks with family and friends. Cook from this book to make your own memories.

Spoon Rolls are so easy, even people afraid of baking with yeast shouldn’t be hesitant. There’s no kneading, and you don’t even really need a mixer. (I made my batch by hand.)

This is a great recipe because (1) it tastes good, (2) it can’t be easier, and (3) you make it ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. That means you can have yeast rolls in about half an hour, including the time it takes for the oven to preheat.

The recipe doesn’t say, but fill the muffin cups about 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Recipe notes say not to stir down the dough before spooning it into the muffin pans, unless you need to add a little more flour. (The dough may get thinner as the days go by.)

Stop what you’re doing and make a batch right now. You’ll thank all the Yearwoods from the bottom of your heart.

Spoon Rolls

Makes 5 dozen mini rolls.

• 1/4 ounce (1 packet) active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm (100 degrees) water
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 cups self-rising flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Mix the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in the egg. Add the yeast and mix well. Gradually stir in the flour, until smooth. Pour into a 2-quart, greased, airtight bowl. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease miniature muffin tins.

Spoon the dough into the muffin tins and bake the rolls for 18 to 20 minutes, until browned.

Kim Davaz writes a biweekly cookbook review column for The Register-Guard.

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