Fix-It and Enjoy-It! Cookbook

By Phyllis Pellman Good
Published by Good Books
April 2006;$15.95US; 1-56148-526-8

Meet the Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook, an irresistible collection of All-Purpose, Welcome-Home Recipes. Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook offers choice recipes for stove-top and oven cooking.

Note this:
--Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook is a "cousin" of the extraordinarily popular Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.
--Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook is by New York Times bestselling author Phyllis Pellman Good, lead author of the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook series (more than 6.4 million copies already sold!).

Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook brings you:
--delicious food for everyday that is easy to prepare;
--recipes which use ingredients that are already in most cooks’ cupboards;
--recipes which are not intimidating; the skills they require are simple and basic;
--nutritional food which your family and friends of all ages will heartily enjoy!

This wonderful collection is packed with more than 800 recipes. Each includes the amount of Prep Time and Cooking Time needed. Each includes clear, step-by-step procedures for making the dish.

Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook delivers recipes that are easy and pleasing -- for the cook -- and all who gather around the table. This is good everyday food! Persons who have loved the Fix-It and Forget-It slow cooker series will also love the all-purpose Fix-It and Enjoy-It Cookbook!

Good has authored the national #1 bestselling cookbook Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker (with Dawn J. Ranck), which appeared on The New York Times bestseller list, as well as the bestseller lists of USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Book Sense. And she is the author of Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly: Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker, which has also appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. In addition, Good authored Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining: Slow Cooker Favorites for All the Year Round (with Ranck) and Fix-It and Forget-It Diabetic Cookbook (with the American Diabetes Association), also in the series.

Good's other cookbooks include Favorite Recipes with Herbs, The Best of Amish Cooking, and The Central Market Cookbook.

Phyllis Pellman Good is Senior Editor at Good Books. (Good Books has published hundreds of other titles by more than 125 different authors.) She received her B.A. and M.A. in English from New York University. She and her husband, Merle, live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of two young-adult daughters.

Excerpt
The following is an excerpt from the book Fix-it and Enjoy-it! Cookbook
by Phyllis Pellman Good

Tuscan-Style Pork Ribs with Balsamic Glaze

J.B. Miller, Indianapolis, IN

Makes 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes 
Standing (or Chilling) Time: 2-8 hours 
Baking Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

2 Tbsp. olive oil 
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves, or 1 tsp. dried rosemary
1½ Tbsp. kosher salt
1½ Tbsp fennel seeds, or 1½ tsp. ground fennel 
2 tsp. pepper 
2 tsp. fresh chopped sage, or 1 tsp. dried sage 
2 tsp. fresh chopped thyme, or ½ tsp. dried thyme 
2 tsp. paprika 
1 tsp. crushed red pepper, optional, depending on how much heat you like 
1 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground allspice
6 lbs. pork ribs 
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, rosemary, salt, fennel seeds, pepper, sage, thyme, paprika, red pepper, coriander, and allspice. 
2. Rub spice paste all over ribs and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight. 
3. Preheat oven to 325°.
4. Arrange ribs on a large, rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan, meaty side up. 
5. Roast ribs uncovered for 2 hours or until tender. 
6. Preheat broiler. Brush meaty side of ribs with balsamic vinegar and broil 6 inches from heat until browned, about 2 minutes. 
7. Let stand for 5 minutes, then cut between ribs, or serve in slabs.

Tip: You can use this glaze on pork chops, lamb chops, and cuts of chicken.

***

Curried Chicken Pitas

Sharon Eshleman, Ephrata, PA

Makes 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

½ cup light mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 Tbsp. honey 
1 Tbsp. pickle relish
¾-1 tsp. curry powder, according to your taste preference 
2 cups cubed cooked chicken 
1 cup halved grapes or chopped apples 
½ cup chopped pecans
4 pita breads, halved 
8 lettuce leaves

1. In a bowl, combine salad dressing, honey, pickle relish, and curry powder. 
2. Stir in chicken, grapes, and pecans. 
3. Line pita halves with lettuce. Spoon ½ cup chicken mixture into each pita.

***

Black Bean and Butternut Burritos

Janelle Myers-Benner, Harrisonburg, VA

Makes 8 burritos

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Baking Time: 15-20 minutes

1 Tbsp. oil 
1 small or medium-sized onion, chopped 
3-4 cups butternut squash, cut into ½" cubes
½ tsp. cumin 
¼ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt 
2 cups cooked, or a 15-oz. can, black beans, drained 
8 tortillas 
1½ cups grated cheese
sour cream 
cilantro, if you wish
salsa 

1. In a large skillet or saucepan, heat oil. Sauté onions until tender. 
2. Add butternut. Cover and cook over medium heat until tender. 
3. Add cumin, cinnamon, and salt. Add beans. Cover, and heat through. 
4. Put ⅛ of mixture in each tortilla, top with 3 Tbsp. cheese, and roll up. Place seam-side down in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. 
5. Bake uncovered in 350º oven for about 15-20 minutes, until heated through. 
6. Serve with sour cream and salsa, and cilantro if you wish.

Tips: Tortillas freeze well with the mixture inside so I often make a double or triple batch. You can also freeze just the filling

***

Grilled Peach Melba

Stacy Schmucker Stoltzfus, Enola, PA

Makes 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Grilling Time: 5-10 minutes

4 large, unpeeled peaches or nectarines 
2 tsp. sugar 
2 cups red raspberries, fresh or frozen
sugar, optional
vanilla ice cream

1. Halve and pit peaches or nectarines. 
2. Press fresh or thawed raspberries through sieve. Save juice and discard seeds. Sweeten to taste with sugar, if needed. 
3. Grill unpeeled peaches cut-side down for approximately 2 minutes. Turn peaches over. With cut-side up, fill each cavity with ½ tsp. sugar, and continue grilling until grill marks appear on skins. 
4. Serve immediately with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with the raspberry sauce.

***

Yam fries

Kathy Keener Shantz, Lancaster, PA

Makes 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 20 minutes

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt 
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. curry 
½ tsp. hot sauce 
4 medium-sized yams, sliced like French fries

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, salt, pepper, curry, and hot sauce. 
2. Stir in sliced yams.
3. When thoroughly coated, spread on lightly greased baking sheet. 
4. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes, or until tender.

***

Linguine Salad with Peanut Sauce

Gretchen H. Maust, Keezletown, VA

Makes 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

8-oz. box dry linguine 
½-1 cup chopped scallions
1 diced cucumber 
¼ cup peanut butter 
⅓ cup cider or rice vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce 
¼ cup warm water
⅓ cup sesame oil 
2 cloves minced garlic
½ tsp. 5-spice powder
hot sauce to taste 
dark green lettuce leaves
toasted sesame seeds and tomato wedges for garnish

1. Cook linguine as directed on box, but undercook slightly. Drain. Rinse with cool water. 
2. In a large bowl, combine linguini, scallions, and cucumber. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, water, oil, garlic, 5-spice powder, and hot sauce. 
4. Arrange lettuce on platter. Spoon linguine mixture into the middle. Drizzle dressing over top. Garnish with sesame seeds and tomato wedges.

Variations: 
1. For a heartier dish, add cubed cooked chicken or turkey. 
2. Serve hot, replacing the cucumbers with cooked zucchini.

Tip: I like to triple the peanut sauce and keep it in the refrigerator to use as a salad dressing or dipping sauce for grilled chicken.

Reprinted from Fix-it and Enjoy-it! Cookbook. Copyright by Good Books (www.goodbks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Author:
Phyllis Pellman Good is a New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold more than 8.5 million copies.