“Six Sisters Copycat Cooking” (reviewed by Trudy Thompson)

Review

Title: Six Sisters Copycat Cooking
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Cookbook
Year Published: 2018
Number of pages: 198
Binding: Paperback
ISBN13: 9781629724430
Price: $21.99

Reviewed by Trudy Thompson for the Association for Mormon Letters

It seems to be a strange twist of life, that once you find a particular dish at a particular restaurant that you absolutely love, that establishment either takes it off the menu, or tweaks it so much that they end up ruining it. My husband and I have found ourselves longing for a favorite dish, wishing we could recreate it at home. Sometimes, I have been successful in finding a passable copycat recipe, or experimenting on my own. Other times I have had downright dismal failures.

Once again, the Six Sisters have come to the rescue of frustrated home cooks! They have used their kitchen skills to create over a hundred copycat recipes for us, ranging from appetizers and side dishes, to main dishes, desserts and drinks.

The restaurants include Texas Roadhouse, Panda Express, Chili’s, Applebees, Outback Steakhouse, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Rainforest Cafe, Famous Dave’s, Macaroni Grill, Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Friday, Little Caesars, KFC, and Chick-fil A. (Are you hungry yet?) Even some recipes from Disneyland are included!

Deciding on which recipe to try first was a Herculean effort. Since my husband and I have cut way back on eating out in order to save money, I was most anxious to try nearly every recipe in this colorful volume. My first choice was the Texas Roadhouse rolls with cinnamon honey butter. I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out even better than I remembered the rolls to be at their restaurant, and that honey butter is the crowning touch to be sure!

My next adventure was with the Famous Dave’s BBQ ribs. It has been many years since I’ve had their ribs, and I was surprised at all the steps it took to make what turned out to be an overnight dish, followed by six hours on a smoker, followed by another one and a half hours on a grill. Not to mention the marinating for at least four hours, followed by an application of a rib rub and overnight refrigeration! It all required the assistance and generosity of a good friend who let me use her smoker and grill. All of that hard work paid off though — we all enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal of BBQ ribs. My friend and I wondered how the sisters had figured out all these steps and seasonings, or if someone from Famous Dave’s had actually shared the recipe!

In reading the recipe for Panda Express’s Orange Chicken, I was a bit disappointed to see that the sauce for it was a bottle of Panda Express’s own Chinese Orange Sauce which I did not have on hand, so I will have to wait until I can pick up a bottle. I would have appreciated a recipe for the sauce itself.

The Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole recipe was very similar to the tried and true Funeral Potatoes from Utah, but still yummy and satisfying.

I love how the index of this book lists selections by restaurant and dish and ingredients needed, making it very easy to find a selection by any of those methods.

The full color-full page pictures would draw anyone in. They pique your interest, but it is the recipes next to the pictures that will have you quickly making out your grocery shopping list. The recipes are easy to follow, with ingredients that most home cooks will have on hand.

My next endeavor will be to try the Six Sisters’ copycat recipe for Disney’s Dole Pineapple Whip — a longtime family favorite treat at Disneyland and Disney World. I have tried two or three copycat recipes for this treat before. None of of them even came close to the real thing. I am making my list now to try it!

A few of the other culinary delights in this volume include: Chili’s Molten Hot Lava Cake, Buffalo Wild Wings Garlic Parmesan Wings, P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Blue Lemon’s Pineapple BBQ Beef Sandwich, Panera Bread’s Asian Sesame Chicken Salad, Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, and so very much more!

This delightful cookbook from the Six Sisters would make a wonderful hostess gift for the upcoming holidays. It is also a thoughtful and welcome gift for wives, mothers grand-mothers, husbands, sons and brothers. If you love to eat or love to cook, this fun new book is for you!

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