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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
surprisingly thought-provoking, April 4, 2008
This review is from: The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir (Hardcover)
It wasn't until I read how emphatically Mathews refuses to fit the winner stereotype that I realized I even had one. Onstage, when her name was called, she failed to scream and giggle and tear up with elation and simultaneous modest disbelief, as I thought we all had learned to do, watching Miss America pageants or American Idol. In fact, Emcee Alex Trebek had to suggest, in a whisper, that Ellie give him a hug. A good sport, she complied, as she did when they asked her to fly to Los Angeles to appear next day on something she believed was called the Rosy O'Donald Show.
But Ellie never did buy a Mercedes or first-class round-the-world airline tickets with her million dollars. She doesn't have a celebrity kitchen either, even though she had a perfect excuse to create one. Since winning the contest, she and her husband moved and had to remodel a kitchen. Six-burner range? She couldn't remember using even four burners all at once. Sub-Zero refrigerator, billed as a "monument to food preservation"? No.
The memoir's subtitle suggests her grounded perspective: "A Woman, A Chicken Dinner, A Million Dollars." She's perfectly clear what comprises her real life, including illness and death and birth and rediscovery. On the other hand, devising a winning recipe isn't nothing. True, she needed to do something with the boneless skinless chicken thighs she had in the freezer before leaving on a long trip, but that eventual stroke of genius was preceded by a lot of analysis and testing of other possibilities. Nevertheless, the Bake-Off, ultimately, is not life or death: it's a chicken recipe. Ultimately, it's Ellie Mathews who is most interesting, Ellie and her observing eye.
I like all this about her, and if she'd written the book I was expecting to read, full of gee-whiz giddiness and a montage of once-in-a-lifetime events, I wouldn't be still thinking about it. And yet her very moderation bugs me a little. Why? I guess I want her to get out of my way and let me have my vicarious thrill at her expense. It's hard for me to give up completely on the idea that winning that prize would change me -- I mean her -- in some important, positive way.
"Aren't you excited?" everyone kept asking Ellie at the Bake-Off. But nobody really wanted to know; they just wanted her to say yes. Just as I would have. I'd ask her every possible intrusive question including, of course, "What did you do with the money?" Fortunately for us, she doesn't give us the answers we expect.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A million dollar chicken, March 29, 2008
This review is from: The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir (Hardcover)
Ellie Mathews won the first prize in the 1998 Pillsbury Bake-Off with her recipe for "Salsa Couscous Chicken." This book is a somewhat unfocused memoir of food, family and the Pillsbury competition. One of the nicest aspects of the story is how competitiveness and neighborliness enhance each other in the contest.
The Pillsbury Bake-Off has been an American institution since 1949 and has attracted thousands of competitors. "I meet people all the time who say, 'Gee. I didn't know real people ever won those things.' I'm here to tell you we do."
Mathews keeps her sense of perspective. She wrote Ambassador to the Penguins: A Naturalist's Year Aboard a Yankee Whaleship to very good reviews, and won the 2007 Milkweed Editions Prize for Children's Literature for The Linden Tree.
Those triumphs undoubtedly helped her survive an appearance on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" where she shared the stage with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. She also appeared on "Oprah," with other contest winners -- a Garth Brooks look-alike and Kirby, the champion of the Westminster Dog Show.
Throughout Mathews remains upbeat and happy. It was a joy to read her self-deprecating humor and about her cooking expertize. And, to marvel with a bit of bemusement at her million dollar recipe.
The theme in the 1998 Pillsbury competition was "quick and easy" with a cooking time of 30 minutes or less. Salsa Couscous Chicken is prepared on the stovetop in a skillet, rather than in the oven. Mathews was required to use Old El Paso Garden Pepper or Thick 'n Chunky salsa under the rules. The dish has North African and Mexican influences.
Mathews says "The taste is the key. That's really what this dish has going for it. It doesn't look special on the plate, but it tastes very good." The judges agreed; they complimented the "complexity of the recipe's flavor with so few ingredients."
Ingredients:
1. 3 cups hot cooked couscous or rice
2. 1 tablespoon oil
3. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds
4. 2 garlic cloves, minced
5. 8 chicken thighs, skin removed
6. 1 cup Old El Paso(R) Salsa
7. 1/4 cup water
8. 2 tablespoons dried currants or raisins
9. 1 tablespoon honey
10. 3/4 teaspoon cumin
11. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Cooking Directions
1. Cook couscous as directed on package.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add almonds; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from skillet; set aside.
3. Add garlic and chicken to skillet; cook 4 to 5 minutes until chicken is browned, turning once.
4. In small bowl, combine salsa and all remaining ingredients; mix well. Add to chicken. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir in almonds. Serve over couscous.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ellie Mathews Dishes on The Pillsbury Bake-Off!, April 10, 2008
This review is from: The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir (Hardcover)
Ellie Mathews writes an engrossing memoir which centers around her capturing the one million dollar prize at the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Through out the 277 page book Ellie shares her experiences revealing her strength of character and modesty. I am not fond of cooking, but Ellie makes it sound like developing her recipe for this and other contests was easy. By the end of the book, I actually felt like I had a shot at winning cooking contests and was ready to start cooking up a storm. Then it was like reality set in when confronted by spices and cooking pots. Ummm,well maybe no contests for me. But, it was very interesting to read how her recipe ideas evolve. I love that she focuses on real food, simple preparation, easy to do. And she has a conscious - not to much butter, light on the sugar etc.
Ellie writes very clearly about her feelings. What was going through her mind when they revealed that she was the winner. It is interesting to read her reactions because they are so different than mine would be. I would be screaming and jumping up and down if I won, but she barely manages a glimpse of a smile and a brief hug with the host. I think she was so overwhelmed, she didn't know what to do. She shares how she doesn't feel like she was adequate on some of the shows she was on to promote her recipe. She was so eager to please the Pillsbury people, to not let them be disappointed. She fully develops her character and though at the beginning of the book I felt like saying what is wrong with you. Why aren't you excited? Soon I realized this was Ellie, she was very excited but this is her way of reacting. I grew to really embrace her character. Her sense of right from wrong. Of living frugally. Of helping others. This is Ellie and there is so much to love about her.
In addition to sharing a lot about the mechanics and cooking contests and her observations, the book also includes some of her winning ideas for competing.Little nuggets that can be applied to many types of competitions. The back of the book includes her Pillsbury Bake-Off prize winning, "Salsa Couscous Chicken".
Great read!
~ Lee Mellott
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