Sometimes award-winning recipes don’t win awards in my book.
This is the case for a recipe I made recently from my “Taste of Home Winning Recipes” book (volume 2). I have to first say that this is a very nice cookbook with lots of actually good recipes, but I don’t think it should have included this recipe.
I did a little digging online and found this recipe posted on the Taste of Home website, with the same misleading photo that is in my recipe book – right next to a “first place” ribbon.
See? It is a little blurrier online than in my book, but it looks pretty tasty nonetheless.
Well, I am here to tell you that this recipe has a few major pitfalls.
Ingredients
Refrigerated butter-flavored spray
4 large tomatoes, sliced
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons half-and-half cream
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
Minced fresh parsley
Directions
Coat a large skillet with refrigerated butter-flavored spray. Heat skillet over medium heat. Add tomato slices; cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until edges begin to brown. In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, cream and horseradish. Spoon over tomatoes. Sprinkle with parsley.
The low-down:
All right, so this recipe now seems both easy and delicious. But I’ll let you in on a few little secrets.
1. When you cook tomatoes over medium heat even for just 2 or 3 minutes on each side (even just to warm them!), the juice runs out a bit and they get limp. It’s just how it is, and if you know a way around this, I’d love to hear it.
2. There is no salt in this recipe, and I think there ought to be. Lightly cooked tomatoes with just a little bland sauce over top need some salt! Maybe that’s just me, though.
3. I still don’t like horseradish, even disguised as it is in this recipe.
My husband did say that this recipe was “ok,” but definitely not award-winning!
Here’s how mine looked:
There is juice all over that plate!
Eww. That seems icky? Butter flavored spray??
lol.
I must admit that whenever something calls for a spray like that I use olive oil in my misto bottle. But yeah. those fake butter sprays are always a fail!!
Glad I’m not the only one who’s had that happen. Love that you post the good, the bad, and the ugly–very helpful to your readers. You’d think I’d have learned over 34 years of cooking that if the recipe doesn’t sound quite right, don’t try it no matter how good the picture looks. Alas, I still get taken in every now and then.
Haha… I like how you worded that – “still get taken in”
I think it looks great! I think if you add some cornstarch to soak up the liquid? I don’t know? It’s silly that they didn’t mention that in the recipe. So much for award winning recipe right?
Yeah… I don’t think they followed their own directions for this recipe.
Probably not or forgot to mention a key part about tomatoes getting watery
Yeah, I don’t know… I don’t think there is honestly a way to cook tomatoes for a couple minutes on each side without a lot of the juice leaking out?? Just my thought.
Or maybe use Roma tomatoes (I find them less watery) and first drain them of all their juice on a paper towel or sieve?
That could work!
)
(They should include that in the recipe directions.
I agree with Rhetta! Glad you post the good, the bad, the ugly. Keep it up! Makes us wanna-be’s in the kitchen feel better! =o)
haha.
I like when other people post the good, the bad, and the ugly, for this wanna-be! 
Butter flavored spray is disgusting. Use real butter. What temperature did you cook these at? Tomatoes will give off juice. No way around that….your dish does resemble the one in the photo, and just based on the ingredients I would not think that the recipe is award winning.
I don’t know the actual temperature; just medium in my skillet. haha.
I think using the sprays is ok for a baking sheet, but kind of odd for a skillet?! Too bad it didn’t turn out.
Yeah, I guess it’s a little odd…
lol.
I just use my oil in a misto