Everything from Hummingbird Cake to Gramma’s Gumdrop Bread to Caramel Apple Salad, they are all part of Mulligan’s ever-popular cookbook, A PERFECT 10: Ten Scrumptious Recipes for Each Part of Every Meal. All told, the book offers 70 tried-and-true recipes, curated over the decades – the “Perfect 10” for each meal category and, of course, Thanksgiving – that could become your new go-to dishes for years to come.
“My goal is to pull from my long-curated treasure chest of recipes, and share the best of the bunch, for each meal period — making your life easier and eliminating your having to wade through cookbooks and websites when you are in a bind,” says Mulligan.
Mulligan has worked for years in restaurants and has put in more than the 10,000 hours necessary to achieve family cooking expertise. In A PERFECT 10, he provides 10 fail-proof recipes for seven distinct meal periods from breakfast to appetizers and sides, to salads, entrees, desserts and a Thanksgiving menu that will finally win you the respect of your in-laws.
His unique and tempting Thanksgiving menu includes:
• Hummingbird Cake: A banana-pineapple spice cake with origins in Jamaica but upping the ante with “blackened” bananas.
• Stovetop Green Bean Casserole: A classic but slightly updated, with cayenne and fried shallots.
• Tim’s Tried and True Stuffing: A to-die-for Thanksgiving essential with apricots, apples and pecans. Don’t be surprised if it rivals the turkey.
• Not Your Grandmother’s Creamed Corn: Turns creamed corn on its head, with Ritz crackers all over the top.
• Caramel Apple Salad: Cool Whip, pineapple tidbits, mini-marshmallows – kids will go nuts and it will make your grandma proud.
• Orangey-Appley Cranberry Relish: A fresh, vibrant alternative, the perfect side dish and great on sandwiches the next day.
• Grandma’s Gumdrop Bread: When is bread also dessert? When it’s a delightful combination of dinner rolls and candy gumdrops with a boozy eggnog glaze.
• Judy’s Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Just smooth and creamy mashed sweet potatoes with lemon, vanilla, and maple hints, covered in delectable pecan-brown sugar topping.
• Mashed Potatoes with Shallots: A multitude of random ingredients from garlic to Dijon mustard to horseradish to sour cream to kale.
• Best Turkey of All Time: With hints of apple and tarragon, Mulligan takes a totally nontraditional approach to top all the others.
Whether staying at home or looking for the perfect dish to bring to friends for the holidays, A PERFECT 10 will fire up your excitement to get cooking, knowing that Mulligan has handed you the perfect blueprint to a truly great meal.
A PERFECT 10 makes the perfect holiday gift not just for Thanksgiving but for the entire Christmas season. Purchase the book on Amazon – https://amzn.to/3TOC9TP – and other popular retailers where books are sold.
A PERFECT 10 is the debut cookbook for Mulligan, a longtime human resources executive who lives in Los Angeles and Palm Springs with his partner Sean and their two children. To learn more, including details on recipes, visit www.aperfect10cookbook.com.
