Copyright 2014 by the Editors at Americas Test Kitchen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
AMERICAS TEST KITCHEN
17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Americas Test Kitchen new family cookbook : all-new edition of the best-selling classic with 1,100 new recipes / the editors at Americas Test Kitchen.
pages cm
Includes index.
EPub ISBN: 978-1-940352-12-1
1. Cooking, American. I. Americas Test Kitchen (Firm)
TX715.A5496 2014
641.5973--dc23
2014009517
Hardcover: $40.00 US
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
DISTRIBUTED BY
Americas Test Kitchen
17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Jack Bishop
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, BOOKS: Elizabeth Carduff
EXECUTIVE FOOD EDITOR: Julia Collin Davison
SENIOR EDITOR: Debra Hudak
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Rachel Greenhaus
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Amy Klee
ART DIRECTOR: Greg Galvan
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Taylor Argenzio
DESIGNER: Jen Kanavos Hoffman
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Julie Cote
PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Tremblay, Keller + Keller, and Anthony Tieuli
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel J. van Ackere
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Steve Klise
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR, PHOTOGRAPHY: Steve Klise
CAST PHOTOGRAPH: Christopher Churchill
FOOD STYLING: Daniel Cellucci, Catrine Kelty, Marie Piraino, and Mary Jane Sawyer
PHOTOSHOOT KITCHEN TEAM:
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Chris OConnor
TEST COOK: Daniel Cellucci
ASSISTANT TEST COOK: Cecelia Jenkins
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Guy Rochford
SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessica Quirk
PROJECT MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: Alice Carpenter
PROJECT MANAGER: Britt Dresser
WORKFLOW AND DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER: Andrew Mannone
SENIOR COLOR AND IMAGING SPECIALIST: Lauren Pettapiece
PRODUCTION AND IMAGING SPECIALISTS: Heather Dube and Lauren Robbins
COPYEDITOR: Jeff Schier
PROOFREADERS: Pat Jalbert-Levine and Elizabeth Wray Emery
INDEXER: Elizabeth Parson
WELCOME TO AMERICAS TEST KITCHEN
This book has been tested, written, and edited by the folks at Americas Test Kitchen, a very real 2,500-square-foot kitchen located just outside of Boston. It is the home of Cooks Illustrated magazine and Cooks Country magazine and is the Monday-through-Friday destination for more than four dozen test cooks, editors, food scientists, tasters, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
We start the process of testing a recipe with a complete lack of conviction, which means that we accept no claim, no theory, no technique, and no recipe at face value. We simply assemble as many variations as possible, test a half-dozen of the most promising, and taste the results blind. We then construct our own hybrid recipe and continue to test it, varying ingredients, techniques, and cooking times until we reach a consensus. The result, we hope, is the best version of a particular recipe, but we realize that only you can be the final judge of our success (or failure). As we like to say in the test kitchen, We make the mistakes, so you dont have to.
All of this would not be possible without a belief that good cooking, much like good music, is indeed based on a foundation of objective technique. Some people like spicy foods and others dont, but there is a right way to saut, there is a best way to cook a pot roast, and there are measurable scientific principles involved in producing perfectly beaten, stable egg whites. This is our ultimate goal: to investigate the fundamental principles of cooking so that you become a better cook. It is as simple as that.
If youre curious to see what goes on behind the scenes at Americas Test Kitchen, check out our daily blog, The Feed, at AmericasTestKitchenFeed.com, which features kitchen snapshots, exclusive recipes, video tips, and much more. You can watch us work (in our actual test kitchen) by tuning in to Americas Test Kitchen (AmericasTestKitchen.com) or Cooks Country from Americas Test Kitchen (CooksCountryTV.com) on public television. Tune in to Americas Test Kitchen Radio (ATKRadio.com) on public radio to listen to insights, tips, and techniques that illuminate the truth about real home cooking. Want to hone your cooking skills or finally learn how to bakefrom an Americas Test Kitchen test cook? Enroll in a cooking class at our online cooking school at OnlineCookingSchool.com. And find information about subscribing to Cooks Illustrated magazine at CooksIllustrated.com or Cooks Country magazine at CooksCountry.com. Both magazines are published every other month. However you choose to visit us, we welcome you into our kitchen, where you can stand by our side as we test our way to the best recipes in America.
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Preface
I made my first recipe at age 8it was an old-fashioned chocolate cake with seven-minute frosting. That recipe appeared in an old edition of the Joy of Cooking, the go-to cookbook for my parents generation. Irma Rombauer, the author, was a gracious host from the very first omelet to Cock-a-Leekie Soup; she invited you into her kitchen and gave you the confidence to become a good cook.
When we published the first edition of The Americas Test Kitchen Family Cookbook in 2005, our objective was the same as Irmas: to invite people into our test kitchen to make them comfortable with the culinary arts. But as we have learned more about teaching the culinary arts, about how to write and present recipes, and how to make anyone and everyone successful in the kitchen, we thought that it was time for a major revision. The Americas Test Kitchen New Family Cookbook runs almost 900 pages, contains 302 finished recipe photographs, over 1,100 step-by-step photos, and 1,356 recipes, including 1,139 new recipes for this revised edition.
One thing we have learned is that teaching cooking is something quite different than just presenting recipes. Our 60 Learn How tutorials clearly set out the basics from pan sauces, pot roasts, and buttermilk biscuits to pizza, quiche, cobbler, and even stir-fried tofu. We also visually present over a dozen All About sidebars on brining, setting up the grill, Asian ingredients, cheeses, and grains.
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