THE AMERICAS TEST KITCHEN
DO-IT-YOURSELF
COOKBOOK
100 + FOOLPROOF KITCHEN PROJECTS
FOR THE ADVENTUROUS HOME COOK
BY THE EDITORS AT
Americas Test Kitchen
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Anthony Tieuli
Copyright 2012
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 do-it-yourself cookbook: 100 + foolproof kitchen projects for the adventurous home cook / by the editors at Americas test kitchen ; photography by Anthony Tieuli 1st ed.
pages cm
Includes index.
Kindle ISBN 978-1-936493-47-0
1. Cooking, American. I. Americas test kitchen (Television program) II. Title: Do-it-yourself cookbook.
TX715.A54884 2012
641.5973--dc23
2012022144
Manufactured in the United States
10987654321
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 EDITORS: Louise Emerick, Suzannah McFerran
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Adelaide Parker, Dan Zuccarello
TEST COOKS: Rebecca Morris, Kate Williams
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Alyssa King
RECIPE CONTRIBUTORS:
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Amy Klee
ART DIRECTOR: Greg Galvan
DESIGNERS: Taylor Argenzio, Beverly Hsu
FRONT COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Carl Tremblay
FRONT COVER FOOD STYLING: Marie Piraino
INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY: Anthony Tieuli
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR: Stephen Klise
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel J. van Ackere
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Guy Rochford
SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessica Quirk
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER: Alice Carpenter
PRODUCTION AND TRAFFIC COORDINATOR: Kate Hux
WORKFLOW AND DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER: Andrew Mannone
PRODUCTION AND IMAGING SPECIALISTS: Judy Blomquist, Heather Dube, Lauren Pettapiece
COPYEDITOR: Cheryl Redmond
PROOFREADER: Christine Corcoran Cox
INDEXER: Elizabeth Parson
PICTURED ON COVER:
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 three 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.
You can watch us work (in our actual test kitchen) by tuning in to Americas Test Kitchen (AmericasTestKitchenTV.com) or Cooks Country from Americas Test Kitchen (CooksCountryTV.com) on public television, or by subscribing to Cooks Illustrated magazine (CooksIllustrated.com) or Cooks Country magazine (CooksCountry.com). We welcome you into our kitchen, where you can stand by our side as we test our way to the best recipes in America.
Navigating this E-Book
This eBook includes a that allows you to jump to any chapter. And each chapter has its own table of contents with links to every recipe in the chapter.
We have also created a that lists all the recipes in the book, divided by chapter, in one place. You can access the Master Recipe Listing from the Table of Contents. (It also appears at the end of the book.) Each title in the Master Recipe Listing is a link that will take you directly to that recipe.
Our cookbooks are filled with prep tips and step-by-step illustrations as well as equipment and ingredient reviews. Throughout the book there are links to this material where appropriate.
Most eBook reading devices also offer a search function that allows you to type in exactly what you are looking for. Please read the documentation for your particular eBook reader for more information on its search function and any other navigational features it may offer.
Introduction
Growing up on a farm, just about everything was Do-It-Yourself or D.I.Y. You milked the cow, picked the blackberries, and made your own Anadama bread using molasses and cornmeal. You changed your clutch, welded the snowplow, sharpened the chainsaw, and hunted for most of the meat in your freezer; almost always venison, with the odd rabbit or wild turkey thrown in for good measure.
These days, virtually nothing is D.I.Y. You cant adjust the timing on your distributor or replace a fuse, and most folks have even forgotten how to bake a cake or make biscuits.
All that is about to change.
With The Americas Test Kitchen Do-It-Yourself Cookbook, we want to put the fun and the homemade back into home cooking. Did you know that wine vinegar is nothing more than wine, water, and a store-bought culture left to sit on the counter? You can ferment your own hot sauce in a French press coffee maker with no daily skimming. Believe it or not, American cheese can be made in a food processor in just minutes, without the flavorings, colorings, and emulsifiers.
Yes, we show you how to make pickles and jams, but you will also learn to make recipes like marshmallows, graham crackers, homemade versions of Thin Mints, Nutella, Fritos, and Ritz crackers, plus cocktail bitters, root beer, tonic water, and ginger beer. This cookbook demonstrates, step by step, how to make homemade bacon, mozzarella, Greek yogurt, marinated artichokes, preserved lemons, salted caramels, and even your own tofu and harissa.
Some of these items are quick and easy, others are more complicated, but we have thoroughly tested each and every one of these recipes and photographed every step of the process (we include more than 700 large color photos) so you can be sure that they will turn out as advertised.
In Vermont, nobody tells you what to do. You learn by example, by watching others do something the right way. In fact, the only time I earned a rebuke was when I took a tractor and baler out of gear going downhill. The farmer, Charlie Bentley, allowed as how I might not want to do that a second time given the poor state of the brakes! So, we are offering to show you, not tell you, how to make your foods from scratch the smart way. Weve made the mistakes so you dont have to.
Next page