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Title: Here In America's Test Kitchen: All New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, and Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine ISBN: 0-936184-59-0 Publisher: Boston Common Press Pub. Date: December, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Book
Comment: I have long loved the professional approach to home cooking that Cooks Illustrated has always taken. Their recipes are well thought out, easy to follow, and remarkably dependable. The equipment reviews have saved me money by steering me to high quality yet economical kitchen equipment. The reviews, which are scattered throughout, look at everything from vegatable peelers to measuring spoons. Also reviewed are such items as salt, beef stock, and other food additives. I appreciate the fact that when I begin a recipe I can be certain that it will result in something good -- this is not the case with many other cookbooks being sold today. This cookbook is straight-forward but very interesting.
Rating: 5
Summary: Quality Cooking Advice & Phenomenal Ribs!
Comment: As someone who consider's themselves an elite "home chef", I stopped using recipe books years ago and just built on the basics that I'd gleaned from reading what I considered the "essential" cookbooks. Then, one stormy Saturday afternoon when the husband was at work and the kids were away at Grandma's, I stumbled on America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Needless to say, I loved what I saw.
Now I am a Cook's Illustrated fan. I have not come across anything done by these folks that isn't absolute quality cooking instruction - no matter what your level of cooking expertise. That's because ATK doesn't just write the recipes - they write articles and background about every recipe that breaks down each element of the recipe and explains why certain ingredients, techniques and equipment work so much better than others in producing the best tasting recipe. Even if you never follow an America's Test Kitchen or Cook's Illustrated recipe step-by-step, the things you learn just by reading the recipe books can be carried over into all of your cooking. If, like me, you are a non-recipe cook, there is still much to be learned here.
"Here in America's Test Kitchen" carries on the standard of excellence that Cook's Illustrated has established for itself. Detailed recipes that are actually essays about what goes into creating each recipe and why certain ingredients and methods are used will elevate the level of every home cook - regardless of your current level of expertise.
This book contains some of the best recipes I've ever had. The BBQ Rib recipe prepared with a dry rub and slow cooked over a smoky grill is simply the best rib recipe I've ever made - spicy, smokey, fall of the bone tender with a wonderful crisp skin on the outside. At a recent 4th of July party, these ribs and the ATK buffalo wings were a huge hit. And the cookie jar favorites - chewy, flavorful double chocolate cookies and ginger cookies are family favorites. The recipes here aren't always the quickest, the cheapest or the lowest in fat and calories, but if you are looking for the best in flavor and texture, with America's Test Kitchen you can't go wrong.
Rating: 5
Summary: Buying more in the series
Comment: This is the one cookbook that has not gone on the shelf, but instead sits on the corner of the counter. So far I've made the beef burgundy, pan roasted chicken, smothered pork chops, lemon meringue pie, macaroni and cheese, nachos with salsa and guacamole, and more. I'd've done more in the past two weeks, but I do have a job to go to. These may not sound like extraordinary recipes - they're all in my Betty Crocker cookbook or Good Housekeeping cookbook - but this is the cookbook that tells you the how and why, what works and what doesn't work (based on their own testing, which is an interesting read in itself). One of the things I like most is that they make an honest effort and usually succeed at restricting themselves to ingredients found in nearly every supermarket. Serving sizes are extremely generous. I ate nachos for four days --- luckily, they were delicious.
I do wish they would include nutritional analyses. These recipes are all about taste and optimal preparation to ensure the best results; nothing particularly low cal or low carb and certainly not low fat here; and it doesn't purport to be a diet cookbook. That's okay, but it would still be nice to have the numbers. And it would be nice if they would test a few ways of cutting calories and/or carbs and/or fat while developing the best recipe.
As a novice, I also got tripped up in the pan roasted chicken because the recipe didn't give me even a clue as to how long the pieces would be in the oven; I guessed about 30 minutes but turned out to be 50 minutes to get to temperature, which threw off the timing on the side dishes...minor, novice issue.
Finally, I also subscribe to Cook's Illustrated published by the same people. In the Nov/Dec issue was an incredible recipe for pumpkin cheesecake (beg, borrow or steal it from someone). Their technique explanation ranted about the wonders of cooking a cheesecake in a waterbath. Indeed it made a great difference. But in this cookbook, there's a recipe for a New York Style Cheesecake with no mention of a waterbath. I'm not a pro, so maybe the different techniques deliver two distinct textures, but it was curious why both ways aren't discussed in the cookbook since they touted it in the magazine (or vice versa).
I've bought a couple pieces of their recommended equipment and believe they've been right on target there too.
It's an impressive book that has pursuaded me to buy both the Italian Classics Cookbook and the cookbook for the 2002 television series. Looking forward to receiving those soon.
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