REVOLUTIONARY RECIPES• CELEBR ATING •25 YEARSGROUNDBREAKING TECHNIQUES. COMPELLING VOICES. ONE-OF-A-KIND RECIPES.Introduction by Dan SouzaChapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eggs and BreakfastChapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soups, Stews, and ChilisChapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beef, Pork, and LambChapter 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PoultryChapter 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fish and ShellfishChapter 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vegetarian MainsChapter 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pasta and NoodlesChapter 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rice, Grains, and BeansChapter 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vegetable SidesChapter 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BreadsChapter 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cookies and BarsChapter 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DessertsConversions Index3Chapter Title tkI have a copy of the issue at my desk and I love to flip through it . It’s dense with the kind of information I’ve always craved as a cook—clear illustrations of core techniques, no-nonsense approaches to dishes I love, and science- backed answers to common cooking questions . The magazine even feels good in my hands, with its heavy, smooth, still-white pages . Cook’s Illustrated has always stood out to me as a singular, unique publication that, quite frankly, shouldn’t have worked . At a time when food magazines were glossy, colorful, and laser- focused on the food of chefs and restaurants, Cook’s Illustrated proclaimed—through hand-drawn illustrations and black-and-white photography—that the home cook was king . The magazine’s success and growth over these 25 years is, to me, proof positive that Americans, now more than ever, care deeply about cooking, spending time in the kitchen, and feeding family and friends .Our mission at Cook’s Illustrated is actually quite simple: Methodically break apart a dish, figure out how and why it works, and test every variable in pursuit of a Twenty-five years ago the premier issue of Cook’s Illustrated hit newsstands and mailboxes . It featured an oil painting of spring produce on its cover; tips on how to zest citrus, shop for the best eggplant, and string rhubarb on page 5; a guide to breaking down poultry on pages 15 and 16; and recipes for, among other things, flaky biscuits, roast chicken, and grilled pizza peppered throughout its 32 pages . It cost 4 dollars and contained no advertising . The year was 1993 . foolproof recipe . (We approach equipment testing and product taste tests with the same scientific rigor .) That process lasts at least six weeks for every recipe we publish . And it works . Our recipes are trusted by millions of home cooks to work the very first time . But another really special thing happens when you give talented cooks time, resources, and a goal . They make some pretty incredible discoveries . The book you are holding con-tains 25 years’ worth of such discoveries, tucked into 180 recipes for everything from scrambled eggs and weeknight chicken to pan-seared scallops and no-knead brioche . What kind of discoveries? You’ll find perfect corn on the cob that never gets boiled . An ultracreamy tomato soup that’s com-pletely dairy-free . A perfectly grilled steak that begins its journey in a very low oven . And ingenious low-key approaches to traditionally high-fuss recipes like risotto, ratatouille, and sandwich bread . These recipes tell the story of how Cook’s Illustrated has changed American home cooking over the past 25 years .It also tells the story of American food writing . Cook’s Illustrated was the first pub-lication to pull back the curtain and take readers deep into the process of recipe devel-opment . Rarely published since they origi-nally appeared in the magazine, each feature- length story celebrates the art of food writing and the extensive work that goes into every recipe . By recounting our failures, successes, and discoveries we teach you how and why the recipe works .A decade ago I left the restaurant world and landed the job of test cook for Cook’s Illustrated . Coming from the lightning-fast world of a production kitchen I was awe-struck by the resources, effort, and time ded-icated to recipe development . To see from the inside that Cook’s Illustrated was as authentic, focused, and dedicated as it had always appeared to me as a reader was inspiring . Ten years on I’m proud to say that we are as committed as ever to our singular purpose: helping home cooks make amazing food . This book is both a gorgeous celebra-tion of what we’ve accomplished over a quarter of a century and a promise of what’s to come . Sincerely,Dan Souza editor in chief, cook’s illustrated4COOK’S ILLUSTRATED REVOLUTIONARY RECIPESthe best beef stewJ. KENJI LOPEZ-ALT, January/February 2010Every winter, I lock myself in the kitchen with a piece of beef chuck, vegetables, and my Dutch oven and set about the alchemic task of turning a tough cut of beef tender . And every winter, I emerge a few hours later, disappointed . It’s the smell that keeps me going at it: As the stew simmers, it fills the house with a rich aroma, but the taste is never as complex as the scent would lead you to believe . It’s not that my beef stew is bad—the tender meat, flavorful vegetables, and brown gravy are good, but nowhere near good enough to merit the several hours of waiting .Of all the dozen or so recipes I tried, ranging from quick-and-easy versions with canned beef broth, heavy thickeners, and tiny pieces of beef to better (but still disappoint-ing) 4-hour versions, the only one that deliv-ered truly satisfying flavor came from the famed Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller . The problem? It took four days, a dozen dirty pots and pans, and nearly 50 ingredients to make . Sure, the results were fit for royalty, but it was hardly the approachable, home-cooked meal I was aiming for . There had to be a reasonable compromise between the dim, underdeveloped flavors in the shortcut recipes and Keller’s no-holds-barred version .MEATY MATTERSThe basic process for beef stew is straight-forward: Brown chunks of beef in a Dutch oven, add aromatics and thickener, cover with liquid, and simmer until everything is tender and the flavors have melded . The key to developing complexity is to maximize flavor in every step . American beef stew is first and foremost about the beef—all other ingredients exist merely to support or complement it—so picking the right cut is essential . Using packaged “stew meat” from the supermar-ket was a nonstarter; the jumble of scraggly bits and large chunks was impossible to cook evenly . Cuts like tenderloin, strip, or rib eye turned mealy with prolonged cooking; they’re better for searing or grilling . More esoteric cuts like hanger or skirt steak offered great flavor, but their texture was stringy . While well-marbled blade steaks and short ribs (favored by Keller) worked well, in the end they were no better than chuck-eye roast . It’s one of the cheapest, beefiest cuts in the supermarket, and it turns meltingly tender when it’s properly cooked .The first key to rich, meaty flavor is proper browning, which means searing in two sepa-rate batches for a big pot of stew . Otherwise, the meat releases too much moisture and ends up steaming in its own juices . After browning the beef, I decided to caramelize the usual choices of onions and carrots (rather than just adding them raw to the broth, as many reci-pes suggest) to start the stew off with as much flavor as possible . Though at first I planned to remove the meat while sauté ing the vegeta-bles, I found that by leaving it in the pot, its residual heat helped the onions and carrots cook faster and more evenly . Crushed garlic, I decided, was essential . I sautéed it with the rest of the ingredients for 30 seconds before adding 1/4 cup of flour to lightly thicken the stew . I then deglazed the pan with 2 cups of red wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to release the flavorful browned bits and allow-ing the liquid to reduce for just a few minutes to give its raw flavor a chance to dissipate . I then added 2 cups of chicken broth (favored over tinny canned beef broth) and let the stew simmer for 21/2 hours in the oven (which pro-vides a more even heat than the stovetop) .The stew was bare-bones, but I’d worry about other additions later . For now, I wanted to see how the flavor of the broth was devel-oping . Not very well . Despite the little tweaks in the browning steps, my stew still lacked real meatiness . I decided to attack the problem in a more scientific manner .SOUPING UP THE BROTHWe’ve long known that ingredients rich in glutamates—compounds that give meat its savory taste—can enhance the flavor of a dish . Tomatoes are one such ingredient . I experimented with various canned tomato products, finally landing on tomato paste, which lent just the right background note .Thinking of other glutamate-rich ingre-dients, I wondered about cured meats, like bacon, that have a super-concentrated flavor . Bacon was too smoky for the dish, but salt pork worked well . A small piece added a subtle depth to the broth and the beef . Then I remembered another salted product that’s packed with glutamates: anchovies . I mashed one up and incorporated it along with the garlic and tomato paste . It was a smashing success, with tasters praising the newfound beefiness . In fact, I found I could add up to four fillets with increasingly better results before the fishiness revealed itself . Finally, my stew was packed with the depth I was look-ing for . But one problem remained: texture .THROUGH THICK AND THINKeller’s stew starts with homemade veal stock . As it cooks, collagen in the veal bones is transformed into gelatin, which gives the final stew a luxurious, mouth-coating texture—something that my flour-thickened broth lacked . Theoretically, powdered gela-tin should work just as well as the real deal . But once I removed the flour, I needed to add nearly 1/2 cup of gelatin powder to thicken the stew sufficiently . Flour or gelatin alone didn’t work, but what about a combination? I made the stew with 1/4 cup of flour just as before but added a single packet of bloomed gelatin after removing the stew from the oven . After just 3 minutes of simmering on the stovetop, the liquid developed a rich, glossy sheen that looked (and tasted) every bit as rich as the veal stock–based version .A couple of teaspoons of gelatin, stirred into the stew at the end of cooking, offer rich body.6COOK’S ILLUSTRATED REVOLUTIONARY RECIPESWith my stew perfected, the rest of the recipe was simple: I added a handful of fro-zen pearl onions toward the end of cooking along with some frozen peas . As for pota-toes, starchy russets broke down too easily, turning the stew grainy . Medium-starch Yukon Golds added halfway through cook-ing were the way to go . As I ladled myself a steaming bowl of the supremely meaty and satisfying stew, I couldn’t help but appreci-ate that, sometimes, the little things really do matter .Best Beef StewSERVES 6 TO 8Use a good-quality medium-bodied wine, such as Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Noir, for this stew. Try to find beef that is well marbled with white veins of fat. Meat that is too lean will come out slightly dry. Four pounds of blade steaks, trimmed of gristle and silver-skin, can be substituted for the chuck-eye roast. While the blade steak will yield slightly thinner pieces after trimming, it should still be cut into 11/2-inch pieces. Look for salt pork that is roughly 75 percent lean.2 garlic cloves, minced4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced1 tablespoon tomato paste4 pounds boneless beef chuck-eye roast, pulled apart at seams, trimmed, and cut into 1½-inch pieces2 tablespoons vegetable oil1 large onion, sliced thin4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces¼ cup all-purpose flour2 cups red wine2 cups chicken broth4 ounces salt pork, rinsed2 bay leaves4 sprigs fresh thyme1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces1½ cups frozen pearl onions, thawed2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin½ cup water1 cup frozen peas, thawedSalt and pepper1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle posi-tion and heat oven to 300 degrees . Mash garlic and anchovies in bowl to paste, then stir in tomato paste .2. Pat beef dry with paper towels . Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over medi-um-high heat until just smoking . Add half of beef and brown on all sides, 7 to 10 min-utes; transfer to bowl . Repeat with remain-ing 1 tablespoon oil and remaining beef, then return first batch of beef to pot .3. Reduce heat to medium and stir in onion and carrots . Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until onion is softened, 1 to 2 minutes . Stir in garlic mixture and cook until fra-grant, about 30 seconds . Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds .4. Slowly stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps . Increase heat to high and simmer until thickened and slightly reduced, about 2 min-utes . Stir in broth, salt pork, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs and bring to simmer . Cover, transfer pot to oven, and cook for 11/2 hours .5. Remove pot from oven . Discard salt pork and bay leaves and stir in potatoes . Cover, return pot to oven, and cook until potatoes are nearly tender, about 45 minutes .6. Using large spoon, skim any fat from surface of stew and discard thyme sprigs . Stir in pearl onions and cook on stovetop over medium heat until potatoes and onions are tender and meat offers little resistance when poked with fork, about 15 minutes . Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over water in bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes .7. Increase heat to high, stir in peas and gelatin mixture, and simmer until gelatin is fully dissolved and stew is thickened, about 3 minutes . Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve . (Stew can be refrigerated for up to 2 days; adjust consistency with extra broth as needed when reheating .)TRIMMING A CHUCK ROASTTo ensure consistent texture and flavor, avoid packaged stew meat (which can include odd-sized pieces from all over the cow) and start with a chuck roast.1. Pull apart the roast at its major seams (marked by lines of fat and silverskin). Use a knife as necessary.2. With a sharp chef ’s knife or boning knife, trim off thick layers of fat and silverskin.WHY ADD GELATIN?Thomas Keller’s recipe for beef stew uses homemade veal stock. Veal bones contain collagen, which is converted to gelatin as it cooks, giving the stew a luxurious texture. To re-create this effect without the labor-intensive homemade stock, we add powdered gelatin (bloomed in water) at the end of cooking. 7Beef, Pork, and Lambultimate char-grilled steakDAN SOUZA, July/August 2015While it’s hard to beat the smoky char of a grilled thick-cut steak, since I started using the test kitchen method for pan-searing steaks, the indoor version more often approaches perfection . The technique calls for first baking a thick steak in a low oven and then searing it in a smoking-hot preheated skillet . The initial baking not only evenly cooks the meat but also dries and warms the steak’s surface, resulting in lightning-fast searing—just a minute or so per side . The result is the platonic ideal of a steak: a crisp, well-browned crust and medium-rare meat from edge to edge . The time is so fast that, unlike with most methods, only a sliver of meat below the crust overcooks and loses its rosy hue .But with grilling, though I’ve created some pretty hot grill setups over the years, it takes so long to evenly brown the steak that I overcook a fair amount of meat below the surface . This summer I decided to hold grilled steak to a higher standard: perfectly cooked meat, a well-browned and crisp crust, and great charcoal-grilled flavor .SEARING QUESTIONTo reach perfection, I suspected that I’d need to think outside the box—or as it turned out, the grill . In my research I came across a novel technique that relied on a charcoal chimney starter to not just light the coals but actually do the cooking . To produce an amazing sear, celebrity chef and food sci-ence guru Alton Brown mimics the intensity of a steakhouse-caliber broiler by placing a porterhouse steak on the grill grate and then putting a lit chimney of coals right over it . Other sources took a similar approach but flipped the setup, placing the chimney on the grill’s grate and then arranging the steak, set on the cooking grate, on top .I gave both methods a try (I settled on strip over rib-eye steaks since the former don’t have as much internal fat and would thus cause fewer flare-ups) and one thing was for certain: Searing over a chimney was faster than any traditional grill setup I’d ever used, browning one side of the steak in about 2 minutes . Why? For much the same reason that a chimney is so effective at lighting a pile of coals: access to oxygen . In a chimney, the coals rest on a grate surrounded by big slits that let in lots of air, the sides of the chimney are perforated for additional air-flow, and both the top and bottom of the chimney have wide openings . Together, these features allow a huge supply of oxygen to access the coals, which makes them burn hot . Plus, the cylindrical shape is ideal for focus-ing intense radiant heat toward the open ends .But there was a downside to the chimney -based recipes . They all cooked the steaks start to finish over high heat, which inevitably led to an overcooked interior . To address this, I decided I would cook the inte-rior of my steaks using our low-temperature oven method for pan-seared steaks and then move outside to sear them and give them that charcoal-grilled flavor .After cooking a few steaks in a 275-degree oven for 30 minutes until they reached 105 degrees, I tried searing them both under and on top of a chimney . I quickly developed a preference for the latter . While putting the steak under the chimney avoided any chance of flare-ups because the fat dripped away from the heat source, ashes fell on the steak as it cooked and monitoring the browning required picking up the blazing-hot chimney . Putting the steak on top avoided both of these problems .That said, the technique still had its issues . Placing a grill grate that measured more than 20 inches in diameter, on top of a glowing-hot 6-quart chimney starter that was a mere 71/2 inches in diameter was pre-carious to say the least . In addition, the grate itself posed a problem: The hot bars of the grill grate seared the parts of the steak touching it faster than the radiant heat from the coals could brown the rest of the steak’s surface . The result was blackened grill marks over an unappealing background of gray meat . And finally, flare-ups were a problem, even with strip steaks . Cutting off the fat cap was a simple way to extinguish the flare-up issue, but I didn’t have a simple solution for the grill grate . Or maybe I did . What if I just ditched the grate entirely?BETTER THAN GRATECooking over a live fire without a grate isn’t a new concept—think of a pig on a spit . But even with this precedent in mind, it felt a lit-tle odd as I ran two metal skewers, parallel to each other, lengthwise through the center of a 13/4-inch-thick strip steak . (One steak would easily serve two, so I figured that once I had my method down I could double the recipe .) After cooking my skewered steak through indoors, I moved outside and lit a chimney starter filled halfway with charcoal . As soon as the coals were ready, I set the skewered steak on top with the protruding ends of the skewers resting directly on the rim . I was finally onto something . In about 2 minutes the entire surface of the steak fac-ing the coals turned a rich mahogany color and the edges charred beautifully . The gray band of overcooked meat was pretty small and the flavor was good . I just needed to make a few tweaks to reach perfection .I noticed that the steak charred best at the edges, which made sense because the edges have more exposed surface area . With that in mind, I sliced the steak in half cross-wise to create two more edges and thus more browning . This worked well, with the added benefit of making serving a breeze—I simply slid the cooked steaks off the skewers . Scor-Keeping the coals in the chimney delivers steaks with a killer crust and rosy meat from edge to edge.9Beef, Pork, and LambUltimate Charcoal-Grilled SteaksSERVES 4Rib-eye steaks of a similar thickness can be substituted for strip steaks, although they may produce more flare-ups. You will need a charcoal chimney starter with a 71/2-inch diameter and four 12-inch metal skewers for this recipe. If your chimney starter has a smaller diameter, skewer each steak individ-ually and cook in four batches. It is important to remove the fat caps on the steaks to limit flare-ups during grilling.2 (1-pound) boneless strip steaks, 13/4 inches thick, fat caps removedKosher salt and pepper1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees . Cut each steak in half crosswise to create four 8-ounce steaks . Cut 1⁄16-inch-deep slits on both sides of steaks, spaced 1/4 inch apart, in crosshatch pattern . Sprinkle both sides of each steak with 1/2 teaspoon salt (2 teaspoons total) . Lay steak halves with tapered ends flat on counter and pass two 12-inch metal skewers, spaced 11/2 inches apart, horizontally through steaks, making sure to keep 1/4-inch space between steak halves . Repeat skewer-ing with remaining steak halves .2. Place skewered steaks on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet, transfer to oven, and cook until centers of steaks register 120 degrees, flipping steaks over halfway through cooking and removing them as they come to temperature, 11/2 hours to 1 hour 50 minutes . Tent skewered steaks (still on rack) with aluminum foil .3. Light large chimney starter filled halfway with charcoal briquettes (3 quarts) . When top coals are completely covered in ash, uncover steaks (reserving foil) and pat dry with paper towels . Using tongs, place 1 set of steaks directly over chimney so skewers rest on rim of chimney (meat will be suspended over coals) . Cook until both sides are well browned and charred, about 1 minute per side . Using tongs, return first set of steaks to wire rack in sheet, season with pepper, and tent with reserved foil . Repeat with second set of skewered steaks . Remove skewers from steaks and serve .GRILLING STEAK OVER A CHIMNEY STARTER?Coals are at their hottest in the chimney, not in the grill, where airflow is far more restricted. So leaving the coals in the chimney produces deep browning fast. Here’s how it works.CHIMNEY DESIGN The cylindrical shape concentrates the heat. The open ends maximize airflow, keeping the fire burning intensely. A 71/2-inch diameter is ideal for two steaks.SKEWERS We use 12-inch metal skewers to suspend the steak across the chimney.STEAK We remove the fat cap and divide a strip steak in half. We crosshatch the surface for maximum browned crust. We salt, as always. We precook in the oven, low and slow.VENTS Located on both the sides and bottom of our winning chimney, these allow even more air circulation.COALS Three quarts fill the chimney halfway.KETTLE GRILL What else would make a safer base for cooking over a burning-hot chimney?ing the surface of the steaks in a crosshatch pattern before cooking provided additional edges to brown and char .Many tasters complained that the interiors of the steaks were bland, so I salted the meat and let it sit for an hour before putting it in the oven . This made a big flavor difference, but I saw a chance for improvement . I salted some more steaks and immediately popped them into a superlow 200-degree oven to cook for about an hour and a half (I cooked them to 120 degrees since carryover cooking would be minimal) . The steaks were now well seasoned and cooked internally to per-fection . And because the exterior had more time to dehydrate, these steaks browned and charred in just 60 seconds per side .All that was left was to double the recipe to make four steaks on two sets of skewers . Since I was cutting each strip steak in half crosswise, I paired up the narrower ends on one set of skewers and the wider ends on another to ensure even cooking . I could only sear one pair at a time given the chimney’s diameter, but it happened so fast that this didn’t pose a problem .With that, I had grilled steaks that lived up to the highest standards .Next >