The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition
by Cook's Illustrated Magazine
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Book Reviews of The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition
Book Review: One of the best cookbooks, ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
After purchasing many cookbooks over the years, my girlfriend told me something interesting. She told me that she found it difficult to learn to cook from a book, since she learned to cook by watching her mother. At first, this remark seemed insignificant, but later, the truth of what she said began to sink in. Although I have watched many of the PBS and Food Network cooking show, and have bought some of the author's books, none were offered in a format where the books were sold with the matching DVDs from the show.
Though I always liked watching America's Test Kitchen, I had never purchased any of their books. As Christmas 2006 rolled closer, I went to the ATK website, and found they had a great deal offering a book and accompanying covering all of the shows they aired in 2006, and for only $29.95 plus S/H. I bought a set for her and one for me, and since then, have been completely hooked on the ATK approach to cooking.
Sure, the DVDs help. Although I am experienced at cooking from many cookbooks, after watching an episode on DVD then reading the recipe, I go into the kitchen with a much clearer sense of purpose. However, the beauty of the ATK books is that they also provide a valuable narrative of the recipes they tried and how they failed, before giving you their solution.
Since then, I have purchased the ATK 2007 season book and DVD, and this Best Recipe book as well. Although the Best Recipe book does not include a DVD, it offers the same, in depth description of how recipes were developed, along with valuable recommendations on the best cooking equipment, and taste ratings of supermarket ingredients.
The best thing that I can say about ATK is that, after many years of buying books and cooking, I have finally found a line of books that teach you how to cook! I honestly feel as though I am receiving a culinary education from ATK. Rather that asking you to follow recipes blindly, they guide you to why cooking techniques work and don't work. Ultimately building knowledge and repertoire, I am not only becoming a more confident cook, but a more creative one as well.
Though large, this is the best single volume cookbook I have ever come across. In contrast to some of the other reviews, I find no difficulty whatsoever with the indexing. The book is simply separated into sections such as Poultry, or Vegetables. Within Vegetables, recipes are listed alphabetically (ie Asparagus is near the front, and Zucchini is near the rear). I never have any trouble finding anything, though I don't start in the back, but simply turn to the right section and go from there.
Some of the best food I have EVER made has been from these ATK books. My Beef Carbonnade, Boston Baked Beans, and Butternut Squash soup were mouth watering show stoppers. Many other recipes, including Meatloaf, high-roast chicken, Chicken Francese, and Huevos Rancheros, were very, very good.
I purchased this book for Christmas for my sister as well, and she loves it.
Book Review: A great resource for recipes and information
Summary: 5 Stars
I feel I need to refute the previous reviewer's allegations. I've had this book for a year and a half, and while I've always enjoyed cooking, this book has taken me to a new level, in both enjoyment and skill. I read it front to back (and have since subscribed to the magazine) and found it fascinating reading. I love the explanations on the development of each recipe. I've made at least a hundred of the recipes in here, and very few have failed me. Most have been amazing.
Because I have not made either the Osso Buco or Beef Burgundy recipes the previous reviewer mentioned, I cannot attest to their quality specifically. However, one of the goals of these recipe developers is to take culturally traditional food and make it accessible to the American home cook. Many traditional recipes include ingredients and equipment that are not practical or available, and the recipes in this book do their best to work around this and still produce fantastic food.
I have however baked both the Baguette and Rustic Italian Bread recipes from this book. When I removed the baguette from the oven, I realized that I had finally made a great baguette, after trying many other recipes. The crust was great and the crumb was perfect. (The taste was bland-I forgot to add the salt.) I've made the Italian bread several times and gotten a ridiculous amount of compliments on it.
I've found their equipment testings valuable, even more so because they do not advocate buying tools that will be useful for only a specific food. Since reading this book, I've put my breadmaker, egg cooker, and deep fryer in storage, because the stove and oven can do it all. I've also found their tastings useful, especially because the magazine does not accept advertising. The science explanations peppered throughout the book have really wet my appetite for more kitchen science.
I will admit that this book is not for everyone. A lot of people aren't interested in the "best" recipe, they're interested primarily in the easiest or healthiest recipe. Also, there are no color pictures. I don't find this too detrimental because a lot of the focus of the book is on developing the best recipe for classic dishes, like mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, and I know what those are supposed to look like. There are line drawings to help explain techniques, and these are helpful.
For me, this has been a great book. It's a large resource of recipes from a source that I trust, and because every recipe starts by explaining their goals, I know what to expect from the finished product. I've also been able to take what I've learned here and apply it to everything I cook. Perhaps most importantly, it makes me excited to learn still more about food and cooking.
Book Review: These Recipes Consistently Deliver
Summary: 5 Stars
I consider myself an experienced cook but I have had frustrating experiences with cookbooks and recipes I'd find in magazines and newspapers. Something would sound wonderful, I'd buy ingredients, spend hours cooking and the results would be...OK. Not terrible, not inedible, but a disappointment none the less. Even cookbooks that I love and contain recipes I think are wonderful would also have recipes that I found pretty so-so. In fact, in many cookbooks the ratio of successes to non-successes is pretty small. Finding The Best Recipe (the edition that preceded this one) was a revelation for me. Each recipe I tried was a success. When The New Best Recipe was published, I bought one immediately and was thrilled to find so many new recipes.
This is now my go-to cookbook, the first place I look when I want to find a recipe, and a book I check other recipes against when considering recipes from other sources. I use this book in the way my mother used the Joy of Cooking when I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s. And just as Joy was the book she used when she needed a recipe for a classic like beef stew or a then fashionable food such as quiche or cheese fondue, The New Best Recipe has recipes for classics (spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast, coq au vin, shrimp scampi) and also has recipes for foods that have hit the American culinary radar more recently such as pad thai, beef fajitas, and pozole. In fact the huge range of foods is one of the things that makes this cookbook so wonderful; for instance, the pasta section includes recipes for lo mein, tuna noodle casserole and ravioli.
This is a great book for beginners because of the detailed explanations of how the ultimate recipe was achieved which include discussions of different techniques that were considered or used and why they were rejected, as well as the many sidebars which give information on technique and equipment. Plus there is nothing that teaches you to cook like cooking, and nothing that keeps you cooking as much as having success. But it is a book that an experienced cook will find just an interesting and useful. I have been cooking for years and I have learned from this book.
This is not (and does not represent itself to be) a low-fat cookbook. The recipes are about achieving maximum flavor and taste. It is also not (and does not represent itself to be) a cookbook full of fast recipes. However, this book contains so many recipes that low fat and fast recipes can be found among them. The recipes are always clear and easy to follow, and the results will speak for themselves.
I love cookbooks and have many but if I were forced to have only one cookbook, this would be the one
Book Review: Our New Family Cookbook
Summary: 5 Stars
I just reviewed many cookbooks (and I mean many hundreds) in order to find ONE that was the BEST. My purpose was to use that one book, pretty much exclusively, for the next 5 years- until both of my kids are out of high school. Why? Because we are now a 'cooking family'. My two teenage daughters seldom helped in the kitchen, except with desserts, which are pretty rare. Now, we are rotating who is cooking each night- one parent- one or more kids. NOBODY complains when they have helped cook!
The kids will both be very familiar with this book- so that when they are out on their own, they will know exactly what they like to cook, where the recipe is, and how to do everything. It is all explained in glorious detail. Both of the kids will of course get a copy of the book. My husband has some things he cooks, and does not like to use recipes for- but reading this book about the techniques, and the HOW to do things better- has even improved his cooking.
I have to say- our first recipe was a disaster- Chicken Marsala. Not because it was a bad recipe- but because I asked the kids to read through the recipe first, then prepare the ingredients, carefully measuring them. They whined and moaned, and even CRIED about how mean I was being to them- so I said ok then- we will just plunge in and do it- so it was a great lesson- we had no idea what we needed next, how much, or what to do. Things were burned and under-done. But we discussed why this had happened (and it was actually pretty good despite our many mistakes), and next time, they can't wait to get it right!
I do love the variety in the book- it has of course, all the basics- and appitizers, rice and grains, chicken, beef, etc. but also baking- pies, bread, and cakes. I wish there were more bread recipes- I did buy the Baking book as well for weekend baking to go along with this (same authors).
My only real complaints are that I wish there were at least some color pictures. I have their Family cookbook- and it is ring bound. It does have wonderful pictures and illustrations- BUT the cheap ring-bound paper is thin and tears at the drop of a hat. What we really need is the two books combined- nice hardback binding, but lots of photos.
My second gripe is that I wish there were a section of main dishes that are vegetarian. I suppose you could say it is covered with the rice, grain, and pasta section, but many of these recipes do have meat.
Book Review: The canonical source for REAL cooking
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a fair cook, of the country meat and potatoes and apple pie variety. Well, include Italian dishes in that. And Tex-Mex. And catfish, and a few other things. I was a charter subscriber nearly thirty years ago to Cook's Illustrated and there's seldom an issue goes by that I don't find one of two things I immediately want to fix. And I always enjoy the methodological and sidebar discussions even for dishes that are not to my taste. When the first edition of this now-hefty volume was published in 1999, I bought a copy immediately and began filling it with post-its. It quickly became my kitchen Bible and its tried and true renditions of all the classic American recipes became the canon. But it contained only ("only"!) 500 recipes. The second edition is twice the size of the first, more than 1,000 recipes, all following the same test-to-destruction methods Christopher Kimball and his staff have made famous. (I should note that some have been reworked and revised/improved, and a few deleted, mostly for updated nutritional reasons.) And "best" is right. It's not just hyperbole. As he says in the Introduction, "We mean simply the best version of a particular recipe (in a particular style) that we can develop in our kitchen through our testing process." Put their version of anything up against one from any other book or magazine, and the CI version will nearly always prove superior. And they'll always tell you why, so the magazine and this book are also an ongoing educational process. Open the volume at random and you'll probably see at least one title on any given page that will start you salivating: Home-Corned Beef Brisket and Cabbage, New England Style. Pozole Rojo. Buttermilk Pancakes. Spicy Sichuan Noodles with Pork. Boston Baked Beans. Breakfast Strata with Spinach and Gruyere. Cinnamon-Raisin Bagels. Blueberry Pie. And on and on and on. And nowhere will you find weird ingredients or expensive single-tasker utensils. There are thirty-two chapters, from Appetizers to Puddings and Custards, and there are frequent illustrated mini-lessons on such topics as slicing an onion, rolling out pizza dough, deglazing, and slicing a T-bone steak. And for all this, the price is rather less than two best-selling novels. It's the perfect wedding or Christmas gift for the cooking (or eating) enthusiast; I've given away at least half a dozen copies in the past five years. I own three shelves of cookbooks -- but this is the one I would take to a desert island.