Table Of ContentTHE COOK'S ILLUSTRATED HOW-
TO-COOK LIBRARY
An illustrated step-by-step guide to foolproof cooking.
By the Editors of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED
Illustrations by John Burgoyne
Brookline, Massachusetts
Copyright © 2009 by The Editors of Cook's Illustrated
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.
America's Test Kitchen
17 Station Street
Brookline, Massachusetts 02146
The Cook's Illustrated How-to-Cook Library
An illustrated step-by-step guide to foolproof cooking
The Editors of Cook's Illustrated Special Kindle Edition
e-ISBN: 978-1-933615-45-5
Editorial Director: Jack Bishop
Design Director: Amy Klee
Cover Design: Greg Galvan
Cover Art and Illustrations: John Burgoyne
Recipe Development: Julia Collin Davison, Melissa Hamilton, Bridget
Lancaster,
Elizabeth Germain, Kay Rentschler, Anne Yamanaka, Dawn Yanagihara
CONTENTS
Introduction
How to Make Quick Appetizers
How to Make Salad
How to Make Soup
How to Make Stew
How to Cook Garden Vegetables
How to Cook Potatoes
How to Make Pasta Sauces
How to Cook Shrimp & Other Shellfish
How to Cook Chicken Breasts
How to Sauté
How to Make Pot Pies and Casseroles
How to Cook Holiday Roasts & Birds
How to Grill
How to Barbecue & Roast on the Grill
How to Stir-Fry
How to Cook Chinese Favorites
How to Make Pizza
How to Make Muffins, Biscuits, & Scones
How to Make Cookie Jar Favorites
How to Make An American Layer Cake
How to Make a Pie
How to Make Simple Fruit Desserts
How to Make Holiday Desserts
How to Make Ice Cream
How to Make Sauces & Gravies
Index
Introduction
There are all sorts of cookbooks out there. Some have 2,000 recipes, others have
200. Some are packed with color photos, others black and white. Some are
nothing more than recipes, others are part of a narrative describing a life or
place. But I am still struck by a comment made to me over 20 years ago by a
Swedish friend and cook, who offered this advice, "It's not how many recipes,
it's which recipes." Sometimes expertise turns up where you least expect it, as in
the story I'd heard about a New York couple who purchased a farm in Vermont
back in the 1930s. Instead of using the local surveyor to check the property lines,
they hired an expensive firm out of the city so they would get a top-notch job.
Three men showed up, but after two days of work they still could not find the
last corner. The firm finally had to admit defeat and ask for help from the local
surveyor, who, in no time at all, found the spot in question. The New York firm
received a bill a few days later for $100. They wrote back indicating that they
needed the work itemized since the bill was a bit pricey. The new invoice came
by return post: "Twenty-five dollars for finding the corner and $75 for knowing
where it was."
The notion of "knowing where it was" is the founding principle for our
"How-to-Cook" library. Knowing the best way to produce tender stew meat;
knowing the best techniques for preheating a skillet or seeding a tomato;
knowing whether Dutch-processed cocoa is better than natural in a particular
recipe—years and years of test kitchen work all contributed to this unique
collection. Each chapter contains a definitive repertoire of recipes, only the ones
you really want and need, recipes tested and developed here at America's Test
Kitchen. These are small jewels, just the thing when you want to make a pasta
sauce, layer cake, holiday dessert, or mashed potatoes, or when you want to
roast, grill, stew, bake, sauté, or stir-fry.
Every cook has a repertoire, the key recipes that are appealing, practical,
useful, and interesting enough to keep in the rotation. To this day, my wife,
Adrienne, swears that the Chicken Noodle Soup recipe is the best she has ever
made, and we make it for dinner at least twice a month. Or the Ham and Split
Pea Soup, Oven Fries, Fruit Cobbler with Butter Cookie Dough Topping, Grill-
Roasted Chicken, Quick Lasagne with Meatballs, or the French-Style Potato
Salad. These are the staples of our weeknight menus. Sure, in this day and age,
access to virtually millions of recipes is right at your fingertips through the Web.
But who needs millions of recipes that might or might not work? What any home
cook wants are recipes that work, the first time and every time.
I have always believed that the best way to make a good cook is to give
them a good recipe. These are recipes that don't have to be second-guessed, fixed
up, or changed around if you don't have a convection oven, are cooking on an
electric rather than a gas stovetop, or are using the wrong size skillet. That's our
job, to figure out what might go wrong with a recipe and engineer it for the best
possible chance of success in your kitchen, with your cookware.
So enjoy this very special Kindle collection of recipes. It is not available
anywhere else. It covers all the culinary ground, from barbecue, grilling, garden
vegetables, holiday roasts, potatoes, soups, stews, stir-fries, pasta sauces, pizza,
appetizers, salads, shrimp and shellfish, to pies, layer cakes, cookies and
brownies, holiday desserts, ice cream, simple fruit desserts, and lots more. It's all
you really need in the kitchen and it all sits nice and handy on a Kindle as well.
Now your own definitive recipe collection is portable and easy to access, the
perfect helper in the kitchen. Just remember to invite us over for dinner!
Christopher Kimball
Founder and Editor
Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country
Host, "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country From America's Test
Kitchen" on PBS
HOW TO MAKE QUICK APPETIZERS
Appetizer Basics
Dips and Salsas
Cheese Appetizers
Vegetable Appetizers
Meat and Chicken Appetizers
Seafood Appetizers
Egg Appetizers
Bread and Pastry Appetizers
Popcorn and Nuts
APPETIZER BASICS
THE DICTIONARY DEFINES APPETIZER AS "a food or drink that stimulates the appetite." The French
word hors d'oeuvre is translated as "apart from the work," and the Italian
antipasto literally means "before the meal." Both are synonyms for appetizer and
refer to the fact that these little fingers foods are eaten away from the dining
table, often on the hoof. At a cocktail party, appetizers can be a meal unto
themselves.
For this book, we have tested countless recipes for appetizer favorites from
around the world, finally selecting the versions that taste best and require the
least amount of work. In general, we have limited hands-on work to no more
than 20 minutes for each recipe, plus baking and cooling times. Wherever
possible we have provided do-ahead instructions to keep the cook out of the
kitchen during the party.
The book is divided by the main ingredient in the appetizer (eggs,
vegetables, meat, etc.). Within each chapter, we start with the recipes that are the
easiest and quickest to make. Recipes at the end of each chapter tend to be a bit
more complicated.
DECIDING HOW MANY APPETIZERS TO MAKE
The question we hear most often about appetizers concerns quantity. How many
types of appetizers and how many pieces are required? The answer depends how
long you plan to serve the appetizers and what follows. Some examples.
If you plan a short cocktail hour (let's say 45 minutes, while you wait for all
of your guests to arrive) followed by a multicourse meal, you want to serve just
one to two appetizers. (If you are expecting a large crowd, you might consider
making three appetizers.) Plan on three or four pieces per person if you plan on
one hour or less for cocktails. For more than one hour, make at least two
appetizers and plan on four to six pieces per person.
A true cocktail party (with no dinner to follow) requires more types of
appetizer and more pieces. In many cases, guests drink for several hours and
some may even make a meal out of the appetizers. In this case, you want to serve
