Indholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2016 i Cook's Illustrated

I recently watched in disbelief as a fellow test cook took a rock-hard steak from the freezer and clunked it into a screaming-hot skillet. I’m all for questioning conventional wisdom, but really—could this possibly end well? He seared the steak until it was well browned, about 90 seconds on each side, and then transferred it to the oven for 20 minutes to finish cooking. After letting it rest briefly, he sliced it. It was perfect. The exterior had developed an impressive sear while the superchilled interior was resistant to overcooking, so the meat within was juicy and rosy from edge to edge. The approach is a clever one, and skipping the thawing step is certainly appealing for those of us who like to keep steaks on hand in the freezer.…

I make pesto often, and for all the usual reasons: It’s simple and easy to prepare, it’s rich but fresh-tasting, and it can function not just as a pasta sauce but also as a vibrant dip, dressing for meat or vegetables, or sandwich spread. Like most cooks, I default to the familiar Genovese puree of basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic, and olive oil. But almost every region of Italy lays claim to its own version, and I’m often tempted to branch out and try other styles—most recently, pesto alla calabrese. Calabria’s namesake sauce looks and tastes nothing like the raw Genovese puree for two key reasons: First, it trades the base of basil and nuts for the red bell peppers, creamy ricotta and tangy Parmesan cheeses, and hot chiles native…

For the Best Results, Get Out Your Thermometer The axiom “knowledge is power” holds especially true in the kitchen—the more you know about what’s going on inside your food as it cooks, the more you can control the result. That’s why we’re so gung ho about using an instant-read thermometer in the kitchen, as more control means less stress and better results. Our Favorite Instant-Read Thermometers The ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4 (left, $99) and our Best Buy, the ThermoWorks ThermoPop (right, $29), are accurate, fast, and easy to use. Take Multiple Readings Especially with large roasts and turkeys, it’s important to take the temperature in multiple places since it can vary in thicker and thinner areas, as well as near bones. Food is only done once all parts reach the target…

When I set out to make frozen yogurt for the first time, I thought the task would be simple. Unlike ice cream recipes, which typically call for cooking (and then cooling) a finicky custard for a base, most of the fro yo recipes I came across required nothing more than throwing yogurt, sugar, and maybe a few flavorings into an ice cream maker and churning. But these recipes were hugely disappointing: The fro yo turned out icy and rock-hard. I realized that this was partly because frozen yogurt doesn’t have the advantage of yolks or cream, both of which give ice cream proportionally more fat and less water. Fat makes ice cream taste creamier and smoother, while less water in the base means there’s less of it to form ice…

There’s a heated debate raging in the cheese world. On one side, Parmigiano-Reggiano, the so-called king of cheese. Complex, with fruity, nutty, savory notes; a dry, crumbly texture; and a crystalline crunch, this cheese has been made in precisely the same way in northern Italy for the past 800 years. Its adversary? Imitators like Parmesan, Parmezan, Regginito—takes on the classic made under varying regulations in the United States and around the world. (We’ll refer to this group of cheeses simply as “Parmesan” from here on out.) Parmigiano-Reggiano producers want clearer labeling to call out these imitators. The European Union and the United States are currently debating how to label cheese as part of a massive trade agreement. But nomenclature aside, how’s the cheese? Do the imitators actually rival the real…

Seed-Free Citrus Juicing Christina Wyman of Virginia Beach, Va., saves the netting from garlic and shallot bulbs for juicing lemons and limes. With the cut side of a citrus half placed inside the netting before squeezing, the fine-mesh weave easily keeps seeds out of her juice and doesn’t impart any flavors or odors. Quick Food Processor Cleaning When Marilyn Whitlock of Austin, Texas, needs to quickly rinse her food processor between tasks, she adds a couple of drops of dish soap and warm water up to the recommended liquid line, runs the machine for a few minutes, and then rinses the bowl well before moving on to the next task. Easy Way to Core a Jalapeño Jim Summerour of Atlanta, Ga., discovered a way to remove the seeds and ribs…

Ratatouille is a rustic Provençal specialty that transforms latesummer produce—tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers—by simmering the vegetables, scented with garlic, onion, and herbs, until they have softened into a rich stew. It’s a satisfying dish that can be served as an accompaniment or even turned into a light main course by topping it with an egg, sandwiching it between slices of bread, or spooning it over pasta or rice. The problem with ratatouille boils down to one thing: water. More specifically, each of the primary ingredients contains more than 90 percent water. If all that liquid isn’t dealt with somehow, you end up with a wet, pulpy mess of ingredients that are indistinguishable in taste, color, and texture. To remedy this, many cooks complicate what is already a prep-heavy…

If you’ve ever made paella, you probably know that no two versions of this famous Spanish rice dish are prepared the same way. The basic template consists of medium-grain rice cooked in a wide, shallow vessel (traditionally, a paellera) with a flavor base called sofrito, broth and maybe wine, and a jumble of meat and/or seafood. Within this framework, the proteins can be anything from poultry to pork to any species of shellfish; the seasonings may include garlic, saffron, smoked paprika—or all of the above; and the embellishments might be peas, bell peppers, or lemon. As the rice absorbs the liquid, the grains in contact with the pan form a caramelized crust known as socarrat—the most prized part of the dish. The final product is colorful and flavor-packed: a one-pot…

Just because cabbage is the traditional choice for coleslaw doesn’t mean it’s the only option. I suspected that root vegetables like beets, carrots, celery root, and kohlrabi would stay just as crisp once dressed, and their distinctive flavors would enliven a slaw. And while mayonnaise-based dressings are a common choice, I liked the idea of pairing my shredded root vegetables with a tangy vinaigrette. With their deep, rich color and earthy-sweet flavor, beets seemed like a great starting place for my testing. But unlike cabbage, which succumbs to a sharp knife with little effort, dense beets would take more elbow grease to turn them into shreds thin enough to be palatable raw. A mandoline could do the job, but I ruled it out since it’s not a tool that everyone…

A digital scale is a game changer in the kitchen. A scale is critical for baking recipes, where measuring dry ingredients by weight is the only way to guarantee accuracy. We’ve proven this in tests where we’ve repeatedly measured a cup of flour by volume, using a “dip and sweep” method, and found that there can be up to a 20 percent difference in the weight— a variance that can mean the difference between a cake that’s squat and dense and one that’s fluffy and tender. Scales have many applications in cooking, too. Using one to portion burgers, for example, means no more guessing if the patties are the same size and will thus cook at the same rate. They can even make cooking and cleanup more efficient, thanks to…

Twenty-one editors and cooks at America’s Test Kitchen sampled each cheese plain (at room temperature) and stirred into our recipe for Creamy Parmesan Polenta; scores were averaged, and the cheeses are listed below in order of preference. Details on age, origin, pasteurization, and cow diet were obtained from manufacturers and the Journal of the European Union’s Council Regulation on “Parmigiano-Reggiano.” Nutritional data was analyzed by an independent laboratory and is reported per 100 grams of cheese. Prices were paid in Boston-area supermarkets.…

WHAT IS IT? This kitchen tool dating from around 1900 was made by one of the Victorian era’s greatest inventors, James Osborne Spong. The industrial-era Spong Marmalade Slicer was, and continues to be, famous in Britain for slicing citrus wedges for marmalade, and it can also be used for slicing firm vegetables like cucumber and squash. To use it, you push produce through the feed tube with a plunger while simultaneously cranking the handle to spin the five-bladed rotary cutter. We purchased one online and found that despite its age, the tool worked quite well. Putting too much pressure on the plunger jammed up the works, making the handle tough to crank and mashing rather than slicing produce, but once we lightened up a little, the cutting barrel moved smoothly…

I’ve long been a fan of pork tinga, a taco filling hailing from the Puebla region of Mexico that features supertender shredded pork (and often chorizo) bathed in a boldly flavored sauce anchored by tomatoes and smokyspicy chipotle chiles. Fresh toppings like cilantro, salty Cotija cheese, and a squeeze of lime provide a perfect contrast to the rich, meaty filling. But since it’s usually made with cuts that take several hours to turn tender, pork tinga isn’t practical to make on a weeknight. I’d thought about adapting a recipe to work with chicken, but after a little research I realized there was no need: Lots of authentic recipes for tinga de pollo already exist. I gave the most common—and speedy— approach I found a test run. Similar to the recipe…

While grilled onions are typically used as part of a grilled vegetable mix, their sharp, sweet bite; caramelized edges; and crisp-tender texture are so good that I wondered if I could create a version worthy of being a side dish all on its own. I’d opt for the common yellow variety and would serve onion halves, rather than separating them into rings or cutting them into wedges, since I wanted a substantial side dish that presented well. The trick would be figuring out how to cook them evenly. To serve the onions as a stand-alone dish, I wanted to cook them longer in order to mellow their sharp bite and soften their texture. I would have to figure out how to achieve this without burning their exteriors. To that end,…

I crave fried chicken as much as the next person, but I have never been partial to fried wings. To me, they’re bar snacks—fine for occasionally sharing with friends but not substantial or satisfying enough to make a meal out of—and certainly not worth the trouble to make at home. At least, that’s how I felt until I tasted the fried wings at a Korean restaurant in my neighborhood. The biggest selling point of this style is its thin, crackly exterior that gives way to juicy meat with an audible crunch—an especially impressive trait considering that the surface of the chicken is doused with a wet sauce. And unlike many styles of wings that are just sweet, salty, or fiery, these delivered a perfect balance of all those flavors. That…

I like to host pizza parties year-round, but come summertime the last thing I want to do is crank up the oven and cook in a hot kitchen. That’s when I opt to grill pizza. Not only does this approach allow me to move both the kitchen and the party outdoors, but when made well, the pie is a lighter and fresher style of pizza, perfect for summer appetites: a thin, audibly crisp, lightly charred crust that’s tender within and topped judiciously (so as not to saturate the crust) with a simple tomato sauce, pockets of cheese, and fresh herbs. My standards for grilled pizza are admittedly high, since I was introduced to this style at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, the restaurant where the dish is said to…

We tested 10 digital kitchen scales, priced from $11.79 to $67.27, with maximum capacities between 9 and 15 pounds. All models display weights in at least two units of measurement, which we’ve listed below. “Ounces” indicates a display that can show a total weight in ounces, while “pounds/ounces” indicates a display that will show pounds and ounces for items heavier than 16 ounces. “Grams” indicates a display that can show a total weight in grams, while “kilograms/grams” indicates a display that will show kilograms and grams for items heavier than 1,000 grams. Prices shown were paid online. Models appear below in order of preference. ACCURACY We tested three units of each model, weighing 30-, 200-, and 500-gram lab-calibrated weights 10 times on each unit, at the beginning and end of…

Tasting Almond Butter In recent years, almond butter has emerged as a popular alternative to peanut butter. To find the best, we rounded up the four top-selling national products (as reported by IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm) and tasted them plain and in cherry-almond smoothies. Note that while you can buy almond butters that are made solely from almonds that have been roasted and ground, none in that unadulterated style sell well enough to have made our lineup. The top-selling almond butters all add a solid fat (palm oil or hydrogenated vegetable oil) to create the homogeneous, spreadable consistency many consumers like. Three of the four products were labeled “creamy,” but only the two winners were totally smooth. According to their ingredient lists, the smooth almond butters were made…