Indholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2020 i Cook's Illustrated

I’m sitting at the big table in the kitchen of my childhood home. There’s a cloth draped over the surface, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell—nearly every inch is home to a platter, plate, cruet, boat, or glass filled with something delicious. The air is all butter, onions, and roasted meat, but I can’t smell any of it, having spent the whole morning in that kitchen surrounded by those aromas. When I look around the table I see the faces I know the best. I’m with my family. It’s Thanksgiving. Or maybe it’s Christmas. As I write this, on a bright, hot day in early August, I know that my holiday traditions might very well remain a daydream this year. But I’m not letting it get me down. If the…

Some confit recipes call for vegetable oil or chicken fat instead of duck fat, and we found that all three fats produce confits that brown beautifully and taste similar—even though the fats taste very different on their own. That’s because the meat doesn’t absorb fat during the confit process; it emerges with just a bare coating on its surface. But I still recommend using duck fat (chicken is my second choice) if you can swing it. The fat absorbs flavors from the meat as it cooks, making it even more complex-tasting, and I find duck fat to be particularly delicious. The upshot is that you end up with a fantastic by-product that can be reused in a variety of ways. Strain the leftover fat; freeze it; and then use it…

Spice rubs and pastes are great for adding complexity to proteins such as chicken, pork, or beef, but they can also enhance fish. In fact, brushing a few fillets with a potent paste and sliding them under the broiler is one of the best strategies I know for quickly putting a light, fresh dinner on the table. To choose the best type of fish for this application, I cast a wide net, finding that moderately fatty, slightly sweet snapper worked beautifully with vibrant seasonings; tilapia and sea bass were also excellent choices. I started by salting the fillets to season the flesh and help keep it moist. Next, I smeared the fish with a simple paste of pantry ingredients: raisiny-sweet ancho chile powder, citrusy ground coriander, dried oregano, black and…

I adore celery root. Its ivory flesh cooks up earthy and nutty-sweet, with celery-like undertones (celery root is the same plant species as stalk celery but a different variety grown for its roots) and a light texture. Puree the cooked root with touches of butter and cream, and you’ve got a dish that’s neutral enough to stand in for mashed potatoes yet still offers plenty of personality. Working with peeled chunks of celery root, I found that braising them in small amounts of water and butter produced the purest taste. And yet I soon found myself in a conundrum: It took 45 minutes for the pieces to turn fully tender, but cooking times longer than 30 minutes produced less celery flavor and more slightly cabbagey sourness. I needed to cook…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TESTERS ’ COMMENTS CUISINART Custom 14 14 Cup Food Processor MODEL: DFP-14BCNY PRICE: $145.99 BOWL CAPACITY: 14 cups LIQUID MAXIMUM: 3 cups WEIGHT OF BASE: 12.45 lb DISHWASHER-SAFE: Yes ACCESSORIES: Chopping S-blade, slicing disk, shredding disk, spatula Our previous favorite is still powerful and precise. Its bowl and blade are easy to use and clean, and its feed tube placement allows for increased bowl visibility. However, its redesigned chopping blade left slightly bigger gaps, which were still narrower than those of lower-ranked models, between it and the bottom of the bowl, so it couldn’t effectively incorporate egg yolks into single-batch mayonnaise. It did chop mirepoix uniformly and was one of only two models to give us perfectly blended yogurt in our dye test. RECOMMENDED TESTERS ’ COMMENTS BREVILLE…

BLUE STILTON PRICE: $37.00 per lb TYPE OF MILK: Cow PASTEURIZED: Yes AGED: 6–15 weeks COMMENTS: Nutty, earthy, slightly sweet, and a little salty, this iconic British cheese is flavorful yet approachable. It’s dense, fudgy, and a little crumbly. Stilton has been made since at least the early 1700s. The cheese and the pasteurized milk used to make it must be produced within three counties near the town of Stilton. DANISH BLUE PRICE: $18.00 per lb TYPE OF MILK: Cow PASTEURIZED: Yes AGED: 4–6 months COMMENTS: Homogenized milk gives this cheese its bright-white color and extremely creamy texture. It has considerable blue veining and is boldly flavored: pungent, tangy, savory, and even oniony. It was first made in the 19th century by makers who are said to have been inspired…

Mini Whisks We love our favorite all-purpose whisk, but sometimes we want a smaller tool for beating a few eggs or emulsifying just enough salad dressing for one or two people. That’s where mini whisks come in. At about 5 to 7 inches in total length (about half the size of the whisks we ordinarily use), they’re ideal for these smaller jobs, and their more petite profiles mean they’re easier to store as well. We bought six mini whisks and used them to combine dried herbs and spices for za’atar, beat two eggs, emulsify vinaigrette, mix a honey-mustard dipping sauce, and whisk together a cornstarch slurry. All the whisks performed well, but some were more efficient and easier to hold than others. Our favorite is the Tovolo Stainless Steel 6"…

Whipping Pudding into Shape If a pudding or pastry cream has become lumpy during cooking, Patricia Williams of Houston, Texas, turns to a restaurant trick to smooth things out: She uses an immersion blender to quickly blend the pudding until it’s smooth and then passes the pudding through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any remaining solid bits. Clump-Free Sugar After going to measure granulated sugar and finding that it had caked and turned into a solid white brick, Gregory Sarafin of Center Moriches, N.Y., turned to his potato masher. With a few strokes, he easily broke up the sugar into granules. Patching Cracked Shells Rather than throw away pie dough trimmings, Melissa Borrell of Annville, Pa., saves the scraps for patchwork. If there are any cracks or holes in a…

SOUS VIDE TURKEY THIGH CONFIT WITH CITRUS-MUSTARD SAUCE SERVES 6 TO 8 TOTAL TIME: 17½ HOURS, PLUS 4 DAYS SALTING Start this recipe at least five days or up to 12 days before serving (almost all the time is hands-off). We double-bag the turkey thighs to protect against seam failure, so you will need four 1-gallon zipper-lock freezer bags. If preferred, use a vacuum sealer and skip the double-bagging. This recipe calls for the same ingredients as Turkey Thigh Confit with Citrus-Mustard Sauce, with two exceptions: You need only 1 cup of fat or oil and. teaspoon of granulated garlic instead of a head of garlic. 1. Follow recipe for Turkey Thigh Confit with Citrus-Mustard Sauce through step 1. 2. Using sous vide circulator, bring 4 inches (about 6 quarts)…

1. SALT BRIEFLY Salting the shrimp for 15 minutes (up to 30 minutes is fine) helps them retain moisture even as they’re seared, but it doesn’t introduce extra moisture like brining does, so the shrimp’s exteriors still brown beautifully. Salt also seasons the shrimp. 2. ADD SUGAR JUST BEFORE COOKING Sprinkling sugar on the shrimp (patted dry after salting) boosts browning and underscores their sweetness. The trick is waiting to sprinkle it until just before searing so that it doesn’t get wiped off when you dry the shrimp. 3. USE A SLICK PAN; OIL SHRIMP, NOT SKILLET Searing in a nonstick or carbon-steel skillet ensures that flavorful browning sticks to the food and not to the pan. Lightly oiling the shrimp themselves (instead of the pan) ensures that they are…

• Crush Ice Pulse up to 2 cups of ice cubes in the processor until finely ground, 8 to 10 pulses.• Whip Cream Process 1½ cups of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to soft peaks, about 1 minute, for a superquick basic sweetened whipped cream.• Make Bread Crumbs Tear or cut bread into pieces and pulse in the food processor until ground to the desired texture.• Create Flavored Salts Process ½ cup of coarse sea salt with ½ cup of fresh rosemary or thyme leaves until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Store in the refrigerator for one week.• Grind Nut Flours and Butters Depending on how long you process them, you can process nuts in several ways, from chopping them to a coarse…

I know a lot about turkey—I’ve roasted hundreds of birds while developing two previous recipes for this magazine. I’m adept at keeping the delicate breast meat moist while ensuring that the longer-cooking legs and thighs turn tender. I have tricks for seasoning the flesh all the way to the bone, producing crackling brown skin, and maximizing the flavors of herbs and spices. But if I really wanted to wow you with a single unadorned bite—no drizzle of gravy, no sprinkle of flaky salt, no dollop of cranberry sauce—I wouldn’t bother with any of those techniques. I’d make turkey confit. The term “confit” is derived from the French verb “confire,” which means “to preserve.” Before refrigeration, confit was used as a simple and effective way to prolong the shelf life of…

Red cabbage is inexpensive, long storing, widely available, and strikingly beautiful. Because it takes longer to mature than other varieties, it’s also impressively sturdy. For that reason, a quick saute can leave it unappealingly tough, so I prefer a tenderizing braise. The cabbage not only turns silky but also melts into a uniform and vivid bright purple, making it a cheerful dish to enjoy in late fall and winter, when food tends toward the brown and beige sections of the color wheel. As I cast my mind back over the many braised red cabbage recipes I’d eaten and made, a theme emerged: The dish always has a sweet-and-sour profile. Research revealed that this isn’t a coincidence. Red cabbage gets its color from pH-sensitive compounds called anthocyanins, and if the cooking…

CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES MAKES 22 COOKIES TOTAL TIME: 1¼ HOURS, PLUS 20 MINUTES COOLING WHY WE LOVE THEM: Unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder (plus a boost from espresso powder) give these cookies brownie-like richness and depth. Rolling the dough in granulated and then confectioners’ sugar yields the perfect crackly exterior. 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour½ cup (1½ ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder1 teaspoon baking powder¼ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon table salt1½ cups packed (10½ ounces) brown sugar3 large eggs4 teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional)1 teaspoon vanilla extract4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped4 tablespoons unsalted butter½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar½ cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking…

1. WELL-DESIGNED FEED TUBE: The roomy tube minimizes pretrimming and waste but is narrow enough to hold food upright 2. MINIMAL GAPS BETWEEN BLADE AND BOWL: Small spaces between the end of the blade and the side of the bowl and the base of the blade and the bottom of the bowl ensure efficient, thorough mixing and chopping. 3. WEIGHTY, COMPACT BASE: The sturdy base saves space and keeps the processor anchored during heavy mixing 4. RESPONSIVE PULSING ACTION: A button that engages and disengages immediately when pressed and released ensures that ingredients are not overprocessed.…