Innehållsförteckning för November/December 2019 från Cook's Illustrated

Pastitsio is culinary pastiche in the most literal sense. It’s a Greek meat and macaroni casserole inspired by similar Italian compositions such as baked ziti and lasagna (pasticcio, the root of both “pastitsio” and “pastiche,” is an old Italian term for a pie containing meat and pasta); the seasonings are Hellenic; and it’s lavished with French béchamel. The dish is an alloy of language and cuisine. What makes pastitsio stand out from its Italian analogues is most obvious when you look at a slice of it: Instead of being jumbled together or loosely stacked, the casserole’s components are impressively stratified. The base layer typically features rows of wide-bore tubular pasta held together with a thin mortar of cheese and béchamel. Above that sits a band of tightly bound, robustly spiced…

MAKE-AHEAD GOAT CHEESE LOG WITH HAZELNUT-NIGELLA DUKKAH SERVES 8 TO 10 TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES, PLUS 2½ HOURS COOLING/RESTING Cheese 6 ounces goat cheese6 ounces cream cheese1 small garlic clove, minced½ teaspoon pepper Dukkah 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted1½ tablespoons raw sunflower seeds, toasted1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted1½ teaspoons nigella seeds3 tablespoons hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and chopped fine1½ teaspoons paprika½ teaspoon flake sea salt2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1. FOR THE CHEESE: Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. 2. Place 18 by 11-inch sheet of plastic wrap on counter with long side parallel to counter edge. Transfer cheese mixture to center of plastic and shape into log with long side parallel to counter edge…

We tested eight cookware sets, comparing the skillets, saucepans, sauté pans, and stockpots or Dutch ovens from each set. In the skillets, we made steak with pan sauce and browned beef for shepherd’s pie. In the saucepans, we browned butter and made the mashed potatoes for the shepherd’s pie. In the sauté pans, we made Swedish meatballs and sautéed kale. In the stockpots/Dutch ovens, we cooked angel hair pasta and made beef Burgundy. We rated the four pieces of cookware on their performance, ease of use, and cleanup/durability. We also evaluated the full composition of pans in each set. We purchased all the sets online, and the prices shown are what we paid. Sets appear at right in order of preference. COMPOSITION OF SET: We rated each set on the…

Preserve the Bubbles in Leftover Bubbly Don’t worry if you can’t finish a bottle of sparkling wine in one go or have leftovers after making our Champagne Cocktail on page 9. We found that sealing the bottle with plastic wrap and a rubber band kept sparkling wine surprisingly effervescent for a couple of days. Even better, use a champagne saver. Our favorite, the Cilio Champagne Bottle Sealer, is just $9, and as long as we didn’t repeatedly reopen the bottle, it kept leftover champagne as fresh-tasting and boisterously bubbly as a newly opened bottle for a week.–H.C. DIY METHOD PREFERRED METHOD Why We Love Dried Mint—and Why Mint Tea Isn’t a Good Sub With most delicate herbs, including basil and parsley, we’d never opt for the dried kind over fresh,…

RECOMMENDED MATFER BOURGEAT Exoglass Pelton Spatula ($13.25) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED COCKTAIL KINGDOM Koriko Hawthorne Strainer ($15.99) RECOMMENDED NORDIC WARE Quarter Sheet and Lid ($8.99/$8.32) and CHECKERED CHEF Quarter Sheet Cooling Wire Rack ($11.45 for two) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED PYREX 2 Cup Measuring Cup ($9.99) OXO Good Grips 2 Cup Angled Measuring Cup ($19.99) RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS NINJA Foodi ($199.99) Nonstick-Safe Spatulas Spatulas made from nylon, silicone, or other nonmetal materials are less likely than metal spatulas to scratch nonstick surfaces. To find the best nonstick-safe spatula, we bought eight models, including our previous favorite from Matfer Bourgeat, and used them in nonstick cookware to flip and transfer eggs, pancakes, salmon steaks, sole fillets, and veggie burgers. Spatula heads made from rigid nylon and resin/fiberglass slipped easily under foods. The heads of silicone models were…

1. BUY A VARIETY For a mix of flavors and textures, choose one option from each profile: sharp and crumbly (like aged cheddar), soft and bright (like chèvre), firm and nutty (like Gruyère), tangy and funky (like blue), ripe and oozy (like Brie). ➢ TIP Plan on serving 2 to 3 ounces of cheese per person. 2. WARM IT UP Most cheeses are best at room temperature, so remove them from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. Keep them wrapped until party time to prevent them from drying out. ➢ TIP You can quickly soften creamy varieties such as Brie by placing them in a zipper-lock bag and letting them sit in 80-degree water. 3. CHOOSE NEUTRAL BREAD AND CRACKERS Mild-tasting baguette (sliced on the bias into wide,…

When it comes to holiday celebrations, I’m a traditionalist. But somehow I’d managed never to make a Yule log. It’s not only one of the oldest finales to a Christmas feast but also a dessert with a huge “wow” factor: a moist, tender cake rolled around a rich, creamy filling; coated in frosting; and adorned with playful woodsy garnishes. This year I decided I would finally take on the elaborate holiday project. But as I started to review recipes, I found I was more likely to read about how suspenseful—even harrowing—the dessert can be to assemble than about how wonderful it can be to eat. Will the filling be squeezed out as you roll? Will the cake crack? After all that work and stress, will your creation look convincingly log-like?…

Often sold in the United States as Calrose rice, sushi (or japonica) rice features short, squat grains and has a distinct stickiness when cooked. It gets this stickiness from a relatively high amount of a starch component called amylopectin, which gelatinizes during cooking and results in rice with a tender, creamy texture and subtle chewiness. Sushi rice traces its origins back to northeast Asia (particularly Japan), but it is now grown extensively in the United States. California, where 95 percent of the rice grown is sushi-style rice, ranks second only to Arkansas (which grows mostly long-grain rice) in U.S. rice production. According to the California Rice Commission, nearly every piece of sushi eaten in the United States is made with California-grown rice. But it’s not used only in sushi—this type…

Sales of sparkling water have nearly tripled over the past 10 years, and trendy brands such as La Croix have used clever marketing and beautiful packaging to give this simple beverage new life. At the supermarket you’ll find sparkling mineral water, seltzer, tonic water, and club soda. For this tasting, we left out tonic water and club soda because they’re most often served as cocktail mixers. We selected six nationally available top-selling sparkling mineral water and seltzer products, choosing products without any flavorings added because we wanted to zero in on each water’s natural flavor and effervescence. Many tasters were quick to identify the mineral waters in our blind tasting. Our science research editor explained that mineral compounds containing sodium and sulfur can give water salty and eggy flavors, respectively.…

To all the dark meat lovers out there: You’ve been roasting the wrong bird. All due respect to succulent chicken and turkey leg quarters, but they make up only a fraction of the whole bird, which is why you should consider roasting duck. It’s all dark meat, since both the breast and leg portions are well-exercised muscles with ample fat, and it’s imbued with a sultry, bass-note richness that chicken and turkey just don’t have. The duck’s breast is also relatively flat, which enables its skin to brown remarkably evenly, and it’s versatile for entertaining: Pair one bird with a bright sauce and you’ve got an intimate dinner party showpiece. Roast two—doable in one pan—and you can feed a crowd. Here’s the catch: The qualities that make duck special to…

If I had a dollar for every time someone came up to my workstation in the test kitchen and proclaimed, “Those cookies are so cute!” I could retire. But endearing as they are, baci di dama are also fussy, and a few batches into my recipe development, I wanted to retire. Hailing from the Piedmont region of Italy, baci di dama are sandwich cookies that consist of two tiny hazelnut buttons held together by a slim chocolate filling. (Their name translates as “lady’s kisses” because each sandwich is said to resemble a woman’s pursed lips.) Sandwich cookies are laborious to make by nature, but these are made from a short, fragile dough that must be chilled for at least an hour lest it soften too much to be workable. And…

Twenty-one America’s Test Kitchen staffers sampled eight sushi rices two ways: rinsed and cooked in a rice cooker using standardized rice-to-water ratios and cooked on the stovetop according to package instructions. Ultimately, only the results from the rice cooker tasting were factored into our rankings, since that test provided the most standardized comparison for tasters. We used calipers to measure the length of 20 rice granules from multiple packages of each product and averaged the results to get the length-to-width ratio of the grains. All the rice we tasted was grown in California. We purchased all the products in Boston-area supermarkets, and the prices listed are what we paid. Products appear below in order of preference. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED LUNDBERG FAMILY FARMS Organic California Sushi Rice PRICE: $4.49 for 32 oz…