Innehållsförteckning för September/October 2020 från Cook's Illustrated

My parents bought the house on Cold Spring Road in 1975, three years before my older sister, Liz, was born. She and I were lucky enough to spend our entire childhoods in that dusky-blue colonial. The house sits on just shy of an acre, but a large portion of the yard is wetland. “Swamp” is the more honest word for it—a big, swampy backyard. Bad for resale value, a boon to the local mosquito population, and an idyllic playground for wildlife-obsessed kids. The first summer that Liz and I were old enough to grasp the pole of a frog net in our hands, my dad bought a large globe-shaped aquarium for the back deck. The rules were simple: He’d fill the tank with fresh water in the morning, and we’d…

The allure of chana masala, arguably one of the most popular vegetarian dishes in India, is multifaceted. First, the visuals: Golden chickpeas glimmer in an orangey-red tomato sauce, with a small side salad providing a pop of green. Then, the fragrance: The aromas of spices, ginger, and garlic perfume the dish. Finally, the taste: The yielding, almost creamy chickpeas and feisty sauce are balanced by the freshness and crunch of onion, chile, and cilantro. It’s also a practical dish, since it comes together easily and it calls for inexpensive, readily available ingredients. To come up with my own version, I reviewed several recipes. Some started with dried chickpeas that required soaking, along with fresh tomatoes that had to be peeled and chopped, while others called for canned products. But once…

Meat Pounders Meat pounders are great for flattening boneless pieces of meat or poultry into evenly thin cutlets so that they can cook through quickly and consistently. We tested eight models in a variety of styles: long-handled pounders, short-handled pounders, and double-headed meat mallets. The mallets were lightweight and easy to swing, but their square heads were too small to cover much food in a single stroke, making it hard to pound the cutlets evenly; worse, the corners of those heads dug into the food, gouging it. Long-handled mallets were heavy and had large heads, so they flattened food well—but were uncomfortable and unwieldy to use. In the end, we vastly preferred the short-handled pounders, as they provided the perfect synthesis of power, coverage, and ease of use. Because their…

Round Cutter Roasting Rack Finding herself without a roasting rack, Susan Chi of Lawrence, Kan., improvised by placing several open-style round metal cutters in the bottom of a roasting pan. She then placed the chicken to be roasted on top of the cutters, suspending it above the bottom of the pan. Prevent Grater Nicks with a Mandoline Guard After injuring her finger on a box grater one too many times, Ellie Sweeney of Melrose, Mass., now spears the food she is prepping with the long prongs of her mandoline guard. Just as it grips food and protects her hands from that tool’s sharp blade, it also prevents painful nicks on the grater and allows her to prep without worry. (To prevent the tines of the guard from snagging on the…

When I was a culinary student in France, my most enduring food memories were made in the rustic bouchons of Lyon. That’s where I experienced poulet au vinaigre, a dish that exemplifies the simple and stellar everyday French cooking known as “la cuisine traditionnelle francaise.” As you might guess, the sauce for poulet au vinaigre features vinegar—the bright, tangy red wine type—but it also includes white wine, chicken broth, fresh tomato, anise-y tarragon, and a bit of heavy cream. White wine is used so as not to impart too much color to the chicken; the red wine vinegar adds tannic intensity and sharpness to the creamy, satisfying sauce. The dish comes together easily. Bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (usually both light and dark meat) are first browned in a skillet, and…

As a fussy eater growing up in England, the one thing I’d never refuse was creamy scrambled eggs doused in ketchup. Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, xihongshi chao jidan in Mandarin (faankeh chao dan in Cantonese), isn’t so terribly far off from this concept, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that this dish of pillowy curds enrobed in a chunky, savory-sweet tomato sauce is often the first thing that Chinese children learn how to make. It’s also a dish that many Chinese American chefs, writers, and bloggers say they crave most when they want something soothing, homey, and satisfying. A typical version goes like this: Cook beaten eggs quickly in an oil-slicked wok until they’re just set. Remove them from the wok and toss in aromatics such as ginger and garlic,…

Many gratins trade almost entirely on the richness of heavy cream and cheese, but there is room to modernize—and lighten up—the concept to create a satisfying meatless main course. My plan was to keep the usual crunchy topping but pack the filling with substantial, boldly flavored ingredients. And just because the dish would be vegetarian didn’t mean it would have to lack depth. I took inspiration from the classic Tuscan dish of beans and greens, a union of white beans and escarole or Swiss chard seasoned with onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. To turn the dish into a hearty main, it seemed fitting to add another Tuscan staple—farro—to the mix. The tender chew and robust nuttiness of the hulled whole-wheat kernels would round out the gratin. To start, I…

I’m Armenian, which means I’ve been eating lahmajun (“lah-mah-joon”) my whole life. My aunties would make it for us when we’d visit, rolling the yeasted dough into paper-thin rounds, spreading the rounds with a film of spiced ground lamb, and baking them until they were crispy and browned. And my mother often brought home boxes of the flatbreads from local Armenian bakeries, keeping them stacked face-to-face between sheets of parchment paper until it was time to reheat them. We’d spray the flatbreads with lemon juice and eat them like pizza (lahmajun predates—and is sometimes considered a precursor to—pizza; see “The Original Pizza?”) or turn them into sandwiches by rolling them around a salad of fresh or pickled vegetables. My love for the dish had always been more than just habitual,…

The expression “What grows together goes together” is a cliche, but it’s true: In temperate climates, strawberries go with rhubarb; where it’s cold, preserved fish and rye bread are a dynamic duo; and near the equator, coconut gets cooked with rice. But coconut rice varies from one tropical cuisine to another. The coconut component might be fresh or dried, or it might be canned milk or cream. Some versions are served plain or perhaps with a squeeze of lime; others are embellished with spices, alliums, chiles, tomatoes, meat, fish, or beans. But get this: Even the simple versions made with few ingredients can have surprisingly different flavors and textures. After cooking a handful of recipes from around the globe, I homed in on two styles that I loved for their…

Regular nonstick skillets have come under scrutiny for containing a substance called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Its unique molecular structure makes for a superstrong, fairly flexible, and very slippery coating, but it can degrade and release dangerous fumes when it’s heated to above 500 degrees. Ceramic nonstick skillets are often touted as being safer, more environmentally friendly options than regular nonstick skillets. But in past tests we found that foods stuck in most of the models, even when they were brand-new, and that the skillets’ nonstick surfaces quickly deteriorated with use. Because kitchen equipment is constantly improving, we purchased seven 12-inch ceramic nonstick skillets, priced from about $19 to about $80, and conducted a series of cooking tests. First, we ran a test common in the cookware industry: cooking eggs in a…

Mycophilia runs deep in culinary traditions throughout Asia, at least as far back as the cultivation of SHIITAKES in China and Japan more than 1,000 years ago. Top-quality donko shiitakes boast cracked brims and umami depth. Prized MATSUTAKES fetch as much as $2,200 per pound. Their cinnamony, piney aroma is so intense that just one can infuse an entire pot of rice with flavor. Petal-like OYSTER mushrooms are typically torn apart and seared; they’re related to—but barely resemble—stocky KING OYSTERS (or king trumpets), which hold up well to grilling and tempura frying. Jelly fungi, such as WOOD EARS and SILVER EARS (or snow mushrooms), are often sold dried but turn slippery and crisp when rehydrated in soups, stir-fries, and salads. Milky-white ENOKITAKES (or enoki) are cooked lightly to avoid breaking…