Innehållsförteckning för November/December 2024 från Cook's Illustrated

My sister, Liz, is 3 years older than I am, a gap we don’t even think about these days but a significant difference when we were younger. When she was in her mid-teens and becoming confident in the kitchen, she would whip up after-school snacks for us while our parents were still at work. Her signature dish: a Dutch baby, dusted in powdered sugar and spritzed with lemon. As a hungry 12-year-old, I couldn’t fathom a better food. Fresh out of the oven, the eggy popover-like batter remained silky in the center and turned crisp and brown where it rose dramatically above the sides of the skillet. A slice was all I needed to process a busy school day and get my homework done. When Erica Turner began developing her…

Broccoli and pasta make a great team. The combination of mild green florets and noodles is reliable and riffable: You can toss the vegetable with garlic, anchovies, pepperoncini, and orecchiette as they do in Puglia; blitz the whole head to make a green sauce to nestle into tubular pasta; or simply scatter a handful of florets into a pot of macaroni and cheese. When you’ve already got a pot of water boiling to cook the pasta, blanching the broccoli makes good sense. The method is quick, turns the vegetable an attractive bright green, and softens broccoli’s flavor into mild sweetness, making a versatile base to build upon with other ingredients. For my version, I took inspiration from pesto. The ingredients in Genoa’s iconic herb sauce—salty aged cheese, toasted pine nuts,…

It’s pretty rewarding when a loosely formed idea shapes up into something really special. I’d been experimenting with a savory tart for the holidays and ultimately came up with this upside-down stunner featuring tender, burnished shallots; jammy caramelized onions; and crisp, buttery puff pastry. Savory upside-down tarts always impress with their dramatic unveiling, high-gloss finish, and contrast of softened, brightly glazed vegetables atop a flaky crust. Alliums work particularly well thanks to their complex flavor and visually striking cut surfaces. But what I love most about this tart is how flexible it is: There are multiple components, but each is straight-forward and some can be prepared in advance. It’s equally lovely served warm or at room temperature, and it’s one of those all-purpose preparations that shifts seamlessly from appetizer to…

SCIENCE The Easiest Way to Serve Martinis and Manhattans at a Party If you’re having a party, serving spirit-forward stirred drinks such as martinis, Manhattans, or Rob Roys could keep you stuck at the bar all night. These drinks are best served extremely chilled (25 degrees is ideal), and that means stirring the spirits with ice for at least 60 seconds. The prolonged stirring not only brings the cocktail to the proper temperature but also ensures that enough ice will have melted to dilute the cocktail and soften its flavors, while at the same time increasing the final volume by about a third. If multiple people want a martini at the same time, you could stir up a big, icy batch in a pitcher to serve right away (storing the…

Food Processors A good food processor makes a huge range of recipes faster, easier, and more approachable. We recently tested four new models against our favorite, the Cuisinart Custom 14 Cup Food Processor (model DFP-14BCNY), and our favorite bested the rest yet again. Powerful, precise, and compact, it takes up less space than most food processors despite having one of the largest capacities, all at a moderate price. Its smooth, simple bowl and blade design make it easy to handle, monitor during use, and clean. The motor is quiet, and the machine operates with just two control levers and three essential blades for chopping, shredding, and slicing that can all be stored inside the bowl. For those who want all the bells and whistles and are willing to pay for…

Whether you’re dishing it up for Thanksgiving or for a get-together with loved ones, cornbread dressing will bring warmth and comfort to your table with golden and coppery hues, plush and crispy textures, and satisfying savor. I think it’s particularly appealing when each bite is filled with tender sausage, bits of celery and onion, and fragrant holiday herbs such as sage and thyme. Don’t be tempted to use store-bought cornbread or a boxed mix here, as both shortcuts will let you down with a dressing that’s sweet, mushy, or both. You need a bread that’s designed to be crumbled, soaked with chicken broth and eggs, and seasoned with savory tidbits. That means it must be sturdier and drier than the standard issue. I planned to rely on my trusty cast-iron…

Around the year 1800, a French teenager named Marie-Antoine, or Antonin, Carême split his time between the library and the pastry shop where he worked as an apprentice. At the library, he’d pore over architectural drawings, fascinated by the world’s most intricate buildings. Then, back at the patisserie, he’d replicate them in pastry and sugar, constructing temple ruins, pagodas, and hermitages in miniature. The skill would later land him roles in royal kitchens and an enduring legacy as one of France’s most influential chefs. Today, Carême’s signature fusion of pastry and architecture lives on in one of his most legendary creations: the croquembouche, layers of dainty cream puffs bound by caramel in the shape of a skyward-stretching spire. For hundreds of years, croquembouches have towered over France’s most celebratory occasions,…

We think the three most essential kitchen knives are a chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a paring knife. You can get most things done with this trio. But once you’ve acquired your favorite versions of those three, there are more specialized knives that you may want to add to your collection, depending on what you cook. A slicing knife is one of the first additions we recommend. Every test cook at ATK receives one in their knife roll because it’s surprisingly handy. With blades around 10 to 12 inches long—significantly longer than those of our favorite chef’s knives, which are 8 inches long—slicing knives are better able to span larger foods. A good chef’s knife or gyuto can work perfectly well for slicing smaller cuts of meat such as…

SHOP 1 How much turkey should I buy? A 12- to 14-pound turkey feeds roughly 10 to 12 people, so slightly more than 1 pound per person. For lots of leftovers: Aim for 1½ pounds per person. To feed a crowd: Supplement a whole bird with turkey parts. Don’t buy anything bigger than 14 pounds: It’s harder to get the white and dark meat to cook evenly, and some ovens can’t accommodate large turkeys. 2 Should I buy fresh or frozen? Unless you’re buying a turkey fresh from a local farm, a frozen turkey is a better bet. Frozen turkeys are frozen quickly and completely, which prevents large ice crystals from forming and damaging the meat. “Fresh” turkeys may be chilled to as low as 26 degrees. At that temperature, tiny…

When was the last time you updated your holiday cookie routine? This December, I propose a revitalization. My simple recipe is the starting point for a near-endless variety of cookies with spirited flavors and clever, contemporary prettifications. They’re a joy to gift or arrange on a dessert platter, and—best of all—they don’t require any special skills to make. A slice-and-bake style allows for loads of creativity, as the personalization possibilities are vast and easy to pull off: The dough can be studded with seasonal goodies such as dried or glacéed fruit and crystallized ginger; perfumed with extracts, citrus zest, and spices; trimmed with nuts, sanding sugar, or coconut; festooned with chocolate; or stenciled with freeze-dried fruit powder. Furthermore, a tube of slice-and-bakes on standby in the fridge or freezer will…