The New Best Recipe

I'm the Baker. When my husband-to-be first came to my house to cook me a dinner, he rummaged through my cabinets and said "Where are your pots and pans?"; then he looked through the pantry and fridge and said "Where is your FOOD?" I had to explain that, in my vocabulary, "cook" is a verb meaning "to put into a microwave on high for 4 to 5 minutes." Food? Small boxes in the freezer, of course.I tell you this so you'll understand how improbable it is that the first thing I tackled from "The New Best Recipe" was chicken stock. A real-deal chicken stock, I'm talking here--the kind that turns to a jelly when cooled, is deep gold, and can improve nearly any dish you add it to--the kind that takes eight or ten hours to make, the classic way.See, I had picked up this massive (1028-page) book in the bookstore and idly opened to the Soup chapter, where I read a three-page explanation of how to make real chicken stock in one hour. They detailed all the blind alleys they'd explored in trying to come up with the perfect recipe for stock--the different cooking techniques, times, ingredients--until they'd found a way to make rich golden stock in an hour. The technique was, er, unorthodox to say the least, but it all seemed to make perfect sense, so I bought the book and decided to try to make a stock to present to the Cook as a fait accompli.Holy smoke, it worked! And I gotta tell you, if I can make a couple quarts of chicken stock between the time my daughter gets home from school and the time my husband gets home from work, then you can too.So, enough anecdote; now for details.----------1. The book is a compilations of recipes from Cooks' Illustrated magazine and the America's Test Kitchen TV show (which I've never yet seen). The title seems presumptuous: "best" according to whom? Isn't "best" a matter of taste? Well, yes, but they are at pains to describe for nearly every recipe just what they MEAN by "best." Here's an example, for pound cake:"...the main difficulty with pound cakes of the classic type is textural. Cakes might be said to have five 'texture points': moist/dry, soft/hard, dense/porous, light/heavy, rich/plain. To contemporary tastes, cakes must be relatively moist and soft; the three remaining texture points are negotiable. "The problem with pound cake is that we ask it to be moist and soft on the one hand but also dense, light, and rich on the other. This is an extremely difficult texture to achieve unless one resorts to baking powder, with its potent chemical magic. Air-leavened cakes that are light and soft also tend to be porous and plain, as in sponge or angel cakes; moist and dense cakes inevitably also turn out heavy, as in the various syrup-soaked Bundt cakes that are so popular. From pound cake, we ask all things."Or for broiled salmon:"We set out to find the best way of cooking a whole side of salmon, enough to feed eight or more guests, in the oven. We wanted fish that was moist but not soggy, firm but not chalky, and nicely crusted, with golden, flavorful caramelization over its flesh. If we would work some interesting flavors and contrasting textures into the bargain, all the better."Or for roasted potatoes:"The perfect roasted potato is crisp and deep golden brown on the outside, with moist, velvety, dense interior flesh. The potato's slightly bitter skin is intact, providing a contrast to the sweet, caramelized flavor that the flesh develops during the roasting process. It is rich but never greasy, and it is accompanied by the heady taste of garlic and herbs."In other words, before telling you how to make X, Y, or Z, they tell you what you're shooting for. I appreciate this. Mostly my goals and theirs coincide, but if they don't I'm aware of it BEFORE I start to cook.2. After they describe the goal, they tell you the variations they tried to achieve it. This might include fiddling with cooking temperatures and times, number or type of ingredients, cooking techniques, tools, containers, phase of the moon... whatever! The folks in those test kitchens apparently have an infinite supply of time and money, not to mention patience.So, for the chicken stock, they tried blanching, roasting, and sauteing the chicken; backs, wings, legs, or the whole chicken; carrots, celery, onion: yes or no? A sidebar details issues like what kind of chicken to buy, how to cut it up, and tips for storing the stock once you've made it.You find out what works, and why, but also what didn't work, and why not. Knowledge really is power. Time after time in the past I've followed a recipe (or so I thought) and messed it up--with no idea of where I went wrong or how to fix it. Most cookbooks assume that cooks just don't make mistakes. This one tells you just about everything you could do wrong, so you won't.By the way, I LOVE it that they attribute techniques and recipes found in other sources (including, in the case of pound cake, recipes from 1772, 1824, and 1985).3. Is there some science about your ingredients or techniques or equipment? You'll learn about it. Why is is that butter and eggs for a cake should be at room temperature? Some cake recipes say combine everything at once ("quick mix" technique) and others say to cream suger with butter, then add the eggs and flour. Why do they both work? What's the difference in the end result? And what about those dark non-stick cake pans? Will they change anything? You'll find out.4. After you understand the issues around your recipe, they give you the recipe itself. Many have three or four variations given after the main recipe. Each step is spelled out clearly, with both visual and time cues (e.g., "until the pork is in small, well-browned bits, about 5 minutes"), often accompanied by clear B&W illustrations and useful sidebars.5. There are separate mini-essays on ingredients and equipment, comparing them a la Consumer Reports. We learn which are the best brands of chocolate chips for cookies (with different recommendations for thick/chewy vs. thin/crispy, no less!) and which paring knives were rated best.I found a chart that lists the volume of medium, large, extra-large, and jumbo eggs. For that alone, I'd have bought the book, since the Cook (who's also the shopper) buys XLs, but the Baker's recipes all assume Ls. Now I actually know by how much they differ (8:9 is the ratio, in case you wondered).6. Have I mentioned that everything I've made so far has rocked?----Downside? The Table of Contents and the Index both stink like the stinkiest of stinking fish. Does 22 lines ("Pork... 385", "Cakes... 823") seem to you like enough detail for the contents of a thousand-page cookbook? Me neither, especially as the individual sections don't have their own ToCs. This is ridiculous. But the index is even worse. Tiny print, uniform font sizes for all three levels of indent, no indicator letters at the top of the page to remind you where you are, and a distinct lack of cross-indexing make it a near-total waste of time. Someone could make a lot of people happy by preparing sectional ToCs and a decent index for this massive tome.We don't accept every single bit of information in this book (the Cook has a serious bone to pick with them vis-a-vis their unflattering assessment of bluefin tuna, for instance), but for each item we disagree with, there are ten that have us nodding in agreement.It could be described as a scientific cookbook, but that might leave you with the impression that it's dry and colorless. Quite the contrary--I find it fascinating reading, especially the parts about how they screwed up.The prose is not lyrical or charming, as The Joy of Cooking frequently is, but it's truly engaging in its eagerness to give you all the tools you need to succeed. I doubt there's a cook in America who couldn't learn something from this book. I think it's that rare cookbook that is equally suitable for beginners, experienced cooks, and everyone in between; as much fun to read like a book as it is to use as a manual. Get it!

Edit: If your looking for a picture book, this is not it, it contains no "pictures"... zero. What it does contain is 800 hand drawn illustrations, and pain staking research on how to bring the very best recipes to the table one can imagine, 1,000 fabulous recipes and how they came to be. The Lemon Meringue pie I mention below is an example, the authors baked 30+ pies in different configurations derived from many, many other recipe books, to arrive at what they feel is the very best recipe they could bring forth. They discuss every failure, and why it was a failure. They discuss every goal they had for a recipe, and how they came to achieve that goal, and from that work they bring you the very best results they could produce. They take that care with every single recipe in this wonderful book. This is not a picture book, it's a cookbook, and as such it stands head and shoulders above most others. If you absolutely must have pictures in your cookbook, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for great recipes to help you make great food to put on your table, food only requiring the love you bring with it to make it a meal to always remember, this book will not let you down.My original review follows:My girlfriend had tried many times to make a good meringue, without success. On my first attempt making a lemon meringue pie, do to the quality of the "The New Best Recipe" book, I hit a home run. She loved it, but I did detect a slight tinge of jealousy as she gobbled up the wonderful melt in your mouth creation.This book is a gem, worth the price any day. I picked up a "used" copy in hard cover, it looks brand new, and came at a great price. What ever price you pay, this book will deliver.

After purchasing many cookbooks over the years, my girlfriend told me something interesting. She told me that she found it difficult to learn to cook from a book, since she learned to cook by watching her mother. At first, this remark seemed insignificant, but later, the truth of what she said began to sink in. Although I have watched many of the PBS and Food Network cooking show, and have bought some of the author's books, none were offered in a format where the books were sold with the matching DVDs from the show.Though I always liked watching America's Test Kitchen, I had never purchased any of their books. As Christmas 2006 rolled closer, I went to the ATK website, and found they had a great deal offering a book and accompanying covering all of the shows they aired in 2006, and for only $29.95 plus S/H. I bought a set for her and one for me, and since then, have been completely hooked on the ATK approach to cooking.Sure, the DVDs help. Although I am experienced at cooking from many cookbooks, after watching an episode on DVD then reading the recipe, I go into the kitchen with a much clearer sense of purpose. However, the beauty of the ATK books is that they also provide a valuable narrative of the recipes they tried and how they failed, before giving you their solution.Since then, I have purchased the ATK 2007 season book and DVD, and this Best Recipe book as well. Although the Best Recipe book does not include a DVD, it offers the same, in depth description of how recipes were developed, along with valuable recommendations on the best cooking equipment, and taste ratings of supermarket ingredients.The best thing that I can say about ATK is that, after many years of buying books and cooking, I have finally found a line of books that teach you how to cook! I honestly feel as though I am receiving a culinary education from ATK. Rather that asking you to follow recipes blindly, they guide you to why cooking techniques work and don't work. Ultimately building knowledge and repertoire, I am not only becoming a more confident cook, but a more creative one as well.Though large, this is the best single volume cookbook I have ever come across. In contrast to some of the other reviews, I find no difficulty whatsoever with the indexing. The book is simply separated into sections such as Poultry, or Vegetables. Within Vegetables, recipes are listed alphabetically (ie Asparagus is near the front, and Zucchini is near the rear). I never have any trouble finding anything, though I don't start in the back, but simply turn to the right section and go from there.Some of the best food I have EVER made has been from these ATK books. My Beef Carbonnade, Boston Baked Beans, and Butternut Squash soup were mouth watering show stoppers. Many other recipes, including Meatloaf, high-roast chicken, Chicken Francese, and Huevos Rancheros, were very, very good.I purchased this book for Christmas for my sister as well, and she loves it.

Was looking for a recipe book that was a little bit different, but with loads of amazing recipes to try. After an internet search of the best recipe books, this one kept popping up as a Must have. Whilst there are no pictures as such, the step by step instructions are clear. It is a Huge book, and even second hand is well worth the price. Will update again once we have tried a few of the recipes.. But on first glance.. Well worth the Rave reviews

The best reference I ever had, I keep using it all the time, checking every recipe I want to attemp to see how is the best way to cook it.

I purchased this booked based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews and am very happy that I did. This is an amazing recipe book for many reasons, and for me, the explanations, tips, and equipment recommendations have been imperative to how I cook now. And of course, there are the recipes which made my husband exclaim "this is the best chicken I ever ate" when referring to the Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic dinner. He made the same exclamation for the Pan Seared Filet Mignon and the Roast Beef. And indeed they were devine. The focus of these recipes are on a simple blend of flavours, but with the proper guidance from the authors, the food comes to life.Some things to note:1) The recipes are not for those who want a quick dinner. You need to be patient and put in love and sweat in order to get the best meal. Many recipes are best meant for a weekend or an evening when you come home at 6 pm and don't mind eating at 9 pm. But there are plenty of good ones that aren't time consuming as well so don't be discouraged by that. You will be so inspired by your first success, that the time it takes won't phase you because you'll want to improve as you take on more recipes. This book has really made me love cooking even more than I thought I did.2) You will discover new tools that you will want to make your new found love of cooking even that much better. I since purchased a blow torch for the awesome creme brulee recipe (they recommend one that can be found at Home Depot), a cast iron dutch oven, and a scale ($20 from Costco). The scale is a must by the way and you will surprise yourself by using it more often than you thought you would. I already owned the Al Clad skillet recommended in this book and before this book, hardly used it because I didn't know in what circumstances I would use it. Since owning this book, the skillet gets plenty of use from me and I love it.3) Your grocery bill is likely to go up, at least it did for me when I started making a new recipe from the book each day for awhile. They suggest the 'best' ingredients to use and cuts of meat which can be pricey depending on what you make. I rationalized that by the quantity made and getting to eat tasty leftovers for lunch the next day.4) You are guaranteed rave reviews. When my husband took a bite of the oven fries (which are one of my favorites), he also said "these are the best potatoes I've ever had". The book allowed me to make restaurant quality french fries without being deep fried which was wonderful considering I haven't eaten restaurant fries in years to keep slim.5) The book isn't organized well in terms of the table of contents. It's broken down generically so with over 1000 recipes, sometimes it makes it hard to find a recipe you are looking for. But since I've used it so many times, a quick flip through is good enough for me or the index at the back is excellent. It would also be extremely helpful it they included the total prep and cooking time on each recipe. It can take awhile to read through the steps and add the time up to figure out if it fits your schedule.6) Don't be turned off by having no glamorous photos of food. There are plenty of instructions and the illustrations are detailed enough that anybody can follow. The instructions are so good, that when I compare them to other cookbooks I love, it just makes me appreciate this book more. I love how the authors tell you what pan to use, what size pan, when to do this or that. The instructions are clear cut and you don't have to make any guesses.7) I must say also that the recipes are not wildly trendy or 'creative. Most of it is basic North American type of recipes despite a few international ones here and there (e.g., pad thai). Think chicken pot pie, brownies, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, etc.I have been raving about this book since I purchased it and have called it 'life changing' because it is. It makes you a better cook, will inspire you, and those you love with love your meals and you can actually see them take pleasure in eating what you created. Food brings people together, especially when it is fabulous food. I just purchased this book for a friend and I am looking forward to hearing about her success in the kitchen. Do buy the book!

This is the most used cookbook on our shelf. We use it practically every week. It's packed with non-fail recipes, from Pad Thai to pasta with no cook tomato sauce (winner!). It's divided into several categories, e.a. poultry, beef, fish, pastas, vegetables, but also breakfast & eggs, breads and muffins, pies and so on. Cooking, baking and slicing techniques are illustrated so you can learn and improve.It's an American cookbook so you'd want to have your conversion right: there are handy tables on the last pages of the book, though the easiest way is when you just buy a set of (conversion)spoons and cups. Once you have them this book is the awesomest. We made blueberry muffins, coffeecake, pastas, fish, soups and everything is always delicious and gets complimented on by family and friends. We then always recommend them to buy this book!

All the books in this series are 'must haves', especially for people trying to establish their cooking and baking skills.Each recipe is so well researched and tested that you can't go wrong with any of them.I especially like the thoughtful and well written explanations of techniques and products. The book is worth buying for that alone.The bolognese and carbonara recipes are alone worth this purchase.A must-have cookbook and fantastic option to give as a gift!