The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

Book excerpt: The ultimate recipe resource: an indispensable treasury of more than 2,000 foolproof recipes and 150 test kitchen discoveries from the pages of Cook's Illustrated magazine. There is a lot to know about cooking, more than can be learned in a lifetime, and for the last 20 years we have been eager to share our discoveries with you, our friends and readers. The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook represents the fruit of that labor. It contains 2,000 recipes, representing almost our entire repertoire. Looking back over this work as we edited this volume, we were reminded of some of our greatest hits, from Foolproof Pie Dough (we add vodka for an easy-to-roll-out but flaky crust), innumerable recipes based on brining and salting meats (our Brined Thanksgiving Turkey in 1993 launched a nationwide trend), Slow-Roasted Beef(we salt a roast a day in advance and then use a very low oven to promote a tender, juicy result), Poached Salmon (a very shallow poaching liquid steams the fish instead of simmering it in water and robbing it of flavor), and the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies (we brown the butter for better flavor). Our editors handpicked more than 2,000 recipes from the pages of the magazine to form this wide-ranging compendium of our greatest hits. More than just a great collection of foolproof recipes, The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook is also an authoritative cooking reference with clear hand-drawn illustrations for preparing the perfect omelet, carving a turkey, removing meat from lobsters, frosting a layer cake, shaping sandwich bread, and more. 150 test kitchen tips throughout the book solve real home-cooking problems such as how to revive tired herbs, why you shouldn't buy trimmed leeks, what you need to know about freezing and thawing chicken, when to rinse rice, and the best method for seasoning cast-iron (you can even run it through the dishwasher). An essential collection for fans of Cook's Illustrated (and any discerning cook), The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook will keep you cooking for a lifetime - and guarantees impeccable results.