The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook

Book excerpt: 650 Recipes for EVERYTHING You'll Ever Want to Make. Because smaller families shouldn't have to rely on recipes built for four or six, America's Test Kitchen has reengineered 650 of our best recipes to serve just two. Over the years we've discovered that scaling down a recipe isn't as simple as cutting the ingredients in half—cooking times, temperatures, and equipment need to be adapted as well. This comprehensive cookbook takes the guesswork out of cooking for two so you can be sure that anything you want to make—from Classic Beef Stew to Lasagna to a mini batch of Fudgy Brownies or a Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake—will come out right (and perfectly proportioned) every time. We'll also give you options when you're short on time. 150 recipes, including Chicken Saltimbocca and Pan-Seared Rib-Eye Steaks with Sweet-Tart Red Wine Sauce, can be on the table in 30 minutes or less. For those times when you want healthier fare, we've provided more than 100 recipes labeled "Light" such as Provencal Vegetable Soup and Poached Shrimp Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit, each with nutritional information listed in an easy-to-read chart in the back of the book. And we include chapters on for-two slow cooking, grilling, and baking pies, quick breads, cakes, and cookies. A 25-page manual teaches the basics of cooking for two, including clever shopping strategies to reduce waste, smart storage tricks help extend freshness of key ingredients, and our picks for the most useful kitchen equipment for any two-person household.