DavidGriffiths's Full Review: Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine - The New B...
Raise your hand if you've spent the afternoon following some recipe with a glorious, shiny picture, only to end up with at best a mediocre meal? Do you have cookbooks for apparently authentic ethnic food that would probably taste better than the food resulting from their recipes?
I've been disappointed by most cookbooks (with the exception of The Best of Bridge cookbooks, but that's comfort food, and sometimes it's nice to have something a bit more sophisticated) – the food usually isn't that good, and the more interesting recipes have hard-to-find ingredients.
I stumbled across this after seeing the original The Best Recipe cookbook. This is the new version, almost double in size, with almost a thousand recipes. It's written by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (I've never heard of the magazine), which I thought was appropriate: the book has nice black-and-white illustrations rather than glossy photos, and the editors take a decidedly scientific approach to making food.
The editors (or authors) started by finding numerous versions of the same recipe, and making them all to find the best one. They also attempted to simplify the recipes by removing unnecessary steps, and simplifying steps that were necessary. They claim that some recipes were made dozens and dozens of times in the attempt to reduce the recipe to the absolute bare minimum with out sacrificing any of the taste.
The authors also define the criteria they use to judge a recipe, and they give a huge amount of additional information to help ensure the result is a success. They can include, but are not limited to, the background of an obscure ingredient (and possible substitutes), what to look for in an ingredient, some safety tips (for example, stuffing inside a turkey), and their reasons for picking one technique over another.
I've had this book for a month, but I wanted to try at least five recipes before I wrote a review. It would be easy to write a positive review after skimming the book, but when it comes to cook books (pardon the pun).
Pad Thai
I couldn't find the tamarind paste that the recipe called for, but used the substitute of lime juice and brown sugar.
The recipe was great, but seemed to lack something (versus the pad thai I've eaten at Thai restaurants). My brother-in-law calls it “noodles with ketchup”, which is kind of appropriate considering the sweet-tomato-vinegar flavour that most restaurant-versions serve up.
It's tough to tell what's authentic, and how most restaurants make their pad thai. I'd give this recipe a temporary score of 80/100, until I can find tamarind paste and re-try.
My wife considers it the best pad thai she's ever had.
Fallen Chocolate Cake
We screwed up on this recipe. I started with the wrong sized pan, and had to move the un-cooked batter to a different pan. I then left it in the oven too long (I read the “cook for x minutes” for the wrong size of pan).
It was ok as it was – lots of butter and chocolate. I suspect it could have been much better.
Crème Brule
This is my favorite dessert. It's simple, and doesn't get it's flavour from a pound of chocolate.
A propane or butane torch is required to create the crisp caramel topping.
The best I've ever had, beating out the $12 versions some local high-end restaurants offer.
Banana Bread
My wife loved it. Light, flavourful and moist. She liked it so much that it was gone before I had a chance to try it. I would guess that's a recommendation.
Thai Chicken Salad
This was a really nice recipe. Sweet and spicy, with shredded chicken. The best I've ever had. My wife thought it was good, but not better than the recipe she used to have and lost (I suspect that she's fondly reminiscing).
Turkey Pot Pie
Who would have guessed that this would be the knockout recipe from the somewhat short list we've tried. I don't like turkey pot pie, but the only version I've ever tried came from the frozen section of the local supermarket.
The flavour was amazing, and the recipe for the crust was phenomenal. My wife made it (and she doesn't really like to cook, though she likes baking) and said it was quite easy. She also thought it was unbelievably good.
Conclusion
I would highly recommend this cookbook. The material is impeccable, the recipes straightforward, and the supplementary information excellent. I realize that I didn't rave over every recipe I tried, but one was made using an inferior substitute, and one was improperly prepared. In addition, I'm comparing this version to the best version I've ever tried, which is setting the bar high.
Buy this book if you want to cook with something other than a microwave oven, or if you want to have a tome of first-rate recipes for dinner parties, or if you just love to cook fantastic meals.
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