6 Ingredient Solution: How to Coax More Flavor from Fewer Ingredients

by America's Test Kitchen (editor)

Think it takes more than a handful of ingredients to get a hearty chicken soup, Sunday dinner worthy roast beef, or robustly flavored spaghetti and meatballs on the table? Think again. The test cooks at America's Test Kitchen tackled a new challenge in this collection of 175-plus fuss-free recipes that slash the shopping list but deliver the big flavor you d expect. In The Six-Ingredient Solution, we put our ingredients to work and revamped the cooking methods for everything from starters and soups to braises, casseroles, pastas, and desserts without losing any of the flavor. With our smart ingredient choices, we found a way to infuse our butternut squash soup with warm spice notes, minus a ton of spices (a chai teabag did the trick), and figured out how to give our roasted chicken intense flavor and a nicely bronzed exterior with just one ingredient (a glaze of pomegranate molasses, brushed on every 10 minutes, added sweet-tart flavor, plus its sugars helped the skin crisp and brown). A pasta-night stand-in (prepared pesto) helped us achieve a rich-tasting meatloaf with big garlic and herb notes no chopping necessary. But selecting the right mix of ingredients and convenience products was only part of the solution overhauling the cooking methods also helped eke out more flavor from fewer ingredients. For an easy, weeknight-friendly casserole, we unstuffed our shells. Tossing cooked shells with store-bought sauce enriched with browned sausage and fennel before baking ensured all the flavors and ingredients had a chance to meld in the oven, for a heartier dinner with less fuss. This collection shows you really can do a lot with a little when you know what you're doing. With The Six-Ingredient Solution, we might have cut back on the ingredients, but we didn't cut back on the flavor.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

938 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2013

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit, I'm a sucker for a gimmicky cookbook, especially one that suggests the recipes might be simple and easy, and finding one by America's Test Kitchen seemed like the merging of two perfect worlds! In the weeks I've had it from my library, I've made six of the recipes and they ranged from pretty good to really delicious and indeed, with only six ingredients in each, they were fast and uncomplicated. Even better, they've all been hits with my frustratingly picky children. I love you America's Test Kitchen!

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a product of America's Test Kitchen. You may have seen the TV show featuring this group or its publications. The point of this volume is to develop recipes from six key ingredients to produce a tasty dish. As the Preface notes: "We undertook this project not just to give you quick and easy recipes, but to celebrate the very best way to cook, making the most of every ingredient and every step." Among secrets to this style of cooking (among others): look beyond the usual cooking fats, use high heat to produce flavor, stock up on spice blends, and discover new uses for store bought sauces.

Examples of recipes to illustrate? An example of an appetizer has just three ingredients! Melted brie with honey and herbs. Ingredients are brie cheese, honey, and either fresh thyme or rosemary. Drizzle honey over the brie and then add the herb to the top. Microwave until brie is warm and beginning to bubble. Simple! I like caprese salad. Here, the authors develop an appetizer based on caprese salad. On a skewer go 1/2 of a grape tomato, basil leaf, mozzarella ball, and the other 1/2 tomato. Before and at the end of the process a garlic paste would be developed and cover the skewer.

Soup. . . One example: Black bean soup with chorizo. Ingredients: chorizo sausage, garam masala, black beans, chicken broth, fresh salsa, and fresh cilantro. Brown the chorizo. Remove it from the pot in which it cooked; add garam masala to pan and heat until fragrant; rinse beans and add to pot with the broth; simmer; add chorizo and salsa and cilantro. Yum!

Meat dishes include Beef and broccoli stir fry, meatload florentine, sirloin steak with boursin potatoes, etc. One attractive chicken dish is Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. I have had this dish prepared in its traditional form. I look forward to trying out this recipe, which promises to be quite flavorful as described. And on it goes, with vegetarian dishes, grilled dishes, seafood, pasta, casseroles, and so on.

All in all, a fine cookbook, building on just a few ingredients.

[Ange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems a bit less useful than the usual ATK cookbooks. Some of the shortcuts rely on mixes (brownie mix, specific jarred pasta sauces, etc.) and they give their brand recommended products directly next to the recipe. I understand the limitations of six ingredient meals but there are a few disappointing recipes here. I like that they mark the fast recipes (it ends up being almost all of them but still) and I always learn technique from an ATK cookbook (like using coffee filters instead of paper towel to drain things, paper towel dyes are not food safe). I'm glad that my library carried this book, it was a nice read but not one I'm likely to reference often. There are a few really exciting recipes in here. I'm looking forward to trying a few out!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this had been written by someone else I'd probably have given it 4 stars. But ATK sets the bar pretty high, and I feel like they fell a little short here. We really could have used more (and bigger) photos. Also, while I liked how they explain each recipe, many of these weren't as quick or easy as I'd have expected. And this book includes more processed foods than they normally do.

There's no nutritional information, which would have been great. This isn't as good as their other books - I'd check them out instead.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually, America's Test Kitchen's cookbooks are complex and require a lot o steps. The recipes are good, but just too time consuming for a home cook to use on a daily basis. This cookbook can be used by a new cook and get great results in a timeframe that is doable.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Requires purchasing pre-made items. Not 'really' cooking. But it will do in a pinch

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could easily make just about every dish in this book. Simple and straightforward. and those are the best cookbooks.

[Jec · Rating 5 out of 5]

great photos and clear concise instructions with only 6 ingredients...how can you beat that!

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

October cookbook club title: marked enough pages that this move quickly to the "to buy" pile. Especially loved the beef and broccoli stir fry, the pork tacos and the shrimp feta and orzo dish.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.unshelved.com/bookclub/201...

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems a bit less useful than the usual ATK cookbooks. Some of the shortcuts rely on mixes (brownie mix, specific jarred pasta sauces, etc.) and they give their brand recommended products directly next to the recipe. I understand the limitations of six ingredient meals but there are a few disappointing recipes here. I like that they mark the fast recipes (it ends up being almost all of them but still) and I always learn technique from an ATK cookbook (like using coffee filters instead of paper towel to drain things, paper towel dyes are not food safe). I'm glad that my library carried this book, it was a nice read but not one I'm likely to reference often. There are a few really exciting recipes in here. I'm looking forward to trying a few out!

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regardless of your experience, if you prepare food, you'll learn something from this cook book.

I'm a long-time fan of America's Test Kitchen because they don't repeat recipes, the suggested ingredients are usually easy to find, the recipes are easy to understand and often easy themselves, and they'll try any combo until they find what works.

A lot of these recipes can be prepared in under 30 minutes, too.


My favorite tips from this cookbook that I started using immediately:

1) incorporating jarred peppadew peppers in sauces that need a bright acidic punch with a little heat

2) chipotle peppers in adobe sauce are savory and umami without too much heat

3) soften peppers for stuffed peppers in the microwave to greatly reduce oven cooking time (since the filling is usually cooked anyway)

[Maryalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, this book uses more processed ingredients than other cookbooks by America's Test Kitchen, but the recipes are a decided step up from other minimal ingredient cookbooks I've seen. These aren't "pour soup over meat and sprinkle crackers on top" type recipes but instead represent a good mix of convenience and from-scratch cooking. I made the Grilled Southwestern Drumsticks and Charred Coleslaw, and it was surprisingly good given the simple ingredients and preparation. This feels like a book that will get a lot of use for weekday cooking.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please See My Ful Review at:
https://bibliothecaeclecticus.wordpre...

[Heydi Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge fan of American Test Kitchen but found this boring and uninteresting.

[Yvonne O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. I literally got zero usable recipes from this one.