The New Essentials Cookbook: A Modern Guide to Better Cooking

by America's Test Kitchen (Editor)

Take your cooking skills to the next level while developing a knockout repertoire of 200 essential dishes that satisfy what our modern palates crave, from simple meals to dinner-party center­pieces.

We've made improvements to well-loved dishes by incorporating innovative techniques in recipes such as Butter-Basted Rib-Eye Steak and added modern classics such as Vegetable Bibimbap and Olive Oil-Yogurt Bundt Cake.

In this book, you'll find the perfect roast chicken and a killer banana bread but also a Turkish-inspired tomato soup, luscious Chinese braised short ribs, and a set of wholesome grain bowls. A chapter on weeknight dinners offers smart paths to great flavor--from Bucatini with Peas, Kale, and Pancetta that cooks in one pot to a pizza that bakes in a skillet--including plenty of vegetarian options. Other chapters turn up the volume on breakfast and dessert standbys; try the 100 Percent Whole-Wheat Pancakes and Brown Sugar Cookies and you may never go back to the regular versions. We'll also help you pull off your next--or even your first!--dinner party with recipes guaranteed to impress (and to work), such as Braised Lamb Shanks with Bell Peppers and Harissa, Miso-Marinated Salmon, and Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna.

Most of us--not just newbies--could stand to bone up on certain culinary basics, and our methods may surprise even more experienced cooks, from seeding fresh chiles (we use a measuring spoon) to hulling strawberries (a plastic straw works well). And that's just the tip of the iceberg of what these recipes teach. You'll discover how to "reverse sear" thick pork chops so they turn out juicy all the way through, grind meat in a food processor for the ultimate burger, and shape fresh corn tortillas without a tortilla press or rolling pin.

As you progress through this book, you will also gain a deeper understanding of ingredients, better ­techniques, and the secrets we use in the test kitchen via sidebars called "Think Like a Cook," which offers insights that can help in your larger culinary life. For

How to Be an Avocado Squeezing that avocado is just going to bruise it. Learn a better way to tell when it's ripe.

Improvising a Pan After searing a steak, chop, or chicken breast, don't clean the pan! We show you how to use these browned bits to make a rich, deeply flavored sauce.

How Cheese Learn why some cheeses melt smoothly while others turn greasy--plus a trick to help cheddar melt without breaking.

The Egg-Doneness See the difference between soft-, hard-, and overcooked eggs and find a foolproof method for nailing it every time (and removing the shells more easily).

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

496 pages, Hardcover

Published September 25, 2018

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

[Lorilin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 100 pages of this cookbook are stellar and will be extremely helpful for the beginner cook.

The first 50 pages give advice on how to follow recipes, keep the kitchen sanitary and organized, stock basic ingredients (including spices), and prep ingredients (including knife skills). The next 50 pages talk about how to perfectly cook basic ingredients like scrambled eggs, fish fillets, brown rice, turkey breast, and the list goes on.

After establishing this solid foundation, the rest of the book is all recipes. Seven sections include breakfast and brunch, salads and bowls, sides, soups and stews, weeknight dinners, Sunday dinners, and baking. The recipes pack a punch in the beginning. I found a lot to love from the breakfast, salads, sides, and soups sections. But I haven't swooned over anything from the two dinner sections yet. Both the ingredients and the execution of the recipes just don't appeal to me. I've found a couple things to enjoy from the baking section, but, overall, I haven't been wowed there either.

I love the advice, tricks, and lessons in the first half of the cookbook. I cook a lot, but I still learned a few things. Unfortunately, the recipes in the last few sections aren't that great. If you're willing to substitute two cookbooks for this one, I'd recommend looking at The Complete America's Test Kitchen and America's Test Kitchen Cooking School instead.

Thanks to ATK and Amazon Vine for the ARC!

See more of my reviews at www.bugbugbooks.com.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO MUCH GOOD FOOD. 100% RECOMMEND.
EAT the ginger-steak-ramen.
EAT the burrito bowls.
DO IT.

[AllBookedUp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally didn't count this as a book that I would read, but I rethought it and decided I will give a review. I helped me decide whether or not I wanted to purchase the online subscription.

Let me first admit and put a disclaimer, I am not the savviest when it comes to electronics. I've been on Goodreads for many, many years and I still have no idea how to read the sent messages to my profile. My sincere apologies to anyone who wrote to my profile and I never answer. I don't know how to retrieve them.

I saw on my Instagram America's Test Kitchen offers recipes online, I was very excited. I wanted to go and see some of the recipes. I quickly found out, unless you join, you will not have access to any of their recipes or recent cooking videos. My problem was, I got very nervous when it read and it requests I can sign up for a limited time, trial-free offer. What if I don't like it. How do I cancel? What if I love it? How do I go forth with that? I'm still confused about my Amazon Prime free reading!

So I went to the library and obtained this copy America's Test Kitchen wrote. It's fabulous! They show you visually, how to cut, dice, mince, and what some of the kitchen tools they are referring to. The recipes are straightforward and offer tips on the following pages on how to bring it to another level. I have made several recipes and my guys all love them. I should also state for the record, I made some vegetarian dishes and one of my guys does not love his veggies. He does now, thanks to the recipes. I give it a solid 5 stars. Now if I only know how to navigate this site on my computer because I do want to subscribe. Oh, technology for the technologically challenged.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not really my book, however it is wonderful for beginners. There are plenty of pictures and lost of great tips and fun. Some of the recipes have an abundance of ingredients but all totally worth it and easy to follow.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winner, winner, new ways to make chicken for dinner.
ATK always worth the money.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm one of the few people out there who remains relatively unimpressed by America's Test Kitchen / Cook's Illustrated. I love the idea of highly developed recipes, but I often find that my tasteful and those of their recipe developers are not in the same page. I usually find ATK recipes pretty bland and end up doubling the seasoning they call for. In addition, their meal ideas tend to be too meat-centric (or best-substitute-centric). I thought this one looked a little more promising, and I did save a few recipes here, but I think this is aimed more at beginner cooks. I did appreciate the slightly more international flavor of these recipes, though.

[Zoey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resources in the front of the book offer suggestions about stocking your pantry, using spices, cooking to done-ness, and using your fridge. Photo guides for slicing, measuring, etc may be useful for the beginning cook. The first section deals with “The Simplest Way to Cook Everything,” and includes insets with tips on how to shop for salmon, etc. America’s Test Kitchen seems to recycle their recipes from one cookbook to another, but who is complaining when they’ve gone through the trouble to find a recipe that really “works”? This would be a great reference guide to have on hand with many classic recipes.

[Emma Whear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly considerate.

Lots of cookbooks annoy me with their ingredients and tone. This one assumed us to be the penniless masses, who don't know how to chop up a pepper. I'm cool with that.

The first 1/3 is an index of tools and terms and how to properly break down meat and vegetables. Great stuff.

The rest is recipes that mostly stay in the realm of "I'd actually make this on a weeknight dinner." I like the margins that have a "Why this works" section and "Think like a chef" as well as "Substitutions."

Put it in my Amazon cart.

[Margaux · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok so let it be known: this is a beautiful book. I'm not knocking how this was assembled. I wish my America's Test Kitchen Best Recipe book was put together so nicely but then it'd probably be 5,000 pages instead of it's mere 6-800 (ha!).

I tried a spicy peanut sauce noodle dish, and my coworker made a beef tip salad from this book as well. Both turned out horribly and it is not user error. No way did two seasoned home cooks make 100% of the recipes they tried incorrectly.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Essentials Cookbook... exceptional explanations on why and how to prepare foods properly while cooking. Includes simple recipes geared toward beginners, and offers seasoned cooks a chance to broaden their expertise. This book offers trusted recipes, tested tools, and guidance to elevate your dish to the expert level. Delicious images of the process and detailed descriptions. Good variety of cuisine styles and culture.

[Camie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic cookbook. Great pictures and tips. Didn't get a chance to make all the recipes. Will check out again.

Recipes Tried:
p. 114 Strawbery-Peach Smoothie: delicious, a keeper!
p. 236 Creamy Cauliflower Soup: mediocre


Recipes to try:
p. 62 White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage
p. 288 Sesame Noodles with Shredded Chicken
p, 314 Chicken Piccata

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite informative on technique and facts of cooking but I only took two or three recipes from it (which keeps me from rating it a 5 star book) but i actually read through near all the tips and learned quite a bit from this book. I hope all that information sticks. My cooking is good now but will be made greater with this new information.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really thought I was just going to "browse" through this, but I ended up slowing down and marking a lot of recipes to xerox. Also, I especially liked the "Think Like a Cook" tips that are scattered throughout the book! I copied many of these for future reference!

Well Done!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the pictures of all of the recipes and especially liked the tips pages that showed you many techniques. This book had lots of good advice about what to keep in your kitchen and how to organize.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pictures of recipes? Yes.
Commentary on recipes? Yes.
Nutrition facts? No.
Recipe Style? Fundamentals with lots of various influences.
Any keepers? A couple.

This would be a great gift for someone just starting to learn to cook.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite cookbook because of all the advice and explanations given. The first twenty pages are a really good primer for basic kitchen and cooking skills, most of it is recipes but each recipe has a little blurb about why the recipe is the way it is which is enlightening.

[Michelle Cable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each recipe has at least one picture. Most of ingredients that you are likely to find in your pantry/

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic information for new cooks. The bucatini carbonara recipe was bomb, I also made the pasta frittata recipe, it was okay but not something that I feel like I need to do again.

[Hazel Leu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has about a dozen recipes I'll probably try, plus a few others that might also be possible under the right circumstances

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these test kitchen cookbooks. So much easier to find recipes in the books than by going through the magazines. Bought this one!

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of really good recipes and photos.

[Kellie Nealeigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks promising; we would likely eat about 75% of these recipes.

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the better publications from ATK.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good cookbook option for a new chef.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me

[CR Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wanna buy this one!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, basic recipes and lots of information for a newer cook.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Weeknight dinner” recipes should not take an hour+. I’m just saying.

[Olivia Ambrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information for beginners.