Cooking & Baking
Related: About this forumIs Cooks Illustrated Really "All That"?
Cooks Illustrated, with their test kitchen and all the effort they put into perfecting dishes and finding ways to achieve all the positives while eliminating the negatives has always been so compelling to me, not to mention their wonderful TV show, but... it recently occurred to me that in all the countless dishes I've made from their recipes, all have been reliably good, but none have been great, or made me think "WOW, this is incredible!". I've learned lots of good techniques and use several of their recipes as staples, it's just that the expressions of Julia Collins or Christopher Kimball closing their eyes and purring loudly as they bite into one of their creations doesn't match my own expression, which is generally a bland one as I think "Huh".
I asked my Dad (whose foodie genes I inherited) what he thought of Cooks Illustrated, and he echoed my sentiments exactly. So what do you guys think of them? Have you made something from a Cooks Illustrated recipe that you thought was outstanding, and if so, what was it?
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)The A in 5 bread variation of the NYT no-knead is great.
They were right on the money with their dough recipe for grilled pizza . . . . even though I have modified it even further to suit our family's tastes.
Their onion soup that is basically a loooooong slow cook of a *lot* of sliced onions was amazing. We love onion soup and this one was the best.
There are others, too, but those jump to mind.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,019 posts)my individual tastes and preferences are not quite aligned with theirs - it is interesting, but I never really refer to them for anything except some useful background info.
They are a bit heavy in "unhealthy" (meaning high test, full on fat) ingredients, and we've moved away from that to lighter/much healthier preparations, more transparent flavors, etc.
bif
(22,745 posts)However, I'm going to try the lentil chorizo soup recipe tomorrow. I'll get back to you on that one. It's in this month's issue. Their cookbook is pretty darn good.
lizerdbits
(3,443 posts)I haven't made any in a while, but my husband LOVES their coffee cake (the one with jam between the cake and topping) and says it's the best he's ever had. The texture of the cookies and cakes I've made are often better than other sources and aren't overly sweet. It's dessert, so it IS sweet, but not hurt-your-teeth sweet to mask the lack of anything else in the recipe.
I have noticed that a lot of their recipes they've 'come up' with are VERY similar to things in decades old cookbooks I've picked up over the years. Maybe we've started making everything sweeter and they're just going back to the older versions. I remember discussing that with someone but I can't pinpoint a specific example right now.
Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)but the recipes, eh. I read them and sometimes use seasonings or prep suggestions in my own version of the dish (my mac'n'cheese for example.)
dem in texas
(2,674 posts)I watched one of their TV shows where they were making refried beans and they started with a can of cooked pinto beans. I wrote the show off then and there. What makes refried beans taste so good is using cooked pinto beans that have stood in fridge for a day or so, they develop a deep earthy taste that cannot be duplicated with canned beans or canned refried beans.