In Praise of Cook's Illustrated

[Duer 157099]

As H2S posted in another thread about pizza, the latest (July) issue of CI talks about the nuances of making pizza in a home oven vs. a commercial pizza oven, and how that affects the recipe with respect to flour/gluten.

Finally last night I was able to try the recipe as intended and I can vouch enthusiastically for this version:

1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (I used non-instant, same amount, worked fine -- only diff is you proof it first in 105 degree water)
1 cup water (8 ounces), room temperature
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting work surface and peel
1 cup cake flour (4 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar

I made 3 pizzas from this batch -- one was hand stretched, from half the dough, and the other two were rolled very thin with a rolling pin (in spite of reading everywhere not to do this -- it produces an AMAZINGLY thin and crispy crust, albeit no rim to speak of)

The difference, for me, this time was that I didn't use any EVOO anywhere -- typically I've used it to coat the dough during rise. This seems to have had an effect. I used flour this time.

Oven temp at 500. I have two pizza stones stacked (the bottom one had broken so I put another one on top of it).

Also, I use parchment. I just can't seem to get the peel/corn meal thing to work for me. Parchment RULES!

I'm satisfied in my quest for good home pizza now. :)

I have many more good things to say about Cook's Illustrated and their PBS show "America's Test Kitchen" -- I have now tried several of their recipes and these folks are right on target.

[Duer 157099]

1. Great cookie recipe

Here is another recipe from CI/ATK that I have now tried several times, and can heartily vouch for. There are a few points that I will mention below.

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 1/4 cups rolled oats , old-fashioned, (6 1/3 ounces)
1 cup dried tart cherries (5 ounces), chopped coarse
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped into chunks about size of chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces), preferably dark
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Oven at 350; bake for 12 mins, then turn pan 180degs and bake additional 8 minutes. Cookies will look underdone, that's what you want. Let them sit on pan for 5 minutes, then move cookies to cooling rack (this timing assumes each cookie is 1/4 cup of dough).

Toast the nuts! Adds a significant flavor bonus. I used walnuts, heated in dry fry pan until I could smell them. But, cool them before adding to mixture, or the heat will melt the chocolate.

I used semi-sweet chocolate because it's what I had. Worked fine for me. In one case, I also added some milk chocolate chips.

I used dried cranberries because it's what I had; in another case, I used half raisens, half cranberries. Works just fine, of course.

Brown sugar -- I tried both light and dark brown, and couldn't tell any difference.

The use of both baking soda and baking powder is part of the secret to success for these cookies -- the soda helps the exterior crisp while the powder helps the interior rise (that plus the removal from oven before they appear "done")

I used the non-instant oats as the recipe called for, because I had them on hand, but you could use the instant -- the cookies might be less chewy though.

Next time I might try grinding the oats in a coffee grinder first, and see what that produces...

[Duer 157099]

2. Further elaboration on the pizza thing

I made these again last night, really good. Made the dough as described above (but this batch had risen overnight in fridge), rolled it out as thin as I could, put the dough on parchment, brushed it with some EVOO that had been heated up with minced/pressed garlic, spread a layer of out-of-the-can marinara sauce (Trader Joe's brand), a very very light sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese (adds just enough saltiness), fresh basil, mozzarella cheese (not too much), sliced fresh tomatoes, and onto pre-heated pizza stone in 500 degree oven.

REALLY good. I'm not kidding.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. "REALLY good. I'm not kidding."

That was my result, too. CI got *this* one *really* right!

[wryter2000]

4. Their Boston baked bean recipe is divine!

It cooks in the oven for about 6 hours, so it's not something you'd want to make in this weather. It's soooo wonderful, though.

[lavenderdiva]

5. Have you seen or read their new magazine, 'Cook's Country'?

its layout is similar to Cook's Illustrated, but it features more Mom-type recipes, like Lemon Meringue Pie, meatloaf, etc. I really liked it.

[Duer 157099]

6. No; I haven't even seen an actual Cook's Illustrated

I use their website -- tried the 14-day free trial, and decided it's one of the very few sites I would pay for (besides DU, of course!)

I stumbled upon the PBS series "America's Test Kitchen" which led to the CI site.

Love them!

(I avoid magazines because they end up piling up everywhere)

[lavenderdiva]

7. I'm not sure, but I would think that if you're paying for access to the

Cook's Illustrated website, you would have access to the Cook's Country one as well. Their website link is here:

http://www.cookscountry.com/default.asp