cook's illustrated - 113

7/16/2019 Cook's Illustrated - 113

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N M E N O E b E 2011

ST R A E D

Easy Braised TurkeyPeect Lght & Dark Mea

Bonus: Great Gravy

Guide to PfectHoday Cookies

Best-Ever Prime RibThe Secret? 200-Degree Ove

Ultimate staaa Boognes

Throw Out he Dai

Testing Knife SetsWhat Do You Ge for $700

FarmhosVgta Soup

Deep Flavor Wthout Meat

Chrss v Showsor

Tsg Hgh-d Brs

osd Brsss Sros

grss wh S

wwwCook uaecom

$9 $9

>

77 8


2/34

2

6

8

I I

2

14

TTNovember Decembr

Notes from Readers 6 Hoy Cookies Mde SimpleBY ANDREA GEARY & DAN SOUZA Step -by-step guidelines fo cookies tat look tei

oliday best BY KEITH DRESSER

Quick Tips

8 Past wih Broccoli RabQuick and easy ways to pefom eveyday asks likekeepng cookies fes and tanspoting pes. an SausgeBY SHANNON FREDMANN HATCH o fine-tune tis classc combnation, we fist needed to

Oven-Braised Turkeytame boccoli abes bitte edge BY RAQUEL PELZEL

Roast tukey is te nom today but ealy Amecan 9 ParisBrtcookbooks oen ecommended anote cooking We knew tis sowstoppe Fenc desset was bometod. We wondeed i maybe tey knew elegant and delicious Now we can say is elable assometing wot leanng. wel l Y ANDREW JANIGANBY ANDREW JANIGIAN

Te Best Prime Rib22 Crtg rs Ginrsnaps

Wats te secet to gngesnaps tat combine boldop ces say at 8 ous in a 120-degee oven is spice flavo and eal snap? o begn wit, teeste oute o pme b pefection. So wats a ome gettng id of all tat moistuecook to do? BY DAN SOUZA BY ANDREW ANJIGIAN

Roasted Brussels Sprouts 2 Holiy Crarry CteWat would i take to ceate tende, nutty-tastingBussels spouts in just one pan? BY ANDREA GEARY Fo a standout sauce, we needed to do moe tan

just finetune te sweettat classic

Eas iken sBY KEITH DESSER

Cicken tgs plus te blast of a boile equals 2 T Pro it Knif Stsundecooked meat and cae skin. o ensue tatbot elements cooked evenly we etougt te Nne peces of matcing cutley, plus a block fo easy

equation. BY ANDREW ANJIGAN stoage? It could be a bagan a ip-oBY SA McMANUS

Farmouse Veetable Soup 8 BrRcly lavoed vegetable soup s no poblem weno ave e o ss oveomemade stock. Fo a Wen it comes to butte, wete o not a band s aweekng veson, we needed o get ceatve wit fancy ig-fat Euopean-style may not matte as muc

pant staples BY LAN LA as ow its wapped BY AMY GRAVES

Utimae Ra alla Bolonese 3 ith Ou goal was te icest, most savoy intepetaton BY ANDREW JANJIGIAN & DAN SOUZAof ts famous meat sauce. But ow many meats did

32 quipment rtat equieand would te daiy ave to go?BY BRYAN ROOF BY HANNAH ROWLEY, AMY GRAVES, LISA MMANUS

& DAVD PAIO

FRENC STRIES To cte plmie pu pt i foe e cut into oubl e piral an prinked wit h ugr Mille-feuile ince pu ptry tcke wit pt cm

an ge C old butter incorporte i nto yete ough cte the f textu of

the cissant. Pin au chc/at i varition on the cint tht cll for tucking chocolte

into te ogh The fla ct o chaussns aux pmmes ("pple i ppe i chieve

by (isage, kneing metho i n which ough n butter ae mea with the heel of

the han Obong clai me with pte cux, pteike ough of flour boili ngwater bter an e The hol low ptrie a fle wit ptry cm n toppe with

gnche Tae au cincontin tngy emon-cu li ng whie te aux i ho h

fit toe with mete jey n rrnge t ptry cm The chocolte ganache

exterior o dome au chc/at hie layer of chocolte moue n liqueroake

gnoie cke COVER (pp) Robe Papp; BAK COVE ( ) John Burgoyne

Amrc'Ameca's Tes Kitchen is a ve rea12.500-squaref khen ld jus ud o Bon I hom an's nt magnes an s e wray esinan mr an tree zen es cks e an ckware speciassOur mssn is es recpes ver an ver agan un we uneran w an wy ey wrk an un we arve a e bes ver

sn We as es kicen equpmen an supeae ngien n sear brns a er e bes vaue an perrance

W Yu can wac us wr by uning n ec's est tchen (wericasescencm) n pubc eevisn

COOK'SLLI NT \TtFounder and Editor Crsper Km

Editorial Diretor Jack Bispxutive Editor, Magazines Jn Wugby

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Managing Editor Rebecca HaysSenior Editors e Dresser

Lsa McManusByan R

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Exeutive Pdue Messa BalnAssociat Pdu Sepane Sene

Contributing Editors Maew CarDawn Yanagara

Consulting Edito Sc BueemaSiene Edito Guy Crsby, PD

Onlin Managing Edito Dav yelOnlin Edito Kae Masn

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Design Diretor my KleeArt Diretor, Magazins Jue B

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Sta Photographer Dane van cOnline Photo Editor Seve Kise

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Sowre Pet Manager Micee RusnBusiness Anayst Weny seng

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VP New eda Prout Deveopment Barry eySoal Mea anager Sep Yu

hief Finania Or Saryn CabHun esoues Diretor ee Sa pir

Publity Debra Bre

PRNE N HE US


3/34

E D I T O R I A L

TH AM L THG

wo years ago, om and Nate seededdown a sma ed near the brook, justpast the pg ot an d rght across from theupper ed where we keep the nda

nebacks. t was two weeks before dee seasonand om mentoned that at exacty 417 everyday, a age doe, foowed a mnute ater by a verycatous buck, made her way out of the woodsand down nto the ed. he next day sat wthmy back aganst a sugar mape and tmed t, andsre enough, at exacty 4:17, there came the doeand the buck. Evenng aer evenng, t was thesame od thng.

Ever ugust, on the rst day that oers thepromse of atna whsker of wet eaves andhms, a chance patch of hoar ostom jumpsp and taks about where we wput or tree standsths year and the rst buck sghtngs, racks coveredth fet. Summer gves up a of a sudden, theevenngs fade sooner, and the nght s darker andmore pressngno zephyr ksses on a warm breez e.

he sgar-dusted ed dough of Od Ho me Da y sbehnd us and we march through potato and honeyharest, pumpkns on the porch, thorn bushes andbeages poundng aer rabbts, snowshoes and snowfas, days and nghts n sugarhouses,

trucks stuck n md, the pantngof potatoes, beans, and corn, andthen tackng up the horses for theJuy 4 parade.

he veterans. he bght redFarma. he coupe on horhe cheese oat. d whcrazy enr Jed has thougHe was the Cat n the Hyear drvng a brght red Se

Some mght say that fe has fewsurpses f yo ve ong enoughaccdents, marrages, brths, deats,uck, no uck, bad coee, dr spes,ozen ppes, a cod LaBatts on ahot day, and Parker House Roson hanksgvng. But then yourneghbor drops o a haf cord ofdred, spt oak. turkey showsup on fermented appes at

Chritopher Kimball

few years ago, tookof my kds up SE Cornerswhere grew up. f youjust where to ook for tsts the pretest sma wan Vermont, hden n a stpnes. t the otom s a

the country store. sevenpont buck appears onthe st Snday of huntng season, just a hundedyards uph. neghbor tes you about hs secretshng hoe n the Green ve. hey're unexpectedmoments bt part and parce of everday vng.

Watchng our town's anna Od Home Dayparade, am on the ookot for the famar. he

bearded drummer wt te be ncon face. hebagppe band om Cambrdge. Young kds anddogs, faces peerng down from the hgh cabs ofretrucks. he musce cars. he oat wth someonesttn on a toet (a popuar theme n our town).

poo, t by sg crces oovershadowed by the rushng sound of the was a perfect match n memor bt mroremuch had changed.

few months back a neghbor took mand o ered a few words of kndness . Her mwas a tad derent than usua more person afocused. She had thought hard about wh

was about to say and wanted her words toa derence. hey dd. t was a facan uar message. Words o kndnessrght tme can be somethng truy new, nsame od thng.

O KNOW? All prouct reviewe b America' Tet Kitchen home of Ck's Illustrated an Cks Cuntry magaine are inepenentl c hoen reearan eviewe b o ur eitor. We bu prouct for teting at retail l ocation and o not accept un olicite a mple for teting. We o not accept or receive pame

conieration from prouct manufacturer or retailer. Manufacturer an retailer are not tol in avance of publication which prouct we have rcommene W

uete ource for recommene prouct a a convenie nce to our reaer but o not endo re pec ic retail er.

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KBOOK

e sel moe tan cookbooks by te etos of Cook's Iustrated. o ode vst oubookstoe at www Cooks ll ustatecom

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N O V E MB E R 6 E E MB E R 20 I


4/34

N T E S FR R EAD E R S

Taking the Bte out of RadcchioI love the deep red color o radiccio in a salad butmy amily coplains tat it's too bitter. Is there anyway to tae it?

MABEL HOWARD

GARDEN CITY, N.Y

Ricchio owes its characteistically biter edgeto naraly occurring checa copounds releasedwhen the vegetable is cut or cheed. Hoeverbecause these bitter compounds are water solubleyou can tone don the bitterness by soking the cutleaves in ater. er testing at vaous tie interalswe ound that a soak o at least 30 minutes was nec

essar to tame the vegetable's bite. To tone it downeven more e cut the radcchio into ne shredseore soaking as the greater amount o exposedsurace area allos more o he itter compoundsto leach out.

That said we like the sharpness o this lettuce and sck to giving it just a quick rinseto presere its bite beore incorporating it intorecipes. We nd that radiccho's bitterness helpsalance avors particularly in salads that containrich igredients such as cheese or nuts or seetcomponents like uit

SSERTVE EASER-GOG

Fnely cutting radccho and then soakngt n water tames some of ts bte.

Goat Butter

I love goat cheese so I was intrigued hen I recentlyspotted goat buter at m local cheese shop Canit e used in the sae ay as butter ade omco's il?

RACHAEL ROBERTSON

ABUQERQE, NM

The rst ting e noticed hen e unrappedour goat utter as its translucent wte colorquite dierent o the yelow o co's-i butter.The ference is due to the act that goats tansormhe eta-carotene i heir diets into coloress vitaiA, we cos do not.

Goat butter and co butter have very siilarat content but goat utter's erent att acidstrctre gives it a loer melting point and kes itsoer at room temperare. or taste e ound

A N D R E A E A R D A N S O U Z A

that goat butter has a uc ilder avor than goatcheese but stll retains enogh tang and grassiness toset it apart o co butter hen spread on bread.

Most tasters loved s "barnyard qaiythoughsoe couln't get past the butter's reseblnce toshortening. The sutle avor derences eteengoat butter ad cow buter were lost hoever hene used the to saut carrots.

There as one surprising rea in ch goatbutter reay shone: utter cookies. The utter'slo melting temperare gave cookies an extratender sandy textre. This is because he eltedat is ale to ore eectively coat the proteins inthe our resultng in less hydration and less glutendevelopentand a cooke tat's ore delicate nd"short. Plus tasters loved ho the slight anginesso the goat butter sered as a counterpoint to tecooke's seetness.

Sti th te Liert Goat Butter e tastedsellng or about $10.99 per 250-gra package (teeqivaent o mnaly ore an two 8tablespoonsticks) e'll save it or special occasions.

Restig Clabbered MilkDirecions or aking a butter sustitute byadding leon uice to ilk lays call or lettingte ixtre sit or a hile Cn I skip this rest i'mshort on tie or is it iportant?

MOLLE SLLVAN

DRHAM, NC

"Clabbered il is idely recommended asa substitute or butte in baed goods. Theusual approach is to stir lemon juice into ilk (1tablespoon per cup) and let e xture sit or 10inutes to "claber (or cken) beore proceedigwth e recipe. But aer ollowing this ethod andclosel obserg hat transpired we discoveredthat clabbering ilk doesn't give it e soottick consistency o butterilk. Sa curds oredlost instantl but aer a 10-inute rest ost o

the milk ad not tickened t all. d ore iting sil didn't give claered mil the consistenco utterilk.

It turns out that hen leon juice is added toilk the citric acid changes the electricl chargeon e dairy's casein proteins causing e tocoaguate tightly into clups. On the other handthe Lactobacius bacteria added to milk to producecoercial utterilk remove soe o the sugarolecules bonded to the proteins allong the toor a gel hat gradualy ecoes thicer over tie.

So does iting aer treating il th lemonuice ipact its baing properies To nd out wemade ultiple batches o iscuits and butter

K I R E

panckes one set w clabbered il that had ror 10 mnutes nd one set in hich e mixe

milk into e batter immediatel aer addinglemon juice. o te biscits nd pancakes virtually identical in appearance avor and tex

Our conclsion Aing lemon uice to lkply acidies it along me eavenng n te ado its jobthe sae role plaed by uttermJk Sts chnge happens ieately you can saelyte resting tie.

Swig Nut ButtersPeanut alergies have becoe so comonplaceI substitute other nut butters or peanut butt

cookie recipes? HOWARD CHOSAN CARLOS, C

To nd te anser to your question e stted alond butter and cashe butter te most comonl available "alternative nut buor peaut butter in chewy peanut butter cooSince e could ony nd the unsalted we buup e salt in our reipe to copensate.

The cashe utter cookes ere very siiltextre and appearace to hose made it pebutter but the cashe avor as so sule as easy to iss making this nut a poor standipeanuts. The alond butter cookes ared orseaond skins ade the cooies taste noceablyter and he cookies aso spread ore than the nut and cashe counterparts looking coparaat and unattracve. It s out tat alonds conot ony slighty more at tan peanuts ad cas(hich share a siilarat percentage) but alsoa uch higher proporon o unsaurated at.Because unsaturated

at has a loer elngpoint than te saratedkid cooies made italond buter are moreud aown e baerto spread eore heirstructre is set.

n a nutshell I you'reconcerned about peanut alergies look orcookie recipes specicallydesigned or other nututers. A rect suston th cashew oralmond utter won'tproduce he sae reslts.

CASHEW BUTTEBLADER

ALOD BUTTELATTER

Nether cashew nor abutter works wel a

drect substtute for pebutter n a cooke ec


5/34

Artichokes on Acid

I've ways been taught tat to keep artichokes omdarkening they must be stored in lemo water assoon as they are cut and then also cooked in lemonwater A re both steps reay essential? And wvinegar work just as well?

JANE NCKLEY

BREWER MANE

hen the cell wals of artichokes (as well asavocados apples and potatoes) are cut or crushedezmes i teir tissues are exposed to the air andreact with polhenols producing black- or browncolored pigments tat mar ei appearance. Contactth an acid wsow the rate of this browning. Wefound that vinegar (hich is high in acetic acid)

and parsley (which is igh in ascorbic acid) eachmized darkenig when added to cooing water

However lemon juice proved more eective thaneither of these substances This is because lemonuice cotains both ciric and ascorbic acids which

together not ony slow the enzymatic reacion butaso limit its activit in the rst place.

for whether soaking cut artchokes in lemonuice before cooig is also necessar to prevent tem

om browng the answer is no. Since browningoccurs ony on surfaces where the ssues re rup

tured te acid's impact is imited to cut areas dug aprecooking soak Adng leon uice to the cookingwater is far more iportat many more ces of thearchoke wburst i te boiling water potentialycreatng browning throughout te vegetable

T LEO TOUT LEOLemon juce n the cookng wate nhbts the enmatc

eacton that causes bwng cut atchoks

p SafeIs it safe to place plastic wrap rectly on te surface of swarm fatt foods sch as puddings orpast creams?

JUNE REDFORD

MONROE CONN

For an answer we consuted Daniel Schidt anassociate rofessor in the Department of PlastcsEgineering a e Universit o MassacusettsLowel e explaied that in the ast plastcwraps were made wth one of to tpes of

pasticpolvinyl choride (PV C) or polviylidenecoride (PVD)aong wit compounds known "lasticizers tat enhanced heir iginess andstretchiness. However heath concerns associatedih these lastics as well as may plasicizers aveed most manuacurers o switc to polyehylenewhich requres no plascizers at te expense of some

HAT IS IT?

I pcke up th is pecul irlooking contrption t grge sle

for few bucks The seller thought it ws kitcen tool

C n you tell me how it might hve be en use?

A QUCK PEELERThs old-tme tool sks

apples n a flash

clinginess That said if plasicizers or aditives werepresent in a plastic wrap tey would indeed be morelikely to migrate into warm fatt foods Not oy aremany plastic additives more soluble in fats and oilsta in water but sma molecules in general migrateat much higher rates at elevated temperatur es

The bottom line: hie there is no evidence tosugge st that the newer reformulated l asic wr aps

leach harm l compounds into food keeping thewrap at least nch om food surfaces eateany potentia risk. nother sol ution is to use parch ment aper for direct surface contact as we do in thetest kitchen for puddings and custards.

entle iant

I've started seeing eormous bulbs of "elephantgarlic at my supermrket Can I use it just likeregula gar lic?

ARY ARCA

CARLESTON SC

Despite te name elepant garlic is not actuay

garlic. Thog bot aromatics are pat of the alumgenus t1ey belong to ieret species Elephantgarlic belongs to mpeloprsum, the same species as

leeks; grlc is om the speciesstvum. And whie atrst glance elephat garlic might look lie garlic on

steroids (it 's two to three times larger) closer examinaton reveals some dierences Conventio na garlicheads c an boast as many as 20 cloves but elephantgarlic never has more t about six ad its cloves

have a yellowish castTo see ow their tastes compared we made l

VMBR b MBR 011

ARA BOSS

ARRSBR PA

our item is n ntque fit peeler invente by Lupton of Bltimore Mryln in 1 50 The m

ms of cst -iron ger irect s rotting ble ro

fruits positione on sttionry trient Much o

mechni sm ws originll y encse to ie the wo

prts but tose pnels likely me of woo re

gone A C-clmp secures the peeler to counte

or self

As the ptent sttes the object of the inven

ws to provie new n improve vegetbl

fruit peeler or prer tht will b e com pct esy to

cen n snitry n cpble of being mnufct

eonomilly The ptent lso escribes por

s gol By toys stnrs were not sure

com pct n p ortble re ccurte escriptorswen we trie it out this mchine i work extre

well i n spite of its ge I t skinne pples n pech

fst s we coul line them up

nd garic-potato soup using regular garlc batch and te sae amount of elepant gnother Raw in aoli the elephant garlic ad garic oon avor This weak avo virtuallyeared when it was simmered i sop asts

preferred te sharper more puget taste o garlc in bot recipes. It turns out that elepa

produces the same avo compounds as egula

when it's cushedas wel as those prduonions and leeksjus less f eac tpe Te is that elephant garic does't tast as otalum cousins.

In short: lepant garlic is ot a sbsttrue garlic. If yo wat milder gari avor of the rea st.

ELEPAT COVETElphant galc s b g n statue bu t small n fl

We'll stck wth the gula knd.

E YR QETI We will povidecomp limenty on eye subsciption fo ec lette wend you inquiy, nme, ddess, nd dytime teleonumbe to Notes fom Redes, ook's ustrted 70589, Bookline, A 027, o to NotesFomRedAmeicsestitcencom


6/34

QuickTips C O M P L E D B S H A N N O N F R E D M A N N H A T C H

No More Dried-Out CookesIt's a derent k nd of hoi day rushtryng to eat an entre tn of so, chewy cook ies before they grow stale and harden.

Dissatsfed wth the o common techniques for keepng cookes moststoring them wth apple pieces (which can m par

o-favors) or read s lces (whch are bu)Lum Pennngon of Sada, Coo., came up th a new way She sls ayers o

flour torllas and parchment beween the layers of cookes The torti l las ft tdily i nto the tn , wher ther mosture keeps

ooki es so for dys

. 3.

I . Tre the bottom of ooke t n on sheet of prhment pper Cu t out the irle nd repet s needed yer prhment tortl prhment nd then yer of ompetey ooled ookies3. Repet unti the tin s fu endng wth yer of ookies

Have Cpces or Pe,Wl TavelRr i crrir ic o rsori oos,

Rm of io, Cif.,os rs i moo smrs. Ccs i syisi, i cs i, ro (i fm oom o o)scrs i .

Smart Cooe ShpngE iz of oro, ss., os' c of cooi scoo s

i y of si roi cooi o. s qrrc msr (q o4 soos) i iis i ccori o sir siz .., for soos).

A onstc Sltion forChopping Cnded GingerThe sti nteror of ndied

gner mkes hopp ng t hore

Wht does n't l ng to the knife

umps together on the uingbord Angel l ot of Qu ny

Cf stors er ndied ginger

in ipperok bg in the freeer

When she needs bt for ook

ng s he pu s out the britte froen

gnger nd breks t i nto piees with

her met tenderier

SEND S YO TIS We will povide a complimentay oneyea subscpton fo eac tp we pint Send you tip nae, and addess toQuick ips, ooks ustrted Bo 70589, Bookline , A 07, o to [email protected] m.

K

S I S R E

Evenly Slced Bd ci o of r sricss sic of ismr ics s ir sics or miTo cr mor sz cAx To isso of FrcscCif., cs cir os i iq r.

c o of r2. Ro r o-qr o ri c sic3. Ro r oqrr o ic .Co o r c c.


7/34

Cln Shv orrnt Sptls pasic spaua is a mu s wih

a nonsick pan o preven a

scrached surface. Over ime,

however, he oo s edge can me l

ino an uneven, rough ip. nne

wh of ugene, Ore., has a simp e

soluon: She uses a vegeabe

peeer o shave o he si nged

pasic and reso an even edge.

Gttng Grp onCoong Sprycs ri c of cooi sr i or or rss c sir s rioosmo of Oom CiO. ci o som rcio. c rr c. No s s osi ri o osic s r.

Short-Ordr oqt Grn

ontrol Yor mprngemperinhe process of gradua ly

increasing he emperaure of a hea

sensiive ingedien (su ch as es or

dairy) wih ho iquid o avoid breaking

or curdinusua y requires a mea

suring cup and a seady hand. Michael

Goodwin of ayland, Mass., uses a

urkey baser. er suck ing up ho iq ui d

ino he baser, he c an conro he speed

a which i is mixed ino he cool ingedi

en wih a gene sq ueeze. baser is

aso easier o grasp han a full measuring

cup whie simulaneousy whisking wih

he oppos ie hand .

Ensrng Mmm ExtrctionWr s's mi mris orcori c A r Ki oQic ss. s is moo xrc o cos of rsr . s f or coro rsss i i or i si cos o oom of r c si i .

When making soup receny, harles hrisiansen of Melrose, M ass., d iscovered ha he had no cheesecloh o bund le he

herbs for a bouque garni. In sead, he decided o ry an oldfashioned mehod has faen ou of favor: wrapping he he rbs in

leek greens. H e found ha his worked so wel he may never go back o ch eesecoh.

I . 3 .

I . rim wo leek greens o 6 inc hes ong and rinse horoughy. Lay on e green fla and place he des ired herbs insi de.. over hem wih he remaining green.3. Tie each end closed wih buchers wine, leaving he wine ong on one end. he wine can be ied o he han de of

he po o faci li ae easy removal of he bu nd le .

NVMBR [ MBR 01

5

A w con rpreezing is a grea way o pse

bacon , bu if is frozen ino a so

sab, is im possible o remove jus

a few sices when needed. Insea

of roing slices ino cyinders bef

frezing hem, Jon ahan May of L

ngeles, aif., uses his wrappin

mehod , which keeps he srips f

I . Pace a singe s ic e of baconone end of a 1 2 by 1 6 inch pie

of waxed paper. od he pape

over he bacon, hen op wih

anoher s ice.

. oninue fodng and sackinan accordon fashio n

3 . Pace wrapped s ices i n azipperock bag and freeze un

ready o use .


8/34

Ove-Baised ukeyRoast turkey is the norm toda, but early American cookboos often recommended

another cookng method. We wondered if maybe they knew sometng worth earnin

B A N D R E W J A N J A N

hans: I' need to keep the thighs e mm empee for issocollagen long enough for ost of turn into gelatnbut not so long thabreast ded ot.

Paying it safe, I died the oven peraure to a ve gentle 275 dend put he turkey pats in. Withouinsuatng eect of he backbone anbreas, the ighs and drumsticks camto their ideal tempeaue of 175 de

a te same me hat he breas eaits idea 160 degees: about four hlater. Bo tpes of meat were ver teand juicy. Even te otermost layete breas were mois an succlentamostimpossible feat wen osng.as good as the turkey asted, monopo

the oven fo four hous dung the howas something I wante to avoi.

oast turkey has become synonymous wit Tnsgiving,but many ealy Americancookbook authors acually

advocaed a very ifferent mehod:cooking the whole bird (or its parts)in liqud in a covered po set over anopen e. Braising, aer all, would havebeen uniuely suite to the tough wildfowl put on te table in tose days, ashours of simmering would hve broken

down the dak mea's chey connectivetissue and urned it meltingly tender.Bu i's also a teri c way to c ook oday'smass-produced domestic turkey. Sincethe tempeaure in the po can neverrise bove he boiling point of water212 derees, the method is inheenlygenle, minmizing te risk of dring outhe breast. On top of tha, simmering the

pieces n broth creaes a avor exchangebetween he meat and the liuid, givingthe trkey a lavor boost and producing arich, eady-made grav. (The only tradeo I could think of migh be lessthan

crisp skin, but it was a compromise I waswilling to make for supremely tender,

The favorful raising qud for he ukey is hckened o make a rich gravy.

Wondeing what wod happen if!the opposite tack ad crake he hethiger, I prepped a new bach of t

pats an brased tem in a 400-doven. That got thngs movg fo su

took barely more than an hor fo theo come up o temperaurebut e r

juicy meat. Bras ing parts insead of a whole birdmakes the situation even more advantageous,

providng extra insurance th he w hite an thedark meat cook at a more even ae.

But I knew tat a sccessl ecipe would requiremoe tan just stickng some parts in bro, covering them up, an placing the whole thing in eoven. Conra to what you might expect, sim

merng mea in u is no guarantee of juiciness.In fct, if cooked too long o at te wrong tem

peatue, baise meat can dr out just as eadilyas roasted mea. Te rc would be to nd e

opa coog ie a oven epee njust the rigt ingrediens o add deeper complexito te meat.

Braising te takesTey parts ae reaiy available at e supermaret,so I woldn't ave to boter ith any butceringmyself. I assembled enough bonein, snon breasts,dmscks, an s o total aound 10 pounds

per batcenough to fee a cowd of 10 to 12.Before I gured out the nittgri of wat would

go in te baising uid, I waned o get te basics

of the coong method down. First, I arranged tepars sin side up in a roasting pa. (The traitiona

vessel fo braisinga covere casserole o Duchovenwas out, as al the parts would never t in onelayer.) I added about5 cups of cicken brohjusenoug o come abou treequarers of e wyup te sides of he thigs. Then I covered te panighty t alinum foil.

The oven temperature was a more complicaedmtter. The curous thng abou braising is tatespite he fact hat te meat is sttin in lu, itnever cuay bsorbs oisture. On e conrar,

nce s usce bes rec roun 1 egrees,ey begin o conrac wrng out juices. Bu

wen te mea in he po has a lot of collagen, hissriveg reaction is mitiged by a second reacon:Beteen 160 an 180 degrees, the colagen apidlydissolves into gelatin, wic hen holds on to someof te juices sueezed om he muscle bers. Ifenough collagen dissolves, it lends somehng ano juiciness o e e. Te calenge in braisingturey, owever, is te dar meat as a goodbi of collagen we te breas meat as alosnone. In oe wods, I ad a g issue on my

K I R D

6

were markedly infeio. Toug te center obreast was still juiy, the outer layes were drean te thigs, whe most, were tou. The hheat was obvously to blame. Because the uigoing at a rapid boil, he cooking me sped upas a result, e collagen in te ghs did't cance to suciently break down. And espitfact that the temperate inside te covere rn pan was lted to 212 degrees, t was senough to d out the exteror of the breast. I cecked, I foud that te eat ust elowsuface of te breastad clibe a goo 0 de

ger a is cener.Te compromise soluon was 35 degree

this temperature, basing too a reasonableours, urng whc e te collagen in he thsha a chance to beak own into gelan, wte beas mea remaine relatvey moist. I could't get te super-juiciness of the low-slow-cooed batch out of my eaand I ka eat inocing brg into e euaI'd been avoiding te extra step unl now bu

well aware of its benets Salt in a brne soldenatues e mea's proteins, maig em b


9/34

ST E P BY STE P I H OW B R A I S I N G CREAT E S J U I CY, FLAVO R F U L T U R K EY- P L U S R I C H G RVonrary o wha you migh expec, is possie for raised mea o urn ou dry. o guaranee mois juicy mea we rine he urkey and cook i in a ow oven.

. RI N E Brining h e urkeypars in waer, sa, and sugar

no ony ensu es ha he ouer

ayers of he reas don dry

ou during cooking u aso

seasons he mea horoughy.

. ROWN o oos compexiy and e nd roased favor

o he mix rief y rown he

urkey par s i n a 500-degree

oven aong wih he aromaics

and favorings.

3 . ADD L QID o ensure 4 RAIE over he pan wih 5. AKE RA Makinga concenraed raising iquid

pour I cup of wine and 4 cups

of roh ino he panjus

enough o pariay sumee

he m ea .

parchmen and foi and hen

raise geny in a 325degree

oven uni he whie and d ark

mea are cooked hrough

aou wo hours.

gravy from he ichfavoed

raising iqu id is easy: rain

iq uid use some of is fa o

make a roux add ack he

uid and simmer uni hicken

able to hold o to ther mosture. It als o thoroughlyseasos meat. Per our usu approach, I also ampedup the avor of the soluo by strrg somesugar. Fally, both the breast ad the dark meat

were supe r jucy ad teder.

Taking tockNow that e meat was perfect, t was me to adessthe turkey's salo s. I had o expectaos, ofcourse, that y crisp s as the cards, but somebrowg as a must. Not oy would t mprove thelook of the sk, but t would also add avor thatwould make ts way ito the brasg lqud. Sergthe peces the ove befoe addg te qud ouldbe the most ecet method, so I craked he heatto 500 degrees, brushed aother batch of turkeypats wth melted butter, and roasted them u theywere lghtly taed. That took about 20 mutes,

aer whch I poured the chck e broh to the pad retured the meat to a 325-degree ove. Someof the color washed away dg the log brase, butthe rch, roasted avor that t added to the brohade for a worthy compromse.

I wast shed yet: The brasg lqud stileeded some weakg. I started by sappig out1 cup of the chcke broth for hte wiea classctrick for addg bright sweetess to a p sauce.o ther roud out the avor, I tossed choppedoos, ceer, carrots, d garlc wit melted butter ad arrged tem i he pa before placgthe prts o top, browg the whole lot a hotove for about 20 utes. The avor was muchmprovedbut I did eve better by addg pepper, eaves, yme, parsey, ad a of urasavor ded porc mushrooms to the aromacsbefore browg them. Best o a , s te vorsof the brasg lqud mproved, so dd he avor ofthe turkey tse

t remaed was to tur ths rich brsglqud to gravy. Oce the urkey was cooked, I lette pts rest while I skmed the lqud ad usedsome of e avo fat to roduce ode o .The I whsked a fe cups of the liqud ad let the

mxture smmer utl it tckeed to glossy gravy.Wit1 ts juicy, rch meat ad sumptuous gray,

brsed turkey s wort celebrag. approach sogoodad so talormade for turkeyshould be as

much he stu ofleged s t1e roasted brd.

BR RY W H G RVY

RV 1 1 2

Istead of dumstcks d thghs, you may use 2hole leg qurters, 1 to 2 pouds eac. The recipe also ork th turkey breast aloe; i step ,reduce te salt ad sugar to cup each d tewater to 4 quarts. If you re brsg kosher or selfbasg tukey parts, sip the brg step d steadseaso he turkey prts th teaspoos of slt.

ySal and peppe

up suga

(5 - o 7 pound wole bone-i n ukey beas,immed

4 pounds ukey dumsks and gs, m med onons, opped eley ibs, opped2 as, peeled and oppe d

6 gal loves, peeled and used

bay le aves6 spgs fes yme

6 spigs fes pasley

Y1 oune ded pon musoms, nsed4 ablespoon s unsaled bue, meled4 ups low-sodiu m ken b

up dy wie wne

y ablespoons all-pupose flou

Sal and peppe

. TH TU Dssolve cup saltd sugar 2 gallos cold water lrge coter.ege re ece rie, cover, d regerate for 3 to 6 hours.

VMB R b MB R 01

7

2 Adjust ove rac to loermiddle pad heat ove to 500 degrees. ove uebre ad pat dr i paper toels. oss oceler, carrots, galc, bay leaves, yme, p

porc, ad 2 tabespoos buer i le ropa; arrage eve ayer. rus ey piecremai 2 tabesoos buer d seo per. Place ukey peces, sk side , over vegeleavg at least /4 ch beee ieces. aski is lhy broed, about 20 tes.

3 move pa om ove rede teure to 325 degrees. our bro d e urkey peces (it shold come abot eeqofay up legs ad tighs). Place 2 by 6icof parcmet paper over urkey pieces. oveig p tghtly t aumm foi. Re roasg p to ove ad coo breas 6 0 degrees ad ghs regster 75 erees,

2 hours. Trasfer tuey to c boloosely it foi, d et rest for 2 tes.

. TH G S vegetablqud om roasig p rogh e mes set lrge bol. ress solids ac of spaextract as much iqud as possible. iscd bles. Trsfer lqid to fat sepator; o to5 mutes. sere 3 tabespoos fat d mout 3 cups brisig iqid (resee rembrot for other use).

Heat reserved fat i med sacepmediumg eat. Add o d oo, sstatly, ul our is drk golde bo d aout 5 miutes. Wisk i 3 cus brisid brig to bol. Reduce heat to edimlosimmer, stirrig occasioy, u ra is reduced to 2 cups, 5 to 20 miutes. ovom et ad seso i sat d eper to

6 ae turkey d see, si sep

Watch drew Braise I

Vdeo avalable FREE fo4 monwww.Cooks l l u saed .om


10/34

e Best rie ibTop chefs say that 1 8 hours in a 1 20-degree oven is the route to prme rib erfection

Achef friend of mine recentysere me a sice o pime ibas cose to be e peecionas anyting I've ever tase.

It featured a crisp, sat crus encasing

a arge eye of juic y, rose -ue d meat

intersersed with so ockes o ricy

avore fat. Te meat ad the butteytextue of teeroin but the eeness ofa chuck roastan the usua gay banof overcooke meat under the suace of

he cust was pacticay nonexisent. Ifou mysef reasse ssing my expectaions

for this primo cut an aske my ien for

is recie. Whie he woudn't divuge a

the detais, he did iec me to e for

mua on which he ase is ow: famed

Bris chef Heson umenta's ecipe

for "Steak (transation: a two-ib oasfrom wic e cuts steaks) , pubise in

is ok In Search ofPerfection

So what's a home coo to do?

B D A N S O U Z A

To say tat Bumena goes to extremes

for is rime rib woud be an unerstate

ent. The recipe breaks dow as fo

ows: Sear te exterior o te roast wi a

otorch; pace te meat in a peeated120-egree oven unti te interna em

perature its 120 degreesad ten hod it

Scoring the fat cap efore cooking the roast heps the salt topenetrate the meat and encourages rendering.

tere fo 18 ours. (You ead at rigt: 1 8 ous .)Finay, pu te meat out of te oven, et i t res,sce it into steaks, and pan-sear te sabs unt crsp.

Tis exact approac was ou of te question. For

one thing, even if a cook was g to keep te

meat in te oven a ght and most of a day, no

ome oven can reiay go beow 200 egrees. But

it di ve me some ideasan an iea to srive for.

Prima earI a one maor ecision aee meat

seeconbeore I even got state. In e testkitche, ou peferences for e exac gae an cut

of beef are enitve: a prme stcut roas fo is

sureme marig an arge rbeye musce. (Foroe iormaon on pme rib soping, see "Catte

Rundup, page 31.) A I woud wit any oe

Watch It Step by Step

Video available FREE fo4 mons awww.Cooks l l lu saed .omde

oast, I patte te mea and seasoned it wt aand of coarse st. Ten came te st hurde:ow es to repicae te eects of a bowtorc.

Bumenta astsears meat th ths instument

ecause its inense eat ouput (over 3,000 degrees)

immediaey starts to render fat an rown he

exerior whie eaving te meat beneath the surface

vrtuay untouce (ence the remarkay thin gray

and) . My optons wee a ot oven or a sketanneiter was idea. Ovensearing at 500 degrees waseasy but a too sow; by te tme the oast got some

ecen coo, a goo a nc o meat beow te surace ad tuned asen. Unacceptabe. Meanwie, abazing-o skiet seared te meat faster, ut eveny

bowing a three-one roast i a 12-inc pa was

cumbesome, to say e eas.I ad a quick x to he unweiness robem:

I cut t e bone s o te oas before seaing o maket easier to maneuver te meat in the skie ande te tem bac on eore roastg so e meatwou't ose te insuato tey prove, whcheps the roast cook more eveny. I even scoveredo side benets to the method: Te exosed meat

C O K'

S I L L U S T R A T E D

on te one side cou ow e horoughy seaso

an carng te ised roas requred nohg than snping te tne before scigno pre

utcher reqired. But getting a eep ser on

roast (even wen I skiped brownng the bone

sti took 10 minutesnot ecause the an w

hot ( it cocked 450 egrees) but ecause even

I ha carely otted it , the meat srig

of the package was sti damp. That meat thasurface irecty uerneat my roast coun't

aove 21 2 degrees ( te boig point of water)

he moisure had evaorated. I dn't need a an. I needed drier meat.

Forunatey, ts was famiiar territor. We

tiney air-dr poutr to aow its mostur

evaporate, making the skin extracrisp. I took the sme ack ere, prepping and seaso

aother roast beore moving it into the idge

24hour rest before searing, te exteror dd ibrown ette (an faste) than it ad in my p

ous attempts. But ta wasn't the ony perk.

meat eow the surface was beee d much m

tender, ad I had the cominaion of sat an

to hank for it. Given a chance to penetrate into the meat, sat eance te ee avor w

dissoving some of te proteis, yieding a butener roas. In act, I oun a e onger I e

roast situp to 96 ours i advancete ejuicie, an more tener te resuts. (I f! e it sionge tan 96 hours, however, I rse desiccthe exerior.) I aso scored the arge swaths o

on te exterior, which gave te sat a ead stathe meat ad encouraged rendeg.

Rapid AgingThings were roressn iceyt s h

ome oven to reckon w. Thee was goo refor Bumenth's incredy ong cooking

an increby ow temperature. By genty

te temperaure o te mea an ten onat 120 degrees for a tose hours, he was ce

maipuating to actve enzymes in the mcapains and cathesis. We the meat is

around te 120degree mark, these enzmes wat a api pace to break down connectve

and tenerze the meat. (Tis tenderizig eeequvaen to agng the beef for amost a oSce it was impossie o use e same metmy conveona ome oven, I ocuse my eorning another way to kee my beef cose todegrees for as ong as I co.


11/34

Steakouse Prime Rib at Home

High-endresauran chefs i ke Heson Bumenhal urn ou prime ri b has crisp on h e ouside and gorgeously rosy

from cener o edge. or simi lar rsus, we used nohing more han a ho s kill e, a reguar home ove-and a few ricks.

PER-CHEF APPROACH O R WAY

LOWTORC TE EATBasing he roas wih he

inense hea of a boworch

jump-sars is exerior wih

ou subjecing he inerior o

any hea.

ALT AND EAR Saing he roasand hen rfrigeraing i un covered

for a leas a day (and up o four) no

only season s he mea horoughy bu

aso dr ies o u is exerior for beer

browning. Searing he super-dry roas

in a bazing-ho skile develops a nice

h ick crus.

ROAT AT 0 Usinga speciaized ulra-low

emperaure ovenand

eaving he roas in i for 1 8

hoursproduces rosypink,

uraender resuls.

ROAT AT 00 Roasing he meaas ow as a conveniona oven can go

and hen s huing o he hea and

eing i ni sh i n a urnedo oven

produces incredib ly ender and eveny

cooked mea in abou 4 o 5 ho urs.

The lowest my oven would go was 200 degrees,so I set te dial there and popped in another salted,seared roast. en the meat hit 125 degrees(mediumrare) almost four hours later, the crustwas decent and the interior wel seasoned and rosyom center to edge. But the texture wasn't ideal:more lke run-of-the-ml sip steak than like primegrade rib eye. I wasn't sure what to do next. Then

it occurred to me that I actually did have a way to

lower the temperature of my oven: I cold urn it

o. I ran a ser ies oftests, shutting o the oven whenthe roass t vaous degrees of doneness. The macnumber tued out to be l l degrees, my tusyrbe thermometer indicag exactly when he roathad hit the target temperature. This was a break

through technique. In the shut-o oven, he beefstayed in the enzyme sweet spot longer, aboutan hour more to reach 120 for rare. I then took it

ut of the oven to let t rest a nd to allow the exudedjuices to be drawn back into the meat. Tha to the

rast's he size, te meat stayed at an idea seringtemerate for more than hour, vng me plenof time to cook or reheat side dishe s.

earing QuestionOnly one imperfection remained: The crust had

lst some of its crispness as it rested under a tent of

foil. Aquick stnt under te broler before seringwas all it took to restore itwell, amost all of it.o esure tat te fatt ortion at the to of teribs got enough exposure to the heat, I roled upthe iece offoi I'd used to tent the roast into a baad sandwiched it under te ribs to elevate the fat.

that was e was to sn the tine, i temeat om the bones, and sce it ito he %-inchthick slabs. Ths prime rib was truly the king of arastsa eep-colored, substantia crust encasing aroy-ink ceter. A mking it took thing mrethan a humbe skilet and regular old oven.

B PR RB

RV 6 8

Look for a roast with an untrimmed fat cap (ideally inch thick). We refer the avor and texture ofprime-grade beef, but choice grade work aswel. (See page 31 for more informaton on pre

rib shopping.) To remove te bones om the roast,

use a sharp knife and it down the length of the

bones, following the contours as cosey as possibleuntil the meat is searated. Monitorng the roastwth a meat-probe thermometer is best. If you use

an instantread thermometer, oen the oven door asittle as ossible and remove the roast om the ovenwhile takig its temperature. If the roast has notreached the correct temperature in te tie rangespecied in ste 3, heat the oven to 200 degrees, wait

for 5 mnutes, then shut it o, and coninue to cook

the roast until it reaches the desired temperature.For our ee recie for MustardCream Sauce, go toCooksll ustrated. com/dec 11 .

(7-pound) rs-cu bee sanding rb as

bones), mea removed m bones, bonesreserved

Koser sal and pepper

2 easpoons vegeable ol

. Using sharp knife, cut sits in surface layerof fat, sace ich art, in croshatch atter ,being care to cut down to, but not into, meat.Rub 2 tablespoons salt over entire roast and intosits. Pace meat back on bones (to save sace inreigerator), transfer to arge ate, and reigerate,uncovered, at east 24 hours and u to 96 hours.

2 Adjust oven rack to midde positon and heatoven to 200 degrees. Heat oil in 12-inch skietover high heat uti ust smoking. Sear sides an

to of roast (reserving boe) unti broned, 6 to 8

VMBR [ MB R

9

E Q P E E

Magneic Knie Stripsal-mouned magneic knife srips sore kn

wihou demanding precious drawer or cou

space, pus hey can accommodae our on

knife. (ven our favorie universa knife bock

o fu y she ahe a 1 2-i nch b ade .) However, i

srip can secu re a ypica range of cuery--

chefs, 1 2-inc h sicing, 0-inch serraed, bo

and paring knives, aong wih kichen shearsisn worh hanging.

e preferred srips ha sreched a

i nchesbu magneizaion from end o

proved jus as imporan. Some le ; o of nonmagneized, unusabe space on each

and one modes inerspersed agnes requ

direc pacemen of he blades, es hey

precariously.

Our winner, he Messermeiser 6 V

Bamboo Knife Magne, hed knives secure

pace, didn nick bades, and was he ony

wih more han inch of cearance bewee

wal and he kn ives, keeping our knuckles scr

free. or compee esing resuls, go o

ooksl lusraed.com/ dec . aizeh Sierra

A N T O HE E RE I TER moo Kif o: B KM 16Pric: $50Comms: his srip oers ampe room fove knives p us a pair of kichen shears. wa

easy o insa and cean, and he bamboo sur

was genle on bades.

inutes total (do not sear side where roast

om bone). Place meat back on rbs, so bwhere they were cut, nd let col for 10 min

meat to bones wth 2 lengths of wie betweTransfer roast, fat side u, to wre rack set in baking sheet and season wt eer. oaeat registers l l degree, 3 to 4 hours.

3 Turn o oven; leave roast in oven, door as little as ossibe, until ea register

120 degrees for rare or about 125 degredum-rare, 30 to 75 inutes longer.

move roast om ove (leave roast oheet, tent osey wit aiu foi, anfor at least 30 minutes and u to 5 minute

Adjust oven rack about 8 iches omelement and heat broier. Remove foi omform into 3ich ball, and ace under ribs tofat ca. Broi unt to of roast is we browncrs, 2 to 8 mnutes.

6 Transfer roast to carving board; cut remove roast m rbs. Sce eat to %-nsces. Seaso wt coarse sat to taste, ad s


12/34

ea Goo Roaste Bussels outhat woud it take to create tende nuttytastin Brusses sprouts in j st one pan

Brussets sprous are in dire need of a newpublicis. The rs order of businessshould be o ge e word ou a isvegeabe doesn' have o ase oerly

er or sulros. Like e membes of hecifer family (wich also includes broccoli, cab

age, and usard greens), Brusses sprous arec in avor precursors a reac wi he egable's enzymes o produce pungen new com

ounds when e sprous are cu, cooked, andven eaen. Bu when e spros are handled jusgh, s pungecy akes on a ny sweeness.

The probem is, achievig perfec resus is usuy a o-pa process To ensue ha he ineriors

f is dense vegeable ge sucenly ender, erous ae rs blanced or seamed, followed byasng or pan-searing. The laer process ighlyiss he ouer eaves and creaes he nice browng a mellows e sprous' bier kick. Bu whenrussels sprous ae par of a olday feas, is oep approach is a lile oo ssy. Coud I ge hesls I waned using jus one sep?

I decided o skip e pan-searng, since one baca 2nc skie barely maes enoug for four

ople, and I waned my sprous o feed a crowd.sng seeed lke a beer echnque o lay i.

I rounded up a lle over 2 pounds of sprousnoug for six o eg peoplelooking for

mesize specimens abou inces long. Wrcooking rled ou, he obvious rs sep was olve he sprous, wich would help ensure a eyoked rough and would creae a a surface forowning. I hen ossed em in a bowl ih a bi

f olive oil, sal, and eppe.To maximize browning and o jump-sar cook

g, we oen prehea e baking shee beforeasng vegeables. I did precisely s, placing erous cu side down on he o see, wc I en

u back in a 00-degree oven. Bu when I pullede vegeabes o 20 minues laer, ey were ,ey, ad even burn in spo s on he ousde, weaccay crunc on e se. Sg a cokig see dd' elp maers, and rng downe ea merely mean ha i ook a ie longer fore sprous o reach e same unsaisfaco sae.To preven e ouer eaves om drng ou

o uc before e cener acieved he dea

See te T, Toss, and Roast

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B A N R E A E A R

ender-rm exure, seemed clear a I needed oinroduce moisure ino he equaion. I wondered ifjus coverng he sprous wi aluu fo as heyroased would rap enoug sea o do he rick.

Once agai, I arrangd he sros cu side downon he bg see, bu hs ie I covered he panghy fol before placing i n he oven. er 0minues, I reoed e foi so a e sgy soened sprous cold brown and ge us a lile crisp.er 0 nues more, e Brussels sprous weeperfecy browned on e ouside. d undercooked

on he inside. Ad a b and chey l around.I relucanly consdered lowering e oven

eperaurebu a woud aos cerainy

increase he cookng e, an I waned a side shha would be done wen y rkey nised resng.Te soluion was as simple as ossng he sprouswi a ablespoon of waer aong wih e oil andseasonings before I pu e in he oven. Coveredin foi, each halved sprou aced like is own lileseam chaber, hoding on o a ny bi of waer onish cooking is erior even as is ouside begn

o brown. The resus were perfec: ender, swee

nsides and caramelized exeriors.Now a I'd made perfecly cooked Brssels

sprous in one easy se, I devised soe quick variaons. They cod sow o hei image maeoer nojus during e hoidays, bu year long.

R BR PR

RV 6 TO 8

Ifyou ae buying oose Bussels sprous , selec hosea are abou l nces long. Quaer Brusselssprous longer han 2 inches; don' cu sprousshorer han l inc.

2 ! pounds Brussels spus, rmmed and alved

ablespoons olve olablespoon waer

Sal and pepper

Adus oven rack o uperiddle posion andea oven o 00 degrees. Toss Brusses sprous, oil,waer, % easpoon sal, and easpoon pepper nlarge bowl un sprous are coaed. Transfer sprouso rmed bakig see and arange so cu sdes refacing down.

2 Cover shee igy i auu fo androas for 0 mnues Rmove foi and connue o

cook unl Brssels sprous re we browned andender, 0 o 2 minues longer. Transfer o sergplae, season wih sa ad epper o se, and see.

I R

We foun d a way to turn each sprout into its ownitte steam chamber.

R BR PR WIH GR

R P PPR FK PR

e Brssels sprous roas, ea 3 ablespoons o in 8 -inc skile over meum hea unl shimng. Add 2 minced galic cloves and easpred pepper akes; coo unl gac is goldenagran, abou inue. Rmove o ea.

ransferring sprous o plaer, oss wi garliand season wi s ad pepper o ase. priwi 4 cu graed Paresan ceese before ser

R BR PR

W H B P

Whle Bussels sprous roas, cook 4 slces baco0inc skille over mediu ea unil crisp,l inues. Using sloed spoon, ransfer bacopaper owellined plae and reserve ablespbacon fa. Fnely cop bacon. Aer ransfer

sprous o plaer, oss w 2 ablespoons oliveresee acn , coe ac, ad cu chopped oased pecans. Season wih sal ad peo ase, and serve.

R BR PR

WH W

Transfer roased Bussels sprous o plaer oss wih 3 ablespoons eled unsaled bul ablespoon lemon juce, and 3 cup nely cooased walnus. Season wi sal nd pepper o and serve.


13/34

Eay icen gsChicken thighs pus the bast of a broier equas undercooed meat and charred skin

o ensure that bot eements cooked eveny, we rethought the equation.

hen I need chicken dinner onthe y, chicken thighs are what Iturn to most. They're more avorl than lean breasts, meatier

than drumsticks, and , thanks to the ir uniform siz eand thicness, less prone to overcooking, whichelimiates any need for brining or salting. Theonl catch? The fat undeneath the skin that helpskeep the meat moist during cooking oen leadsto abby skin. I wanted to come up with a quickrecipe or thighs sheated in crackling skinwitout sacricing the succulent, tender meat.

Folowig the l ead of most recipes, I wen t straightto the broiler, arranging the tghs kin side up ona baking sheet and sliding them into the oven. Itdd't tae more than a fe minutes for the skin totart brownng-which unfortunately meant thatby te tme the meat was lly cooked, the skin wascarred on top, with a abby underbelly.

We've had luck gettng poultry skin to rederore qicky by poking it th a skewer before cookg, so I punctured about a dozen holes in the skn ofeach thigh and tried again. Improvement? Yesbutnot enogh, as the chicken still emerged blackened.

I had wo problems: On one hand, I needed away to ore slowly rende the skin; on the other,I needed to crisp te sknbut not until te meatad coe up to the right temperature. Highteperatre oasng, nstead of broiing, seemed kethe most logical way to more thoroughly render theski's fat without sacrcing browning. So I dialedte ove temperature don to 500 degrees. Thisproduced skin tat was nicely brown but stl notrendered enough. Lowering te temperature to 45 0degrees helped wth rendering, but te skin was nowspottily browned. There as no getting around it:hese to problems required to separate soluons.

Then I ad an idea so logic I was surprisedI hadn't thought of it soone. y not roast the

thighs skn side down on a preheated baing sheet?That way, the sheet would concentrate heat ontote i nd el t brown. I ave t a sot, rtznte tighs ith vegetable oi spray ad roasing themsn side down on the rack coest o the ove oor(and te heang element). While his succeeded inproducig juicy meat and nicely rendere d skin, I hada ew roblem: Because te skin was now sittingin rendered fat and juices, it wasn't crisp enough.I knew I could do better-and I had a hunch thatte broler mt e my tmp cad.

About 20 minutes into the roasng me, I puled

A N D E W A N J I I A N

the bakng sheet ou of the oven, preheated theboier, ipped the thighs skn side up, and thenslid them back onto the midle rack, where they'dcrisp up a little more gently tha tey would on ahigher rack. That did te rick: The meat emeredsucculent and juicy under a layer of cracky, deeplbroned skin. Best of , the process took onyabout 30 minutes.

To take e r advantage of my oven tech nique ,I placed a packet of garlic on the midle rack wethe chicken roasted and used it to whip up RoastedGarlic Salsa Verde as the meat rested.

V - R H H G H

SEES 4

For best results, sible fat om the thighs.Use a heavdut baking sheet and ly preheat theoven and bg sheet befoe addng te chicken. Theccken ca be sered plan or wit Roasted GarlicSalsa erde. For our ee recipes for Roasted Shaotand Mint Cutney ad Roasted PoblanoCilantroSalsa, go tow.Cookslustrated.com/dec .

8 (6- o 8-ounce) bonen ccken igs, rmmed

\ easpoons sal

Pepper

Vegeable oil spray

recpe sauce, oponal ( recipe ollows)

. djust oven racks to midle and owest positions, place rimm ed bakng sheet on lower rack, andheat oven to 450 degrees.

2 sing metal skewer, poke skin side of chickenthighs 1 0 to 12 times . Season bot sides of thighswit sat and pepper; spray skn lightly with vegetabeoil spay. Place tighs skn side down on preheatedbaing shee. Retrn baking sheet to boom rack.If preparin g sauce, plac e foil packet on midle rack.

3 Roast chicken until skin ide is beginningto brown and meat registers 160 degrees, 20 to5 mute, rotat a ad, preparn sauce,removing foil packet aer 10 minutes. Removechicke om oven and heat broiler.

. he broiler heats, ip chicken skin side up.Broil chicken on mide rack until skin is crisp andwell browed and mea registers 1 75 degree s, about5 minutes , rotang pa as n eeded for even browning.Transfer chicken to plater and let rest for 5 miutes.

e ccke s retng, ns sauce, f usng.Sere chcken, pas sing sauce eparately.

V B R [ M B R 011

Saring he highs skin side d own hel ps heir fabefore hey are fipped and cris ped u der he

R GR VR

M A K E S A B O U T v, C U P

ead garlc, cloves separaed, un peeled

ablespoon plus \ cup olive ol

2 ablespoons lemon juce

cup res arsley leaves

2 ancovy ll es, rins ed and paed dry

2 ablespoons capers, rinsed

\ easpoon sal

V easpoon red pepper lakes

. Wile oven preheats, os garlic clov1 tablespoon oil in bowl. Cover bol ad icuntil garlic is soened, 2 to 5 minutes, stirrialay through. Place garlic in center of square of aum foil. Cover wit ecod 1square of foil; fold edges togete o createabout inces square. Roast packet as dire

OvenRoasted Chicken Thighs recipe.2 Squeeze garlic cloves out of skins. Proclc, lemon uce, asley, acoves, caers, ain food processor untl coarsely chopped, aseconds. Add remainng cup ol and peppepulse unil combined, scraping bowl as nece

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14/34

Farse Vegetbe SoupRichy favored vegetabe soup is no probem when you've fussed over homemade stoc

For a weeknight version we needed to get creative with pantry saes.

interime is soup ime,and also he me ofyear when our crispedrawers are overowing

wih cod-weather vegetables like carots,poatoes, leeks, cabbage, and turnps.That combinaton of produce wouldseem to have all the makngs of a satisin vegetable soup, bu my atemptsoen urn ou lackluster. The problems ie: Te best soupsvegetable or

otherisesar wit a rich, llbodiedbroth tat seres not only as he soup'schef component but also as its avofoundaion, and I usually need the weekend to make a good one. Some recpescall for adding a litle meat o te brothto beef up avor, but 's hardly a shortcu. Many of the most avorl cuts arealso soe of the toughest, and they takehours to turn tender Cured meats suchas baco or paceta aren' he answereiher, snce hey impart smoky or distinctve tases that I someimes don'tant n a vegeable soup.

B L A L A M

The good ews was tat we' ee ee eA few years back te test kchen deveoped a rfor quick beef and vegetable sou and leedthe mos eecve way to ge big avor a his to bolser the peb broth h ingredienin avorenancg umami, te tste n Acusine that describes savor most "mea Amog the inedens a the top of e list wersauce and mushrooms, so I sarted my esng t"seasonig one pot wth a few dashes of theAsi coet and another h 2 arge piec

ied porcin, he latter known for their abii otese, erthy dept. The mpovemen each bwas obious but so isucien Wle both boostes proded subte deph, te commercialbtase sl prevailed. I hesiay added a lite mof each gedient to the po in subsequen batBut just as I'd fered, the soy and musooms bto revea themselves, puig the brots squarelythe Aan and mushroom soup camps, respecv

Rther tn sideline rusic vegeablesoup as a lazy Sundayaernoon projec,

Shortcut technques hep uild rch coplex favor n a hurry

Clearly soy sauce and mushooms were mpesolutions on their own, bu I had ye to ttogether. I worked up anoher bac of souptime limting myself o 2 easpoons of soy sand just a few of the died musroom slabs,

I shed out of te broth just before seing. Todelght, the mpac of usng bot1 ngredets wabeer tan I ever would have imagied. The suddeny ook on a savor dept and compexithad prevously been missing. Te only problethat I coudn' relably epeat he resuts. Somethe soup tured out a ttle less avor; other tit tasted a bit too musroomy.

I wated to pack all the earhyrch avor and depthof a longsimered sock into a recipe ta only tookabout an hour's oil. That nrrowed my focus to asoup based on prefab broth.

It Takes Twourous to see how much mleage I could ge outof siply doctoing commercil broh and tossngin veeables, I thew ogeter a est bac in wicI sweated leeks, carrots, ad celer i a few pats ofbutter; added saple romatics like crushed garlic,a fe sprgs of esh hyme, d a bay leaf; ad

or s of veeae broh. I smmeredts ase for mnutes, straied ou te sods,then strred in small chuns of poato d turnpas ell as chopped geen cabage, and le evertn cook un the vegeables were just teder.My tasers ad no complaits abou the vegetables

Watch Lan uil e Soup

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t1emselves Their avors worked well together,and the crily cabbage leaves oered crisptendercrunch. Nor could I grpe abou e time or laborivolved, bot ofwch were mm. But here wasno denying tat te soup felt thin, in terms of bothavor and body.

s c i E N c E Building Savory Favor On he Double

To rap up savory avor n our Farh ouse egetae an d Barley

Soup we tried adding ua oosters ke soy sauce and porcin

ushroos and ade an neresng dscover We ound tha

usn ess of oth nredentsversus more of ust one or theotherhad a powerful pact on avor ere's why: Soy sauce

contains hgh leves of naturay occurrng avorenhancing co

pounds caed gutaaes whie ushroos are rch n lavor

apiing copounds known as nucleotdes Used together the

two coponds can oost savory uai-ke avors exponen

taly Teir eect s even ore pronounced wen the rato o

glutaates to nuceotdes s very hgh (Studes suggest that an

eecve rao s 55 .

Of course we coudn't easure exactly how uc of each

copound was akng t nto the pot so we tinkered wth the

aount of soy and porcini we were adding unti we it it ust right

C O K

S I U S R A E D

GLUAA$ + NUCLO

= BG SAVORY FLAVORDue to the snergstc eect of ther der

flavorenhancng compounds, sall amountsboth so sauce and pon mushoms ad ua more pfound mpact on flavor than a gre

amount of just one of these ingredents.


15/34

It occurred to me that the issue was he rie

mushroom pieces, hch can v a lot in sze. Iwodered if i would work better o grin he ieorcii to a poder an then measure out a setount to a o e pot, instead of rehyratngwhole slices i the sou. This tured ou to e agreat sluti: Aer expermenting wth amounts,

I fud a eaps f e prcini power,along wt e 2 tesps f sy sace I'd aready

been addng perfectly enanced savry avor. (Formore iformatio o te tande eec of teseavor enhancers, see "Builing Savry Flavor Onthe Double, page 2 )

The roth as now so good, even found thaI could sustitute aer for a good bit of the storebought broth to eliminate any vestige of heavily

cooked commercial avor. The aciity of a litlewhite wne (adde along th te rs batch ovegeables) 1rther improved he pt, as id telas-miute irductin of oen peas, a splash ofes leon juice and a s cpped parsley.

Body Buiders

Flavorwise, I was in pret go shape. The biggerhurle was te sup's lack of body. Te vegetalesthemselves were substanal, and rog-choping

(rather han neicing) tem amped up terheatiness, but even e sarchy potatoes n't omuch to thicken the brot. I tought abot aingiry but realized that the fat would dull the avoro he broth that I'd ust orked so ard to bul.

I stted ipping roug sme ris cookbooks,recallig tat a colleague had meined eaingsome stellar vegeable sous wile in Irelan, an

I stumbled on a ieresng idea ading oatmeal

to the sop. I found ths gal trick for bulking up

he roth charming i theory, but it didn't play out

as I'd hoed. Tasters complained that eve thoughhe dish took o a certain uttiness, he chewy oatsturned it ino a vegeable-eav guel.

Noeeless, I liked the idea of blkig up thesoup wih a grain and immediately rne my

attention o a more obvious coice barley. I aded

1 cup of te earl vriety o he pot j ust as pouredi he liquis. The beads were partally plumpeby te ime I was ready o add in e poaoes,

turni, and caage, and hey wee perfectly aldene about 0 minutes later, hen he soup asreay to e sered.

This as exactly the he and substance hat soup eededwell, almos. fe f my tasters

weren't keen on letting me wrap up testing eoregetg aoher imenson of avor ad icness intothe ot. I had a olout iea tha I'd come across inone of the Irish cookbooks nishng the soup havored butter. ol be a usul adtio forsure. Sill, I hel out hoe hat sirring in a ollop athe tale oul conbte not only burs of eshavor (lemo and esh yme seeme like goo,soupbrgtening m-s) u also the plus bodythat only dair can give iou he clig, avormenig eec of mil or cream. en I caugh

y asters sneking n ea ollo o eir ols,I e ha I' i gh.

t last, a sc, lloe vegeable sohron ogeer i er n or a evenee a sec o mea o ase hey a sasg

FRH VGEB BRY P

SEES 6 TO 8

We preer a adc, oe he we sh assauvignon lc or hs rece We loe e icessae by the LemoThye Be r, e so calso e gse wh s aco, cle checeese, or croos or or ee rece or Here

Crotos, go o wCoolsae.o/ e

Ya ounce dried poini mushoms8 sprigs fresh prsley plu s tblespoons

chopped4 sprigs fresh thyme by lef2 tlespoons uslted butter

Y2 pounds leeks, white nd ight green prts

siced Y2 inch hick nd wshed thoughly2 crts, peeled nd cut into Y2-inch pieces2 celery ribs, cut into !in ch pieces

cup dry white wine2 tespoons soy suce

Slt nd pepper6 cups wter4 cups lowsodim chicken bth

vegetble tY2 cup perl br ly

grlic clove, peeled d smshe Y2 poun ds uko Gold pottoes, peeled d cut

into V2inch piecesturnip, peeled nd cut into %in ch pieces

Y2 cup s chop ped green cbbge cup fzen pes

tespoon lemon j uice

Grin porcii se ger eyresele e el, 10 o 30 seos Measre o

2 easpoons orii oer; reseve eer orothe use. Usng ice we, ie oeer sleysigs, tyme, a n ay lea

2 el e n large c oven over emhea. lees, caros, ele, e, soy sace, 2 easpoos sl. Coo, sr oasoy, llqi has evaorae cele is soee, ao0 mnes.

3 d waer, bo, ley, porn oer, hebunle, and garlc; nrease ea o g d go bol. Reuce heat o emlo a sier,ily covere, for 25 mnes

. d poaoes, ri, caae; re osimm er and cook nil arley, oaoes, rp, aaage are eer, to 20 inues

Remove ot om heat a remove he ndle. Str in peas, lemo e, an coe psley;seaso i sl a eer o ase ee, assgLemonTye te sepaely

F M F R { F F M R 0 1

3

E Q U I P M E N T T E S T I N G

Vegetable CleaversRectanguar Asian vegetable ceavers hav

straighter edge that unlie curving West

stye nives stays in contact with food as

cut ostesi by streami ning vegetable prep. A

whereas meat ceavers have thic heavy bla

and a blunter edge for hacing through b

these b lades are thin and tape red. We foudtypes Chine se-style bu ilt i e a sim meat cea

and shorter apanesestyle which reseble

squared-o santou.

We tested seven nives ($30 to $ 1 90)

ing onions mincing parsley sicing potat

and quartering butternut squash. Taer hea

Chinese cleavers were easier to guide thro

lae vegetabes as their he did most of the w

But they were too unwiel dy for some testers

preferred the smaller lighter apanese ba

Spine width also proved important Simmer b

glided through food; th icer bades tore instea

si ced . Our favorite was the MAC apanes e S

6Ynch apanese egetable Cleaver. Weigless tha ounces with a .9m ill imeter sp

it was ligt sharp and nimbe. We dont

sider this tool a replacement for an all-purp

Westernstye chef's nife but its a peasur

you chop a lot of vegetables . For comp ete te

results go to .Coosll lustrated.com/de

Taizeth Sierra

T O P C H E MAC J ie 6 2I cJ CeM: U6Pic: $9

Cet: This smal lightweight ceaver razor sharp and easy to control. t sliced tro

butternut squash more eortlessly than hei

Chinese cleavers did.

WAT A DRAWUTOF Ci C KieM: 4688-2Pic: $797Cs: The heaviest at neary 1 3 ouncethis last-place nifes thic b ade d raed

through food.

H

AKES 6 TABLESPOONS

6 tlespoos unslted butter soendtespoo minced fresh thyme

tespoon inely grted lemon zest pus! tespoon jceinch st

Come igreies n bol.


16/34

Ultimate Ragu aa BologneseOr goa was the richest , most savory interpretation of this famos meat sace

B t how many meats i that req irean wo the airy have to go?

Ragu alia Bolognese, the heartmeat sace natve to the northern Italan cty for whch t snamed, has always been a sm

e concept-bt wth a lot of complcaons to hamper ts smplcty. Despte tsndsputed Bolognese pedgree, theree contess "authentc nterpretatons

n record. Whle ground beef s theommon startng pont, many versonsdd ground ork and oen veal as well.thers supplement the ground meat

th nely chopped salumi usually pantta or proscutto. Some recpes call forghtenng the ragu wth crushed tomaes; others ean toward the drer, more

oncentrated depth of tomato paste. Onerson may call for whte wne, anotherr red-some may ca l for no wne at all .ookng tmes range from 90 mnutes

3 hours.Bt he most controversal pont of? a. Dependng on whch source

B Y B Y

I made several more batches, addng a stnced sage to the meat-consdered an essencomponent by some sourcesand ng varroportons of all ve meats untl I landed oneasy l l rato of the ground beef, pork, and veal4 ounces each of pancetta and mortadella. Somthe other classc Bolognese recpes I'd consuspeced hat the ground meat shold be cooonly untl t oses ts pnk color, lest te brownlead to toughness. But I found the textural cpromse to be far subtler than the avor benea good sear. I also decded to gnore radon

add e meat to e pot before te sotto. tthe nterference of mosture om the vegetaI could get a mch better sear on the meat, sautng he vegges in the meat s' render ed fat bup even rcher avor.

ou consult, mlk and/or cream s etheressental component, lendng ther

A itte geatin gives this sauce a siy gossy teture despite theac of ong-siered coagenrich brd.

Wat gave me pase was a more mnor complnely choppng the pancetta and mortadella. Ittedous work, so I called on m food processotake over. The job was lterally done w e usa button. In fact, the aplance worked so ecethat I also pused e soto components befsatng hem n the meats' rendered fat.

I moved on to the next major decson: te knd of tomato product to use. The recpes

read dd't help narrow thngs down-I'd severthng om he cshed tomatoes I had busng up untl now, to sauce, to paste. One soI consulted even suggested at tomatoes wereorgnally part of he sauce. That dea remndedthat I lked the unobtrsve texture of tomato pn de Magstrs's verson, so I added a health doto te pot, and then let te mxure go. Once fond had taken on a dee rust tone, I poured a

chness and sppsedly tenderzng the

ngcooked meat, or t has no place n the saucehatsoever. In other words, what consttutes "realgu Boog nese s largely a m atter of nterretaton.The only thng that a Italan cooks seem to agree

n s ts: The end prodct shoud be hea and rcht nt clong, t a velvet texture that lghtlyngs to the noodles, ad tomatoes should be a btaer n hs show. The true st s he meat.I' d never felt stongly about the dar ssue myself,

nl receny, when I sapled a Bolognese sauceade by Date de Mass, a Iala chef Bostont a bg folong. Hs verson was by f te meat, most complex verson I'd ever had I was so taken t at aske or a readon o e recpe.

wo ponts stoo out. Frst, he used a whoppng sxeats: grond beef, pork, and veal; ancetta; mort

delia (bolognalke Italan del meat); and, to myrpse, chcken lvers. Second, de Magstrs stoodarely the nodar camp, clamng tat when he

Hw t Add S Meats

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l

learned to make t1e dsh n Bologna, and creawere defnitely not ncluded.

Those clesplus the test ktchen's lbrar of

Itala cookbookswere enough to get me startedon my own daee Bolognese. I was determnedto make my verson home cookendly and yet satsng to even the most dscrmnang Itala palate.

e Meat of te Matter

Te Moer o Al Mea SaucesI started wt1 a test batch tat Icobbled based n de Magstrs'sverson, loadng p the pot wthe components of te avor base,orsoio coppe carrot, celer,

and onon) , followed by ve dfferent meats. (I asn't sure I reallyneeded the chcken lvers, so I lethem ot or te tme beng.) Ithen strred n cshed tomatoes.

For the meatiest-ever ragu aa Boognese we did n' t stop at ground beef

even at por and vea To boster the sauce's cope savory favor

paced in pancetta ortadea and chicen ivers too.

I let t all s1mer, covered, fora cople of hours. The result wasacceptal rch and laor, bt Istll had a good bt of teakng todo, t bot1 te ngredent lst andte technqe. Me

s I L L R D

G

G

Ci


17/34

big glugs of red wine, delazed

te pan by scraping up e

browned bits t a woodenspoon, and let the sauce simmer gently fo te better patof two hours. en the saucewas nearly done, I boiled somepasta ad tossed e nooes he rau.

STEP BY STEP U D N G A MEAT Y, S AT N Y-T EXT URE D B O O G N E S E

Flavorise, he sauce was ingood shape: rich and complex

and, thanks to the ne andtomato paste, baaced with

just enough acidiy. But as mytasters noted, this rau had atextural aw: Its consistency

COOK the ground m eats;add depth by sauting the

chopped mortadea pancetta

and sage in the rende red fat.

. ADD the soritto andsweat it unti soened and then

3. DE LAZE the pot withwine; stir in the broth pus the

4 TIR in the p ureed chicivers for subte but rich tas

as pebbly, dry, and not particularly saucelike.

Vevet UndergundThere was oe element o f de Magistris's recipetat I had ovrlooked in my earlier attempts: Just

before the long simmering step, he laled somehomemade brodo (or broth) into the ragu, repeating

te step ice more durig coong to misten ereduced sauce . I suspected that the brodo-and etecnique of addng the brodo in stages-had animpotat eect on the texure of Bolognese. Besidesboosting the meaty avor, e bones used to makethe broth give up lots of gelatin as they simmer,

which renders the lquid glossy and viscous. Themore e bro reduced in the Bolognese , e more

savor and satiny it became. But homemade bro

was out of the queson for me. Simmering bones forhours on top of making e ragu was just to muchss; I'd have to make do w commercial bro.

No surprise here: The ragus made wi storebought bro didn't measure up to e Bolognese

made w homemade bro-especially in regardto texture. I stated brainstorming other ways tomic e velveiness contributed by he elati in

rea brodand reazed at e answer was right inont of me: powdered gelan. It's a trick we've used

to lend suppleness to al beef mealoaf and vscosiyto beef stew-two qualities at I was lookig for inmy ragu. I prepped multiple batches of e sauce,bloomng varng amounts of gelatin-om 1 teaspoon all te way up to a whopping 8in a combinaion of caed beef ad ccken bro ( 1 cupeach) before proceedng e recipe. Every batch

was an improvment over e gelanee ragus, but

e powder's eect as relavely subte unl got upinto te her aounts, whch rendered e sauceultaslk. That settled it: ight teaspoon it was.

I had one more ought about e caed bro:Since e avor and body of the canned stu harlyequaed at of a real brod, wondered if e reduction step was really doing at much for e sauce.One sidebyside test gave me my aswer: The batchinto which I'd added all e broth at once boastedst as much meatiness and body as e one wte staggered addions. It also ished cooking inabout 90 nutes.

add concentrated tomato favor boom ed geatin to deveop

in t he form of tomato paste. uurious siy teture.

And yet while canned brot plus gelatin nicelysolved te texture problem, e sauce still lacked acertai dep ad rounness of avor. Fortuately, I

sill had one card le to play: chicken livers. They'dseeme d superuous to me at rst, but I wondered if

nely chopping em and tossing tem in at te endmight get at e complexty I was aer. That ey

did-but according to my tasters, eir eect was abit to strong. Pureeing em in e fod processorworked much better; this way, teir rich, gamy avorincorporated seamlessly into e sauce.

Though my sauce could hardly et ay moreperct, I jst couldn't push away e ought atkept sneaking into my head: at would happen

if e sauce inclded a litle dairy? made one lastbatch, ading 1 cup of along w te bro.But when my tasters sampled tis latest version, econsensus was unanimous: Dair muted its meatyavor, and ey liked it better wiout.

Wiout dair, I knew at some Itaian cooks outtere would not consider my recipe auentic. But

no atter: The sauce was undeniably complex, richtasting, ad lusciously sil. And besides , how could

any version be Bolognese tout a lite conroversy?

RG BG

MAKES ABOU T 6 CU PS

This recipe makes enugh sauce to cat 2 poundsof pasta. Leover sauce may be eigerated for upto tree days or frozen for up to one on. Eihtteaspoons of gelan is equivalent to one ( 1 ounce)

box f elan . f you can't nd ground veal, use an

adiiona % pound f ground bee

up low-sodium iken b

up beef b

8 easpoo ns unf lavored gelain

onion, opped oarse

large ar, peeled and opp ed oarse

elery rib, opped oarse

4 oun es panea, opped fine4 ounes moradella, opped6 ounes iken livers, rimme d

ablespoons exra-virgin olive oilpound 85 pee n lean gund beef

0 V M R b C B R 0

5

% pound gund veal% pound gund pork ablespoons m ined fres sage (6-oune) an omao pase

2 ups dry red wine

Sal and pepper

pound pappardelle or agliaelle pasa

Parmesan eese, graed, or serving

. Combine chicken bro and beef brbowl; sprinkle elatn over top and set asidonion, carrot, and celery in food processnely chopped, about 0 pulses, scraping dowas needed; trasfer to separate bwl. Pulse p

and moradella n nowempy fod prcess

nely chopped, about 25 pulses, scraping doas needed ; transfer to second bowl. Process livers in nowempy food processor unl about 5 seconds; rasfer to tird bowl.

2 Heat oil in large Dutch oven over mhigh heat until smmerng. Add beef, ve

pork; cook, breaking up pieces w spooall liquid has evaprated and meat begins tol to 1 5 minutes. Add chopped pancetta mand sage; cook, sirring equently, until panraslucent, 5 t 7 minutes, adjustng heat fond om burning. Add chopped vegetabcook, stirring euently, unl soened, 5 toutes . Add tomat paste ad cook, sg conuntil rust colored and agrant, about 3 min

3 Sir in wine, scraping pa wt woodento loosen fond. Simmer untl sauce has ic

about 5 minutes. Stir in bro mixture andto simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook

simmer unl ickened (wooden spoon shoutrail when raed through sauce ), about 1 /

. Str in pureed chicken livers, bring to bremove om heat. Season wi salt and petaste; cover ad keep warm.

Brig 4 quarts water to boil in larAdd pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, ccasionally, untl dente . Resere % cup cwater, en drain pasta and reurn it to pohalf of sauce and cooking water t pasta andcombine. Transfer to serg bowl and sere,cheese separately.


18/34

Hoiday Cookies Made Smple-Basc buer cookes are the perect tempate or decoratngprovded you startw th a dough thats ta ormade or ro ng cung and embe shngoow these gudenes o cookes hat ook the hoday best

SRT W I E RGJ ._ , Rong out the ough s uua y tc bunes an the typ

ca outong mo fo rakes for tough cookes

WHY THIS DO UGH S FOOLPRF:

We use just enough butter for tenernes an ch fvo

Supene sugar make for tght compact crumb

Cam cheese a subte tang an nce t oer than

buer hen ch lle t makes th ough eaer to l out

"revere creamng methon hch the btter

s beaten nto the four n ugr rther than reme

th the sugarmkes for fatter cooe tht re eer

to ecorate

P R D A Y C KI E

MKES DZEN ES

e ppe sks o f ough can b e gerte for up to

e ays or en for up to one month f fen et the

ks tha n the frgertor for hour befo us ng

2 ups ( 1 2 ous p pos ou

up (5 ou s s pi sg\ easpoo sa

1 6 abspoos usd bu u o si

i pis d sod

2 easpoos vai

2 abspoos a s sod

I In bo of stan mxe r tte th pe ttchent mx flour sugar n at on o pee unt co

e about 5 secon Wth xer unn ng on o

er I pece t tme cont nue to nt xtu

oks crumb y an s ghty et bout nu te onge

vnl a an ceam cheese an mx on o nt ogh

t begns to form ae c um p bout econs Remove bo from mxer kne ough by hn n

for to turn to form r cohve s Trnt oh onto conteo v n h t nto o

nch sk ra ech n tc r n rerertet ough rm but meabe bo nute. jut oven rack to me poton het oven35 egrees Ro out ough k to even nch

cknes c e roe ough on b kn heet n refr

ate unt rm abot mnute enhe repeth econ sk

4 Workng th rt porton of roe ough c nto

s shape ung cooke cutter n pc hape on

chment paperne bak ng hee acng them bot

nche apart Bake unt t oen bn abo

mnute ottn bakng heet hy throuh bkn

e epeat th secon porton of roe ogh Coo

okes on ack to room teeatue

ROL YJ.HE G H E C N Q U DO l dough between sh eets of pahme nt paper

an ng the ough caues t to arm up an become tacky To prevent t from tckng to the countern to the ron pnro t beteen to arge peces of parchment paper

DON 'T ski the chill aer ling

Co t ough cut more ceany than ough thats so S e the bottom pece of parchment th

the ro e ough onto bakng sheet to keep t fat an refrgerate unt rm I mnutes

DO ini ize scraps

ut hape cose together tartng from the outse an orkng your y to the me When makng

arge n a cookes e aternate cutters as e stamp to use a much ouh as poble

DO peel away dough scrapsnot the cookie

e mal sptua to trp aay the ough scra ps from aroun the cookes Wth excess oug out of

the y t s eaer to ceany the cookes a n tranfer them to a bakng sheetDON'T re ore than one

Dough crp y be pcke nto ba an rerole one tme orkng the ough any more l eveop

too uch g uten an pouce tough cookes ake sure to ch the ogh agan before ro ng

n agan before cuttng

U H L . OO_ ATC lain und Cuttrs 1 1 ie t), $1 o tter the hape oo cooke ctter hou be mae of meta th thn sharp cuttng ege an

rone to th ont ct nto yor han as you re VL LRTH kie Sheet, 49ur fvorte roomy th hnes on the ho rt ses hch mak es t esy to e cookes o

0 ATE C Medium-S ized Ofset Spatula (7.75-nch), $8 Use medium sized oset sptula for trans-ferrng cooke to an om the cooke sheet

WLTON nged Spatula 4 nch, 4.79 Smaer veron oer better contro for spreangcn on cooke

FNTE'S French Roling Pin with Taered Ends, 699h tere hap e of th moe proves p enty of ft rong u face t the center of the p n th

nrroer ege for ey hn ng

) < \ T

1 6


19/34

Wth the rgh technques decoratng cookes wth co ored gaes n derent paterns s an easy way to create professon a-ook ng resuts

A - P U R P E E G A Z E

AES CU P

To coo sr drps of food coorng nto he gae u nt t raches

the desd n For a crus-favord gae subsue orange

emon or me juce for the m k. The ge can aso be favodwth Y teaspoon of your favorte etrac

2 ups (8 ounes) onfeoners' sugar

ablespoons lk2 ablespoons rea eese, soened

Whsk a ngredens ogether un sm ooh Spread gae onto

compeey cooed cooke s e gae dry competey abou 30

mnues before servng

Tree Ways to Gazeed For a smpe smooh coa dre a te

gae n he center of he

cooke and hen spread

ou n an even ayer us ng the

back of a spoon or a smaose spau a

Pe To appy morenrcate deta work s uch as

dots or nes ppe the gae

drecy onto he cooke

a homemade parchmen pp

ng bag or a sma pastry bagfted wth a sma -nch

Pt Use a sma panbrush o app y deren

coored gaes to a cook

whout overappng or t

n an outhpe -.

r -\ -/

Once a gae has bee n apped oGussying p Gaze Cookes

D By appyn g dots of a conrastngcoord gaze on op of another gae and drag

gng a toohpck or thn skewer carefu y through

the center you ca n creae a varety of paterns

and desgns

Ee s Pace decoratons n the gae whet s s so ; once he gae dres t w a ct ke gue.

n addon o the usua decoratng opons consder

cnnam on candes je y beans crushed peppermn

candes gum drops and chocoae mo rses

a cooke sp rnk e wth coored sugar For he

most even dstrbuton hod your hand abou

nche s above the work suace cess sugar ca

brushed or geny shaken o when he gaze s

Make a Pament Piping BagCo lor You r SugarWe nd ha he s open ng of a homemade parchmen bag works jus as we as a sma p p ng bag a drawng thn nes

(and better han the usua aernave o a pasry bag a pperock bag whch s bes reseed for ess de cate pp ng)

ou can aso make severa o hod derent coored gazeswth no need for washng out between uses;oored sugar s easy to mak

home and oers many more

opons than the grocery sto

'r-( /i:'( .f. / / ']r Fod 2-nch square of

parchmen paper n haf on

dagona Us ng knfe cu t n

cook's illustrated - 113

Documents

e n o e b e

wete o

o begn wit

te nom

te blast

te daiy ave

oubl e piral

ough n butter ae