Test Kitchen Favorites: The 2007 Companion Cookbook to the Hit TV Show (America's Test Kitchen)

I absolutely LOVE this series! I am brand new at learning how to cook and I have somewhat been scared at trying to learn recipes. This series has taught me everything I know, and fixed any fears I have of trying new foods to cook. Every recipe in this book comes out perfect the first time I try it. <br />They put cooking into simple terms - and test each recipe until it is perfect. Their recipes make me look like a professional chef! They have taught me everything I know about spices and herbs as well; they don't use strange ingredients that are hard to find in small-town grocery stores. <br />I've tried several recipes from this book, and I love them all. For instance, the Sunday roast chicken and stuffing was to die for! The cream biscuits were as easy as making biscuits from a "box" - but MUCH better. They have a light and fluffy texture. I am looking forward to trying their "lighter chicken parmesian", "lighter macaroni and cheese", and their potsticker (wonton) recipes. <br />I got this book along with the DVD set for the 2007 TV series, and I watch the episode before I try the recipe from the book. That way, I know what to expect before I make it. That has proven to be an effective teaching tool for me. <br />I highly recommend this along with the boxed DVD set!

This is a Christmas present and has not been used yet. We have a smaller model and like it very much.

Another delicious hit...but then I do have most of their publications and love them all...

America's Test Kitchen is similar to Consumer Reports, but for food. They will try a recipe 100 times, with every variation possible, experimenting with ingredients and techniques, until they can give you an informative article and a winning recipe. <br /> <br />I have tried about 14 recipes from this book and every one has been terrific. The carbonnade has a more complex flavor than carbonnade I ate in Belgium! We've also enjoyed the chicken parmesan, fish and chips, , chicken kiev, the pepper-crusted filet mignon (with a fantastic cherry-Port reduction), , stir fried chicken, hot and sour soup, potstickers and buttermilk coleslaw. And the strawberry cream cake is gorgeous and delicious. I am so confident in ATK's recipes that I've made a recipe for the first time when company was coming over, and it was wonderful. <br /> <br />Articles are supplemented with terrific sidebars that typically rate ingredient brands, compare kitchen tools or show a technique. <br /> <br />My only complaint about the whole series of ATK books is that they are organized idiosyncratically (sorry, but that is anathema to a librarian!) and have extremely poor indexes. For example, I knew the recipe for carbonnade was in the 2007 book. I looked in the index -- nothing under "carbonnade", nothing under "beef"! So I went to the table of contents. Nothing about carbonnade, but a chapter called "Best Beef Stew" -- could that be it? Luckily, yes, but that is no way to run a cookbook! <br /> <br />You cannot go wrong with these great books -- consistently reliable and delicious recipes.