Cook's Illustrated has been my favorite cooking magazine since issue 1 way back in 1993 - in fact I'm a charter subscriber. I own a few of their cookbooks but not many because I don't use cookbooks very often any more. Nevertheless, when I was sent a free review copy of the recently published Cooking for Two 2009: This Year's Best Recipes Cut Down to Size by the editors of Cook's Illustrated I jumped on it.
The book's 300-odd pages begin with a "Smart Shopper's Guide." This is a particularly useful section that does something I've been meaning to do here at Cooking for Two HQ. The idea is to avoid waste so, for instance, if you buy a head of cauliflower and only roast half of it, what happens to the other half? This guide points to two recipes that each call for half a head so you can use the entire head. I promise to get off my tuckus and start adding similar links to my recipes.
Following the shoppers guide is a section on "Stocking the Cooking-for-Two Kitchen." This material is similar to the tips I've provided in "Right-Sizing Your Bakeware." The book ends with an appendix titled "Conversions and Equivalencies." Useful enough, I suppose, but I find on-line conversion utilities like this one more convenient.
Between these sections are ten chapters of recipes. These chapters include "Skillet Meals," "Everyday Main Dishes," "Fancy Dinners" and "Desserts." As those of us who are long-time readers of Cooks Illustrated have become accustomed to, a recipe isn't simply a list of ingredients and directions. The introduction to Pan-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables occupies two thirds of a page - more space than the recipe itself - and includes comments such as, "We tested oven temperatures ranging from 375 to 500 degrees. The highest temperatures caused profuse smoking from the singed drippings, and temperatures on the lower end meant protracted cooking times…at 450 degrees, the skin was handsomely browned and crackling crisp."
It's this sort of information that accounts for my love of the magazine. Over the years I've learned a heck of a lot from CI's willingness to cook a dish 20 or 30 times to find the best combination of ingredients and techniques and the subsequent explanations of the process that accompanies each recipe. Cooking for Two offers this same level of detail.
When I review cookbooks I make a point of trying at least three recipes. From "Everyday Main Dishes" I followed their recipe for steamed mussels - a favorite of mine that I don't even use a recipe for. Their recipe was solid and I found I liked the addition of heavy cream, which I've never done.
On the fancy side, I tried the Roast Cornish Game Hens with Couscous Stuffing. I've stuffed Cornish hens with rice a number of times and served couscous on the side with Cornish hens, but had never thought to stuff the hens with couscous - I can be incredibly stupid sometimes. It was wonderful! From "Side Dishes" I made the Cauliflower Gratin, which was a good and easy recipe. All the other recipes I scanned appeared equally good and cover a broad range of food from Mexican to Asian to American standards.
If you rely on recipes either for specific dishes or for ideas this is an excellent book. If you're interested in what, how and why something works in a dish this is an excellent book. If you, like me, love tips and tricks like the little sidebars included i the book on rinsing potatoes, selecting the best garlic, buying Cornish game hens and so on this is an excellent book. Highly recommended.
This Year's Best Recipes Cut Down to Size by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (compare prices).