NUMB E R S E V E N T Y S E PT E M B E R b OCT O B E R 2 0 0 4

1 1 1 1 ` J 1 . J
Grilled Beef
Tenderloin
Salt, Rest, and Grill
How to Bake
Chicken Breasts
Juicy Meat and Crisp Skin
Tasting Spaghetti
Sauces
Ultimate Sticky Buns
Rating Hand Mixers
Can They Handle Cookie Dou
g
h?
Pineapple Upside
Down Cake
Lasagna Bolognese
Faster and Simpler
Perfecting Mexican Rice
Stufed Baked Potatoes
Chicken Prep Illustrated
MicrowavingAcorn Squash
Cold Sesame Noodles
WWW.c oo ksil l u s t r at ed . c o m
$5.95 U.S./$6.95 CANADA
1 0
CONTENTS
September 6 October 2004
2 Notes from Readers
Readers ask questions and sugest solutions.
4 Quick Tips
Quick and eas ways to perform everday tasks. from
cleaning mushrooms to saving leftover ginger.
6 Grill-Roasted Beef Tenderloin
With a whole tenderloin going for as much as $1 80,
uneven cooking, bland favor, and a tough outer cnust just
don't cut it. Could we do it cheaper and better?
BY BRI DGET LANCASTER
9 Building a Better Stuffed
Baked Potato
Could we avoid the usual cnunchy vegetables and sog
potto skin? BY BRI DGET LANCASTE R AND
ERI N MC MURRER
I 0 Solving the Problem of
Baked Chicken Breasts
Nothing is worse (or more common) than baked chicken
breasts-chalk. sour meat topped with nubbery, fiaccid
skin. Could we make this simple dinner item worth eating?
BY E LI ZABETH GE RMAI N
12 How to Cook Acorn Squash
Tired of mealy, string squash that takes an hour to
bake? We wanted it faster and beter. BY REBECCA HAYS
14 Lasagna Bolognese Simplified
Could we adapt and simplif this northern Italian classic
for the American kitchen? BY SEAN LAWLER
16 Guide to Buying and
Preparing ChicKen
Whole birds taste beter than packged parts and cost
less. so it makes sense to cut up chicken at home. Here's
all you need to know to master this basic skill and to buy a
good chicken. BY SEAN LAWLER
18 Perfecting Mexican Rice
"Arz a Ia Mexicana" promises bright fiavor and a pilaf
stle texture. but it rrely delivers. BY REBE CCA HAYS
20 Sesame Noodles with
Chicken
We set out to eliminate stick noodles, gloppy sauce, and
lackusterfavors. BY JULI A COLLI N DAVI S ON
21 The Ultimate Sticky Buns
Tese baker favorites are often too sweet, too big,
too rich, and just too much. We wanted stick buns that
were impressive, not excessive. BY DAWN YANAG |HARA
24 Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
This simple skillet dessert deseres better than bland
fiavors and sog cake. BY E RI KA BRUCE
26 Tomato Paste in a Jar
Many brands of tomato sauce are not much more than
reconstituted tomato paste. Could we find a jarred
tomato sauce with fresh taste and a good balance of
favors? BY MARYELLEN D RI S COLL
28 Are Hand-Held Mixers
History?
Is there any reason to purchase a hand-held mixer in
this age of all-purpose (but expensive) standing mixer?
BY MARYELLEN DRIS COLL AN D GARTH CLI NG I NGS MI TH
30 Kitchen Notes
Test results, buying tips, and advice related to stories past
and present, directly from the test kitchen.
BY DAWN YANAG I HARA
32 Equipment Corner
Reviews of new items. updates on past tests, and sources
for products used in this issue.
BY GARTH CLI NGI NGS MI TH
l T A1'N
C1Y1 M17^
Italian Cured Meats (Sal umi ) Slumi is the word Italians use to label their wide variet of
cured meats. Prosciutto di Pnna is a cured ham kown for its balance of sweet and salt favor.
Culatello is also made from the leg of a pig but is pressed into a 2-inch square and streaked with
several lines of fat. Coppa is made from pork shoulder and is more marbled than prosciutto.
Bresaola is made from beef loin and is extremely lean. Salamis are made from seasoned ground
meat that is stufed into casings (like sausage) and then aged. Genoa and Toscano salamis look
similar and are both made from fnely ground pork, but the latter is larer and favored with garlic.
Schiacciata salami is fattened into an oblong shape and comes dolce (sweet) or piccante (spic).
Cacciatorini are small nustic salami designed to fit easily in hunter' pockets, where they sere as a
portable lunch. Pncetta, like bacon, is made from the belly of the pig, but it is not smoked. Afer
being aged, it is cooked and added to soups and pasta sauces as a seasoning. Guanciale is used in
a very similar manner, but it is made from pig jowls and has a stronger pork favor.
COVER (Squash): Elizabeth Brndon. BCK COVER (Italian Cured Mrats): john Buroyne
Fr list rental information, contact: Clientlgic, 1200 Harbor Blvd., 9th Floor, Weehawken, NJ 07087; 201-865-5800; fa 201-867-2450.
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Ml!L llL OS
EDITORIAL
/1IK/ I'/'1IKo
T
he worst hailstorm on record for
Washington County lasted an hour and
a half and cut a swath so violent that it
scythed 200 acres of new hay, bruised
cows, and lef so much ice in one farmer's drive
way that he couldn't get out to the main road
without using a plow. Afer the ensuing down
pour, hail was washed down into the valleys,
leaving mounds of fozen slush more than 3 feet
high. January thaws and heavy rain took out half
the culverts in town a few years ago, and back in
the early '90s, a small twister worked its way down
our mountain valley, uprooting huge maples and
oaks along its path. There was a lot of frewood
that year.
A a child, I remember standing high up on
Red Mountain in the Bartlett Lot, looking down
the valley toward New York State and seeing a
large plun1e of smoke coming up fom Colonel
Vaughn's farm. Some green hay had spontane
ously combusted, and the milking barn was
turned into ashes and blackened concrete in
mere hours. Just two years ago, me Wilcox Dairy
south of Manchester went up in smoke, and me
West Farm on Tate Hill Road was burned to
the foundation last fall. I once ran into a local
man who was excavating a cemetery back in me
woods, claiming mat he had discovered a mass
grave. He told me mat a hundred years ago, in a
bad infuenza epidemic, me dead were laid out
like cordwood by me road and were picked up
by horse-drawn carts and buried together. The
same fate awaited many of those involved with
the Shays Rebellion in me 1780s. They hid out
on top of Egg Mountain (a short walk from our
farm), and many died of me fu.
Just recently, the town gossip included a
divorce; whispers about a bad traffc accident
involving a teenage girl; a horse that fell on
a rider, crushing her leg; and the deaths of
Georgie, who was living up at Susy's place
in a converted barn, and Roy lost two sons to sudden heart
failure and a freak car accident
in me next town that ended the
lives of a mother and her two
children. It is w1bearably tragic
but not ireatening, as if you
could hear the distant rumble
of a gathering storm without
actually seeing it. For now, the
weaier report for our mow1tain
valley remains sury.
McBride, who had moved to
Florida some years back but had
kept his small red house next to
the old Smith farm. Of course,
over me years one collects heart
breaking stories of tractor acci
dents, hunters mistaking fiends
for deer, logging mishaps, and
automobiles that collide with
moose. I can point out more
man a few crosses with fowers
erected by the side of tle road.
Christopher Kimball
Families endure all sorts of
other, more minor tragedies.
Those of us who grew up in
the country ofen regard our own childhoods as
accidents waiting to happen, as parents were less
protective back then. In the sumn1er, as a young
farmhand, I was chased by a bull, frequently
stepped on by a 1-ton draf horse, and worked
alongside corn choppers, Farmall tractors, and
hay balers so dangerous mat I'm surprised I still
have boi arms. My first horse was a Morgan
mat had a nasty habit of stopping cold on me
edge of embankments (I kept going) or loping
under large, low-hanging boughs (I stopped
cold). Oier days, I would take off with my .22
and a sandwich into me mountains to explore
abandoned camps wii rotten foors and half
fallen ceilings. Afer supper and a few doses of
Jim Beam, my moier ofen took my sister and I
on wild rides up Southeast Corners Road in a sur
plus army Jeep that skidded and sluiced over me
gravel and loose f. It's a wonder we survived.
My own kids seem to live a more protected
life. They've fallen off horses, survived an over
turned canoe in the Battenkill, and made ieir
share of visits to the emergency room afer swal
lowing staples, fracturing a leg, drinking a half
bottle of cough syrup, and suffering a short list
of other childhood injuries. Real disasters seem
more distant. We recently heard of a family mat
When I ask Charlie if he wants
to play wii his train set, he looks at me wii
a slightly pitying look and says, "No, it's OK,
Dad," in an effort to sofen me blow. Or I yell at
Caroline for losing control of her horse and she
spends the rest of me day alone, her pride having
suffered. Many igs are natural enough: the
longing for a neighbor recently buried, or grief
taken in hand and measured out in small bits
over a lifetime. But it is also natural to be hope
f, to sense a homecoming in me faint scent of
wood smoke dg up me valley and iiwell
of me fture despite me present.
On occasion, Adrienne and I have the good
sense to sit on me porch afer dinner when all
of the good and bad add up to noi g much, if
you call watching fngered shadows steal across
our lower meadow noi g. It's for certain the
end of a perfect day, a day mat w soon be lost
to history as me cool Vermont twilight steals
down from me darkening woods. It's natural
to forget how good a day it was, iing that
tomorrow will be just as fne, an easy replace
ment, if you w. But, being older and perhaps
just a bit wiser, we'll sit awhile and watch the
last minutes of tils day ebb into night and try
to commit it to memory. One just never knows
what me fture may bring.
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S E PT E MB E R b OC T O B E R 2 0 0 4
NOTES FROM READERS
The Matter of Pan Size
Your recipe for Lemon Pound Cake in the
March/ April 2002 issue calls for a pan size of 9
by S inches. Does this measurement refer to the
bottom of the pan or the top? The sides of loaf
pans ofen angle outward, so the top measure
ment is larger than the bottom measurement.
E L IZAB ETH MCCARTHY
SAN MAT EO, CAL I F.
Loaf pans, like other bakeware and cookare,
are measured across the top, fom one inside edge
to the other. Depth is measured from the bottom
inside of the pan to the top of the lip, with the
measure held perpendicular to the pan bottom.
According to the Cookware Manufacturers
Association, the generic term "loaf pan" can
apply to pans measuring anywhere from 7 by
3:4 inches to 11 by 7 inches. Our recipe was
developed in the pan that won our September/
October 2000 rating of loaf pans, the Baker's
Secret, which measures 9 1 by SI.
For the results of our loaf pan ratings, visit
Cook's Exta at ww .cooksillustrated.com and
key in code S04l.
Your question made us curious to see how our
Lemon Pound Cake would turn out if made in
slightly larger or smaller pans. Afer making the
cake in our standard pan as well as in an 812 by
412 pan and a 10 by S pan, we found the great
est variation in outcome with the larger pan. The
ideal cake (see photo below right), baked in our
standard pan, shows a nicely domed cake with a
fssure running through the top-a telltale sign
of a classic pound cake. The cake baked in the
smaller pan looked much the same; it just rose a
bit higher, as would be expected given the smaller
volume of the pan. The cake baked in the 10 by
Span, however, had a fat top with no fssure (see
photo below lef). This larger, fatter cake was
also a bit dry. Being a good inch shorter than the
PAN WAS TOO BIG PAN WAS JUST RIGHT
Te cake at lef, baked in a pan too lare for the
recipe, didn't rise well and was dr. Te cake at right,
baked in the proper pan size, rose well, developed a
classic pound cake fissure on top, and was moist.
3 C O MPI L E D B Y I NDIA KO OPM A N E
other two cakes, it needed less time to cook and
so was overdone when we took it out of the oven
at the suggested cooking time of SO minutes.
Lighter, Flufer Pancakes
I add soda water and powdered buttermilk to my
pancake batter instead of liquid buttermilk. It
always turns out light and fuff pancakes. Have
you tried it?
ONL I NE READER
. We're familiar with your suggestion of using
sparkling water (and even beer or ginger ale) in
pancake recipes and thought we should fnally
give it a try. To do so, we made our recipe for
Light and Fluff Pancakes (January/February
19 96 ), substituting the requisite amounts of
sparkling water and powdered buttermilk for
the :4 cup of liquid buttermilk called for in the
recipe. We noticed straight away that the batter
made with sparkling water was much more bub
bly, almost lively. While we wouldn't describe the
resulting pancakes as lively, we dd fnd them to
be lighter than those made according to the regu
lar recipe, which are already prett light. Readers
looking for the ultimate in light and fuff pan
cakes should try a batch made with sparkling
water. For our recipe, you'll need 3 tablespoons
of powdered buttermilk, which is available in the
baking ingredients aisle in most supermarkets.
Bechamel Made Even Easier
I just read your test results on whether or not
it's important to scald milk (March/ April 2004).
Wenever I make a bechamel-or any other sauce
or gravy where liquid is added to a fat and four
mixture and then stirred to thicken-! always
heat the liquid frst. I do this in a measuring cup
in the microwave-tl1ereby eliminating the extra
dirty pan-and the result is that the sauce comes
togetl1er and thickens almost immediately when
the liquid is added. This saves lots of stirring time
and seems such an obvious thing to do. My ques
tion is whether tlere's any reason not to do it.
JOAN VOGAN
SUGAR LAND, T EXAS
. In the test you mention, we learned that scald
ing m or not before using it to make bechamel
doesn't make a difference in the qualit of the fn
ished sauce. Starting wii eiier wlget you to the
same end point: a thickened white sauce that might
be used for anyg fom the base for a chowder
to the sauce for spinach lasagna. But what we real
ized afer trying your suggestion is that heating
C O O K
'
s I L L U ST R A T E D
2
the m in the microwave does get you to that
end point with less efort and in less time. In fact,
in microwavg the 3 cups of milk required for
the bechamel i our spinach lasagna recipe (also i
the March/April 2004 issue), we shaved about 3
minutes of the 1 0-minute cooking (and stirring)
time. A you say, heating the m in a measuring
cupwhich you need to use anyway-spared us
the need to dirt another pan.
A Fishy Skillet
I like to sear tuna and salmon in my cast-iron skil
let, but I don't like the fsh favor that seems to
arise when I cook something else in the same pan
later. Short of dedicating a pan to fsh, is there any
way to get rid of the fshy taste and smell?
BRANDON FOX
RICHMOND. VA.
. Mter frying up more than 3 pounds of
salmon and trying at least one-half dozen ways to
eliminate the smelly evidence-using kosher salt,
baking soda, lemon juice, and various combina
tions thereof-we were stumped. Scrubbing with
baking soda and rubbing with lemon juice and
kosher salt helped to dsh the smell, but not
enough to keep an egg subsequently fied in the
pan from smelling like fsh oil.
Frustrated, we resorted to a method we had
hoped to let lie: a scrub with hot water and a
small amount of dishwashing detergent. Many
cooks refse to use detergent on their cast-iron
cookware, arguing that scrubbing with detergent
wl remove the valuable seasoning that takes so
long to build up. Be that as it may-and in the
test kitchen we have cooks on both sides of the
argument-this method was easy and effective.
One last thought we had was to heat some veg
etable oil in the pan, reasoning that a new hot fat
might work best to release-or at least mask-the
odor of the old fshy fat. This technique-pouring
enough oil in the pan to coat the bottom (about
16 inch), heating until it started to smoke, then
taking ie pan of the heat and letting it cool to
room temperature-was almost completely effec
tive, and we recommend it for those cooks who
don't want to use detergent on their cast iron .
Is this a lot of work? Yes. So if you fy oily fsh
fequently, we recommend that you set aside one
skillet (a new 10-inch costs onJy about $1S) for
iat purpose. Either iat, or the next morning
fry some bacon in your pan before you use it to
fry eggs. The rendered bacon fat works just as
well as vegetable oil, and the bacon has so much
favor that we couldn't detect any fshy favor.
A Better Bottle for Water?
I found it curious that in your bottled water
tasting (July/August 2004) you didn't address
the question of what sort of plastic it comes
in-opaque (HDPE, like the containers that
milk comes in) or clear (PET). Personally, I wish
milk still came in glass bottles. I swear I can taste
plastic in milk from a plastic container.
LYNN POWER
SOMERVILLE. MASS.
To eliminate any possibility that the tpe of
plastic used to bottle water might infuence flavor,
in our tasting we sampled only waters bottled in
plastic made fom PET (polyethylene terephthal
ate). Although representatives of the bottled water
industry uniformly claim that both plastics tpi
cally used to bottle water-PET and HDPE, or
high density polyethylene-are of equal quality,
anecdotal reports as well as a bottled water tasting
conducted by Consumer Reports have indicated
that water botted in HDPE ofen doesn't seem
to taste as good as water bottled in PET. Curious
to see if we could taste a diference, we decided to
conduct our own blind tasting.
In this tasting were two of the brands in our
July/August tasting, Arrowhead and Poland
Spring, with samples of each in HDPE and PET
bottles. The results were curious. Tasters liked the
Arrowhead PET and HDPE waters equally well,
but they distinctly preferred the Poland Spring
water fom the PET bottle, with some fnding the
samples fom the HDPE bottle to taste "stale" or
to have "a strong plastic afertaste." Our tasting
results, then, are inconclusive.
There is, however, a very strong argument
being made for PET by one constituency, and
the bottled water industry is paying attention.
According to Jane Lazgin of Nestle Waters
North America, which owns both the Arrowhead
and Poland Spring brands, consumers prefer the
hard, clear PET plastic traditionally used for
smaller bottles and have been requesting it in the
larger-size jugs and containers, whch have until
recently been made fom less expensive HDPE
plastic. Nestle, for one, w now be ofering its
larger gallon-size jug in both PET and HDPE for
some of its 13 brands. The fact that only two of
the nine brands we sampled in our initial tasting
are available in HDPE containers also attests to
the growing popularit of PET.
Tuna in a Pouch Gets Cheaper
In your write-up of canned tuna versus pouch
tuna in the May /June 2003 issue, you say it costs
more per ounce for the pouch tuna, which your
tasters preferred. But you didn't account for the
fact tat half of the 6-ounce can consists of the
"packing medium"-water or oil-which most
people I know pour down the drain. The 7. 06-
ounce pouch, on the other hand, is 100 percent
usable. If you redo the math, you'll find that the
WHAT IS IT?
This gadget belonged to my late grndmother. My grndparnts owned a rsturnt frm the 1940s thrugh the
1960s, and I assume it was originally used ther. It appear to be used for portioning out some myter ingrdient.
SALLY OLSEN
GREEN BAY, WIS.
Your unusual gadget-which is used to portion out cubes of ice cream
rther than the familiar well-rounded scoops-has an interesting histor
that involves none other than the entrepreneurial Ry Kroc, the man who
came up with the idea of frnchising the hamburer stand that we now know as
McDonald's. The square ice cream scoop, called the Dip It, was one of the many
business schemes Kroc purued before striking gold
with McDonald's.
Made of stainless steel, the Dip It has to arms
that measure about 41/2 inches each. The square end
of the device is dipped into a container of ice cream,
the ice cream packed in, and a stright edge used to
square of the cube. The handle, which sits next to a
spring-loading mechanism, is squeezed to release the ice cream (see illustrtion
at right). According to the book McDonald's: Behind the Arches by John F Lve
(Bantam, 1986). the selling points of this scoop were more precise portion
control and ease of use. The test kitchen, however, didn't find the Dip It eas
to use. Lading the scoop was awkard, and turning out a perfect cube was a
challenge. Prctice might eventually make perfect, but the test kitchen found
the Dip It to be a gimmick-and certainly not a gold strike.
Te Dip It, an ice cream scoop dis
pensing cubes rther than round
scoops, was one of many products
dreamed up by Ry Kroc before he
struck gold with McDonal d's.
price difference per ounce between the can and
the pouch is pretty minimal.
MARK M. DENITIIS, CHEF INSTRUCTOR
JOHNSON o WALES UNIVERSITY
PROVIDENCE. R.I.
Star Kist solid whte albacore i spring water, our
favorite caned brand, costs $ 1.3 9 for a 6-ounce
can or, it would seem, 23 cents per ounce. Star Kist
chunk white albacore, our highest rated tuna in
a pouch, costs $2.89 for a 7. 06-ounce pouch, or
about 4 1 cents per ounce. But once we drained
of the water fom the canned tuna, we found that
a 6-ounce can contained just 31 ounces of tuna.
That brought the price for the canned tuna up to
about 40 cents per ounce. So we now recommend
the StarKist pouch tuna with no caveats at al.
Tasters found it fesher tasting and more moist
than canned, and its cost is the same.
For the results of our tasting of tuna in a pouch,
visit Cook's Exta at ww .cooksillustrated.com
and key in code 5042.
Perplexed by Pex
Afer publishing a quick tip in our May/June
2004 issue that calls for microwaving bulk pop
corn in a microwave-safe bowl, we got several
notes from readers wanting to know if they could
use a Pyrex bowl. The answer is no. Pyrex is sold
as "microwave-safe," but a list of restrictions on
the Pyrex Web site includes a warning against
using Pyrex to pop popcorn in the microwave.
S E PT E MBE R c O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
3
This applies to both bulk popcorn and "micro
wave popcorn" purchased in bags.
Another warning on the site applies to our
acorn squash recipe (see page 13). The warning
directs the cook to "add a small amount of liquid"
to Pyrex-ware before "baking foods that release
liquids while cooking." We cook our squash in
the microwave, but this warning applies to such
foods when cooked in either a conventional or a
microwave oven.
In the case of both the popcorn and the
squash, the warnings refect Pyrex's vulnerability
to shattering when exposed to extreme changes
in temperature (the steam from the popcorn
and the searingly hot liquid from the cooking
squash would be the culprits). More informa
tion on the safe use of Pyrex can be accessed
through World Ktchen, now the owner of the
Pyrex brand. Go to www.worldkitchen.com.
A for our quick tip on popcorn, we've found
that you can safely use a brown paper lunch bag
instead of a bowl. Add 1 cup bulk popcorn to
the bag and fold the bag over several times to
close. Depending on the power of your micro
wave, the popcorn w take between two and six
minutes to pop. Check its progress fequently.
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plimentr one-year subscription for each letter we print. Send
your inquir. name, address. and daytime telephone numer
to Notes from Reader, Cook's Illustrted, P.O. Bx 470589,
Brookline, MA 02447, or to notesfromreader@bcpress.com.
Quick Tips
Easier Cake Removal
Often interrupted whi l e tryi ng to
bake i n the kitchen, jean Ol sen
of Pal o Alto, Cal i f. , someti mes
al l ows her cakes to cool whi l e sti l l
in the greased pans, and she then
has troubl e getting them out. By
careful ly running the cake pan
over l ow heat on the stovetop,
she mel ts the grease that was
inital l y spread on the pan bottom.
The cake pops out easi l y when the
pan i s fl i pped over. Jami e Kal akay
of Nantucket, Mass. , found that
this techni que al so works wel l for
l oosening stubborn Bavarians,
flans, and creme caramel s.
Qui cker Cuting
Chri s Srok of Mi nneapol i s, Mi nn.,
found a creative use for hi s pizza
cutter. During breakast. when hi s
young grndchi l dren are wai ti ng
i mpatiently for thei r French toast.
pancakes, or wafes, he uses a pi za
cutter to cut them neatly and qui ckly
into bi te-size pi eces.
: COMPILED BY ERIKA BRUCEE
Kitchen Organization
We are always looking for better ways
to oranize our kitchen. Here are
four ti ps from readers that we found
ver useful .
A. To avoid a mess cl eanup when
usi ng her standi ng mixer. Mar F lack
of Schul enbur, Texas, puts a pl astic
seri ng try (l i ke the ki nd found in
cafeterias) under the mixer. Not
only is i t easier to sl i de the mixer OH
the countertop, but any mess can be
easi l y cl eaned up with a qui ck ri nse
of the try.
B. Carroll McNei l l of Cuperti no,
Cal if. . uti l izes her deep kitchen drw
er by stacking cutl ery trys on top of
each other. For eas access, she uses
the top tray for the items that she
uses most often (everday utensi l s.
such as can openers. spatul as, and
lare spoons) and the bottom try
for less frequentl y needed items
(such as spreaders, skewers, strws,
and chopstick) . I t' s a si mpl e matter
to grasp the top tray and l ift i t asi de
when access to the bottom l ayer i s
desi red.
C. Ti red of pl ayi ng hi de-and-seek
with spi ces stored in his kitchen
cabinet, Mi ke Ehl enfel dt of
Charl estown, N. H., found a si mpl e
way to keep them organized. By
arranging the spi ces in l abel ed rec
tngul ar baskets al phabeti cal l y or
accordi ng to tpe. he can quickly
i dentif their l ocati on and retrieve
whatever he needs by pul l i ng down
the appropriate basket.
D. An Nei l son of Ls Angeles. Calif.,
keeps her refrigertor neat and ora
nized by keeping a permanent marer
and masking tpe handy. Ever time a
new botle or jar is opened or lefover
are packged up, she writes the date on
a piece of tpe and stick i t to the side
of the continer i n a highly visible spot.
A.
D.
Send Us Your Tip We will provide a complimentar one-year subscription for each ti p we print. Send your tip, name, and address to
Quick Tops. Cook's Illustrated, P.O. Box 470589, Brookline, MA02447, or to quicktips@bcpress.com.
COOK
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S I L L U S TR ATED
4
Neater Cheese Grating
Donna Maderer of Qui nc, Mass. , uses
a cl ean pl astic bag (a lare zi pper- l ock
bag or a grocer store shopping bag)
to hol d both grater and cheese. By
pl aci ng the bag around the grter and
the cheese, she can grte cheese with
clean hands and el i mi nate fyaway bi ts.
Lefover grated cheese i s ready for
storage in a handy bag.
Saving Fresh Gi nger
Fresh ginger i s ofen sol d i n lare
pi eces that may not be used up
in one reci pe. Not wanting any
to go to waste, Susan Brown of
Gatineau, Quebec, figured out an
easy way to extend its shel f l ife.
I . Cut leftover ginger into l - inch
pi eces and pl ace them in a zi pper
l ock bag.
2. Store the bag i n the freezer for
one month or l onger. Whenever
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fresh ginger i s needed, si mply pul l
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a pi ece from the freezer, al l ow it
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to thaw, peel it, and then grate or

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Catch
i
ng O
i
l Dr
i
ps
A. To prevent unsightly oi l stains
on pantr shelves, Pt Ware of
Fstoria, Mich. , wrps a clean sweat
band around the mi ddl e of her
bottle of oi l to catch dri ps. When
the band becomes too di rt, she
cleans it in the washing machi ne.
B. Ateratively, a band of folded
paper towels can be fstened arund
the botle with a rbber band and
simply thrown away when di r.
juic
i
ng Citrus
When Lri Factor-Marcus of Mal den,
Mass . . needs just a l i ttl e l emon or l i me
juice-not enough to warrnt use of
a jui cer-she employs the fol l owing
method.
I. Sl ice the fruit in half and poke the
fesh a few times with a fork.
2. Stick the fork in the ci trus and
ti st, just as you woul d wi th a reamer.
Speedy Dough Rising
Lynn McHugh of Roanoke, Va. , was l ooki ng for an eas way to speed up the bread
maki ng process. She hi t pay di rt with a mi crowavabl e neck wrap, the ki nd normal l y
used to rel i eve stress. When wrapped around a bowl of dough, i t provi des just
enough extr heat to gentl y nudge the dough i nto ri si ng i n about hal f the ti me.
I.
I . Heat the neck warmer in the mi crowave for I to 2 mi nutes.
2. Fit the warmer snugl y around the bowl of dough.
Tea-bag Stand-Ins
Two readers l earned how to manage quite ni cel y wi thout a bal l or sieve
designed to capture loose tea by puting a paper cofee fi l ter to use.
B.
A. Rachel Plater of Chi cago, I l l . , pl aces her tea (or an herbal bl end
chamomi l e flowers, mi nt, and so forth) i n the center of the fi l ter, then gath
er the edges and ti es them with cooking tine. When tri mming the tine,
she l eaves a l ittle extra length to use i n pul l ing the bag out of the cup or tea
pot when it i s done steepi ng.
B. Francis Lm of El mhurst, N.Y., has an alternative method for making j ust
one mug of tea: Une the mug with a cone-shaped cofee fi l ter large enough
to extend over the ri m of the mug. Fol d the fi l ter over the ri m to secure,
then fi l l with l oose tea and add hot water. When fini shed steepi ng, j ust pul l
out the fi l ter and squeeze gently, as you woul d a regul ar tea bag.
Clean
i
ng Mushrooms
Susan Aanovic of Wi l ton. Conn.,
found the perfect tool for cl eani ng
al l of those hard- to- reach spots on
mushrooms. No need for those
cute l i ttl e speci al t brushes-
a cl ean, soft- bri stl ed toothbrush
provi des a comfortabl e handl e,
and the smal l head sl i ps easi l y
under the gi l l s to capture ever
stry bit of di rt. A run through the
di shwasher cl eans the soi l ed brush.
S EP TEM B ER a O CTOBER 2 0 0 4
5
Mi nci ng Chi l es
jean Kel l y of Boston, Mass. , found
a qui ck way to season her di ps
and sauces wi th chi potl e peppers
or pi ckl ed j al apeno chi l es. She
si mpl y puts a smal l amount of chi l e
i nto the wel l of a garl i c press and
squeezes.
Nonskid Cuti ng Boards
and Cakes
A. Ater l i ni ng her new ki tchen cabi
nets with nonski d shelf l i ner, Ptricia
Babi ar of Dal l as, Texas, came up with a
good way to use the leftover materi al .
She cut i t i nto pi eces that fit perfectly
under her cutting boards, thus stoppi ng
them from sl i ppi ng and sl i di ng. When
the makeshift mats are not i n use, she
just rol l s them up and stores them
neatl y i n a kitchen drwer.
B. Cai tl i n Campbel l of Ri chmond,
Cal if. , uses nonskid shel f l i ner to sfely
trnsport cakes, casserol es, and other
lare seri ng di shes. She l i nes the bot
tom of the cake carrier, box, or other
conti ner with a smal l pi ece to keep
the contents from sl i di ng i nto the wal l s
of the carri er whi l e i n trnsit.
Grill-Roasted Beef Tenderloin
With a whole tenderloin going for as much as $180, uneven cooking, bland flavor, and
a tough outer crust just don't cut i t. Could we do it cheaper and better?
I
'm not one to part easily with money,
but I wl on occasion break the bank
and buy a couple of beef tenderloin
steaks to thow on the grill. The tender,
buttery interior is the big draw for me, and
the combination of a healthy seasoning and
the favor fom the charcoal grill is a perfect
solution to a rather mild-tasting (boring)
piece of meat. Recently, at the prospect of
feeding a large crowd (and not crazy about
the idea of standing over a hot grill, fipping a
dozen steaks), I ordered a whole beef tender
loin fom my local supermarket. Six pounds
of perfectly trimmed tenderloin later, I had
shelled out a jaw-dropping $167.94 (that's
$27.99 per pound), questioned my sanit,
and headed for home.
3 B Y B RIDGE T L A NCA S T E R E
I heated up the grill and gingerly placed
my new, most valuable possession over the
hot coals. Even though I watched it like a
hawk, I couldn't get the tenderoin to cook
evenly. The exterior was charred and tough;
the interior of the fat butt end was pin and
the thinner t end was beyond well-done.
Worst of all, because I was able to season only
the exterior of the tenderloin, the interor was
bland and favorless. Maybe I should have
stck to steaks afer all.
A perfect tenderl oi n from the gri l l starts with smart shoppi ng and
fi ni shes wi th a two- l evel fire.
Crying into my can of Coors, I wondered
if there was a way to take this mammoth and
insanely expensive cut of beef and grill it to
absolute perfection. My expectations were high:
an even, rosy pink throughout; a browned,
crust exterior; and well-seasoned, grlled favor.
Nothing less would do. And, afer having spent
nearly $170 on a complete fop, I was determined
to fnd a cheaper alternative.
Sti cker Shock
At local supermarkets, I learned, whole beef
tenderloin isn't a meat case-ready item. Most
butchers I talked to said they keep the tender
loins in the back to be cut for flets, so if you
want one, you've got to ask for it. When you
do ask for whole tenderloin, it wl usually come
"peeled," which means that the outer layer of fat
and silver skin (tough muscle sheath) has been
removed. These peeled tenderloins ran anywhere
fom $13.99 per pound for Choice grade meat
to an even more astounding $32.99 per pound
for Prime grade at a high-end butcher-that's
$200 dollars for a 6-pound roast. At that price, I
expected the butcher to come to my house, grill
the meat for me, wash the dishes, and throw in
a back rub.
A few days later, I went shopping at a wholesale
club. No longer just a place to buy giant cans of
beans, most wholesale clubs sell meat as well. I
soon found myself eye-to-eye with a case fl of
Cryovac'ed, Choice grade, whole tenderloins. If
the mountain of meat hadn't caught my attention,
the price sure would have. Weighing in at about $9
per pound, these tenderloins were one-third the
cost of the roast I had bought fom my butcher.
I grabbed as many as I could pack into the giant
shopping cart and headed back to the kitchen.
I soon discovered the one downside of using
the wholesale club tenderloins: They came
"unpeeled," so a fair amount of trimming, tug
ging, and prying was necessary to rid the meat of
its fat and silver skin. But I had to be judicious, as
I found my t gs could weigh more than 1l
pounds, including the loss of some valuable meat.
The best way to tim one of these tenderloins was
C O O K
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S I L L US T R A T E D
6
to frst peel of as much fat as possible with my
hands; the fat came away clean and took very
little of the prcey meat with it (see the illus
trations on page 7). Next I got out my flexible
boning knife (a shar paring knife works well
in a pinch) and removed the silver skin, the
muscle sheath that would otherwise cause te
tenderloin to curl up on the grill. Last, I took
the advice of many cookbooks and tucked the
narrow tip end of the tenderloin under and
tied it securely. This tuck-and-tie step gave
the tenderloin a more consistent thickness
that would allow it to grill more evenly.
Was this extra 20 minutes of preparatory
work worth the efort? You'd better believe it!
Tenderloin is by no means a "cheap" piece of
meat, but this time it didn't empt my walet.
(See the Tasting box on page 8 for detailed
information on price versus quality.)
Beef Season
While some love beef tenderloin for its
"mild" beef favor, others scoff at it for
exactly the same reason. I found myself in
the latter canp and felt that the tenderloin
could use a favor boost. Many recipes sug
gested marinades, spice rubs, or herb crusts.
Tasters rejected the marinated tenderloins
for their weird, spongy texture. Spice rubs made
the beef taste too much like barbecue ( ifl wanted
BBQ, I'd buy a cheap rack of ribs), while herb
rubs were too powerfl for such a tame cut of
meat. I was looking for a way to enhance the beef
favor, not mask it.
Then a colleague turned me on to a recently
heralded technique in which the tenderloin is sated
and lef to sit overnight in the fidge. The theory
goes that the salt penetrates the meat all the way
to the center, seasoning the tenderloin through
out. Sure enough, the salted-overnight beef was
seasoned through and through, but at quite a cost.
The meat had turned a sickly brown-gray (even
when the center was cooked to medium-rare), and
the texture was webby, like that of an undercooked
pot roast (see photo on page 7).
For my next round, I salted two more ten
derloins. I wrapped both in plastic and refriger
ated one for four hours, the other for one hour.
Although both were markedly better than the
overnight-salted tenderloin, the wer was the
beef that had been salted for only one hour. Given
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s c , E N c E : When Shoul d You Sal t Meat?
Sal ting meat is nothi ng new; i t was used centuries befone refrigertion as a
method of preserati on. Recently, though, there has been a renewed chorus
of voices si nging the pri ses of the si mpl e sal t rub. someti mes appl i ed the night
before cooking. It' s not so hard to see why sal t might make a tough cut more
palatabl e, but woul d thi s techni que i mprove pricey tenderl oi n?
We found that sal ti ng the meat an hour before cooki ng gave the roast a
beefier flavor. A four-hour sal t produced much the same resul ts, but sal ti ng the
roast the ni ght before cooking was not desi rabl e. The l oi n turned brown at the
surface and l ost some of its legendar texture. But why?
Anyone who l ives i n a col d cl i mate knows that the sal ti ng of roadways
causes cars to rust. Thi s i s due to sal t' s abi l i t to promote oxi dati on (the
removal of el ectrons) from i ron. Sal t can al so hel p to oxi di ze myogl obi n. an
i ron-contai ni ng protei n that gi ves meat i ts red col or. The brown col or of the
tenderl oi n that had been sal ted overni ght i ndicated that a si gnifi cant amount
of the myogl obi n had been oxi dized and i ts red col or l ost.
Perhaps the poor col or coul d be excused if the procedure had produced
phenomenal favor. I n fact. the opposite was true; the meat was string and the
favor was tind. I n addi ti on to oxi dizi ng the myogl obi n, the sal t had drwn wter
from the meat, causing i t to l ook thready. as if i t had been overcooked. Moreover,
some of the mi l d but j ui c beef favor normal ly associated with tenderl oi n was
lost; a new dul l taste had devel oped. In the case of tenderl oi n, whi ch i s beautiful ly
textured and del i cately flavored out of the package. there i s real ly no good reason
to salt for extended peri ods. -john Ol son, Sci ence Edi tor
Looks l i ke overcooked
pot roast
ONE - HOUR
SALTING
A tender, jui cy, and flavor
ful roast
just enough time to season the meat without
compromising the texture, the salt brought out
a decidedly beefer favor. Even better was letting
the salted tenderloin sit on the countertop rather
than refrigerating it. The big tenderloin lost some
of its chill, and it grilled at a more even rate.
exterior was no longer scorched, but the outer
inch of meat was approaching well-done before
the interior cooked.
Up to this point, I had been grilling the ten
derloin directly over the hot fre, an approach that
burned the crust before the interior had cooked
through. I tried a more moderate heat. Now the
In a forehead-slapping moment, it struck me
that I was grilling the tenderloin as if it were a
steak and not what it was-a roast. So I set up
te grill for grill-roasting, in which indirect heat is
used to cook the meat. I piled the coals up on one
side the grill, leaving the other side empt, then
placed tl1e tenderloin over the empt side, covered
ST E P- BY- ST E P TRI MMI NG THE TE ND E RLOI N
Athough whol esal e cl ubs ofer whol e beef tenderl oi ns at an afordabl e pri ce, most come "unpeel ed, " wi th the fat
and si lver ski n (a tough membrne) i ntact. Here' s how to tri m a tenderl oi n for the gri l l . Expect to l ose between
I and 1 11 pounds duri ng the tri mmi ng process. A boni ng knife i s the best tool for this task.
I. Pul l awy outer layer of fat to
expose fatt chai n of meat.
4. rim si lver ski n by sl i ci ng under it
and cutti ng upward.
2. Pul l chai n of fat away from roast,
cut i t of, and di scard chai n.
5. Remove remai ni ng si l ver ski n i n
creases at thi ck end.
3 . Scrape si l ver ski n at creases i n
thi ck end to expose l obes.
6. Tum tenderl oi n over and remove
fat from undersi de.
S E PT E MB E R b O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
7
the grl, and lef it alone. About 45 minutes later,
I knew that I was on to someiing. The indirect
heat had cooked the tenderloin evenly fom tip to
tip (OK, so the very ends were more well-done ),
and the meat had taken on a mild, smok flavor
fom spending so much time exposed to the hot
coals. But I missed the crust that came wth searing
the meat. The solution was to sear the tenderloin
over the hot coals before switching to the cooler
(coal-free ) side to fish grilling. This was it: a
remarkable, well-browned crust and a rosy pink
interior. To impart more smoky favor, I tried
adding soaked wood chunks to the fre. Smok
was just what I got; there was no denying that ths
meat had been grilled.
When I cut into a tenderloin right off the
grill, it gave off a lot of juice-not a good idea
with such a lean piece of meat. The easy solu
tion was to let the meat rest for 10 to 15 min
utes before cutting, but during this rest period
the meat rose from medium-rare (about 13 5
degrees ) to medium-well (over 150 degrees ) . I
next removed me tenderloin from the grill when
the meat was still rare. Afer resting, the roast
was incredibly juicy, with a rosy pink interior,
a beautifl dark brown crust, and a smok, sea
soned favor-all of which was worth every cent
I had paid for it.
G RI LL- ROASTED BE E F TE NDERLOI N
S E RVES I 0 T O | 2
Once trimmed, and wth the butt tenderloin (the
lobe at the large end of the roast ) still attached,
the roast should weigh 4l to 5 pounds. If you
purchase an already-trimmed tenderloin without
the butt tenderloin attached, begin checking for
doneness about 5 minutes early. If you prefer
your tenderloin without a smoky favor, you may
opt not to use wood chips or chunks. Serve as is
or wth either of the sauces on page 8.
beeftenderloin (about 6 pounds) , trimmed off at
and si l ver ski n (see il l ustrations I through 6) ,
tail end tucked and tied at 2-inch interals
1 11 tabl espoons kosher salt
2 tabl espoons olive oil
tabl espoon ground bl ack pepper
l . About 1 hour before grg, set tenderloin
on rimmed baking sheet and rub with salt. Cover
loosely with plastic wrap and let stand at room
temperature. Cover two 2-inch wood chunks
with cold water and soak 1 hour; drain.
2. About 15 minutes before grg, open bot
tom grill vents. Using large chimney starter, ignite
about 6 quarts ( 1large chimney, or 2l2 pounds)
charcoal briquettes and burn until covered wth
layer of light gray ash, about 15 minutes. Empt
coals into grill; build modifed two -level fre by
arranging coals to cover one half of grll, piling
them about 3 briquettes high. Set wood chunks
r A s r 1 N G : Shoul d You Buy Meat at a Warehouse Cl ub?
When i t comes to buyi ng a speci al cut of beef l i ke tenderl oi n, more and more cooks are bypassi ng the super
market and ei ther seeki ng barai n pri ces at whol esal e cl ubs or payi ng a premi um for the "speci al t" beef avai l abl e
through mai l -order sources. I s there a diference between roasts that cost $9 and $49 per pound?
I n a bl i nd tasti ng, we eval uated a broad sel ecti on of tenderl oi ns-one from a l ocal supermarket, three from
warehouse cl ubs, and three from wel l - known mai l -order sources. Thi s last group i ncl uded several Pri me roasts;
the roasts from the supermarket and warehouse cl ubs were ei ther Choi ce or Sel ect, the next to grades down
the qual i t chai n and those commonly found i n supermarkets. Given the pri ce di fferences as wel l as the vari ous
grades of beef i n the tasti ng. we were shocked by the resul ts.
A a whol e, our panel found only subtl e di ferences i n fiavor and texture among the seven tenderl oi ns. None
of the mai l -order tenderl oi ns managed to stand out from the crowd. The top choi ce came from the supermar
ket. Ad our panel ' s second choi ce was a Sel ect roast from a warehouse cl ub. Only the previ ously frozen Omaha
Steaks tenderl oi n fai l ed to pl ease tasters and i s not recommended . So when i t comes to tenderl oi n, you don' t
have to pay a ki ng' s ransom for a pri ncel y roast. - Garth Cl i ngi ngsmi th
What Ae You Really Pyi ng Fr?
Thi s char shows the pri ce we paid per pound for seven
tenderl oi ns. Because some tenderl oi ns requi red much more
tri mmi ng than others, we've i ndi cated the edi bl e porti on
(as a percentage of the i ni ti al weight) . We then recal culated
the prices to i ndicate what each pound of edi bl e meat real ly
cost. Te tenderl oi ns are l i sted in order of preference based
on taster' scores. Except for the Omaha roast, all sampl es
are recommended. Prices for roasts from Lobel ' s, Ni man
Rnch. and Omaha i ncl ude shi ppi ng and handl i ng.
I I
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O N E EXPE NS I VE ROAST
Tis mai l -order roast arrived in pristine
conditi on-dr-aged, tri mmed, and tied. But
boy did we pay for this privilege. With shi ppi ng
and handl i ng, this 3- pound, 4-ounce roast
cost us $ 1 60.
LL L LL PLLPL
P L LM LLb
(PER POUND) (AFER TRI MMI NG) (PER POUND)
Stop &Shop $ 1 4. 99 64% $ 23 . 34
Bj 's $8. 89 67% $ 1 3 . 24
Lbel ' s $48. 7 1 1 00% $48. 7 1
Ni man Rnch $43 . 5 5 76% $ 5 7. 50
Costco $8. 79 70% $ 1 2. 60
Sam' s Club $8. 87 64% $ 1 3. 87
Omaha $32. 60 80% $40. 94
on coals. Position grill grate over coals, cover
grill, and heat grate until hot, about 10 minutes;
scrape grill grate clean with grill brush.
3. Coat tenderloin with oil and sprinkle all
sides with pepper. Grill tenderloin on hot side of
grill directly over coals; cook until well browned,
about 2 minutes, then rotate one quarter turn
and repeat until al sides are well browned, total
of 8 minutes. Move tenderloin to cooler side of
grill and cover, positioning lid vents over ten
derloin. Cook until instant-read thermometer
inserted into thickest part of tenderloin registers
120 degrees for rare, 16 to 20 minutes, or 125
degrees for medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Transfer tenderloin to cutting board and
tent loosely with foil; let rest 10 to 1 5 minutes.
Cut into l2 -inch-thick slices and serve.
G RI LL- ROASTED BE E F TE NDERLOI N
ON A GAS GRI LL
If you're using a gas grill, wood chips are a better
option than wood chunks.
l . Follow step 1 of recipe for Grill- Roasted
Beef Tenderloin, substtuting 2 cups wood chips
A G OOD BUT CHEAP ROAST
Tis $ 50 roast from a warehouse cl ub
needed a l ot of tri mming. But afer I 5
mi nutes, it was ready to cook and we had
saved about $ I 00.
for wood chwlks and soaling chips 20 minutes.
Drain chips, place in small disposable foil pan,
and cover with heavy-duty foil; poke 6 holes in
foil and set aside.
2. About 20 minutes before grilling, place
wood chip tray on primary burer ( burer tl1at
will remain on during grilling) ; position cooking
grates. Tur al bw-ners to high, cover grill, and
heat until very hot, about 20 minutes. Scrape grill
grate clean with grill brush.
3. Uncover tenderloin, coat witl1 olive oil, and
sprinkle all sides with pepper. Place tenderloin
on side of grate opposite primary bw-ner. Grill
tenderloin over burner(s) witl10ut wood chips
w1til well browned, 2 to 3 minutes, tl1en rotate
one quarter tur and repeat until all sides are well
browned, for total of 8 to 1 2 minutes. Turn off
all burers except primary burer ( tenderloin
should be positioned over extinguished burer) .
Cover and cook until instant-read tl1ermometer
inserted in tluckest part of tenderloin registers
1 20 degrees tor rare, 1 6 to 20 nunutes, or 1 25
degrees for medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Transfer tenderloin to cutting board and
tent loosely with foil; let rest 1 0 to 1 5 minutes .
Cut into lf-inch- tl1ick slices and serve.
L | | |

> l L L L h | K A | I
8
ROMES CO SAUCE
MAKES ABOUT 2 C UPS
1 -2 sl i ces whi te sandwi ch bread
3 tabl espoons sl i vered al monds, toasted in smal l
dry ski l l et over medi um heat unti l begi nni ng to
brown, about 4 mi nutes
jar ( 1 2 ounces) roasted red peppers, drai ned
(about 1 3 cups)
smal l ri pe tomato ( 4 ounces) , cored, seeded,
and chopped medi um
l arge garl i c cl ove, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about I generous teaspoon)
2 tabl espoons extra-vi rgi n ol ive oi l
I 1 1 tabl espoons sherry vi negar
'I teaspoon cayenne
Tabl e salt
1 . Toast bread in toaster at lowest setting w1til
surface is dry but not browned. Remove crusts
and cut bread into rough lf-inch pieces ( you
should have about l/2 cup) .
2. Process bread and almonds i n food pro
cessor until nuts are fnely ground, 1 0 to 1 5
seconds. Add red peppers, tomato, garlic, oil,
vinegar, cayenne, and l2 teaspoon sal t. Pulse,
scraping down side of bowl as necessary, until
mixntre has texture sinlllar to mayonnaise, 20 to
30 seconds. Adj ust seasoning with salt; transfer
mixture to bowl and serve. ( Can refrigerate in
airtight container up to 2 days; return sauce to
room temperature before serving. )
C I LANTRO- PARS LEY SAUCE WI TH
P I CKL ED JALPE NOS
MAKES ABOUT 1 ' /l C U PS
This sauce wl discolor if lef to sit for too long;
it's best served within 4 hours of making it.
2-3 sl i ces whi te sandwi ch bread
cup extra-vi rgi n ol ive oi l
'I cup j ui ce from I to 2 l emons
2 cups l ightly packed fresh ci l antro l eaves
2 cups l ightly packed fresh fl at- l eaf parsl ey l eaves
1/ cup drai ned pi ckl ed j al apeno sl i ces, chopped
medi um (about 3 tabl espoons)
l arge garl i c cl ove, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about I generous teaspoon)
Tabl e sal t
1. Toast bread in toaster at lowest setting until
surface is dry but not browned. Remove crusts
and cut bread into rough l2 - inch pieces (you
should have about 1 cup) .
2. Process bread, oil, and lemon juice in food
processor until smootl1, 10 to 15 seconds. Add
cilantro, parsley, jalapenos , garlic, and lf4 tea
spoon salt. Pulse w1til fnely chopped (nlixture
should not be smooth) , about ten 1 - second
pulses, scraping down bowl as necessary. Adjust
seasoning witl1 salt; transfer to bowl and serve.
Building a Better Stufed Baked Potato
Could we avoid the usual crunchy vegetables and soggy potato skin?
3 B Y B R I D G E T L A N C A S T E R A N D E R I N M C M U R R E R E
P
acked with cheese, vegetables, and savory
meats, a stufed baked potato walks a fne
line between being a big snack and a one
rsh meal . Although found everywhere
fom drive-throug wndows to chain restaurants,
these spuds have resisted our eforts to make them
successflly at home, encing up soggy bottomed
and stufed with heavy, greasy fgs.
Starting from the bottom up, we learned
that an extra step-scooping out the pulp of the
baked potatoes and drying the emptied skins in
the oven-made for a crisp shell to house our fll
ings. When it came to the fllings, however, the
problems were not as easily solved. We found that
raw vegetables exuded too much liquid. Crunchy
broccoli and crisp cabbage sofened and became
more favorfl when cooked frst. Smoky bacon
also had to be cooked to a crisp to shed most of
its heavy fat before going into the potato.
Just a few tablespoons of butter were necessary
to crisp the vegetables and saute the flings-any
more added heaviness to the mix. To bind the
flling, we turned to sour cream and half-and
half, which together provided a luxurious texture
without making the flg too greasy.
A for the cheese (we wouldn't think of bak
ing potatoes twice without it) , our attempts at
any kind of restraint led us to dissatisfaction. We
settled on about 2 cups ( about L4 cup per potato
half), but the key here was to mix half of the
cheese in with the flling, sprinkle the other half
on top, and brown the potatoes under the broiler
until golden and crisp.
BAKED POTATOES FOR TI CE- BAKED POTATOES
Adjust oven rack t o middle position; heat oven
to 400 degrees. Scrub, dry, and lightly rub 4 rus
set potatoes (8 to 9 ounces each) with vegetable
oil . Bake potatoes on foil-lined baking sheet until
skewer can be inserted into and removed fom
potatoes with little resistance, 60 to 70 minutes
(do not turn oven off. Cool potatoes on baking
sheet about 10 minutes.
TWI CE - BAKED POTATOES WI TH BROCCOLI ,
CHE DDAR, AND SCALLI ONS
S ERVES 4 A S A MAI N COU RSE OR 8 A S A S I D E DI S H
reci pe Baked Potatoes
4 tabl espoons unsal ted butter (mel t 2 tabl espoons)
6 cups broccol i fl orets {from 2- pound bunch) cut
i nto 1 1- to l -i nch pieces, stems di scarded
Tabl e sal t
teaspoon j ui ce from I l emon
'I teaspoon powdered mustard
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
3 -4 scal l i ons, sl i ced thi n (about 11 cup)
' h cup sour cream
1/4 cup hal f-and- hal f
Ground bl ack pepper
1 . Willie potatoes are baking, heat 2 tablespoons
butter in 12-inch skillet over mecum-hgh heat
until foam subsides; add broccoli and l teaspoon
salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly
browned, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons
water; cover and cook w1til crisp-tender, about 1
minute. Uncover and continue to cook until water
evaporates, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl and
stir in lemon j uice.
2. Halve each potato lengthwise. Using soup
spoon, scoop flesh from each half into bowl ,
l eavi ng about 3/s i nch thickness of fesh. Place
shel l s cut-sides up on baking sheet and return to
oven untl dry and slightly crisp, about 1 0 minutes.
3 . Meanwhi l e, mash potato fesh with fork
until smooth; stir in melted butter, 3/4 teaspoon
salt, powdered mustard, 1 cup cheese, scallions,
sour cream, half- and-half, and pepper to taste,
then stir in broccoli .
4. Remove shells from oven; heat broiler.
Mound flling into shells; sprinkle with remain
ing 1 cup cheese and broil until spotty brown, 6
to 1 0 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; serve.
TWI CE - BAKED POTATOES WI TH BAC ON,
CABBAG E , AND CHE DDAR
S E RVES 4 AS A MAI N COURS E OR 8 AS A S I DE DI S H
Tender savoy cabbage i s our frst choice, but the
sof outer leaves from a head of regular green cab
bage can also be used.
reci pe Baked Potatoes
8 ounces bacon (8 stri ps) , cut i nto 11- i nch pi eces
3 tabl espoons unsal ted butter (mel t 2 tabl espoons)
6 cups savoy cabbage (about 'I pound) cored and
sl i ced i nto 11 by l -i nch pi eces
Tabl e sal t
2 teaspoons red wi ne vi negar
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
3 -4 scal l i ons, sl i ced thi n {about 11 cup)
1 1 cup sour cream
1/ cup hal f- and- hal f
Ground bl ack pepper
SE PT E MB E R ( O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
9
1 . Wllile potatoes are baki ng, fry bacon in
12-inch skillet over mecium heat until crisp, 8 to
1 0 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon
to paper towel-lined plate; pour off all but l
tablespoon bacon fat . Add l tablespoon butter to
bacon fat; heat over mecium- high until melted,
then add cabbage and l teaspoon salt and cook,
stirring occasionally, until cabbage begins to wilt
and is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add l
cup water, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, 5
to 7 minutes; uncover and continue to cook until
water evaporates, about 30 seconds. Transfer to
bowl and stir in vinegar.
2. Follow step 2 of Twice- Baked Potatoes wth
Broccoli, Cheddar, and Scallions.
3. Meanwhile, mash potato fesh with fork untl
smooth; stir in melted butter, cabbage, l teaspoon
salt, V4 cup bacon, 1 cup cheese, scalions, sour
cream, half-and-half, and pepper to taste.
4. Follow step 4 of Twice- Baked Potatoes with
Broccoli, Cheddar, and Scallions, sprng fl
ing with both remaining cheese and remaining
bacon.
TWI CE - BAKED POTATOES WI TH HAM,
PEAS , AND G RUYRE
S E RVES 4 AS A MAI N COURS E OR 8 AS A S I DE DI S H
I reci pe Baked Potatoes
3 tabl espoons unsalted butter (mel t 2 tabl espoons)
'I pound baked del i ham, sl i ced 1/ i nch thick and
cut i nto 1/- i nch cubes
cup frozen peas
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded ( 2 cups)
11 cup sour cream
'I cup hal f-and- hal f
2 tabl espoons whol e-grai n mustard
Salt and ground black pepper
1 . While potatoes are baking, heat 1 tablespoon
butter in 1 2-inch skillet over mecium-high heat
until foanling; add han1 in even layer and cook,
without stirring, until lightly browned, about 2
minutes. Stir and cook 30 seconds longer. Off
heat, stir in peas; transfer mixture to large plate.
2. Follow step 2 ofTwice- Baked Potatoes with
Broccoli, Cheddar, and Scallions.
3 . Meanwhi l e, mash potato fesh with fork
until smooth; stir in melted butter, ham mixture,
1 cup cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, mustard,
and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Follow step 4 of Twice- Baked Potatoes with
Broccoli, Cheddar, and Sc illions.
Solving the Problem of
Ba
k
ed Chic
k
en Breasts
Noth ing is worse ( or more common) than baked chicken breasts-chalky, sour meat
topped with rubbery, flaccid skin. Could we make this si mple dinner item worth eating?
A
t their best, roasted bone-i n, skin
on chicken breasts ought to provide
moist, tender, seasoned meat and crisp
brown ski n. But whte meat lovers wl
pass up a leg for a breast any day, even when less
than ideal . Despite the demand, recipes for plain
roasted chicken breasts are in short supply. I
wondered why. Research showed that even the
simplest recipes included favoring ingredients .
Minimalists add herbs, lemon, or mustard; others
enhance with olives, capers, sesame, or honey.
I tested a half-dozen recipes. Not even the
most potent of ingredients could disguise the
consistently bland and dry meat. "Like eating
cardboard," said one taster. The skin on all of the
breasts proved equally disappointing. Hints of
crispness were overshadowed by mostly fatty, rub
bery skin. My goal was to create a simple recipe for
plain roasted chicken breasts that would yield per
fectly cooked meat and skin. I envisioned a quick
and easy recipe, perfect for a weeknight meal.
False Star
A feld trip to local supermarkets confrmed
what Cooes has concluded before : Bone- i n,
skin-on chicken breasts are best bought whole.
Purchasing already split breasts presents prob
lems worth avoiding. These precut, prepackaged
breasts vary widely in size and often contain
specimens with torn and missing skin or meat.
Better to take control and cut the breast yourself.
One-and-a- half-pound whole breasts proved
best. They are readily available, the portion size
is good, and they are large enough for tl1e skin to
crisp when the meat is cooked through.
Any long-time reader of this magazine also
knows that Cook)s likes to brine chicken. A fl
strength quick brine ( 30 minutes) worked best
for the roasted meat, but the skin was soggy. To
solve tlus problem, I would have to air-dry tl1e
breasts on a rack in the refrigerator, something
that made no sense for a Tuesday-night supper.
Aer conducting a number of additional failed
tests-including removing the skin before brin
ing, stretcl1g it over a rack, and feezing it-I
ditched the notion of brining and air-drying
altogether and directed my efforts toward a
simpler, quicker solution. ( Stretching the skin
3 B Y E L I Z A B E T H G E R M A I N E
For cri sp ski n and j uicy meat, roast whol e chi cken
breasts and carve the meat off the bone at servi ng ti me.
and freezing it was a smashing success-"the
skin is almost like cracklin' pork rinds, " said one
taster-but it's too much trouble for what ought
to be a simple dinner. )
Fresh Start
I started over, tlus time asking myself if cutting
the whole breasts before roasting tl1em, as I had
been doing, was a good idea. I split two raw
breasts and roasted them along witl1 two unsplit
breasts. I was shocked by the results. This simple
notion-roasting whole instead of split breasts
turned out to be a major discovery, one tl1at dra
matically improved the j uiciness oftl1e meat. The
explanation? Whole breasts retain more of their
j uices than cut breasts, which have more avenues
for moisture loss. But waiting to cut irough the
breastbone until afer cooking ( tl1e chicken must
be cut for serving) presented problems: uneven
halves, unattractive pieces, and chicken that was
C O O K
'
S I L L U STR ATE D
1 0
not easy to eat. Carving the meat entirely off the
bones and serving it fanned on the plate was a
simpler, more attractive alternative.
In terms of oven temperature, I tested heat lev
els fom 350 degrees up to 500 degrees. The visual
difference was glaring when the breasts emerged
fom the oven. The skin on the breasts roasted
at 350 was pale yellow and rubbery looking; the
skin roasted at 500 was burnt. Neither tasted
great, though breasts fom the hotter ovens were
better. In the end, 450 degrees proved best. The
meat was still j uicy and the skin color improved,
but the skin still wasn't as crisp as desired. And,
occasionally, fat dripped fom te chicken into the
bakg pan, smoking up the kitchen.
Geti ng Cl ose
To solve the problem of smoking, I switched fom
my 1 3 by 9- inch Pyrex pan to a stainless roasting
pan ftted with a rack. Still, a shallow layer of fat
formed, causing some smoke. The good news
was that I had unwittingly discovered another
secret of perfectly baked chicken. By getting the
breasts up off the pan bottom, the rack allowed
heat to circulate underneath them. The result
was more even, quicker cooking and j uicier meat.
Inspired by the rack, I tried creating a natural rack
by pulling out the rib cage on each side of the
whole breast so that it could stand up on its own.
It worked! Instead of curling under the breast,
tl1e edges of the breast now fanned outward and
allowed for better air circulation. But the smoke
ensued. I tried one more time, tlus time using
a broiler pan. Bingo-the fat dripped below the
rack, which shielded it fom the heat. Roasting
was now smokefree, the meat was j uicier, and the
broiler pan was easy to clean up as long as I cov
ered the bottom with foil.
One problem, however, remained: mediocre
ski n. I knew from earlier tests that separating
the skin fom tl1e meat allows hot a to circulate
more feely under tl1e skin, renders more fat, and
produces crspier skin. I tried several approaches,
includg slashng the skin and severing it every
where but along the breastbone, before determin
ing that a one-sided pocket opening worked best.
Using my fgers, I gently pulled apart the bottom
edge ad used a spoon to open up a cavity. This
n
<
L
>
l
Q

C
C
~
C
1
Q
ST E P- BY- ST E P P RE PARI NG TH E C H I C K E N F OR ROASTI NG
I . Gently l i ft ski n at bottom of 2. Usi ng teaspoon, pl ace butter i n
breast to create smal l pocket for center of meat. Pressi ng on ski n,
3. Gently pul l out ri b cage from
each si de of breast to create a
stabl e base. butter. spread buter evenly over meat.
method mzed skin shrinkage and allowed the
skin to roast to a deep golden brown. Now the
color of the skin was appealing, but a crispy texture
remained elusive.
I had been rubbing oil on the skin, as it helped
with browning and crisping. Now I tried rub
bing some under the skin as well . "Yes! The skin
is finally blistering and crisp," said my colleagues.
Next I tried butter instead of oil . The response?
"The skin is ultra-crisp, " and "The meat seems
better favored and juicier. " The butter helped to
keep the delicate breast meat juicy while adding
flavor. I tried rubbing sofened butter on top of
the skin as well , but the cold skin caused the but
ter to seize up, making spreading diffcult. So I
stayed with the oil on top of the skin.
Finally, I turned to the salt. Having rejected
brining, I had been seasoning the outer breasts
liberally with salt and pepper. I now tried salting
w1der the skin. "Yes, " said tasters, "the meat is
better seasoned and j uicier. " As I was already
rubbing on butter, I tried adding the salt to the
butter to make the seasoning easier. It worked.
At last I had perfectly roasted plain chicken
breasts. And my recipe was j ust as easy as-and
even quicker than-some of the simplest I had
tested. Here was the secret formula: Roast a
whole breast, use a very hot oven, allow air to cir
culate under the breastbone and under the skin,
and use modest amounts of oil, butter, salt, and
pepper. This technique also made it easy to add
favors by simply favoring tle butter-as long as
I avoided sugar and honey, which made the skin
burn, or too much ground spice ( more than a
teaspoon) , which created a gritty texture. Best
of all, I now have a simple recipe tl1at produces
white meat so good that even lovers of dark meat
may take notice.
ROASTED C HI CKEN BREASTS
S E RVES 4
To make sure tl1at the breasts cook at the san1e
rate, purchase two similarly sized whole breasts
( not split breasts) with skins flly intact. Whole
chicken breasts weighing about 1 l pounds work
best because tl1ey require a cooking time long
enough to ensure that the skin will brown and
crisp nicely. If you do not own a broiler pan, use a
roasting pan ftted with a fat wire rack. This recipe
can easily be increased by 50 or 1 00 percent. If
you do increase it, just make certain not to crowd
the chicken breasts on the broiler pan, which can
impede the brownng and crisping of the skin.
2 tabl espoons unsal ted butter, room temperature
2 whol e bone- i n, ski n-on chi cken breasts
(about I 11 pounds each) , patted dry with
paper towel s and tri mmed of excess fat
Tabl e sal t
STE P- BY- ST E P CARVI NG T HE B REAS TS
I . To remove meat, cut straight
down along one side of breastbone.
2. Run knife down al ong ri b cage to
remove enti re breast half.
3 . Sl i ce each breast half crosswise
on bias. making thi n sl i ces.
S E PT E MB E R c O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
I I
Ground bl ack pepper
tabl espoon vegetabl e oi l
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat
oven to 450 degrees. Line bottom of broiler pan
with foil, place broiler pan rack on top; set aside.
In small bowl, mix l2 teaspoon salt and butter
until combined. Sprinkle underside of chicken
breasts liberally with salt and pepper. Following
illustrations 1 tl1rough 3 at lef, gently loosen
bottom portion of skin covering each breast.
Using small spoon, place a quarter of sofened
butter under ski n, directly on meat in center
of each breast half Using spoon, spread butter
evenly over breast meat. Rub skin of each whole
breast with 1 11 teaspoons oil and sprinkle liber
ally with pepper. Set chicken breasts on broiler
pan rack, propping up breasts on rib bones.
2. Roast until thickest part of breast registers
1 60 degrees on instant-read termometer, 35 to
40 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board
and let rest 5 minutes. To carve, follow illustra
tions 1 through 3 below. Serve immediately.
ROASTED C HI CKE N BREASTS WI TH GARLI C,
ROS E MARY, AND LE MON
Follow recipe for Roasted Chicken Breasts, mixing
2 minced medium garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons minced
fesh rosemary leaves, and 1 teaspoon grated lemon
zest into sofened butter along with salt.
ROASTED C HI CKE N BREASTS WI TH
C HI POTLE , CU MI N , AND CI LANTRO
Follow recipe for Roasted Chicken Breasts, mix
ing 2 teaspoons minced chipotle chiles in adobo,
1 teaspoon ground cumi n, and 2 teaspoons
chopped fresh cilantro leaves into sofened but
ter along with salt.
ROASTED C HI CKE N BREASTS WI TH OLI VES,
PARS LEY, AND LE MON
Follow recipe for Roasted Chicken Breasts, mix
ing 1 tablespoon chopped pitted kalamata olives,
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, and 2 teaspoons
chopped fresh parsley leaves into sofened butter
along with salt.
ROASTED C HI CKE N B REASTS WI TH
H ERBS AND PORC I NI MUS HROOMS
In small bowl, cover 2 tablespoons dried porcini
mushrooms with boiling water; let stand until
mushrooms soften, about 1 5 minutes. Using
fork, l mushrooms from liquid and chop fne
(you should have about 4 teaspoons ) . Follow
recipe for Roasted Chicken Breasts, mixing por
cini, 1 teaspoon minced fesh thyme leaves, and
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves into
sofened butter along with salt.
How to Coo
k
Acorn Squash
Tired of mealy, stringy squash that takes an hour to bake? We wanted it faster and better.
T
he popularity of acor squash has
always mystifed me. Afer what
seems like eons in the oven, it
inevitably lands on the table with
little favor and a dry, grainy texture. Perhaps
the appeal resides in its spherical shape-the
hollowed-out halves are perfect receptacles
for melted butter and sugar-but this fea
ture doesn't make up for the dry, cottony
fesh. Yet acorn squash can be quite good, if
not outright delicious, when prepared prop
erly. At its rare best, it is characterized by a
sweet, amost nutty taste and moist, smooth
fesh. Could I solve this culinary challenge
and do it relatively quickly?
High-Tech ( ni que)
3 B Y R E B E C C A H A Y S E
hot a to slowly heat food from the outside
in, causing dehydration and a less desirable
texture, especially on the outer edges.
Sweet Stuf
The one important issue I had lef to tackle
was tl1e topping, or flavoring, for the squash.
My colleagues were loud and clear about
what they wanted: a classic butter and sugar
glaze. Dark brown sugar is the most com
mon choice and was named the best sweet
ener, with maple syrup a runner-up. Other
options ( honey, granulated sugar, and light
brown sugar) were either not sweet enough
or didn't provide the familiar favor that
we wanted. I lted the amount of brown
sugar to 3 tablespoons-nough to provide
ample sweetness but not so much that I' d be
tempted to serve the squash with a scoop of
vanilla ice cream. A equal amount of butter
made the best complement.
Most cookbook authors recommend baking
acorn squash in a covered dish, while a few
suggest somewhat unconventional meth
ods, including steaming, boiling, braising,
and baking. Steamed and boiled chunks of
peeled squash cooked quickly but turned
out mushy and waterl ogged. Braising
resulted in a soggy, stringy texture that was
all the more disappointing given the ardu
ous task of peeling the squash before cook-
A 20- mi nute reci pe yi el ds creamy squash with a gol den brown gl aze.
One problem remained. The squash was
still lacking the stick, caramelized glaze that
forms when it is oven- baked. Passing the but
tered and sugared squash under the broiler
for a few minutes afer microwaving was the
ing it. The baked squash were just as expected:
dry, very dry.
I was running out of hope until I found a recipe
on the Internet that suggested microwaving, a
cooJg method we avoid at all costs here in the
test kitchen because of its finicky nature and its
poor powers of favor enhancement. Nonetheless,
I shoved aside my concerns about committing
culinary heresy and nuked a couple of squash.
When I tasted a forkfl, I became a believer. It was
tender and silky smooth, with nary a trace of dry
ness or stringiness. I was so surprised ( and pleased)
with the results that I repeated the test once, and
then again. When subsequent tries produced iden
tical outcomes, I seemed to have no choice but to
use the microwave to cook the squash.
Hammering out the details was easy: Micro
wave on high power for 20 minutes ( give or take
a few, depending on the model used-see "Are
All Microwaves Created Equal ? " on page 13),
and the squash is perfectly cooked. It was best
to halve and seed the squash before cooking;
whole pierced squash cooked unevenly. Last, I
learned that when added before cooking, salt
seemed to better permeate the squash. Now I had
a 20-minute recipe and vastly improved results!
Why was the microwave such a success? Our
science editor explained that as microwaves
( which, like radio waves, are electromagneti c) ,
enter food, water molecules i n tl1e food begin
to vibrate, and this activity generates heat evenly
and efciently, for quick cooking. In efect, the
microwave was steaming the squash in its own
j uices. In contrast, a conventional oven uses dry,
way to go. Many cooks, myself included,
have the habit of simply placing a pat of butter i
tle cavit of the squash and then addg a coatng
of sugar. A better method, I found, was to melt the
two ingredients, along with a pinch of salt, on the
stovetop for a smooth, cohesive mixture.
By using the microwave and broiler, I was now
able to produce squash with great texture and
favor. Not bad for 20 minutes' work.
s m L 1 N G : How to Buy and Store Acorn Squash
A I halved, seeded, and cooked more than 50 squash for thi s stor, I noticed signifcant diferences i n qual it, depend
i ng on where I purchased the squash. how I stored i t, and how l ong I kept it. Some were ri chly favored, wi th deep,
gol den ornge fesh. whi l e others were spong and pal e. Here' s what l l eamed. -R. H.
SEASON Acom squash i s domestically i n season from July through November. When purchased i n the of-season.
the squash, whi ch duri ng those months i s usual ly i mported from Mexico, i s l i kely to be more expensive. Squash that
had spent weeks in trnsit cooked up dehydrted, fbrous. and past in the test kitchen.
WEI GHT Squash shoul d be hard and heav for i ts size, an i ndi cati on that i t contai ns a l ot of moi sture and has not
been si tti ng on the supermarket produce shel f for weeks.
COLOR The most popul ar variet of acom squash i s green, though gol d and whi te vari eti es are spottil y avai l abl e.
Gol d or ornge ti nges on the ri nd of green squash are not i ndicator of ri peness but rther a mark of where the fruit
touched the ground duri ng growing (and was therefore untouched by sunl ight) .
STORGE Acom squash shoul d be stored at cool room temperture, not in the refrigerator. When I stored
squash for a few weeks in the refrigerator, chi l l damage set i n, causi ng the flavor and texture to deteri orte.
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
1 2
Getti ng Squash Ready to
Microwave
If your microwave is spaci ous enough to accommodate
it, a 1 3 by 9- inch mi crowave-safe baking dish works
wel l for containing the squash halves. Otherise, a
lare. wide mi crowave-safe bowl can be used. If usi ng
a bowl , position the squash with cut si des facing out.
ACORN SQUASH WI TH BROWN S UGAR
S E RVES 4
Squash smaller than H 2 pounds wl likely cook
a little faster than the recipe indicates, so begin
checking for doneness a few minutes early.
Conversely, larger squash wltake slighdy longer
to cook. However, keep in mind that the cooking
time is largely dependent on the microwave. If
microwaving the squash in Pyrex, the manufac
turer recommends adding water to the dish ( or
bowl) prior to cooking. See Notes fom Readers,
page 3, for an explanation. To avoid a steam burn
when uncovering the cooked squash, peel back
the plastic wrap very careflly, starting fom the
side that is farthest away fom you.
2 acorn squash (about 1 11 pounds each) ,
halved pole to pol e and seeded
Tabl e salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 . Sprinkle squash halves with salt and place
halves cut-sides down in 1 3 by 9-inch micro
wave-safe baking dish or arrange halves in large
( about 4- quart) microwave-safe bowl so that cut
sides face out ( see photo at lef) . If using Pyrex,
add 1/ 4 cup water to dish or bowl . Cover tightly
wid1 plastic wrap, using multiple sheets, if neces
sary; with paring knife, poke about 4 steam vents
in plastic wrap. Microwave on high power until
squash is very tender and offers no resistance
when pierced with paring knife, 1 5 to 25 min
utes. Using potholders, remove baking dish or
bowl from oven and set on clean, dry surface
( avoid damp or cold surfaces) .
2. Wie squash i s cooking, adj ust oven rack to
uppermost position ( about 6 inches from heating
element) ; heat broiler. Melt butter, brown sugar,
and 1s teaspoon salt in small saucepan over low
heat, whisking occasionally, until combined.
3. Wen squash is cooked, careflly pull back
plastic wrap from side farthest from you. Using
tongs, transfer cooked squash cut- side up to
rimmed baking sheet. Spoon portion of butter/
sugar mixture onto each squash half Broil until
brown and caramelized, 5 to 8 minutes, rotating
baking sheet as necessary and removing squash
halves as they are done. Set squash halves on
individual plates and serve immediately.
ACORN SQUAS H WI TH
ROS E MARY- DRI E D FI G COMPOTE
1. Follow recipe for Acorn Squash with Brown
Sugar, omitting brown sugar/butter mixture.
Wlile squash is cooking, combine 1 cup orange
juice; 4 dried black fgs, chopped medium ( scant
11 cup) ; 12 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary;
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar; 1/4 teaspoon
ground black pepper; and 1s teaspoon salt in
small saucepan. Simmer rapidly over medium
high heat, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and
liquid is reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 1 5 to 20
minutes. Stir i n 1 tablespoon butter.
2. Continue wid1 recipe to f and broil squash
halves , substituting fg compote for brown
sugar/butter mixture.
TE CH N I Q U E TWO WAYS TO C UT S QUAS H SAF E LY
Are Al l Mi crowaves
Created Equal ?
Because every cook' s mi crowave oven varies i n
size, wattage. tpe. and age, I was concered about
wri ti ng a reci pe using equi pment whose power is
di fi cul t to quantif. Woul d mi crowavi ng on " high"
power produce consi stent resul ts among diferent
machi nes? I was doubtul .
The amount of mi crowave ener absorbed by
a food is a functi on of the cooki ng ti me, power
(watts) . porti on size. and the amount of water
in the food to be cooked (the energ produced
by the mi crowave is absorbed pri mari ly by water) .
Roughly speaki ng. the more watts, the faster food
wi l l cook. Theoreti cal ly. a mi crowave with 1 , 000
watts of power woul d cook the same vol ume
of food ti ce as qui ckly as a machi ne wi th 500
watts.
To gauge real - l ife diferences, I sent armful s of
acor squash and bags of mi crowave popcor (an
easy gauge of cooki ng power) home with my col
l eagues to cook i n thei r mi crowaves. When they
reported back, I found that diferences in cooking
ti mes correlated roughly-though not rel i ably-to
the power of the mi crowave used. For exampl e,
popcorn took three mi nutes and 4 5 seconds i n the
only 700-watt mi crowave tested, whi l e the same
brnd of popcor was ready in j ust two mi nutes
in severl 1 , 1 00-watt model s. The same thi ng hel d
true for squash , wi th cooki ng ti mes runni ng from a
l ow of 1 5 mi nutes in severl powerul mi crowaves
to a high of 27 mi nutes in the same weak 700-watt
mi crowave.
What to do, then, when cooki ng the squash
i n your mi crowave? Check the l abel i nsi de the
machi ne (or your owner' s manual ) to determi ne
i ts wattage. I f your mi crowave runs on fewer than
900 watts of power, you wi l l l i kely need to i ncrease
the cooki ng ti me by a few mi nutes. I f you own a
high-wattage machi ne (more than 1 , 1 00 watts) .
you may need to decrease the cooki ng ti me. That
sai d. it al ways pays to use your senses. not a ti mer,
to j udge when food is ready. -R. H.
Knife and Rubber Mallet: I . Set squash on damp kitchen towel to hol d i t i n pl ace.
Position knife on ri nd of squash. 2. Strike back of knife with rubber mal l et to drive
knife i nto squash. Conti nue to hit knife with mal l et unti l knife cuts through squash.
Metl Bench Scrper and Hammer: I . Set squash on damp kitchen towel . Position
bench scrper on ri nd. 2. Strike handl e of bench scrper with hammer to drive blade into
squash. Conti nue to hit bench scrper with hammer unti l blade cuts through squash.
S E P T E M B E R ( OC TO B E R 2 0 0 4
1 3
Lasagna Bolognese Simplfed
Coul d we adapt and si mpl ify this nor thern I talian classic for t he American kitchen?
I
n most American lasagnas, the meat
is merely an aferthought-bits of
sausage or hamburger lost in gooey
layers of cheese and tomato sauce. In
an authentic lasagna Bolognese, however,
meat is the main idea. Three kinds of meat,
in fact: beef, pork, and veal simmered until
tender and delicately sweet i n a slowly
reducing sauce of milk, wine, and toma
toes. This rich sauce is bound between
thin sheets of pasta with a creamy becha
mel sauce and Parmesan cheese. Hold the
mozzarella and ricotta, please.
3 B Y S E A N L A W L E R E
noodles absorbed even more water but then
proceeded to turn fabby and mushy in ie
oven. So a fve-minute soak was helpfl, but
I would have to make other adjustments .
Keep Your (Sauce) Cool
I now turned back to the preparation of the
ragu, which traditionally is simmered for
hours to evaporate excess moisture and pro
duce a thick, rich sauce. Because I needed
extra moisture in this lasagna, this last step
seemed counterproductive . Abbreviating
this fnal step not only would save hours
but also would leave me with a wetter sauce.
Thinking along the same lines, I thinned
out the bechamel by doubling the quantit
of milk.
The unrivaled richness of this northern
Italian classic may elicit objections fom
dieters, but certainly not from the poor
cook who slaved over it. He or she has
likely been up since dawn rolling out fesh
pasta sheets and tending an all-cay meat
sauce, and thus feels entitled to indulge.
In this case, the poor cook was me. I made
several of these monsters, using our exist
ing recipes for fresh pasta dough, becha
mel, and the meat sauce, or ragu, and
managed to get them on the table in j ust
under . . . six hours. I was told they were
delicious. I was too tired to taste them.
Lasagna Bolognese was never going to
be a quick Tuesday-night supper, but there
No- boi l noodl es and a qu i ck meat sauce turn an al i - day I tal i an reci pe
i nto a manageabl e project that yi el ds excel l ent resul ts.
To say that this idea didn't work out as
planned would be an understatement. No
boil noodles expand during cooking, which
means that when ie lasagna is assembled,
there is quite a bit of space around the
edges of the pan. The thin sauce ran off the
noodles and puddled in this space, carry
ing chunks of meat with it. This problem
worsened in the oven, and the result, to put
it mildly, was an unattractive lasagna wii a
sunken center and blown- out edges erupt
ing wth ground meat.
had to be a way to make it something less than
an all-cay afair. The ragl was a time-consuming
but largely unattended labor. It was the kneading,
rolling, cutting, blanching, shocking, and drying
of the lasagna noodles that was the most arduous
task. The test kitchen had already developed sev
eral recipes that put no- boil noodles to good use,
and, though purists might consider it a sacrilege,
I could not resist their convenience.
Use Your Noodl e
Sticking close to our existing sauce recipes for
now, I prepared a lasagna with fve layers of no
boil noodles. I followed the assembly guidelines
of a traditional lasagna Bolognese recipe, spread
ing
2
1 cup of ragl over each layer, followed by
several tablespoons of Parmesan and bechamel,
the four-thickened cream sauce that "glues" the
layers together. The top layer of noodles was then
coated with a thin layer of bechamel and more
cheese to prevent the noodles fom drying out in
the oven. I followed the instructions on the pack
age of noodles, baking for 50 minutes, covered
with foil for all but the last 10 minutes.
My worri es about the pasta had been
unfounded. The taste and texture of te noodles
were fne. ( Lasagna Bolognese with homemade
pasta is indeed better-and traditional-but the
extra labor put tllis recipe into the "once in a life
time" category. ) Noodles aside, though, the dish
had come out dry as a bone, and when I peeled
back the layers I discovered nothing but dried
out bits of meat and the chalky white remains of
a bechamel. The no- boil noodles had absorbed
most of the moisnrre, leaving none behind in the
sauce. Increasing tl1e quantit of the meat sauce
didn' t make the dish any saucier; tere was sin1ply
more dried-out meat between the noodles.
While developing a recipe for spinach lasa
gna ( March/April 2004) , the test kitchen had
presoaked no- boil noodles in hot tap water.
Thinkig that this technique might help to solve
the dry sauce problem ( tl1e noodles might absorb
less liquid during cookng) , I tested it. This lasa
gna, made with noodles that had been soaked
for fve minutes, was slightly saucier but still
nowhere close to saucy enough-a few drops in
a drought. During 1 0- and 1 5- minute soaks, the
C O O K
'
s I L L U S T R A T E D
1 4
What I needed was a sauce that was stiff
enough to stay put between the noodles during
assembly but iat also had enough moisture to
rehydrate the noodles in the oven. One afer
noon, as I was reheating a batch of the previous
day's ragl, I noticed that the cold sauce seemed
quite thick-too tlick, in fact, to be spread easily
across the noodles. But when gently warmed to
just above room temperature, the texture of ie
sauce was much closer to what I' d been looking
for. As for the bechamel, it also thickened consid
erably as it cooled, and I found that it performed
its adhesive duties more readily in tlis state.
As the ragu cooled, however, some of the
excess liquid separated out fom the sauce, leav
ing it looking watery and greasy. What if I were
to use a small portion of the cooled bechamel to
thicken the ragl, then assemble ie lasagna as
before? Even before the lasagna went into the
oven, I knew I was onto something. Adding
just 3/4 cup of ie cooled bechamel to ie ragl
kept the water and fat in emulsion. Thickened,
but easy to spread, the sauce now stayed in place
between the noodles as they expanded, yet it still
contained enough moisture to cook the noodles.
Finally, I had made a perfectly respectable lasa
gna Bolognese i n about two hours using no- boil
noodles, a far cry from the usual ali -day afair.
Almost as good as the authentic northern Italian
dish-and I wasn't too tired to eat it!
LASAG NA BOLOGNE S E , S I MPLI F I E D
S E RVES 8
For assembly, both the meat sauce and the becha
mel should be just warm to the touch, not piping
hot. Both sauces can be made, cooled, and refig
erated up to 2 days ahead, then gently reheated
until warm. In terms of favor and texture, we fnd
that Barilla no- boil noodles are the closest to fesh,
but tlus recipe wl work with all major brands of
no-boil noodles.
Meat Sauce (Ragu)
I medi um carrot, peel ed and roughl y chopped
medi um cel ery ri b, roughl y chopped
1 1 smal l oni on, roughl y chopped
I can (28 ounces) whol e tomatoes with j ui ce
2 tabl espoons unsal ted butter
8 ounces ground beef, preferabl y 90 percent l ean
8 ounces ground pork
8 ounces ground veal
I 11 cups whol e mi l k
1 11 cups dry white wi ne
2 tabl espoons tomato paste
teaspoon tabl e salt
114 teaspoon ground black pepper
Bechamel
4 tabl espoons unsal ted butter
114 cup al l - purpose fl our
4 cups whol e mi l k
' teaspoon tabl e sal t
Noodles and Cheese
1 5 sheets (9 ounces) no-boi l l asagna noodl es
4 ounces Parmesan, grated ( 2 cups)
l . FOR THE MEAT SAUCE: Process carrot,
celery, and onion in food processor until finely
chopped, about ten 1 - second pulses, scrapi ng
down bowl as necessary; transfer mixture to
small bowl. Wipe out food processor workbowl;
process tomatoes and j uice until fi nely chopped,
six to eight 1 - second pulses. Heat butter in
heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat
until foaming; add carrot, celery, and muon and
cook, stirring occasionally, until sofened but not
browned, about 4 minutes. Add ground meats
and cook, breaking meat into l -inch pieces with
wooden spoon, about l minute. Add milk and
stir, breaking meat into 12 -inch bits; bring to sim
mer and cook, stirring to break meat into small
pieces, until almost all liquid has evaporated, 20
to 30 minutes. Using potato masher or wooden
spoon, break up any remaining clumps of meat
Two Common Lsagna Probl ems
TH E CE NTE R DOE S NOT H OLD
If the meat sauce is too thi n, i t wi l l pool at the edges,
res ul ti ng in a lasagna wi th a sunke n center. Thi ckeni ng
the ragu with some bechamel solves thi s probl em.
( no large pieces should remain) . Add wine and
bring to simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until
liquid has evaporated, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in
tomato paste until combined, about l minute;
add chopped tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring
to simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and
cook until sauce is slightly tl1ickened, about 1 5
minutes. (You should have about 6 cups meat
sauce . ) Transfer meat sauce to bowl and cool
until just warm to touch, about 30 minutes.
2. FOR THE BECHAMEL: Wle meat sauce
simmers, melt butter in medium saucepan over
medium heat w1til foaming; add fl our and cook,
whisking constantly, until tl1oroughly combined,
about l l minutes; mixture should not brown.
Gradually wllisk in milk; increase heat to medium
lugh and bring to fl boil, whisking frequently.
Add salt, reduce heat to medium-low, and sin1mer
10 minutes, stirring occasionally witl heatproof
rubber spatula or wooden spoon, making sure
to scrape bottom and corners of saucepan. (You
should have about 313 cups . ) Transfer bechamel
to bowl and cool tmtil just warm to touch, about
30 n1utes.
3. TO ASSEMLE A BAK: Adjust oven rack
to nuddle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. Place
noodles in 1 3 by 9-i nch baking dish and cover
with very hot tap water; soak 5 minutes, agitating
TH E DI S H I S TOO D RY
Use pl ent of sauce and cover the di sh with foi l to
avoi d a dry l asagna. Soaki ng the no- boi l noodl es i n
hot water before usi ng them al so hel ps.
noodles occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove
noodles fom water, place in single layer on kitchen
towel, and pat dry. Wipe out bakg dish and spray
lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Stir bechamel
to recombine; n1ix :4 cup warm bechamel into
warm meat sauce until tl1oroughy combined.
4. Distribute l cup bechamel-enriched meat
sauce in baking dish. Place three noodles in
single layer on top of sauce, arranging iem close
together, but not touching, at center of pan.
Spread l '4 cups bechamel-enriched meat sauce
evenly over noodles, spreading sauce to edge of
noodles but not to edge of dish ( see illustration l
below) . Drizzle 13 cup bechanel evenly over meat
sauce ( illustration 2) . Sprinkle 13 cup Parmesan
evenly over bechamel . Repeat layering of noodles,
bechamel-enriched meat sauce, bechamel, and
cheese 3 more times. Place fa 3 noodles on top
and cover completely witl1 remaitung bechamel,
spreading bechamel witl rubber spatula and allow
ing it to spill over noodles ( illustration 3) . Sprinkle
evenly witl1 remaiting Parmesan.
5 . Spray large sheet foil with nonstick cook
ing spray and cover lasagna; bake until bubbling,
about 30 minutes. Remove foil, increase heat to
450 degrees, and continue to bake until surface
is spotty brown, about 1 5 minutes. Cool l 5 min
utes; cut into pieces and serve.
S TE P - BY- S TE P AS S E MB L I NG THE LASAGNA
I . Cover noodl es with 1 1/4 cups of 2. Drizzl e 11 cup of bechamel
ragu, spreadi ng sauce to edge of evenly over ragu.
noodl es but not edge of pan.
S E P T E M B E R c O C T O H E R 2 0 0 4
1 5
3 . Cover top layer of noodl es with
remai ni ng bechamel , spreading
sauce to compl etel y cover noodl es.
Guide \C Buying c Preparing Chicken
Whole birds taste better than packaged parts and cost
less, so it makes sense to cut up chicken at home.
Here' s all you need to know to master this basic skill
and tO buy a good Chicken. BY S EAN LAWL E R
BUYI NG TH E RI G HT- S I ZE BI RD
Producers breed chi ckens to " pl ump out" (an i ndustry term i ndi cati ng that the breast meat i s thi ck and
pl ump) at diferent ages, dependi ng on the desi red wei ght of the sl aughtered bi rd . We have found that
certai n sizes (usual ly descri bed by producers wi th the terms bel ow)
work better for certai n reci pes.
POUSS I N CORN I S H GAM E
H E N
BRO I LE R/ F RYE R ROASTER
Poussins are baby chi ckens that weigh about I pound. General l y avai l abl e only a t speci al t stores or
butchers, they are i deal for on e peron.
Com ish Game Hens are sl ightly ol der than poussi ns and weigh beteen I and 2 pounds. lrer game hens
wi l l sere to peopl e, but these bi rds are usual ly mass-market brnds that l ack the favor of the smal l er poussi ns.
Broi l er/frer are the standard supermarket chi cken-and our favorite. They general ly wei gh between
3 and 4 11 pounds and wi l l sere four peopl e. Al l Cook's reci pes usi ng whol e bi rds are devel oped with
chi ckens from thi s category.
Roaster generl ly weigh beteen 5 and 8 pounds. Despi te thei r name, we do not recommend roasti ng
bi rds thi s l are. as the outer layers of meat tend to overcook before the meat near the bone reaches a safe
i nternal temperture. When feedi ng a crowd, we prefer to buy to broi l er/fryers.
TASTI NG
We tasted 3 1,- to 4-pound chi ckens from ni ne wi del y avai l abl e
producer. Supermarket chi ckens rnge from budget bi rds ri sed
on factor farms to pri ci er fowl with ambiguous l abel s-"organi c, "
"free rnge, " "al l natural " -procl ai mi ng the vi rtues of thei r di et and
l ifestl e. These terms mean diferent thi ngs to diferent producers.
and, as our tasting demonstrted, they are not rel i abl e i ndicator
of favor or texture. Nei ther i s pri ce.
Tyson, a mass-produced bi rd, came i n thi rd, ahead of bi rds
costing twice as much. Perdue. the other mass- produced brnd
i n our tasting, came i n dead last. Te best-tasti ng chi cken was a
kosher bi rd from Empi re. Taster found i t to be the most j uicy and
wel l seasoned of the bunch. Duri ng the kosheri ng process. the
Empi re chi cken i s covered wi th sal t to drw out i mpuri ti es. Thi s
leads to a j ui ci er, more favorful bi rd that never needs to be bri ned
to pump up flavor or j ui ci ness. If your supermarket doesn ' t carr
kosher chi ckens, bri ni ng can i mprove the qual i t of j ust about any
chi cken, even last- pl ace Perdue.
For the ful l results of our tasting of chi cken, vi si t Cook's Er at
ww . cooksi l l ustrated. com and key i n code 5043.
H I G H LY RECOM MJNDE D
EMPI RE KOSHER Broi!ir Chicken
$ 2. 29/l b.
Tasters found thi s bi rd to be the most
favorful of the tasti ng, cal l i ng i t "perfectly
seasoned, " with meat that was "moi st"
and "tender. "
RE CO M M E N D E D
BEL& EANS Fresh Young Chi cken
$ 2. 69/l b.
Ri sed on an al l -vegetabl e, anti bi oti c-free
di et. this chi cken was pri sed for meat
that tasted "cl ean" and "fresh. "
TSON Fresh Young Chi cken
$ 1 . 29/l b.
Some taster l i ked the "fr" texture.
others found i t sl ightl y "meal y. "
Neverthel ess, Tyson outscored chi ckens
that cost twice as much.
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
1 6
B RI N I NG
I nnumerbl e tests have shown that soaki ng chi cken i n a
saltater sol uti on pri or to cooki ng produces j ui cy, wel l
seasoned meat. (The excepti on to thi s rul e i s a kosher
bi rd. ) To bri ne, add sal t to cold water, stir to di ssolve the
sal t. then i mmere the chi cken in the bri ne and refrigerte
for the al l otted ti me.
Formul ating the Bri ne
Ei ther of the two readi ly avai l abl e brnds of kosher sal t
can be substituted for the tabl e sal t i n the formu las bel ow.
Because kosher sal t is l ess sal t than tabl e sal t, and because
one brnd of kosher sal t is l ess sal t than the other, the
formul as must be adjusted. Substitute I cup of Di amond
Crystal Kosher Sal t or % cup of Morton Kosher Sal t for
1/2 cup of tabl e sal t.
TALE 5ALT
Whol e chi cken 11 cup
( 3 1h- 4 1 b. )
Chi cken par
(bone- in)
'h cup
WATEK
1h gallon
TI ME
I hour
'h gal lon 30 mi n.
Ri nsi ng and Dryi ng Bri ned Chi cken
Once the chi cken has been bri ned, i t must be ri nsed to wsh
away any excess slt that might remai n on the skn. Bri ning
does have one negative efect: Te added moisture can
prevent the ski n from crispi ng when cooked. Ltting brined
chi cken dr uncoverd i n the refrigertor remedi es thi s prob
l em. Fr best results, ai r-dr whol e brined bi rds overight.
Bri ned chi cken parts shoul d be ai r-dri ed for severl hour.
Although thi s step i s opti onal , if crisp skn is a goal . i t' s worth
the extr ti me.
I . To ri nse
chi cken , pl ace
on wi re rack. set
rack in empt
si nk, and use si nk
spray hose to wash
of chi cken. Bl ot
chi cken dry wi th
paper towel s.
2. To ai r-dr chi cken. set rack wi th towel - dri ed chi cken
on ri mmed baki ng sheet and pl ace i n refrigerator.
w
Z
>
C
C

Z
1
C
CUTTI NG U P A WH OLE CH I CKE N
Even when a reci pe cal l s for chi cken parts, there are many advantages to purchasi ng a whol e chi cken and cutti ng i t up yoursel f.
Pckaged chicken pars are generl ly mass- produced and are of a l ower qual it. so buyi ng a whol e chi cken gives you the chance
to buy a better bi rd. In addi ti on, packages of chi cken parts ofen come from diferent chi ckens of diferent si zes; as a resul t,
the pi eces may cook unevenly. To top i t of, whol e chi ckens general l y cost l ess per pound and provi de tri mmi ngs that are
perfect for freezing to make homemade stock.
The Lgs
I . Cut through ski n around l eg where
i t attaches to breast. Usi ng both
hands, bend leg back to pop l eg j oi nt
out of i ts socket.
The Wings
I . Bend wing out from breast and cut
through joi nt to separte.
The Breast
I . To separate whol e breast from
backbone. cut through ri bs with
kitchen shear, fol l owi ng verti cal l i ne
of fat from tapered end of breast up to
socket where wi ng was attached.
2. Cut through broken j oi nt to
separate l eg. Cut very cl ose to back, so
that tender, meat "oyster" i s removed
along wi th leg.
2. Cut through carti l age around wing
tip to remove i t. Freeze tips and use to
make your next batch of homemade
chi cken stock.
on cutti ng board. center kni fe on
breastbone, then apply pressure to
cut through and separate breast i nto
halves.
3 . Note l i ne of fat separati ng thigh
and drumsti ck. Cut through j oi nt at
this l i ne.
3. A triangul ar fl ap of ski n connecti ng
two hal ves of chi cken wi ng can make i t
awkard to eat. Cut stri ght through
center j oi nt; two smal l er pi eces wi l l
cook up cri spi er and be easi er to eat.
3 . I f you purchase one whol e, bone- i n
chi cken breast. you may need to tri m
rib secti ons wi th ki tchen shears.
S E P T E M B E R { O C TOB E R 2 0 0 4
1 7
TI PS FOR HANDLI NG
CHI CKEN
Contai ni ng Rw Chi cken
Avoi di ng cross-contami nati on when
washi ng and dri ng raw chi cken can be
a chal l enge. To contai n the chi cken,
wash i t i n a col ander, then pat dr
whi l e i t' s sti l l i n the col ander. When
done. si mpl y transfer the chi cken to
you r cooki ng vessel . then wash your
hands and the col ander with hot, soapy
water.
Savi ng Your Back
Don' t stop butcheri ng once you ' ve
removed the l egs. wi ngs. and breast
hack the back i nto 2 - i nch pi eces with a
cl eaver and then freeze i t (al ong with
wing tips) to make homemade stock.
Getti ng a Gri p on Rw Chi cken
Rw chi cken i s sl i ppery. whi ch makes
cutti ng i t up hazardous. Get a fi rmer
gri p by usi ng a fol ded wad of paper
towel s to hol d the chi cken in pl ace.
Seasoni ng Rw Chi cken
Touchi ng the sal t shaker or pepper mi l l
after you ' ve handl ed rw chi cken can lead
to cross-contami nati on . To avoi d thi s.
mix the necessar sal t and pepper in a
rameki n before handl i ng the chi cken.
Perfecting Mexican Rice
'Aroz a I a Mexicana' promises bright fl avor and a pilaf-styl e texture, but it r arel y del ivers.
A
cursory look at Mexican rice
reveals a simple pilaf prepared
by sauteing raw white rice in
oil, then slowly cooking the
grains in chicken broth favored with
pureed tomatoes , onion, and garlic.
Some cooks fnish the dish with a sprinkle
of fesh chiles and cilantro. In Mexico,
rice pilaf, or sop a seca ( dry soup) , ofen
serves as a separate course, in the manner
that Italians serve pasta; on the Aerican
table, it makes a unique side dish.
Yet for a basic dish with a remark
ably short i ngredient list, I found it
vexing. Variable ingredient quantities
and cooking techniques produced dis
parate results when I put a selection of
recipes from respected Mexican cook
book authors to the test. Two of these
recipes turned out soupy and greasy,
spurring tasters to crack j okes about my
"Rsotto a Ia Mexicana" and "Mexican
Porridge. " These descriptions, along
with my own taste buds, told me that
these supersoggy, oily versions were off
track. Other recipes seemed misguided
in terms of ingredient amounts. Some
had just a hint of garlic, others tasted of
tomato and nothing else, and one was
overtaken by pungent cilantro.
? B Y R E B ECCA H A Y S E
appears washed out, and the tomato paste
gave it an appealing hue while adding a
little favor to boot.
Te Rice
The usual method for making Mexican
rice is to saute rinsed, long- grain white
ri ce ( tasters rej ected l ess traditional
short- and medi um- grain rice ) in oil
before adding the cooking liqui d. Rce
that was rinsed indeed produced more
distinct, separate grains when compared
with unrinsed rice. While some recipes
call for only a quick saute, cooking the
rice until it was golden brown proved
crucial in providing a mild, toasted favor
and satisfing texture. As for the amount
of oil, I experimented with a wide range,
spanning from 3 tablespoons to l 1 cups.
When I essentially deep- fried the rice in
copious amounts of oil, as more than one
recipe suggested, the rice was much too
oily; even straining off excess oil from the
rice, as directed, didn't help, and it was
a messy process. Insubstantial amounts
of oil made rice that was dry and lacking
richness. One-tllrd of a cup seemed j ust
right-this rice was rich but not greasy.
Canola oil was favored over the compara
tively pungent olive oil .
To my way of thinking, the perfect
version of this dish would exhibit clean,
balanced favors and tender, perfectly
cooked rice. It would be rich but not
The oven i s key to perfectly cooked Mexi can rice, and a fi nal garn i sh of
mi nced chi l es, ci l antro, and l i me compl etes the fiavor of the di sh .
I had questions about whether to saute
other components of the recipe, such as
the aromatics and the tomato pulp. I tried
multiple permutations and landed on a
oily, moist but not watery. In search of this ideal,
I returned to the test kitchen with some basic
questions in mind: What is the proper ratio of
liquid to rice for a moist but not brothy dish?
Would canned tomatoes provide more balanced
favor than fesh? Could I skip the sauteing step
and still end up with an agreeable texture? Could
I add any ingredients that would improve the
basic recipe?
Te Cooki ng Medi um
The liquid traditionally used in this dish i s a mix
ture of chicken broth and pureed fresh tomatoes
(plus a little salt) ; experiments with a variet of
COOK' S EXTRA gi ves you free recipes onl ine. For a
vari ation of Mexican rice with charred vegetabl es, visit
www. cooksi ll ustrted. com and key in code 5044. This
recipe wil l be availabl e until October 15, 2004.
ratios helped me to settle on equal parts of each.
With too much tomato puree, the rice tasted like
warm gazpacho; witl1 too little, its favor waned.
Though past Cook
)
s recipes for pilaf have called
for less liquid, I found tlat when pulpy tomatoes
make up a portion of the fuid, a 2: 1 ratio of
liquid to rice produces j ust the right texture.
Each and every recipe I consulted called for
fresh tomatoes, and when I pitted rice made with
canned tomatoes against rice made with fresh,
the reason for using the latter crystallized for
me. Batches made with fresh tomatoes tasted,
well, fresh. Those made with canned tomatoes,
however eye-catching, tasted overcooked and
too tomatoey; the rice should be scented with
tomatoes, not overtaken by them. To capture
ie one beneft of canned tomatoes-an intense,
tomato-red color-I stirred in an untraditional
ingredient: tomato paste . Mexican rice often
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
1 8
compromised technique of sauteing a generous
amount of garlic and j alapenos, then mixing in a
raw puree of tomato and onion. This technique
produced the balanced yet fesh- tasting favor I
was afer; it also allowed me to process the onion
in the food processor along with the tomatoes
rather than having to chop it by hand.
I was having trouble achievi ng properly
cooked rice on the stovetop. The grains inevi
tably scorched and then turned soupy when
I attempted a rescue with extra broth. In the
past, I've converted rice recipes fom fnicky to
infallible by baking the rice, and testing proved
that this recipe would be no exception. Still ,
as I baked batch afer batch of rice, I was frus
trated by cooking times that were inconsistent.
Most batches contained a smattering of crunchy
grains mixed in with the tender ones. Prolonged
cooking didn't solve the problem; what did was

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stirring the rice partway through cooking to rein
corporate the tomato mixture, which had been
settling on top of the pilaf With this practice in
place, every last grain cooked evenly.
Ers
Some Mexican cooks stir peas and blanched,
diced carrots into the fi nished rice, but my tasting
panel rej ected that option, preferring a simpler
mixture. Whie many traditional recipes consider
fresh cilantro and minced j alapeno optional , in
my book they are mandatory. The raw herbs and
pungent chiles complement the richer tones of
the cooked tomatoes, garlic, and onions. When
a little something still seemed missing from the
rice, I thought to offer wedges of lime. A squirt of
acidity illuminated the favor even frther.
MEXI CAN RI CE
S E RVES 6 T O 8 AS A S I DE DI S H
Because the spiciness of jalapenos vares fom chile to
chile, we tr to contol the heat by removing the rbs
and seeds (the source of most of the heat) fom those
chiles that are cooked in the rice. Use an ovensafe
pot about 12 inches in diameter so that the rice cook
eveny and in the tme indicated. The pot's depth is
less important than its diameter; we've successfl y
used both a straght-sided saute pan and a Dutch
oven. Whichever type of pot you use, it should have
a tght-fttng, ovensafe lid. Vegetable broth can be
substtuted for chcken broth.
2 medi um ri pe tomatoes (about 1 2 ounces) ,
cored and quartered
medi um oni on, preferabl y whi te, peel ed,
tri mmed of root end, and quartered
3 medi um jal apeno chi l es
2 cups l ong-grai n whi te rice
11 cup canola oi l
4 medi um garl i c cl oves, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about 4 teaspoons)
2 cups l ow-sodi um chi cken broth
tabl espoon tomato paste
1 11 teaspoons tabl e salt
11 cup mi nced fresh ci l antro l eaves
l i me, cut i nto wedges for servi ng
l. Adjust oven rack to middle positon ad heat
oven to 350 degrees. Process tomatoes and onion
in food processor until smooth and thoroughly
pureed, about 1 5 seconds, scraping down bowl
i necessary. Transfer mixture to liquid measurng
cup; you should have 2 cups (i necessa spoon of
excess so that volume equals 2 cups) . Rmove ribs
and seeds fom 2 jalapenos and dscard; mince fesh
and set aside. Mince remaining jalapeno, including
ribs and seeds; set aside.
2. Place rice in large fne-mesh strainer and
rinse under cold running water until water runs
clear, about 1 l minutes. Shake rice vigorously in
strainer to remove al excess water.
T A s T 1 N G : Long- Gri n Ri ce
The beaut of white rice resi des i n its neutral favor,
whi ch makes i t good at carri ng other flavors, as i t
does so wel l i n our Mexi can ri ce. But i s al l l ong
grai n whi te rice created equal ? We set up a taste
test to fi nd out.
We rounded up a converted ri ce. three standard
supermarket opti ons, and an orani c whi te ri ce
avai l abl e i n bul k from a natural foods market. These
sampl es were tasted pl ai n and i n our Mexi can rice
reci pe. Al l five brands rted wel l i n the Mexi can
ri ce. Flavor diferences were mi ni scul e. With so
many potent i ngredi ents i n this reci pe (tomatoes,
chi l es, l i me j ui ce) , these resul ts are not terri bl y
surpri si ng. The most noti ceabl e di ference was an
unpredi ctabl e vari ance i n cooki ng ti me. Accordi ng
to the U. S. Rice Producers Asociati on, the age of
the rice. its moi sture content, and the vari et used
can afect the rate of water uptake. I nconsi stent
cooki ng ti mes are barely noti ceabl e i n pl ai n ri ce,
but they can become more apparent when other
i ngredi ents-such as tomatoes and aromati cs-are
added to the pot. ( I n the case of our Mexi can ri ce,
you ' l l want to first check doneness after 30 mi n
utes because of the unpredi ctabl e cooki ng ti me. )
When tsted pl ai n. al l of the rices but one were
noted for being "clean" and " l i ke rice shoul d be. "
Te exception was Uncl e Ben' s, a converted rice that
fai l ed to meet our stndards on all fronts. Converted
rice is processed i n a wy that ensures separte gri ns.
a fn texture, and mor pronounced favor. Tose
"round, " "rubber" grins and the tel l tl e yel l owish
ti nt i mmediately brught back not-so-fond memo
ri es of "di ni ng hal l rice. " Taster agred that some
"stickiness" and mi nor "cl umpi ng" make for more
naturl - l ooking and better-tasting rice. The four
recommended brnds were univerally l i ked and are
listed here al phabeti cal ly. -Garth Cl i ngi ngsmi th
3. Heat oil in heavy- bottomed ovensafe 1 2-
inch straight- sided saute pan or Dutch oven witl1
tight-ftting lid over medium- high heat, 1 to 2
minutes. Drop 3 or 4 grains rice in oil ; if grains
sizzl e, oil is ready. Add rice and fry, stirring fre
quently, until rice i s light golden and translucent,
6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add gar
lic and seeded minced j alapenos; cook, stirring
constantly, until fragrant, about 1 11 minutes. Stir
RE CO M M E N D E D
CANI LLA Extra Long
Grai n Enri ched Ri ce
$ 2. 1 9 for 48 ounces
Its "distinct flavor" was
l i kened to that of Jasmi ne
rice.
CAROLI NA Extra Long
Grai n Enri ched Ri ce
$ 1 . 79 for 3 2 ounces
" Not many nuances" made
this rice a good, clean slate
on which to add favor.
SEM- CHI Organi cal l y
Grown Fl ori da Long
Grai n Ri ce
$ I . 99 for 48 ounces
Tis rice was rted the
"chewiest," with "roasted"
and "nut" flavors.
STOP & SHOP Long
Grai n Enri ched Ri ce
$ 1 . 1 9 for 3 2 ounces
A rice l i ked for its neutral
flavor and "chew" texture.
N OT RE CO M M E N D E D
UNCLE BEN' S
Ori gi nal Convered
Enriched Long Grai n Rice
$ 3 . 89 for 32 ounces
Te "asserive rice flavor" was
"too much" and bordered on
bei ng "stal e. " Even wore was
the " bouncy" texture, remi
ni scent of "cafeteria" ri ce.

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in pureed tomatoes and onions, chicken broth,
tomato paste, and salt; increase heat to medium
high and bring to boil . Cover pan and transfer
to oven; bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is
tender, 30 to 35 minutes, stirring well afer 1 5
minutes.
4. Stir in cilantro and reserved minced jalapeno
with seeds to taste. Serve immediately, passing
lime wedges separately.
R E C I P E S H ORT HAN D : KEYS TO G REAT MEXI CAN RI CE
. . .
.. .
;
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I . Ri nse ri ce i n mesh stri ner unti l water runs cl ear. Thi s ensures separte grai ns. 2. Fr rice unti l l ight gol den brown for
ri ch, toast flavor. 3 . For even cooki ng, bake rice in oven. 4. Fi ni sh with fresh favors-l i me, ci l antro, and chi l es.
S E P T E M B E R b O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
1 9
Sesame Noodles with Chicken
We set out to eli minate sticky noodles, gl oppy sauce, and lackluster flavors.
Toasted sesame seeds are ground i nto the sauce for
extra favor and are al so used as a garni sh.
M
uch like a Chinese fnger trap
that lures by appearing to be
a toy, sesame noodles are not
what they seem. You may t
of them as merely a humble bowl of cold noodles,
but don't be fooled-just one bite and you're
hooked on these toothsome noodles with shreds
of tender chicken, all tossed with the fesh sesame
sauce. And now you've got a real problem: Once
you get the hankering, good versions of this dish
can be hard to fnd. The cold noodles have a habit
of turning gummy, the chicken ofen dries out,
and the sauce is notorious for turning bland and
past. I wanted a recipe that could not only quell
a serious craving but could do it fast.
Though drawn to the sofer texture of fesh
Asian-style noodles, I conceded that dried spa
ghetti could serve as a second-string substitute.
The trouble with both tpes of noodle, however,
was that afer being cooked and chilled, they gelled
into a rubbery skein. Afer trying a number of ways
to avoid this, I found it necessary to rinse the noo
dles under cold tap water directly afer cooking.
Ths not only cooled the hot noodles immediately
but also washed away much of their sticky starch.
To frther forestall any clumping, I tossed the
rnsed noodles wth a little oil.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are quick
to cook and easy to shred; the real question
is how to cook them. The microwave seemed
easy in theory, but I found the rate of cooking
diffcult to monitor-30 seconds meant the dif
ference between overdone and underdone. Many
3 B Y J U L I A C O L L I N D A V I S O N E
recipes suggested poaching the chicken in water
or broth, but this chicken had a washed-out fa
vor. Nor was roasting the answer; it caused the
outer meat to dry out before the interior was flly
cooked. Cooking under both gas and electric
broilers, however, worked perfectly. The chicken
cooked through in minutes, retaining much of its
moisture and favor.
To be authentic, the sesame sauce should
be made with an Asian sesame paste (not to be
confsed with Middle Eastern tahi), but most
recipes substitute peanut butter because it's easier
to fnd. Somewhat surprisingly, tasters preferred
chunky peanut butter over smooth, describing
its favor as fesh and more peanutty. I had been
making the sauce in a blender and realized that the
chunky bits of peanuts were being feshly ground
into the sauce, producing a cleaner, stronger fa
vor. I found the favors of both fesh garlic and
ginger necessary, along witl1 soy sauce, rice vin
egar, hot sauce, and brown sugar. I then stumbled
on the obvious way to keep the sauce fom being
too thick or pasty: Thin it out wth water.
Although the sauce was tasting pretty good,
tasters still complained that there was not enough
sesame favor. Tossing the rinsed pasta with
toasted sesame oil helped a bit, as did garnishing
the noodles with toasted sesame seeds. But tasters
were still not satisfed; they wanted more. Finally,
I tried adding some of the toasted sesame seeds
to the sauce. Blended into the sauce along with
the chunky peanut butter, the sesame seeds added
the fnal kick of authentic sesane favor we were
all hankering for.
S ESAME NOODLES WI TH S HRE DDE D CHI CKE N
S E RVES 4 T O 6 AS A MAI N D I S H
We prefer the favor and texture of chun peanut
butter in the sauce; in particular, we like conven
tional chunk peanut butter because it tends to be
sweeter than natural or old-fashioned versions.
114 cup sesame seeds
114 cup chunk peanut butter
2 medi um garl i c cl oves, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about 2 teaspoons)
tabl espoon mi nced fresh gi nger
S tabl espoons soy sauce
2 tabl espoons ri ce vi negar
I teaspoon hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
2 tabl espoons l ightly packed l i ght brown sugar
Hot water
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
2 0
1 11 pounds bonel ess, ski nl ess chi cken breast halves
tabl espoon tabl e salt
pound fresh Asi an-stle noodl es or 1 2 ounces
dri ed spaghetti
2 tabl espoons Aian sesame oi l
4 scal l i ons, sl i ced thi n on di agonal
medi um carrot, grated
1. Toast sesame seeds in medium skillet over
medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden
and fagrant, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 table
spoon sesame seeds in small bowl. In blender or
food processor, puree remaining 3 tablespoons
sesame seeds, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy
sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth,
about 30 seconds. With machine rung, add
hot water 1 tablespoon at time until sauce has
consistency of heavy cream, about 5 tablesp
o
ons;
set blender jar or workbowl aside.
2 . Bring 6 quarts water to boil in stockpot
over high heat. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to
6 inches fom broiler element; heat broiler. Spray
broiler pan top with vegetable cooking spray;
place chicken breasts on top and broil chicken
until lightly browned, 4 to 8 minutes. Using
tongs, fip chicken over and continue to broil
until thickest part is no longer pink when cut
into and registers about 1 60 degrees on instant
read thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to
cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Using 2
forks, shred chicken into bite-size pieces and set
aside. Add salt and noodles to boiling water; boil
noodles until tender, about 4 minutes for fesh
and 10 minutes for dried. Drain, then rinse with
cold runng tap water until cool to touch; drain
again. In large bowl, toss noodles with sesame oil
until evenly coated. Add shredded chicken, scal
lions, carrot, and sauce; toss to combine. Divide
among individual bowls, sprinkle each bowl with
portion of reserved sesame seeds, and serve.
S ESAME NOODLES WI TH SWE ET PEPPERS
AND C UC UMBE RS
Core, seed, and cut into I/4- inch slices 1 medium
red bell pepper; peel, halve lengthwise, seed,
and cut crosswise into 1s-inch slices 1 medium
cucumber. Follow recipe for Sesame Noodles
with Shredded Chicken, omitting chicken, add
ing bell pepper and cucumber to noodles with
sauce, and sprg each bowl with portion of
1 tablespoon chopped fesh cilantro leaves along
with sesame seeds.
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The Ultimate Sticky Buns
These bakery favori tes are often too sweet, too bi g, too rich, and just too much .
We wanted sti ck buns that were i mpressi ve, not excessi ve .
S
ticky buns are things of breakfast-time
debauchery. In bakeries, they are ofen
plate- size buns, warm and glistening,
heady with brown sugar and spices . In
my opinion, anything less than a great one is
not worth its calories. A sticky bun should be
neither dense nor bready. The crumb should be
tender and feathery and the sticky glaze gently
chewy and gooey; the favor should be warm and
spicy, buttery and sweet-but j ust enough so that
devouring one isn't a feat. Home bakers rarely
attempt them, probably because sticky buns, like
many other sweet yeasted breads, are a project,
requiring a substantial time commitment. The
results ought to be beyond edible-they should
be irresistible.
A collection of recipes turned up all manner
of sticky buns. Of those that I tried, one was too
lean-more like a sugar-soaked baguette. One
was cakey, with an insubstantial crumb, and it
had a meager an1ount of sticky goo. Another was
doughy and had a hard sugar veneer. The most
laborious recipe resulted-some 18 hours later
in overly rich sticky buns that weren't worth the
time or the effort. Those recipes that contained
nuts, which were baked beneath the buns, had
in common soggy, stean1y pecans or walnuts that
contributed little to either favor or texture.
Dough Nut
The basic MO for sticky buns starts wth a sug
ary glaze mixture that is put into a baking dish.
The dough, afer its frst rise, is rolled, fled, and
cut into buns. The buns are set on top of the
glaze mixture, allowed a second rise, tl1en baked,
inverted, and devoured.
I began this multi - component preparation
with the dough. From the start I knew that a lean
dough, made with only four and water, was out.
It was an anomaly anyway. Most recipes involved
fairly rich doughs, with milk, butter, eggs, and
sugar in addition to the requisite flour, yeast,
and salt. First off, I tried different liquids. Water,
milk, and buttermilk all worked, but the butter
m dough was vastly superior to the otl1ers. In
the baked buns, the tanginess of tl1e buttermilk
tanslated into a favor complexity that tl1e others
simply lacked; its acidity, though not overt, made
for a nice counter to the sugary sweetness. Both
favor and texture were rich without being heavy,
and the crumb was tender and light. Nonfat and
3 B Y D A W N Y A N A G I H A R A E
These sti ck buns rise twice and receive two gl azes (one before baki ng, the other after) . but they are worth the wai t.
low-fat buttermilk alike succeeded, as did, to my
surprise, powdered buttermilk ( which is added as
a dry ingredient, witl1 water being substituted for
the buttermilk) .
For the four or s o cups of four i n the dough,
I tested varying quantities of butter and fally
settled on 6 tablespoons . It turned out that
melted ( ratl1er tl1an sofened) butter was not
only easier to use but yielded superb results. Next
I experimented with eggs, starting with none
and increasing to four whole ( included were
yolk and white permutations as well ) . Without
eggs or with too few, the texture of the buns
lacked substance; the crumb was too soft and
yielding, like a squishy sandwich bread. Egg
rich versions-namely, those made with three
eggs-were the favorite. These were moist, with
a nice, light, open crumb. They were also tender
and yet had substantial chew.
The rest of the dough fell into place. One
quarter cup of sugar gave it a light sweetness, and
a hit of salt boosted favor. One packet of instant
yeast ( 214 teaspoons) worked to get the dough
rising in a timely manner witl1out leaving a dis
tinct yeastiness in its wake ( as an overabundance
S E P T E M B E R c O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
2 1
of yeast would) . Bread four didn't outperform
all-purpose four, so all-purpose it was.
Aer the dough's frst rise, or fermentation, it is
rolled out into a rectangle and fed. The contents
of the spiced sugar flg, which creates tl1e swirl in
the shaped bw1s, were quickly settled. Brown sugar
beat out granulated because it had more presence;
its color is darker and its favor more assertive. A
healthy dose of ground cinnamon and a dash of
ground cloves added warmth and fagrance.
Gl aze- Crazed
Most recipes specif dark brown sugar for use
in the glaze as well as the flg, but before too
long I dropped dark brown sugar in favor of light
brown for the glaze. During baking, dark brown
sugar took on too much color, and, though it
tasted fne, it made the buns look unattractive.
At this point, progress slowed. In the batches
I baked, the glaze invariably cooked up treacher
ously sticky and far too frm-ideal for ripping
out dental work (which it dd in fact do for one
unfortunate taster) . In combination with 3/4
cup of brown sugar, I tried different amounts
of butter-2, 4, 6, 8, and even 10 tablespoons.
R E L E r E s r 1 N G . Probl em Buns
We tested dozens of reci pes and found that several recurring probl ems pl agued most of them.
RU NAWAY G OO
I mmediately afer baking, the glaze is
molten and wi l l run of the buns if the
pan is invered too soon.
U N D E RB ROWNE D
When baked i n a glass Prex baking
dish, the surace of the buns appear
underbaked i n color and texture.
S E E M I N G LY B U R NE D
Using dark brown sugar i n the glaze
results i n dark, al most burt-looking
stick buns.
I increased and decreased the brown sugar. I tried
adding ' ater L the glaze mixture. I shortened
baking times and lowered oven temperatures so
that the glaze faced less heat ( heat is what causes
it to cook and harden) . Al to no avail. I tried
adding a dose of corn syrup. The glaze showed
some improvement-it had a sofer, chewier tex
ture-but it vas still rather stitT and taflie, and
it lacked fuidit. Wt a thick, WKtuous but pour
able classic caramel sauce in mind ( one made fom
E o O 1 P M E N r : Baki ng the Buns
Te tpe of baki ng dish and the use of a piza stone
make a diference i n how wel l and how evenly the
buns and toppi ng brown i n the oven.
BES: Nonstick metal baki ng di sh on 3 50-
degree preheated piza stone.
We obtained the best results by baking the stick buns
i n a nonstick meta baki ng pan on a preheated piza
stone. Browni ng ws unifom1 and cl eanup a breeze.
RUNNER- UP: Traditional (not nonstick)
metal baki ng dish on 400-degree preheated
piz stone; reduce oven temperature to 3 50
degrees after placing buns i n oven.
A trditional refective-fni sh baking pan and a slightly
hotter piza stone work wel l , but the heat must be
adjusted after the buns go i nto the oven.
HANDI CAP: Nonstick metal baking di sh on
lowest oven rack at 3 50 degrees.
If using a pizza stone is not an opti on, use a nonstick
baking pan. Te dark color of the nonstick fnish ai ds
i n browni ng. (Note, however, that the buns wi l l not
brwn as evenly as if baked on a stone. )
NO- GO: Gl ass baking di sh.
Bakng the buns i n a glass di sh without the beneft of a
piza stone gives them a doughy, underdone appear
ance; maki ng them i n a glass di sh with the beneft of a
piza stone is not a sfe opti on.
Fr the complete results of our tests of nonstick baki ng
pans, visit Cook' s Extra atww . cooksi l l ustrted. com
and key i n code 5045.
caramelized sugar and heavy cream) , I tried adding
heavy cream-just 2 tablespoons-and it worked
like magic. The topping was now sticky, gooey, and
just a bit saucelike. The downside to the cream was
that it had a slight dulling effect on the favor of
the caramel, but my tasters and I-and our flgs,
bridges, and crowns-could live with that.
I tried different oven temperatures, and a 350-
degree oven worked best, as did a 13 by 9- inch
baking pan. Yet the buns were still far fom per
fect. They had a tacky, doughy, underdone sur
face, and the caramel glaze was a couple of shades
too l i ght. One cookbook author suggested
placing the baking di sh on a preheated baking
stone, a step that vastly improved the evenness of
browning and allowed the bottoms of tle buns
( which, bear in mind, later become tl1e tops) to
bake through i n spite of all me goo mat tl1ey
sat i n. Witl me pizza stone in play, tlwugh, tl1e
baking pai)' S material was no longer incidental
( see box at lef for details ) .
At frst, I was inverting tl1e hot sticky buns
out of me pan as soon as mey were done. Afer a
few batches, mough, I fnally realized me merits
of allowing tl1em to cool for about l 0 minutes
before inversion. When hot, tl1e caramel glaze
was so molten mat it quickly ran offtle buns and
pooled on me platter. Cooled for j ust a bit, how
ever, me glaze was viscous enough to generously
blanket me surface.
Oh, Nuts
According to tasters, tl1e sticky buns were close to
being great, but tl1ey were missing sometl1ing
nuts, pecans, i n particular. Instead of sprinkling
chopped toasted pecans over me glaze in me bak
ing dish, where I knew they would turn soggy, I
introduced tl1em to the fling. No good. Encased
i n tle dough ramer man sitting beneam it, the
once toasty, crisp pecans still turned soggy.
I recalled a recipe tl1at had included an unusual
postbake glaze. At fst me idea of still more glaze
seemed superfuous ( enough sugar already! ) , but
men I realized mat it could set a sort of precedent
for a topping . . . a toasted pecan topping. I formu
lated a mixture of more glaze ingredients-butter,
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
2 2
light brown sugar, and corn syrup for fuidity-to
which I added toasted chopped pecans and some
vanilla for good measure. The rel atively small
amount of sugar i n tlus topping gave tl1e nuts
some cohesion wi thout oversweetening mat
ters. Crowned witl1 pecans, me sticky buns had
achieved greatness.
STI CKY B UNS WI TH PECANS
MAKES TWE LVE 3 1 /l I NC H B UNS
Tlus recipe has four components: me dough mat
is shaped into buns, the flling tl1at creates tle
swirl in tl1e shaped bLS, me caramel glaze mat
bakes in tl1e bottom of tle baking dish along wim
me buns, and me pecan topping mat garnishes
me buns once baked. Almough me ingredient
list may look long, note mat many ingredients
are repeated. If not using a pizza stone or non
stick baking dish, see "Baking me Buns" at lef.
Lefover stick buns can be wrapped i n foil or
plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days, but
mey should be warmed iough before serving.
They reheat quickly i n a nucrowave oven ( for 2
buns, about 2 minutes at 50 percent power works
well ) ; mey can also be put into a 325- degree oven
for about 8 minutes.
Dough
3 l arge eggs, room temperature
3f4 cup buttermi l k, room temperature
114 cup granul ated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons tabl e sal t
2 1/4 teaspoons i nstant yeast
4 1/4 cups ( 2 1 1/4 ounces) unbl eached al l - purpose
fl our, pl us addi ti onal for dusti ng work surface
6 tabl espoons unsal ted butter, mel ted, cool ed
unti l warm
Caramel Glaze
6 tabl espoons unsal ted butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed l ight brown sugar
3 tabl espoons l i ght or dark corn syrup
2 tabl espoons heavy cream
Pi nch tabl e salt
Cinnamon-Sugar Filling
3 cup ( S 114 ounces) packed l ight brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ci nnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cl oves
Pi nch tabl e sal t
tabl espoon unsal ted butter, mel ted
Pecan Topping
3 tabl espoons unsal ted butter
1/4 cup ( 1 % ounces) packed l ight brown sugar
3 tabl espoons l ight or dark corn syrup
Pi nch tabl e sal t
teaspoon vani l l a extract
3 cup (3 ounces) pecans, toasted in ski l l et over
medi um heat unti l fragrant and browned, about
S mi nutes, then cool ed and coarsel y chopped
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STE P- BY- STE P AS S E MB L I NG THE STI C KY B UNS
pressed against one anomer, about 1 1z hours.
Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lowest position,
place pizza stone (if using) on rack, and heat oven
to 350 degrees.
I. Spread hot glaze i n baking di sh. 2. Spri nkl e dough wi th fi l l i ng. 3. Rol l dough i nto ti ght cyl i nder.
6. Place baking pan on pizza stone; bake until
golden brown and center of dough registers
about 1 80 degrees on instant- read thermometer,
25 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 nunutes;
invert onto rimmed baking sheet, large rectangu
lar platter, or cutting board. Wim rubber spatula,
scrape any glaze remaining in baking pan onto
buns; let cool while making pecan topping.
4. Fi nnly pi nch seam to seal . 5 . Cut cyl i nder i nto 1 2 buns. 6. Arrange buns i n prepared di sh.
7. FOR THE TOPPING: Combi ne butter,
brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in small sauce
pan and bring to simmer over medium heat,
whisking occasionally to thoroughly combine.
Off heat, stir in vanilla and pecans until pecans are
evenly coated. Using soup spoon, spoon heaping
tablespoon nuts and topping over center of each
sticky bun. Continue to cool until sticky buns are
warm, 1 5 to 20 minutes. Pull apart or use ser
rated knife to cut apart sticky buns; serve.
1 . FOR THE DOUGH: In bowl of standing
mixer, whisk eggs to combine; add buttermilk
and whisk to combine. Whisk in sugar, salt, and
yeast. Add about 2 cups four and butter; stir with
wooden spoon or rubber spatula until evenly
moistened and combined. Add all but about
V4 cup remaining four and knead with dough
hook at low speed 5 mnutes. Check consistency
of dough (dough should feel sof and moist but
should not be wet and sticky; add more flour, if
necessary) ; knead at low speed 5 minutes longer
(dough should clear sides of bowl but stick to
bottom) . Turn dough out onto lightly foured
work surface; knead by hand about 1 minute to
ensure that dough is uniform (dough should not
stck to work surface during hand kneading; if it
does stick, knead in additional fl our 1 tablespoon
at a time) .
2. Lightly spray large bowl or plastic container
with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to
bowl, spray dough lightly with cooking spray,
then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set
in warm, draffree spot until doubled in volume,
2 to 21z hours.
3. FOR THE GLAE: Meanwhile, combine all
ingredients for glaze in small saucepan; cook over
medium heat, whisking occasionally, until butter is
melted and mixture is thoroughly combined. Pour
mixture into nonstick metal 1 3 by 9-inch baking
dish; using rubber spatula, spread mixture to cover
surfce of baking dish. Set baking dish aside.
4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE BUNS: For f
ing, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and
salt in small bowl and mix until thoroughly com
bined, using fngers to break up sugar lumps; set
aside. Turn dough out onto lightly foured work
surface. Gently shape dough into rough rectangle
wth long side nearest you. Lightly four dough
and roll to 16 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush dough
with 1 tablespoon melted butter, leaving 12 -inch
border along top edge; with butter remaining on
brush, brush sides of baking dish. Sprinkle f
ing mixture over dough, leaving 3/4- inch border
along top edge; smooth flling in even l ayer with
hand, tl1en gently press mixture into dough to
adhere. Beginning witl1 long edge nearest you,
roll dough into taut cylinder. Firmly pinch sean
to seal and roll cylinder seam-side down. Very
gently stretch to cylinder of even diameter and
1 8-i nch l ength; push ends in to create even
tluckness. Using serrated knife and gentle sawing
motion, slice cylinder in half, then slice each half
in half again to create evenly sized quarters. Slice
each quarter evenly into thirds, yielding 12 buns
( end pieces may be slightly smaller) .
5 . Arrange buns cut- side down in prepared
baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap
and set in warm, drafTee spot until puff and
s c 1 E N c E Designer Yeast
OVE RNI G HT STI CKY BUNS
I f you like, sticky buns can be made and shaped
the night before and then refigerated. The next
morning, set me baking dish in a warm-water
bath to speed the dough's rise.
1 . Follow recipe for Sticky Buns with Pecans;
afer forming and arranging buns in baking pan,
cover pan tightly wim plastic wrap and refigerate
1 0 to 14 hours.
2. Place baking pan in warm-water bath (about
120 degrees) in kitchen sink or large roasting pan
for 20 minutes. Remove fom water bath and let
stand at room temperature until buns look slightly
puff and are pressed against one another, about
1 1 hours. About an hour before baking, adjust
oven rack to lowest position, place pizza stone on
rack (if using), and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Lsfre, the producer of Red Str and S yeast. also makes a line of yeast cal l ed Nevada
Gol d Lbel that is designed for hi gh-sugar doughs. and we thought that an ideal candi date
on whi ch to test it woul d be our seet stick buns. Mer bakng to batches of rol l s, we
found that this special yeast worked. decreasing the time required for the frt rise by
3 3 percent and the second rise by 4 5 percent when compared with the stndard S i nstnt
yeast. In total , this sved us more than an hour i n ri si ng ti me. Our curiosit ws pi qued.
I t' s not easy bei ng si ngl e-cel l ed yeast. Preci ous l i ttl e separtes thei r i nsi des from the
harsh worl d at large-no ski n. no fat. j ust a membrane. Most bakers consi der sugar food
for yeast. but sugar in too high a concentrti on can be a ki l l er. Yeast pl aced in a high
sugar dough can undero osmoti c stress. i n whi ch water wants to flow out of the yeast
and i nto the dough . causi ng the yeast to dr out.
Nevada Gol d Lbel yeast i s desi gned to wi thstand thi s stress better than regul ar
yeast. The dough we made wi th i t performed parti cul arly wel l i n the second ri se. when
the rol l s were shaped. cl oaked i n sugar, and exposed to the ai r-defi ni tel y a harsh envi
ronment for a moi sture- l ovi ng organi sm. I f you bake a l ot of sweet breads, you may
want to keep some Nevada Gol d Lbel on hand. -j ohn Ol son. Sci ence Edi tor
S E P T E M B E R c O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
2 3
' .., _11 ..., 1 5 K-
rc ...,-,,,,_
SWE ET YEAST
Nevada Gol d Lbel
yeast performs
especial ly wel l in our
stick bun reci pe.
See page 32 for mail
order information.
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
This si mple ski l let dessert deserves better than bland flavors and so
g
y cake.
A
s soon as canned pineapple
became readily available in this
country, in the early 1900s, the
pineapple evolved fom a once
exotic symbol of hospitalit into the latest
food trend. This fuit really came into its
own when it appeared on top of the pine
apple upside- down cake. The recipe was
based on the simple technique of cooking
fuit in sugar and butter in a heavy skillet
(usually cast iron) , topping it with cake bat
ter, then baking it. To serve, the cake was
turned "upside down. "
3 B Y E R I K A B R U C E E
too much sauce. In the end, I was able to increase
the sugar by just l/4 cup and to decrease the but
ter-to j ust 3 tablespoons.
Only one problem remained: Using a whole
pineapple made it nearly impossible to fork my
way through the solid layer of rings without
smashing the cake. I traded elegance for practical
ity and cut the fuit into bite-size pieces, creatng
a mosaic design that made the cake easier to eat.
Getti ng to the Bottom
Because butter cake had the best favor of the cakes
I' d tried in preliminary testng, I started there, with
a standard recipe of 1 '1 cups all-purose four, 1 '1
teaspoons baking powder, 8 tablespoons unsalted
butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 whole eggs, and
'l cup whole m. Even with my new and ncely
thickened topping, the juices fom the pineapple
quickly turned this classic cake into a gummy, sac
charine, cloying mess.
Things have changed since the days of
canned pineapple rings studded with Day
Glo cherries. Juicy and sweet fresh pine
apples are widely available. The big surprise
is that fesh, high-quality pineapple has not
revitalized upside-down cake. In fact, when
I tested modern recipes that call for fesh
pineapple ( afer having tested and dismissed
Dole's canned pineapple version as bland) ,
I quickly discovered that the juiciness of the
fesh fuit turned the cake soggy. If it was to
make a comeback, this dessert would need
a topping of caramelized pineapple, coated
( not swimming) in thick syrup.
Fresh pi neappl e makes a better toppi ng for thi s cl assi c cake
than canned frui t, but it requi res adjustments to the reci pe.
The easiest thing to f was the sweetness of
the cake, so I reduced the sugar by 1 cup. Next I
removed a few tablespoons of m, which alleviated
some of the gumminess. To lighten the texture, I
tried increasing the baking powder by V4 teaspoon,
but re cake becane too light and cottony and lost
its structure, crun1bling all over the plate. I tried
cake four instead of all-purpose, but this, too,
weakened the structure of d1e cake to the point
where it was unable to hold up the heavy layer
of glazed fuit. Adding a third whole egg allowed
the cake to maintain its structure, but its texture
became rubbery. Adding just a yol (instead of a
whole egg) turned the cake into a dense pound
cake. Finally, I tred the ony other alternatve, just
an egg white, which succeeded in lightening me
texture wdlOUt compromising me StrUCture.
Staring at the Top
The topping ingredients were the same in most
recipes: half a pineapple, :4 cup of lght brown
sugar ( dark brown sugar turned black in the
oven) , and 4 tablespoons of butter. Also the same
was the basic technique for preparing it: Melt the
butter, stir in the sugar, add the pineapple. The
result was a topping with little caramelized flavor.
Because the pineapple was so juicy, it steamed
in the oven and remained pale. I tried sauteing
the pineapple, butter, and sugar to develop color,
but again the j uice from the pineapple turned
the mixture to soup and prevented browning.
Determined to caramelize the topping, I contin
ued to cook it and thereby evaporate the extra
liquid. But this approach took so long that the
butter eventually burned and the fruit became
shriveled and chewy. Removing the butter from
the equation, I cooked the pineapple in the sugar
alone. When the fruit turned golden brown and
became infsed with syrup, I strained it out and
returned the syrup to the skillet. Now I could
reduce the syrup until it thickened and started
to color ( but not burn) and add the butter at
the end. Using this method, I could control the
moisture in the pineapple ( by cooking the syrup
more or less) and develop a smooth caramel.
But when I assembled all of the elements of the
cake, I discovered that the conservative ration of
j ust half a pineapple had been cooked down to a
mere garnsh. To make the topping an integral
part of the cake, I would have to use a whole
pineapple. In my frst attempt, I also doubled the
amounts of butter and brown sugar. Now I had
R E c 1 p E T E s T 1 N G . Probl em Cakes
TOO DARK TOO S O U PY NOT E N OU G H F R UI T
Duri ng our i ni ti al reci pe testi ng, we noti ced that dark brown sugar added flavor to the toppi ng, but it al so made
for a murk appearance (l ef) . Fresh, uncooked pi neappl e combined with sugar and butter l ed to a sogg top
pi ng (mi ddl e} . Many reci pes ski mped on the frui t, making the pineappl e more garni sh than toppi ng (right} .
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
2 4
Higher oven temperatures of 375 or 400
degrees burned the outside of the cake while leav
ing it raw in the center. The steady, even heat of
350 degrees was the best option. Once baked, the
cake was best lef in the pan for 1 0 minutes before
being fipped onto a serving platter. This was j ust
enough time for the cake to set up and for the
syrup of the topping to thicken slightly.
A far as I was concered, tllis cake needed
no ganlish, but some of my colleagues thought
whipped cream nlight do nicely. Fine witl me
just as long as you hold the maraschino cherries.
PI NEAPPLE UPS I DE - DOWN CAKE
MAKES ONE 9 - I NCH CAKE , S E RVI NG 8 TO I 0
For this recipe, we prefer to use a 9- inch cake
pan with sides that are at least 2 inches high.
Alternatively, a 1 0-inch ovensafe skillet ( cast iron
or stainless steel) can be used to both cook the
pineapple and bake the cake. If using a skillet
instead of a cake pan, cool the j uices directly in
the skillet while making the batter; it's OK if the
skillet is warm when me batter is added.
Pineapple Topping
I medi um ri pe pi neappl e (about 4 pounds) ,
prepared accordi ng to i l l ustrati ons bel ow
(about 4 cups prepared fruit)
cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar
3 tabl espoons unsal ted butter
1h teaspoon vani l l a extract
Cake
1 11 cups (7 11 ounces) unbl eached al l - purpose fl our
1 11 teaspoons baking powder
1 h teaspoon tabl e sal t
8 tabl espoons ( I stick) unsal ted butter, softened
but sti l l cool
lf cup ( 5 1/ ounces) granulated sugar
I teaspoon vani l l a extract
2 l arge eggs pl us I egg whi te, room temperature
11 cup whol e mi l k, room temperature
l . Lightly spray 9- inch round, 2- inch deep
cake pan wth nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. FOR THE PINEAPPLE TOPPING: Combine
pineapple and brown sugar in 1 0-inch skillet;
cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally
during frst 5 minutes, until pineapple is translu
cent and has light brown hue, 15 to 18 minutes.
Empty fruit and j uices i nto mesh strainer or
colander set over medium bowl . Rerur j uices to
skillet, leaving pineapple in strainer (you should
have about 2 cups cooked fruit) . Simmer j uices
over medium heat until tlllckened, begimling to
darken, and mixture forms large bubbles, 6 to 8
minutes, adding any more j uices released by fruit
to skillet afer about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk
in butter and vanilla; pour caramel mixture into
prepared cake pan. Set aside while preparing
cake. ( Pineapple will continue to release liquid as
T E s T 1 N G E o O E N T : Pi neappl e Gadgets
Corer: Aong the specialized gadgets
avai l abl e. corer are the most basic opti on.
Testing showed that keeping them cen
terd on the core is next to i mpossi bl e.
Cutters: Pi neappl e cutters spare you
from peel i ng. as they remove a cyl i nder
of frui t al ong with the core. Gri ppi ng
a pi neappl e whi l e twi sti ng such tool s
through its flesh was no easy task, and
i t resul ted i n a fl ood of j ui ce that spi l l ed
onto the test kitchen foor.
Sl i cer: Vacu Vi n' s Pi neappl e Sl icer cores,
peel s. and sl i ces the fruit i nto a pi neappl e
Sl i nk. Even when we used the largest of
the three sl i ci ng attachments. though.
a 64-ounce pi neappl e yi el ded a mere
23 ounces of fruit engulfed in a puddl e
of jui ce. With a ki fe, a si mi larly sized
pi neappl e did not soak our board, and we
ended up with 3 1 ounces of usabl e fruit.
We' l l sti ck with a knife, though the Vacu
Vin i s the best choi ce for cook who favor
gadgets. -Garth Cl i ngi ngsmith
H. A. Mack Pi neappl e Corer, $ 1 0. 95
Dul l serrtions shred the fruit, and
the verical handle is nearly i mpos
sible to keep centered on the core.
Vahi ne-Pi neappl e Corer, $ 34. 9 5
Te handl e configurtion is decent,
but this is just an overrown-and
ver expensive-appl e corer.
Pi neappl e Pri nce Pi neappl e
Cuter, $8. 99
Lck of a handl e i s uncomforabl e,
and this tool ' s modest height l imits
you to medi um-size pineapples.
Requires an awkard, counterclock
wise rotation.
Norpro Del uxe Pi neappl e
Cuter, $ 7. 99
Extra height and a handle are an
i mprovement, but lots of j uice and
fruit are sti l l l ost. Also requires an
awkard, counterclockise rotation.
Vacu Vin Pineapple Slicer, $ 1 4. 9 5
Te lea of ft evils, tis gadget rquirs
te sme efor 3the oter but does
mor (cors, peels, and slices) .
it sits; do not add tllis liquid to already- reduced
j uice mixture. )
tlat batter is combined. Batter will be thick.
5 . TO BA: Worki ng quickly, distribute
cooked pineapple in cake pan in even layer,
gently pressing fruit into caramel . Using rubber
spatula, drop mounds of batter over fruit, then
spread batter over fruit and to sides of pan. Tap
pan lightly against work surface to release any a
bubbles. Bake until cake is golden brown and
tootl1pick inserted into center of cake comes out
clean, 45 to 50 nlinutes . Cool 1 0 nlinutes on wire
rack, then place inverted serving platter over cake
pan. Invert cake pan and platter together; lif off
cake pan. Cool to room temperature, about 2
hours; tl1en cut into pieces and serve.
3 . FOR THE CA: Adj ust oven rack to lower
nliddle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk four, baling powder, and salt in medium
bowl ; set aside.
4. In bowl of standing mixer ftted witl1 fat
beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-lligh
speed until light and fuff, 3 to 4 minutes .
Reduce speed t o medium, add vanilla, and beat
to combine; one at a time, add whole eggs men
egg white, beating well and scraping down bowl
after each addition. Reduce speed to low; add
about one-third of four mixrure and beat until
incorporated. Add half of milk and beat until
incorporated; repeat, adding half of remaining
four nlixture and remaiiling milk, and fulish wt
remaining four. Give fnal stir witl1 rubber spat
ula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl to ensure
COOK'S EXTRA gives you free recipes onl ine. For to
variations of our pineapple upside- down cake, visit
www. cooksillustrated. com and key i n code 5046. Tese
recipes will be available until October 1 5, 2004.
STE P- BY- STE P P RE PAR I NG T HE P I NEAPPLE
I . Sl ice I i nch off top and bottom. 2. Quarter pi neappl e l engthwise.
Standi ng pi neappl e on one end, cut Pl ace each quarter on its si de and
of strips of ski n from top to bottom. cut out l ight-col ored pi ece of core.
3 . Cut pi neappl e l engthwise i nto
%- i nch stri ps. Tum 90 degrees and
cut crosswise i nto 1/2 - i nch pieces.
...
b L I 1 L ^ b L K b L L 1 C b L K 2 0 0 4
2 5
Tomato Paste in a ] ar
Many brands of tomato sauce are not much more than reconstituted tomato paste.
Could we find a jarred tomato sauce with fresh taste and a good balance of flavors?
I
was cramming my shopping cart with
j ars of pasta sauce to stock up for a
taste test when a young, sophisticated
looking couple stopped in front of the sauce
display. The fellow began to speak emphatically
in Spanish. I thought for sure he was telling his
girlfiend, "Buy this rubbish and we're through. "
But I understood enough to realize that he was
instructing her on which brands to avoid. Then
he pointed out what he considered the absolute
best. It was the winning sauce fom a Cook}s blind
tasting fve years ago. Good call .
Since that tasting, published in the March/
April 1 999 i ssue , a slew of new brands of
j arred pasta sauces have emerged, making for a
booming $ 1 . 4 billion market. Considering that
even the winner of that tasting, Barilla, didn' t
exactly sweep tasters off their feet-it won for
being the freshest tasting of a not very fresh
tasting lot-we wanted to fnd out if any of the
new players could do better. We narrowed the
lineup to the following: the winner of the last
j arred pasta sauce tasting ( Barill a) , the nation' s
three top-selling brands ( Prego, Classico, and
Ragu, respectively) , and fve of the most widely
available newcomers to the market since the
1 999 tasti ng. All of the sauces were ei ther
marinaras or the brand' s most basi c tomato
and herb-style sauce.
The Shi ppi ng News
From our perspective, the challenge of making
a good- tasting j arred pasta sauce is to preserve
a fresh tomato favor. In the 1 999 tasting,
we learned that t he lack of freshness among
j arred sauces can be credited to the common
practice of using tomato paste, reconstituted
with water, as the primary tomato ingredient
instead of a fresher product, such as canned
diced tomatoes . Made from tomatoes that are
cooked for several hours until reduced to a
thick, spreadable consistency, tomato paste is a
highly concentrated product.
Why do most j arred pasta sauce manufactur
ers prefer to use tomato paste-and in relatively
large quantities? Robert Graf, president of the
California League of Food Processors, helped
to clear this up. ( He ought to know; California
grows 10 million tons of tomatoes in a typical
year, supplying 35 percent of the world's pro
cessed tomatoes . ) His explanation was simple
3 B Y M A R Y E L L E N D R I S C O L L E
Where Are the Tomatoes?
NI C E & CH U N KY S MOOTH B UT B LAN D
We spooned equal amounts of each sauce in the
tasti ng i nto a strai ner and then ri nsed the sauce
under runni ng water to see what woul d be l eft.
Our top- rated sauces, i ncl udi ng Bertol l i ( i n left
strai ner) , showed of ni ce chunks of tomatoes, even
after bei ng ri nsed for about 45 seconds, whi l e the
l ow- rated sauces washed away to al most nothi ng.
The Ragu (i n ri ght strai ner) l ef behi nd only tomato
ski n, herbs, and bi ts of di ced vegetabl es.
enough: Most j arred pasta sauces are manufac
tured east of the Rocki es, and fresher- tasting
products, such as diced or crushed tomatoes,
contain a l ot of water. "Water, " he said, "i s very
expensive to ship. " It is therefore much cheaper
to ship tomato paste and reconstintte the paste
with water at tl1e manufacturing plant as a frst
step in making the j arred sauce.
But Wi l l the Ki ds Li ke I t?
Any househol d with chi l dren i s more apt to stock a
jarred pasta sauce than one without ( 69 percent ver
sus 53 percent, respectively, accordi ng to one i ndustry
source) -whi ch begs the questi on, Whi ch sauce do ki ds
l i ke best? To fi nd out, we brought i n a group of 1 9 ffth
and sixth graders from the Atri um School in Watertown,
Mass . , who were happy to take the j ob seri ously. Thei r
favorite, as predi cted, was the sauce with nearl y ti ce as
much sugar (from com syrup) as the others. Prego, whi ch
had 1 3 grams per seri ng versus an averge 7 grms among
the other sauces, i nspi red such comments as "zi ppy good
bl end" and " I ' m i n heaven, I ' m i n heaven ! " But there i s
good news for parents who prefer not to buy such sugar
Another advantage of using tomato paste is
that its low water content makes it extremely
shelf-stable compared with fresh tomatoes. Its
long shelf life gives manufacturers a larger w
dow of time during which they can turn "toma
toes" into sauce.
Fresher Means Better
The good news is that some manufacturers, such
as Patsy' s, Bertolli, and Barilla, do use fresher
tomato products . Each of them uses some
fresher form of canned tomatoes, such as diced
or feshly pureed, as their main tomato ingredi
ent ( although some tomato paste may be used as
a secondary ingredient ) . This difference delivered
not only winning favor but a pleasant chunky
consistency instead of the smooth, ketchuplike
texture of most other sauces in the tasting.
To get a better handle on the differences
between a "tomato paste" sauce and one made
with l ess-processed tomatoes , we ran a small
experiment. We took a portion of each sauce and
rinsed it with water in a fne-meshed sieve until
all of the soluble ingredients were rinsed away. A
reputable portion of tomato chunks remained in
the sieves with the favored sauces ( see example,
far lef) . But woe to the tomato paste sauces that
displayed only meager bits of tomato fesh ( see
example, immediate lef) . With one sauce, little
beyond fecks of herbs, tomato skin, and dehy
drated onion could be observed.
tomato sauces. The panel ' s second choi ce (thi rd pl ace for the adul ts) was Bari l l a, whi ch they appreci ated for its
"tomatoey" chunk texture. The only brand that got a thumbs down was Rgu , whi ch one taster descri bed as "not
spi cy, too smooth , not tomatoey enough, not happy! " -M. D.
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
2 6
1/:1 `')/KKI l/:1/ :/l'I:
Twent-four taster from the magazi ne staf sampl ed ni ne jarred pasta sauces (l abel ed by number so that they coul d not i dentif the brnd) . The sauces were sered warm with
bowls of cooked ziti on the si de. Sampl es were tasted in diferent order by diferent taster, with one sampl e repeated as a control to confirm the val i dit of the test. The taster
rted each sampl e from I to I 0, pl aci ng them in categories of recommended and not recommended. Sampl es were al so scored for freshness of tomato favor, sweetness, saltiness,
degree of herbal flavor, and desi rbi l i t of consi stenc. The sauces are l i sted i n order of preference based on overl l scores from taster.
RECOMME NDE D
PT' S Marinara$ 8. 49 for 24 ounces
Garl i c lovers rl l i ed around this mari nara, sai d to be the very
same sauce sered at the popul ar Patsy' s I tal i an Restaurant in
New York Ci t. In addi ti on to the garl i c, whi ch i s added fresh
( not i n a powder) , the sauce had an equal ly strong herbal
punch and an " OK balance of aci d, sweetness, and sal t. " The
chunk tomato texture was a good refl ecti on of this sauce' s
"reasonabl y fresh" tomato essence. But tal k about sti cker
shock: Patsy' s was more than three ti mes the pri ce of most
other sauces.
BEROW Tomato & Basi l Psta Sauce$ 2. 49 for
26 ounces
Tasters thought that thi s sauce had the freshest flavor. A one
taster summed i t up, " bri ght, zest tomatoes, with some
depth of flavor." The texture was "meat, " with an agreeabl e
bal ance of tomato chunks and puree. Herbs and spi ces were
evi dent but not assertive.
BRILl Mari nara $2. 29 for 26 ounces
Te top jarred sauce i n our 1 999 tasting, Bari l l a held its own
among sauces new to the market for being one of the freshest
in favor. Many taster said they woul d l i ke the sauce more if it
wasn' t so heavily seasoned with oregano. Te oregano notith
standi ng, the sauce had good bal ance and a pl easant chunk
texture.
RECOMME NDE D WI TH RES E RVATI ON S
EMERIL'S Home Stle Marinara Psta Sauce$4. 29 for
2 5 ounces
More than one taster l i kened thi s famed chefs mari nar to piza
suce. Tere was no " Bam ' Tis was i nstead a balanced, "pl ai n
and si mple" suce that some found "not very i nteresting" and
even "ki nda bori ng. " Te texture was that of a smooth puree.
RE COM M E NDE D WI TH RE S E RVATI ONS (coNT.
PREGOTraditional Psta Sauce $ 2. 29 for 26 ounces
A Ameri ca' s top- sel l i ng jarred pasta sauce, Prego was the
favori te i n our ki ds' tasti ng (see page 26) . I ts heavy oregano
taste was popul ar with many tasters but a "dri ed-herb night
mare" for others. More than one taster pi cked up on the com
syrup used as the sweetener.
CLSSICO Sweet Basi l Marinara $ 2. 3 9 for 26 ounces
Thi s fami l i ar- tasti ng nati onal top sel l er wasn ' t a favorite, but
i t was ranked among those consi dered decent enough. A
cooked tomato paste flavor contri buted to a noted sweetness
and thi ck, pastel i ke texture. It "tastes l i ke nondescri pt pasta
sauce from a j ar, " noted one taster.
BUITONI Marinara$ 2. 99 for 26 ounces
Another jarred sauce that was strong on oregano and l i kened
to pizza sauce. It di d have a relatively good bal ance of favors,
but the flavorless, crunchy bi ts of somethi ng uni dentifi abl e
possi bly cel er-were troubl i ng to munch on.
N OT RE COM M E NDE D
RGO Marinara $ 2. 29 for 2 6 ounces
More than one taster sai d that thi s sauce tasted as if i t came
from a ti n can . The absence of favorable comments was strik
i ng: " mi ght as wel l be tomato paste, " "extremely sal t, " and
tastes " heavily cooked/cooked for days," " l i ke V- 8, and
"more l i ke tomato soup, " wi th a texture l i ke ketchup.
COLVITA Marinara Sauce $4. 69 for 26 ounces
A l i ttl e doctori ng with salt and sugar (nei ther of whi ch i s l i sted
in the i ngredi ents) might have saved thi s ul trabl and sauce that
tasted "waaay too tomatoey" -" l i ke a can of crushed toma
toes. " The herbs were al so too undertated.
Another key to a good j arred pasta sauce
turned out to be balanced favor. Many sauces
couldn't get it right, overdosing on the dried
herbs or loading up on sweetener ( sugar or corn
syrup) and salt. When comparing the amount of
sodium and sugar in the sauces, it was readily
apparent that the top three contained only mod
erate amounts of both. Cola vita was the perfect
example of a potentially good sauce that missed
its mark by way of unbalanced favor. It was the
only other sauce in the tasting that wasn' t made
primarily of tomato paste-containing whole and
crushed canned tomatoes-but it also contained
absolutely no added salt or sugar. Tasters felt that
it tasted incomplete, more like canned tomatoes
than pasta sauce.
A for convenience, our favorite Simple Tomato
Sauce requires little more than pantry ingredients
( we like to add fresh basil ) , and it takes about the
same amount of time to prepare as it takes to cook
a pot of pasta. But on nights when any cooking
task seems arduous, you now know which jarred
sauces won' t thoroughly disappoint.
No Mi racl e in a jar
There has not, then, been a revolution in the
making of j arred sauces . The options for a half
decent j arred sauce, however, have broadened
albeit slightly. Given this fi nding, we continue to
plead tl1e case-as we did in 1 999-tlat a quick
homemade marinara remains a far better option.
S E P T E M B E R & O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
2 7
COOK'S EXTRA gives you free reci pes onl i ne. To
get our reci pe for Si mpl e Tomato Sauce, vi si t
ww. cooksi l l ustrated. com and key i n code 5047. Thi s
reci pe wi l l be avai l abl e unti l October 1 5, 2004.
Are Hand-Held Mixers History?
I s there any reason to purchase a hand- held mi xer i n thi s age of al l -purpose
( but expensive) standi ng mi xers?
3 B Y M A R Y E L L E N D R I S C O L L A N D G A R T H C L I N G I N G S M I T H E
I
n head- to- head competitions in our test
kitchen, standing mixers always outperform
held-held mixers . Simply put, a standing
mixer ofers greater fexibility and versatility.
The most obvious difrence is brute force. Any
decent standing mixer can knead bread dough,
but even the best hand-held mixer fails miserably
at this task. A standing mixer also fees up the cook
to take on other tasks.
While these two advantages are dramatic, for
many day-to-day uses, hand-held and standing
mixers are actually quite similar. W hen making
cake batters and cookie doughs, whipping cream,
and beating egg whites, we have found that a
hand-held mixer can yield the same results as a
standing mixer-albeit a little more slowly.
In addition, a hand-held mixer is much cheaper
than a standing mixer, and it's compact and eas
ily transported. If your workspace or budget is
restricted, a hand-held mixer can prove most
valuable-especially if you' re willing to forgo
bread making and to stand by the bowl as the
mixer does its work. But this calculation makes
sense only if you invest in a good hand- held
mixer-and that' s easier said than done.
A Mi x ofT roubl es
Over the years, we've been disappointed by many
hand-held mixers; they can be little more than
glorifed whisks. And who hasn't encountered the
disconcerting smoky odor of a hand-held mixer's
motor as the beaters slog their way through a
particularly stiff dough? These experiences not
withstanding, the promise of a good hand- held
mixer-reliable performance easily had, and at a
low cost-beckoned. And so we assembled eight
leading models to see if we could separate the
wimps fom the workhorses.
Lack of power isn't tle only complaint we've
had with hand-held mixers. With a standing mixer,
splattering isn't much of an issue because the whisk
sits deep in the bowl. A hand-held mixer, however,
can spray both the cow1ter and the cook as the
beaters whirl away. When whipping cream, we
found that most mixers splattered on some level,
but the best mixers kept the mess in the bowl; the
worst managed to propel fecks of cream up to eye
level, which was not aptreciated.
Al of the mixers were able to beat egg whites
to stiff peaks. The main discrepancy resided in the
"feel" of the mixer as it beat the whites; some felt
w1wieldy ( and thus received a rating of "fair" on
this task) , while others felt controlled ( and were
rated "good") .
Making pound cake seemed the perfect test for
a mixer's effectiveness at creaming. Traditional
pound cake contains no chemical leaveners; its
rise comes fom creaming the butter and sugar
until they are light and fuff. Proper aeration
is the key to avoiding an overly dense cake. The
eight mixers tested made pound cakes that rose
to heights wt 14 inch of one another-a range
so negligible that this test counted for little in the
overall ratings.
Power Crunch
The test that really separated the witmers fom the
losers was mixing peanut butter cookie dough.
Unlike chocolate chip cookie dough, which is
easy enough to mix by hand if necessary, thick,
stiff peanut butter cookie dough requires a deter
mined motor. Of the eight mixers tested, only the
KitchenAid and Brawl did not hesitate once the
dry ingredients were added to the sticky m of
peanut butter, eggs, and butter. Four of the mix
ers struggled but ultimately managed to tough it
out as the dough began to come together or the
mixing speed was increased. Two models could
not complete ths task and landed at the bottom
of our ratings.
Somewhat to our surprise, wattage was not a
good indicator of power. Of the mixers that fell
Choosi ng Your Beater
into the run- of- the-mill category, one had the
highest wattage of all eight mixers tested, another
the lowest. KtchenAid, the maker of our winning
mixer, did not even post the machine's wattage
on its box or in its literature.
Because so many consumers judge the power of
an appliance by its wattage, we asked KtchenAid
about this. A representative explained that unlike
most manufacturers, who use AC ( alternating
current) motors, KitchenAid uses a DC (direct
current) motor, which it believes to be less heavy
and less noisy than AC motors. The company aso
claims that this motor is more energy-effcient
and requires less wattage to operate. ( KtchenAid
would not disclose the exact wattage required. )
In sum, the KitchenAid representatve sad, watt
age is not always the best measurement of power
when buying small electcal appliances. Our sci
ence editor explaned that wattage is a measure
of input-the amount of power a motor is taking
in to operate. If a motor is not designed to work
efciently, it can require more input, or wattage,
without necessarily delivering more output-that
is, a stronger performance.
Desi gn Maters
Secondary to power-although still signifcant
was design. Most of the mixers weighed in at
around 2 pounds, 2 ounces, but some felt much
heavier than others and were more fatiguing to
use. For exanple, mixers with angled handles let
In recent year. many manufacturer have abandoned the ol d-stle beater with fat ti nes and a center post for a
more streaml i ned wire beater without the hard- to-cl ean center post. Some sti l l ofer both stl es. whi l e other are
also throwing in a bonus whisk atachment. One model in our testing ofered al l three. How do you know whi ch
attachment to use when? Here' s what we found.
Wi re Beaters
BE ST CHOI CE
Te most veratile of the three stles.
Good for thin batters, thick doughs,
and l i qui ds. Te easiest to clean.
Fl at Beaters wi th Center Post
DE CE NT CHOI CE
Efcienty beat eg whites and cramed
buter and sugr nicely, but tick doughs
became cloged arund te center post.
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
2 8
Whi sk
NOT RE COM M E NDE D
Tended to be flimsy, caused
significant splattering, and was
not ver eficient.
w
"
1 Mb
GOOD: ***
FAI R: **
POOR: *
K/1| I/I III ^7IKb
We tested ei ght hand- hel d mi xers,
evaluating each accordi ng to the follow
i ng criteria. Mixer were categorized as
highl y recommended, recommended,
or not recommended based on the
rati ngs they earned for performance
and desi gn . They are l i sted i n order of
preference.
PRI CE : Pri ces pai d i n Boston- area
stores, nati onal mai l -order catalogs. and
on Web sites.
AITACH ME NTS : Whi l e tests of
di fferent beater stl es reveal ed some
diferences (see box on page 28) , wire
beaters were consi dered the most ver
sati l e and efective. Dough hooks and
nonmi xi ng attchments, such as chop
pers, were not tested.
WHI PPI NG CREAM : Mixers abl e
to whi p heav cream to stif peaks with
l i ttle to no spl atteri ng outsi de of the
bowl were rated good.
BEATI NG E GG WHI TE S : Mixers
abl e to beat eg whi tes to stif peaks
qui ckly and wi thout feel i ng u nwi el dy
were rated good.
POUND CAKE BATTER: Mixers were
rated for thei r abi l i t to cream butter
and sugar. Because al l of the cakes rose
to wi th i n a negl i gi bl e 1/ i nch of one
another i n hei ght, al l were rated good.
PENVTBUTERCOOKI E DOUGH:
Mixers that coul d easily mix a thi ck, stif
peanut butter cookie dough were rated
good. Those that slowed at the task but
were abl e to compl ete the mixi ng pro
cess were rated fair. Mixers that coul d
not compl ete thi s job were rated poor.
DESI GN: Wel l - bal anced mixers, with
easy-to-operate control s, were rated
good.
TESTERS ' COMMENTS : Addi ti onal
observati ons about the mixers' desi gn .
ease of use, or perormance in speci fi c
tests.
.RECOMME
-
NDE D
Ki tchenAid 7 Speed Mixer
Model KHM7T
PR| CE. $69. 99
PR| CE . $49. 99
AIACHME NTS . wire beter,
dough hook, hand blender
shaf, and chopper

RECOMME NDED

Bosch TurboBeat Hand
Mixer Model MFQ 2 1 00
PR| CE . $65 . 00
ATTACHME NTS. wire beater,
dough hooks
Cui si nart SmartPower
El ectroni c Hand Mixer
, .. \


Model HTM- 7L
PR| CE. $49. 99
ATTACHMENTS. wire beater,
whisk
Bl ack & Decker PowerPro
Model MXBS
PR| CE . $ 1 9. 99
ATTACHME NTS . wir beater,
insertable spatula
Oster Eastore Hand
Mixer Model 249 1
PR| CE. $24. 99
ATTACHME NTS . 8Ibeater,
dough hooks
NOT RECOMME NDE D
Frberare Preferred
Hand Mixer Model
FPHM600
PR| CE . $29. 99
ATTACHME NTS . wire
beaters, flat beater,
hooks
WH| PP| NG CREAM.
EAT| NG EGGWH| TES.
POUNDCAKE .
COOK| E DOUGH.
DE S| GN.
WH| P P | NG CREAM.
EAT| NG EGGWH| TES.
POUNDCAKE .
COOK| E DOUGH.
DES| GN.
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
**
TESTE RS' COMME NTS
Never slowed or hesi tated when mi xi ng stif peanut
butter cookie dough. Compact si ze, digital di spl ay for
speeds, and smooth touch-pad speed control made i t a
pleasure to operate: on/of switch was welcome sfet
feature. Mixi ng acti on notabl y "neat. " "smooth, " and
"control l ed" compared with that of others.
Peraps better named Brwn, Wone of just two mixer
that worked through thick cookie dough without slow
i ng. Angled design of wire beater seemed to grb and
whi p up eg whi tes to stif peaks, working faster than any
other mixer with wire beaters. More angled handle with
narrower gri p would have been more comfortable.

WH | P P | NG CREAM. ***
EAT| NG EGG WH| TES. ***
POUNDCAKE . ***
COOK| E DOUGH. **
DE S | GN. ***
WH| PP| NGCREAM . ***
EAT| NG E GGWH| TES. ***
POUNDCAKE . ***
COOK| E DOUGH. **
DE S | GN. ***
WH | P P | NG CREAM . ***
EAT| NGE GGWH| TES. ***
P OUNDCAKE . ***
COOK| E DOUGH. **
DE S| GN. **
WH| PP| NG CREAM . ***
EAT| NG E GGWH| TES. ***
POUNDCAKE . ***
COOK| E DOUGH. *
DE S | GN . **
WH| PPI NG CREAM. **
EAT| NGE G G WH| TES. ***
POUNDCAKE . ***
COOK| E DOUGH. *
DE S | GN. **
WH| PP| NG CREAM. **
EAT| NG E GGWH| TES. **
POUNDCAKE . ***
COOK| E DOUGH. **
DE S | GN. *
Beater design si mi lar to Brun' s and thus extremely efi
ci ent at whi ppi ng. Motor was qui et-" l i ke a modem-day
sewi ng machi ne -and overall operati on felt smooth.
Beaters slowed some when making cookie dough, but
i ncreasing speed took care of thi s. Stright handle com
promised comfort slightly.
On/ of switch, digital touch pad di splay, and good overll
balance were clear design strengths. Di dn' t "bi te into the
cookie dough, " however, requi ri ng mixer to be pushed
through dough, at which poi nt beater tured but di dn' t
appear to be bl endi ng anything.
Thi s mixer strugled some and motor began to smell
when mi xi ng peanut butter cookie dough. I ncreased
speed hel ped, but mixer sti l l had to be pushed through
dough. as beater di dn' t grab i t. We don' t recommend
using spatula attachment that i nserts alongside beater.
Beater eject button was difi cul t to operte.
Except for fi l ure at cookie dough test, performance W
top-notch. Tis mixer splattered least of all tested whi l e
whi ppi ng cream. "sooped" eg whites into sti f peaks,
and neatly creamed butter and sugar in center of bowl. We
loved retrctable cord but found handle hard to hol d.
Square edges on wire beater cl anged and rttled against
sides of bowl . Splatters from whi ppi ng cream reached
eye level , and beater repeatedly boged down i n cookie
dough as motor emi tted buri ng odor. We l i ked handle
gri p, but mixer felt back-heav and vi brted noticeably
duri ng use.
Whi l e there was some boging down of beaters dur
i ng cooki e dough test, our bi gest compl ai nt was thi s
mixer' s tendency to fl i ng i ngredi ents around and out
of bowl . Handl e was S thi ck that even tester wi th lare
hands strugled to mai ntai n his gri p. Beater were dif
ficult to eject.
5 you relax your elbow at your side. Those with Both the KitchenAid and the Cuisinart came
with an on/off switch, which we considered
a welcome safety mechanism-j ust in case the
machine gets plugged in before the beaters are
inserted. We were also big fans of Oster's retract
able cord ( press a button and the cord automati
cally winds into the mixer's housing) . A round
cord design was also preferred to a fat cord with
a crease up the center, because the former is much
easier to wipe clean.
Overal l-and as expected-most of the
mixers tested had their shortcomings. But the
KitchenAid was the total package : powerfl ,
quiet, controlled, and compact. It was a pleasure
to use. It also came with the highest prce tag:
$70. Braun, the runner-up, was cheaper by $20,
but lacked the KitchenAids fnesse. Considering
the KitchenAid's versatility and the fact that our
favorite standing mixer sells for about $250,
maybe $70 isn't s o unreasonable afer all .
horizontal handles ( parallel to the machine' s
body) made it necessary to l i f your elbow i n
order to hold the machine upright. This posture
quickly proved tiring. Balance of weight and the
shape of the handle grip also atiected fatigue. The
number of speeds didn't seem nearly as important
5 te range of power within those speeds. The
C
6 Braun, for instance, with j ust three speeds, out-
performed many models wth seven speeds .
S E P TE M B E R b OCTOB E R 2 0 0 4
2 9
K I T C H E N NOTES
Supercool
If you're in a rush to get a sauce,
soup, or stew fom hot to not so hot,
so that you can put it in the fdge for
storage, the best tiling to do is get it
out of the pot that it was cooked in
and into a wide, shallow receptacle,
such as a baking dish or large bowl.
This increases the surface area,
thereby speeding cooli ng. If you
care to frther fast-forward cooling,
surround the food-filled receptacle
with some ice water in the kitchen
sink and stir the contents occasion
ally. Once cooled tl1e contents can
be transferred to a storage container
and put into the fidge.
Buttermi l k Goes Bust
In our Sti cky Buns ( page 22 ) ,
using room-temperature buttermilk
helps the dough rise more quickly
than using icebox-cold butter.
' B Y D A W N Y A N A G I H A R A <:
Allowing it to sit out on the coun
ter is one way to get the buttermilk
to shake its chill . The microwave
presents a quicker option, but don't
plan on nlicrowaving the buttermilk
with the same gusto as you would
plain milk. With heat-at about 90
degrees, in our experience-butter
milk easily curdles and separates.
For the many batches of buns
that we made, we successfully
brought the buttermilk to room
temperature by microwaving it for
30 to 40 seconds at only 30 percent
power. Because the area in contact
with the measuring cup heats more
quickly than the center, it's a good
idea to stir once or twice.
Picking a Pi neappl e
The usual advice for choosing a
juicy, ripe pineapple is to look for
gold-colored skn and to see if leaves
can be easily plucked fom the crown
(if they can, the fuit is supposed to
be ripe) . A bit of research uncovered
cautionary notes warning that color
is not a reliable indicator of ripeness
because some pineapple varieties are
green even when ripe. That said, the
majority of pineapples in grocery
stores are varietals that tHH be judged
by color. Included in tlis group, and
now quite comnlon, are extra-sweet
varieties fom Costa Rca. When we
selected pineapples for our Pineapple
Upside-Down Cake ( page 25) , we
looked for Costa Rcan fruit with
yellow-orange skin ( or with at least
patches of color) . We also sought
out fuits that gave slightly to gentle
pressure, had a fesh crown of leaves,
felt heavy for their size, and, most
important, had a lively, bright fra
grance. We avoided those that were
uniformly green and uniformly solid,
K | r L m L M s L | L M L L . The Truth about Cutti ng Boards and Bacteria
Te Bac Stor
In 1 994, a research report was pub
l ished that proved to be the open-
i ng salvo i n a l ong battle over whi ch
material was more sanitar for cutting
boards, wood or pl asti c. The research
ers found that fewer bacteria coul d
be recovered from wooden boards
infected with l ive cul tures than from
plastic boards treated the same way.
These results caused the researchers
to question the prevai l i ng view that
pl astic was more sanitar than wood;
some have furher i nterpreted the data
to mean that wood is, in fact, a safer
material for cutting boards. In a report
that fol l owed, researchers at a U. S.
Deparment of Agri cul ture (USDA) l ab
concl uded that beef bacteria on poly
ethyl ene and wooden cutti ng boards
had statistically si mi l ar patterns of
attachment and removal . Even so, the
idea that wood i s more sanitary than
pl astic peri sts and was recently
reafi rmed in the food secti on of the
NeJ York Times.
So What's on Your Cuting Board?
We wanted to get our own perpec
tive on the probl em, so we asked four
staf members to donate thei r used
boards, to wooden and to pl asti c.
We found ver l ittle bacteria growing
on these boards when we sampl ed
them, so we took the boards to a local
lab to have them artifi ci al ly i noculated
with bacteria. Te procedure worked
as follows: A drop of the medi um con
tai ni ng mi l l i ons of bacteria was pl aced
on the boards, the boards were left to
sit for 40 mi nutes to al l ow for absorp
ti on of the bacteria, and an attempt
was then made to remove the bac
teria. In repeated tests, between 6. 0
percent and 8. 1 percent of the bac
teria were recovered from the pl astic
and beteen 1 . 3 percent and 6. 2
percent from the wood. Given that
the number of bacteria recovered
from each tpe of board was wel l i nto
the hundreds of thousands, there was
l ittle to assure us that one material
was much safer than the other.
Soap and Wter to the Rescue
Scrubbi ng the boards with hot soapy
water was a diferent story. Once
the contami nated boards had been
cl eaned, we recovered an averge of
0. 000 I S percent from th cl asti c and
0. 00037 percent from the
wood-or fewer than I 00
bacteria from each board.
In a related test, we were
abl e to trnsfer bacteria
from contami nated,
unwashed boards
made from both wood
and pl astic to petri
dishes usi ng potatoes
and oni ons. But our most surpri si ng
di scover by far was that the bacteria
coul d perist on unwashed boards of
both tpes for up to 60 hour'
What, then, i s the truth about cut
ti ng boards? Both pl asti c and wooden
boards can hol d on to bacteria for
long periods of ti me. Both pl astic and
wooden boards al l ow for trnsference
of bacteria to other foods. Luckily, we
found that scrubbi ng with hot soapy
water was an efective (though not
perect) way of cl eani ng both ki nds of
boards; the USDA al so recommends
the regul ar appl i cation of a sol uti on
of I teaspoon bleach per quar of
water. Si mply put, mai ntenance, not
material , provides the greatest marin
of safet.
-j ohn Ol son, Sci ence Edi tor
C O O K
'
s I L L U S T R A T E D
30
that displayed blenshes or bruises,
or that had an overripe, fermented
aroma. Honestly, we had a pretty
good battng average.
And the leaf-pulling tp? Hogwash.
We encountered pineapples with
easy-to-pluck leaves that were sour
and undoubtedly underripe.
Oodl es of Noodl es
Noodl e shoppi ng for Sesame
Noodles with Shredded Chicken
(page 20) turned up two df erent
brands of fesh Asian-style noodles
available in supermarkets nation
wide: Nasoya and Azumaya. Both
are sold in the refigerated produce
section, tyically near the tof.
Nasoya and Azumaya alike put
their names on packaged noodles
of to different widths, one thin
and one wide. Look for Nasoya's
Chinese Style Noodles or Azumaya's
Asian Style Noodles . Both represent
thin-cut noodles, the te we used
in developing our recipe . Which
of these two brands do we prefer?
When we cooked them up, the
Azumaya noodles were slightly
larger and more substantial than the
slender Nasoya noodles, but both
worked well and were well liked.
Sugar- Pcked
When a Cook)s recipe, such as
our Sticky Buns, calls for "packed
brown sugar, " that really means
frmly packed. But as we learned
afer askng fve test ktchen stafers
to pack brown sugar into a 1 -cup
dry measure, "frmly packed" can
mean dfferent things to different
people. Their packed cups of brown
sugar ranged in weight from 64
ounces to 8 ounces, although on
average they weighed 7 ounces, the
same as l cup of granulated sugar.
For those readers who do not
own kitchen scales, we thought it
would be helpfl to describe the act
of packing brown sugar: Fill the cup
with sugar until mounded, then,
using your fngers, a spoon, the back
of another measuring cup, or the fat
of an icing spatula, compress the
sugar until no a pockets remain and
s H o P P 1 N G : I nstant Confusi on
I n the test kitchen, we empl oy i nstant yeast i n our yeast-l eavened breads and bat
ter. We prefer i nstant yeast to active dr because it does not requi re warm l i qui d
to be activated. Moreover, teaspoon for teaspoon, i nstant yeast contai ns more l iv
ing cells and results i n a qui cker rise. But i nstant yeast i sn' t always sold as " i nstant
yeast. " I t ofen goes by gi mmi ck marketing names that sugest a speedi er rise or
by the term "bread machi ne yeast, " which i mpl i es a ver specific use. No wonder it
causes so much confusion, even among seasoned bread baker.
Her' s a quick rview of the yeasts on the market that really are i nstant. Despite thei r
misleading names, al l of these yeasts will work i n any recipe cal l i ng for i nstant yeast.
SAF: Bread Machi ne Yeast (i n jar) , Gourmet Perect Rise (i n packets) , I nstant
Yeast (i n vacuum- packed bri cks) .
RED STAR: Bread Machi ne Yeast (i n jars) , Qui ck-Rise Yeast (i n packets) .
FLEI SCHMANN' S : Brad Machi ne Yeast (i n jar) , Rpi d Rise Yeast (i n packets) .
If you' re sti l l in doubt, look at the i ngredi ent l ist on the l abel . I nstant yeast avai l
able to consumer usual ly contai ns ascorbi c
aci d, whereas active dr does not.
I
%W1bhL Lb hh11lVt
Aeischmann's' Fleischmann's' Fleischmann's

, Yeast. Hl , Yeast. Yeast.
Despite thei r names, all of these products contai n the same thi ng: i nstant yeast.
Cook's Er gives you free additional i nformati on onl i ne. To read a thorough
investigati on of yeast-i nstant and otherise-visit ww . cooksi l l ustrted. com and
key in code 5048. Ti s i nformation wi l l be avai l abl e unti l October 1 5 , 2004.
the sugar can be compressed no more
( but be reasonable-don' t strain a
muscle) . If the cup isn't completely
flled, add more sugar and compress
again; if it is then mounded, push or
scrape of the excess so that the sugar
is level with the sides of the cup.
Te Way the Meat Crumbles
When making the meat sauce for
our Lasagna Bolognese (page 1 5 ) ,
we found i t important to break up
the ground meat as it cooked. If lef
with large meat chunks, the sauce
didn't allow the pasta to form neat,
compact layers. Most cooks use the
edge of a wooden spoon to break
up chunks during cooking, but we
discovered that a potato masher ( see
illustration) is much more efcient.
A quicker way to crumble meat
Kneadi ng by Hand
In the test kitchen, a standing mixer
or a food processor is the machine
of choice for mixing and kneading
bread doughs. But some cooks don't
own either, and a hand-held mixer
is simply too lightweight ( see page
28) . Using your hands, of course, is
certainly an option.
Over the years, we've fow1d that
the fol lowing method works with
most bread doughs. Start by mixing
the wet ingredients in a large bowl .
Add about half of the flour called for
and m with a wooden spoon w1til
combined. Stir in the remaining
flour, leaving aside l4 to l2 cup. At
this point, the mixmre should form a
shaggy dough.
Turn the dough onto a lightly
foured work surface and knead,
adding tl1e reserved fl our as needed,
until me dough is no longer sticky.
Most doughs, including te one for
our Sticky Btms, wl require l 0 to 1 5
minutes of kneading by hand. Expect
to get a good upper-body workout,
but your eforts wl pay off A long
as you resist me temptation to add
too much four, hand- kneaded
dough yields Stick Buns ( and omer
breads) that compare favorably wim
buns made from machine-kneaded
doughs.
RE C I P E U P DATE : READERS RESPOND
Chocol ate Chi ps or Bars?
When a reci pe cal l s for chocolate, we usual ly reach for qual i t bar chocol ate, but
severl readers wondered if i nstead they coul d use chocol ate chi ps i n our Chew,
Fudg Tri pl e Chocolate Browni es (May/J une 2000) . The i dea i s appeal i ng.
Chi ps requi re no prep, whereas choppi ng up a bl ock of bar chocolate makes a
mess. We baked four batches of browni es-one with bi ttersweet bar chocolate,
one with semi sweet bar chocol ate (the reci pe cal l s for ei ther) . a thi rd with com
monly avai l abl e semi sweet chi ps, and a fourth wi th bi ttersweet chi ps.
Surpri si ngly, the texture and appearance of al l four pans of browni es were the
same. There were, however, sl i ght di ferences in flavor. Whi l e the browni es made
with ei ther form of bittersweet chocol ate (chi ps or bar) were general ly preferred
for thei r compl exi t, browni es made wth semisweet bar chocol ate were pre
ferred over those made wi th semi sweet chi ps, and the bi ttersweet bar al so won
out over the bi ttersweet chi ps. In the end, though, sweetness l evel (bi ttersweet
versus semi sweet) was more i mportant than the form of the chocol ate (bar
versus chi p) . We had especi al ly good resul ts with Ghi rardel l i Doubl e Chocolate
Chi ps, whi ch are made with bi ttersweet chocol ate.
Cool -Weather Barbecue
I n the dead of wi nter, i t' s di fi cul t to mai ntai n the constant gri l l temperture nec
essary for barbecui ng. That' s why several readers wrote wonderi ng if there was a
way to make our Baby Back Ri bs Uuly/August 2002) i ndoors.
We found that maki ng ri bs i n the oven worked. We kept the cooki ng temper
ture constant at 27 5 degrees, el evated the ri bs on a rack, and cooked them, al ter
nately fi ppi ng the ribs and rotating the pan ever 30 mi nutes. for three hours, at
whi ch poi nt the ri bs were ni ce and tender. The probl em with these ri bs was thei r
l ack of smok. gri l l ed flavor. Addi ng l i qui d smoke to the bri ne or smoked paprika
to the rub amounted to i nteresti ng i deas that di dn' t pan out. To make matters
worse, wi thout the smoke. the flavor of the ori gi nal reci pe became unbal anced; it
was overly salt. Cutti ng back on the strength of the bri ne (we used j ust '14 cup of
tabl e sal t and '14 cup of sugar) hel ped put the favors back in bal ance. A for a good
hi t of smoke, our advi ce i s to sere the ri bs with a smok barbecue sauce.
Phyl l o Troubl e
We stock a l are size of phyl l o i n the test
kitchen, and, because we thought i t was
the only size avai l abl e, we were surprised
to hear that some readers were having
a hard time fi tti ng al l of the fi l l i ng from
our Qui ck Appl e Strudel (September/
October 2003) i nto thei r pastr sheets.
It turns out that Athens phyl l o. the most
common brand, i s avai l abl e in two sizes.
Both are I - pound packages, wi th the
l arer size contai ni ng 20 sheets measur-
Smal l er sheets of phyl lo (top)
are best for baklava, whi l e larer
sheets ( bottom) are better for
strudel .
i ng 1 4 by 1 8 i nches and the smal l er size contai ni ng 40 sheets measuri ng 1 4 by 9
i nches-exactly hal f the size of the l arer sheets.
For the strudel reci pe, our preference is sti l l for the l arer sheets. I f you can fi nd
only the smal l er sheets, divi de the fi l l i ng evenly and make two smal l er strudel s.
Whi l e news of the smal l er phyl l o requi red some probl em solvi ng when i t came
to our strudel reci pe, we found that i t si mpl ifi ed thi ngs when we tried i t with our
Baklava ( March/ Apri l 2004) . The smal l er si ze phyl l o fits quite wel l i nto the bot
tom of a 1 3 by 9- i nch pan , thus el i mi nati ng the step in whi ch the larer sheets of
phyl l o are to be cut in half.
- Compi l ed by Ni na West
I F YOU HAVE A QUESTI ON about a recently publ i shed reci pe, l et us know.
Send your i nqui r, name, address, and dayti me tel ephone number to Reci pe
Update, Cook' s I l l ustrated, P. O. Box 470589, Brookl i ne, MA 02447, or to
reci peupdate@bcpress. com.
S E P T E M B E R c O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4
3 1
E QUI P ME NT COR N E R
WL1 M
Prex Sereware
Te winner of ou ratg
ofl3 by 9-inch bakig
pans in the March/
Arl 2004 issue
Pex-now comes
in a dressier verion.
Pyrex Serveware is
designed wth outer
surfaces that resemble
a woven basket. The changes
are strictly aestheti c. The original
1 3 by 9- inch ( or 3 - quart) Pyrex
Bakeware costs less than $9, while
the new Serveware is closer to $1 2.
Performance differences between
the two lines are nonexistent, but
spillovers are more diffcul t to
remove from the Serveware's tex
tured outer surface. We'll stick with
the original and save some money
and cleanup time.
M WL1
Cordl ess Hand- Hel d Mixer
Many cooks use a hand mixer to
whip cream, beat a few egg whites,
or pull together a quick cookie
dough. We wondered if a cordless
newcomer could compete with the
mixers rated on page 29.
Black and Decker's $30 Gizmo
Twist Mixer is a battery-powered,
hand-held mixer with a single beater
attachment. While it could whip
cream nearly as quickly as a typical
hand mixer with two beaters, beat
ing egg whites was a lengthy chore,
and the mixer strained once the egg
whites thickened and approached
stiff peaks . The manufacturer did
not recommend the Gizmo for
anything thicker than pancake or
wafe batter, and we soon found
The conveni ence of thi s
batter-operted mixer can' t
compensate for i ts l ack of power.
3 B Y G A R T H C L l N G l N G S M l T H E
out why. It lacks oomph. We tried
making cookies, but the Gizmo's
single beater j ust couldn't grab
the butter to cream with
the sugar in the fashion of
a traditional hand mixer
with two opposing beaters.
Adding otl1er ingredients to
the bowl caused the Gizmo
to grind to a halt.
Black and Decker's Power
Pro hand mixer, which has a cord
and was rated in this issue, costs just
$19.99, yet it rated well for whipping
cream and egg whites and also man
aged to handle cookie dough and
pound cake batter. In the end, we
found a cord to be less of a hindrance
than an uncharged battery and
poor performance.
M W L1
Al l - Clad Lsagna Pn
The All- Clad Stainless Steel Roti is
our top-rated roasting pan (see the
January/February 1999 issue) . But
in the test kitchen, we also make
use of a smaller version of tllis pan,
the Petit Roti. Neitl1er pan comes
cheap, usually priced at $260 and
$210, respectively. Given their eye
popping price tags, we were curious
when All- Clad recently introduced
a "Gourmet Accessory" Lasagna
Pan that looks suspiciously similar
to the Petit Roti but sells for just
$ 1 00. Could this new pan be a
bargain hunter's drean come true?
To fnd out, we put the two smaller
pans up against each other in a series
of tests tlat included roasting a 12-
pound turkey, making gravy on tl1e
stovetop, and roasting carrots .
At 1 5 by l2 inches, the lasagna
pan boasts an extra inch in length
and width over the Petit Roti, pro
viding ample room for tl1e turkey
and easily straddling two burners
for making gravy. Browning of tl1e
roasted carrots was equally modest
in both pans . The Petit Roti has
distinctive vertical handles ( as does
the big roasting pan) . The lasagna
pan's handles extend horizontally,
thus requiring more oven space but
still affording a sure grip.
Finding the pans to be nearly
identical in terms of both appearance
and performance, we called All-Clad
to confrm our suspicions. They
were confrmed. We l earned that
both pans are basically the same.
The $ 1 00 price of the lasagna
pan is a promotional , introductory
price tl1at will be subject to rising
along with the pan' s popularity,
according to All - Clad. What then
appears to be a luxury item for-of
all things-lasagna is actually a
great multipurpose buy. With the
exception of cooking a huge bird,
the lasagna pan makes a fne ( and
inexpensive) roasting pan.
Thi s Al l - Cl ad Lsagna Pn can doubl e as
a roasti ng pan and costs half as much as
the ver si mi l ar Al l - Cl ad Petit Roti .
3W LL3 M 1M
Nonsti ck Oven Uner
Our Sticky Buns reminded us of
the mess that can overflow a baking
pan and stick to the bottom of the
oven. For $25, Chef's Planet offers
a Tefl on-coated mat that fts on the
bottom rack of the oven and can
be run tlrrough the dishwasher for
cleanup. Sounds great, right?
We put tllis product to tl1e test
by spilling some fruit flling and
caramel on it in a hot oven and let
ting them bake on for 15 minutes.
We mistakenly damaged the liner in
this frst test because of what turned
out to be inadequate instructions,
which direct the cook to "place
the Chef' s Planet Ovenliner on
the bottom of your electric oven,
under the element. For gas ovens,
place the Ovenliner on the bottom
rack. " Well, our test kitchen ovens
are electric, but the heating element
is hidden beneath te oven floor. A
call to Chef's Planet confrmed what
we had already found out: Placing a
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
3 2
liner on the foor of such an oven
causes it to overheat and damages
its Tefon coating. The next time
around we placed the liner on the
bottom rack of our electric oven,
and it performed well . Cleanup,
however, was not quite as easy as the
manufacturer promises; a short soak
and a good scrubbing were needed.
We conducted a third test with
aluminum foil and aferward sim
ply tossed it in the trash when we
were done. It remains our liner of
choice.
Sources
The fol l owi ng are mai l - order sources for
parti cul ar i tems recommended in thi s
i ssue. Pri ces were current at press ti me
and do not i ncl ude shi ppi ng and han
dl i ng. Contact compani es di rectly
to confi rm up-to-date prices and
avai l abi l it.
page 23 : SWEE DOUGH YE
SNevada Gol d, 1 5 . 86 oz. : $6. 50,
i tem # 1 49 1 , The Baker' s Catalogue
(P. O. Box 876, Nori ch, V 05055-
0876; 800- 827- 6836;
w . bakerscatalogue. com) .
page 2 5 : PI NEPPL GADGE
Vacu Vin Pineapple Sl icer: $ 1 4. 95, item
#68924, Sur L Tabl e ( P. O. Box 34707,
Seattl e, WA 98 1 84- 1 608; 800-243 -
085 2 ; ww. surl atabl e. com) .
page 29: HAND- HEL MIXERS
KitchenAid 7 Speed Ultr Power Plus
Hand Mixer: $69. 99, item # I 07 1 28,
Kitchen Etc. ( 3 2 I ndustrial Drive,
Exeter, NH 03 83 3 ; 800- 23 2-4070;
w . kitchenetc. com) .
Brun Mul ti Mix Hand Mixer with
Hand Blender Attachment: $49. 99, item
#25 5093 , Kitchen Etc.
page 32: PREXSERVEWARE
Textured Oblong Baking Di sh, 3 Quar:
$ 1 1 . 99, item #934604, Kitchen Etc.
page 32: LGNA P
Al l -Clad Sti nless Lsagna Pn:
$99. 95, item #59906, Cutler and
More (645 Lunt Avenue, El k Grove
Vi l l age, IL 60007; 800- 650- 9866;
w. cutl erandmore. com) .
RE C I PE S
September 6 October 2004
Mai n Di shes
BeefTenderl oi n
Gri l l - Roasted 7
Gri l l - Roasted on Gas Gri l l 8
Lasagna Bol ognese, Si mpl ifi ed I S
Roasted Chi cken Breasts I I
with Chi potl e. Cumi n, and
Ci l antro I I
with Garl i c, Rosemary, and
Lemon I I
with Herbs and Porci ni
Mushrooms I I
with Ol ives, Prsl ey, and
Lemon I I
Sesame Noodl es
wi th Shredded Chi cken 20
wi th Sweet Peppers and
Cucumbers 20
Sauces
FOR B E E F TE N D E RLOI N :
Romesco Sauce 8
Ci l antro- Parsl ey Sauce wi th
Pi ckl ed Jal apenos 8
Si de Di shes
Acorn Squash
wi th Brown Sugar I 3
wi th Rosemary-Dri ed
Fi g Compote 1 3
Mexi can Ri ce 1 9
Twi ce- Baked Potatoes
Baked Potatoes for 9
wi th Bacon, Cabbage, and
Cheddar 9
wi th Broccol i , Cheddar, and
Scal l i ons 9
wi th Ham, Peas, and Gruyere 9
Sweets
Pi neappl e Upsi de- Down Cake 25
Sti ck Buns wi th Pecans 22
Overni ght Sti ck Buns 23
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Mexican Rice, V
Lasagna Bol ognese, | b
Twice- Baked Potatoes with Broccol i,
Cheddar, and Scal l i ons, V
Roasted Chi cken Breasts,
Sticky Buns with Pecans, Z Z
PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TRE MBLAY, STYLI N G : MARY J ANE SAWYER
[.( i Mto
j rC r r r
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