Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (62 page)
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
If using a regular yellow onion, increase the sugar to 1 teaspoon.
1 | Vidalia onion, diced fine |
¹⁄ | teaspoon paprika |
1 | tablespoon lime juice |
¹⁄ | teaspoon sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
Pinch cayenne pepper |
Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. (Relish can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.)
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
2 | cups fresh cilantro leaves |
1 | cup fresh mint leaves |
¹⁄ | cup plain whole-milk yogurt |
¹⁄ | cup finely chopped onion |
1 | tablespoon lime juice |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground cumin |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl halfway through. (Chutney can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.)
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
The appeal of Sichuan green beans lies in their crinkled, chewy texture and intriguing spicy tang, but it’s a result traditionally achieved by deep-frying. For the same dish without the mess, we stir-fried our beans longer than usual so that they became charred in places. This gave them the deep, caramelized flavor we wanted. For our sauce, we combined dry mustard, dry sherry, a little sugar, ground white pepper, chopped scallions, and a drizzle of sesame oil, then added ground pork, which worked fine as a replacement for the shredded bits of Chinese barbecued pork often added at restaurants.
SERVES 4
To make this dish vegetarian, substitute 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and minced, for the pork, adding 1 teaspoon oil to the pan in step 3 before adding the mushrooms. The cooking of this dish goes very quickly, so be sure to have all of the ingredients prepped before you start. Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
2 | tablespoons soy sauce |
2 | tablespoons water |
1 | tablespoon dry sherry |
1 | teaspoon sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon cornstarch |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground white pepper |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
¹⁄ | teaspoon dry mustard |
2 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
1 | pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces |
¹⁄ | pound ground pork |
3 | garlic cloves, minced |
1 | tablespoon grated fresh ginger |
3 | scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced thin |
1 | teaspoon toasted sesame oil |
1.
Stir together soy sauce, water, sherry, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, pepper flakes, and dry mustard in small bowl until sugar dissolves.
2.
Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add beans and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender and skins are shriveled and blackened in spots, 5 to 8 minutes (reduce heat to medium-high if beans darken too quickly). Transfer beans to large plate.
3.
Reduce heat to medium-high and add pork to skillet. Cook, breaking pork into small pieces, until no pink remains, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, mashing mixture into pan, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds. Stir sauce to recombine and return beans to skillet with sauce. Toss and cook until sauce is thickened, 5 to 10 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in scallions and sesame oil. Serve immediately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Thai cooking is known for its unique balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors, but traditional recipes often call for a laundry list of ingredients to meet that goal. For our Thai-style stir-fried vegetables, we found a way to give our dish authentic Thai flavor without using a lot of hard-to-find ingredients. A simple sauce base of fish sauce, lime juice and zest, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes gave our veggies the complex flavor we were looking for.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
SAUCE
3 | tablespoons fish sauce |
1 | teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1 tablespoon juice |
1 | tablespoon light brown sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
VEGETABLES
1 | tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil |
1 | eggplant, cut into ³⁄ |
6 | garlic cloves, minced |
1 | tablespoon grated fresh ginger |
2 | scallions, sliced thin |
¹⁄ | cup fresh basil leaves, torn into rough ¹⁄ |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Stir together all ingredients in small bowl until sugar is dissolved.
2. FOR THE VEGETABLES:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggplant and cook, stirring every 10 to 15 seconds, until browned and tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
3.
Clear center of skillet; add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, and ginger and cook, mashing mixture into pan, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds. Stir mixture into eggplant. Add sauce and cook until thickened, 5 to 10 seconds. Off heat, stir in scallions and basil and serve immediately.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
SAUCE
³⁄ | cup coconut milk |
¹⁄ | cup water |
3 | tablespoons smooth peanut butter |
3 | tablespoons fish sauce |
1 | teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1 tablespoon juice |
1 | tablespoon light brown sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
VEGETABLES
1 | tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil |
1 | large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¹⁄ |
10 | ounces broccoli florets, cut into 1-inch pieces |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
1 | teaspoon grated fresh ginger |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl until smooth.
2. FOR THE VEGETABLES:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering, 2 to 3 minutes. Add red pepper and broccoli and cook, stirring every 10 to 15 seconds, until just barely tender, about 2 minutes. Clear center of skillet; add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, and ginger and cook, mashing mixture into pan, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds. Stir mixture into vegetables. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in sauce mixture. Simmer to heat through and blend flavors, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
SAUCE
1 | cup coconut milk |
3 | tablespoons fish sauce |
1 | teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1 tablespoon juice |
1 | tablespoon light brown sugar |
2 | teaspoons red curry paste |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
CAULIFLOWER
1 | tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil |
1 | large head cauliflower (3 pounds), cored and cut into ³⁄ |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
1 | teaspoon grated fresh ginger |
6 | ounces snow peas, strings removed |
2 | tablespoons minced fresh basil |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl until smooth.
2. FOR THE CAULIFLOWER:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring
occasionally
,
until just barely tender, about 3 minutes. Clear center of skillet; add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, and ginger and cook, mashing mixture into pan, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds. Stir mixture into cauliflower. Reduce heat to medium-high and stir in sauce mixture. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is just tender, about 2 minutes. Add snow peas and continue to simmer until cauliflower is fully tender, about 3 minutes longer. Sprinkle with basil. Serve immediately.
STIR-FRYING? THROW OUT YOUR WOK!
We love the theatrics of the kitchen, and few pans seem as fun to use as a wok. So imagine our disappointment when we realized woks simply don’t perform as well as we thought. A wok’s shape is the culprit. The conical bottom is designed for a pit-style stove; the flames lick and engulf the pan, making most of the surface area hot even when food is added. But when you set a wok over a conventional stovetop, the heat becomes concentrated in the pan’s bottom and the larger surface area of the sides simply doesn’t heat as well. And when food is added to the wok, the pan’s temperature drops. The results? Meat that steams instead of searing and vegetables that turn soggy, rather than crisp-tender. So what does work on a conventional stovetop? A large nonstick skillet. Its flat-bottom design allows more of the surface area to come in direct contact with the flat burner and enables it to remain hot even after food is added. This higher heat translates to better browning and more flavor. The bottom line? Don’t invest in a wok; use what you probably already have—a skillet.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For stir-fried broccoli with tender yet still crisp broccoli and a flavorful Asian-inspired sauce that wouldn’t drown our perfectly cooked vegetables, we prepared the stalks and florets separately since they cook at different rates. Because a blazing hot flame consistently resulted in mushy, torched broccoli, we instead stir-fried the vegetables over medium-high heat. Tossing the broccoli with a sprinkling of sugar before adding the sauce deepened the caramelization. We also developed a variety of flavorful sauces, and thickened each slightly with cornstarch to prevent it from inundating the florets and turning them soggy.