The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 3rd Edition: Cookware Rating Edition
Over time, twin enterprisesCook's Illustratedmagazine and America's Test Kitchen have published  many books dedicated to providing exhaustively tested recipes--"best" versions of traditional dishes plus  definitive takes on kitchen equipment and ingredients. Some series readers have complained of endlessly  recycled or rejiggered recipes; others take each book at face value, finding the formulas and cooking  insights good and helpful. America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which calls itself a cookbook, cooking  school, and kitchen reference in one, offers over 1,200 approachable recipes for a very wide range of  dishes--from "weekday" fare like Creamy Rice Casserole, Cheesy Nachos with Spicy Beef, and Skillet  Lasagna, to dressier recipes, including Pan-Seared Lamb Chops with Red Wine Rosemary Sauce, Roasted Trout  Stuffed with Bacon and Spinach, and Chocolate Marshmallow Mousse. There are "specialty" chapters devoted  to sandwiches, drinks, and slow cooker and pressure cooker dishes; a grilling section is a tutorial in  itself.Unorthodox, "better-way" approaches abound. For example, a fried chicken formula instructs the cook to  wet the bird's dry coating slightly before it's applied for an extra-crunchy crust. Predictably, side  bars feature equipment and ingredient evaluations, on bottled salsa, for example; "good food/bad food"  photographs show readers what to aim for when producing fare like holiday cookies; and there are tips,  charts, and "Cooking 101" sidebars galore. Step-by-step photos offer more direction still.Though the majority of recipes are sound and yield tempting results, readers poring through the book will  note gaffes and curiosities. The recipe for poached eggs, for example, offers the option of extra cooking  for "firm yolks" (hard-boiled poached eggs, anyone?) and hamburgers receive an indentation before cooking  to avoid "puffy" domed burgers, a novel problem that could, in any case, be solved by proper shaping. The  addition of sugar to some savory dishes--for example, a pan sauce for steak--is misguided. Readers should  also know that the book, which comes in loose-leaf form, requires some assembly, and that the pages  themselves are quite thin, making them vulnerable to spills and tearing in daily kitchen use.These things said, the book delivers solid, family-friendly dishes with enough fully orchestrated "how- to" to make even novice cooks feel secure when tackling the basics or more ambitious fare.What's New in the Revised Editon?First out in 2005,America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbookwas praised for its recipe ease,  inclusiveness, and wealth of helpful information, but was also criticized for its physical production. A  loose-leaf book with its pages included separately, readers found it inconvenient to assemble and its  paper impractically thin. The revised edition is printed on heavier stock, and arrives with its pages  already on its rings (there are two more now, for sturdiness) with only chapter dividers to insert, a  simple task.In addition, new inside front and back covers provide information on emergency substitutions, roasting  guidelines, equivalent measures, and more--and a "Light Recipes" chapter has been included. Without  defining precisely what "light" means--fewer fats and carbs, or a combo?--the section offers attractive  all-course recipes, such as turkey chili, veggie burgers, meat and cheese lasagna, and chocolate bundt  cake. Some readers will welcome the "slimming" of familiar dishes while others will find some of the  manipulations--using cornstarch to thicken the sauce in fettuccine alfredo or ricotta to add body to a  reduced-fat pesto, for example--unappealing. The book, however, remains a valuable kitchen tool--and one  with greater convenience and durability than before.--Arthur BoehmExclusive Recipe Excerpts fromThe America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook  (Revised Edition)Butternut Squash SoupLight Chicken ParmesanClassic Apple  Pie