America's Best Recipe

Well, I must say our culinary experiences today were less than fantastic. My wife and I both came home feeling rather peckish and so quickly made up a burger and salad for dinner- not very exciting, but it did serve the purpose.

In lieu of a review of restaurant/ recipe I would like to talk this evening about our new favorite recipe book America's test kitchen. The book really should be bought by everyone reading this blog it is just fantastic. What is best about the book is the way it can work for so many different levels of chef. I count my self as fairly proficient in the kitchen- I have worked in the culinary industry professionally and have more than a little flair and imagination. However this book still serves as an awesome guide to all your traditional dishes- making each and every one of them just perfect. The book is therefore superb for beginner chefs, as so long as you follow the instructions laid down absolutely word for word you cannot go wrong and you will produce a perfect dish to stun all those who generally mock your attempts in the kitchen.

The premise of the book coming from America's Test Kitchen - is to find the perfect recipe for all tradition dishes- such things as the perfect chocolate chip cookie, the best ever roast turkey and the ideal macaroni cheese. What I like best about the book however is the way in which it explains exactly why each step needs to be taken in that particular way. This helps the chef who has a tendency to rush and skip over things to really understand why the time must be taken and why details are of such utmost importance.

Everything we have made from this book has been fantastic- the tomato soup recipe was probably our favorite- words cannot express the degree of perfection that this recipe acquired, the chicken with 40 cloves of garlic (lovingly butchered by my vegetarian wife) was also divine, as was the cobb salad, and the strawberry tart.