In addition to my recipe boxes, my kitchen has at least 15 cookbooks: general cookbooks such as The Joy of Cooking, specialized cookbooks like Williams-Sonoma Fish, and even regional cookbooks like Albuquerque’s Great Green Chile Classic. I use them all upon occasion and could happily spend hours in the cooking section of the bookstore. However, the most valuable and frequently used tool in my array of cookbooks is The New Best Recipe.
The editors of Cook’s Illustrated magazine compiled more than 1,000 recipes in The New Best Recipe. In many ways, it is a cooking manual as much as a compilation of recipes as it tests multiple recipes and techniques to find the best recipe. At the beginning of each recipe, the book details what the dish should look like before providing step-by-step directions about what they did and why. The “why” is what separates The New Best Recipe from other cookbooks.
The New Best Recipe gives cooks of any skill levels all the tools they need to succeed. Readers find out what works, and why, but also what didn’t work, and why not. This is extremely helpful for those of us who take short cuts and have non-traditional cooking techniques. The editors detail the variations they tried to achieve the dish, and provide substitution suggestions if you don’t have an ingredient. For example, Macaroni and Cheese has three full pages dedicated to its creation and recipe (p. 287-289). The editors explain how the combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses will provide the best texture and flavor, and how doing it entirely on the stovetop with a few minutes in the broiler makes the dish taste better than if it was baked. And then it gives two variations (With Peas and Ham or With Kielbasa and Mustard).
Additionally, the book provides mini-essay comparisons about ingredients and equipment a la Consumer Reports. Readers learn the best brand or type of skillet – nonstick or regular – for different meals, and what canned white bean is the best. The Cook’s Illustrated series also has The Best Light Recipe, The Best Make-Ahead Recipe, and The Best 30-Minute Recipe, among others.
The book is not perfect. The table of contents and index are not very detailed, especially for a tome of this size. The book has tiny print and uniform fonts, so differentiating between the recipe and the dialogue is not always immediately apparent. The New Best Recipe has drawings of techniques, and some black and white pictures, but this is not the cookbook for those who like glossy food photographs. Additionally, recipes are definitely not in the low-fat category.
All of this detail and information is great, but the most important part of the cookbook is that the recipes truly are the best. Every recipe I’ve made from it has been delicious. And that’s what truly matters!
