America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

[bluemack]

Hi,
I got the ATK Family cookbook for Xmas. It has 1200 recipes that were tested in their kitchen. Don't know if I should keep it or bring it back for another one. Has anyone used this cookbook that you would recommend it

or

can you recommend any others that I might exchange for at my local Borders book store.

thanks,

mack

 

[Caine]

Is there something wrong with the book you were given as a gift, or are you just in the mood to exchange something?

I've been watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS for years, and although I find their destruction of perfectly good food to make a point about how certain dishes can be screwed up to be offensive, and their claim that their recipe is the absolute best debatable because "absolute best" is arbitrary, I find their recipes are very good, and extremely well tested, which you can't say about every cook book out there.

My advice: Keep the cookbook, and if you absolutely, positively HAVE to exchange something, exchange the cotton underwear your grandmother gave you for a thong!

 

[GB]

I find ... their claim that their recipe is the absolute best debatable because "absolute best" is arbitrary

Yes it is, but if you notice, they generally say something along the lines of "we have found this to be the best". The key word being "we". They are not trying to claim that what they say is the end all be all. They are just saying that they tried a number of different things and here is what they liked best.

I have a few of their cookbooks and I think they are great. Have you looked through the book yet? You should be able to tell, just by flipping through, if you want to keep it or exchange it. Do the recipes appeal to you? Do they use ingredients that you want to use? Are the techniques ones you know how to do or want to try? Do you like the layout of the book?

I would keep it, but that is just me because I know I like their stuff.

 

[Elf]

I ould vote keep it. I have one, have used some of their recipes, found them pretty good, thou I feel they slant more to a New England style of cooking.

 

[QSis]

I ould vote keep it. I have one, have used some of their recipes, found them pretty good, thou I feel they slant more to a New England style of cooking.

Yeah, well, natch.

I have the book that is the companion of the 2003 ATK series. My brother made the Scalloped Potatoes with Wild Mushrooms (page 219) for Christmas dinner. Spectacular! I have never been a fan of scalloped potatoes, but these were absolutely wonderful!

Lee

 

[Franca]

I haven't seen this one in particular but I'd keep any ATK or Cooks Illustrated publications I received if I didn't already have them. The ones I've got are excellent, as is the Cooks Illustrated magazine.

 

[bluemack]

thank you for your imput. I was just wondering if this is indeed a cookbook with good recipes that others have tried on the website. It is one thing for the authors of their own cookbook to say it is good, and another thing entirely for the rest of you who use it to give it good marks.

mack

 

[auntdot]

Have one or two of their books and have received their magazine for many years.

And they have a lot of good ideas. They tell you honestly how they tested the recipe and what their pitfalls and successes were. And many of their 'failures' were ideas I might well have tried had I not read the piece.

Have not purchased the recent book, but am trying to keep my compulsive cookbook buying under some degree of control. Am a cookbook junkie.

In my opinion, their recipe directions are sound.

Are they the best? Well that is a matter of individual preference. But I like their approach to cooking.

 

[bluemack]

what are other cookbooks that all of you like from the recipes you have tried and like. Which cookbook and which recipe(s) in that cookbook did you try and love?

mack

 

[Michael in FtW]

I find it highly ironic that you would trust ATK to influence your "cookware" selection (AC SS) but don't trust their recipes.

The thing I like about the ATK cookbooks (no, I don't agree with all of the recipes) is the explanation of the steps they went through to reach their final recipe. You can learn a lot from that. I have a couple of their books - don't agree with everything ... but I've learned a lot that I can apply to other dishes.

I've got a few shelves of cookbooks ... Joy of Cooking is #1 on my "if I only had one cookbook" list, anything by Julia Child, Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet).

We've discussed this again and again before ... you might want to spend a little time reading the previous posts in the "Cookbook" forum....

 

[Franca]

The thing I like about the ATK cookbooks (no, I don't agree with all of the recipes) is the explanation of the steps they went through to reach their final recipe. You can learn a lot from that. I have a couple of their books - don't agree with everything ... but I've learned a lot that I can apply to other dishes.

I don't think I agree with everything in any cookbook. Recipes that include explanations, variations, and substitutions really do provide a great deal of incredibly useful knowledge. I find that now I can lose a recipe or forget to buy some critical ingredient and still pull off a tasty meal.

 

[bluemack]

It's not that I trust ATK with my cookware selection. They pointed me in a direction that I have then followed up with additional research on this discussion board and others. Their cookbook did the same thing: give me a direction that I also do more research on.
But your comment is well noted.

m

 

[suzyQ3]

It's not that I trust ATK with my cookware selection. They pointed me in a direction that I have then followed up with additional research on this discussion board and others. Their cookbook did the same thing: give me a direction that I also do more research on.
But your comment is well noted.

Did you say something about trusting ATK regarding cookware? If so, I missed it. My opinion is that you should look at the book and see if it calls to you. I'm personally not that enamored with the whole "testing" format when it comes to cookbooks or magazines. I tried to love Cooks Illustrated; I really did. But I just became increasingly annoyed with the minutiae. I'm just more interested in the end result, I guess.

That said, it is a gift, and perhaps you shouldn't look it in the mouth, as they say.

 

[StirBlue]

Obviously not an everyday cookbook but maybe a good reference guide. You're only going to find a few good recipes in any cookbook but you'll go back and reread them occassionally if only looking for an idea. Cookbooks like Betty Crocker, Joy of Cooking, etc, you will use all the time.
If you really do not want the cookbook and not sure what to get, return it for store credit to use later. Nobody needs a white elephant taking over the kitchen.

 

[GB]

Obviously not an everyday cookbook but maybe a good reference guide.

Can you expound on this a bit more? Why would you think this is not an everyday cookbook?

 

[Veloce]

It seems to me that there are basically two kinds of cookbooks: the ones you use when you know what you want to make but don't know how to make it, and the ones you use when you're trying to decide what to make. Joy of Cooking is an example of the former. My current favorite is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Most of the "celebrity" cookbooks and cookbooks based on television programs are in the latter category. Some that I particularly like are by Jeff Smith, the Two Fat Ladies, Jacques Pépin, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver.

 

[BreezyCooking]

As a cookbook "collector" (Lord, I must have several hundred by now), my unofficial criteria, regardless of the type of cookbook or its author, is if, after briefly thumbing through it, I find at least 6 recipes that appeal to me, it goes home with me! Lol!!

 

[suzyQ3]

As a cookbook "collector" (Lord, I must have several hundred by now), my unofficial criteria, regardless of the type of cookbook or its author, is if, after briefly thumbing through it, I find at least 6 recipes that appeal to me, it goes home with me! Lol!!

You are easy, Breezy.

So let me ask this: Have you ever encountered a cookbook that didn't contain at least six appealing recipes?

 

[BreezyCooking]

Plenty!!! But I couldn't tell you what they were, because I just put them back down & promptly forget about them. There are way too many interesting cookbooks to thumb through & possibly purchase - lol!!!!

 

[StirBlue]

Can you expound on this a bit more? Why would you think this is not an everyday cookbook?

An everyday cookbook is one that covers Jan 1st - Dec 31st. I have a friend who loves her Campbells Soup cookbook (a thirty page book with menus for cooking with condensed soups). She doesn't use it everyday, only when soup is on sale and she has coupons.

The American Test Kitchen show is entertaining and offers a lot of information. It is always interesting to watch. The ATK cookbook might be the everyday cookbook for a new generation.

I have two microwave cookbooks that are everyday; one is Sunset and the other (more useful) was published by JC Penney.