Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2024 i Cook's Country

WHEN I LIVED in Baltimore, the sounds and scents from an amazing nearby farmers’ market filled the springtime air with a palpable energy. As couples strolled past our window with travel mugs in hand, kids on scooters, and dogs in tow, Charles Village awoke from its wintry slumber to a drumbeat of percussionists playing and breakfast tacos sizzling, and I returned to my habit of reading and thinking about and then tinkering with recipes that embrace the fresh flavors of the season. In this issue of Cook’s Country, there are a variety of irresistible dishes that will entice you to visit your local farmers’ market in search of new or familiar produce, some of it peaking for a very brief time. And don’t fret if your enthusiasm gets the best…

FRESH BASIL OIL Makes about 1 cup Total Time: 25 minutes, plus 1 hour straining As the finished oil sits, some solids will settle at the bottom of the jar; stir oil to recombine before serving or, if you prefer a clarified oil, simply pour the oil off the top without stirring. 4 ounces fresh basil leaves and stems1¼ cups vegetable oil 1. Remove woody stems from basil (you should have about 3 ounces leaves and tender stems); discard woody stems. Fill large bowl halfway with ice and water. Bring 6 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add basil and cook until leaves are just wilted but still bright green, 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately drain basil in fine-mesh strainer, then submerge strainer and basil in prepared ice bath.…

Ancho-Rubbed Flank Steak and Cilantro Rice with Avocado Sauce Serve with lime wedges, if desired. 1 cup long-grain white rice1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed1 (2-pound) flank steak, trimmed and cut into 4 equal steaks1 tablespoon ancho chile powder2 teaspoons table salt, divided¾ teaspoon pepper, divided2 tablespoons vegetable oil2 cups fresh cilantro leaves and stems, chopped coarse¼ cup jarred sliced jalapeno chiles1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons juice1 avocado, halved, pitted, and chopped coarse 1. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 12 minutes. Drain rice in fine-mesh strainer and return it to saucepan. Stir in beans and cover to keep warm. 2. Rub steaks with chile powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½…

CAN A DESSERT be light and luxurious at the same time? It can if it is strawberry mousse. Mousse can be intimidating to make—but it doesn’t have to be. Let us break down the formula to this special seasonal dessert. Blooming Gelatin When using gelatin in recipes, blooming it is essential. Blooming guarantees that the final product will be smooth, without gelatin clumps. When you incorporate gelatin into a small amount of cool liquid (typically by sprinkling it over the top), the gelatin absorbs the liquid, enlarging each granule. Adding the bloomed gelatin to a warm liquid dissolves it, and as it cools, it sets up. In our Strawberry–White Chocolate Mousse, the strawberry puree we add the gelatin to is thicker than most liquids, so, to avoid clumps, the gelatin…

Making Matzo in America Matzo is a thin flatbread made with flour and water. It’s the only bread product permitted during Passover. By Jewish law, matzo dough must be baked within 18 minutes of mixing to ensure that the dough doesn’t begin to ferment and therefore remains unleavened. The French invention of a matzo-rolling machine in 1838 made matzo mass production possible. In 1888, the first American matzo factory opened in Cincinnati. Lithuanian immigrant Dov Behr named his factory after the deceased man whose passport he purchased to enter the United States: Manischewitz. Behr transformed matzo production, creating machines that produced square matzo instead of the traditional rounds. Cutting a sheet of matzo into squares eliminated the possibility of trimmings being reincorporated into a new batch of dough and violating…

EARLY SPRING BRINGS longer days and the appearance of crisp veggies at farmers’ markets, but there’s still an evening chill. On such nights, you’ll want this warm dish for dinner: sweet, succulent shrimp and an assortment of spring vegetables bathed in enough butter for cozy decadence. Garlic, pepper flakes, lemon, and dill make the sauce irresistibly lively, and it’s generous enough that you’ll want plenty of crusty bread or pasta for sopping up every last drop. It’s a restaurant-worthy meal (in fact, it was inspired by a dish at Zaytinya in Washington, D.C.), but it comes together easily at home and in just one skillet. Here’s how. Start by sautéing your vegetables: shallot for depth, sugar snap peas for springy “green” flavor with a crisp bite, and thick rounds of radish,…

America’s Test Kitchen has been teaching home cooks how to be successful in the kitchen since 1993. Our mission is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Millions watch our two shows on public television; read our two flagship magazines (Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated); and rely on our books, websites, app, videos, and podcasts. America’s Test Kitchen is located in a state-of-the-art Boston facility with 15,000 square feet of test kitchen and studio space. Learn more at AmericasTestKitchen.com. DOWNLOAD OUR APP The America’s Test Kitchen app delivers the best-tasting recipes, how-to-cook videos, and more! Download America’s Test Kitchen today and become a culinary master! Go to AmericasTestKitchen.com/app.…

A COLLINS COCKTAIL is defined by sourness from citrus and effervescence from carbonated water. There are many iterations out there, with playful names from the well-known Tom Collins (made with Old Tom gin or London dry gin) to Mike Collins (splashed with Irish whiskey), Jack Collins (Calvados), or Joe Collins (vodka). This recipe was inspired by the cucumber collins featured in our Editor in Chief Toni Tipton-Martin’s book Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice (2023) (see “The American Table”). Her version is made by muddling cucumbers to release their flavorful juices; adding plenty of lemon juice, some elderflower liqueur, and herbal gin; and finishing with lemon-flavored sparkling water. It’s a delicate balance of light and floral. While Tipton-Martin’s recipe calls for shaking one cocktail, we wanted to make a larger…

STUFFED BIRDS ARE elegant, studded hams look impressive, and beef roasts signify opulence. But no holiday main course is more regal than a crown roast of pork. It is a spectacle consisting of two bone-in pork loin roasts tied together in a circle with the bone tips pointed upward to create a crown shape. You can purchase a crown roast from your butcher, but going the extra mile and assembling your own at home has an advantage that goes beyond a sense of accomplishment—you can make a more delicious roast. Our method involves two basic steps. First, you have to french the bones for the proper look, and when you do this at home, you can reserve the meat trimmings for the base of a tasty pan sauce. And second,…

SEARED OR STIR - FRIED greens—simply cooked in hot oil with just garlic and salt—elevate any meal with their bold color and bright, energizing flavor. My favorite green for this dish is the humble pea green, a verdant vegetable that brings delicious, nutritious appeal to your table. Pea greens (not to be confused with young pea shoots) are the leaves and hollow stems of mature snow pea plants. Their flavor is sweet and delicate, not unlike the grassy brightness of fresh peas. While they can be found year-round in most Asian supermarkets, you can often find them during the spring and summer months at farmers’ markets (when the greens are at their most tender). As with most stir-fries, the aim is to cook the pea greens hot and fast. You…

RHUBARB, A FLEETING springtime darling that’s often a sidekick to strawberries, deserves to be celebrated all on its own for its unique tangy flavor. This recipe for rhubarb shortcakes does this vegetable-masquerading-as-a-fruit justice. Raw rhubarb is tough and stringy, but it breaks down quickly (and loses some of its astringency) when cooked. You can certainly cook it on the stovetop, but then you run the risk of it breaking all the way down and turning to jam. To keep some texture, toss the rhubarb with sugar and gently bake it in a 325-degree oven. This method produces intact rhubarb pieces suspended in a sweet syrup—just right for a shortcake. Shortcakes are rustic, lightly sweetened biscuits. Using generous amounts of butter and buttermilk in the dough ensures that they are rich.…

THIS RECIPE IS for those nights when there’s hardly any time to cook but you crave the unique nourishment and comfort that only a home-cooked meal can deliver. The mechanics are simple: Add seasoned chicken breasts to a hot oiled skillet and turn them a few times until cooked through and then make a quick cherry tomato sauce in the same pan while the chicken rests. And though it is that simple, the flavors are anything but. Herbes de Provence, a French blend of herbs, is a powerhouse of flavor, adorning the mild, juicy white meat with an exceptionally well-seasoned crust. Flipping the breasts every 3 minutes encourages even, gentle cooking and safeguards that crust from getting too dark. The 10-minute cherry tomato sauce is bright, warm, and fresh-tasting yet…

THIS DISH IS a supremely satisfying mash-up of mac and cheese with sausage and peppers. There’s something about this combination of elements—the creamy cheese sauce laced with fontina and Parmesan; the tender morsels of garlicky Italian sausage; the sweet sautéed onion and peppers—that makes this meal as comforting as standard mac and cheese but more exciting. Some elements of the recipe are worth taking a moment to zoom in on, as attention to them guarantees delicious, failproof results every time. First up is the pasta shape. Sure, if you’re a purist you could go with elbow macaroni, but we really like the way the spirals and crevices of rotini hold on to the creamy sauce. Boiling the pasta until just al dente ensures that it doesn’t get soft or mushy…

A FRIED-FISH TACO is great, but battering and frying is not the only path to delicious fish tacos. Choosing a rich, flavorful fish such as salmon allows you to ditch the batter and deep frying in favor of a bold spice rub. And using an air fryer means you don’t need a pot full of oil because the air fryer is not actually frying the food but rather cooking it using strong convection heat. Start by generously coating the tops and sides of salmon fillets with smoky canned chipotle chile, cumin, granulated garlic, and salt. Besides adding flavor, the seasonings form a crisp crust as they air-fry. To ensure that the fish holds together while cooking, it’s important to start with skin-on fillets and to cook them in a foil sling…

WATER BOTTLES ARE made of different materials and come in various designs and sizes, which may make it hard to decide which one is right for you. We tested bottles made from stainless steel, plastic, and glass and found that each material has pros and cons. Plastic bottles tend to be lighter than glass and stainless-steel bottles but can’t keep water cold for long periods and tend to sweat. Double-walled stainless-steel bottles are durable and excellent insulators but can be heavy. Glass bottles provide the closest experience to drinking from a regular glass, but they’re not great at keeping water cold and are fragile. We also evaluated mouthpieces including spouts/mouths, bite valves, and flip-down straws—each style had benefits and drawbacks. Wide mouths were easier to fill and clean but occasionally spilled…

ORANGE-FENNEL BUTTER SAUCE Serves 4 (Makes ½ cup) Total Time: 10 minutes We love to serve this warm butter sauce with braised artichokes (page 38); pour it into individual bowls and set them out for dipping. It’s also delicious with shellfish, mashed potatoes, steak, chicken, or fish. 8 tablespoons unsalted butter1 garlic clove, minced¼ teaspoon table salt1 tablespoon minced fennel fronds1 teaspoon Dijon mustard½ teaspoon grated orange zest Combine butter, garlic, and salt in small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until butter is melted and garlic just begins to sizzle, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in fennel fronds, mustard, and orange zest. Serve warm.…

Our Editor in Chief Toni Tipton-Martin introduced this drink to our team, but she was inspired by another source: Melba Wilson. In Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice (2023), Tipton-Martin writes, “I could not resist fidgeting with the Cucumber Splash in Melba’s American Comfort so as to up my collins game. Melba Wilson is owner of the iconic Harlem restaurant Melba’s and is the creator of a fried chicken recipe that won Bobby Flay’s Throwdown! competition on his Food Network television program. In her book, Melba calls to muddle a thick slice of cucumber in the bottom of a cocktail shaker, then add Hendrick’s gin, elderflower liqueur, and lemon juice. The elderflower’s floral undertones take the place of sugar or simple syrup; it’s a perfect foil for the aromatic gin,…

IN LATE SPRING, long, spiraling curlicues of garlic scapes start to show up at farmers’ markets and in some grocery stores. These leggy stems come from the tops of hardneck garlic bulbs; by cutting off the scape, farmers encourage the plant to divert its energy and resources to feeding the underground garlic bulb. Scapes are beautiful and tasty—an elegant tangle of spring flavor. Scapes taste garlicky without the punchy burn of raw garlic cloves. They have a slight herby grassiness that makes them a good candidate for making pesto or slicing thin to use as a garnish. Cooked, they take on a sweet, nutty flavor akin to roasted garlic. Grilling is an excellent way to bring out this sweetness while adding a flavor from the fire. Two tips: You must…

CRAB SEASON IN Maryland is supposed to officially open on April 1. But in 2022, cold waters kept the crabs dormant and delayed the harvest by a few weeks. Travis Todd, owner of Ocean Odyssey Restaurant in Cambridge, Maryland, says, “For the first time in history, we didn’t even have crab cakes on the menu because we didn’t think we could get the meat because the crabs weren’t here yet.” Apart from those challenges, he adds that a shortage of seasonal workers hired to pick crabmeat through a limited number of H-2B visas also threatened production in many of the local packing houses. Add to that the rising cost of diesel fuel, which powers most crab boats and transport trucks, plus the increased price of wood used to make crab…

THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ONIONS 1. While there are dozens of onion varieties, all of them can be classified as either pungent or mild. 2. The most common types of sweet onions are Vidalia, Maui, and Walla Walla, which are all named after where they are grown (in Georgia, Hawaii, and Washington state, respectively). 3. If a recipe calls for just “onions,” you can use any pungent onion (yellow, white, or red). If a recipe calls for sweet onions, you can use any sweet onion. But don’t use pungent in recipes that call for sweet or sweet in recipes that call for “onions.” Pungent onions have tapered necks and tight skin. They contain more sulfur and have more of a burn when eaten raw. Sweet onions generally have a…

WHETHER YOU CALL it matzo toffee, crunch, brittle, or bark, you’ll know upon first bite why this salty-sweet, crunchy, chocolaty delight has become a Passover dessert staple for many Jewish families. Matzo is permitted during Passover, an eight-day holiday during which leavened foods and those made of specific grains are avoided, so desserts using it are common. Matzo toffee—made with matzo, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate—is quick and easy and can be made ahead (welcome traits during a busy holiday week). Montreal-based pastry chef Marcy Goldman is credited with creating “matzoh crunch” in the mid-1980s. While looking for a Passover-friendly dessert to appease her toddler, she took inspiration from saltine toffee, swapping matzo sheets for saltines and topping them with a bubbling mixture of brown sugar and butter and a…

NEARLY ALL THE artichokes consumed in the United States are grown in California. One of the most common preparations for artichokes is to simply steam or boil them whole. When the artichokes are tender, you pull the leaves apart to dip into melted butter, mayonnaise, or vinaigrette. As the leaves disappear, the delicious base emerges for a final treat. In this recipe, we braise the artichokes in broth reinforced with white wine, fennel, orange, garlic, shallots, and thyme. And we reserve the long-cooked fennel, shallots, and garlic to blend into a creamy, flavorful dipping sauce. BRAISED WHOLE ARTICHOKES WITH WHITE WINE, FENNEL, AND ORANGE Serves 4 Total Time: 1¼ hours This recipe makes a dipping sauce with the braised vegetables. You can also serve the artichokes with Orange-Fennel Butter Sauce…

Our June/July 2024 issue will inspire you to fire up the grill. We have recipes for flavor-packed Smoked Chicken, Grilled Pork Chops, and Smoked Corn plus easy but impressive Grilled Bruschetta with Three Toppings. We also embrace summertime produce with a Green Peach Salad, Tomatoes with Fontina Sauce, and Sweet Corn Pancakes. For dessert, you can’t go wrong with our dreamy Peach Ripple Ice Cream or layered Crepe Cake with Mixed Berries. HUNGRY FOR MORE CONTENT? Visit us on Instagram: @cookscountry What Cook’s Country recipes are you cooking at home? Post them on Instagram with the hashtag #CooksCountry. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/CooksCountry Find us on Instagram instagram.com/CooksCountry Follow us on Pinterest pinterest.com/TestKitchen Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/TestKitchen Follow us on TikTok tiktok.com/TestKitchen…