100 Recipes: The Absolute Best Ways to Make the True Essentials

by America's Test Kitchen (Editor)

A provocative, handpicked collection of relevant (and surprising) essential recipes for today’s cook.

We have countless recipes at our disposal today but what are the real keepers, the ones that don’t just feed us when we’re hungry or impress our friends on Saturday night, but inspire us to get into the kitchen? At the forefront of American cooking for more than 20 years, the editors at America’s Test Kitchen have answered this question in an essential collection of recipes that you won’t find anywhere 100 Recipes Everyone Should Know How to Make. Organized into three recipe sections—Absolute Essentials, Surprising Essentials, and Global Essentials—each recipe is preceded by a thought-provoking essay that positions the dish. For example, Treating Pasta Like Rice Simplifies Everything; A Covered Pot Is a Surprisingly Good Place to Roast a Chicken; and Re-imagine Pie in a Skillet to Simplify the Process. You’ll find useful workday recipes like a killer tomato sauce that’s almost as easy as opening a jar of the store-bought stuff; genius techniques for producing amazing flavor—try poaching chicken breasts over a garlic-and-soy- spiked brine (trust us, it’s that good); and familiar favorites reinvigorated—the best beef stew comes from Spain (and it’s even easier to make than the stateside stew you’ve been eating for years). Gorgeous photography (shot right in the test kitchen) accompanies every recipe, revealing the finished dish as well as highlights of its preparation. Likely to stir debate among anyone interested in food and cooking, 100 Recipes Everyone Should Know How to Make provides a snapshot of how we cook today and will galvanize even the most jaded cook to get into the kitchen.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Culinary, Ebooks

368 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2015

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Emma Whear · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it. The cookbook I've been looking for, and will buy my kids when they reach the "oops I don't know how to cook" age.

Zero sense of uppity-ness, but also a keen eye for skill and detail, which is what cooking mostly is.
Also, time-saving, tested hacks. I'm all for that.

The theory of this book is that most people aren't great cooks because they either:
1). use bad or meh recipes
2). don't cook the same thing enough times to get good at it

So what we really need isn't more recipes, it's the basics, down pat. Here's 100 recipes that cover the basics, with a whole lot of fun science and methodology.

Bought it for myself.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 1 is scrambled eggs and number 14 is grilled cheese. 100 Recipes by America's Test Kitchen starts with a very basic recipe. "A great cook starts with the best recipes." This book continues with more basic recipes such as grilled cheese and pot roast. The beginning set of recipes are American called The Absolute Essentials, and these recipes are accompanied with detailed directions and explanations providing the homecook with information that the end result will be excellent scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, pot roast, or pancakes and even chocolate chip cookies. The second set of recipes is named The Surpising Essentials: Innovative Recipes You Didn't Know You Needed which include recipes such as Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Rustic Bread. The final set of recipes, The Global Essentials: Exciting Recipes That Bring The World to Your Kitchen,includes Tandoori Chicken and Chocolates Pots de Creme which I definitely want to try. This cookbook helps the homecook to comprehend and then deliver delicious food.

[Lindsay Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of America's Test Kitchen's cookbooks. I own a few of them, so I check others out from the library to see if owning a particular book would buy me anything that my current ones don't. Most of the recipes in this book are already included in the three books I own (the ATK TV show cookbook, the Mexican food cookbook, and the Crockpot Revolution #1 book). But, this book is still great. It teaches even more than the other books do, and has only 100 essential recipes; it would be a fantastic book for someone just learning to cook. An additional comment: the pictures are fantastic (much better and bigger than some of the pictures in the other ATK cookbooks). Someday I might buy this book for myself anyway even though I don't need it, but I will definitely keep it on the list of good wedding gifts to give people.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots of good inspiration great breakdowns and explanations. The set up is a little weird with split pages of the recipe. 4.5 stars

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the food science and precise instructions.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things I have tried that blew my mind:
Pork Tinga: This cookbook is worth the cost for this recipe alone. This tinga is amazing. It takes a while, but its ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT.
Omelet: This is the fluffiest egg soufle like omlette. Its egg-cellent.
Potstickers: It makes a TON but these are just as good as any that I've had in a restaurant
Indonesian Fried Rice: Holy cow. I feel like a real chef making this one, it has excellent complex flavors

Things that I tried that were good and I'd make again:
Scrambled Eggs: I had been making mine all wrong for years, this taught me the right method
Pub Burgers: A lot of work, but they came out great
Jalapeno corn bread with honey butter: Also came out great
Grilled Steak: The reverse sear takes a while but it makes getting an even medium rare much easier
Mexican Corn: I can make my own Elote!
Thai Basil Chicken: Just as good as any standard thai take out spot
Chiken Souvlaki: The flavors are quite nice, the tzakiki (sp) is a little tricky
Potato salad: Even as someone that isn't a big fan of potato salad (I made this for a party) this is good and not too hard to make

Things I'd skip:
Stirfried Beef and Broccoli: This was was a little bland for me
Chocolate Chip Cookies: Not much better than the recipe on the back of the chips bag so not worth the time
Tortilla Soup: Too bland, needs more in the soup

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book to cook your way through, whether novice or advanced. Simplifies (rather, perhaps, maximizes) techniques for the best quality dishes you'll make.

Recipes for classic dishes include basics such as scrambled eggs, tomato sauce, roasted broccoli, and chocolate chip cookies (not to mention countless meats). Sounds simplistic unless one remembers that time they had the best of one of these classic dishes- America's Test Kitchen expertly assesses tradition and evaluates the best methods for cooking. The result, then, is that (too often) elusive "best [insert dish]" you've ever had.

More innovative and global recipes- beyond the basics- keep this book relevant. There are recipes for quinoa, poached salmon, and cauliflower soup; Peruvian Roast Chicken, Thai Beef Salad, and Pho. There's even an Enchiladas Verde recipe here, which is something I've looked for repeatedly, without success, in my other classic cookbooks.

As I turned the pages hungrily, I dreamed up cooking classes and dinner parties and the most satisfied diners in my own home. Thus, this one is going on my wish list and will certainly be a standard gift for beginning cooks.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a great find. This would be a great resource to keep on the shelf. It may sound weird that you need recipes for the essentials and basics. It simplifies recipes and you know from America's Test Kitchen they're good recipes that taste good. I like how it also included ethnic dishes and new dishes that have gained popularity in the home kitchen. Good photos.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

The perfect starter cookbook with great pictures and clear directions that are pretty much guaranteed foolproof.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I would have had this cookbook when I was 20! Step-by-step instructions and illustrations for some great, essential recipes.

[Linda M. Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cooking tips

Really a great read. Lots of good information with scientific facts to back up the recommended methods. A must read for the novice or experienced cook

[taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything from learning how to scramble eggs to surf and turf fanciness! I must own this one day!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great cook book....there's always something I can learn from America's Test Kitchen!

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best cooking book that offers not only easy to follow recipes but also tips and tricks of the trade that turn you from amateur to aspiring chef. Delicious, easy, and incredibly obsessive!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't get a chance to try too many recipes before I had to return this to the library, but what I did try turned out very well. Well written instructions and a good variety of recipes in this.

[Ryan Jung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book a few years ago and instantly fell in love with a handful of the recipes, in particular the pot roast, which is the best pot roast I've ever eaten. Every time I've made a meal from this book, everyone who eats it loves it.

I recently went through it again looking for a few things to spice up dinnertime, and I found a handful of other recipes that I'll be trying over the next few weeks.

The best part about this book is the attention paid to technique and describing *why* the techniques work. The authors don't overcomplicate this, either; what you do in the kitchen is not rocket science. There are good methods in here for making traditionally complicated or attention-consuming recipes like polenta and risotto mostly hands-off. I can't recommend this book enough.

[Amaryca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I wish someone had bought me when I went off to college... or had bought for myself after college when I finally started teaching myself how to cook. It teaches you how to nail the essentials. It is a cookbook with personality. It gives great guidance whether you are a beginner or someone looking how to step up your game to make more elevated essentials.

[Jen Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets 4 stars for being a great resource for people who don’t have a lot of experience cooking. I am a more experienced in the kitchen than the average home cook, but still learned some good tips.

[Jeff Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great starter cookbook. It begins with the most basic of recipes, scrambled eggs, and continues with staples from around the world. This book would be a great gift for an aspiring chef.

[Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic simple, flavorful recipes. A most have in anyones cook book collection.

[Marjorie Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only basics

I bought this cookbook thinking I might pick up an idea or two. I was wrong - there is such a wealth of information here that I know it will become a favorite.

[Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't get enough of ATK.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the diligence and detail of America’s Test Kitchen writers. This gave some great advice that I look forward to, well, testing.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very beginner cookbook, basic, bland, substitutions are lacking.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should own this cookbook, read it cover to cover, then start cooking!