NUMB E R E IGHTY-ONE JULY AUGUST 2006

1 1 1 ` J 1 1 1
Foolproof Grilled
Hamburgers
You Can't Overcook Them'
Cuban BBQ Pork
Make-Ahead
Picnic Chicken
No More Rubbery Skin
Best Peach Crumble
Crisp Topping, Juicy Fruit
How to Grill Shrimp
Illustrated Guide
to Kitchen Knives
Rating Blenders
Bargain Model a Winner
Ketchup Taste Test
Grilling Onions 101
Best Pesto Pasta Salad
Creamy Key Lime Bars
Pizza Mar
g
herita
www. cooksi ll ustrated .co m
$5.95 U.S./$6.95 CANADA

'`+i!+c
July 6 August 2006
2 Notes from Readers
Readers ask quest i ons and sugest soluti ons.
4 Quick Tips
Quick and easy ways to perform everday tasks, from
storing onions to taki ng the chi l l out of rested meats.
6 The Ultimate Picnic Chicken
How do you give cold picnic chicken great flavor without
flabby, stick ski n? k with James Bond's marti nis, the
secret i s shaken. not sti rred. BY SARAH WILSON
8 An Easier Way to Grill Shrimp
Gri l l i ng shrimp in thei r shel l s protects the del icate fesh,
but seasoni ngs are peel ed away at the tabl e. Could we
del iver tender, flavorful gri l l ed shrimp-without the shells?
BY REBECCA HAYS
I 0 Pizza Margherita at Home
Authentic reci pes for this Neapol itan piza cal l for an
BOO-degree oven, two days of proofing, and a dough
expert's hands. We wanted real Margherita-hold the
hassle. BY ERIKA BRUCE
12 Perfecting Cuban-Style
Pork Roast
Garl ick. citrus-i nfused pork i s a natural for the backard
gri l l. Unforunately, so are dr meat, burnt skin, and fai nt
flavors. We gri l l-roasted 200 pounds of pork to get it
ri ght. BY SANDRA WU
I 5 Rescuing Sauteed Zucchini
Thi s summertime stapl e cooks up sog and bl and in the
ski l l et. Could we bai l it out? BY SEAN LAWLER
16 Illustrated Guide to Knives
Do you real ly need $400 worth of fored German steel?
Here's our guide to choosi ng (and usi ng) the essential
knives-and which ones don't make the cut.
BY SEAN LAWLER
18 How to Grill Onions
Gri l led oni ons usual l y cook up blackened outside and raw
i nside.Js there a better way? BY ELIZABETH GERMAIN
19 Better Pasta Salad with Pesto
At its best, pesto i s fresh, green, and ful l of herlal favor.
Could it stay that way even when added to an American
pasta salad? BY SAN ORA WU
20 Well-Done Burgers Done Well
These days, many backard cooks prefer gri l l i ng burgers
to medium-well and beyond. But does well-done have to
mean overdone? BY MATHEW CARD
22 The Best Key Lime Bars
Our first crcks at transformi ng Key l i me pi e i nto a cooki e
l eft us with a thick, dr crust-and too much l ime on our
hands. We wanted to raise the bar.
BY DAWN YANAGIHARA
24 Improving Peach Crumble
Sog toppi ng and flavorless fi l l i ng are the norm for thi s
simpl e dessert. How do you make the crumbl e crisp and
the peaches actual l y taste like, well, peaches7
BY MATTHEW CARD
26 Is There a New King of
Ketchup?
We measured pecti n l evel s, calculated pH, and grabbed
our Bostwick consi stometer to explai n the surprising
results of our ketchup taste test. BY LEIGH BELANGER
28 Sizing Up Souped-Up
Blenders
Have fancy features (and heft price tags) fi nal ly made
bl enders an essential kitchen tool? BY SCOT KATHAN
30 Kitchen Notes
Test results, buying t i ps, and advice related to stor i es past
and present, di rectly from the test kitchen.
BY ERIKA BRUCE
3 2 Equipment Corner
Reviews of new items, updates on past tests, and sources
for products used i n thi s issue.
BY GARTH CLINGINGSMITH
GRI LLING SPI CES Meat gri l led over a hot fre takes on a favorful exteri or crust-even more
so when first coated with a dr rub bl ended from carefully chosen ground spices. The i ntense,
dr heat ampl ifies thei r favor by coaxi ng out deep, toasted notes. Among the savor spices best
suited for dr rubs are cumi n, a smal l seed with a rich, mi ldly hot flavor; the more muted, foral
coriander seed; star ani se, with its di sti nct taste of spicy l icorice; sweet ani se-favored fennel
seed; and piquant mustard seed. Whi l e many of the delicate, sweeter spices dimi nish i n favor
over the heat of the gri l l. ci nnamon and al l spice (which tastes of ci nnamon. nutmeg. and cl ove)
are exceptions. becomi ng even more compl ex. Freshly ground black pepper adds a pleasant heat
and crunch to gri l l ed meats, whi l e dried and ground chi l es such as ancho and chi potl e (technical ly
not spices) add a fi er depth. Also outside the spi ce realm are ground cofee and cocoa, both of
which contri bute welcome bitter notes.
COVER laItnnt0ns): Elizabeth Brandon, BCK COVER |Irlliii 5tts):John Burgoyne
For l i st rental informati on, contact: Specialists Marketing Serices, Inc., 1200 Harbor Blvd., 9th Floor, Weehawken, NJ 07087; 201-865-5800.
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PRINTED IN THE US
I
know that I am sti l l alivc bccausc I gct
workcd up aboutopcni ngdayat Icnway,
doublcchocolatcchipminticccrcam,bour
bon andbranchwatcr, thc hrstboil i nsug
aring scason, and thc opportunity to stand i n a
35dcgrcc trout strcam in April . And I havcn` t
Iorgottcn thcrccipcIornutmcg doughnuts, thc
rchainhom InthcGardcn, "whyI gctupi nthc
morning, orwho buttcrs my brcad. I sti l l cnj oy
light pancakcs, hcavy lining, cold wcathcr, hot
biscuits, hard rain, son chccsc, long days, short
brcads,thchrstsnow,thcl astbalc,thcbigstorm,
thc small gcsturc, and a swin kick in thc pants
whcnI`mmovingtooslowly.
Icanstillrcmcmbcrmyagc,mymiddlcnamc,
myphoncnumbcr, and mykids` birthdays but
admi t that Ior thc liIc oI mc I can` t rcmcm
bcr why wc nccd Lcmon Il cdgc, automati c
transmi ssi ons, Iop1arts, thc smond Iamil y,
think tanks, Iot Iockcts, thc Dcpartmcnt oI
Iomcl and Sccurity, or saIcty i nstructi ons Ior
sunscrccn, toothpastc, andshavingcrcam. I can
alsorcmcmbcrsccingthcpriccoIgasat2ccnts
a gal l on, paying a nickcl Ior a chcrry Cokc at
thc soda Iountai n, riding i n my Iathcr` s ash,
watchingAthurGodIrcy, andusingthcWi nky
Dinkcoloring kit to writc on thc scrccn oI our
smal l blackandwhitcT sct.
I` msti l l notoldcnoughto undcrstand string
thcory, anything about thc Ioly Ghost,toilct
bowlclcancr,rcstaurantcritics,thcShrincrs,cata
lyticconvcrtcrs,ACvcrsusDC,organicchcmistry,
smokclcsstobacco,orthcrcasonwhywomcnarc
in a panic to chcck thcirvoicc mail ancr only a
wcckcndaway.
Somcday, whcn I am oldcr, I hopc I will bc
ablctorccognizcthcconstcllations,i dcnti |bird
songs, tic a dozcn sailor`s knots, tcll thc diIIcr
cncc bctwccn a kctch and a sloop, mastcr thc
art oI maki ng puII pastry, and rcmcmbcr thc
namcs oIpcopl c I havc known Iorycars. I al so
EDITORIAL
/I`1 IL/I YL1
stillhold out Iai nthopcoIbcing
i nvi tcd to thc Whitc Ious c,
bci ng includcd i n a top I O list,
and having Rccsc Withcrspoon
cal l tosayshcwantsmctocostar
i nhcrncxtmovi c.
j og thrcc mi l cs i n l css than 2O
mi nutcs, l osc I O pounds, stop
purchasingrclaxcdhtjcans,and
start buyingshortcrbclts. I will
also losc my tastc Ior cupcakcs,
Boston crcam pi c, raspbcrry
bars,l cmonmcri ngucpi c, Mallo
Cups, and anythi ng cookcd in
duckIat.
I am st i l l l ooki ng Iorward
t o thc Iuturc . 1hat ` s whcn
I ` l l linal l y hni sh my chi l drcn` s
boo|, bui l d my c a bi n, and
compl ct c t hc Dodgc ILMI
ki t, with i ts3 O O pi cccs, cl cctri c
motor, and authcnti c ILMl
sound chi p. I wi l l al so hni s h
Christopher Ki mbal l
I also know that I ain`t dcad
yct bccausc ol d pcopl c" arc
diIIcrcnt Irom mc. 1hcir knccs
hurt,thcypl anthcirtripsupand
organi zi ngmygaragc, wax my car, havc a scri
oustal kwithmyson,cl canmycl oscts, andlind
ti mc toscoutIorwi l d turkcy and dccr bcIorc
thcstartoIthcscason. 1hcIuturcwill al sobca
good ti mc to makc amcnds, pay my ducs, and
thi nkIormysclI
In ycars to comc, I also plan to ridc horsc
back Irom our Iarm to Canada, run thc Boston
Marathon, andtakcmyIndian motorcyclccross
country. I am still muchtooyoung, howcvcr, to
consi dcrmotorhomcs, Ilorida, rctircmcntcom
muni ti cs, Ari zona, Sansabcl t pants, thc i dca oI
si tti ngdowntodi nncrbcIorcsunsct, SanDi cgo,
gol I, cruiscs, lcttcrsIromthcA, andthcpros
and cons oI burial vcrsus crcmation. I do hopc,
howcvcr,thati IMarthaRccvcsissti l l aroundshc
wi l l si ngDancingi n thcStrcct" at myIuncral .
, II you gct thc chancc, plcasc mcnti on this to
my kids. ) II shc dics hrst, I promisc to cook at
hcrwakc.
I knowl amstillyoungbccausc mywiIctcl l s
mcdailytogrowup, cspcci al l ywhcnIstartpl an
ni ng thc motorcyclc tri p. I am al so conhdcnt
thatI havcsuIhci cnttimc l cIt torccovcrIroma
stcadydictoISl i mJi ms, bacon,Iricdbuttcrmi l k
chickcn, l d Iashioncd cocktai l s, and sccond
hand smokc. Somcday, I knowI will bcabl c to
downstairscarcmlly, soasnotto
Iorgctsomcthingonanuppcruoor) , thcyworry
aboutslippingoni cc, thcytakccvcryoportunity
to visita bathroomwhcntravcl i ng, andthcyhnd
smal l chi l drcn burdcnsomc. , K, wcl l , maybc
thatlistdocssccm a bitIami l i ar. )
As Iurthcr prooI oI my youth, I sti l l don` t
undcrstand my parcnts, savc Ior rctircmcnt, or
buy l iIc i nsurancc. I don` t l i kc Irank Si natra,
rcmcmbcrWorldWarI I , orargucaboutwhcthcr
IranklinRooscvcltwasasocialist. I do,howcvcr,
notc that whcn I di scuss whcrc I was whcn
Kcnncdywasshot"withmypccrs,youngcrpco
plc drinaway. Jhcydothcsamcthingwhcnthc
subjcct i sWatcrgatc, SamCookc, Ii llmorc Last,
Carnaby Strcct, The Ed Sullivan ShoJ, Waltcr
Cronkitc, or Meet the Beatles! 1hcy j ust don`t
knowthcirhistory.
I amjustoldcnough,howcvcr,toknowthatoI
al l thc mil l ionsoIkids my wiIc andI couldhavc
had, wchadj ustthc Iourwcwantcd. But I ` mnot
yct wisccnoughtosay thc samcthingabout hcr
, althoughi t` struc) . And I am stil l too young to
havcl carncdhumi l i ty, thc artoIbcinggratcm,or
anapprcciationIorthc incrcdibl cmiraclcoIliIc.
Wcl l , thisal l j usttakcstimc. And that`sthcgrcat
thi ngabout bci ngyoung. Wc think that wc still
havcsomuchoIi tl cn.
FOR INQUIRIES, ORDERS, OR MORE INFORMATION: COOK' S IUUSRTED Magazi ne
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J U L Y c A U G U S T 2006
`+ic l1'` 1i/ii1:
Strange Brews
In your s upcrmarkct co||cc tasti ng story
, ovcmbcr/Icccmbcr 2OO3 ) you bl amcd
quakcrs" |or givi ng somc co||ccs bad l|avor.
Coul dn` t you j ust rcmovc thc quakcrs bc|orc
grindingabatcho|bcans
MICHAEL CHANG
BALA CY NWYD. PA.
Quakcrs arc undcrdcvclopcdco||cc bcans that
accidcntally makc it through thc manu|acturing
proccss. Bccausc thcyarc lcss dcnscthan hcalthy
co||ccbcans,thcyroastuptoamuchlightcrcolor,
andthcycanimpartaspoilcd,rancidtastctoapot
o|co||cc.Somc manu|acturcrspayaprcmiumto
makc surc quakcrs arc sortcd
outbc|orcproccssing.
PI CK OF TH E BI TTER
What about rcmov
i ng t hcm yourscl |
Jo scc what c||cct
this would havc, wc
spcnt hal | an hour
sining through bags
o|whol c bcan co||cc
Should you bother sorting out
, |rom a brandthatcvi
blighted beans?
dcnccda high numbcro|
quakcrsinour2OO3tcsting) ,
scparating thc l i ghtcrcolorcd quakcrs |rom thc
rcst.Jhcnwcbrcwcduptwobatchcso| concc. onc
withthcquakcrslcnin,thcothcr,quakcrhcc.Acr
tastingonc batch againstthc othcr, a |cw things
wcrc cl car. Jhc quakcr|rcc samplc was by no
mcans pcr|cct, but thc quakcry" co||cc was
worsc , dcscribcd as morc sour, astri ngcnt, and
rancid" ).uropinioni sthatwhilcitwon` thurt
torcmovcanyquakcrsyouhappcntoscc,spcnd
ing hal|an hour hunchcd ovcr a bag o|co||cc
isn`t worth thc c||ort. Gctting rid o|a |cw bad
bcansisn`tcnoughtotrans|ormalcwqualitybag
otco||ccintoa highqualitybrcw.
The Color of Corn S ru
Idon` tusccornsyrupvcryoncnandusuaIlyhavc
onlyonctypconhandatanygivcntinc.CanI sub
stitutclightcornsyrup|ordark, andviccvcrsa)
JON LEE
AUSTIN. TEXAS
Icrivcd|romcornstarch,cornsyrupi sathick
liquidswcctcncr thatwash rst bottlcd|or homc
usc by tlc makcr o|tl+c Kro brand ,in I9O2).
Karorcmai nstl +cl argcst \.S. produccr o|con
syrup. Light corn syrup i s a clcar mi xturc o|
cornsyrup and high |ructosccornsyrup , addcd
|or grcatcrswcctncss ) that has bccn cIarihcd to
3COMPI L E D BY S ANDR A WUE
rcmovcal l colorand impuritics, givi ngit aswcct,
mi l d U avor. , \ani l l a i s also addcd. ) Iark cor
syrup i s a mi xturc o|corn syrup and rchncrs`
syrup, atypco|molasscs) , towhichcaramclco|or
and |Iavor havc bccn addcd to givc i t a dccp
browncolorandstrongcrU avor.
Wc tricd cach typc in thrcc di ||crcnt rccipcs
, oatmcalIacccookics,hotmdgcsaucc,andpccan
pi c) todctcrmincwhcthcrtl+ctwovaricti cscould
bc uscd i ntcrchangcably. Jastcrs dctcctcd |cw
l|avor di ||crcnccs in thc sampl cs. Jhosc madc
witl+ light corn syrup wcrc lightcr and chcwicr
thant|+cdarkcr, crispicrcookics madcwithdark
corn syrup, but tastcrs |ound both acccptabIc.
Colorwisc, both samplcs o|tl+c hot nidgc saucc
and tl+c pccan pic lookcd thc samc. I n thc hot
mdgc saucc, thcdarkcorn syrup yicldcda richcr
chocolatc U avoranda slightlylooscrtcxturc, but
thc di ||crcnccs wcrc |ar |rom carth shattcring.
In tl:c pccan pic, scvcral tastcrs |ound that thc
dark corn syrup madc |or a runnicrtcxturc and
a richcr, caramcl U avor thatmaskcdsomc o|thc
pccanU avor. urconclusionYcs, thcrcarcsomc
subtlc lIavor and tcxtural di||crcnccs, but i |you
can`t makc itto t|+c groccrystorc, go ahcad and
uscwhatcvcrcornsyrupyou`vcgoti ntl+cpantry.
Butcher-Block Care
Rcccntly, I bought a uscd butchcr block work-
tablc. What is t|+c bcst mcthod |or clcaning and
propcrlydisin|cctinga tablc likcthis
ALAN S NYDER
OAKLAND. CALIF.
Butchcr blocktablcs,whichmnction not only
as a work spacc but as a cutting sur|acc, must
bc carcd |or and trcatcd i n a manncr simil ar to
cuttingboards.Jo rcduccthcgrowtho|bactcria
on your butchcr block, bc surc to scrub itwitl+
hot,soapywatcrancrcachusc.Jhc\.S.Icpart
mcnt o|Agriculturc also rccommcnds thc pcri
odicappl icationo|asolutiono|l tcaspoonblcach
pcrquarto|watcrto sanitizc thc sur|acc, which
should thcn |c ri nscd o|| wi th cold watcr. 1o
mai ntai n thc appcarancc o| thc wood sur|acc,
somcmanu|acturcrssuggcstapplyinga|ood sa|c
oi l pcriodically , oncc cvcry |cw wccks) using a
cl canc|oth. Jhc mincral oi| soaks into thc h bcrs
o|thc wood, acting as a barricr to cxccss moi s
turc.Jhccxpcrtswc consu|tcdrccommcndopt
ing |or mincral oil , makc surc thc containcr i s
l abcl cd |ood gradc" ) rathcrthan morcvolatilc
oil sl i kcvcgctablcoilandolivcoi l , whichcanturn
rancidovcrtimc.Iorday to-dayusc,wc suggcst
rcscrvingyourbutchcrblock|orapplicationsthat
C''1` I L L U S JR !TE D
2
don` ti nvolvchsh, mcat,orpoultry.Instcad,usca
scparatccuttingboard|orthcsctasks,whichwill
makc cl cani ng much casicr whilc rcducing thc
risko|cross-contamination.
Coddled Egs versus Poached
What` sthc di||crcnccbctwccncoddlcdcggsand
poachcdcggs
KHOI DI NH
PHOE NIX. ARIZ.
Both coddIing and poaching rc|cr to cook
ing somcthi ng gcnt| y i n watcr hcatcd to just
bclow thc boiling point. With cggs, tI+c di||cr
cncccomcsdownto thc shcl l . Ioachcdcggs arc
cookcd without thc shcl l , dircctl y in thc sim
mcringwatcr, oncnwithvincgar addcd to hclp
thc whitcs sct). Coddling, on thc othcr hand,
i nvolvcscookingtlccggsstilIprotcctcdbycithcr
thcir shcl l orindivi dualcovcrcd containcrscallcd
coddl i ng cups. Ii ghtIy coddl cd cggs , cookcd
|or about 43 scconds, j ust to thickcn thc yolks
slightly)arccommon|yuscdin CacsarsaIaddrcss
i ngs to providc a morc viscous tcxturc, but thcy
arc somctimcs cookcd a |cw minutcs morc to
a consistcncy rcscmbli ng so|t-boi | cd cggs , thc
whitcsarcsl ightlymorcsct)andcatcnasis.
Fixing Frozen Cookies
Whcncvcr I wrap and |rcczc bakcd son choco
latc cookics, thc tcxturc changcs.Acrthawing,
thcsugarcrystalIizcs and bccomcscrunchy. Jhc
cookicsarcsmoothwhcnthcyarc hotouto|thc
ovcn, sowhywould |rcczingl cnovcrs a||cctthc
tcxturc
MERYL SHEP PARD
GREENS BORO. N.C.
Wcbakcdtwodincrcntrccipcs|orchcwychoc
olatc cookics, which wc thcn |rozc and thawcd
at room tcmpcraturc bc|orc comparing thcm
with |rcshly bakcd cookics.Wc, too, noticcd an
unwantcd crunchincss i n thc prcviously |rozcn
vcrsions.Ancrdoing somc rcscarch, wc lcarncd
thatsugars bccomc signihcantlymorc crystallinc
, lcsslikclytodissolvc) asthc tcmpcraturcdrops.
I nthc|rcczcr,thcn, thccxtrcmclylowtcmpcra
turc causcs tl+c sugar l begin to comc out ot
solutionandrccrystaIl i zc.
But mcrcl y l cuvi ng thc cooki cs out on thc
countcrtoptotl+awdidnotprovidccnoughhcat
torcdissolvcthcsugarcrystals. Jogctthccookics
backintosmooth,chcwyshapc, wctricdrchcsh-
ing" thcm aswcwou|d most othcr trozcn , prc
bakcd) cooki cs. bypIacingthcmina 33O dcgrcc
L
Z
>

Z
l

ovcn|or|ourtohvcminutcs.Microwavingatfl
powcr|orabout 3O sccondsalsoworkcd, but thc
distributiono|hcatwas lcsscvcn and on|ya |cw
cookics could bc rc|rcshcd at a timc. ncc thc
rc|rcshcd cookics coolcd to room tcmpcraturc,
thcy wcrc ncarly as good as thcir |rcsh countcr
parts. chcwy and crystal |rcc.
How 'Premium' Is Premium Butter?
ccasionally,Iprc|crtousc buttcrswith ahighcr
pcrccntagco||at,butmanybrandsdon` tprovidc
thatin|ormation.Canyouhclp
SUE BIS K NER
ROYAL OAK, MICH.
Jhcrc` sbccnpl cnty o|hypc about thc mcrits
o| prcmi um" buttcrs , oncn callcd Luropcan
stylcbuttcrs) , toutcd|orthci rcrcamytcxturcand
hi gh|at contcnt comparcdwi th rcgular buttcr.
In thc past, whcn thc tcst kitchcn conductcd
bl indtastctcstso|bothstyl cs,tastcrs|oundonl y
subtlcdi||crcnccswhcnthcbuttcrswcrcsampl cd
pl ain, simplysprcadontoast) , andthoscnuanccs
disappcarcd cnti rcl y whcn thcy wcrc uscd in
cooking.Was ourpanclmissingsomctl+ing
It`swhcnwc huwcrcd down to calculatc thc
pcrccntagcsoursclvcs , dividingthcamounto||at
pcrscrving by thc Itablcspoonscrvingsizc) that
a clcarcr picturc bcgan to cmcrgc. Initially, wc
wcrcpuzzlcdtohnd,asyoudid,thatmostmanu
|acturcrs don`t list |at pcrccntagc on thc pack
aging-cspccially givcn that |at contcnt is a kcy
scllingpoint.Lvcnmorcsurprising,thc|atcontcnt
o|cvcry buttcr wc |ound-hom tl+c ubiquitous
Iand0' Iakcstothc|ancicstIrcnchbcurrc-|cll
bctwccn l l gramsandI2 gramspcrscrving.]ust
a I gram di||crcncc. What` s morc, many o|tl+c
socallcd prcmium buttcrs , including Ircsidcnt,
Kcrrygold,Iurpak,andpcrhapsthc bcst known,
Ilugr)listcdj ust11 gramso||atpcrscrving.How
coulditbc that thcscscl|proclaimcd prcmium"
buttcrs containcd thcsamc amount o||at as tl+c
gcncric, chcap) supcrmarkctbrands
A itturnsout,itall boils downto \.S. Iood
and Irug Administration l abcl ing laws, which
allow manu|acturcrs to disclosc |at contcnt in
grams roundcd to thc ncarcst wholc numbcr.
Jhatmcansa buttcrwith "l l grams"o||atmay
contain bctwccn 8Opcrccnt and 82 pcrccnt |at
, 82 pcrccnt |at is gcncrallyconsidcrcd thc min
imum |at contcnt |or a prcmi um buttcr) . o
wondcrourtastcrsnoticcdhardlyanydi||crcncc
bctwccnchcapbuttcrandprcmiumbuttcri nour
A S LI M DI FF E RE NCE?
" Premium" butter may not be that much more
i ndulgent than regular butter.
WHAT I S I T?
I recently bought this device at a rummage sale. It has a chain
mechanism on the bottom that widens and contrcts depend
ing on how the handle on top is turned. What is it used for?
MELVI N DOORNE K
WOLF POI NT. MONT.
Thi s tool has a real handl e on
unscrewi ng jar tops.
The item you purchased is a Top-Of screw-top opener. Firt
manufactured by Edlund Co. in 1 932, this gadget is designed to
make unscrewing stubbor jar and bottle tops easier. To adjust the
screw-top opener to ft diameter of '12 inch to 41/2 inches. simply
tum the wooden handle (clockise to widen, counterclockise to
contrct) until the to ends of the device wrp snugly around the
top of the jar or bottle. To unscrew the top, tum the handle counter
clockise until the top is loosened. In our tests, we were surprised
to find that this method works even better than the usual tricks of
rpping the side of the jar on the countertop to loosen the seal or
using a damp kitchen towel to get a better grip. Although we found
severl online auction sites selling this tool as an antique item, it
was also available from the Vermont Countr Store for $6. 95. See
Sources. page 32, for ordering information.
battcryo|blindtastctcsts-thcdi||crcncccomcs
downtolcssthantwopcrccntagcpoints.
I|youwantahighcr-|atbuttcr,choosconcwitl+
I2gramso||atpcrscrvingrathcrthan I I-whi ch
isguarantccdtobcat|casta|cwpcrccntagcpoints
highcrin|atcontcnt. In a 2OO4 tasting, our tast
ingpancl likcdthcrichllavorandcrcamytcxturc
o|Iand0' LakcsLltraCrcamy"varicty , which
has I2gramso| |at).
Broiling Points
Jhc broilcrinmyovcnhas twoscttings . low and
hi gh.I ` mncvcrsurcwhichscttingto uscwhcna
rccipccalls|orusingthc broil cr.
NICK JONES
PHILADELPHIA. PA.
In thc tcst kitchcn, wc always usc thc highcst
sctti ng whcn broil ing. Most rccipcs, i nc| udi ng
ours, cal l |or broi l i ngonl ywhcn quick, cmci cnt
browningisdcsi rcd, soitonlymakcsscnsctogo
witl+ thchighcsttcmpcraturc. , Bcsidcs,itwould
bc a mistakc |or us to o||cra rccipc rcquiring a
scttingthat manyi n-ovcnbroi l crsl ack. )
Ircsumably, manu|acturcrs camc upwith thc
lowbroilcrscttingasawaytoaccount|ortl+c|act
thatsomc|oodscantakccxtrcmchcatbcttcrtl+an
otl+crs.Wcprc|crtl+c simplcr , andmorcllcxibl c)
mcthodo|adjustingthc distancco|thc ovcn rack
hom tl+c broilcr`s hcatingclcmcnt-thc closcr it
is,thcquickcritcooks.A|cw gcncralguidcl i ncs.
Ior roasting vcgctablcs such as rcdpcppcrs and
asparagus, broilingabout4i nchcs|romtl+chcat
i ng cl cmcnt i s optimal. Ior browning tl+c tops
o|chccsycasscrolcs, likc l asagna) , makc surc thc
topo|tl+cpanisatlcastinchcsaway.Iorbrcad
crumb toppings, which burn |airly casily, adjust
thcovcnracktothclowcrmiddlcposition, 10 to
J U L Y c AU CU S T 2006
3
I2 inchcs hom thc hcatingcl cmcnt. Ioultryand
hshwillvary dcpcndingonthc sizco|thcpicccs,
thcl argcrandthickcrthcpicccs, thc|artl+craway
tI+cyshouldcook. Bccauscbroilcd|oodscanburn
in mcrc scconds, start chccking |or doncncss a
l i ttlccarl i crthan thc rccipcindicatcs.
Streaked Avocado
I `vc occasionally bought what I thought was a
ripcavocado and tl+cndiscovcrcditwasstrcakcd
withbrown lincs insidc.What causcs this
JACKI E McDONOUGH
HOMER, ALASKA
Wc contactcd scvcral avocado spccialists, all
o|whom concurrcd that thc brown, discolorcd
strcaks , whi ch i mpart an unpl casant tastc and
tcxturc) arc causcd by thc incrcascd conccntra
tion o|an cnzymc i n ccrtain parts o|thc |ruit.
Jhis phcnomcnon tcnds to bc most scvcrc carly
and latc i n thc scason , which varics dcpcnding
onthcvaricty)aswcll asin|ruitgrownincoolcr
arcas. \n|ortunatcly, thcrc is no rcl i abl c way
to dctcrminc which avocados will bc dcvoid o|
strcakingcxccptto try to purchasc varicticstl+at
arc at thc pcak o|thcir harvcsting scason. , Ior
tl+c populardark grccn Hass avocado,thcscason
is April to ctobcr, |or Iucrtc , ovcmbcr to
{unc,|orIinkcrton,DcccmbcrtoApril.)Bcwarc
o||ruitthat|cclssonorhas airpockcts,howcvcr.
thc |ormcrarcci thcrbruiscd or ovcrripc, whilc
tl+c l attcr havc probably sustaincd damagc |rom
i mpropcrhandling.
SEND US YOUR QUESIONS We wi l l provide a compl i
mentary one-year subscripti on for each letter we print. Send your
i nqui r. name. address. and dayti me tel ephone number to Notes
from Readers, Cook's I l lustrated. P.O. Box 470589. Brookline,
MA 02447, or to notesfromreaders@bcpress.com.
uickTps
3COMPILE D BY DAV I D PAZMINOE
Unlikely DeveiningTool
Even when gri l l i ng shri mp with
the shel l on, Katie Meadow of
Oakland, Cal if., l i kes to remove
the gritt "vei n" runni ng down the
back of the shri mp. Her sol ution is
to straighten the shri mp as much
as possi bl e, grb the
exposed end of
the vei n with flat
edged tweezers,
and pul l i t out
gently.
Tight Squeeze
Squeezing the entire contents out of a
tube of tomato or anchov paste can
be difcult. To make it easier, Lynn
Dickey of San Rfael, Calif., reaches for
a wooden spoon with a round handle
or a rolling pin.
Place the tube on a fat work surface.
Starting at the far side of the tube and
pressing down gently, roll the rolling
pin (or wooden spoon handle) along
the length of the tube.
Prect Tomato Slices
Cutting up a tomato into uniform slices can be trick. Nicholas Ritrivi of New York,
N.Y, has come up with a foolproof method to use when presentation counts.
I.
2.
I. Core the tomato. Working from pole to pole, use the tines of a fork to pierce
the skin gently along one side of the tomato.
2. Using the tine marks as guides, cut the tomato into even slices.
2.
De-Salting Nuts
Barbara Hantman of Phi ladel phi a,
P., has come up wi th a way to
make salted nuts usabl e in reci pes
that cal l for the unsal ted variet.
I . Ri nse the shel l ed nuts in a
strai ner under cool water.
2. Spread the nuts evenly on a
ri mmed baki ng sheet and cook
at 3 50 degrees for about 6 mi n
utes, or unti l the nuts are dry and
sl i ghtly toasted.
Send Us Your Tip We wi l l provide a compl i mentary one-year subscripti on for each tip we pri nt. Send your tip, name, and address to
QUick Tips, Cook's I l l ustrated, P.O. Box 470589, Brookl i ne, MA02447, or to qui cktips@bcpress. com.
CO O K
'
S I L L U S I" R AT FD
4
A Warmer Rest
Resti ng meat before cari ng i s the
key to getti ng the jui ci est sl i ces, but
a chi l ly cutti ng board can make the
temperture of the meat pl ummet.
To keep heat loss under control ,
Nate Lusk of New York, N.Y, warms
his cutti ng board under hot runni ng
tap water for a few mi nutes.
Saucepan Splash Guard
To keep simmering sauces from
splattering onto the stovetop, Bruce
Miller of Manchester, Conn., fashions
a splash guard from a disposable
aluminum pie plate.
I . Using a metal skewer, poke at least
a dozen holes in the pie plate.
2. Using tongs, inver the pie plate
onto the pan. The holes allow the
steam-not the splatters-to escape.
Air Onion Storage
Looking for a convenient way to store
onions, shallots, and garlic in a dark,
cool place with plent of air circulation,
Virinia Stautinger of Spring, Texas,
brushed the dust of her little-used
bamboo steamer. The baskets stack
easily and allow just enough air circula
tion to prevent mold.
Cake Flip
Using Salt to
Prevent Flare-Ups
Fat sputteri ng up from a
broi l er pan can cause dan
gerous fl are- ups. To prevent
these fl ames, Christopher
Steel e of Woodl and Hi l l s,
Cal if. , spreads a generous
amount of kosher salt on the
bottom of the pan.
I . Cover the bottom of the
broi l er pan with al umi num
foi l and 2 cups of kosher salt.
2. Place the perorated rack
on top. The salt l ayer catches
any grease and prevents
fl are- ups.
John Carl Bower of Brooklyn, NJ, came up with this easy method for turning a cake out of an uncomfortably hot pan.
2.
I. Place the cake pan on top of a lare kitchen towel and top with an inverted plate.
2. Gather each comer of the towel and hold the ends together on the bottom of the plate. Gripping the towel tightly in one hand,
lift the cake and the plate together.
3 . Place your other hand on the bottom and gently invert the cake pan and plate onto the countertop. Uft of the pan to release
the cake.
Easy-Bake Set
Tired of fumbling through his cabinets
for baking ingredients, Aold Baines
of Kahului, Hawaii, keeps a plastic
continer stocked with the staples:
vanilla extract, baking powder, baking
soda, cinnamon. and so on. When it's
time to bake, he simply retrieves all the
necessar items from the container in
one fell swoop.
String behind the
Scenes 1 .
When ti ng meat with
butcher's twi ne, i t can be
hard to avoi d contami nat-
ing the enti re rol l wi th
di rty fi ngers. Instead of
cutti ng the esti mated
amount needed ahead of
ti me-and endi ng up with
too much or too l i ttl e-
Ji m Monaghan of Cape
May, N. J . , hi des hi s sol uti on
behi nd cl osed doors.
I . Place the rol l of twi ne i nsi de a cabi net in the
comer behi nd the hi nges.
2. Thread the twi ne out above the hi nge and cl ose
the cabi net door. Pul l the ti ne to tie your roast,
cutti ng j ust the right amount.
J U L Y c AU GU S T 2006
5
2.
Magnetic Ud Retrieval
When using a can opener, the lid some
times drops into the can. David Leonard
of Atlanta, Ga. , doesn't dirt a butter
knife to fish it out. Instead, he reaches
for a handy tool hanging right on the
refrigertor-a decortive magnet.
I. Use a can opener to remove the lid.
2. Place a magnet over the can-the lid
comes right out, with no mess.
Hung Out to Dry
Silicone baking mats clean up easily, but
it can be hard to get them completely
dr. Carolyn Cass of Burke, Va., attaches
the mats to clothes-hanger clips and
hangs them out to dr from a cabinet
door or the edge of a pantr shelf.
1lC !LirJLC iCIiC 'liCkCI
How do you give cold picnic chicken great flavor without flabby, sticky skin?
As with James Bond's martinis, the secret is shaken, not stirred .
C
oldbarbccucdchickcnisapicnic
classic. Maybc bccausc picnics
o||cr so much morc than |ood
, |rcsh air, a nicc vicw) , most
pcoplc don'tcarc that this rccipc oncn
docsn't makc cul inary scnsc. Covcrcd
with sticky saucc, thc chickcn is hard to
catwitha|orkandimpossiblymcssycatcn
with hands.Andbccausc thcchickcnhas
bccncookcdandthcnchillcd,thcskinis
Uabbyandthcmcatissodryitsqucaks.I
wantcdpicnic"chickcngoodcnoughto
scrvcatmydiningroomtablc.
Iorstartcrs,grcatpicnicchickcnought
tohavcmoist,tcndcrmcat.IdccidcdIalso
wantcdthcrobustspicyandslightlyswcct
Uavor o|barbccuc.nthc othcrhand, I
didn't want to havc to light thc grill |or
adish thatwoul dbcgoingstraighttothc
|ridgc. Jhc ovcn is a much casicroption
|or a makc ahcad rccipc. Ancr sampli ng
scvcral mcdi ocrc rcci pcs |rom various
cookbooks, I kncw I had my work cut
out|or mc. Juringthisdishintosomc
thingalotbcttcrthanworsc-|or thcwcar
lcnovcrswasgoingtobcatallordcr.
Cut and Dri ed
Jhc hrst advancc I madc was as quick
. BY S ARA II WILS ON E
as it was dramatic. About 9O pcrccnt o|
Coating the chicken overnight with a salty spice rub provides all the
thc rccipcs I |ound callcd |or slathcring
benefits of brining. with one important difference-no flabby skin.
roastcd, ski non chickcn with barbccuc
saucc and lctting it sit ovcrnight. Givcn that
thc main problcm was soggyskin, this approach
sccmcdcountcrintuitivc.Jhc|cw rcmainingrcci
pcs wcnt thc dryrub routc, rclying on dricd
spiccs to providc traditional barbccuc l|avor.
Although most got thc llavor wrong-and wcrc
plagucd by thc samc blandmcatproblcm as thc
wctsauccdvcrsionsthc skin was noticcablylcss
soggy thc ncxt day. So dry rubs wcrc in, sticky
sauccswcrc out.
Jryingsomcsimp|ccombinationso|chilipow
dcr, black pcppcr, paprika, caycnnc, and a littlc
brown sugar |or that tradcmark barbccuc saucc
swcctncss, I h ddlcdwith thc proportions until I
was ablc to rcplicatc thc Uavors o|a good saucc.
Go to w.cooksillustrated.com
Key in code 7061 for our Creamy
Butermi l k Coleslaw recipe.
Reci pe avai l abl e unti l Januar I. 2007.
Byrubbingthcspiccmixturcall ovcrthcchickcn,
cvcnundcrthcski n, I achicvcdthcrobustbarbc
cucU avorI'dthoughtonlybarbccucsaucccould
dclivcr. Whcn tastcrs samplcd thc chickcn thc
ncxtday, itdrcwravcs |or Uavor, and thcrcwcrc
nostickyh ugcrsinsight.Ln|ortunatcly, thcskin
wasU abby.
Clcarly,Inccdcdtospcndmorctimctrimming
thc |at bc|orc cookingthc chickcn. 1hc brcast
and cspccially thc thighsposscss somc cxccss |at
thatncvcrquitcrcndcrspropcrly, no mattcrhow
l ong thc chickcn cooks. Right out o|thc ovcn,
that |at is mildly annoying, thc coagulatcd mcss
youbitcintothcncxtdayisdisgusting.
Jhc solution camc in two parts. Iirst, a sim
pl c but diligcnt tri mming o|thc chickcn picccs
yicldcd improvcdrcsults and took j ust a modi
cum o|c||ort and timc.Sccond, by slitting thc
skrn with a sharp kni|c , and bcing carc|ul not
C O O K
'
s I L I.LS T R Ari D
6
to cut into tlc Ucsh) , I providcd cscapc
hatchcs |or thc mclting |at during roast
i ng, with a hnal blast o|hcat , I wcnt all
thc way to 3OO dcgrccs) i n thc |cw last
mi nutcs, thc ski n was niccl y rcndcrcd.
Jhc ncxt day I |ound not tough, Uabby
skin buta thinncr, l|avorml coat on cach
piccc o|chickcn.AIthough this skin was
still lcss than crisp, I vas makingscrious
hcadway.
I t Needs Sal t
\p until now I had bccn |ollowing thc
tcst kitchcn's standard proccdurc |or
roasting chickcn, which inc|udcs brining
, soaking i n a solution o|watcr and salt).
Brining yiclds bcttcr Uavor and moistcr
mcat, but tl+c addcd moisturc alsomakcs
|or U abby skin. mitting thc brinc in
tl+is rccipc wasn't going to bc casy, but
pcrhaps I coul dgctthc saltintotl+c mcat
withouttl+c watcr.
Back in our rcscarch l i brary, I camc
acrossa tcchniquc uscdby]udiRodgcrs,
chc| o|San Iranci sco's Zuni Ca|c. Shc
saltsal l o|hcr mcat, vcgctablcs, andcvcn
hsh|oruptothrccdaysdcpcndingonthc
sizco|thcproduct. Jhcsaltisthoughtto
drawmoisturcouto| thcproductinitially,
thcn, ancr a |cw hours, thc rcvcrsc hap
pcns, andthcsaltandmoisturcl|owback
into thc l|csh , scc Sa|ting. Bcttcr than
Brini ng " pagc , |or dctail s). Jhc tcst kitchcn
has uscd this tcchniquc succcssmlly with somc
rccipcs|orbcc|,a mcatthatwc ncvcrbri nc, butI
hadncvcrthoughttotry it with chickcn.
Curious, I sal tcd thc chi ckcn pi cccs, bcing
carcml not to undcr or ovcrscason, and thcn
placcdthcm i nacovcrcddishi nthcrc|rigcrator
ovcrnight. 1hc ncxt moringI addcd myspiccs
and roastcd thcchi ckcn.Jastcrswaitcdpaticntly
as I allowcd thc chickcn to cool to room tcm
pcraturc , ancr all, tl+is dish wasn't going to bc
scrvcd hot). It was worth thc wait. 1hcchickcn
waswcllscasoncdthroughoutandthcmcatvcry
moist. Bcsto|all , thcskinwas Uavorml , dclicatc,
anddchnitclynotl|abby. Jhcsaltinghadworkcd
cxactlyasI'dhopcd,bothscasoningthcmcatand
kccpingitmoist,cvcnduringhighhcatroasting.
With thc chickcn whcrc I wantcd it to bc, I
workcd on strcamlining thc rccipc. I combincd
o
<
L
>
1
L
<
o
C
C
-
C
i
thc spicc rub with thc salt and applicd it at thc
samctimc, savingastcp.I alsoplaccdthcchickcn
picccsdircctlyonthcrackthcy`dbccookcdonso
thcywoul dbcovcn rcadythcncxtmorning.Jhc
hnal surpri sc, a complctcly uncxpcctcd bonus,
wasthatancranovcrnightstayi nthc|ridgcsomc
o|thcspiccl|avorhadpcnctratcdthcmcatalong
withthcsalt.otonlyhadIcomcupwithagrcat
rccipc |or pi cni c chi ckcn, but I had stumbl cd
across a |ascinating altcrnativc to brining, onc
that coul d producc moi st mcat that was al so
dccplyl|avorcdbymcanso|aspi ccrub.
S P I C E - R U B B E D P I C N I C C H I C K E N
SERVES 8
I|youplantoscrvct|+cchickcnlatcront|+c samc
daythat you cook it, rc|rigcratc it i mmcdi atcly
ancrithascoolcd, thcnl ctitcomc backtoroom
tcmpcraturcbc|orcscrving.nthc brcastpicccs,
wcusctoothpicks tosccurcthc ski n, which ot|
crwisc shrinks considcrably i n thc ovcn, lcaving
thc mcat cxposcd andpronc to drying out. Wc
thinkthccxtrac||ortis j ustihcd,butyoucanomit
thisstcp.Jhisrccipchalvcscasily.
5 pounds bone- i n, ski n- on chi cken parts
(breasts, thi ghs, drumsti cks, or a mi x wi th
breasts cut i nto 3 pi eces or halved i f smal l ) ,
tri mmed of excess fat and ski n
2 tabl espoons kosher sal t
3 tabl espoons brown sugar
2 tabl espoons chi l i powder
2 tabl espoons sweet papri ka
2 teaspoons ground bl ack pepper
'1-' h teaspoon cayenne
l . Iol l owi ng i l l ustrati ons abovc, usc sharp
kni|c to makc 2 or 3 short sl ashcs i n skin o|
cach pi ccc o|chi ckcn, taking carc not to cut
i nto mcat. Combi nc sal t, sugar, and spi ccs i n
small bowl and mi x thoroughly. Coat chi ckcn
pi cccswith spiccs,gcntl yl i |tingskin to distri b
utcspiccrubundcrncathbutl cavingi tattachcd
Sal ti ng Chi cken I 0 I
l^gs^eneclve ~elcdfcsesc^ ^gc c-e^
lcJgcJl^d-eep ^g l~csl.eeesc~el psfc
dc ^g lgl.
Plan ahead. C c-e^s ledfc essl^s xcJs
ccc-ed Jp dy. Ncle^cJgl ~efcle s llclve
^lclec c-e^. ) BJl5eyc^d24 cJs, leddeds l
5eg^lc5e-dcw^le ^le c~Jsc ef 5es^dle
~elccc-edJp~Jsy.
Get under the skin. l ^gwc-s 5eslwe^les l
spp edd ecl ylcle~el, les- ^clss5 e.
Don' t oversal t_ Wedle5eslesJ lswe^we
ccledlec c-e^w ls gl y~ces ll^we^c
~ ywcJ dJselcsesc^ l. Afle , ~cslcfle s l
e^dsJp ^lec c-e^. ) Our formul a: 5cJlI '/ le
spcc^s-cses lpe ` pcJ^d5c^e ^c c-e^.
G ETTI NG C H I C KE N I NTO MAKE- AH E AD S HAPE
We^c c-e^ sele^lcc~le~pelJec ccc e, fcw s JsJ fws5ecc~e~g^ f ed. cl sec pe, we
fcJ^dll~cd cJ~cfexl pepwc--epllefvc,lexlJe,^dppeaa^cefc~sJffe ^g.
SCORE RUB CHI LL OUT PI N DOWN
cc ^g le s- ^ 5Jl ^cl App y ^g s |sp ce J5 A d ^gleJ55edpls ec J ^g le s- ^ wl
le ~el) pcv ded cJl 5cl c^ le s- ^ ^d c^c-^leefgelc lcclp c-s j Jsl 5efce
els fc ~e l ^gfl, y e d 5e^el l e^sJed ll cve^ glgve le fvcs csl ^g -epl le s- ^
^g ~ce fJ y e^deed , ^e leexle c^c ^le l ~e lc pe^elale w e fc~ s ^- ^g Jp ^lc ^
ppel ^s- ^. cc~ecJl5 ^d.
t ochi ckcn.Jrans|crchi ckcnskinsi dcupt owirc
rack sct ovcr ri mmcd baking shcct, l i ghtly tcnt
with|oi l , andrc|rigcratc to24hours.
2 . Sccurc skin o|cach brcast picccwith 2 or3
toothpicksplaccdncarcdgcso|skin.
3. Adj ust ovcn rack to middlc positi on, hcat
ovcn to 423 dcgrccs. Roast chickcn until thick
cst part o|smallcst piccc rcgistcrs I 4O dcgrccs
oni nstantrcad thcrmomctcr, l 3 to 2O mi nutcs.
I ncrcasc ovcn tcmpcraturc to 3OO dcgrccs and
Sal ti ng: Better than Bri ni ng?
' scd ^gcJlles- ^. J^llclve5J^d e.
continuc roastingunti l chickcn i s browncd and
crisp and thickcst parts o|brcast picccs rcgistcr
I O dcgrccs, 3 to 8 minutcs l ongcr, rcmoving
pi cccs |rom ovcn and trans|crring to clcan wirc
rack as thcy hni sh cooking. Continuc to roast
thighs and/ordrumsticks,i |using,until thickcst
part o|mcat rcgistcrs I O to I 3 dcgrccs, about
3 minutcs l ongcr. Rcmovc |rom ovcn, trans|cr
chickcn to rack and l ct cool complctcly bc|orc
rc|ri gcratingorscrving.
`^ le lesl-lce^, we e slc^gdvcclescf5 ^ ^g-sc- ~g~el^ sc Jl c^cfs l^dwle5efceccc-^g.
Te ~el5sc5swleswe ss l, w lle llee p ^gle~elel ^le~c slJes lccc<. Wl cJ
p ce 3J55ed c^ cC c-e^, cweve,5 ^ ^g~deles- ^sc_.Tc scvel spc5 e~, welJ^edlcs l ^gle
c c-e^cve^ gl, w ce pedle~elel ^~c slJes lccc-ed-^dd d^ l ~les- ^.
C c-e^^lJ ycc^l ^ssc~es l^d clscf wle,w cccex sl ^ppy5 ^ce. ` ^ ccl ^gl ec c-e^
wl sl, welewcfll5 ^ce.Tceslcecde, ceqJ 5 J~, wle^ le ~el~cved lclesJ|ce,
wee ld ssc vedles l.
BJlwcJ d^ l dw ^g llwlecJlcflec c-e^ ~-e le s lJl c^wcse, cJs ^gle ~ellcdq
cJl` ` lcel ^'yd d-J^l wef gJed cJllel ~ ^g We^wel edccc- ^gc c-e^lld 5ee^s ledfc
leecJs, le c c-e^ccc-edJp d el^ fwed^` l s led l. Tej J ceslld ~dellcleexle c
s ~pyevpcled ^lecve^. ) BJlwe^weccc-edlec c-e^fles xcJs, leslcqc^gede^l ey. By
llpc ^l, leexle cs ldpJ edsc ~Jcwlelc lesJ|cellle5 ^cecfles lcc^ce^ll c^
dc^ged .Tc eslceeqJ 5 J~, lewles ~p yc^gedd ecl c^s, f cw ^g5c- ^lcle~el. BJll s
l ~e-^d ee s le -ey-led ssc ved s lwe^l c^gfcle de. csse^l y, we d 5 ^ed lec c-e^
Js ^g lscw^j J ces ^sledcf5Jc-elcfwle.
O^cewesJccessfJ' ylpped ^lcl s~e^scfde ve ^gsllcle ^le c,wewc^deed f lwspcss 5 elc
de vecle fvcsles~ewy.A llJ^scJl, l cc~esdcw^lcwelelefvc ^gge^l'swlesc J5 e
-e s l) cflsc J5 e. W lleJ5weJsedfccJp ce 3J55ed c^ cC c-e^, les l^d5cw~ sJg,
w' cd ssc vees y^wle,f cwedgl ^, sd dsc~ecfled sl ^gJ s ^gf'vccc~pcJ^dscfle5c-pep
pe,cye^^e, c pcwde,^dpp -. BJllesp c ^esswswy dllesJ|ce. Cps c ^, lecc~pcJ^dll
gvesc epeppesle sp cyel, ssc J5 ec^y^fl,sclwsJ^5 elcj c ^lecv^. .W.
s l
wle--
mel
SALTE D CH I CKE N AFTE R 3 H OU RS
J U L Y c A U C U S T 2006
7
/r IolCr\oy to 'rl'lrlr
Grilling sh rimp in their shel l s protects the delicate flesh, but seasonings are peeled away
at the table. Could we deliver tender, flavorful grilled sh rimp-without the shells?
I
t` s no sccrct that shrimp can turn |rom
moistandj uicytorubbcryanddryi nthc
blinko|ancyc,aconscqucncco|thcirsmall
sizcandlacko||at. Addthcunprcdictability
o|cooking ovcr a livc hrc, and thc challcngc is
magnihcd. Gri l l i ngshrimpi nthcirshcllstoshicld
thcm|rom thc coals`scorchinghcat works wcl l ,
but I` malways disappointcdwhcn garli c, hcrbs,
andothcrscasoningsgctstrippcdo||atthctablc
along with thc shclls, only to land i n a discard
pil c. I wantcdto cxpcricncc tcndcr,j uicy, boldly
scasoncd grill cd shrimp without having to l i ck
myhngcrs.
Peel Out
I startcd by prcparing thc tcst kitchcn`s cxist
ingrccipc |or grillcdshrimp, substitutingpcclcd
shrimp |or shcll on. , I ` d i nvcstigatc U avorings
latcr. ) I |ol lowcd cvcry mandatc, plumping thc
shrimpinasaltwatcrbrinc, whichhclpskccpthcm
moist) , thrcading thcm onto skcwcrs, brushing
withoil,thcnquickIygrillingovcrmodcratchcat.
Acra|cwminutcsovcr thc hrc, thc shrimpwcrc
tough and dchydratcd-no surprisc givcn thcir
shcl l |rccstatc. Alsoproblcmaticwasthcabscncc
o|attractivc , andllaor l ) charmarks.
Suspcctingthatbriningwascausingthcshrimp
to bccomc watcrl oggcd and, thus, hi ndcri ng
caramcl i zation,I l i tancwhrcandgrill cda batch
o|plai n, unbrincd sampl cs. Surc cnough, thcsc
shrimp bcgan to pick up thc l|avor o|thc gri| l
witha|cw|aint,yctpromising,marks.
Having discardcd brining, I ncxt built an
cspcciallyhot hrc by bankinga thc coalsononc
sidco|thcgril l . I scasoncdabatcho|shrimpwith
saltandpcppcr, plusapincho|sugartocncouragc
caramclization) , sctthcmonthcgratc,andwaitcd.
And waitcd. Lvcnwith a scrcaminghot hrc, thc
onlywaytogctsumcicntcharringwastolcavcthc
shrimp on thc grill |or |our orn vc minutcs, yct
cachpassingminutcbroughtmccloscrtoshrimp
jcrkyand|arthcrhomadcccntdinncr.
Shrimpcookso quickly bccausc o|thcir small
si zc. Wouldj umboshrimpa||ord mc a |cw cxtra
minutcs Jhirtyscvcn dol lars l atcr, I had my
answcr. Iroducinga charrcdcxtcriorand a tcn
Go to w. cooksi l l ustrated. com
Key i n code 7066 for our reci pe for
Gri l l ed Shri mp Skewers with Fresh
Tomato Sauce with Feta and Ol ives.
Recipe avai l abl e unti l Januar I , 2007.
? BY R E B E C C A ! l AY S E
A scc^secs ~pdeve cps^ llcl vec, l
gces ^lclep^cfs ~~e ^gsJcelcf ^ sccc- ^g
l~Jcge^l' epe
dcr i ntcrioronthcschcnyspccimcnswas a snap,
butwitha costo|morcthanS23 pcrpoundand
spottyavailability,thcrchadtobcabcttcrway.
Grumbl i ngs to my col l cagucs about thi s
dilcmma wcrc mct h rst with cmpathy and thcn
ani dca. Whati|I crammcdscvcral normal si zcd
shri mpvcrytightlytogcthcronaskcwcr,crcating
a|auxjumbo"shrimpSurccnough,t|+ishomc
madc giant shrimp cookcd at a sl ightly sl owcr
pacc, givingmct|+ccxtraminutcso|gri l l i ngtimc
thcshrimpnccdcd|orcharri ng.
Tri al by Fi re
With a dcccnt grilling mcthod at hand, I could
hnally starti nvcstigatingU avorings. Jhus |ar, I` d
bccncoating t|+c shrimp i n oi l , but I wondcrcd
i|yogurt, mayonnaisc, coconut milk, or buttcr
o||crcdanyadvantagcs. Coconutmilkwasprom
isingbuttoodistinctivc,so I stuckwithrclativcly
ncutral ol ivc oil . I tricd to add pcrsonality to
thc oil with ground spiccs, but this was a mis
takc. Duringa momcnto|i nattcntion, a l|arcup
torchcdtl+cspiccpastc, nmingitbittcr. Minccd
garli c Scorchcd. IrcshhcrbsScorchcdagai n.
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
8
Scouring our l i braryshclvcs, I rcvicwcd cvcry
gri l l cd sca|ood rccipc I could hnd. I cvcntually
happcncd upon a |cw rccipcs in which shcllhsh
was givcn an i ni ti al scar ovcr a hot hrc, thcn
trans|crrcd to a sauccwaitingonthccool crsidc
o|t|+cgri l l . I ntrigucd, I gri l l cda |cv shrimp and
slid thcm intoa sauccthat simmcrcdin adispos
abl c al umi num pan. Jhcsc shri mp wcrc a tad
ovcrdonc but, havi ng soakcd up thc l|avor|ul
saucc, wcrc good cnough |or two coworkcrs,
whopo|ishcdo||an cntircbatchgri l l sidc.
A |cw tri cs l atcr, I startcd trans|crri ng thc
shrimptot|+csauccbefore thcyvcrc l l ycookcd.
Jhis way, I could conccntratc on gctti ng char
marks, thcn switch to a morc |orgiving cooking
mct|+od, gcntlcsimmcringinthcsaucc) untilthc
shrimp wcrc donc. I hnal l yhad an in|a|l ibl c rcc
ipc that dclivcrcd cvcrythi ng I wantcd i n grillcd
shrimp. tcndcrl|csh, attractivc charri ng, tons o|
l|avor-andnoshcl l s.
C HARCOAL - G RI L L E D S H R I M P S K EWE RS
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE, 6 AS AN APPETIZER
Jhc shrimp and saucc , rccipcs |ollov) hnish
cooki ng togcthcr on thc gri l l , so prcparc thc
saucc i ngrcdicntswhilc t|+c coals arc hcati ng. Jo
htallo|thcshrimponthccookinggratc at oncc,
you` l l nccd thrcc I 4i nch mctal skcwcrs. Scrvc
withgril l cdbrcad.
1 11 pounds extra- l arge ( 2 1 /2 5 ) shri mp, peel ed and
devei ned, tai l s l eft on
2-3 tabl espoons ol ive oi l for brushi ng skewers
Tabl e salt and ground bl ack pepper
'/+ teaspoon sugar
reci pe Spi cy Lemon- Garl i c Sauce or Charmoul a
Sauce ( reci pes fol l ow)
Lemon wedges for servi ng
l . Iat shrimp dry with papcr towcl s. Jhrcad
shrimp onto 3 skcwcrs, altcrnating dircction o|
hcads and tails , scc i l l ustration, pagc 9 ). Brush
botl+ sidcs o|shrimp with oil and scason l i ghtly
with sa|t and pcppcr. Sprinklc onc sidc otcach
skcvcrcvcnlywitl+sugar.
2 . Light l argc chi mncystartcrmcdwithchar
coal,quarts,oraboutI OObriqucttcs) andallow
to burn until coals arc | l yi gnitcd and partially
covcrcdwiththinl aycro|ash,about2O minutcs.
Lmpty coals into gri l l , build modihcd twol cvcl
T E C HN I Q U E w|x

n x| x| oxo A si wi x
ssle s-ewelccg le ce^lecfec s ~p
A ycc dd s ~p lcle s-ewe, le^le le
d ecl c^s cf le eds ^d l s fc cc~pcl
^ge~e^lcf5ccl ' 2 s ~p Tes ~pscc d
5eccwded^dlccc ^geccle.
fre by arranging coals to cover one-hal f of gri l l ,
leaving other half empty. Position cooking grate
over coal s, cover gri l l , and heat until hot, about 5
minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brus h.
3. Set di sposabl e al umi num pan wi t h sauce
i ngredi ents on hot si de of gri l l and cook as
di rected; transfer pan to cool er side of gri l l .
Place shri mp skewers, sugared si des down, on
hot si de of grate ; use tongs to push shri mp
together on skewer i f they have separated. Gri l l
shrimp, uncovered, unti l l i ghtl y charred, 4 to 5
minutes. Usi ng tongs, fl ip and grill unti l second
side is pink and slightly transl ucent, 1 to 2 mi n
utes longer.
4. Using potholder or oven mitt, carehlly l i ft
each skewer tiom gri l l ; usc tongs to slide shrimp
otr skewers into pan with sauce . Toss shri mp and
sauce to combine and tr.sfer pan to hot side of
gri l l ; cook, stirri ng, unti l hrimp are opaque and
The Right Setup
Wl g ed s ~p, l ~ ^g c^ 5e lc_ We sc ved le
pc5 e~5ysell^gcplwcccc- ^gzc^es O^lecls de,
wese les ~pcvedelc^l ~csl dc^e O^
le ccc es de we-eep d spcs5 e p^cfs ~~e ^g
scce, wee les ~pl ^ s ccc- ^gl ge^l epce
Ccwd ^gles ~pc^les-ewes5ccglcsfewexl
~ ^clesc^ le cls de, gv ^gles ~p5ellec ^g

tit !l y cooked, about 3O seconds . Remove from
grill , add remai ni ng sauce i ngredi ents, and toss
to combi ne . Transfer to serving platter and serve
i mmediately with l emon wedges.
GAS - G R i l l E D S H RI M P S K E WE R S
fol l ow step 1 o f recipe tor Charcoal - Gri l l ed
Shri mp Skewers . Tur al l burers on gas gri l l to
hi gh, cover, and heat unti l very hot, about 1 5
mi nutes. Scrape grate clean with gri l l brush and
proceed with step 3 of recipe, setting sauce aside
off heat once hot a.1d grilling shrimp with l i d
down, checki ng occasionally to make sure they' re
not buring ( ti mi ng may be a few mi nutes longer
than i n charcoal grill recipe) .
S P I CY l E M O N - GAR l i C S AU C E
MAKES ENOUGH TO SAUCE 1 1
1
1 POUNDS S H RI MP
--= .
4 tabl espoons unsal ted butter, cut i nto 4 pi eces
4 tabl espoons j ui ce from 2 l emons
' f-ll teaspoon red pepper fl akes
3 medi um garl i c cl oves, mi nced or pressed
through garl i c press (about I tabl espoon)
11a teaspoon tabl e sal t
Di sposabl e al umi num pan or pi e pl ate
113 cup mi nced fresh parsley l eaves
Combi ne butter, l emon j ui ce, pepper flakes, gar
l i c, and salt i n pan. Cook over hot side of gril l ,
sti rri ng occasi onal l y, unti l butter mel ts, about
1 1z mi nutes; transfer to cool er si de of gri l l and
proceed to gril l shri mp, addi ng parsley j ust before
servi ng.
C HAR M O U lA S AU C E
MAKES ENOUGH TO SAUCE 1 ' 1' POUNDS S H RIMP
Charmoul a is a traditional Moroccan spice bl end.
4 tabl espoons extra-vi rgi n ol ive oi l
I smal l red bel l pepper, stemmed, seeded, and
di ced very smal l (about 11 cup)
1 1 smal l red oni on, mi nced (about 113 cup)
teaspoon papri ka
11 teaspoon ground cumi n
11 teaspoon cayenne
3 medi um garl i c cl oves, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about I tabl espoon)
'Ia teaspoon tabl e sal t
Di sposabl e al umi num pan or pi e pl ate
113 cup mi nced fresh ci l antro l eaves
2 tabl espoons j ui ce from I l emon
Combi ne oi l , bel l pepper, oni on, papri ka, cumi n,
cayenne, garl i c, and sal t i n pan. Cook over hot
si de of gri l l , stirri ng occasionall y, unti l vegetabl es
soften, about 5 mi nutes , 2 or 3 mi nutes l onger
i f usi ng gas gril l ) ; transter to cool er si de of gri l l
and proceed gril l shri mp, addi ng ci l antro and
lemon j uice j ust before servi ng.
l | ' Y c .\ | ' ' | ' ' | . \' l
9
<l -
E Q U I P M E N T T E S T I N G :
Fl at Skewers Skewer the
Competi ti on
We^ ` fsl gcl le ssg^~e^l lc cc^dccl ^
eqc p~e^lleslc^s-ewes,I fgced ~yed lcd
f ^ y csl l. cw ~cc pefc~^ce d nee^ce
ccc dleee' y5e5ewee^c^epc ^ledslc-^d
^cle`O^ce ` ` dsceyedlef e d-^dl edccl
ledes g^sw l ccec pesfcC ed ~p^d
C edO^ c^s pge ' 8) -~ylllcdec^ged ` l
e y spcss 5 elc5cy5ds-ewes.
slcf , fcgelwl ~cslg ^g 5cc-ssy.
` f ycc ` e ccc- ^g cve vey g el, 5~5cc
s-ewesw 5cr^ ^d 5e-pl-^c~llecw
c^gyccsc-le~ ^wle5efce^d We d
5elle cc- w l ~el s-ewes. Tey ~y ccsl
~ce, 5clley eecs5 e^dleyc^^d ele
el esl-e55sw lccl5e^d ^gc5e- ^g
Ncl ~el s-ewese celedeqc , cw
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s-ewes-les-ewe lse flc^ed cslf ^e, 5clle
fccd slyed ^ p ce l s-ewes pcved ~cc
~ce effecl ve Dcc5 e pc^ged s-ewes lc^ed
le fccd , 5cl sc~e wee f ~sy ^d ~csl d
le^de^cy lc lw sl cclcfle p e cc^f gc
l c^. Ole~cde slcc-le slcdy cc^cepllcc
f, wl 5c _s-ewesll seveed s ~p^ f
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We prl cc y -e Ncpc` s ' 2 ^c l ^ ess
lee -ewess xs-ewesfc I `0) , w ce csl
3/
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^cl c- ClC ^g ^gs~ l
F lAT FAVORI TE
W ll~el , lefccdlc^s c^gw lle
s-ewe
-- -

BAMBOO- ZLED
cve^w lsc-, 5~5ccs-ewes5c^, ^dle
cc^dspesp ^sw efccde~ ^sc^~cved
DOU BlE TROU BLE
Tesedcc5 epc^gsweelccf ~sylcfcce
lccg5c _ le~s
TH I CK- H EADE D
Bc _s-ewesd~gedde clefe
MOVI NG VI OLATI ONS
-ewesw ls desc ~cv ^g^d eswee
ccgc^fccd

llzzc Margherita at rC
Authentic reci pes for this Neapolitan pizza call for an BOO- degree oven, two days of
proofing, and a dough expert's hands. We wanted real Margherita-hold the hassle.
A
t Ameri can pi zza parl ors, i t' s the
toppi ngs that rei gn s upre me .
Sl athered wi t h tomato sauce ,
dri ppi ng wi th gobs of stretchy
cheese, and loaded with mushrooms, ol i ves,
oni ons. pepperoni , pi neappl e, sausage, and
more, the thi ck, chewy crust takes on a sup
porti ng rol e-i n the most l i teral sense.
At Neapol i tan pi zzeri as, by contrast, the
crust i s ki ng. Thi n, cri sp, and shatteri ngl y
l i ght, these rusti c, wood- fi red pi zzas sport
j ust a scatteri ng of j udi ciousl y chosen top
pi ngs that serve as compl ements the crust
rather than as the mai n event . The most
famous Neapol i tan pi zza i s the Margherita,
consisti ng of a cri spy crust garni shed with
nothi ng more than a t hi n vei l of tomato
sauce, creamy mozzarel l a, and fresh basi l .
B Y E R I K ,\ 13 R l C E E
- - -----
shaped. Coul d I col l apse these steps i nto
one streaml i ned process? Afer several f'i l ed
attempts, I found that lwas abl e to shape the
dough strai ght out of the food processor.
This meant the balls of dough could rise and
rel ax at the same ti me . A healthy amount of
i nstant yeast cut the ri si ng ti me to one hour.
Sti ck wi th Me
A rol l i ng pi n produces a u ni forml y fl at
pi zza, whi l e stretchi ng achi eves a thi n center
surrounded by thicker edges. The l atter i s
characteri sti c of authenti c Neapol i tai pi zza.
Whi l e experts mi ght fnd thi s method easy,
I was havi ng troubl e wi th the wet, sti cky
dough. I backed off on the water unti l the
dough became manageabl e. The resul t was
a crust that was more bready than crisp.
Because I coul dn' t handl e a dough wi th
more water, I woul d have to fnd another
way to mi mi c i ts effect.
But bri ngi ng thi s si mpl e styl e of pi zza
home i s anythi ng but si mpl e . Most authentic
recipes depend on the stratospheri c tempera
tures of a commerci al oven, and the recipes
aimed at home cooks tend to deliver the usual
bready crust. The few that get the crust ti ght
require too much ti me and effort ( multiple
rising sessions, i mpossi bl e-to- handl e doughs ) .
I wanted t o re-create thi s Neapolitan classi c
without making it a proj ect.
Tc c eve p zz ~ge l s d sl ^cl ve y gl, l ^cJslw lcJl
wccd f edcve^, wesp -edledcJgw lc-ef cJ
I thought that addi ng olive oil might pro
duce the desired texture-crisp on the outside,
tender on the i nsi de-but i nstead the crust
came out \ll sof and focacci a-l ike. My next
thought was to abandon the bread four I had
been using in favor of al l -purpose, which has a
Beati ng the Cl ock
The crust i s thi s pi zza' s foundati on, so l began
with the dough. l started with the most basic rec
ipe: bread flour, water, yeast, and salt. From earl y
tests, l di scovered that d wet dough-with a hi gh
water content-created the best crust ( and pl enty
of shaping headaches, but more on that l ater) .
Secrets to
Our Qui ck Reci pe
CANNE D TOMATOES
Doctor canned tomatoes
to yi el d a speedy,
no-cook toppi ng.
. ,.
F OOD PROCE S S OR
Use a food processor to
mi x the dough to shorten
kneadi ng ti me.
-
The frst pl ace I shaved ti me was in the mi xi ng
of the dough. Authenti c recipes cal l for up | 20
mi nutes of kneadi ng i n a standi ng mi xer, but was
thi s essent i al ? To make a real dent in the kneadi ng
ti me, l tried repl aci ng the standi ng mi xer wi th a
food processor. I was s urprised that my tasters
coul dn' t detect any di fterences between dough
kneaded j ust 2 mi nutes i n a food processor and
dough kneaded 1 0 ti mes l onger i n a mi xer.
It turs out that pi zza is more about tender
ness and cri spness than crumb structur e. The sl ow
kneadi ng acti on of a standi ng mi xer hel ps to
devel op gl ut en sl owl y and can produce rusti c
l oaves wi t h superi or texture. However, when i t
comes pi zza, kneadi ng i s real l y mi xi ng, and
the food processor i s j ust as capabl e as a standi ng
mi xer-and much faster.
Next up: Could 1 reduce the ri si ng ti me? The
s i mpl est pi zza dough takes at l east two hours
to doubl e in vol ume, and many tradi ti onal reci
pes cal l for a pi nch of yeast and an overi ght
ri se . On ce ri se n, t he dough i s di vi ded i nto
bal l s , rested agai n for about 45 mi nutes, then
| ( 1 ( `1. ' I I I | ' I M \ I l l
1 0
-
lower protei n content and therefore produces
a more tender dough. Sure enough, the dough
was i mmedi atel y easier on the hands and-nce
baked-on the teeth. Iwas on the right track, but
l thought the dough coul d use even more tender
ness. Because cake flour is the sofest four most
home cooks keep on hand, I tri ed adding diferent
amounts to the dough. In the end, a mi xture of
roughiy 1 part cake four to 2 parts al l - purpose
produced the l i ght, thi n texture Iwas afer, and the
dough was easy to handl e .
Given the humbl e home oven I was usi ng, these
resul ts made perfect sense. Wi th its 800 degrees
of wood- fred power, a Neapol i tan pi zzeri a' s
commerci al oven can cook a pi zza Margheri ta i n
l ess t han four mi nutes-not enough ti me for the
hi gh- protei n dough to tur tough and overl y
chewy. In contrast, my regul ar oven-cranked
up to i ts 500- degree max-took al most 10 tl l
Go to w. cooksmustrated. com
Key i n code 7067 for the resul ts of our
Piza Stone Tests.
Thi s i nformati on wi l l be avai l abl e unti l
Januar. I. 2007.
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mi notcs, causi ng thc hi gh protci n hrcad l| ou|
dough t o toughcn bot | cavi ng t hc solcr ca|c
l|our b| cnd | i ght and tcndcr. , Scc Crcat li zza
Without an8OO Dcgrccvcn"hc| ow. )
Toppi ng It Of
Whi | c I had i magincd a saocc oltangy, son ri p
cncdlrcsh tomatocs, thc rcqoisitc pcc| i ng, sccd
ing, and purccingwcrc not myidcaolqui c|and
casy.Canncdtomatocswcrci t, andthc| csscoo|
ing,thc bcttcr. Diccdtomatocshadthcbcsttcx
turc whcn qui ckly pu|scd i n thc lood proccssor,
|orming a s|ightly chonky bot oni |orm | aycr o|
saucc. Drainingthcpulscdtomatocswascsscntia|
to avoid a soggy crust. A |itt|c sugar, sa|t, lcsh
basil , andgarlicroundcdootthctomatollavor.
Bccausc thc crust took aboot l O mi notcs to
brown and crisp, thc saucc had p| cnty o|ti mc
to cook. Addi ng thc |rcsh mozzarc| | a ha| hvay
through thc baking ti mc was thc only way to
prcscrvci ts|rcshcrcamytcxtorcandmi | kyll avor.
All thi s pi zza nccdcd now was J spri n|| i ng o|
basil , adrizz| co|olivcoi l , andadasho|sa| t. J ust
an hoorand a hal|lrom startto hni shwas qoi tc
rcasonab| c,cspcci a| | y|or pi zzathattastcd | i |c i t
camcal | thcway|romaplcs.
P I ZZA MARG H E R I TA
MAKES TWO 1 2 1 NCH PI ZZAS
1his rccipc rcquircs a pi zza stonc and a pcc| .
Convcction ovcnswi|| producc a li ghtcr, crispicr
pizza, and you wil| nccd to rcducc t|+c ovcral
cookingtimcbya minutcortwo. Yoo can shapc
thc sccond dough round whi|c tl+c hrst pi zza
bakcs, but don` t add toppi ngs until j ust bc|orc
ba|ing. You can lct thc doogh risc ovcni ght i n
uc rclrigcratori |you| i kc, p|acc thc doogh ha| | s
on a llourcd ba|ing shcctandcovcr with p| astic
wrapcoatcdwithnonstickcoo|ingspray. l |osi ng
mozzarc| l apackcdi n brinc,patthc chccsc cubcs
drybc|orcp| acingthcmonthcpi zza.
Dough
1 1/4 teaspoons i nstant yeast
cup (8 ounces) water, room temperature
I 1/4 cups ( 8' ounces) unbl eached al l -purpose fl our,
pl us more for dusti ng work surface and peel
cup (4 ounces) cake fl our
I 'h teaspoons tabl e salt
2 teaspoons sugar
Topping
I ( 28- ounce) can di ced tomatoes
'h teaspoon sugar
smal l garl i c cl ove, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (opti onal )
1/4 cup chopped fresh basi l l eaves
Tabl e sal t
8 ounces fresh mozzarel l a (see note above) ,
cut i nto l - i nch chunks
2 teaspoons extra-vi rgi n ol ive oi l
Getti ng the Dough Shape J ust Right
I . D v de dcJg ~~e
d le y fle ~ x ^g ^d
spe ^lcs~ccl5 s
2. lle^ cJ^d ^lc 8
^cd s-lce ~ ^le ge
pcc-els
l . FOR THE CRUST: Adj ost ovcn rac| to
| owcst posi ti on, sct pi zza stonc on ovcn rac|,
and hcatovcn to 3OO dcgrccs . In | | qoi d mcasor
i ng cop, whi s| ycast into watcr to Ji sso| vc. l n
lood proccssor httcd with mcta| || adc, proccss
l| oors, sa|t, and sogar onti | comhi ncd, a|oot 3
scconds. With machi nc r onni ng, s| ow| y add | i q
ui dthrooghlccdtuhc, conti noc proccssonti |
dooghlormssatiny,stic|y ha| | thatc| carssi dcsol
workhow| , I |: to 2 mi notcs. , l laltcr I mi notc
doogh is sti cky and c| i ngs to h| adc, add l 2
tab| cspoons al| purposc l| oorand conti nocpro
ccssi ng. I ldooghappcarsdryandcrumh| y,add l
to 2 tab|cspoons watcr and proccss onti | dough
|ormsba| | . ) Di vi dcdoogh i n ha| landshapc i nto
smooth, tight ha| | s , scc photo I , abovc ) . l| acc
onl|ourcdcountcrorba|i ngshcct, spaci ngthcm
at | cast 3 i nchcs apart,covcr| oosc| ywi th p| astic
wrap coatcdwith nonstickcooki ngsprayand |ct
risc unti l doublcd i nvol omc, about I hoo|.
2 . FOR THE TOPPING: l nc| can bow| ol lood
proccssor, proccss tomatocs unti| croshcd, two
or thrcc l sccond po| scs. Jranslcr tomatocs to
hnc mcsh strai ncrsctovcr how| and |ct drai n at
|cast 3O mi notcs, stirring occasi ona| | y to rc| casc
3 . lelc cJle edges
w llle edf ^gesw e
g v ^gqJlelJ^s
4. ' fdcJgdeve cpswe-
spcls, slelc edges as ^g
5c-scf^ds
| i qui ds. lut hclorc -hap| ng p| zza rounds, com
|i nc drai ncd tomatocs, sogar, gar| ic , i lusing) ,
l ta|| cspoon hasi | , and 14 tcaspoonsa| ti obov|
3. TO SHAPE AD COOK THE PIZZAS: Whcn
dooghba| | shavcdooh| cdi nsi zc, dostdough| i |
cra| | ywi thll ourandtranslcrha| | stowc| | l|oorcd
wor| so rlcc . lrcss onc ba| | i nto 8 i nch dis|
, photo2 ) . Lsi ngll attcncd pa| ms, gcnt| vstrctch
di s| i nto I 2 i nch c| rc| c, \ors| ng a| ong outc.
cdgcandgivi ngd| s|quartcrtu|ns, photo-3 anJ
4). li ght| y l| ourpi zza pcc| , | i lt cdgcs oldoogh
roond brush o||anv cxccss Uour, thcn trans
lcr dough to pcc| . Sprcad thi n | aycr oltomato
toppi ng , about ': cop ) ovcr doogh w i th rob
hcrspato| a, | cavi ng': i nchhordcraroondcdgc.
S| i dc onto stonc and ba|c unti | crost bcg| ns to
brown, ahoot 5 mi notcs. Pcmovc pi zza lrom
ovcn with pcc| , c| osc ocn door, and toppi zza
with ha| |olchccsc chon|s, spaccd cvcn yapart
Kct om pi zza to stonc and conti nuc coo|i ng
unt| | chccsci s j ost mc|tcd, 4 3 mi notcsmorc .
1ranshr to cotti ng board, spri n|| c w ith ha| |ol
rcmai ni nghasi | , I tcaspoon o| ivc o| | , and pinch
salt . S|iccandscrvci mmcdi atc| y. Pcpcatstcp3to
s| apc,top, and ba|c sccond pi zza.

Great Piza without an 800- Degree Oven
' ' ly, pzza sser cJs5Js ^ess lr clgJ de esaep cedc^le
des g^l c^cflrJeNepc l^p z, dcecflereqJ re~e^ls s
wccdfredcve^ reac gle~pelJresJpwardcfB00degrees.
TcseewleneclsJcexlre~ele~pelJreswcJ davec^~yrec
pe, '5ccwed cc pzze ` scc~~erc a pzzcve^. '5a-ed~ypzza
ad cc~paed lwl lepzze a s ~adewl dcJg ll ^c Jdes
g pmlc ^f cJ) . cJr~ ^Jlesaler, 'expecledwcJ la c :ppzzs
lc e~ege, 5Jl ~ ^ewslccscft ~cslc-ey TecrJsl ~de wl
g prcle cJwas gl, leder, a^dc sp. Bc- lelesl-lce,
' ~de~yrec peadlep zzer a sec pe wlleg pcle ^cJr) .
T sl ~ele pcfess c^a dcJgfa ed, y e d glcJg, ealeqcJsl.
Wy dd ~y rec pewcr-we ^ 500degee lesl-lce cve 5Jl
Our recipe di dn' t work i n an BOO
degree oven, but i t's ideal for a cooler
conventional home oven.
^cl ^^800degeecc~~ec cve^: A^dwyd d^` llepcfess c^ oc pewc- ^cJcve^` Ahesc~eed
sclc ^g, 're zedlll ~e^clj Jslle~petJre)s5geneclc^lelexlJrecflecJsl.'^lesJpe clpc
fess c^ cve^, ~ydcJgccc-edscqJ c- yll ld d^` lvee^cJgl ~elcdycJl^d5ecc~ec sp-gpcle^
f cJwsesse^l Bc-lelesl-lce^,lerevesewshppe^ ^g.Te g prcle ^dcJgspe^lsc~Jcl~e^
lecve^ll l5eca~elcJgdcc-eqTeledez ^g, cwpcle ^c-ef cJ^~ydcJg-eplle ^le ccf
lecJslschw elepc c^ged5a-^gl ~e csped leexlecAppe^ly,ycJdc^` l^eed ^800degeecve^
lc~-egealpzNel-ycJj Jsl^eedlergldcJgfcrlej c5. c B.
I | ' | . ` c .\ | ' | | ' : | 2 0 0 6
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CrlCCLll_ Cuban-Style Pork Roast
Garl icky, ci trus-infused pork i s a natural for the backyard gri ll . Unfortunately, so are dry
meat, burnt skin, and faint fl avors. We gril l - roasted ```pounds of pork to get i t ri ght.
W
el l known for i t s r um
and ci gars, Cuba i s also
home to another, l esser
known speci al ty of the
Caribbean: citrusy, garli cky roasted meats .
One of the best examples is lechon asado,
or roast pork marinated i n a flavorful mi x
ture of citrus, garli c, ol i ve oi l , and spices.
Tradition cal l s for a whol e pi g cooked on
a spi t over a wood fre, but many moder
versions use a suckl i ng pi g, fresh ham, or
pork shoul der instead. For conveni ence'
sake , the proj ect i s someti mes brought
indoors and roasted i n the oven.
f
: B Y S i N D R I 1 \ U E
with flavor i nfusi on later. First, I wanted to
fgure out the best way to cook the pork.
Letti ng the pork si t overi ght i n a
working mari nade of ci trus j uice, garli c,
and ol i ve oi l , l proceeded to cook i t over
i ndi rect heat, banki ng the coals on either
side of the gril l and pl aci ng the roast i n
between. Hours l at er, the i nteri or had
reached my target 1 90 degrees, but get
ting there was tedi ous. To keep the roast
fom turi ng too dark, I had to rotate
i t every 3O mi nutes or so-that' s seven
or ei ght times per sessi on. Add that to
the number of times 1 had to reft el to
keep the charcoal from dying out, and the
gri l l l i d was l yi ng on the ground almost as
much as it was covering the pork.
My goal was to r e- create this bol d
flavored di sh, with its crackl i ng- crisp ski n,
tender meat, and braci ng garl i c - ci trus
sauce . I wanted a reci pe that coul d be
made outdoors ( great for large summer
parties) as wel l as a variation that coul d
be made i ndoors ( for ci ty dwel l ers and
winter months) . Afer testing hal f a dozen
recipes i n various cookbooks, I reali zed I
had my work cut out for me . Burt skin
that peeled off, chewy meat so dry even the
sauce couldn' t save i t, and marinades that
failed to impart much flavor were common
problems. This recipe is a proj ect: I f the
texture and fl avor aren' t great, why bother?
Uc -eCc c slyepJ edpc- w cf s pl seds CJ5cpc-
csl ss ced lcj J cyac se s
There had to be a better way. I tried
a modifed two- level fre, banking all the
coals on one si de of the grill and cooking
the pork over the si de without the coal s.
Thi s was an i mprovement, but l was sti ll
refuel i ng too ofen. What i f I started out
with higher heat, then l et the fre sl owl y
di e out? Unfortunatel y, rampi ng up the
+ quarts of coal I'd been using to a fdl
chi mney (6 quart s ) brought the i ni ti al
temperature oft he gri l l to a scorching 43O
Fi re Away
Whether roasted on the grill or in the oven,
Cuban-style roast pork has a texture somewhere
between that of a j ui cy, sl i ceabl e American pork
roast (which Cook)s prefers cooked to about I +3
degrees ) and fal l - apart- when-you-touch- i t pul l ed
pork ( cooked to al most 2OO degrees ) . The best
authentic reci pes I sampl ed cal led for an i nteral
temperature of around I9O degrees, at which
poi nt the collagen and f't had mostly broken
down and rendered but not qui te to fdl - on di s
integrati on. As for the cut, 1 went wi th the picnic
shoulder ( often simply label ed "pork shoulder" ) ,
an inexpensive, fatty, bone- i n cut that comes
with a generous amount of skin attached: The
crispy ski n, afer al l , i s a hallmark of this di sh. ( See
"Picking the Perfect Pork Roast, " right. )

Go to w . cooksi l l ustrated. com

Key i n code 7065 for our Testi ng of
Remote Meat Thermometers.
Avai l abl e unti l Januar I. 2007.
-
The reci pes l round for Cub.m pork were a
varied l ot, but mot fol l owed the .1me sequence :
I nfuse the raw pork \\' ith fl Jvor ( with a mari nade
t wet paste ) , cook several hours on the gri l l
usi ng i ndi rect heat, cut or l i ce i nto smal l pi eces,
then toss wi th a tradi ti or ul moj o ( pronounced
"mo- ho") sauce , a garl i cky \' i nai grette that orien
senes doubl e duty as a mari nade. l woul d deal
degrees, gi vi ng me pork that was more Caj un
bl ackened than Cuban- roasted.
Di scouraged, I wondered whether I shoul d
throw i n the towel and focus on an oven method
i nstead. Afier all, tradi ti onal Cuban- style roast
pork was ori gi nal l y cooked outdoors more out
of necessi ty th<m in the interest of flavor devel op
ment ( unl i ke, say, a smoky Carol i na- style pul l ed
s H o P P 1 N G . Pi cki ng the Perfect Pork Roast
Wl sle5eslculfcCJ5c s e pc-`Wel edle~ . W deyv 5 eBcslcc 5Jll le Jppepcl cccfle
fccl eg)wsclluclvecpl cclc<lc ls gfalccclecl. BJl lcc~esw lccs- cllced, cdlec sp, fvc
fJ s- c sccecfle g glscfl sd s es~fc~ le e eg) ss- c5Jl sJsJ ylcc ec .Wesell edcc
lep cc cscJ de scc edpc-scJ de) ,l vclJ cJlfc~le cwepcl cccflefccl egll ~csl wys
cc~es5cce c-cdw lf secffld cdlc5ccl
B OSTON BUTT
Fatt but ski nl ess
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1 2
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F RE S H HAM
Great ski n but too l ean
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PI C N I C S H O U LD E R
Our choi ce: great ski n, great fat
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Bathed and I nfused
B ^d ~el, d ^le c, f'vcess cJsl-lee cc~~c^ pc5 e~sw l g
csledpc-,eccfw cde~^dslscw^,cJslc~zedsc Jl c^ cle5 ^d
thc|cstolhothworl ds, l optcd
lor acom|i nation.
Lnlortonatcl y, thc wi mpy
marinadc I was usi ngtwo or
thrcc ncsh squcczcd l i mcs and
thc samc numbcr olorangcs,
p| osabv mi nccdgarl i cclovcs-
j ustwasn` tcotti ngi t. l gradoally
~el ^d d ^le c, we cc~5 ^ed ld l c^
5 ^es l, sJg,^dwle)w lc lJs~ ^de.
Tc lcelJplefvccflecJsl, weccledle
exle cw l pcle^lg cc lJspslejJsl5efce
ccc- ^g
B RI N E
,pyRi x
+ w
W

MARI NADE
por|) . 1wclvctcstkitchcnstahcrsmadcthcdcci
si onlor mcancrl pi ttcdapor|shou| dcrcoo|cd
on thc grill ,wi th a| | its rcquisitc chorcography)
againstoncsi mplytosscdi ntothcovcn. 1hcovcn
vcrsion wastasty ,so l i ncl odcd thc rccipc as an
altcrnativc) , |ot thc gri | | vcrsi on was thc c|car
luvoritcloritsdc| ici ooscharrcdllavor.
Keepi ng a Ud on I t
1hc ovcn cxpcrimcnt had givcn mc an i dca. l l
tastcrswantcdgril|cdllavor,whynotsi mp| ystart
out on thc gri l l , thcn movc thc roast insidc to
h nish` lll planncd thi ngs right, may|c l could
skip rclocling altogcthcr. Sorc cnoogh, starting
with a twothirdshd| chimncy allowcd thc por|
to cook lor a| most thrcc nil| hoo|s |chrc thc
coa|sdicddown. Whcn l translcrrcdthcroastto
a 323 dcgrcc ovcn, its intcnal tcmpcratu|c was
around I 3Odcgrccs. 1hrcc hoo|s latcr, out camc
a I9Odcgrccpor|roastwithp|cntyolgrillcdUa
vorand l `d uscdj ostoncchimncyolcharcoa| '
Myrccipc had gonc hom hvccharcoalrcp| cn
ishmcntstonocharcoalrcpl cni shmcnts, bml sti ll
had hdd| cwi ththcroastcvcryhallhourorso
to|ccpthcsidccloscsttothccoa| snombuni ng.
Lnwil | i ng to | cavc wc| | cnoogh a| onc, l won
dcrcdi ll cou| dsomchowprotcctthcporksothat
l coo|davoi dthcha| lhour| yrotations . Covcring
thcroastcomp| ctclywith al umi num loi | crcatcd
astcamchcct,whichwrcakcdhavoconthccri spi
ncssolthcs|i n. 1hi sroastnccdcddryhcat . 1hc
sol oti onwasa loi l shi c|

" , scc photos on pagc

I4) , whi ch al| owcd thc hcat to ci rcul atc aroond
thc mcatyct |cpt i t hom tuni ng h| ack. Morc
i mportant, l hadcutoutthc hi ss. ow thc gri l l
staycdcl oscdlcrthccnti rcscssi on.
Pl ates of the Cari bbean
Ia|lthcrccipcs1 hadcol|cctcdca| l cdlormarinat
ingthcporkshooldcrovcnight, orcvcnlor two
or thrcc days) , thc othcrhallwcntwith a coati ng
o|wct pastc. Lach mcthod had its advantagcs.
1hc marinadc pcnctratcd dccp i nto thc mcat,
whi | c thc pastc hcld lst to thc cxtcri or olthc
por|throughoutcoo|i ng,yi c| di ngan asscrtivc| y
llavorcdcrost, thcmar| nadcj usts| i ppcdon} . For
PASTE
i ncrcascd thc ci tros and gar| ic
until l was op to two hcads ol
gar| i c and al most two dozcn
assortcd orangcs and l i mcs .
,Wi th thi s morc powcrlol lor
mu| a, l loond that l coul d gct
awaywith marinating thc pork
lor j ust I 2 hours rathcr than
two or thrcc days . ) 1astcrs wcrc appcascd, |ut
wi thcarpal tunnc| syndromcsctti ngi n, myhands
wcrc | csscnthusi asti c. Whcn l sccrct|yc| i mi natcd
thc limc j ui cc and rcplaccd thc lrcsh sqocczcd
orangcj ui ccwi than cqua| amount lom thc car
ton, howcvcr, tastcrscouldn` ttcl| thc dilIcrcncc .
As lor thc cxtcri or pastc, thc usua| hl cnd ol
mashcdgar| i c, sa| t,pcppcr,orcgano, comi n, olivc
oi l , andorangcj oi cc, pl osashotolwhi tcvi ncgar
lor cxtra |ic| , |asi cal ly, thc componcnts ola
moj osaocc ) , wor|cdj othnc . Cutti nglai r| ywi dc
s| i tsa| | ovcrthcpor|provcd |cthcmostcllcc
ti vcmcthodlcrtrappi ngthcpastc` sllavors.
Al l the Rest
l nowhad aso| i d, andluss hc) coo|ingmcthod
and a grcat twoprongcd tcchni qoc lor i nlis
i ng l|avor. 1hc on| y pro|| cm rcmai ni ng was an
i nconsi stcnt tcxtorc . 1hc scctions ol thc mcat
c| oscst to thc crost , and, thos, ncar thc cxtcrior
laycr ollt) a|ways camc oot moist and tcndcr,
hot thc | cancri ntcri orwas lcssprcdi cta|| c. n a
|ad day, it coo| dtornoutsodrythatcvcnagcn
crouss| athcri ngolmojosaocc|arc| ysavcd i t.
1hc tcst |i tchcn olcn rc| i cs on thc magi c ol
|ri ni ng , soaki ng i n a soloti on olsalt and somc
ti mcs sugar) to rcmcdy| can mcat tcxturc prob
l cms, butlwasa| rcadyspcndi ngI2hoo|ssoa|ing
thcporki na mari nadc. 1hcanswcrwassi mp| c. l
tookthc tcst |i tchcn` sbasi c lormu| alor a |ri nc,
rcpl accd somc olthc watcr wi th orangc j oi cc,
andcrcatcda hyhri d|rinc/mari nadc. l compcn
satcdlcrthcdi l otcdllavor, coortcsyolthcaddcd
watcr ) byoppi ngthcsoa|| ngti mcl om I2 hours
|ctwccn I 8 and 24 hoo| s . 1hc rcs o| t was
llavorld mcat that camc oot tcndcr cvcn c| osc
thc|onc .
Most | argc cots o| mcat |cncnt nom rcsti ng
alcrcoo|i ng,whi cha|lowsthcj ui ccstorcdi stri b
utc cvcnlythrooghootthcmcat. MyCu|anpork
roastwasnocxccpti on. Comparcdsidc |y sidc, a
roastrcstcdlcr 3O mi nutcswasmochj ui ci crthan
onc l s| i ccdi ntoi mmcdi atc| yalcrcoo|i ng. Ivcn
oorc i ntcrcst| ng i s what happcncd whcn thc
roast rcstcd lor an cnti rc hoor. Ascxpcctcd, thc
cxtcr| orandthc ort| ons|ordcri ng|no|sollut
l | ' | Y / ! .\ | ' C. | ' | 2 () [) (,
1 3
E Q U I P M E N T T E S T I N G :
Charcoal Chi mney Starters
We ve c^gcc^s deedc ~^eysllelc 5ele
5esl wy lc gl ccc ped -e cvezed
ccnee ~Jgs, lese ~el cc^lpl c^se dvded
^lcwcc~5es, le cwecfwc c dstew
seelscfcJ~p ed^ewsppell c^ce l, g^ le
le ccc ^ le Jppec~5e cley, weve
5ee^ slJc-5y cw ~^y c ~^ey slleslee
ec^le~-el-^dcwd nee^l leyefc~
leWe5e~cde we Jse cwe cJ^ded Jp sx
c ~^eyslcseew cc^eswc-ed5esl
Afewcflec ~^eyswee^c^slles,l^-s
lc see cpc ly W e cJ We5e c ds j Jsl
e^cJgccc ( 6 qJls)lc^d elefeqJe^l
g ^g pp cl c^s ll eqJ e g el, fcJ
~cde se d s g^ f c^l y ess, l+ qJls Tl s
f ^efc ~ed J~ eve f e, 5Jl^cl de fcgel
l ^gdeep, d-sec^pcrlecJsesle-O^e
~cde , leleve^ 3 c e^, dcc~lcccc~
~cdlewcpp ^g7 qJlscfccc . Afs
we e cc^ce^ed, le ~ce cpc |, le 5elle
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ppec le ws secc^d ^d e fcJ^d c^ le
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OU R FAVORI TE
TeWEBER Rapi d Fi re
Chi mney Starter ( $ 1 6. 99)
s le gls ze ^ ds
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' BI G ' WI N N E R
TeSEVEN RI CHLEN
Best of Barbecue
Ul ti mate Chi mney Starter
( $ 29. 99) s p cy5Jlc ds
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J UST A TRAP
TeMEEOR Uf-Of
Charcoal Starter ( $ 6 . 99)
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TE CH N I Q U E B UI LDI NG A F OI L ' S H I E L D'
l . TO BRINE THE PORK:
By protecti ng the pork roast wi th an al umi num foi l shi el d, we kept i t from getti ng
too dark on the si de cl osest to the heat-no rotati on requi red.
Wi th s harp par i ng |ni lc ,
cut I i nch dccp s| its , about
I i nch | ong) al | ovcr roast,
spaccdabout 2 i nchcs apart.
Ii sso|vc sugar and sa| t i n
quartsco|dwatcr in stoc|pot
or| argc boc|ct . Stirin gar|ic
and orangc j oi cc. Submcrgc
por| i n brinc and rchigcratc
I 8 to2+hours.
2 . TO AP P LY T HE
GARLIC- CITRUS PASTE:
I . Make two
1
1- i nch fol ds on the l ong si de of an 1 8- i nch l ength of foi l to form a
rei nforced edge. Pl ace the foi l on the center of the cooki ng grate, wi th the rei n
forced edge over t he hot s i de of t he gri l l . Posi ti on t he roast, s ki n s i de up, over
the cool si de of the gri l l so that i t covers about a thi rd of the foi l . 2. Li ft and bend
the edges of the foi l to shi el d the si des of the roast, tucki ng i n the edges.
lroccss gar| i c, comi n, orcg
ano, sa| t,and pcppcrinlood
proccssor ont i | thcy rcach
consi stcncy olcoarsc pastc,
about tcn I sccond pul scs .
Wi th machi nc runni ng, add
orangcj ui cc, vi ncgar,andoi |
wcrc dc| i ci ous, bot now thc l can i ntcrior por
tions wcrc cvcry bi t as moist. Iaticncc rcal|y is
avirtuc.
A|| thc por| nccdcd now was a hna| sp| ash
olmoj o saocc, whi ch cou| d bc qoi c|| y mi xcd
andcoo|cd toroomtcmpcratorc whi| c thcpor|
rcstcd. Madc withmanyolthcsamc ingrcdicnts
oscd in thc brinc and pastc, thc mojo providcd
anothcrbright,lrcshhi toll|avor.AsItoo|abitc
olthc tangy, gar|ic|ypor| and a sip lrom an icy
mojito,I|ncwmycllortshadbccnworthit. 1hi s
di shhadh na|lygottcnitsmoj obac|.
C U BAN - STYL E G RI L L - ROAST E D P OR K
S E RVE S 8 TO I 0
Lctting thc cookcd roast rcst lor a flii hourwill
yic|dnoticcablymorctcndcrmcat. 1hisroasthas
a crispy s|in that should bc scrvcd a|ong with
thc mcat. 1opthc mcatwith Mojo Saocc , rccipc
lo| |ows ) . 1raditional accompani mcnts i nc| udc
b|ac|bcans,ri cc, andlri cdplantains.
Pork and Brine
I bone- i n, ski n- on pork pi cni c shoul der
(7 to 8 pounds)
cups sugar
2 cups tabl e sal t
2 medi um garl i c heads, unpeel ed cl oves separated
and crushed
4 cups orange j ui ce
Garlic- Citrus Paste
1 2 medi um garl i c cl oves, peel ed and coarsely
chopped (about 1f cup)
2 tabl espoons ground cumi n
2 tabl espoons dri ed oregano
tabl espoon tabl e sal t
I 11 teaspoons ground bl ack pepper
6 tabl espoons orange j ui ce
2 tabl espoons di sti l l ed whi te vi negar
2 tabl espoons ol ive oi l
through lccd tubc and proccss onti | mi xturc
lorms smooth, wct pastc, about 2O scconds .
Kcmovc por| nom bri nc and ri nsc o ndcr coo|
ronni ngwatcr, pat drywith papcr towc| s. Kub
pastc a| | ovcr por| and i nto s| i ts. Kclri gcratc
por|unti | rcadytogri | | .
3. TO GRILL- ROAST THE PORK: Ls i ng
chi mncy startcr, | i ght + qoarts charcoa| , about
O bri quct tcs ) and burn onti | lu| | y i gni t cd
and part i a| | y covcrcd i n gray as h, about I 3
mi not cs. Lmpty coa| s i nto gri | | , bui | d modi
hcd two | cvc| hrc by arrangi ng coa| s t o covcr
onc ha| lolgri | | i n cvcn | aycr. Posi ti on coo|
i ng gratc ovcr coa| s, covcr gri | | , and hcat
onti | hot, about 3 mi nutcs, scrapc gratc cl can
wi th gri | | br us h. l| acc roast wi th s|i n si dc
up on coo| si dc olgri | | and shi c| d wi th loi |
accordi ng t o photos ahovc . Covcr a nd coo|
onti | gri | | tcmpcratu|c la| | s 223 dcgrccs, 2
to 3 hou|s , coa| s wi | | |c gray and parti al | y di s
i ntcgratcd ) . Altcr I/+ hoors, hcat ovcn to 323
dcgrccswithrac|i n|owcr mi dd| cposition.
+. Whcn gri | | tcmpcrato|c has la| | cn to 223
dcgrccs, rcmovc loi | and translcr roast t o wirc
rac|sctovcrrimmcd ba|ingshcctorto roasting
panwi th rac|. Roast por| i n ovcn unti | skin i s
browncdandcrispandinstant rcadthcrmomctcr
inscrtcd into thi c|cst partolmcat rcgistcrs I O
dcgrccs, 2 to 3 hours. 1ranslcr roast to cutting
boardand | ctrcst I hour. 1ocarvc,h rst rcmovc
s|ininonc| argcpiccc. Scrapcollanddi scardtop
|aycr ollat, thcn cot por|awaytrom bonc in 3
or + | argc pi cccs. S| i cc cach pi ccc against grain
i nto|+ i nchs| i ccs. 1oscrvcs|in,scrapccxccsslat
lromundcrsidc and cutintostri ps. Dri zz| cMojo
Saoccovcrpor|j ustbclorcscrvi ng.
C U BAN - STYL E G RI LL- ROAST E D P OR K
O N A G AS G RI L L
l . Io||owrccipclorCuban Sty|cCri | | Koastcd
lor|throughstcp2 .
C | | | : ' l I l' : | M ^ | | l
1 4
2 . Jon al l gri l l boncrs to hi gh, cl oscl i d, and
hcat unti l hot, about I 3 mi nutcs. Scrapc gratc
cl canwith gri | l brus h. 1urnollallcxccptprimary
buncr, boncrthat will rcmainon duing coo|
i ng) . I|accroastwithskin sidc uponcoo| sidcol
gril | , shicl dcd with loi| , scc photos, l clt ) . C|osc
covcr and |owcr primary burncr to mcdi um or
mcdi umhi gh, grilltcmpcratmcshou| dbcaboot
323 dcgrccs ) . Coo| until skin i s browncd and
crispandinstantrcadthcrmomctcri nscrtcdinto
thi c|cstpartolmcatrcgistcrsI Odcgrccs,aboot
hoors,rotati ngmcatI 8Odcgrccsandrcmoving
loi| shicld ha| laythroughcoo|ingtimc. Io| | ow
rcstingands| i ci ngi nstructionslrom stcp +.
C U BAN - STYL E OVE N - ROAST E D P ORK
I . Iol|owrccipclorCoban Sty|cCril | Roastcd
lor| throogh stcp 2 . Hcat ovcn to 323 dcgrccs
with rac|i n|owcr midd| cposi ti on.
2. l|accporkwiths|insidcdovnonwi rcrac|
sct ovcrri mmcd bakingshcctor in roasti ngpan
vith rack. Coo|, oncovcrcd, 3 hoors . Il i p roast
s|in sidc up and conti nuc to coo| unti l i nstant
rcad thcrmomctcr inscrtcd into thi c|cst part ol
mcat rcgistcrs I Odcgrccs, about 3 hou|s morc,
| i ghtl ytcnting roastwithloi l i lskin bcgins togct
too dar|. Iol|owrcsti ngand s|icing i nstructions
lromstcp+.
M OJ O S AU C E
MAKE S I C U P
1hc saucc can bc madc whi | c thc cookcd pork
is rcsting or up to a day ahcad ol timc and
rcligcratcd inanairti ghtcontaincr. Ilchil | cd,|ct
thc saocc comc to room tcmpcrato|c bclorc
scrving.
4 medi um garl i c cl oves, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about 4 tespoons)
2 teaspoons kosher sal t
11 cup ol ive oi l
11 teaspoon ground cumi n
1f cup di sti l l ed whi te vi negar
1f cup j ui ce from I to 2 oranges
1f teaspoon dri ed oregano
1fs teaspoon ground bl ack pepper
l . l| acc mi nccd gar|ic on cutti ng board and
sprinklcwi th|oshcrsa| t. Lsi ng|| atsi dcolchcl`s
|ni lc, drag garlic and salt bac| and lortH across
cotti ngboardi nsma| | circu|armotions ontil gar
|ic isgroundinto smoothpastc.
2 . Icat olivc oi | in mcdi um sauccpan ovcr
mcdi um hcat unti l shi mmcring. Addgarlicpastc
and cumi n and coo|, sti rri ng, u nti | lragrant,
about3Oscconds.
3. Kcmovcpanlromhcatandwhi ski nrcmain
ing i ngrcdi cnts . 1ranslcr to bov| and coo| to
room tcmpcraturc . Whisk saucc to rccombi nc
bclorcscrving.
KCC0ll_ o0LcC ZUCCllll
This summertime staple cooks up soggy and bland in the ski llet. Could we bail it out?
Grati ng zucchi ni is the best method for getti ng the
water out, cl eari ng the way for maxi mum fl avor.
T
hcrc` s a rcason zocchi ni osoal | y gcts
tosscdontoa hotgri | | , andi thasnoth
i ngto dowi ththc scason. Conlrontcd
with thc intcnsc, dryhcatola | ivc hrc,
thc wcttcst vcgctab|c i n thc gardcn , aboot 93
pcrccnt watcr) qoi ck| y cxpc| s cxccss moi storc,
| cavingbchi ndconccntratcdllavors.Jrythi strick
on thcstovctopandyoo' I I gcta panlol olsoggy
sommcrsqoash stcw. Whi | c thc high hcat sti | |
worksitsmagic, thc| ackolas|ottcdgratc mcans
thcrc`snocscapcrootclorthc| i qoi d.
Jhc sccrct to saotccd zocchi ni , thcn, i s to
cxtractasmochwatcraspossi b| cbefore thcsqoash
hits thc pan. Jhc most common mcthod i s to
sa| tthi ns|iccdzocchini , lcti tdrai ni naco| andcr,
thcn prcss thc disks bctwccn papcr towc| s. ot
cvcn thcn, thc disks may sti l | bc watcr| oggcd
cnooghtoi nhi bi tbrowni ng.
Scvcra|rccipcsl loundca| | cdlorshrcddi ngthc
zucchi ni on aboxgratcr,sqocczi ngthcshrcdsi n
a kitcHcntowc| , andcookingtHcmi na Hotski |
| ct. Jhcbadncws hrst . 1hcsc rccipcs al | cookcd
opsoggy,withanollputtingstcamcdl|avor. ot
givcnhowmochol thcl|avor sapping| i qoi dlwas
ab|ctocxtractlromthc shrcds,thc mcthodi tsc| l
sccmcdpromi si ng.
Di scardi ngthcsccdy,watcrycorcsmadcthc
shrcds noti ccabl y dri cr, bot thc bcst so| oti on
was to i ncorporatc tcchni qocs lrom t hc o| d
..
3 B Y S E i N I_ i IV L E R
sal t i ng/prcss i ng mcthod as wc| | . tossi n g t hc
shrcds wi th sa| t, drai ni ng t hcm i n a co| andcr,
andwri ngi ngthcmooti naki tchcntowcl . l was
p| casant| y so|pri scd to hnd that shrcddcd zuc
chi ni nccdson| yhvcmi nut csoldrai ni ng, a lar
crylromthcha| lhou|rcqoi rcd by s| i ccddi sks .
By cranki ng op thc hcat and mi ni mi zi ngsti r
ri ng, l had tcndcr, | i ght| y browncd zocchi ni i n
| css than hvc mi notcs Jhc on| yprohl cm l cn to
so|vcwasas| i ght| yc| ompy,tang|cdtcxto|c, which
madc i t tricky to di stri botc llavorhd i ngrcdi cnts
cvcn| y.Jhckcy,lloond,wastotossthcrawshrcds
witho| i vcoi | bclorcaddi ngthcmtothcpan.
Z U C C H I N I WI TH GARL I C AN D L E M O N
S E RVE S 4
Bread- Crumb Topping (optional)
2 sl i ces whi te sandwi ch bread, torn i nto quarters
2 tabl espoons unsal ted butter
Zucchi ni
5 medi um zucchi ni (about 8 ounces each ) ,
ends tri mmed
Tabl e sal t
smal l garl i c cl ove, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about 11 teaspoon)
tabl espoon pl us I teaspoon extra-vi rgi n ol ive oi l ,
pl us extra for servi ng, i f desi red
| 2 teaspoons j ui ce from I l emon
Ground bl ack pepper
l . FOR THE BREAD CRUMBS , opti ona| ) .
lol sc brcad i n lood proccssor un ti | coarsc| y
groond. Hcat hottcr . n I 2 i nch nonstick ski| | ct
ovcrmcdi om hi ghhcatonti | mc| tcd.Addbrcad
crombs and cook, sti rring lrcqocnt| ywi th hcat
proolrohbcrspato| a, unt i | go| dcn hrown, aboot
3 mi notcs. Jranslcrtosma| | bow| andsctasidc.
2 . FOR THE ZUCCHINI: Cot cach zocchi ni
crosswisc i ntoscvcral pi cccs, cach 2 to 3 i nchcs
| ong. Shrcd cach pi ccc on | argc hol cs olbox
gratcr, rotati ng as nccdcd to avoi d s hrcddi ng
sccdsandcorc, whi chshool d bcdi scardcd) , yoo
shou| d Havc a|out 1 0 cops sHrcddcd zocchi ni .
Josszocchi ni wi th 1 11 tcaspoonssa|tand p| acci n
co| andcrs ct i n mcdi om bow| , | ct drain 3 to IO
mi notcs. Wrapzocchi ni inkitchcntowc| , inbatchcs
i lncccssary,andwri ngootcxccssmoi sto|c.
3. l| acc zocchi ni in mcdi om how| and brcak
opany| argc c| omps. Combi nc gar| i cwi th2 tca
spoonsoi | i nsmal | bow| ,addmi xtorctozocchi ni
andtoss com|i ncthoroogh|y.
I |' | Y c7 A L l (, l ' ' | 2 0 0 6
I S
4. Icat rcmai ni ng 2 tcaspoons oi| in I 2inch
nonstick ski l | ct ovcr high hcat onti | lai nt smokc
appcars. Add zocchi ni and sprcad cvcn|y in pan
with tongs, cook withoot stirring ont i | bottom
| aycrbrowns,aboot2 mi notcs, stirwc|| , brcaking
opanyclumpswith tongs, thcncookonti| ncw`
bottom | aycrbrowns,aboot2 mi nutcsmorc. ll
hcat, stir i n | cmon j uicc and sa|t and pcppcr to
tastc. Scrvci mmcdiatcly,drizz| ingwithadditiona|
o| i vc oi | , il dcsi rcd, and spri nkl i ng with brcad
crombs, i losi ng.
Z U C C H I N I WI TH TO MATO E S AND BAS I L
S E RVE S 4
Combi nc3 corcd,sccdcd,anddiccdp| omtoma
tocs, I sma| | clovcminccdgar|i c, I tcaspoonba|
samic vincgar, 2 tcaspoonscxtravirginolivcoi| ,
I4 tcaspoonsaltand2 tab|cspoonschoppcdlrcsh
basi|| cavcsi nsmal l bow|andsctasidc.Iol|owrcc
i pclorZucchi ni withCar|icandLcmonlromstcp
2, omitting gar|ic i nstcp 3 and rcplacing |cmon
j oi cc with tor.+ato mi xturc i nstcp 4. Jranslcrto
scrving p| attcr,spri nk|cwith l/4 cop hnc|ygratcd
larmcsan, and scrvc i mmcdiatc| y, dri zz| i ngwith
additiona| olivc oil, i ldcsircd.
Z U C C H I N I WI TH S P I C E D CAR ROTS
AN D AL M O N D S
S E RVE S 4
Iol|ow stcps 2 and 3 olrccipc lor Zocchiniwith
Car|icandLcmon, omittinggarlici nstcp 3. Icat
I tab|cspooncxtravirgino|ivcoi | in I 2 inchnon
sti ck ski l | ct ovcr mcdi om hcat onti | shi mmcr
i ng. Add I copgratcdcarrot and cook, stirring
occasi ona| |y, onti | tcndcr, aboot 3 mi notcs. Add
'2 tcaspooncoriandcrand 11 tcaspoonrcdpcppcr
llakcsandcook,stirringconstantly,onti | lragrant,
about 3O scconds . l ncrcasc hcat to hi gh, add
zucchi ni and '2 cop go| dcn rai si ns and sprcad
cvcn|yi npanwith tongs. Cookonti|bottom|aycr
browns, aboot 2 mi notcs, stir wc| | , hrcaking op
any cl omps with tongs, thcn cook onti l ncw`
bottom| aycrbrowns,aboot2 mi notcsmorc. Off
hcat, add 11 copsl i ccd,toastcda| monds,and toss
combi nc. Sti rin I to2 tcaspoons| cmonj oicc
and sa|t and pcppcrto tastc. Scrvc immcdiatcly,
dri zz| i ngwithadditiona|o| i vc oil ildcsircd.
Go to w. cooksi l l ustrated. com
Key i n 7064 for our reci pe for Zucchi ni
wi th Peas and Herbs.
Reci pe avai l abl e unti l Januar I, 2007.
llltLroLCC 'JCC LC Kitchen NrVC
Do you really need 1``worth of forged German steel ? Her-s our guide to choosi
and usi ng, the essential knives-and which ones don't make the cut. BY s EAN LAWL E R
THREE ESSENTIAL KNIVES
N^JfclJeslqlclpycJ ^lc5Jy ^g5 cc-swldcze^-^ves,5Jlspscppes ^veslc^ y ^leesse^l s.
8- I NCH CHEF' S KNI FE
Bolster Basics
c~ccpp' ^g^c^ c^lc~ ^c ^ge5s^d5Jlce ^gc c-e^ ,
l sc^e-^ few ^d' eJ 0pece^lcf ycJ - lce^cJll ^gwc-.
Ncslfcged-^ vesvel c-cc' cf~el ^e
le^d ec ed5c sleDes g^edlc5 ^ce
Forged or Stamped?
Cc^ve^l c^ w sdc~d cllesllfcged 5 des-~de5ypcJ ^g
~c le^slee' ^lc~c ds-esJpe clccepesl~ped5' des,
w cepJ^ceJcJlcfseelcfslee . OJ leslsscwedll
lefcged/sl~pedd sl ^cl c^ s ess ~pcl^ll^we gl. c~e
lesles -edle~^eJve5 |cfle gle-^ ves, w ecles
pefeedleslJd ^ess^d5 ^cecfev efcged 5 de
l ewe glcf l e5 de, lpcsespc5 e~fc
c~espe^es, s lsl c-^esspeve^lsleee
cfle5 defc~pss ^glcJglespe^ ^g
c^^e .OveleccJsecf~^yspe^ ^gsw c
gdJ ywedcw^le5 de) le5c' sle~y
slllcpclJde, peve^l ^gle 5 defc~ ~- ^g
s~cclcc^lclw llecJll ^g5cd.
Material World
NcslqJ |5 dese ~defc~ g
c5c^sl ^ essslee , d ~el ll,
c^cespe^ed, le^dslcslyllwy
Weecc~~e^dle~. ) c~epJ sls
pefec5c^slee -^ ves, w c~y
l-espeedge ^ l y5Jldc^ l
el ^' lfcs c^g. cxpe^s vece~ c
5 deseJ lsp5JlJ lfg e
Cure Appeal
Cef s-^ vesw l c^g, ge^l y
s cp ^gcJvlJe5ellepefc~
lecc- ^g~cl c^^ecessyfc
^c ^g^dccpp ^gl^lcse
w le l ve ysl gl ^ell
cJves5J pl yllel p.
* AND THE WI NNERS ARE . . . *
Getti ng a Handl e on I t
Wepefe~c dedp sl'c^d escve
lcse~defc~wccd w ccc ecls
gese^dd l) c~el w cc^gel
s ppeq) . NcslcfcJleslccc<pefe
s ~p espe ^cegc^c~. c 5J~ps
^d dges)^ds~ccllexlJele
l^pe55' ed f ^ s Te^d escJ d
5 ^celewe glcfle5 de, ~- ^g
Te ^expe^s ve, glwe glFORSCHNER FI BROX I J 6)wslefvc le
~c^glesleswcf^cy gle-^ ves. Tcsewc -eslJd efcged 5' de
pefeedleWUSHOF GRND PRIX I I I J+) -sl. esc^5 y gl
l gl, cc~fcl5' ese' w lycJ^d
We^scpp ^gfc-^ fe, lqcJl5cl
cc~~c^g psseeTwc Bs cC ps,
pge 1 7) 5efce~- ^gycJcc ce.
. . . . . . . . . . .
'
3 11- I NCH PARI NG KNI FE
'
Ap ^g-^ fe sesse^l fcls-slleqJ e
~cedexle |^dpec s c^l^cef s-^ fe
c^ pcv de. pee ^g^dcc ^gpp es, deve ^ ^g
s ~p, cJll ^gc lJsseg~e^ls, ^d~ce.
Te5 decfpr ^g-^ fescJ d 5esc~ewl
f ex 5 efcesy~^eJve ^g ^lcl glspcls
sJcslc~lccces)^dfc^d ^gcJves
we^ pee ^g^dp ^g.
* AND THE WI NNE R I S . . . *
Wl p ^g-^ fe, we gl^d5 ^cee
ess' ~pcl^ll^sp, g e5 de^d
f ~, cc~fcrl5 eg p. TeFORSCHNER
FI BROX I S JS) s5clfc cwp ce.
1 0- I NCH BREAD KNI FE
Te pc ^ledsel c^scfgccd5ed-^ feg delcJgcJs|
5eds, 5ge s, ^dlc~lcs- ^slcpcdJce^els ces, w epcc y
des g^ed5ed-^ fes ps, slJlles, ^dseds lswylcJgfccd.
As gl ycJved5 de
-eeps-^Jc- esfc~
scp ^glecJll ^g
5cd , cw ^g
cc- ^g~cl c^lccJl
lcJglcJgcJsls.
.
c ^ledsel c^s
g vele5 degccd
g pc^lefccd gl
wy,w ewvyse
l c^ss decJ^d
5efced gg ^g ^.
/^ vessclel^
`0 ^cesle^ded
lcclcle l ps
c^ ge cves,
le5 descJ d5e
g dfcsl5 ecJll ^g
lcJglcJgcJsls.
* AND THE WI NNE R IS . . . *
Te FORSCHNER FI BROX I J 6) s l , ^c Jd ^g
le~cslcc~fcrl5 e^d e.
L L \ K b l | L L b | K A l |
1 6
OTH E R RE CO M ME ND E D
K N I V E S

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BONI NG KNI FE
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SLI CI NG/CARVI NG KNI FE
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CLEAVER
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ELECTRI C KNI FE
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KEEPI NG KNIVES SHARP
A-^ fe cses lssp^esswe^lef ^cl pcflecJll ^gedgegels-^cc-eds gl y
cJlcf g^~e^l, w cc^ppe^^yl ~ele5 de~-escc^lclw lfccd
ccJll ^g5cd .Te-^ fe~y`cldJ eve^lcJgleedge ssl qJ lesp
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g ssccy csl c-lcwccd^dp sl ccJll ^g5cds) ^dlc-eeple~cJlcf
led swse,weegell ^g-^cc-edcJ^d~ gld~gele edge.
I S IT SHARP?
Tc dele~ ^e fycJ -^ fe^eedslc5e
spe^ed, pJl llcleppelesl.
I . c dfc ded, 5Jl^clcesed ,seel
\ cf^ewsppe5yc^ee^d
2. cyle5 deg ^sll elcpedgel
^^g e^ds cecJlwd ` fle-^ fe
f s lcs cec e^y,lyslee ^g l. `flsl
f s, ' l^eedsspe^ ^g
CHOOSI NG-AND USI NG-A STEEL
YcJscJ dslee ycJ -^ vesegJ y,5efceecJs e fpcss 5 e, 5Jlspe^le~
c^ywe^^ecessyTd l c^ slee se gl ygccved , ~g^el zed c^cds,
5Jlwepefele^ewed ~c^dslee s-c cwcv lJ5esccledw ld ~c^d
dJsl Teseg ^dlce~cJ^lscf~elfc~le-^ few lecsw pe, pl y
spe^ ^gle 5 dew esl gle^ ^gl^dexle^d ^glepe cd5elwee^
spe^ ^gs. cweve, -eep ^~ ^dllslee ^gw c^ ye g^f ysp
5 de, dJ -^ fe slc5espe^edsee5e cw) .
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~cl c^, pJ ^gle 5c-cfle 5 delcwdycJ
scll lee^l e e^glcfle5 decc~es ^
cc^lclw ll eslee .
4. 3epelle~cl c^c^ lecles decf
le5 de cJ cfveslc-es pes descJ d
e g^leedge.
SHARPENI NG
Teeelwccpl c^sfcg ^d ^g^ewedgec^-^ fe l c~e
I . Sharpeni ng stone. T selcd seffecl ve5Jll-ess c~epcl ce, ^d l s
~cewc-l^~^yc~eccc-sw^llcdc ` l ^vc vesdcJ5 e s dedspe^
^gslc^e, sc~ee 5cwgese,^d5cJl' ' ~ ^Jlespe5 de. cslep 5y slep
^slJcl c^s, seeCcc- scxl, 5e cwl gl )
2. Knife sharpener. A^e ecl cc~espe^ec^eslceleedgecfeve^
se cJs y^eg ecled5 de, pcv dedycJ 5Jyc^ew lccseeg ^d ^gwee ,
sJcs cJfvc le,l eChef' sChoi ce
1 1 0 I 80) . c~e essexpe^sve~cde s
felJec^y~ed. J~ ^df' ^e gdes cls,
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cdfcpe- ^gJps gl' ydJ 5 de5Jl

J^5 elcg ^dcc~p ele y^ewedge
Tese~c ^esdc e~cvecel ^~cJ^l
cf~el fc~le5 dew lecJse, sc
Jsele~^c~cel^^ecessy.
BNIFE TECHNIQUES
TWO BASI C GRI PS
Handl e Gri p
W ll e^d eg p, l elJ ~5esls
c^ les decfle^d ecppcs lele
^dexf ^geT sg p slefvced5y
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le5 de W el sg peqJ es5 l
wcwc- c^gcJsw l-^ fe, l sc ~ce^dsle^gl , l scpcv des
cJsesfewec Jses ~cecc^lccvelel pcfle5 de.
SAFE SLI CI NG WITH A ' GUI DI NG HAND'
Bypcpe ypcs l c^ ^gl e^dll s^cl c d ^gl e-^ fe, ycJc ^peve^l
s ppge, cc^lc les zecflecJl, ^d
pcleclycJ f ^ges.
` ^ l s` 5ec w pcs l c^ , lef ^gel ps
ecJ ed5c-wyfc~le-^ felcc d
lefccd ^p ce, w ele-^Jc- esesl
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cfle5 descJ de~ ^ ^ cc^lclw l
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Jpwd~cl c^, epcs l c^legJ d ^g
^dlcselJ ple^exls ce
CHOPPI NG AND MI NCI NG
T sfsl,cc^l ^JcJs~cl c^~-es
qJ c-wc-cffese5s, c^ c^s, ^d
le -e ` l5eg ^sw lle^d ee d
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5cd , e dge^l y ^p cew lle
gJ d ^g^d Tefc^l fcfle5 de
e~ ^s ^cc^lclw llecJll ^g
5cdl l ~es.
CAREF UL CARVI NG
Te-eylcs~ccl , eve^cJls
s c^gslc-ew lvey~ d
dcw^wd pessJe. 'elle
-^ fedclewc-, ^dvc d
scl, sw ^gslc-es, w c
y e dggeds ces.

Go to w. cooksi l l ustrated. com
Key i n code 706 1 3 for our I l l ustrated
Gui de to Sharpeni ng Knives.
Avai l abl e unti l Januar I , 2007.
) \ L Y ^ \ | \ b 2 0 0 6
1 7
How to Grill Onions
Gri lled oni ons usually cook up blackened outside and raw inside. I s there a better way ?
G
ri | | i ng oni ons is risky busi ncss. 1hc
ringshavc a tcndcncytosl i pt hrough
thc gratc, land on thc hotcoal s, and
go up i n ll amcs. r thcy rcsi st thc
pullo|gravityandsi mp| yburnandb|ackcnright
whcrc thcy arc. 1hcy` rc almost a|ways uncvcn|y
cookcd. rawon thc insidc, | cathcry on thc out
sidc. And, incvitab|y, thcy`rc hard to managcon
thcgril |i t` saproccssakin tohcrdi ngcats.
My h rst thought was to start wi th a bi t o|
prccooking, butthatsccmcdnssy. I tricdgri l | i ng
onionswholc,hal vcd, andquartcrcdtokccpthcm
|rom |al l i ng through thc gratc, but with picccs
thislargc, thcoutcr| aycrstcndcdto bunbc|orc
thc i ntcriorsh nishcdcooki ng. And nonc o||crcd
anidcal|cvclo|caramc| i zcdcxtcrior. Conc| udi ng
thatsliccswcrcthc logica|cut, thcycxposcdthc
grcatcstsur|acc arca) , I cvcntua||ychoscagcncr
ousha||i nchs| i cc.
Iothrcsi nci ncratcdthconi ons, andmcdi um
hothrcsoncnrcsu|tcdi nburncdrings. Modcratc
hcatwasthcbcstwaytoproduccagcnt|ycaramcl
i zcdcxtcrior. I placcd a |oi l pan ovcr thc onions
tokccpthcmsurroundcdbyhcat.
1o stop thc rings |rom plungi ng through thc
gratc, I tri cd mctal baskcts,without much |uck,
but skcwcrs provcd kcy. , Ior thc rcsults o|our
skcwcr tcsts, scc pagc . ) 1oll i p thc skcwcrs, I
soon lcarncd to i gnorc thc roundcd handlcs, "
which | ctthc sliccs spi n. Morc c||cctivc was to
graspthcccntcrmostonionsliccwith tongs .
Docs any onion varicty work |or gri l l i ng Ycs
and no. Swcct, mi | d\ida|i a onions havc such a
high watcr contcnt that thcy camc out gummy
and i nsi pi d whcn gri | | cd. Rcgu| ar ycl | ow and
3 1 Y E L I Z ; 1 3 E T I I C l R ,\ I I N E
whi tc onions havc morc bi tc, whi ch mc| l owcd
a|tcr a stint ovcr thc hot coals, and rcd onions
cancd cxtra points |or looks . ot our surprisc
|avoritcwasSpanishonions,whi chwonovcrtast
crswiththcirmcatytcxturcanddccp, comp| cx"
llavorproh |c.
C HARCOAL - G RI L L E D O N I O N S
S E RVES 4
A two |cvcl hrc in a charcoa| grill al|ows you to
cook an cntrcc ovcr thc hottcr sidc whi lc gri l l i ng
tl+c onionsovcrthccoolcrsidc. Scrvcunadorncd
orusci nonco|thcrccipcstl+at|ol |ow.
2 l arge Spani sh oni ons (about 2 pounds) .
cut crosswi se i nto 1 1- i nch rounds
3 tabl espoons ol ive oi l
Kosher sal t and ground bl ack pepper
lrge di sposabl e al umi num baki ng pan
l . 1hrcadonionsontomcta|skcwcrs,pl accon
baki ngshcctandbrushcachsi dcwi thoil . Scason
cachsi dcgcncrooslywi thsal tandpcppcr.
2. Lightlargc chimncystartcrh |lcdwithchar
coa| , quarts, or about I OO bri qucttcs) and lct
burn until coal s arc |u| | y i gni tcd and parti al | y
covcrcd with thi n l aycr o|ash, about 2O mi n
utcs. Lmptycoa|sintogri l l , bui | dtwolcvclhrcby
stackingtwothi rdso| coalsi noncha| |o| gri | | and
arrangingrcmai ni ngcoa|sin singlc | aycri nothcr
hall l|acc gri l| gratc ovcrcoa|s, covcr gri l l , and
hcat until gratc i s hot, about 3 mi nutcs, scrapc
gratc c|can with gri | l brush. l| acc oni ons ovcr
coo|crsidco|gri | l andcovcrwithalumi numpan.
Ti ps for Keepi ng Gri l l ed Oni ons at Bay
SAF ETY LI N E
You don' t get credi t for oni ons that
pl unge through the grates to an
i ncendi ar demi se. Skewers keep
the ri ngs out of harm' s way.
I N S I D E J OB
Coveri ng the oni ons wi th a foi l pan
creates an oven effect that cooks
the i nteri ors faster. ( For gas gri l l s,
j ust use the l i d. )
OFF TH E HAN D LE
I t' s awkward to ni p a skewer by the
rounded " handl e." I nstead, grasp a
central ly l ocated oni on sl i ce wi th
tongs and gently tum i t over.
| C 1 | | : | | |' : | H A | | | `
1 8
3 . Cri | | oni ons, covcrcd, unti | oni on rounds
arc dccp goldcn brown and j ust tcndcr, I 3 to
2O mi nutcs, chccki ng onions cvcry 3 mi nutcs
and U i ppi ng and rotati ng skcwcrs as nccdcd to
cnsorc cvcn cooki ng. 1rans|croni ons to p|attcr
and rcmovc skcwcrs, discard any outcr charrcd
ri ngs . Scrvc hot, warm, oratroomtcmpcraturc .
GAS - G R I L L E D O N I O N S
Icatgri l | witl | i ddownanda| | burncrsscttohigh
until vcryhot, about I 3 mi nutcs. Lovcrhcat to
mcdiumandplacconionson gri | | . Conti nucwitl+
stcp 3 o| rccipc |or Charcoa| Gri| | cd nions,
omitting disposablc al umi num pan and kccping
gri| l li ddowncxccptwhcnchccki ngonions.
S WE ET AN D S O U R G RI L L E D O N I O N R E L I S H
WI T H PARS L E Y AN D O L I VE S
MAKE S 4 C UPS
1his rclish makcs a good accompanimcnt to
gri|lcdtuna.
Whisk togcthcr 2 tablcspoons rcd wi ncvincgar,
2 tab|cspoons cxtravirgin o|ivc oi l , I tcaspoon
sugar, and sa|t and pcppcrto tastc i n smal| bowl,
sct asidc. l|acc I rccipc Cri l l cd nions, coolcd
and choppcd i nto 'i nch pi cccs, in mcdium
bowl , along wit|+ I cup pittcd and choppcd kal
amataolivcs, ' cuprai si ns, ' cupchoppcd hcsh
parslcy, drcssing, and additional sa|t and pcppcr
to tastc, stirto combinc. Scrvc.
G RI L L E D O N I O N R E L I S H WI TH
RO Q U E F O RT AN D WAL N UTS
MAKE S 4 C U PS
Scrvc thisrclishwithgri l | cdbcct
Whisk togcthcr I tab| cspoon ba|samic vincgar,
I tab|cspoon cxtravi rgi n olivc oi l , and salt and
pcppcr to tastc i n small bow| , sct asidc. P|acc
I rccipc Cri||cd ni ons, coo|cd and choppcd
into 'i nch picccs, i n mcdi um bowl a|ong with
6 ounccs crumb| cd Koquc|ort chccsc, :4 cup
rough|ychoppcdtoastcdwa| nuts,V4 cupchoppcd
chivcs,drcssing,and additional salt and pcppcrto
tastc, stir tocombinc. Scrvci mmcdiatcly.
Go to w. cooksi l l ustrated. com
Key i n code 7068 for our recipe for Grilled
Oni on, Tomato, and Arugul a Salad.
Reci pe avai l abl e unti l Januar I, 2007.
Better Pasta Salad with Pesto
At i ts best, pesto i s fresh, green, and full of herbal flavor. Could i t stay that way
even when added to an Ameri can pasta salad?
M
ore l i ght and rdi-cshi ng than a
cream- based sauce or a chunky
ragti , pesto makes a top- notch
accompani ment to pasta dur
ing the sul try summer months. There' s nothi ng
complicated about thi s uncooked Ligurian sauce,
whi ch consists of processed tesh basi l , garl i c,
pine nuts, Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese, and ol ive
oi l . And tossing i t with hot, j ust-cooked pasta
couldn't be easier. But numerous i ssues arise once
pesto is added to a pasta salad. The refrigerator
dul l s the col or and fl avor of the pesto, whi ch
turs greasy and cl umpy as the pasta cool s.
Perfecting the Pesta
I began by tryi ng varyi ng ratios of the fve i nte
gral ingredi ents: basi l , garl ic ( bl anched bri efy to
tame its harsh bite ) , Parmesan cheese, ol ive oi l
(extra-virgi n) , and pi ne nuts ( toasted to enhance
their nutty flavor) . l found that l had to use a lot
of basi l ( between 3 and +packed cups) to achi eve
decent herbal favor and the bulk needed for the
pesto to cling to the pasta. But when made even
a few hours ahead of ti me, the basil turned dark,
muddy, and much less sprightly. Addi ng another
green cl ement seemed the obvi ous sol ution.
Parsley is a common tri ck, but l needed to use so
much that i t began to compete with the basil fl a
vor. I 'd seen frozen chopped spinach used i n one
reci pe. Whi l e i t tured the pesto a ni ce, bri ght
shade of green, i t also made the texture stringy.
The easy sol uti on was to add a smal l amount of
fresh baby spi nach ( l cup added to 3 cups of
basil ) , whi ch provi ded a l ovel y bright green col or
3 13 Y S ,\ N D R i V' U E
and smooth texture wi thout i nterferi ng with the
basi l favor.
Whi l e the rel ati vel y thi n consi stency of tra
di ti onal pesro mi ght be fne for hot noodl es, a
thi cker, creami er pesto was in order for room
temperature pasta. But no matter how much
I fi ddl ed wi th i ngredi ent amounts, the pesto
was al ways l ess than opti mal l y creamy. Uppi ng
the quantity of cheese and pi ne nuts thi ckened
the pesto, but these addi ti ons al so made i t sal ty,
gritty, and pasty. Addi ng more oi l to smooth out
the mi xture onl y made the pesto greasy.
Si nce thi s di sh wasn' t exactly an I tal i an cl assi c,
l deci ded to borrow a standard i ngredi ent used
i n many Ameri can pasta sal ads: mayonnai se . The
creamy, tangy condi ment served as the perfect
bi nder-so l ong as i t was used i n moderati on .
Si x tabl espoons was enough to provi de a creamy,
l usci ous texture.
Prepari ng the Pasta
The best pasta shapes tor this di sh have a textured
surtace with a concave nook or two that can trap
the pesro and keep i t from sl i di ng off With its
stubby form, i ndented center, and j :gged edges,
tarfal l e made an excel l ent partner. Unl i ke hot
pastJ, whi ch shoul d general l y be cooked unti l
al dente, the pasta used i n sal ads shoul d cook
sl i ghtl y l onger, unti l tender. ( for ti ps on j udgi ng
when shaped pastJ i s done, sec Ki tchen Notes,
pJge 3 I . )
When the pesto was added strai ght j ust
cooked pasta, i t took Jn hour to reach room
temperature . The hot pasta al so "cooked" the
basi l , deJdeni ng i ts i mpact. Rnsi ng the
pasta i n col d water cool ed i t down qui ckl y
but made the surtce of the pasta roo sl i ck
to hol d on to the pesto. The sol uti on was
to l et the pasta cool i n a si ngl e l ayer on a
Two Secrets to Better Pesto Psta Salad
` l s^cldlc~-e peslc psl s d lsle gccd Tc gelle
ppe^ce^dlexlJelc ve Jplclev 5^lfvcs,wec~e
Jpw llwcesylc-s
BRI G HT COLOR
Supplementing the basil with
baby spi nach hel ped mai ntai n
the pesto's bright green color.

<
CREAMY TEXTU RE
Adi ng a touch of mayonnai se
tured the too-sli ck pesto
creamy and cohesive.
ri mmed baki ng sheet, tossi ng in a spl ash of
oi l to prevent sti cki ng.
Al l my pasta sal ad needed was some fnal
fl avor tweaki ng. Lemon j ui ce cut through
the ri chness, and an extra 12 cup of roasted
pine nuts fol ded i nto the pesro- coated pasta
added a sweet, nutty note as well as textural
contrast. A pi nt of quartered cherry toma
toes or hal ved grape tomatoes contri buted
col or and smal l bursts of tieshness. Fi nal l y,
l had transl ated a Li guri an mai nstay i nt o an
Ameri can pi cni c cl assi c.
I L' I . \' b .\ l 1 l , L' ' I 2 0 0 6
1 9
PASTA S AL AD WI TH P E STO
S E RVE S B TO I O AS A S I D E DI S H
Thi s salad i s best served the day i t i s made; i f it's
been refrigerated, bri ng i t to room temperature
before servi ng. The pesto can be made a day
ahead-j ust cook the garlic cl oves in a small
saucepan of boi l i ng water for I mi nute. Garnish
with additional shaved or grated Parmesan.
' cup pi ne nuts
2 medi um garl i c cl oves, unpeel ed
Tabl e sal t
pound farfal l e ( bow ti es) pasta
'I cup pl us I tabl espoon extra- vi rgi n ol ive oi l
3 cups packed fresh basi l l eaves (about 4 ounces)
I cup packed baby spi nach (about I ounce)
' h teaspoon ground bl ack pepper
2 tabl espoons j ui ce from I l emon
| '/ ounces Parmesan cheese, fi nely grated
(about ' cup) , pl us extra for servi ng
6 tabl espoons mayonnai se
pi nt cherry tomatoes, quartered, or grape
tomatoes, hal ved (opti onal )
I . Bri ng + quarts water to rol l i ng boi l i n l arge
pot. Toast pi ne nuts in smal l dry ski l l et over
medi um heat, sluki ng pan occasi onal ly, unti l j ust
gol den and fragrant, 4 to 3 mi nutes.
2. When water i s boi l i ng, add garl i c and l et
cook l mi nute . Remove garl i c wi th sl otted spoon
and rinse under cold water to stop cooki ng; set
aside to cool . Add l tabl espoon salt and pasta to
water, sti r to separate, and cook unti l tender ( j ust
past al dente ). Reserve 1/4 cup cooki ng water,
drain pasta, toss wi th l tabl espoon oil, spread i n
si ngl e l ayer on ri mmed baki ng sheet, and cool to
room temperature, about 3O mi nutes.
3. When gJrl i c i s cool , peel and mi nce or press
through garl i c press . Pl ace 1/4 cJp nuts, garl i c,
basi l , spi nach, pepper, l emon j ui ce, remai ni ng
1/4 cup oi l , and l teaspoon sal t i n bowl of food
processor and process unt i l smooth, scrapi ng
si des of bowl as necessary. Add cheese and may
onnai se and process unti l thoroughl y combi ned.
Transfer mi xture to l arge servi ng bowl . Cover
and refrigerate unti l ready to assembl e salad.
+. When pasta is cool , toss wi th pesto, adding
reserved pasta water, I tabl espoon at a time, unti l
pesto evenl y coats pasta. Fol d i n remai ni ng I2 cup
nuts and tomatoes ( if usi ng) ; serve.
Wel-Done Burgers Done W\l
These days, many backyard cooks prefer gri ll i ng bu rgers to medi um- wel l and beyond.
But does well - done have to mean overdone?
A
s muc h as t he t e s t ki t chen
respects t he U. S. Department of
Agri cul ture, you won' t catch us
buyi ng thei r cookbooks . Whi l e
reci pes l i ke Parchi ngl y Dry Pork Chops
( cooked to t he USDA' s suggested I O
degrees ) and No- Pi nk Porterhouse ( al s o
I O degrees) may be appeali ng opti ons tor
the squeami sh, Cook)s general l y errs on the
side of great taste, great texture, and com
mon sense .
3 13 Y ,\ \ ,\ r I l l 1. I \' C ,\ R I ) E
( about medi um- r<u e) and squeezes the meat
tissue, causing i t U expel its j uices. ( Thi nk of
wri ngi ng the water out of a wet towel . ) By
the time the burger i s well - done ( about IO
degrees) , i t ' s as dry as t he bun on which i t's
served.
Was there any way to stem thi s moisture
l oss? Wi th poul try and pork, the sol ution is
bri ni ng ( soaki ng the meat in salted water) ,
whi ch adds both moi s t ure and moi sture
retai ni ng sal t to the i nteri or. But that trick
doesn' t work wel l wi th beef The muscle
fi bers tur to mush-an effect that's mul ti
pl i ed wi th already-ground beef
When i t comes to hamburgers, however,
we've become a l i ttl e less cavali er. Given the
real food-safety i ssues surroundi ng ground
beef ( bacteria on the exteri or of a cut of beef
get mi xed i n during gri ndi ng) , we recogni ze
that many backyard cooks ( and test cooks )
gri l l t hei r burgers to medi um- wel l and
beyond-especial l y when ki ds arc around. At
the very l east, i t' s a recipe one needs in the
repertoire. What I wasn' t wi l l i ng accept is
the usual outcome of cooking ground beef
beyond medi um: tough, desiccated hockey
pucks with di mi ni shed beef flavor. Coul d I
make them better?
Bypc- ^glese5Jgesw l^J^expecled ^ged e^l we -epl
le~~c sl^dJ lj J cyeve^we^ccc-edl we dc^e.
If 1 coul dn' t force the meat to retai n moi s
ture, perhaps 1 coul d pack the patti es wi th
somethi ng better-suited the task. That' s
when I ( fi nal l y) began to thi nk outside the
box. After all, there were recipes in the test
ki tchen' s archi ves that had al ready solved this
very problem: meat loaf and meatball s, both
of whi ch i ncl ude a panadc, a paste made tom
bread and mi l k, to keep the ground beeftiom
dryi ng out. I tri ed mashi ng a sl i ce of bread i n
a l i ttl e mi l k to a sti ff paste and fol ded i t into
the beef Once gri l l ed, these burgers were
Here' s the Beef
From the outset, I deci ded that this recipe shoul d
work wi th supermarket ground beefnothi ng
fancy. But whi ch type was best? Supermarkets
sell beef accordi ng to the ratio of lean meat to
fat, the three most common categories bei ng 8O
percent l ean ( usual l y from the chuck, or font
shoul der) , 83 percent ( usual l y fom the round,
or hi nd l egs ) , and 9O percent ( usual l y from the
sirloi n) . I assumed that the fattier 8Opercent l ean
chuck woul d be tasters' favorite, and a qui ck test
confi rmed it. The wel l - done chuck burgers were
noticeably moister than the i nedi bl e versi ons
made tom the l eaner si rl oi n.
Wel l , an "edi bl e" wel l -done burger was a start.
I wondered i f addi ng more fat to the mi x mi ght
help matters, so l prepared patties with chunks of
butter, bacon fat, whol e mi l k ricotta, and Bowsi n
cheese added i n. Whi l e each i ngredi ent proved
i nteresti ng, most of the burgers tasted too rich or
Go to w . cooksi l l ustrated. com
Key i n code 7062 for our reci pe for
Charcoal -Gri l l ed Hamburgers.
Key in code 7063 for our reci pe for
Wel l - Done Bacon Cheeseburgers.
Reci pes avai l abl e unti l Januar I. 2007.
di sti nctl y fl avored-and the moi sture ftctor V\'c1S
hardl y affected. ( However, the one made wi th
bacon En \\'as such a hi t that 1 kept i t as a vari a
ti on; sec Cook' s Extr<l , below. )
Down i n Fl ames
1 had always gri l l ed my mcdi um- r.trc burgers over
the hottest ti re 1 coul d muter, the goal bei ng
sear the exterior qui ckl y bdorc the i nterior
overcooked. Di d a wel l - done burger cal l tor a
di ferent strategy? Several tests l ater, I had mixed
resul ts. A moderate ti re rendered a sl i ghtly j ui ci er,
more tender burger, but it l acked a fl avorful scar.
I mi ght as wel l have baked it in the oven.
the best yet .
I n my research, I ' d seen all manner of flavor
i ngs added to burgers: mustard, Worcestershire
sauce, garl i c, onion soup mix, steak sauce, even
appl esauce. Afer sampl i ng most of the possi bi l i
ti es ( leavi ng the appl esauce an unknown) , tasters
most liked the punch of mi nced garl i c and the
subtl e tang of steak sauce, which contri buted a
deep, meaty fl avor.
My l ast probl em, more cosmeti c than func
tional , was the burger' s shape. As i t cooked, it
\\'ent through a transformati on ti om Hat puck
puffed- out scmi sphere . The fix was easy. Previous
test kitchen cf()rtS had found that if you make a
I tri ed al l manner of mul ti step meth
ods and mul ti l evel ti res, but no combi na
ti on yi el ded a wel l - done burger that \\' as
both gri ll marked and j uicy. I V JS unwi l l
i ng surrender ei ther one.
A Hal f- Ounce of Preventi on .
Back at the drawing board, I decided
to bone up on burger physics. Turs out
the reason a medi um- wel l or \\ el l - done
hamburger becomes dry and tough is birly
si mpl e. Col l agen, a protein i n muscle fi ber,
seizes when heated beyond 1 30 degrees
| ' ' ` | ' ' ' ' | ' ~ ' M .\ | | l `
2 0
Our quest for a j ui cy wel l -done burer ended when we hi t upon
a surpri si ngly efective addi ti on-a bread-and- mi l k paste (or
panad) . A panade prevented the burger on the left from
becomi ng dense and dri ed out, l i ke the one on the right.
depression in the center of the patty, it wi l l puff
slightly as it cooks and level out to form a flat top.
Nicely gril l marked and moi st as could be, tl1i s
wel l - done burger was final l y well done .
WE L L - D O N E HAM B U RG E RS O N
A CHARCOAL G RI L L
S E RVES 4
Adding bread and milk to me beef creates burgers
that are j uicy and tender even when wel l - done .
( I n f1ct, we recommend tlus method only for
burgers tl1at will be cooked to medium- wel l or
well -done; see Cook's Extra, page 20, for our
recipe tor medium and medi um- rare burgers . )
For cheeseburgers, follow the optional instruc
tions below. ( See our tastings of presliced cheddar
cheese below and presliced American cheese on
page 30. )
l arge sl i ce good- qual ity whi te sandwi ch
bread, crust removed and di scarded, bread
chopped i nto '! i nch pi eces (about 1 1 cup)
2 tabl espoons whol e mi l k
3 teaspoon tabl e sal t
3 teaspoon ground bl ack pepper
medi um garl i c cl ove, mi nced or pressed through
garl i c press (about I teaspoon)
2 teaspoons steak sauce, such as A- I
| '/: pounds 80 percent l ean ground chuck
Vegetabl e oi l for cooki ng grate
6 ounces sl i ced cheese, opti onal (see note above)
4 rol l s or buns
l . Usi ng l arge chi mney starter, i gni te quarts
charcoal ( about 1 00 briquettes) and bur unti l
covered wi th thi n coati ng of l i ght gray ash, about
20 mi nutes. Empty coal s i nto gri l l ; bui l d modi
fed two- l evel fi re by arrangi ng coal s to cover hal f
of grill . Posi ti on cooki ng grate over coal s, cover
gri l l , and heat grate for 3 mi nutes; scrape grate
clean with gri l l brush. Gri l l i s ready when coals are
medi um- hot ( you can hold your hand 2 i nches
above grate for 3 to 4 seconds ) .
2 . Meanwhi l e, mash bread and mi l k i n l arge
bowl wi th fork unti l homogeneous ( you shoul d
have about 14 cup) . Sti r i n sal t, pepper, garli c, and
steak sauce.
3. Break up beef i nto smal l pi eces over bread
mi xture. Using fork or hands, lightly mix together
unti l mi xture forms cohesive mass . Di vi de meat
i nto 4 equal porti ons. Gentl y toss one porti on of
meat back and forth between hands to form loose
bal l . Gentl y fatten i nto 3/4- i nch- thi ck patty that
measures about 4|: i nches i n di ameter. Press cen
ter of patty down wi th fingerti ps unti l i t i s about
12 i nch thi ck, creati ng sl i ght depressi on i n each
patty. Repeat wi th remai ni ng porti ons of meat.
4. Lightl y di p wad of paper towel s i n oi l ; hol d
i ng wad wi th tongs, wi pe cooki ng grate . Gri l l
burgers on hot side of gri l l , uncovered, unti l wel l
seared on fi rst si de, 2 to 4 mi nutes. Usi ng wi de
metal spatul a, fl i p burgers and conti nue gri l l i ng,
about 3 mi nutes for medium-well or 4 mi nutes for
well -done. ( Add cheese, if usi ng, about 2 mi nutes
before reachi ng desi red doneness, coveri ng burg
ers wi th disposabl e al umi num pan to mel t cheese . )
r A s r , N G . Pres I i ced Cheddar Cheese
Best Hamburger Buns
` ^ lsl ^gcf sJpe~-el~5Jge5J^s, weweesJ
p sed 5y le d ffee^ces ^ fvc^d lexlJe. J^5e~
^d Wc^dewee sc q ll ley 5Jl defled f
gsped lcc ^de cley, w e el e5^dsslccd Jp
we lc wel cc^d ~e^ls BJl le
de 5e-e ws s ze Of e gl
pcdJcls, s x~esJed essl^
J ': ^cesccss-l glf lfc
~csl pll es OJ fvc le,
eppe dge ~ e~ J~
B-eq3c s^cll es~ e
C ss cve|) , dge^
ecJs +' ^c d ~ele,
e| lexlJe, we|
lsle, ^d le esl~cJ^l
cfsJg ^le ^eJp -C C
Whi l e burgers gri l l , toast buns on cooler side of
gril l . Serve on buns with desi red toppi ngs.
WE L L - D O N E HAM B U RG E RS O N
A GAS G R I L L
Turn all burners to hi gh, close l i d, and heat until
very hot, about I 3 mi nutes. Use gri l l brush to
scrape cooking grate cl ean. Lightly dip wad of
paper towel s in oi l ; holdi ng wad with tongs, wipe
cooking grate. Leave pri mary burer on high,
tur other burer( s ) to low. Fol l ow recipe for
Wel l - Done Hamburgers on a Charcoal Grill tom
step 2, gri l l i ng patties with l i d down.
T^g, s |cedd s le lesl - lce^ sfvc le ceese fc lcpp ^g ~5Jge.
Bec-c^ed5yleese^dcc^ve^ e^cecfpes cedceese, wecJ^dedJp^ ^epc-
gesfc~lesJpe~-eld ycse. Welelsledsl glJp, ^ g ed ceese
s^dw ces, cc^5Jges,lespceddsc edledycvele ~ d ^d
~ed J~ ccJ^lepls. Aged fc l esl ^ ^e~c^ls, sp ceddceese s
slc^g, l^gf vcll lsles pefeed ^ eveqpp cl c^ N d ^d ~ed J~
cedds-gedfcdys lel^ ~c^ls-lsled ~ce -e ~ d Nc^leeyjc-.
Te 5 ggeslsJrp sec~ewe^lsless~p edlwcceesesfc~/fllllsled
^cl ^g -e le cles c~ ^e^l y 5e ed sp cedd, lese lwc pcdJcls
weeclJ ypsleJ zedpccessceese cdedw ldded~c slJe^de~J s f
eslc~-efcs~ccle~e l ^g-pccess de^l c lcllJsedlc~-eA~e c^
ceeseTe 5e s ~pyefeslc le ^le^dedf vc, 5Jl cJlslesfcJ^d^cl ^g
sp5cJlle~, ^- ^gle~ cwesl ^eveqcJ^d Ceesese sled ^cdecf
pefee^ce, lc~ efllc gl ClC ^g ^gs~ l
RECOMMENDE D
TI LlMOOK
Sharp Cheddar
Dee~edlecedd esl5y
lsles, w lc ss c, s gl y
cJ~5 ylexlJe
RECOMENDED WITH RES ERVATI ONS
SARGENTO Del i Style
Medi um Cheddar
J esllvcclle~ de
ceeses, - d l e^d ycedd.
HORIZON Organi c Cheddar
B ^d o , s dc^elsle.
Te~ deslceese ^ le
^eJpe~ ^dedlslescf~^y
ceeses-5Jl^clcedd
-
CBOT Al l Natural
l Sharp Cheddar
ely, ~cslcewylexlJ e
ws ^ cefc fccJ 5J ges, s
ws le gels |l^g
CBOT Al l Natural
Mi l d Cheddar
Aded ^gelc~c^leeyj c-
ceese c~efcJ^d l 5 ^d
^dJ55ey
KRFT Del i Del uxe
Sharp Cheddar
T spccessedceese s wxy
lexlJresl c-slcycJ leel ,
w l^cdd ysweelf vc
l l I I. \ I ' ,\ l ' C l I S I 2 () () 6
2 1
-
CRCKER BRREL Natural
Sharp Cheddar
'c-edlel^gcfleT ~cc-
^dC5cl5Jlws~Jc
ce~ e
TI LLAMOOK Medi um Cheddar
Jpe ~ _ 5Jl5 ^ d , w l
~Jledceddl vc
KRF 2% Mi l k Si ngl es
Sharp Cheddar
A c^elslesJ~~edJple
lslecll spccessedceese,
~ceve veell^ceddr.

The Best Key Lime or

Our first cracks at transformi ng Key lime pi e i nto a cooki e left us wi th a thi ck, dry crust
and too much lime on our hands. We wanted to raise the bar.
K
cyl imcpicisabrilliantpairing
o|rich and rc|rcshi ng, swcct
andtart,alli na buttcry,crisp
crumb crust . But what thi s
classicdcsscrtollcrsi nclcganccandsi m
p|icity it l ac|s i n portability. I wantcd a
Kcy limc aar-all thc appcali ngqualitics
olKcylimcpic butwithoutthcnccdlor
a|or|. IwasanA studcntin gcomctry,so
ma|ing a round pic i nto squarc coo|ics
shooldn`t bctoohard,right
3 B Y J ) t\ IV N Y A N t\ C I I I A R ,\ E
and, morc oncn thannot,cggs. I alrcady
|ncw that thc Cook's Kcy l i mc pic hl l i ng
didn`thavc atcxturcnrmcnough|orbar
coo|ics, butIwasdctcrmincdtoma|cit
wor|withsomcminorrctooling. Lcaving
thc condcnscd mi l | and |imc juicc i n
p| acc, I tricd cvcrythi ng that I thought
might sct thc tcxturc. 1hc h||ing callcd
|or |ourcgg yolks, I dccrcascd thcyo||s,
I addcd morc, I omittcd thc yol|s alto
gcthcr. I tricd wholc cggs, no cggs,thcn
a |cw cgg whites, then severa wlitcs.
1hat son, puddi ngl i |c tcxturc sccmcd
i ncscapab| c. cxt,I rcachcd|or thc llour
canistcr, thinking that somc starch might
hc| p sct thi ngs up. Whatthc hlling thcn
hadwasapasty,granu| artcxturc.
1o gctmy|ootrng, I startcd outwith
tworccipcs. onclor Kcy |imc barsmadc
with crcam chccsc , typi cal ol many
rccipcs) , thcothcr|or Kcy| i mcpic. 1hc
bars with crcam chccsc wcrc hcavy and
dcnsc,|i|cal imcchccscca|c. , otquitc
what I had i n mi nd. ) As lor thc pic, I
translormcd it into bars by ba|ing it i n
a squarc bakingdish. atura||y, thcy sct
thcU avorstandard, butlora coo|r c, thc
l llingwastoo so|t and suppl c, thc crust
toothic|,dry,andcrum|ly. C| car|y,somc
hnctuningwouldbcrcquircdtogctthis
trans|ormationtocomcoutright.
Asp ^- ^gcf gl ylcsledcccc^Jlcc~p elesle5 ^c ^gclcflI
^d ce~y, scfl^dc spy, lldef ^esgel /ey ~e 5s.
I too| a momcnt to rcgroup. 1hcn
camcthccpiphany. I rccal|cdthcchccsc
ca|cl imcbarsthatI` dmadcatthcoutsct.
1hchllinghadncrthcrcggsnorstarch, yct
itwassturdy-ri gid,cvcn. Imadcbatchcs
o|limc bars with 8, , and 4 ounccs ol
crcam chccsc i ncorporatcd into thc h ||
i ng. 1hcsc wcrc a| l thi c|andglucy, but
I was onto somcthi ng. I too| thc crcam
chccsc down to 3, thcn 2 ounccs. And Ani mal I nsti nct
Iirst things h rst. thc crust. A graham crac|cr
ctust is traditi onal |or a Kcy |imc pic, so it was
thc obvious choicc. But I was not cnamorcd
o|thc graham crust. Its U avorwas too asscrtivc
, cspccia|ly givcnthc amount I nccdcd to ma|c a
barI cou|dho|d in my hand) , and itdidn`trca|ly
comp|cmcm thc hl l i ng. I swappcd i n anima|
crac|crcrumbs,thctcst|itchcn` scrost o|choicc
|orcoconutcrcampic. 1hcirmorcncutra| U avor
placcd thc limc U avorsquarc| yin thclimc|rght.
Whcrcas a pic crost can bc tcndcr and dcl i
catc,thccrostlorthcbarsnccdcdstordincss,this
mcant i ncrcasing thc buttcr, but not so much
thatthccrustwou| dbccomcgrcasy. Brownsugar
ootdi d granu| atcd bccausc it gavc thc crust a
s| ightlyrichcr, roondcrU avor. As with al l crumb
crusts, thisoncrcqoircdprcba|ingto h rmitup,
and 325dcgrccsprovcdthcbcsttcmpcraturc|or
producingancvcnlybrowncdcrust.
Pi e i n the Sk?
With thc crust nrm|y in placc, I |ocoscd on thc
li l | i ng. Kcy| i mc pic lil|ing is an casy mixturc o|
swcctcncd condcnscd mi||, limc j ui cc, |imc zcst,
s c 1 E N c E : The ' Magi c' of Sweetened Condensed Mi l k

thcrc thcy wcrc. | i mc bars with a hrm, crcamy,

rich, hngcr |ood|ricndlyh | | i ng.
nc whol c I 4ouncc can o|swcctcncd con
dcnscdmi | kprovi dcdallthcswcctncssthchl l i ng
nccdcd. I tricdvariousamountso|| i mcj ui cc, but
11 cupwas bcst. Itwascnoughto makc thcl imc
uavor spark|c without scari ng away thosc with
|owtartncssthrcsholds, li|cmysc| tandwithout
thinningthchl l i ng. Conccrning|imcj ui cc, lrcsh
squcczcdKcy| i mcjuicc,withitshcady|ragrancc
andplcasantacidity, wasthc|avoritcbyanarrow
margr n, sti l l , rcgular|rcshlimcj ui cchc|ditsown,
1esedys,cc^ve^ e^celccdpcdJclseeveqwee,5Jllele^d sd' ycew. Bc-
^ ' 8S6, A~e c^ c~e ccc-s5eg^ l- ^gdv^lge cfsweele^edcc^de^sed ~ -,
sefsl5 ed ypcdJcl5sed c^ d sccvees~dece^lJ ese e5yccc-s ^ ' ^d ^d
ml' ^A~e c Pc-edw lc c es^d^Jl e^Is, l s~g c pcdJcls
d ell sle cc^de^sed pl) . O^ceg^J ledsJg sdded, l~epesevl cc
pccess 5eg ^s. Tewle J^gqg^J led sJg^d le olJr' sJg ^ le ~ ' -
clcse) pJ ^ ~c slJe fc~ 5cle , - ^gle~cff ^ lepccess. TeesJ l s
~ -l c-e^edlcgcceysyJp-^ de cc^s sle^cyfc~^ydessels
5ee^ced ledwleveql ^gfc~edJc ^gle ^f^l~cl |lelc
^cJ s ^gCv ' Wsc d es BJllcdy l s~csly5cJldessel~- ^g
cc^ve^ e^ce ` ^sledcledJc ^g~ -^dsJg,ycJc^Jslpcpcpe^
c^-^dlee s^cexp l c^dle
weele^ed cc^de^sed ~ - s ~de cc~~ec y 5y f s
el ^gles ~ -^devpcl ^g l, Js ^g spec zedvcJJ~
` ^cJ/ey ~e5ec pe, sweele^edcc^de^sed~ -cnes^dd l c^ dv^lge
l-eepslef ^gfc~cJd ^g CJd ^gcccJswe^^c d -e ~e J ce)cc~es'^
cc^lclwl ~ - spcle ^sl^ds^d cJses le~ lcJ^w ^d^d5ecc~ee^I^g ed ' ^
sweele^edcc^de^sed~ -,lesJg~c ecJ esccllesepcle ^sl^ds, w c-eeps
le~fc~ e^l^g ^g. `fwe` d Jsed fes ~ - ^sled , le ce~ylexlJe cflef' ^g
wcJ dve 5ee^cc~pc~' sedc z5elBc~ze
| | 1 | 1 : | | l | ' ' | H .\ | | | `
2 2
- - -
lavorcd by somc lor standing up to thc buttcry
crust and rich, crcamy l l l i ng. A tablcspoon ol
gratcdlimc zcst addcd limc csscncc, l minccd it
to|ccp itstcxturchom bcingan annoyancc . As
lor mixing thc hl l ing, it was casily accomplishcd
byhand.
Somcbarrccipcsincludcsomcsortolstrcuscl
orcrunchytoppi ng. Astrcuscldidn`tma|cscnsc,
but l too| a coc hom thc tropics and cxpcri
mcntcd wi th a toastcdcoconut toppi ng, whi ch
addcd a subtlc tcxtural contrast andmorcdcpth
olHavor. 1hctcst|itchcnwassplitovcrwhcthcr
this toppi ng was an i mprovcmcnt, so l l clt i t
optional . Iinal ly, l had distillcdthccsscncc ola
oillowy s|icc olKcy limc pic i nto a tidy, portablc
bar. Whosaidit`snotcoolto bcsquarc
KE Y L I M E BARS
MAKES S I XTE E N 2 - I N CH BARS
l lyou cannot l nd lrcsh Kcy limcs, usc rcgular
, lcrsian) l i mcs. Do not usc bottlcd l i mc j ui cc .
Cratc thc zcst lrom thc l i mcs bclorc j ui ci ng
thcm, avoi ding thc bittcr whitc pi th that l i cs
j ust bcncath thc outcrmost s|i n. 1hc optional
coconutgarnishaddstcxturali ntcrcstandtamcs
thclimcuavorlorthoscwhohndittooi ntcnsc .
1hc rccipc can bc doub| cd and ba|cd in a I 3
by 9i nch ba|ing pan, you wi l l nccd a doubl c
laycr olcxtrawidc loi l lor thc pan , cach shcct
about 2Oi nchcs i n l cngth) and should i ncrcasc
thc ba|ingtimcsby a minutc ortwo.
Crust
ounces ani mal crackers
3 tabl espoons packed l i ght or dark brown sugar
Pi nch tabl e sal t
4 tabl espoons unsal ted butter, mel ted and
cool ed sl i ghtl y
Filling
2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
tabl espoon grated l i me zest, mi nced
Pi nch tabl e sal t
can ( 1 4 ounces) sweetered condensed mi l k
l arge egg yol k
1 1 cup Key l i me or regul ar l i me j ui ce
Garnish (optional)
'I cup shredded sweetened coconut,
toasted unti l gol den and cri sp
l . Adj ust ovcn rac| to middlc position and
hcat ovcn to 323 dcgrccs. Cut about I 2 i nch
lcngth cxtrawidc hca\\duty loi l , lo| dcutcdgcs
bac| to lorm |/ inch width. With loldcd sidcs
lacing down, l t loil sccurcly into bottom and
up sidcs ol8 i nchsquarc ba|i ng pan, allowing

Go to w . cooksi l l ustrated. com
Vi si t our Web si te t o see vi deo of a test
cook preparing Key Ume Bars.
Avai l abl e unti l Januar I, 2007.

r A s r 1 N G . Are Key Li mes Real l y Key?
A le ^~e sJgesls, /ey ~es5se ld l c^ y ~defc~ /ey
~es-l ^y,ye cw sv e|llgcws c^y ^ lcp c cc es -ele
c d/eys,fc~w cleygclle ^~e) ./ey ~ef c c^dcse d
lefJ l sd sl ^clve fvc^dfg^cecc~pedw l cc^ve^l c^
es ^ ~es, 5Jlwewc^deed fcJlslesccJ dle lednee^ce ^
5 ^dlslelesl
~p edp ^, le /ey ~e J celsleds gl y essll^d5c ^g
l^ lses ^ccJ^lepl,^dqJ c- 5leslcc^f ~edll ~pes
s c^le J cefc~lecc^ve^l c^ ~esd cwepl^ie/ey
~e J ce, ^d cl ^g gec d |) .We^we~de/ey ~e5sw l
5clv el es, c^ceg ^lees ^ ~eves c^lsled5 l~cell,
lcJg lsleswee sp lcvew cv e| ~de le 5elle 5. Te
dec d ^gfclc~y5e le~cJ^lcfwc- ^vc ved Tcgelle fcJp
cf ~e J cec edfc ^cJ5ec pe, wedlcsqJeezeleees ^
~es W lle/ey' ~es, llcc- ~csl20'
Bcl /ey ~e J ce^d egJ` ~e J cee s c dpesqJeezed ^
se fsl5 e 5cll es, ^dwewc^deed welelese wcJ d dc ^
p ^c Tescl^swe` NcwyTefcJ 5^dswel edweel5esl
5c ^g y5 lle, ^d, ^ sc~ecses, | Jslp ^^c d . Wl s~ce,
~^y 5- ^g ec pes ^c Jd ^g cJs) c fc l edd l c^ cf zesl-
lcJgpcpcs l c^w l g ss5cll e. ClC ^g ^gs~ l
KEY LI M E S
Subtle tartness, skimpy yiel d
RE G U LAR LI M E S
Braci ng tartness, generous yield
BOTTLE D CONCE NTRATE
Conveni ence at a bi tter price
i ncorporatcd, mixturcwill thic|cnslightly) . cxccsst oovcrhangpansidcs. Sprayloil withnon
sti c|coo|i ngspray.
2 . TO M THE CRUST: l n wor|bowl ol
lood proccssor, pul sc animal crac|crs unti l bro
|cn down, about tcn I sccond pul scs, proccss
crumbs until cvcnlyl nc, about l O scconds, you
shoul dhavcaboutl'4 cupscrumbs) . Addbrown
sugarandsalt, proccsstocombi nc, tcn totwclvc
l sccond pul scs , i ll argc sugar l umps rcmai n,
brca| thcm apart with hngcrs ) . Dri zzl c buttcr
ovcr crumbs and pul sc until crumbs arc cvcnly
moistcncdwithhuttcr,abouttcn l sccondpu scs.
lrcss crumbs cvcnly and l rmly i nto bottom ol
prcparcdpan. la|c untildccpgoldcnbrown, l 8
to 2 O mi nutcs. Cool on wirc rac|whil c ma|i ng
l l l i ng. Donottunollovcn.
4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: lourhllinginto
crust, sprcadto concrs andsmoothsurlaccwith
rubbcrspatul a. Ba|c until sctandcdgcsbcgin
pul l away slightly nom sidcs, l 3 to 2O minotcs.
Coolonwircrac|toroomtcmpcraturc, I to l |:
hours. Covcrwithloi l and rclri gcratc untilthor
oughlychi l l cd, atl cast2 hours.
3 TO M THE FILLING: Whilccrustcool s,
i nmcdi umbowl,sti rcrcamchccsc, zcst, andsalt
with rubbcr spatula until soltcncd, crcamy, and
thoroughlycomhincd.Addswcctcncdcondcnscd
mil| and whis| vi gorousl y until i ncorporatcd
and no l umps olcrcam chccsc rcmai n, whis| i n
cgg yol |. Add limc j uicc and whi s|gcntl yuntil
3. Looscncdgcswithparing|nilc andlinbars
lrom ba|ing pan usi ng loil cxtcnsions, cut bars
i nto l squarcs. Sprin|lc with toastcd coconut,
i lusing, andscrvc. , Lcnovcrscanbcrclrigcratcd
up to 2 days, crust will soltcn slightly. Lct bars
stand at room tcmpcratu|c about I 3 minutcs
bclorcscrvi ng. )
T R I P L E - C I T R U S BARS
Iollow rccipc lor Kcy Limc Bars, using l|: tca
spoons cach gratcd limc zcst, | cmon zcst, and
orangc zcst, mincczcstancrmcasuring)andusing
tablcspoons limc j uicc, I tablcspoon lcmon
j uicc,and l tablcspoon orangcj uicc.
ST E P- BY- ST E P B U I L D I NG KE Y L I ME ~
I . . ^ep^w lfc s ^g, le^ccl 2. esscJ~5~ xlJef ~ y^d 3. cJ f ^g ^lc pe5-ed cJsl
wlccc- ^gspy. eve^y ^lcp^ . ^dsped ^lccc^es.
I l' I Y c .\ | ' | |' S I Z 0 0 6
2 3
-
r|rCVll Peach Crumble
Soggy toppi ng and flavorless fi ll i ng are the norm for thi s si mple dessert. How do you
make the crumble cri sp and the peaches actually taste l i ke, well, peaches?
T
hey say frst i mpressions are every
thi ng, and i n the case of peach
crumbl e and me, that mi ght be
true . I t was el ementary school and
there i t was : pl opped onto my l unch tray,
hard against the Sal i bury steak, a sticky pud
dl e of mushy frui t buried beneath a gloppy
beige crust. Despite my young sweet tooth, I
couldn' t bring mysel f even to dip my fork i n
i t , much less risk a bite .
It' s not that I don' t l i ke peaches; j ust the
contrary: I l i ke them too much to see them
so i l l - served. I n my opi ni on, peach crumbl e
shoul d consist oHi csh- tasti ng, lightly sweet
ened peaches topped with a buttery, cri sp,
nutty-tasti ng crumbl e. So where do most
recipes go o wrong?
Bottoms Up
3 B Y ,\\ A T T I I E IV C 1\ R I) E
tl1e ratio of ingredients, tl1e topping was si m
ply too hard. Defeated, Ihaul ed out tl1e food
processor and gave up on melted butter.
Softened butter yi el ded a far sofer though
still crisp crumbl e. I found i t best to l et the
processor run uni nterrupted until the mix
ture formed d crumbl y mass. ( Pulsing fail ed
to combine the dry i ngredi ents wi th the but
ter beyond a sandy consi stency. ) The mixture
broke apart easily into dense crumbs of vary
i ng si ze .
Pecans, walnuts, and almonds were all com
mon i n the recipes Ifound, and each had tl1eir
merits, but tasters most appreciated tl1e mild
favor of the al monds . Close but not qui te
tl1ere, I experimented witl1 spices and flavor
ings, with l i ttle l uck. The one standout was
vani l l a. A splash, processed with tl1e dry i ngre
dients, seemed to boost the toppi ng's flavor
magically-like a shot of MSG i n a stir-ty
A Si mpl e Sol uti on
There' s a timdamcnal problem 11 ith peach
crumble: the peaches. Few ti uits are as fn
icky in fa1 or or texture, and some recipes
try to address these probl ems by adj usting
the amounts of sugar and thickener to sui t
the ti ui t' s ripeness. More Hail M,ry than
sure thing, this approach worked when I was
l ucky-but I wasn' t l ucky very otcn.
.ell ^gle c, 5Jlleylcpp ^gspe^dsc~el ~eccc- ^gpl
frc~ lef ' ^g~-esle eve^lJ ~gell~Jcslc^ge
Both fl l i ng and toppi ng tasted good, but the
topping was still too wet. A crisp top masked
a pudgy, dumpl i ng- l i ke underbel l y. Any
oven temperature lower than 33O degrees
Part of my sol ution came hom a Cool>s recipe
tor peach cobbl er. The peel ed pc.1chcs arc sliced,
tossed with sugar, and all owed to macerate tor
half an hour, then drai ned. The sugar draws off
a fair amount of urpriingly mi l d- fl,l\' ored j ui ce,
effectively mi ni mi zi ng the j ui ces and maxi mi zi ng
the peaches' i nherent sweetness.
The peaches requi red no additional sugar atier
the maceration ( though I did add back a l i ttl e
of the sweet "j ui ce, " i n whi ch I di ssol ved the
thickener) , but they di d need a l i ttl e hel p flal'or
wisc . Warm spi ces l i ke ci nnamon and nutmeg
were common i n the reci pes I found, and tasters
approved ( of j ust a pinch of each) . S,1l t hel ped
define the fl avors, ,\s did a subtanti .ll spl ash of
lemon j uice . Aticr a couple b.nches t,lstcd too
tart, I found i t best to adj ust the lemon j uice to
the flavor of the peaches.
As for t hi ckener , tlour was too s t ar chy
tasti ng, so I moved on t o i nstant upi uca and
corstarch. Bot h worked wel l , but t he tapi oc.1 ' s
"bouncy" texture proved a str.mge mat ch fur
the si l ky pe,1 ches; costarch 11\lS c1 better fi t .
I n the e nd, ustcrs l i ked a fi l l i ng t hi ckened wi th
1 1/ teaspoons, whi ch barel y bound the j ui ces
and gave the frui t a gl ossy sheen.
Fl avor was one thi ng, texture somethi ng alto
gether di fkrent. Baki ng the fl l ing tor any more
than 3O mi nutes at 33O degrees-an absol ute
mi ni mum for a browned toppi ng-and the peach
sl i ces defl ated i nto mush. Thicker pi eces ( 4- i nch
wedges ) retai ned a bi t more
took forever ( and overcooked the ti ui t) and
anything much above 4OO degrees bured tl1e
crumble long before the ti ui t even bubbled ( the
j uices must come to a boil to activate the tllicken
i ng power of tl1c corstarch) . A two- temperature
approach-starting high to crisp the topping and
droppi ng low to cook the frui t through-filed
as wel l .
bi te and al so S,\l' ed on prep R E c 1 P E D 1 A G N o s 1 s :
time .
Top Down
Some recipes bl end the
toppi ng i ngredients ( butter,
flour, sug.1r, pices ) i n a toud
processor, but why haul out
equi pment i f i t' s not neccs
s.u y) I added varying amounts
of melted butter t diHcrcnt
ratios of flour and sugar, but
i n each batch tl 1e texture was
surprisi ngly hard-more grav
el l y streusel than crispy crum
bl e. No m.mer how I al tered
2 4
MAC E RATE
rHObLLM. B ^dpeces
5OLU OM. ~cel ^glefrJ l ~
sJg^ddr ^ ^gcffexcess J ces
e pslccc^ce^llelepecfvc
S E PARATE
rHObLLM. cgglcpp ^g
5OLU OM. B- ^glelcpp ^gsep
le y5efces d ^g lc^lcIef.u. I
f . ^g-eeps lcJ~5 ycdc sp
5
i
Z
L
o

.
o
<
.
>
l
L
<
o
O
C

C
i
Iccl i ng dcll atcd, I coul dn` t wrap my hcad
around a way to cookthcsc two incongruous
clcmcntstogcthcr. I hadtricdcvcrythingI could
thinko|, butthc|actwasthatacrumblctoppi ng
couldn`tbccookcdontopo|stcaming|ruitand
bccxpcctcdtoturnoutcrunchyandcrisp.
But what i|I cookcd thc topping scparatcly
and thcn marricd it to thc hlling I sprcad thc
toppi ng on a baking shcct , li ncd with parch
mcntpapcrt omakcthctrans|crcasicr)andbakcd
it crisp bc|orc showcring it ovcr thc pcachcs. I
slid thc asscmblcdcrumblcinto thc ovcn-on a
lowcr rack, so that thc crumblc woul dn`t ovcr
brownandcookcditjustuntilthc|ruitbubbl cd
aboutthccdgcs. Icrackcdthccrispycrust-now
cvcnly browncd top to bottom-and |ound thc
|ruithrmandthcj uiccspcr|cctl ythickcncd. Jhc
cxtrac||ort rcquircd toparbakc thctoppingwas
nominalatworstandproduccda|ar,|arsupcrior
crumblcthanI hadcvcrtastcd.
PEAC H C R U M B L E
S E RVE S 4 TO 6
Add thc lcmonjuicc to tastc in stcp 2 according
tothc swcctncsso|yourpcachcs. I|ripc pcachcs
arcunavailablc,youcan substitutc hvc I Oouncc
bags o||rozcnpcachcs,thawcd ovcrnight i ntl+c
rc|rigcrator. Jhc topping can bc bakcd ahcad
o| timc, as dircctcd i n stcp 3, thcn coolcd and
storcdi nanairtightcontaincr. A dircctcdi nstcp
4, sprinklc thc topping cvcnlyovcr thc |ruit and
continucto bakc.
T E C HN I Q U E TRANS FE RRI NG
THE BAKE D C RUMB L E
I . AflecJ~5 e s5-ed, 'flscls' descfpc
~e^lppe. CJ~5 ew 5e-pl ^lcJ^eve^
11- lc/+ ^cp eces. )
2. CefJ y s de 5c-e^ cJ~5 e p eces c^lc
pecces, sped ^g ^lceve^ yew' lsplJ .
Filling
3 11 pounds ri pe but fi rm peaches (6 to 7 medi um) ,
peel ed and pi tted; each peach hal ved and cut
i nto '-i nch wedges (about 6 11 cups prepared
peaches)
' / cup ( 2 '/

ounces) granul ated sugar

I '/+ teaspoons cornstarch
3-5 teaspoons j ui ce from I l emon (see note above)
Pi nch tabl e sal t
Pi nch ground ci nnamon
Pi nch ground nutmeg
Topping
cup ( 5 ounces) unbl eached al l - purpose fl our
'/+ cup ( I ' ounces) pl us I tabl espoon
granul ated sugar
'/+ cup ( |

/+ ounces) packed l i ght or dark

brown sugar
'/s teaspoon tabl e sal t
2 teaspoons vani l l a extract
6 tabl espoons unsal ted butter, cut i nto 6 pi eces
and very soft
11 cup sl i ced al monds
l . Adj ustovcnrackstolowcrandmi ddl cposi
tions,hcatovcnto33Odcgrccs.
2. FOR THE FILLING: Gcnt| ytoss pcachcs
and sugar togcthcr i n | argc bowl , l ct stand |or
3Omi nutcs,tossingscvcral timcs . Drainpcachcs
in col andcr sct ovcr largc bowl . Whisk l4 cup
drai ncdpcachj ui cc, cornstarch, | cmonjuicc,sa| t,
ci nnamon, and nutmcg togcthcr i n small bowl ,
di scard cxccss pcach j ui cc . Joss j ui cc mi xturc
wi thpcachcsand trans|crto 8 i nch squarc glass
bakingdish.
3 . FOR THE TOPPING: Whilcpcachcsarcmac
crating, combincl|om,sugars, rcscrving I tablc
spoon granulatcd sugar) , and sa| t i n workbowl
o||oodproccssor, dri zz| cvani l | aovcr top. Iu| sc
tocombi ncmixturc,abouthvc I sccondpu| scs .
Add buttcrand hal|olnuts,proccssunti l mixturc
clumpstogcthcrinto l argc, crumbl ybal l s, about
3O scconds, pausing halhvay through to scrapc
down sidcs o|workbowl . Spri nkl c rcmai ni ng
nutsovcr mixturc and combinc with two qui ck
pul scs. Jranslcrmi xturctoparchmcntl i ncdbak
i ng shcct and sprcad i nto cvcn l aycr , mi xtorc
should brcak up i nto roughly |/: i nch chunks
with somc smal l cr, loosc bits ) . Bakc on mi dd| c
rackuntil chunks arc l i ghtly browncd and h rm,
I 8 to22minutcs.
4. TO ASSEMBLE AD BAKE: Graspingcdgcs
o|parchmcntpapcr, lol | owingi l | ustrati onsI and
2 at l c|t ) , sl idctoppi ngovcrpcachcsandsprcad
intocvcnlaycrwithspatula,packingdownlightly
and brcaki ng up any vcry largc pi cccs. Sprinklc
rcmai ni ng tab|cspoon sugar ovcr top and pl acc
on lowcr ovcn rack. l ncrcasc ovcn tcmpcraturc
to 33 dcgrccsandbakc untilwcllbrowncdand
|ruit i s bubbl i ng around cdgcs, 23 to 33 mi n
utcs . Cool onwi rcrackunti | warm, at l cast I 3
mi nutcs, scrvc.
1 U L Y 0 A ll C U S I 2 0 0 6
2 5
T E S T I N G E Q U I P M E N T :
Serrated Frui t Peel ers
Afleseled pee esved c^ le ~-elwe
5Jle^cJ^cedcJJsJ fJ lpee ~glc-s ^c Jd
^g5 ^c ^g l5 efy ^5c ^gwlelc ccse^le
s- ~) . ~ lc egJ vegel5 e pee es, lese
spec zed gdgels wl ~ ^ lce sel c^s)
~-eqJ c-wc-cfsepl ^glcJgh ,l ^s- ^fc~
de clefJ lsccs pepeces^dlc~lces.Bcl
w c 5^d s5esl`
'essl^ sle 5 des p gced few cf cJ
~cde s, ^d le exl fcce eqJ ed efl cJ
^ds sl c_we^ wes- ^^edpecesw llese
pee es. p 5 des, 5ycc^lsl, see~ed lc dc
~cslcflewc-fcycJ . N c Bl s eled
Vegel5 e ee e ws Jp lc le c5, 5cl we e
^clfc^d cf ls s c-^d evy ~el ^d e. We
-ed le ^c^s ' p ^d e cf Oxc s Cccd C ps
eled ee e, w c pe|c~ed ~csl swe
s cJ fvc le-le Nesse~e sle eled
w ve ee e. T spee edzz ed leslesw l ls
sJpe~eysp 5 dew cwse~ ^e^lyge^l e,
eve^c^le peslpec ^ lecle.
OXO Good Gri ps Serrated
Peel er ( $ 6. 99)
ClhC ^g ^gs~ l
j JsledgedcJl5yle Nesse~e slefcfslp ce,
le~cslcc~fcl5 e^d e ^le ^eJp.
RECOMMENDED WIT RESERVIONS
MARI O BATALI Serrated Vegetabl e
Peel er ( $ 8. 99)
A^5 epee e,5cll e5 deswv
eslcc~cc,^d les c-~el
^d e sc^leeys de.
' sl s pee e-c J ce`
qJ pped c^e lesle 5cJl
l spee e sle^de^cylcle
^lc pefJ l.
KUHN RI KON Pi ranha
Peel er ( $ 6 . 95)
A eve^ s~ e^d el^
cJ fvc le-^d ^cwee
^ele pe|c~^ce.
FI RM GRI P Serrated Sti ck
Stl e Peel er ( $4)
CefJ . T sded ^gefccJ fvc le
^ppe^ce)fleedc^ pefJ l.
I s There O New King of Ketchup?
We measured pectin levels, calculated pH, and grabbed our Bostwi ck consistometer
to explain the surprisi ng results of ou r ketchup taste test.
Y
ou thinkyou know kctchup. It`s rcd,
thick,swcct,salty,andtangy-andyou
can`timaginc a burgcr and |ricswith
outi t. Andyouthinkyouknowwhich
brand tastcs bcst. You probablyhavc a bottlc o|
Icinz i n your |ridgc , this onc brand accounts
|or ncar|y O pcrccnt o|thc domcstic kctchup
markct) , andit`soncnthconlychoicconrcstau
rant tab|cs, |rom truck stop dincrs to |ourstar
stcakhouscs.
What you probably don` t know i s that thi s
c| assic Amcrican condimcnt bcgan i n Southcast
Asiaasa saltysauccmadc|romanchovics. Whcn
Bri ti sh cxpl orcrs hrst cncountcrcd Chi ncsc
ke-tsiap, Malaysiankechap, andI ndoncsianketjap,
thcsauccwasmorclikcsoysauccorWorccstcrshirc
saucc than modcrn kctchup. \ntil thc I 9thccn
tury, British and Amcrican kctchup was o|tcn
madctrommushrooms,nuts, or|ruit.
Jhc h rst tomato bascd kctchups wcrc madc
|romunripctomatocsandwcrcquitcthin. Inthc
| atc I 9thccntury, H. ]. Hcinzo||crcdanaltcrna
tivc madc with ripc tomatocs, and trans|ormcd
kctchupintothcthickcondimcntwcknowtoday.
With swcct, ripc tomatocs as thc basc |or his
kctchup, Ici nzwas ab| cto addcnoughvincgar
to prcscrvc thc product naturally. Balanccd out
withplcntyo|swcctcncr, kctchup aswc know it
wasborn.
Kctchuphasn`trca| lychangcd|ormorc thana
ccmury, so why run a tasting Hcinz is kctchup
andkctchupisHci nz, right1rucornot,noonc
inour tcst kitchcnlikcs to acccptthings on |acc
valuc. So I roundcd up ci ght brands , al l avail
Sl ow Race Downhi l l
Tc ~esJe cc~ssle~cy, we pcJedecs~p e ~lc l s
lcJg -e devce, c ed Bcslwc- cc~sslc~eler. Wl
slcpwlc ~~d,we l~ed ecs~p es lcepl c~g
le lcJg. ~csl s~p es ~de llcle
f ~ s ~e ~ c~e lc 2 /: ~ ~Jles, 5Jl
lwc cvey l' c-5~dslcck~cre
le
3 B Y L C I C I I B E L A N C E R E
abl c nationwidc and |airly traditionalno spicy
mangokctchupsal lowcd) andaskcd29tastcrsto
tastc tl+cm straight |rom thc bottlc , on spoons)
andwithhotlrcnch|rics.
My pancl had somc shocki ng ncws |or
kctchup l ovcrs . According to tastcrs, thcrc` s a
bcttcr option than Ici nz-and it`s sittingright
thcrc on thc shclvcs o|your local supcrmarkct.
Hunt` s, Amcrica`snumbcrtwo kctchup, wasthc
cl car winncr o|our tasti ng. Although Hci nz` s
ncworganic kctchupwasthcrunncrup, rcgular
Hcinzkctchuph nishcdi ntl+cmiddlco|tl+cpack.
1hckingo||ctchupswasbcingdcthroncd, andI
wantcdancxplanation.
Tang, Sal t, and Sweet
As I rcadtl+roughthctastingshccts, I noticcda
lot o|commcnt s , andcomplaints ) about acidity.
My tastcrs wantcd a tangy kctchup, and scvcral
brands |ailcd on this count. Sincc |at and pro
tcin ,say, in a burgcr) tcmpcrkctchup`s acidity,
kctchup nccds a pronounccd tang to avoid tast
ing dul l . Bccausc tangincss was cl carly a high
priority |ortastcrs, I gotoutthc kitchcn` strusty
pI mctcrtotcstcachsamplc . Jhcthrcckctchups
atthc bottom o|thc ratings , sccchart,pagc2)
wcrc also thc | cast acidic , highcr pH translatcs
to lowcr acidity) . My h rst conc| usion. A tangy
kctchupis a good kctchup.
cxt up on my list o|itcms to cxami nc was
sodi um. Iroduct| abcl stoldthcstoryhcrc . Most
brandscontai n I 5 O to I 9Omi l l i gramso|sodium
pcr tablcspoon. Howcvcr, two brands, Wor|d` s
BcstandWcstbrac,contai n|ar l css-j ust4Omi l
l i grams and I O mi | l igrams, rcspcctivcly. Jhcsc
brandsl andcdatthcbottom o|thcrati ngs . My
sccond concl usi on. A sal ty kctchup i s a good
kctchup.
Swcctncss is anothcr kcy kctchup trait, and
thc brands wi th lcss sugar |c| l to thc bottom
o|thc ratings . 1op ratcd Hunt`scontains4
gramso|sugarpcrtablcspoon. In contrast,
A TOOL F OR GAUG I N G VI S COS I TY
Wotl d` s Bcst , which i s swcctcncd with
maplc syrup rathcrthan thc corn syrup
and/or high |ructosc con syrup |ound
i nmostbrands ) containsa mcas| ygram
o|sugarpcrtablcspoon.Bottom dwcllcr
Wcst brac, swcctcncdwithlruitj uicccon
ccntratc) containsj ust 2 grams o|sugar
pcrtablcspoon. Mythird conclusion. A
swcctkctchupisa good kctchup.
C C1 | K S I L L l S T R A I I I)
2 6
Somytastcrswantcdtl+cirkctchuptangy,sal(,
and swcct. Grvcnccup` s usc as a condimcnt,
it makcs scnsc that tastcrswould vant morc o|
thcsc kcy llavor componcnts . But what about
tomato U avor Manyo|thc cxpcrts I spokc with
agrccd tl+attomato growcrs arc morc conccrncd
with thc lcvcls o|tomato solids, thc viscosity o|
thcir j ui cc, and tl+cir color. Ancr al l , kctchup is
madc|romtomatopastc,vhichhasbccncookcd
l ong cnough to cvaporatc most o|thc natural
j ui ccs. As anyonc who has tastcd tomato pastc
knows, its cookcd U avor i s intcnsc but not tcr
ri bly nuanccd, a quality morc likclyto bc |ound
i n| cssproccsscdtomatoproducts,suchascanncd
wholctomatocs.
Whcrc did our tastcrs comc out on tomato
l|avorWhilc thcy had much morc to sayabout
thc abovc mcnt i oncd aci di ty, sal ti ncss, and
swcctncss, thcrc wcrc somc compl aints about
llat" tomato l| avor. Wc scnt thc kctchups to
a local |ood l aboratory |or an analysis o|total
so| i ds, al mostall o|whi chwoul dbctomatosol
i ds ) . Surccnough,thcthrcclowcst ratcdbrands
hadthc | owcstsol i dscontcnt, and ourvinning
brandhadthchighcstsolidscontcnt. My|ourth
concl usi on. A kctchupwith morc tomatocs is a
goodkctchup.
Bcsidcs providing color and tl+ickncss, toma
tocsarc asourcco|umami , thcsavoryquality in
mcaty"|oodssuchassoysauccandmushrooms
thati srclatcd to thc prcscncc o|thc amino acid
glutamatc. Jomatocs arc also a sourcc o|bittcr
ncss. Jhus kctchup triggcrs all h vc major tastc
scnsati ons. swcct,sour, salty, bittcr, and umami .
AndsoIrcachcdmyhnalconclusionaboutgood
tasting kctchup. Ithas a h vcc| cmcnts i npcr|cct
balancc.
I n the Thi ck of Thi ngs
Bcyond llavor, my tastcrs wcrc also vcry picky
about consi stcncy. Kctchup has to bc thi ck
cnough to kccp it |rom turni ng bunsand |rics
soggy,buti tshoul dn` tbcpasty. Icctinistypically
kctchup`sonlythickcncr.
1o cvaluatcthickncss,I scntsamplcsto thc lab
tohavcthcpcctinlcvclsmcasurcd.Allbutonc|c| l
withina|airlycloscrangc . Jhcoutlicr,Wcstbrac,
containcd about 5O pcrccnt morc pcctin than
tl+c rcst, andtastcrs` notcs , ugh, pasty,awm|")
conh rmcd that kctchup that`s too thick is j ust
plain gross. "
1/`1 `' 1'l`
Twent- ni ne members of the GooFs Illustrated staf tasted the ketc h u ps on spoons
and on french fri es. The brands are l i sted bel ow i n order of preference. We measured
pH i n the test ki tchen; hi gher n u mbers i ndi cate l ess aci di t. Al ocal food l aboratory
RECOMMENDED
HUNT' S Ketchup
S 1 . 69 for 24 ounces
pH: 3 . 82 sol i ds: 3 3 . 76% pecti n: 4939 mg/kg
Bostick; 2 mi nutes, 30 seconds
Thi s "cherr red" ketchup scored the highest for both taste and
texture and was the overal l wi nner. Tasters prai sed the " i nvi ti ng,
smooth" texture and "tang, " "fresh" flavor. Some commented
that thi s "wel l - bal anced" sampl e tasted "exactl y as i t shoul d . "
HEI NZ Organi c Ketchup
S I . 99 for 1 5 ounces
pH: 3 . 82 sol i ds; 3 1 . 7% pecti n: 4640 mg/kg
Bostwi ck: I mi nute, 50 seconds
Tasters l i ked the "vinegar tang" of thi s organi c sampl e. " Col or
and texture are perfect, " wrote one taster. The consi stency was
praised as "not too heav, " whi l e comments on the taste ranged
from "tastes l i ke bal l - park ketchup" to "ni ce sweettart bal ance. "
ANNI E' S Naturals Organi c Ketchup
$ 3 . 69 for 24 ounces
pH: 3 . 8 1 sol i ds: 3 2. 43% pecti n: 4696 mg/kg
Bostwi ck: 56 seconds
Thi s ketchup (sweetened wi th sugar rather than the usual corn
srup) received sol i d scores for taste, texture, and col or. Tasters
l i ked the "ri ch, heart, and tangy flavor, " but whi l e some found it
to have "j ust the perfect bal ance, " others detected "odd smok"
notes. For texture, i t was "not perfectly smooth but good. "
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVI ONS
DEL MONTE Ketchup
S 1 . 3 9 for 24 ounces
pH: 3 . 65 sol i ds: 3 2. 1 2% pecti n: 4966 mg/kg
Bostwick: I mi nute, I 0 seconds
Tasters were nei ther thri l l ed nor offended by thi s ketchup, givi ng
it average marks i n al l categori es. One taster cal l ed i t "nothi ng
out of the ordi nary." whi l e another sai d, "a l i ttl e sweet but no bi g
deal . " Others descri bed i t as "a l i ttl e watery," "a l i ttl e sour. " and
"a l i ttl e cooked . "
analyzed sampl es for total sol i ds and total pecti n . We us ed a Bostwi ck consi stom
et er ( s ee photo on page 26) t o rate thi ckness, measuri ng t he ti me i t took each
sampl e to sl i de down thi s devi ce. The l onger the ti me, the thi cker the ketc hup.
RECOMMENDED W RESERVIONS (cant
HEI NZ Ketchup
S I . 69 for 24 ounces
pH: 3 . 84 sol i ds: 3 2. 54% pecti n: 4875 mg/kg
Bostick: 50 seconds
The standard bearer fel l to the mi ddl e of the pack i n our taste
tests, l osi ng poi nts for bei ng " bl and" and "too sweet. " Tasters
were more positive about its "fr- di ppi ng texture" and "smooth , "
"thi ck" consi stency. Overal l assessment: " unremarkabl e. "
MUI R GLEN Organi c Ketchup
$ 3 . 49 for 24 ounces
pH: 4. 0 1 sol i ds: 29. 93% pecti n: 3978 mgkg
Bosti ck: I 0 mi nutes. 4 seconds
Tasters who l i ked " untradi ti onal " ketchup si ngl ed out Mui r Gl en
for i ts "ni ce texture, " but others found the texture "too past"
and "way too thi ck. " Wh i l e some were put off by the abundance
of "wanm, ci nnamon" spi ces, others enjoyed the " pl easant"
fl avor and sai d i t "goes great wi th fri es. "
NOT RECOMMENDED
WORLD' S BES Ketchup
$2. 99 for I O ounces
pH: 4. 29 sol i ds: 1 9. 46% pecti n: 4347 mg/kg
Bosti ck: I mi nute
The most " un- ketchup- l i ke ketchup" in our tasti ng. I ts "chunk"
texture made one taster ask, " Di d I j ust wander i nto the sal sa
tasti ng? " Many sai d i t was "too sweet, " and our pH test showed
that it was the l east aci di c ketchup in the l i neup.
WESBRE NATURL
Frui t Sweetened Ketchup
$2. 3 9 for 1 4 ounces
pH: 4. 1 5 sol i ds: 2 5 . 92% pecti n: 72 1 0 mgkg
Bosti ck: 8 mi nutes, 9 seconds
Thi s brand , sweetened wi th fru i t j ui ce concentrate, provoked
strong negative comments. " No, no, no' " wrote one taster.
Another descri bed i t as a "mol asses and tomato trai n wreck. "
Whi l e many compared it to " bl and" tomato paste, others found
it "sour" and "too vinegary." One taster si mply asked, "Why? "
But whi|cpcctinmay bc thc onlythickcncri n
kctchup, it`s not thc onl ythi ngthat can a||cct
consistcncy. Jhc amount o|tomato solids and
thcprcscncc o|calcium , ohcnaddcdduringthc
proccssing o|tomato products) also pl ay a rolc.
Dctcrmi ncd to quanti thc thickncss o|cach
brand,l hituponapromisingl cadwhcnasourcc
mcntioncdthatthcthickncsso|kctchup is actu
allyrcgulatcdbythc|cdcralgovcrnmcnt. ln|act,
thcrc` s a tool uscd to mcasurc consi stcncy in
kctchup , andothcrproducts ) , and I wasabl cto
borrow it |rom thc |ood lab. Callcd a Bostwick
consistomctcr, sccphotoonpagc2) , thisstain
lcssstccltroughis markcdwith ccntimctcrs and
mcasurcsthcviscosityo||oods .Jhc|cdcralrcgu
lationcalls|orkctchuptouownomorc than I O
ccntimctcrs in 3 O scconds at room tcmpcraturc
whilc thcBostwickis| cvclonallatsur|acc .
A Better Bal ance
Kctchupisbcstwhcnit`ssmooth,thick,andtangy,
with balanccd, bold llavors. Jhc paramctcrs arc
tight-nottoothickortoothin, nottootangyor
too swcct. Brightrcd but nochunks. Brandsthat
dcviatcd |rom this |ormu|a, such asWorld`s Bcst
andWcstbrac, |cllto thc bottomo|thc rankrngs.
Jhcy|ail cd to mcct tastcrs` cxpcctations |or this
condimcntwc`vcal|cnj oycdsincc childhood.
Maybc govcrnmcnt cxpcrts havc a|l day, but
I don` t. Bccausc nonc o|thc kctchups budgcd
whcnthcBostwickwasplaccdonalcvclsur|acc,I
dccidcdtodi||crcntiatcthc sorto|"thickkctch
ups|romthcrcallythickoncsbysctti ngthccon
sistomctcrat 28 dcgrccs , so thc kctchupswould
l|owmorcquickly)andthcntimcdcachsamplcto
scchowlongittooktotravcl 24ccntimctcrs-thc
cntircl cngtho|thc trough. Mosto|thc kctchups
tookbctwccnoncand2':minutcstotravcrscthc
trough,butMuirGlcnandWcstbracwcrcnoticc
ably slowcr, takrng about I O and cight minutcs,
rcspcctivcly. Ycs, kctchupshouldtlowslowly, but
thcrcissuchasthingastoothickandtooslow.
J l ' Y c ^ | | L' S T 2 0 0 6
2 7
Jhc rcmai ni ng brands might |ook a|ikc, but
our tastcrs notcd somc signihcant llavor di||cr
cnccs. onc wcrc unacccptablc, butHunt` spos
scsscda balancc o|swcct, sour, sa|ty, bittcr,and
umami tlavors that stood out among thc pack.
Wc nowhavcancwbrando|kctchupi nthctcst
kitchcn.
Sizing Up Souped- Up Blenders
Have fancy features and hefty price tags, finally made blenders an essential kitchen tool?
I
n thctcstkitchcn, our|oodproccssors arc
grinding, shrcdding, kncading, choppi ng,
and mi xi ng |or scvcral hours cach day. In
contrast,thctcstkitchcn` sblcndcrsarcapt
to sit i dl c |or days on cnd. Wc can` t i magi nc
purccingsoups,maki ngsmoothics,orwhipping
up an ancrhours margarita without a bl cndcr,
butthc harsh rcality isthatthc blcndcr isslowly
goingthcwayo|thchot airpopcornpoppcr.
Sinccblcndcrstcndtocollcctthcir|airsharco|
dustonthccoumcrtop,i nthcpastwc`vcrccom
mcndcd sturdy but rcasonablypriccd modcl s. A
ycar ago, cditorsat our sistcrpublication, Cook)s
Country, tcstcd ninc bl cndcrs priccd at S3O or
lcss and proclaimcd thc Braun IowcrMax , S3O)
thcchamp-iti s agrcatblcndcr|orthcmoncy.
But havc wcbccn too quicktodismissbl cnd
crsWc`vcrcccntlynoticcdanincrcasingnumbcr
o|bcautiml ,highcndmodclsi nthcmarkctpl acc,
withncw|anglcdbladcandbowldcsigns,builti n
timcrs, hugc capaciti cs, cnhanccd bl adcs, and
hugcpowcrratingsthatpromisctoturniccinto
snowi nscconds,makcpcanutbuttcr|romwholc
nuts, pulvcrizc spiccs, and grind cntirc bags o|
co||cc. I|onc blcndcr could do all t|+is, maybc
wc`d bc willing to takc blcndcrs morc scriously
andshclloutsomcscriousbucks|oranupgradc.
Jo givc bl cndcrs thcir |ai r shakc, wc roundcd
up cight modcls, rangingi npricc |rom S I OO to
S399, andhcadcdi ntothctcstkitchcn.
A Chi l l i ng Di scover
Any tcstingo|blcndcrs has to bcgin with crush
ing icc and/or making |rozcn drinks, two tasks
tl+at|ood proccssors simply cannot pcr|orm. Wc
hIlcd cach blcndcrjarwith I 3 icc cubcs and ran
hvc I sccond pulscs. Wcwcrc shockcd that only
A Truly Super Bl ender
BY S C O T T K A T I I A N E
two o|t|+csc rcportcd|y powcrhd and cxpcnsivc
blcndcrs, thc L` Lquip andtl+c JcnnAirAttrczzi ,
produccd a hnc, chunk|rcc snow. Jo bc |air,
somc modc| s, likc thc Lmcrilwarc, instruct tl+at
crushing icc ta|cs morc than O scconds, but
who wants to cndurc that much noisc Ancr I 3
scconds,thc Lmcri|warc andbothWaringblcnd
crs still had scvcral wholc cubcs o|unproccsscd
icc,whilc tlc L` Lquip and JcnnAir modclspro
duccdpowdcrwc` dbchappytoski on.
Maki ngsmoot|+icsi sanothcrtcstthatinvolvcs
crushing|rozcnmattcr-thistimc,|rozcnmango
chunks-along with |rcsh banana, orangc j ui cc,
andyogurt. Icari ng , ancrthci cc crushingtcst)
thatthcscpriccy blcndcrs wcrc l|ashy but i nad
cquatc, wc wcrc rcl i cvcd whcn |our o|thcm
, L` Lqui p, Wari ng McgaMix, Ktchcn^d, and
\ita Mi x) accdthi stcst in l cssthanthc allottcd
3Oscconds. dd|y,thc)cnnAi rAttrczzi-onco|
thc two bcst icc crushcrs-was thc on|y blcndcr
to lai l tl1is tcst, | caving bchind largc chunks o|
|rozcnmangoandswirlso|unblcndcdyogurt.
Iurcci ng a si mpl c soup o| broccoli , oni on,
and broth wasthc last corc tcst. B|cndcrs out
pcr|orm |ood proccssors whcn purcci ng liquids
|or two rcasons . Iirst, a bl cndcr` s |our bladcs
arc arrangcd i n multiplc p| ancs sct at di||crcnt
anglcs,anarrangcmcntthatcnsurcsmorccontact
bctwccn |ood and bl adcs, rcsul ti ng in bcttcr
proccsscd|ood, |oodproccssorb| adcsarcscton
di||crcntplancs at idcntical anglcs ) . Sccond, thc
mixturc travc| sup andaroundthc blcndcrj ari n
avortcx, whichhcl pstoi ncorporatcai r, rcsulting
i n light, si l ky purccs. Jhc purcci ng rcsultswcrc
ancxactmatchwiththcsmoothictcst,withonly
thc JcnnAir lcaving bchi nd chunks o|broccoli
andonion.
Te $945 Voe-Te~o~' xTN2 ' s ' ge~d cuope~pp ' ~ce ll 's
cc~5 ~l c~ fccd pccessc, 5' e~de, ~ xe, se'fsl ~g 5J~e, sc e, ~d
sle~e. BJldces ldo~ycfl swe ` ' ~wod,yes. A' lcJg ls~cloco~
sJ~eso~y 600wlls, l eTe~o~ x s5 e~d ~g~dfood pccess ~g5' ' [' s
f~lslc l wou dvep cedfsl' ~ou 5 e~del ~g) . ' lcedou ce cJs ~g,
J~~Js, ~dscup puee ~glesls-~dwecoJ dcoo-lesoJp ~le~c ~e
5efoewepJeed| l. Be' ~g5' eloel~dsl s ~J' l~eousy suge5o~usll' e~ds' lse fespec 'ywe lo
suce~- ~g, cJ5~ se~do' ~d' sesJcesc~eoJl5eJl' fJ y.Te5u ' l ~d'g l' sc e s~dyloJc .
le~ ~g-yoJllc 5s-el5ovele ~ ~- sle o~efJ~cl| o~llwewoJ' d Jslsscc~dcw lcJl.
TeTe~c~ xwcJ d5e~oslJsefJ ' ~l gl qJleed-' lce~w l~oolepp ~ces, sy, ~c5 ~o
eve~c~5cl. ' ~-'lce~ll edysslcved 5 e~dec fcodpccesso,oweve,wewcJ dopllo
spe~doJ$945 o~so~el ~ge se. . /.
C O O K
'
s I L L U S I R A r l n
2 8
\ntilnow,wc` dbccngcaringourtcststoward
blcndcrs` i nhcrcnt strcngths-|rozcn drinks and
liquidpurccs. It was timc to cntcrncwtcrritory.
Wcdccidcdtomakchummus|rom canncdchick
pcas, toastcd scsamc sccds, garl i c, ol ivc oil , salt,
andlcmon]uicc. Couldthcsc|ancyblcndcrsstcp
up to thc task Iorthc mostpart,ycs. nlyuc
Lmcri lwarc was l cnwith unproccsscdchunkso|
chickpcasandscsamcsccds .
A |cw i nstruction manuals claimcd uat thcsc
supcr bl cndcrscan makc pcanut buttcr|romraw
pcanuts, so wc dccidcd to push our blcndcrs to
thc l i mi t. Ii l l i ng cach jar with amounts ranging
|rom l2 cup to 4 cups o|roastcd pcanuts, wc
pulscd thcnuts 3 timcs, thcn proccsscd thcmon
lowspccd|or43 scconds . Withtlccxccptionso|
thcWaringMcgaMixandthc\ita Mi x, nooucr
blcndcrcvcncamccl osc .
Rewi ng Up
Why wcrc somc modcls cxcclling at somc tcsts
and |ail ing at othcrs Wc had two main arcas to
i nvcstigatc. powcr and dcsign.
Manu|acturcrstypi cal l yi ndi catcmotorpowcr
in horscpowcr or watts , both mcasurc powcr,
onc horscpowcr cquals 4 watts ) . In prcvi
ous tcsts o| countcrtop appl i anccs, wc discov
crcd that thc wattagc l istcd on thc packagc has
l i ttl c, i |any, corrclation to pcr|ormancc. Jhat`s
bccausc this numbcr i s a mcasurcmcnt o|thc
powcr consumed by thc bl cndcrmotor, not uc
powcrgenerated by it. ur blcndcr tcsts con
hrmcd thi s. Jhc 3OO watt ]cnnAi r Attrczzi ,
|or cxampl c, wasbcttcratcrushi ngi ccthanthc
I , 38Owatt\ita Mi x.
Data |or output wattagc-a bcttcr indicator
o|pcr|ormancc-is not discloscd by manu|ac
turcrs and isvcry dimcultto mcasurc. Wc won
dcrcd i |thc spccd o|thc bl adcs might cxplain
our tcsts rcsults, so wc purchascd a handhcld
l ascr tachomctcr to takc rpm , rcvolutionspcr
minutc )rcadingso|thcblcndcrbladcs . 1hclascr
mcasurcd rpm by rcading a piccc o|rcl|cctivc
tapc wc adhcrcd to onc o|thc bladcs in cach
bl cndcr. Jogctanaccuratcrcading, thctachom
ctcrrcquircd that cvcrythi ngi nthc background
bccomplctclybl ack,sowcadministcrcdahcal thy
dosc o|black spraypaintto thc bladcs and bot
toms o|cach b|cndcrj ar. , Gray margaritas, any
onc ) urrpm hndings rangcd |rom I O,832 |or
tl+c]cnn^rAttrczzi to2, 34|orthc\itaMix,
wiu most o|tl+c blcndcrs comi ng i n at around
2O,OOOrpm.
How We Rted the Bl enders
We tested eight hi gh-end bl ender and the i nexpen
sive Braun PowerMax (wi nner of a previous test) and
evaluated them accordi ng to the fol l owi ng criteri a.
Bl ender are listed i n order of preference.
PRI CE: Prices paid i n Boston-area retai l , nati onal mai l
order, or onl i ne outl ets.
POWERSPEED: Wattage i s from the manufacturer;
rpm (revol uti ons per mi nute) vas measured in the test
kitchen with a hand-hel d laser tachometer.
JAR: Material and maxi mum capacit.
ICE CRUSHI NG: Fifteen ice cubes were processed
with five `-second pul ses.
SMOOTHI E: Banana, frozen mango, ornge j ui ce, and
yogur were bl ended for J0seconds on high speed.
SOUP PUREE: Chunk broccol i soup was processed
for J0seconds on high speed (or on the "puree" setting
when appl i cabl e) .
HUMMUS: Achi ckpea mixture vs processed for one
mi nute on high speed (or on the "chop" setting when
appl icabl e) .
PENUT BUTER: Peanuts were pul sed five ti mes,
then processed on low speed for 4 5 seconds.
Do highcr rpm` s cqua| bcttcr pcr|ormancc
1hctcstwasmn, but thc bl cndcrwiththc lowcst
rpm, thcJcnn Air) wasonco|onlytwomodclsto
accthci cc crushingtcst,prcsumablyatcstwhcrc
spccd and powcr arc important. It sccms what
scparatcsasosoblcndcr|romasupcriorblcndcr
isdcsign,notbrawn.
Desi gn Matters
Blcndcrsnormallyhavc|ourbladcs. Whilc onc o|
ourblcndcrs,thc Lmcrilwarc, boastcdsix bladcs,
this |caturc provcd to bc morc sham" than
Bam' " , thc Lmcrilwarc blcndcr hnishcd last in
ourkitchcn tcsts ) . Jhc othcr modcl that straycd
|romthc standardbladc dcsignwasthcJcnnAir,
itsinvcrtcdj arshapc, l argcatthcbottom,tapcrcd
atthctop) hasroom|orcxtral argcbladcs,which
wouldsccm to cxplainwhythis blcndcrcxccllcd
atcrushingicc.
Butthc]cnnAir`swidc bascwasalsoitsdown
|al l , asitcxplainswhythisblcndcrl cnbchindbits
o|mangoandbroccolii nthcsmoothicandsoup
tcsts. ur |our topratcd blcndcrs al l havc j ars
thattapcratthc bottom, bl cndcrswith straight
sidcdj ars orj ars thatllarcd atthc basc landcd at
thc bottomo|ourranki ng. Whyi sj ar dcsign so
important Japcrcd j ars mnncl |ood down into
thc bladcs and yicld ncarly llawlcss purccs-thc
rcasonyouwantablcndcri nthchrstplacc.
It turns out u+t a tapcrcd j ar is morc impor
tant than any bcll or whisuc. In |act, jar dcsign
is so critical that thc tapcrcd Braun IowcrMax
, S5O) hclditsownagainstmorcpowcrml blcnd
crsandh nishcdsccond. IorS I 34, youcouldbuy
ourtoppcr|ormingblcndcr|romL` Lquip,which
hasasimilarj ardcsign, onlybiggcr)andcvcrso
slighuybcttcrpcr|ormancc. Butuntila markcdly
bcttcr blcndcr comcs along, wc` l l stick with thc
iucxpcnsivcBraun|orthcusualblcndcrtasks-and
rclyonour|oodproccssor|orcvcrythingcl sc.
RTI NGS
GOOD: ***
FAI R: **
POOR: * /J i\ i`
RE COMME ND E D
..
..
4

L' Equi p R. P. M.
PRI CE ' $ 1 34
I NPUT POWER/S P E E D' 900 watts.
1 8. 653 rpm
J AR' Plastic, 56 ounces
BEST BUY
Braun PowerMax
PRI CE ' $49. 99
I NPUT POWER/S P E E D' 525 watts,
2 1 . 368 rpm
J AR' Glass, 58 ounces
Wari ng 2- Speed MegaMix
Speci al t
PRI C E ' $249. 95
I NPUT POWER/S P E E D' 746 watts,
24. 59 1 rpm
J AR, Plastic. 48 ounces
J l L Y f A l U S I 2 0 0 6
2 9
P E RF ORMANCE
I C E CRUS H I NG ' ***
S MOOTH I E ' ***
S OUP P URE E ' ***
H U M MUS ' ***
P E ANUT BUTTE R' *
I C E CRUS H I NG ' ***
S MOOTH I E ' ***
S OUP P URE E ' ***
H U MMU S ' **
P E ANUT BUTTE R' *
I CE CRUS H I NG ' *
S MOOTH I E ' ***
S OUP PURE E ' ***
H U MMUS ' ***
P E ANUT B UTTER' ***
TESTE RS ' COMME NTS
Excel l ed at ever task except peanut
butter. and di d so i n less ti me than most.
Uked the manual power di al . Only com-
pl ai nt-and i t" s mi nor-i s that i t can take
a few tries to nestle the jar i nto the base.
Made short work of al l tests except
peanut butter. The uni que triangular-
shaped jar makes it especi al ly easy to rest
the jar in the base (a probl em with some
other model s) .
Ver l oud, especi al ly with hard i tems.
Movement for i ce crushi ng seemed "too
vi ol ent" ; the i ce cubes were blown of the
bl ades, never to return. The only bl ender
to excel i n maki ng peanut butter, but
poor i ce crushi ng is a fiaw.
ll 1 ' I l ` `'1 l >
Si zi ng Up Garl i c
BecJse c f g c s ^le^se fvc,
le sze cf le c cves c^ e y
~se ^ ~pcl c^ ycJ cccs ^g
A c^gw l le^J~5e^ds zecf
le c cves, cJ ec pes cffe le
spcc^cl5' espcc^~easJe~e^ls
fcg' c, sc lee s ^c dcJ5lll
ycJ e Js ^g le gl ~cJ^l ^
cJ sl d w l eslc pge
' J) c CJ5^ | e C 3csled
cs pge ' +) . A^d egd ess cf
sze, dc^ l fcgel lc e~cve ^y
gee^ spcJls fc~ le ce^le cf
lec cve, 5 ^d lsl ^g 5cl w
^ c ^d cccsed w l psl ^d
c ve c ) eve edlllespcJls
dd ^ J^p es^l 5 lle^ess Te
pclcs 5e cw e lc sc e, le
y e dsefelcle~cJ^lc^ec cve
pcdJceswe^~ ^ced .
Smal l clove yi el ds 11 teaspoon
Medi um clove yields I teaspoon
Lrge cl ove yiel ds 2 teaspoons
Era-lare clove yi el ds I tablespoon
NOTE : Garl i c shown at actual size.
3 1 3 Y E R I K 1\ 13 R U C E E
Shake and Bake
Apizzapcc| is thc handicsttoo| lot
gcttingpi zzasinandoutolthcovcn.
I nthcpast,wchavc cl i mi natcd any
pto|| cms with dough sti c|i ng
thc pcc| |yp|acingashcctolpatch
mcnti n|ctwccn. Butlottcal|yctisp
andwc| l btowncd lizzaMatghctita
, pagc l l ) ,wc loundthcpatchmcnt
papct j ust got in thc way ,i t stoc|
to thc tac|y dough and wti n|l cd
up,anditptcvcntcdthcdi tcctcon
tact with thc hot stonc ncccssaty
lor

thcctispicst ctust ) . Yctwithout

patchmcnt,wc cxpcticnccd outlai t
shatc olpi zza mishaps, thc dough
cithct stoc| to thc pccl on its own
ot |ccamc gl ocd on by an crtant
dtop olsaucc, tcsu| ti ng i n shapcs
thatl oo|cd motc li|c ca| zonc than
pi zza. Wi thout sacri hci ng a ctisp
|ottom ctust, wc nccdcd to hnd a
loolptoolsolutionlotpctlcctpizzas
cvcrytimc.
Iusti ng t hc pccl with llour was
a must, bot too much madc lot a
Uoutypi zza, conmcal also wot|cd
wcll , li|c mini |a|| |catings, but it
was disttacti ngly ctunchy bctwccn
thc tccth. Wc lound thc bcstso| o
tionwas actual | ymcchanica| . a sim
p| c,quic|sha|covctthccoontcttop
, tathct than ha| lay into thc hot
ovcn) toldusi lthctcwctcanystic|y
spots . 1hcn a qui c| swipc olthc
|cnch sctapct undct thc doogh
|oth tc| cascd t hc stuc| atcas and
tcdistti botcd thc llout undcncath.
Ad, olcoutsc, |c sutc thc cnti tc
pcc| i s dty, wipc up any dol | ops
olsaucc or | i qui d thatcou| d lotm
potcntia| spccd bomps on thc way
into thc ovcn.
Store basi l wrpped i n a damp towel ,
but don' t seal the bag.
Si ncc l cavi ng basi l out on thc
countct wasn`t an option , i twi|tcd
withi n hout s ) wc wctc stuc| with
tclti gctatot stotagc, which is a|out
I 5 dcgrccs col dct than thc tcc
ommcndcd tcmpcraturc lot basi l .
Wc tcstcd stotrng |asil in unsca|cd
zippct|oc|bags, toptcvcnt|uild up
olmoistutc,whichcancausc|asilto
tun|| ac|) , both p| ainandwtappcd
indamppapcrtowcls, outprclcrrcd
mcthodlotmost|ca|grccns) . Act
thrcc days i n thc tcltigcrator, |oth
samplcs wctc stil| grccn and pct|y.
Butanctoncwcc|, onl ythc towcl
wtappcdbasilwassti l l lrcshloo|rng
and tasting. Don` t |c tcmptcd to
rinsc|asiluntiljust|clorcyounccd
to usc it, whcn wc pcrlormcd thc
samctcstsaltcttinsing,thcshcl ll ilc
wasdccrcascdbyhall
jarred Tomatoes?
Whilc rcccntl yshoppi nglorcanncd
diccd tomatocs, wc noticcd a ncw
comct on thc shcl vcs . Dcl Montc
Ict i t Di c c d j a rr cd t omatocs .
Cl aimingto |cmi ni mal l yproccsscd
andmorc li|c ltcsh, this ncwprod
uctwascryingoutloratastctcst,so
wcpittcditagainstthcrcalthing, i n
alrcshtomatosa|sa)andagainstDcl
Montc` s canncd countcrpart , i n a
quic| coo|cdsaucclorpasta) .
Iorthcsalsa,tastcrsprclcrrcdthc
tcxturc ollrcsh tomatocs |ccausc
thcywcrcl csswatcry,|utthcj arrcd
tomatocshcl dthcirowni ntcrmsol
llavot, cspccially whcn paircd with
potcnt onion and limc juicc . In thc
r A s r 1 N G . Presl i ced Ameri can Cheese
We admi t it. Many of us in the test kitchen top our burer wi th-gasp
American cheese. Defi ned as a "process" cheese product with a mi ni mum requi re
ment of 5 1 percent actual cheese (the rest i s mostly emul si fi ers and stabi l izers) ,
American cheese can range dramati cal ly in col or, flavor, and texture. Comi ng to
terms with our gui l t pl easure, we deci ded to taste four wi dely avai l abl e brands (i n
the gui se of gri l l ed cheese sandwiches) to fi nd out whi ch one we l i ked best.
We sampl ed Sara Lee, Lnd 0' Lkes, Krft, and Borden and i ncl uded both the
"yel l ow" and "whi te" vari eti es where avai l abl e. The Sar Lee American Sl i ces, both
the Lnd 0' Lkes Ameri can Yel l ow and Whi te, and the Kraft Del i Del uxe White
Sl ices rated highest for cheesy flavor. Not coi nci dental ly, cheese cul ture (l ive
bacteri a added to mi l k to spur the formati on of cheese curds) was hi gher on thei r
i ngredi ent l i sts than on those for Kraft Si ngles or the Borden Si ngl es, whi ch di dn' t
taste anythi ng l i ke cheese. And whi l e across the board the textures were sl ightly
rubber, we found that there was a di stinct diference beteen gooey goodness
(the first group) and j ust pl ai n sl i my (the second group) . A for col or, i t came
I t' s Not Easy Staying Green
down to a matter of personal preference.
Whcn ma|i ng lasta Sa| ad with
lcsto , pagc 1 9 ) , stoti ng l cltovcr
basil won` t bc an issuc-thc | atgc
bunchcs availab| c at thc sopctmat
|ctwi|| bc casi|y uscd up. Butwhat
aboot thosc occasi ons whcn on| y
two ot thtcc | cavcs atc nccdcd to
scason a di sh Wc wondctcd how
|ong wc could |ccp lcnovct stotc
boughtbasil and whatwoo| dbcthc
|cstwaytostotcit.
TH E B I G C H E E S E
When buying American cheese, l ook for
"cultured pasteurized mi l k" or "cheese
cul ture" as the firt or second i ngredi ent.
( t\ t\ | : | | | | | H .\ | | | '
30
LOW C U LTU RE
I f the "cul tured" i ngredi ents are far down
on the i ngredi ent l i st, American cheese
won' t have much "cheese" flavor.
s H o p p 1 N G . Sweetened Condensed Mi l k
` ^ cJ ec pe fc /ey O~e Bs pge 2J) , sweele^ed cc^de^sed ~ -- sefsl5 e
edJclc^cf~ -^dsJg-p ys-eyc e ^-eep ^glef ^gce~y^dsweel. c
sce^lfcexp ^l c^cfl sc e, seepge22 ) BJldces l~llew c5^d` We5cJgl
fvednee^lc^s-Bcde^ scg eB^d3egJ,'cwl,^dlee, swe sPcl^d
C^lc^ 5clfJ fl5^ds)-^dededlclelesl-lce^lclsle~J l p e5lces
cf/ey ~e5s^d/ey ~ep ef ^g
Ncsl cfle ^ged e^l 5e swee de^l c Jsl wc e ~ - ^d sJg) , w l le
excepl c^cfleBcde^ sedJced fl^d^c^flcpl c^s~dew' lcwflc^c^fl
~ -) ,^d lePcl5^dw ccc^l ^sscy5e^c ) .Je ycJ lsleswcJ ddelecl
lednee^ce, gl`Tc cJsJp se, lsleswee Jslsppyel ^gdesselsflle^ed
Jpwlscy5e^c ^dedJcedflpcdJcls, lcJgleyd d^cl ce~cesselve
~ef'vc ^le lle ` ^lee^d, ^ycflesesweele^edcc^de^sed~ -pcdJclsw
dc. l c-wl lewc e ~ -cpl c^fc~x ~J~ce~ ^ess, 5Jl l e e^ecpl c^s
wc^ ls g^ f c^l y cwele5c z5elBc~ze
pastasaucc, thcj arrcdtomatocs|cl l
llatthctomatopi cccswcrcsmallcr
thanthc canncd,yctthcyrcmaincd
scparatc and di sti nct, rc|usi ng to
comctogcthcrintoacohcsivcsaucc.
Apparcntly, thc smallcr dicc mcant
morc sur|acc arca was cxposcd to
calcium chl oridc, a hrmi ng agcnt
also addcd to canncd diccd toma
tocs,yicldingahrmcrtcxturcgood
whcn tryingto hnd a substitutc |or
lcssthan stcllar |rcsh tomatocs in a
rawdish but notsogood|orcookcd
applications.
Fr salsa, use Del Monte jarred tomatoes
when fresh tomatoes are out of season.
Loosen That Bow Tie
Wclikc ourpastawithalittlcbitc ,or
al dcntc)whcnitisscrvcdhot, but|or
coolpasta salad,wcprc|crpastat|+at
is morc tcndcr than chcwy. A quick
nibblcwoul dnormallysumcctoscc
i|thc pasta was j ust past al dcntc,
but wiu |ar|allc, our |avoritc shapc
|orIastaSaladwithIcsto, pagc I 9) ,
mcpinchcd ccntcrs rcquircd closcr
inspcction. l|acutthroughucmid
dlc rcvcalcda chalkywhitc linc , thc
color o|uncookcd pasta) , thc bow
ticswcrcnotquitcdonc, andnccdcd
morccoo|ing.
Citrus Squeeze
Squcczing our way through litcrally
hundrcdso|limcs , |or Cuban Stylc
Gril l RoastcdIork,pagcl 4,andKcy
Li mcBars,pagc2 3 ) ,wcrcalizcdthis
wasanopportuncti mctodctcrminc
thc most c||cctivc mcthod lor j ui c
ingthi slittlcnuit. Wctcstcdsquccz
ingbyhandagainstacitrusj oiccr,i n
whi chthcl imcha| |istwistcd ovcra
ridgcd,conicalhcadsct ovcrabowl ,
a simplc woodcn rcamcr, which i s
manual ly turncd i nsi dc thc |rui t,
anda citrus squcczcr, a dcvicc that
prcsscs thc limc hal| insidcout to
cxtractthcj uicc.
Wi th thc cxccpt i on o| hand
squcczing , which was lcss than hal|
as c||cctivc ) , cach mcthod yicldcd
thcsamcamounto|j uicc. Butwhcn
wc|actorcdincasco|uscandspccd,
thc squcczcr prcsscd ahcad o|thc
compctition. A addcd bonus . All
thc bits o|pul p wcrc containcd i n
thc wcl l o|thc prcss rathcr than
droppingdownintothcj uicc .
Arc thcrc any tricks |or yiclding
morcj uiccWctricdrollingthcl imcs
onthccountcr,hcatingthcmi nthc
microwavc, andpokingthcmwitha
|ork,whilcthcsctipsmayhc| pwhcn
squcczingbyhand, noncmadcabit
o|di||crcncci nyicld, orcasc) whcn
usinga handhcld squcczcr. ln |act,
wc |ound col d l i mcs strai ght out
o|thc rcligcrator to yi cl d thc
mostj uiccthc hrm llcsh
split opcn morc rcadily
thanwhcnwarmand
morcpliablc.
A hand- hel d ci trus squeezer is the
best tool for j ui ci ng l i mes.
RE CI P E U P DAT E
Peach Barbecue Sauce
eve edes s-ed Jsl ccc~5 ^el esvcq s~c- ^esscf cJ Barbecued
Pulled Chicken _J,/AJgosl200') w llesweel^esscffJ l. Add ^gsc~e
~ lc le ec pe s sp cy 5oecJe sJce see~ed -e pc~ s ^g de. We
ep ced lepp ec de^d ~c sses le sweelcc~pc^e^ls ^cJcg ^
sJce) w lwle^dv cJsfJ l 5sed ~s, e es, ^dpesees. Ncslcf
cJlslesfcJ^d leelc5e ^lec^ge5 e, lcJgle e eswee lle
sweele. OJ fvclewspecpesevesc ~, fc cwed5yp cclpesees
c ~.Tec^,f vclld' d^ l wc-wsc^ge~~ de, w cwss ~p,
cvepcwe ^g. Tc cwlefJ l f'vc lccc~elcJg ,weedJcedle~cJ^l
cfc pcwdefc~ l 1/2 l5 espcc^slc2lespcc^s. eeCcc- scxl, 5e cw,
fcleec pe.
German Chocol ate Sheet Cake
^s cfcJ German Chocolate Cake _^J,/e5Jq 200') wc^deed
fl sec peccJ d 5el^s led lc seelc-e. Yes, lcse lcwe ^g yescf
cccc lec-esepled5ylesl c_cccc^Jl pec^f ^g cc- ~pess ve, 5Jl
le,dceqJ ef ~cJ^lcfwc-, ^c Jd ^gle5 [lcsp lc-e ,es^
f^el,, scwewee pp,lc c5 gew l s ~p eec pe ' llJ^s cJlll
le5lle,w c sdes g^edfclwcJ ^ccu^dc-e p^s, flspefecl, ^lc
' J 5,J ^c p^ ^deqJ es Jslfve ~ ^Jles~ce 5- ^gl ~e. Afcle
f ^g, l sequ ,gccdsl c-yecffcsl ^gfcseelc-e^deqJ es^c
dJsl~e^ls. eeCcc- scxl, 5e cw,fcleec pe.
TRAD I TI O NAL STREAM LI N E D
The traditional cake has four layers and requi res some trick constructi on.
A sheet cake l ooks more humbl e but sti l l tastes good.
Brown Ri ce Pael l a
CcJ dwe ~-e dece^lves c^ cfc J Pella N,/j J^e200' ) ec pewl
5cw^ ce'Tcf ^d cJl, we ep ced le ce c ed fc ^ cJ c g ^` ec pe
V e^c c A5c c) w l ^ eqJ ~cJ^l cf c^gg ^ 5cw^ ce. BecJse
5cw^ cesle5^^dge~sl ^lcl, lJsJ ,l-es~Jc c^gelcccc-
l^w le ce^d eqJ es~ce qJ d. ccJpe ec pe, wefcJ^d l^ec
essylc 5-e le ce ^ lecve^fc^dd l c^ J0~ ^Jles oefcedd ^g
le 5cw^edc c-e^^dcc zc) . cweve,le~cJ^lcf qJ d^ le ec pe
fc~ le c c-e^ 5cl , lc~lces, ^dw ^e) ws Jslf ^e. ` llJ^scJlll
5ecJse cJ pe s5-ed ^ ddedDclccve^, veq ll e qJ dc^escpe
fc~lepcl, scles~e~cJ^lw ccc-w lecocw^ ce-s c^gsle
5cw^ cegelssc~eexll ~e eeCcc- scxl, 5e cw,fcleec pe.
Cc~p ed5yNllewec^
' YOU AVc A QUcT` ON 5cJl ece^l y pJ5 sed ec pe, el Js -^cw.
e^d ,cJ ^qJ y, ^~e, ddess, ^d d,l ~e le epc^e ^J~oelc 3ec pe
Updle, Ccc- s' Jslled , . O. Bcx+70'8J, Bcc- ^e, NA02++7,cw lelc
ec peJpdle5cpess cc~
Go to ww. cooksi l l ustrated. com
/ey ^ccde706 ' 0 fcBrown Rice Pel l a.
/ey ^ccde706 ' ' fcGerman Chocolate Sheet Cake.
/ey^ ccde706 ' 2 fcPeach Barbecue Sauce.
3ec pesv 5 eJ^l j ^Jq ` , 2007.
I L ' I Y {y A U C. L' S I 2 0 0 6
3 1
l \ I ^l `1 ''K l1
DO YO U RE ALLY N E E D TH I S ? Wood Soaker
Wc always rccommcnd soaking wood chips or
chunksbc|orctossingthcmontolitcharcoal .Jhc
absorbcdmoisturckccpsthcwood|romigniting
andquicklyburningup,allowingaslowsmoldcr
thatproduccspl cntyo|smokc.Jossingthcwood
intoawatcr hllcdmixingbowlhasalwaysworkcd
|or us, but wc wondcrcd whcthcr Wcbcr`s ncw
Wood Chip Soakcr , S9. 99) was a bcttcroption.
Shapcdl i kca supcrsizcd travcl mug, thcsoakcr
has a pcr|oratcd lid that twists down ovcr thc
wood,kccping cvcry chip bclow thc watcrl i nc.
Docs itwork Jo hndout, wcsoakcda poundo|
ALL WET
wood chunks cach in thc
soakcr, in a bowl , and in
a watcr h l l cd zippcr lock
bag. Ancratwohoursoak,
allthcwoodgaincdabout
2ounccso| watcr,nomat
tcr thc mcthod, and thc
thrccbatchcshadidcntical
l i |cspanswhcntosscdatop
thc coal s. Jo our minds,
thcn, thcrc`s no nccd |or
a dcdicatcd wood soakcr.
This mug is for soaking
wood chi ps.
But at S I O, it`s hardly a
splurgc |or thosc who want to kccp thcir mixing
bowls,orstoragcbags)o||thcpatio.
E Q U I PM E NT U PDATE Caring Knife
ln lastycar`s rating o|carving, or slicing, knivcs
, May/Junc 2OO3 ) , wc cut our way through
poundso|poultryandbcclScrratcdb|adcs shrcd
thc mcat rathcr than slicc it, whilc pointcd tips
andnarrowbladcsallowtoomuchagi l i ty,making
ithardtomaintainancvcnstrokc. l nthccnd, wc
likcd a widc, nonscrratcd b|adc, a roundcd tip,
ancvcnbrcadth|romtiptohandl c, andnothi ng
l ongcrthan I O inchcs. Butal mostas soonaswc
crowncd thc Iorschncr I O inch Carvi ng Ki|c
ourwinncr,itwas discontinucd,andwc`vcmadc
do with thc I 2i nch vcrsion-until now. Chc|
Cutlcryhasintroduccda I Oinchsliccr, S3O) that
pcr|ormsj ustaswcllthcIorschncr.
E Q U I P M E NT TE ST Grill Spatulas
Ilippingburgcrsonthcgril l canbctricky-
or so itwould sccm, givcn thc numbcr
o|spatulas dcsigncd to makc thc task
casicr. Jhc basic di ||crcncc bctwccn a
rcgularspatulaand agrillspatul a"isa|cw
cxtrainchcso|handlctokccphands|arthcr
|rom thchcat. Whi l cl|ippingchccscburgcrs
in our back allcy, tcstcrs wcrc most com|ort
ablcwith handlc l cngths o| I2 inchcs or longcr
, andl castcom|ortablcwithonc inchmodcl ) .
B Y G A R T H C L I N G I N G S M I T H E
Mosto|thc|ancicrdcsignswcrcn` tthathclpml .
Raiscd sidcwalls, mcant to kccp |ood |rom sl ip
pingo||, wcrcancl cgantsol utiontoasccmi ngly
madc up probl cm. Spatul a/tonghybridsprovcd
too much troublc . Jhctonghal|got i n thcway
duri ng spatula tasks-rudcly dcchccsing" two
o|ourchccscburgcrs. Jhcmostgimmickyspatula
o|tl+c bunch, Charcoal Companion` s Mr. BBQ
4 in I Spatula, S9. 93 )actuallyhandlcdcorctasks
wcl l . Jcstcrswcrcn` timprcsscd with its tcndcr
izcr", mctalspokcsthatriddlcthc mcatwithtiny
hol cs) oritschi ntzygrillscrapcr,butthc cutting
cdgc madc quick worko|halvi ng a hamburgcr.
Andwc can think o|p|cntyo|uscs|orthc bottlc
opcncr built into thc basc o|a gcncrous I 4|:
inchhandlc-cspcciallyatawcckcndbarbccuc.
N EW P RO D U CT Outdoor Piza Maker
Jhc \i l | aWarc Ii zzAgri l | BBQ Ii zza Makcr
, S99. 93 ) aimstoturagasgril l intoanoutdoor
pizza ovcn. A mctal stand that sccurcs a baking
stonc onto tl+c grill gratc, thc Iizza Makcrpro
duccd an cxccl l cnt crust-thc bottoms o|our
pizzaswcrcdccplybrowncdandcrisp-butagril l
tumsouttobcapoorpizzaovcn. Ancrprchcat
ing, both thc stonc and thc tcmpcraturc o|thc
air insidc thc gril l wcrcwcll abovc 3OO dcgrccs.
Iowcvcr, upon opcning tlc grill to sl i dc on a
pizza, thc air tcmpcraturc plummctcd to about
3OO dcgrccs and |ail cd to rccovcr by thc timc
thc crust`sbottomwason thcvcrgco|burni ng.
Jhcchccscmcl tcdslightly, but tlcrc wasnoth
ing closc to thc crusty caramcl i zation produccd
by an i ndoor ovcn. Whcn wc |ccl l ikc pi zza but
don` t|ccl likccranki ngupthcovcn, wc` l l stickto
gri l l cdpizzacookcddircctlyovcrthccoal s.
DO YO U RE AL LY N E E D TH I S ? Mango Splitter
Rcmoving thc U csh |rom a mango in tidy picccs
can chal |cngc cvcn a scasoncd pro` s kni|c ski l l s.
Whcnwc camcacross xo` smango splittcr,wc
gavc it a whirl . Si mi l ar to an appl c corcr-i t` s
prcsscd downonto thc |ruit l ikc a two handcd
, ul tra sharp) cookic cuttcr-this gadgct has a
ccntral holc shapcd to match thc narrow con
tourso|amangopi t. At

hrst,wc hadatcrriblc
ti mc bal anci ng thc
M U ST- HALVE TOOL
Thi s mango gadget
real ly works.
mango |orthci ni tial
cut, but oncc wc
tri mmcd thc bot
tom ll at, thc split
tcr pl ungcd through
thc |rui t cas iIy and
clcanly. Jryas wcmight,
wc coul dn` t round up a
C O O K
'
S I L L U S T R A T E D
3 2
mangotoosmal |orl argc, andthcmangosplittcr
ncvcrlcncxtra|ruitonthcpit byovcrcstimating
tlc pit`s sizc. Jhcxo Mango Sp|ittcr,S I I . 93)
i s onco| thoscrarckitchcngadgctsthatworks.
Sources
Tefc' ' cw ^ge ~ ' cdescJcesfc le~secc~
~e^ded ^l s ssJe. cesweecJe^l lpessl ~e
^ddc^ l ^c' Jdes pp ^god^d' ^g. Cc^lclcc~
p^ eslccc^f ~ p ces^dv ' 5 ' [, ^dv s lcJ
We5s lewww. ccc-s ' ' Jslled cc~) fcJpdles.
Page 3 : JAR OPENER
Twister jar Opener: $ 6. 95 , i tem #4223 8, Te
Vermont Countr Store (802- 362-8460,
w .vermontcountrstore. com) .
Page 9: SKEWERS
Norpro Stai nl ess Steel Skewer Set ( 1 2 ) : $ 1 0 for 6,
item #NP I 9 B, Golda's Kitchen (866- 465 - 3299,
w .goldaskitchen. com) .
Page 1 3 : CHI MNEY SARTERS
Weber Rapi d Fi re Chi mney Starter: $ 1 6. 99, item
# 1 3 9750, Barbecues Gal ore (800- 75 2- 3085 ,
w . bbqgalore. com) .
Steven Rai chl en Best of Barbecue Ul ti mate Chi mney
Starer: $29. 99, model #SR804 1 , Te Barbecue Store
(888- 789- 0650, w . barbecue-store. com) .
Page 1 7: KNI FE SHARPENER
Chef'sChoi ce Knife Sharpener 1 1 0: $79. 9 5 , Sku
# 1 0 1 779, Cooki ng. com (800-663 - 88 1 0,
w . cooking. com) .
Page 2 5 : SERRTED PEELER
Messermei ster Serrted Swivel Peel er: $ 5 . SO, item
# 1 54005, Sur L Tabl e (800- 243-08 5 2, w
. surla tabl e. com).
Pages 28, 29: BLENDERS
VorerkThermomi xTM2 1 : $945, Authorized
Termomix Distributors (772- 223- 9639) .
L' Equi p R. P. M. Bl ender: $ 1 34, item #2 1 3 303,
Cooking. com.
Braun PowerMaxjug Bl ender: $49. 99, i tem #5034;
Essentials. com (800- 924-49 50,
w . theessenti al s. com) .
Page 3 2 : WOOD CHI P SOAKER
Weber Wood Chi p Soaker: $ 9. 99, model # 1 8800,
Weber (888-469- 3 2 3 7, w .weberri l l s. com).
Page 32: CARVI NG KNI FE
Chef Cutl ery Legend 1 0" Granton Sl i cer, Wi de, Stif
Bl ade: $45, part #M 1 43 1 0, Professional Cutler Di rect
(800- 85 9-6994, w . pcd. com) .
Page 3 2 : GRI LL SPATUL
Charcoal Compani on 4- i n- 1 Spatul a: $ 9. 9 5 , item
#CC I 0 1 7, Te Barbecue Store (888- 789-0650,
w . barbecue-store. com) .
Page 3 2 : MANGO SPLITER
Oxo Good Gri ps Mango Spl itter: $ 1 1 . 9 5 , item
#41 1 72 5 , Cooking. com.
RE CI PE S
July b August 2006
Main Di shes
Wel l - Done Hamburers
on a Charcoal Gri l l 2 1
on a Gas Gri l l 2 1
Cuban-Stl e Gri l l - Roasted Pork
on a Charcoal Gri l l 1 4
on a Gas Gri l l 1 4
Oven- Roasted 1 4
Pizza Margheri ta I I
Shri mp Skewers
Charcoal - Gri l l ed 8
Gas- Gri l l ed 9
Spi ce- Rubbed Pi cni c Chi cken 7
Side Di shes
Gri l l ed Oni ons
Charcoal - Gri l l ed 1 8
Gas- Gri l l ed 1 8
Psta Sal ad wi th Pesta 1 9
Zucchi ni
with Garl i c and Lemon 1 5
with Spi ced Carrots and
Al monds 1 5
with Tomatoes and Basi l I 5
Dessers
Key Ume Bars 23
Tri pl e- Ci trus Bars 23
Peach Crumbl e 25
Rel i shes and Sauces
Gri l l ed Oni on Rel i sh wi th Roquefort
and Wal nuts 1 8
Sweet and Sour Gri l l ed Oni on Rel i sh
wi th Prl ey and Ol ives 1 8
F OR C U BAN - STYL E P OR K :
Mojo Sauce 1 4
F OR GR I L L E D S H R I MP S K E WE RS :
Charmoul a Sauce 9
Spi cy Lemon- Garl i c Sauce 9
New Reci pes Avai l abl e on the Web
The fol l owing recipes
are avai l abl e free unti l
Januar ' ,2007. To
access a reci pe. go to
w . cooksi l l ustrted. com and enter the
code l i sted after the reci pe titl e.
Brown Ri ce Pel l a 706 1 0
Charcoal - Gri l l ed Hamburgers 7062
German Chocol ate Sheet
Cake 706 1 1
Gri l l ed Oni on , Tomato, and Arugul a
Sal ad 7068
Gri l l ed Shri mp wi th Fresh Tomato
Sauce wi th Feta and Ol i ves 7066
Peach Barbecue Sauce 706 1 2
Wel l - Done Bacon Cheeseburer 7063
Zucchi ni wi th Peas and Herbs 7064
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Wel l - Done Hamburgers, 2 1
Gri l l ed Shri mp Skewers, 8 Pasta Sal ad wi th Pesto, V
Gri l l ed Oni ons , 1 8 Spi ce- Rubbed Pi cni c Chi cken . 1
Key Li me Bars, 2 3 Peach Crumbl e, 2 5
P HOTOGRAPHY: CARL TRE M BLAY. STYLI NG: MARI E P I RAI NO
. . . . . . . . .