ATK goes healthy
I love American's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated. It must be the scientist in me, but the thought of testing recipes over and over until you get the definitive (best way to get what you want) "protocol" sounds so great. If I lived in Boston, I would totally apply for a job there. That being said, my use of their magazines and tv show recipes has faltered in the last year due to various factors including the stringency of their recipes (which gives me a little bit of a complex) and lack of novelty. But I totally love that they have equipment tests and taste tests for everything a cook would use and offer not only the best product, but also the best value if applicable.
I caught a new episode on PBS this weekend in between trips out to the Home Depot in my endeavor to install a new faucet and drain for the kitchen. (Sidenote: It's pretty depressing to have a beautiful new countertop and an amazing new sink, but no drain or water hookups. Even more so to have the faucet hooked up, but no drain....) At any rate, I caught the "Lighter Family Favorites" episode and both the recipes were just great. The Chicken Parmesan looked really good (and I am not a big eye-talian fan, aside from neopolitan pizza and calzones) and the Everyday Lighter Mac and Cheese was brilliant - fast and much healthier. I am a big fan of the oven-fried technique that basically calls for breading your chicken and then spraying with just a mist of oil and placing on a sprayed cooling rack over a jelly roll pan into a hot oven. It makes things really crispy and gets rid of both the vat of oil to dispose of and is more mindful of that pesky arterial blockage thing. Not that I have anything against jalapeno poppers and cheese fries, just for the record. Also, I liked that the Mac and Cheese recipe is quick (10-15 minutes?!?) and cuts out fat in the right places, using evaporated milk to replicate creaminess from butter and using sharp cheddar that's reduced fat, not non-fat.
And now that I have a working kitchen again, I can't wait to do more cooking! Yippee!
I caught a new episode on PBS this weekend in between trips out to the Home Depot in my endeavor to install a new faucet and drain for the kitchen. (Sidenote: It's pretty depressing to have a beautiful new countertop and an amazing new sink, but no drain or water hookups. Even more so to have the faucet hooked up, but no drain....) At any rate, I caught the "Lighter Family Favorites" episode and both the recipes were just great. The Chicken Parmesan looked really good (and I am not a big eye-talian fan, aside from neopolitan pizza and calzones) and the Everyday Lighter Mac and Cheese was brilliant - fast and much healthier. I am a big fan of the oven-fried technique that basically calls for breading your chicken and then spraying with just a mist of oil and placing on a sprayed cooling rack over a jelly roll pan into a hot oven. It makes things really crispy and gets rid of both the vat of oil to dispose of and is more mindful of that pesky arterial blockage thing. Not that I have anything against jalapeno poppers and cheese fries, just for the record. Also, I liked that the Mac and Cheese recipe is quick (10-15 minutes?!?) and cuts out fat in the right places, using evaporated milk to replicate creaminess from butter and using sharp cheddar that's reduced fat, not non-fat.
And now that I have a working kitchen again, I can't wait to do more cooking! Yippee!
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