This happens nearly every night...
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I post a picture and just a few words.
Frequently when I put dinner on the table, I realize that all or nearly all of the food is made with Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen recipes and cooked in CI/ATK recommended pots and pans.
Last night, it was chipotle chicken kabobs with cilantro dipping sauce (from The America's Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook), sauteed green beans, and mashed sweet potatoes (both from the The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook
).
(Plus a small bowl of melon, because I got a baby honeydew in my produce box. I managed this with no recipe. Ha.)
And the two All-Clad pans there are both recommended by Cook's Illustrated too.
I'm such a fan-girl.
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P.S. The four All-Clad pans I have are all listed here. I've accumulated them slowly over many birthdays/Christmases, while they're expensive, I think they're totally worth waiting/saving for.
Cooks/ATK are one of my three most trusted places for recipes (Alton Brown and King Arthur Flour are the others.) I really love the science and techniques and such behind it, I just wish Chris Kimball wasn't such a snob about it (e.g. he opens every show suggesting that if you don't use their recipe you may as well eat dog food.) I do crush on Bridgette Lancaster, though. 😉
Their NY style pizza dough, pulled pork, granola and a bunch of other recipes have become staples in my house. My Cooks Country cookbook and the DIY cookbook both have stains from kitchen mishaps which is a true sign of how much they are used.
All Clad are very nice pans, but I've also had great lucky with Tramontina. Sadly the new ones aren't quite the All-Clad clones they used to be (the new 12" fry pans have more of a wok shape than a skillet shape.) I was very tempted to purchase an AC saute pan at my locally owned kitchen store when it was 20% off but I just couldn't justify the expense.
My regular saucepans are my wife's grandmother's old Revereware set from the 60s. Outside of one that I had to buy a new Bakelite handle for they work alright, though I won't use them for yogurt or candy making.
The old Revere ware is SO much better than the new. My mom has some ancient ones that are heavy and well-made, but the ones I bought in 1997 warped in fairly short order and were far lighter (more cheaply constructed).
Old Revereware used to be the best buy on the market. It wasn't the best that money could buy, but you got excellent quality for the expenditure.
The new stuff ... eh. Not so much.
We have the same All-Clad pans. Largely, they were given to me slowly by a friend who then worked at Williams Sonoma and got a substantial discount, so would give me one for events. The biggest, our brasier pan, is the newest and was a wedding gift almost 18 years ago. We use them constantly and they're still perfect. It's definitely worth the money, if one is able, to get good pans. I'm sure I'll be handing these down to my kids.
Love! But I agree with Battra a bit in that I canNOT stand Chris Kimball for the same reason. Plus he comes off as so arrogant, always needing to be in the spotlight. I dunno.
But yay good food! You're such a fancy cook, frugal girl. 😉
I don't actually watch the TV show, so I get to avoid all the snobbiness! I just use the magazines and cookbooks and websites.
I am also such a fan girl! I do use Mark Bittman's recipes for a few things, but I choose most of my equipment based on ATK's recommendations. I cross-check them with Consumer Reports (because I'm neurotic...). Yesterday I made ATK pizza crust in my KitchenAid stand mixer. Then I rolled it out with their recommended French rolling pin (the tapered dowel). I baked it on parchment, like they recommend. The only non-ATK thing I used was a vintage Pampered Chef pizza stone (seriously can't recommend it highly enough....).
Yeah, I have old pizza stones too! Now I'm curious what they recommend...
I'm with you! I think cookware is worth splurging on. The only exception for me is Lodge cast iron skillets, those things are so reasonable. Everything else I own is pretty pricey and worth every penny!
Yep, my two cast iron skillets were super duper affordable. It doesn't seem like you have to spend a lot to get a good cast iron pan, so, yay!
Most of my recipes are from Cook's too( in one form or another). Lately I've been cooking out of the ATK healthy slow cooker cookbook. The teriyaki pork tenderloin is awesome, as are the fish tacos. Ditto on the turkey meatballs. Most of my "staple" baking recipes are from Cook's. The browned butter CCC, tall and fluffy buttermilk biscuits, foccacia, german choc. cake, NY crumb cake, cream cheese brownies. I could go on and on and on...... I also use the Gold Touch bakeware. LOVE IT.
I've started cooking that green bean recipe of yours and didn't realize it came from Cook's. Love that green bean recipe and I actually get my husband to eat green beans too!
I just found 40 Cook's Illustated magazines at a thrift store and bought all of them for 25 cent's each. I heard you talk about their cookbook and have made the green beans many times you shared.
I cannot say enough about how good they are. I am older and have cooked all my life bit I'm still learning!
Thanks for all you do!
Oooh, that is a lovely find! Lucky you.
So glad you liked the beans.