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We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.

America's Test Kitchen tackles tomato sauce.

Recipes: Pasta and Fresh Tomato Sauce with Onion and Bacon, Pasta and Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil, Pasta and Fresh Tomato Sauce with Chile Pepper and Basil, Rustic Slow-Simmered Tomato Sauce with Meat

Tasting Lab: Which Canned Tomatoes Should You Buy?

Science Desk: Taste

The secret to really crispy, browned skin and moist, flavorful meat

Recipes: Roast Stuffed Crisped-Skin Turkey

Tasting Lab: Turkeys -- What's in a Name?

Equipment Center: Digitals Top Instant-Read Thermometer Ratings

Should you roast in a hot oven or a moderate oven? How do you get crisp skin and moist, tender breast meat? We answer these questions and more.

Recipes: Easy Roast Chicken

Tasting Lab: Kosher Bird Wins Chicken Tasting

Science Desk: What is the Difference between White and Dark Meat?

Why is stew often tough and flavorless? We explore how to buy the right cut of meat, how to sear it for flavor, and how to cook it until tender.

Recipes: Hearty Beef Stew, Carbonnade a la Flamande (Belgian Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew)

Equipment Center: Dutch Ovens

Do your pork roasts and chops come out dry and tasteless? Here's how to cook tender, juicy pork using some simple kitchen tricks.

Recipes: Garlic Studded Roast Pork Loin, Country Mustard-Shallot Sauce with Thyme

Equipment Center: Electric Knives, Updated

Science Desk: Why is Fat Important?

The America's Test Kitchen team cooks salmon in a saute pan, on a grill, and under a broiler, and we find that it takes 10 minutes or fewer to cook it right.

Recipes: Broiled Salmon with Mustard and Crisp Dilled Crust, Simple Pan-Seared Salmon, Herb-Poached Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, Simple Grilled Salmon

Science Desk: Fibers and Fatty Acids

Throw out your wok! Stir-fries can be simple, quick, full of flavor, and, best of all, prepared without special equipment.

Recipes: Stir Fry with Ginger Sauce, Stir Fry with Curry Sauce, Stir Fry with Hot-and-Sour Sauce, Stir Fry with Lemon Sauce, Stir Fry with Orange Sauce

Tasting Lab: Patience Pays Off for Soy Sauce

Equipment Center: Skillets (Nonstick) - Do Electric Knives Really Work?—Archived

Everyday foods like meat loaf and garlic mashed potatoes are popular for a reason; they're easy to make and they can taste great.

Recipes: Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Meat Loaf with Brown Sugar (Ketchup Glaze - Loaf Pan Variation)

Tasting Lab: Ketchup

Science Desk: Starch in Potatoes

Want to fry, scramble, boil, or poach an egg? Cover eggs while frying, use high heat for scrambling, never add eggs to boiling water, and use a skillet, not a saucepan, for poaching.

Recipes: Foolproof Boiled Eggs, Fried Eggs for Two, Fluffy Scrambled Eggs, Poached Eggs

Equipment Center: Skillets, Nonstick

Science Desk: The Science of Cooking Proteins and Egg Coagulation

Everyone loves cookies, but it's not easy to make cookies at home that taste and look as good as a bakery-made cookies.

Recipes: Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Big, Super-Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies, Big Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Tasting Lab: Unorthodox Chocolate Chips

Science Desk: How Baking Soda Works

Learn how to make a simple-as-boxed-cake recipe that's virtually foolproof. Then frost and decorate the cake with ease.

Recipes: Rich and Tender Yellow Layer Cake

Equipment Center: Cake Pans

Science Desk: Protein Content in Cake Flour

Make a foolproof pie crust that even a five-year-old could roll out. We also show you the secrets of pumpkin and pecan pies.

Recipes: The Best Pie Dough, Perfect Pecan Pie, The Best Pumpkin Pie

The test kitchen team focuses on marrying a lightly sweetened fruit base to different toppings.

Recipes: Fruit Crisp, Fresh Berry Gratin, Blueberry Cobbler

Tasting Lab: Chinese Cinnamon Tops

Equipment Center: Food Processors (Full-Size)

Making pureed soups is a balancing act. Small changes can have major effects. The test kitchen has worked out all the kinks and created three great soup recipes.

Spaghetti alla carbonara and pasta with pesto are quick and easy ways to put an outstanding pasta dish on the table. The test kitchen pairs the pastas with a simple green salad.

With the right techniques, a spaghetti supper can rival any fancy meal. The test kitchen reveals the secrets for success.

To satisfy everyone, the test kitchen developed two pizza recipes—a deep-dish pizza that bakes in a pan as well as a cracker-thin pie that’s in and out of the oven in just 10 minutes.

Lunch is ready in the test kitchen. Two classics--tuna salad and grilled cheese--along with a fancy steak sandwich are being served.

Shrimp is quick to prepare, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Step into the test kitchen and learn how to become the shrimp expert in your home.

The test kitchen explores how to properly sear a steak, make a flavorful pan sauce, and fry up hot, crispy french fries.

The test kitchen shares our fried chicken recipe that is the result of five years work and incorporates many unusual techniques.

Although chicken cutlets can be delicious, they can also be tough or dry if cooked wrong. We take three classic preparations—Marsala, breaded, and stuffed—and explore ways to make these chicken dishes really good.

We move the test kitchen out back to make juicy hamburgers and grilled veggies.

Shish kebab, rice pilaf, and baba ghanoush are perhaps three of the greatest dishes from the Middle East. The test kitchen discovers the best way to prepare each specialty.

The test kitchen unlocks the secrets for making fresh margaritas, flank steak fajitas and chunky guacamole.

The test kitchen figures out how to bring the most flavorful, most beautiful bird to the holiday table.

Christmas dinner is not the time to experiment with new recipes or techniques. The test kitchen gives you these foolproof recipes for holiday family favorites.

The test kitchen’s challenge is to cook short ribs until they are fall-off-the-bone tender while removing as much of the grease as possible.

Southern food has a special place in the test kitchen. In this episode, the test kitchen shows you how to prepare roast fresh ham, cream biscuits, and greens.

We turn the test kitchen into the neighborhood bakeshop and make tender blueberry muffins and delicate cream scones.

Bacon, eggs, and potatoes are the classic components of an all-American breakfast. The test kitchen makes sure the bacon is crisp, the omelet is tender, and the home fries are perfectly browned.

If you are going to spend the time making French toast and waffles, they better be good. The test kitchen gives the recipes that deliver.

Everyone loves bar cookies—especially the cook, because there's no need to form individual balls of dough. But baking dough in the pan, rather than balls on a cookie sheet, can cause problems. We show you how to avoid them.

The test kitchen turns out French tarts that put even the finest pâtisseries to shame.

Those cream-topped pies in the revolving case at the diner always look better than they taste. We show you how to prepare Chocolate Cream Pie and Key Lime Pie at home—with amazing results.

The test kitchen has made hundreds of pie doughs. Learn how to make the resulting recipe, which is the culmination of years of kitchen work and testing.

Nothing quite says summer like a slice of peach pie or a bowl of cherry cobbler. The test kitchen reports on the best ways to make these classic desserts.

Light summer desserts, made with or accompanied by fruit, are perfect for summer eating. The test kitchen tackles the problems of panna cotta, rhubarb fool, and summer berry pudding.

The test kitchen figures out how to make showy desserts with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of flavor.

We turn soggy nachos and candy-sweet sangria into serious party food.

Less is more when it comes to hearty soups.

We rescue two favorite vegetable dishes from the clutches of the cafeteria.

A taste of real French cooking—without spending all day in the kitchen.

The perfect steakhouse dinner—salad with creamy blue cheese dressing and seared filet mignon—is often a fantasy. In the real world, the lettuce is limp, the dressing gluey or watery, the steak overcooked or not properly browned, and the sauce characterless. The test kitchen shows you how to solve each of these problems.

Chinese food at home (without a laundry list of hard-to-find ingredients).

Quick and easy chicken dishes.

We return two classic pasta sauces to their original glory.

Simple ingredients are often the basis of special and uncommonly good dishes.

Skip the marinade and don't bother to sauté the aromatic vegetables.

The best chili: hearty, heavy on the meat, and spicy.

The secret to great casseroles: keep the ingredients as fresh tasting as possible.

Finding flavor in today's leaner pork.

Big, juicy, smoky ribs and classic potato salad.

We prepare an elegant salmon dish . . . on the grill.

Free up your oven and grill a better tasting bird.

We turn meat and potatoes into something memorable.

Spiral-sliced ham and good green bean casserole. (Really!)

Brunch that's worth making, even when company isn't coming.

It takes more than speed to make the best quick breads.

Hearth-quality bread from a home oven.

We take two cookie classics and make them great again.

We solve the problem of soggy crusts and mile-high meringue.

We perfect two classic summer American desserts.

One old-fashioned, moist and homely, the other elegant, dense and ethereal.

Restraint is key for the perfect New York-style cheesecake.

We give much needed makeovers to two classic salads. Salad seems so easy. Just dress some leafy greens and serve, right?

Recipes: Basic Tossed Green Salad; Greek Salad; Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

Tasting Lab: Red Wine Vinegar

Say goodbye to thick, bland gazpacho and soggy tomato tarts. It’s feast or famine when it comes to good tomatoes.

Recipes: Gazpacho; Quick Summer Tomato Tart

Tasting Lab: Mozzarella Cheese

The notion of dinner made in a single pot is certainly alluring. Two complete meals from a pot; one a classic, the other a surprise.

Recipes: Beef Chili with Kedney Beans; Indoor Clambake

Equipment Center: Crock Pots

Tasting Lab: Tomato Puree

We solve the problem of porridge-like chowder and bready crabcakes. Clam chowder and crab cakes are available in most every seafood restaurant in the country. These dishes both have their origins along the East Coast and have been subjected to numerous changes (most not for the better) as they became more popular.

Recipes: New England Clam Chowder; Maryland Crab Cakes

Tasting Lab: Mayonaise

We bring a taste of New Orleans into the home kitchen. Jambalaya and bananas Foster are two of our favorite dishes from New Orleans.

Recipes: Jambalaya; Bananas Foster

Equipment Center: Ice Cream Scoops

Tasting Lab: Vegetable Broth

Skip the marinara and try these two vegetable sauces. Tired of the same old marinara sauce?

Recipes: Pasta with Mushrooms; Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Equipment Center: Herb Choppers

Tasting Lab: Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Everyone knows pasta is quick. That's one of the reasons Americans (and Italians) love it.

Recipes: "Quick" Bolognese; Four Cheese Pasta

Tasting Lab: Tomato Paste

Pot roast can be the ultimate comfort food or a huge waste of time. We solve the problem of dry, gray, tough meat.

Recipes: Pot Roast with Root Vegetables; Skillet Green Beans

Equipment Center: Vegetable Choppers

Say goodbye to dry, tough, candy-like roasts. The marketing of the “other white meat” would be amusing if today’s pork weren’t so lean and flavorless.

Recipes: Maple-Glazed Pork Loin; Wild Rice Pilaf

Equipment Center: Food Storage Containers

We perfect two roadside classics: chicken-fried steak and coconut cream pie. Truckers often know where to find the best home cooking.

Recipes: Chicken-Fried Steak with Gravy; Coconut Cream Pie

Tasting Lab: Graham Crackers

A skillet can turn out hundreds of chicken dinners. For most Americans, chicken breasts are the holy grail of weeknight cooking. (We think thighs are more flavorful, but that’s another story.)

Recipes: Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts; Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Wilted Spinach

Equipment Corner: Traditional Skillets

Two French takes on an American promise. Herbert Hoover may have promised Herbert Hoover may have promised Americans a chicken in every pot, but no ne said that chicken couldn't be French.

Recipes: Chicken Provencale; Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Equipment Corner: Kitchen Shears

Tasting Lab: Vermouth

We take the mystery out of properly grilled steaks. It’s hard to beat steak and mashed potatoes for both simplicity and flavor.

Recipes: Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions; Grilled Steaks

Equipment Center: Kitchen Shears

Tasting Lab: Mail-Order vs. Supermarket Steaks

Steak tips and steak fries sound like bad menu offerings from your local low-rent steakhouse. We rescue steak tips and fries from low-rent steakhouses.

Recipes: Steak Tips; Steak Fries

Equipment Center: Grill Brushes

Stir-fries at home that are better than takeout. Ordering Chinese takeout is like playing Russian roulette.

Recipes: Stir-Fired Pork with Eggplant; Stir-Fried Beef and Broccoli

Equipment Center: Electric Woks

Tasting Lab: Oyster Sauce

Say goodbye to bad Americanized versions of pad Thai and sesame noodles. We no longer think of noodles as just Italian.

Recipes: Pad Thai; Cold Sesame Noodles

Equipment Center: Flat Bottom Woks

Americans love Italian food - and rightly so.

Recipes: Chicken Diavola; Frico; Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

Tasting Labs: Balsamic Vinegar

We bring two classics into the home kitchen for great results in a fraction of the time.

Recipes: Simplified Cassoulet with Pork and Kielbasa; 30-Minute Tarte Tatin

Tasting Lab: Diced Canned Tomatoes

Say goodbye to leaden scones and pound cake. In the test kitchen, we think afternoon (or morning) tea is an excellent excuse to whip up a batch of scones or a golden loaf of lemon pound cake. Making these simple baked goods at home certainly yields better results than what you can buy.

Recipes: Lemon Pound Cake; Oatmeal Scones

Equipment Center: Citrus Juicers and Reamers

Tasting Lab: Supermarket Teas

We solve the problem of rubbery omelets and dry, hockey puck muffins. Sunday brunch sounds so civilized.

Recipes: Denver Omelet; Corn Muffins

Equipment Center: Rubber Spatulas

Tasting Lab: Baking Powder

Few recipes deliver so much pleasure for so little work as pancakes. The batter comes together in minutes, and the cooking time is brief. Why, then, do most Americans never make pancakes from scratch?

Recipes: Blueberry Pancakes; German Apple Pancakes

Equipment Corner: Electric Gridles

Tasting Lab: Fresh vs. Frozen Blueberries

Good cookies don’t really require any more work than bad cookies. Unless, of course, you are willing to consider dry, crumbly, tasteless packaged cookies from the supermarket - but we aren’t.

Recipes: Thin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies; Coconut Macaroons

Equipment Corner: Potholders

Tasting Lab: Refrigerator Cookie Dough

When local berries are in season, we like to showcase them in simple desserts. Two simple showcases for fresh summer berries.

Recipes: Summer Berry Pie; Berry Gratin with Lemon Sabayon

Equipment Corner: Ice Cream Makers

We solve the problem of dry, sticky, flavorless cakes. A sheet cake is like a with training wheels--it's hard to fall off.

Recipes: Chocolate Sheet Cake; Carrot Cake

Equipment Corner: Milk Chocolate

Light, creamy, and great lemon flavor--neither too fleeting nor too harsh.

Recipe: Lemon Cheesecake

Equipment Center: Springform Pans

Two desserts that pull out all the stops yet are easy to prepare.

Recipes: Chocolate Mousse Cake; Chilled Lemon Souffle

Tasting Lab: Unsweetened Chocolate

We've chosen recipes that deliver big flavor without much work.

Recipes

- Spiced Pecans with Rum Glaze

- Pita Chips

- Creamy Spinach Dip

- Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

- Beef Satay

Equipment Corner

- Meat cleavers

Tasting Lab

- Store-bought Salsa

Have you ever been tempted to prepare a restaurant recipe only to be disappointed with the results? The recipe sounded great, but once you got to work you realized it was never tested in a home kitchen.

Recipes

- Quick Chicken Stock

- Chicken Noodle Soup

- Pasta e Faigoli

Equipment Corner

- Fat separaters

Soup for supper is an appealing concept, especially on a cold, snowy night. But for soup to work as a main course, it better be hearty. A light, clear broth simply won't do.

Recipes

- Quick Cheese Bread

- Hearty Lentil Soup

Equipment Corner

- Vegetable peelers

Tasting Lab

- Mail order bacon

On occasion local dishes become so popular that they transcend their region. Gumbo is a taste of Louisiana in a big old bowl. Its distinct aroma and flavor are like a quick trip to the bayous outside of New Orleans.

Recipes

- Creole-Style Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo

- Cincinnati Chili

Equipment Corner

- Useful kitchen gadgets

Tasting Lab

- Long-grain white rice

It sometimes seems like the simplest recipes suffer the worst fate in modern cookbooks. Maybe it's because no one really cares enough about these dishes to get them right.

Recipes

- Stuffed Pork Chops

- All-Purpose Gravy

- Glazed Carrots

Despite its apparent simplicity, roast chicken is a hard recipe to get right.

Recipes

- Crispy Roast Lemon Chicken

- Chicken Under a Brick with Roasted Potatoes

Equipment Corner

- Countertop Rotisserie ovens

Dinner in less than 20 minutes is the holy grail of weeknight cooking. Many recipes make good on this promise, but most ultimately reflect the minimal effort exerted on the part of the cook. They are fine in a pinch but rarely worth making again. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Recipes

- Chicken Paillard

- Pan-Seared Shrimp with Garlic Lemon Butter

Equipment Corner

- Cookware cleaning products

Tasting Lab

- Chicken cutlets

Cooking for a family isn't as easy as it was once. In Norman Rockwell pictures, the entire clan (with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents) is gathered around the table with a dozen different dishes in front of them. No one has soccer practice or is working late. No one is on a weird diet, and the kids seem to eat the same thing as the adults.

Recipes

- Sweet and Tangy Oven-Barbecued Chicken

- Classic Macaroni and Cheese

Equipment Corner

- Stain removal products

Tasting Lab

- Microwave popcorn

Have you ever been tempted to prepare a restaurant recipe only to be disappointed with the results? The recipe sounded great, but once you got to work you realized it was never tested in a home kitchen.

Recipes

- Flambéed Pan-Roasted Lobster

- Crab Towers with Avocado and Gazpacho Salsas

In Texas, good beef ribs are the secret handshake between experienced grillers.

Recipes

- Texas-Style Barbecued Ribs

- Southern Cornbread

Equipment Corner

- Cast-iron skillet care

Tasting Lab

- Corn bread mixes

We don’t part easily with money, but we will on occasion break the bank and buy a beef tenderloin. The tender, buttery interior is the big draw, and the combination of a healthy dose of seasoning and the flavor from the charcoal grill is a perfect solution to a rather mild-tasting (boring) piece of meat.

Recipes

- Grill-Roasted Beef Tenderloin

- Salsa Verde

- Broiled Asparagus

Equipment Corner

- Kitchen gadgets

Even expert grillers can get in a rut. They make the same four or five recipes over and over again. Sure, the steaks are great, but isn’t there something a bit more exciting?

Recipes

- Thai Grilled Chicken with Spicy, Sweet, and Sour Dipping Sauce

- Grilled Salmon with Maple-Soy Glaze

Equipment Corner

- Portable gas grills

There's a significant disconnect between real Mexican food (as prepared in Mexico) and the food served in "Mexican" restaurants in the United States.

Recipes

- Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chili Sauce

- Mexican Rice

Equipment Corner

- Spice grinders

Pasta is usually quick, but all too often quick pasta dishes taste like little time or effort was expended during their preparation.

Recipes

- Farfalle with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta

- Campanelli with Asparagus, Basil, and Balsamic Glaze

- Pasta with Three Pestos

Tasting Lab

- Sun-dried tomatoes

Indian food has a reputation for being spicy (most of it is not) and hard to prepare at home (tell that to one billion Indians). However, it is true that many recipes require a long list of spices and other ingredients.

Recipes

- Chicken Biryani

- Mulligatawny Soup

Tasting Lab

- Curry powder

Pissaladière is Provençal street food, a fragrant, pizza-like tart prized for its contrast of salty black olives and anchovies against a backdrop of sweet caramelized onions and thyme.

Recipes

- Pissaladière

Equipment Corner

- Baking stones

- Pizza cutters

In the test kitchen, we enjoy authentic Italian dishes such as pasta all'amatriciana (episode 18-Italian Classics) and osso buco and polenta (episode 19-Winter Supper). But we also like to prepare Italian-American dishes.

Recipes

- Eggplant Parmesan

- Pasta with Chicken and Brocoli

There seems to be an endless supply of "classic" Italian dishes. Just when we think we've mastered the canon, we realize there are more seminal Italian dishes to learn-recipes as important as pesto, steak fiorentina, or pasta with garlic and oil.

Recipes

- Pasta all'Amatriciana

- Mushroom Risotto

Equipment Corner

- Rotary cheese graters

Tasting Lab

- Jarred pasta sauces

Stew and starch is a familiar and comforting winter combination. Stew-and-starch pairings include everything from beef stew and mashed potatoes to chicken paprikash and egg noodles. Our favorite Italian stew-and-starch combo is osso buco and polenta.

Recipes

- Osso Buco

- Basic Polenta

Tasting Lab

- Bottled water

Who doesn't like bistro food? It offers the panache of fine French cooking but in a casual setting. The dishes are rustic, hearty, and satisfying.

Recipes

- Baked Goat Cheese Salad

- French Onion Soup

Equipment Corner

- Santoku knives

Tasting Lab

- Goat cheese

Sticky buns are things of breakfast-time debauchery. In bakeries, they are often plate-size buns, warm and glistening, heady with brown sugar and spices. In our opinion, anything less than a great one is not worth its calories.

Recipes

- Sticky Buns with Pecans

Equipment Lab

- New-generation Coffee Makers

Tasting Lab

- Supermarket coffee

Every afternoon around three, editors come sniffing around the test kitchen looking for cookies fresh from the oven. Given how many cookies we make, our test cooks appreciate bar cookies.

Recipes

- Classic Brownies

- Congo Bars

Equipment Corner

- Baking Pans

Tasting Lab

- Boxed Brownie Mixes

Making cookies is a favorite holiday activity. Many people who bake infrequently during the year throw themselves into marathon cookie projects.

Recipes

- Glazed Butter Cookies

- Walnut Cresent Cookies

Equipment Corner

- Handheld verses standing mixers

Cakes baked in Bundt pans and tube pans are popular for a variety of reasons.

Recipes

- Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

- Angel Food Cake

Equipment Corner

- Bundt Pans

Pumpkin cheesecake stands second to the traditional pumpkin pie as a holiday dessert. Those who suffer from pumpkin pie ennui embrace pumpkin cheesecake as "a nice change," but the expectations are low.

Recipes

- Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

- Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cream

Tasting Lab

- Cream Cheese

When our test cooks eat in restaurants, they always come back to the kitchen and talk about the dessert. Dramatic and artful presentations rightfully garner a lot of attention.

Recipes

- Chocolate Volcano Cake with Espresso Ice Cream

- Caramelized Pears with Blue Cheese and Black-Pepper-Caramel Sauce

Equipment Corner

- Handheld Mixers

Hassle-free egg dishes to make when you're having company.

Recipes: Asparagus, Ham and Gruyere Frittata; Quiche Lorraine

Tasting Lab: Mail-order Bacon

Take a trip south of the border with ATK.

Recipes: Fresh Tomato Salsa; Quesadillas; Beef Tacos

Tasting Lab: Flour Tortillas

With the help of the ATK team, these south-of-the-border soups are sure to please the whole family.

Recipes: Black Bean Soup; Tortilla Soup

Equipment Corner: Chefs Knives

Tasting Lab: Chicken Broth

The America's Test Kitchen team chooses squash to create healthy and delicious risotto and soup recipes.

Recipes: Butternut Squash Soup; Butternut Squash Risotto

Equipment Corner: Nutmeg Graters

Which steaks offer the best value and how should you cook them?

Recipes: Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes; Pan-Seared Inexpensive Steaks; Mustard-Cream Sauce

Equipment Corner: Steak Knife Sets

Tasting Lab: Cheap Steaks

America's Test Kitchen answers the call for easy, one-skillet dinners.

Recipes: Skillet Lasagna; Skillet Jambalaya

Equipment Corner: Celebrity Skillets

Tasting Lab: Canned Diced Tomatoes

Nothing says American cuisine like these fully tested recipes with modern appeal.

Recipes: Chicken and Dumplings; Boston Baked Beans

Equipment Corner: Zipper-Lock Bags

Science Desk: How Acidity Affects Cooking Beans

Braised brisket and smashed potatoes make for a delicious, cold-weather meal.

Recipes: Onion-Braised Beef Brisket; Smashed Potatoes

Equipment Center: Electric Knives

America's Test Kitchen's novel approach to chicken on the grill – high-roast butterflied chicken – has delicious results, especially when served along with potatoes and asparagus.

Recipes: Crisp-Skin High-Roast Butterflied Chicken with Potatoes; Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Toasted Garlic and Parmesan

Equipment Corner: Remote Thermometers

Tasting Lab: Chicken

No one roasts a turkey or prepares the perfect side (sweet potato casserole) like the America's Test Kitchen team.

Recipes: Roast Turkey for a Crowd; Candied Sweet Potato Casserole

Equipment Corner: Turkey Gadgets

Overcome the challenges of cooking thick-cut pork chops and learn the secrets of pork tenderloin.

Recipes: Pork Chops with Vinegar and Sweet Peppers; Pan-Seared Oven-Roasted Pork Tenderloins; Dried Cherry-Port Sauce

Tasting Lab: White Wine Vinegar

Avoiding the fish counter at the grocery store will be a thing of the past, thanks to these easy-to-master recipes.

Recipes: Pan-Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks; Pan-Roasted Halibut Steaks; Chipotle-Garlic Butter with Lime and Cilantro

Equipment Corner: Oven Mitts

Tasting Lab: Soy Sauce

Impressive dishes for company, easy enough to serve on a weeknight.

Recipes: Fish Meuniere with Browned Butter and Lemon; Pan-Seared Scallops with Winted Spinach, Watercress, and Orange Salad

Tasting Lab: Butter Alternatives

Flavorful recipes bring Italy into the test kitchen.

Recipes: Fettuccine Alfredo; Beef Braided in Barolo

Tasting Lab: Parmesan Cheese

Science Desk: Braising vs. Roasting

Rich, exotically spicy Indian curry and lighter, herbaceous Thai curry.

Recipes: Indian Curry; Thai Green Curry with Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushrooms

Tasting Lab: Coconut Milk

Not-so-sweet versions of a Japanese classic and a Chinese take-out standby.

Recipes: Chicken Teriyaki; Orange-Flavored Chicken

Tasting Lab: Store-Bought Teriyaki Sauce

A Spanish classic: saffron rice loaded with seafood, meat, and vegetables.

Recipes: Sangria; Paella

Equipment Corner: Paella Pans

Tasting Lab: Olive Oil

The smoky flavor of a grilled pizza's crust can't be replicated in the oven.

Recipes: Grilled Tomato and Cheese Pizza; Spicy Garlic Oil

Science Desk: What is Yeast?

Lightly dressed French potato salad perfectly complements this smoky roast pork.

Recipes: Grill-Roasted Pork; French Potato Salad

Equipment Corner: Kitchen Twine

Tasting Lab: Dijon Mustard

Also called pulled pig and sometimes just plain barbecue.

Recipes: Barbecued Pulled Pork; All Purpose Cornbread

Equipment Corner: Plastic Wraps; Liquid Measuring Cups

The America's Test Kitchen team cooks up some delicious home-cooked BBQ.

Recipes: Barbecued Pulled Chicken; Cabbage and Red Pepper Salad with Lime-Cumin Vinaigrette

Equipment Corner: Mini Food Processors

Tasting Lab: Barbecue Sauces

Free-form fruit tart and blueberry cobbler, both easier than pie.

Recipes: Free-Form Summer Fruit Tarts; Blueberry Cobbler

Equipment Corner: Food Processors

Science Desk: Science Behind Great Pie Crust

A demonstration of the absolute best recipe for deep dish apple pie. Creating a pie with a high filling-to-crust ratio poses challenges.

Recipes: Deep-Dish Apple Pie

Equipment Corner: Rolling Pins

Tasting Lab: Premium Butters

Two cookies, one crisp and elegant; the other oversized and chewy.

Recipes: Spritz Cookies; Chocolate-Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Equipment Corner: Cookie Presses

Science Corner: Convection Ovens

Perfect the ultimate birthday treat with this recipe for classic layer cake.

Recipes: Classic White Layer Cake with Butter Frosting and Raspberry-Almond Filling

Equipment Corner: Cake Pans

Tasting: Raspberry Preserves

The ATK team creates a German chocolate cake destined to impress. Our less sweet version has a more intense chocolate flavor than most.

Recipes: German Chocolate Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling

Science Corner: Butter Temperature and Baking

Tasting: Cocoa Powders

Meat loaf is as synonymous with good old-fashioned American cooking as apple pie. While some may prefer meat loaf made with meat loaf mix, a combination of beef, pork, and veal, there’s something to be said for an all-beef loaf.

An all-beef loaf can have terrific meaty flavor and it’s convenient to boot, especially when you can’t find meat loaf mix, or just don’t want to fuss with buying three kinds of meat. However, a meat loaf made with all beef does require some special handling so that it doesn’t taste like a dry, loaf-shaped hamburger. We set out to make a loaf with well-seasoned meat and just enough binder to give the loaf a tender, not tough, texture. In choosing a side dish to partner with our meat loaf, we turned to another old-fashioned dish—skillet-roasted potatoes. Skillet-roasted potatoes are cooked on the stovetop, thus allowing the cook to free up the oven for the main course. We wanted potatoes that are creamy on the inside and crusty on the outside. Some skillet-roasted potatoes can be soggy and greasy—a pitfall we’d need to avoid in developing our recipe.

Recipes:

Glazed Meat Loaf or All Beef Meatloaf

Skillet-Roasted Potatoes

Skillet-Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

Skillet-Roasted Potatoes with Lemon and Chives

Spicy Skillet-Roasted Potatoes with Chili and Cumin

Tasting Lab: Ground Beef

Equipment Center: The Tong Show—Kitchen Tongs

Science Desk: How Gelatin Mimics Veal

Dinners prepared entirely in one skillet are perfect for weeknight cooking. Less cleanup is one obvious benefit. A skillet also gives the cook a bit more control over cooking multiple elements. In the oven, dishes such as chicken and rice—ingredients with disparate cooking times—can cook unevenly, so that when the dish comes out of the oven, you end up with mixed results, such as tender rice and dry chicken—or conversely, crunchy rice and moist chicken. A skillet gives you the freedom to move items in and out of the skillet accordingly so that everything comes out perfectly cooked. We have also discovered that a skillet comes in handy in some pasta dishes. Take the restaurant favorite, chicken, broccoli, and ziti. Typically, the pasta is boiled in one pot and then one or sometimes two more pans are required to cook the chicken, broccoli, and sauce. We condensed all the elements into a skillet—even the pasta—which cooks right in the sauce, soaking up maximum flavor for an exemplary version of this favorite dish.

Recipes:

Skillet Chicken and Rice with Peas and Scallions

Skillet Chicken with Broccoli, Ziti, and Asiago Cheese

Tasting Lab: White Wines for Cooking

Equipment Center: Inexpensive Knife Sets

Join us as we uncover the secrets behind a favorite beef stew and streamline a hearty side dish.

A basic beef stew can be altered in dozens of ways, usually by adding more ingredients to the pot. But can you go the other way and strip beef stew down to its bare bones (or, to be more precise, to its beef)? If you trade the carrots and potatoes for a mess of onions and add a good dose of beer (instead of red wine) as part of the braising liquid, you’ve created a simple Belgian beef stew called carbonnade à la flamande. Beef, beer, and onions have a natural affinity—think burger, onion rings, and a beer. In a carbonnade, the heartiness of beef melds with the soft sweetness of sliced onions in a lightly thickened broth that is rich, deep, and satisfying, with the malty flavor of beer. We aimed to create the very best version of this cold-weather favorite. Sweet acorn squash makes a worthy partner alongside carbonnade or with many other dishes during the cold weather season, but too often this squash turns out dry and stringy. We wanted to devise a method that ensured sweet, tender squash, without a lot of hassle.

Recipes:

Carbonnade a la Flamande—Belgian Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew

Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar

Acorn Squash with Rosemary-Dried Fig Compote

Tasting Lab: Beer for Carbonnade

Equipment Center: Paring Knives—Updated

Science Desk: Are All Microwaves Created Equal?

We wanted a streamlined version of roast chicken with plenty of stuffing to go around—and to solve the problem of cooking the stuffing to a safe temperature without drying out the delicate breast meat of the chicken.

The idea of roast chicken and stuffing is very appealing—moist, well-seasoned meat and plenty of flavorful stuffing to satisfy everyone at the table. But in reality, a chicken, even one upwards of 5 pounds (serving 4 to 6 people), doesn’t contain a cavity large enough to accommodate the amount of stuffing you’d need to serve everyone at the table. Sure, you can bake the stuffing separately in a baking dish, but you miss out on all the flavorful juices imparted from the chicken. Our aim, therefore, would be to develop a recipe for roast chicken and stuffing where we could somehow still mimic the flavorful benefits of cooking the stuffing inside the bird. A quick sauté of spinach, especially one with garlic and lemon, goes well alongside roast chicken (in addition to many other dishes). But this simple approach can often go wrong—overcooked spinach, burnt garlic, too much oil—the list goes on. We would focus on avoiding these pitfalls to turn out a tasty side dish you can rely on again and again.

Recipes:

Stuffed Roast Butterflied Chicken

Mushroom-Leek Bread Stuffing with Herbs

Currant-Pecan Bread Stuffing with Shallots and Herbs

Couscous Stuffing with Fennel, Dried Apricots, and Cashews

Sauteed Garlic-Lemon Spinach

Equipment Center: Kitchen Shears—Update

New dinner options abound with recipes for pork medallions and glazed pork chops.

Recipes: Glazed Pork Chops (Asian & German), Thick-Cut Pork Tenderloin Medallions, Maple-Mustard Sauce, Hoisin-Sesame Sauce for Pork, Apple Cider Sauce

Tasting: The Cider Vinegar Rules

Equipment: Should You Buy a Bargain Saute Pan?

With these quick recipes, you’ll be able to get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time—and they’ll taste good too.

In theory, quick recipes sounds terrific—but we’ve found most streamlined recipes end up sacrificing flavor for speed and convenience. Take chicken pot pie. Most recipes for quick chicken pot pie are a far cry from the classic comfort food. The filling is not much more than leftover chicken stirred into canned cream of chicken soup and a paltry amount of vegetables—sometimes even canned. These versions are far from the comforting dinner that’s always been a family favorite. We aimed to do better. We wanted a really flavorful chicken stew topped with a biscuit crust, and, yes, we wanted it fast. Tamale pie, an already quick dish, has fallen victim to the dump-and-bake approach: combine a can of chili and a can of creamed corn; top with cornbread mix and bake. Tossing cans aside, we set out to make a fresh-tasting, quick tamale pie with a juicy, spicy mixture of meat and vegetables with a quick, homemade cornbread topping.

Recipes:

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

Skillet Tamale Pie

Tasting Lab: Bottled Italian Dressing

With these lightened recipes, your favorites will be able to appear on the table as often as you crave them.

Whether we like to admit it or not, there are some dishes that while tasty, are just too high in fat and calories to be enjoyed on a regular basis. Even a modest portion of these dishes such as macaroni and cheese and chicken Parmesan is prohibitive. But do they need to be? What if we could create lighter versions of these dishes so we could enjoy them more often? In our research we tried dozens of versions of “light” macaroni and cheeses, and again and again we were met with disappointing dishes. Gluey sauces full of tasteless, rubbery nonfat cheeses were the norm. Versions made with ricotta and cottage cheese also showed up. We wanted a creamy macaroni and cheese with real cheesy flavor. Light recipes for chicken Parmesan often fall short too. Again and again we were met with soggy crusts and that culprit, nonfat cheese. We wanted a really crisp crust for our chicken and we wanted great flavor.

Recipes:

Everyday Lighter Macaroni and Cheese

Everyday Lighter Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Peas

Lighter Chicken Parmesan with Simple Tomato Sauce

Tasting Lab:

Alternative Pastas

Whole Wheat Pasta

Equipment Center: Indoor Grills

The problem with English-style fish and chips is that you’ve got to hop a plane across the Atlantic to enjoy the dish. We wanted to be able to serve English-style fish and chips—large pieces of moist and delicate cod in a crisp and tender coating with thick-cut fries—at home.

Most American restaurants that tackle England’s most popular fast food do so poorly—turning out a greasy mess of fish and potatoes. We aimed to create a home-cook friendly recipe for the real thing: large pieces of moist cod coated in a delicate, crisp batter and chips cut thick and served up crispy, with soft interiors. To start, we’d first need to tackle frying for the home cook. While most restaurants have dedicated frying workstations, deep-frying in a home kitchen is a different matter. Cramped space, spattering oil, and inappropriate equipment all conspire to take the fun out of the job. But it needn’t be an onerous task: With a bit of organization and some basic working knowledge, you’ll be turning out fish and chips that will rival those in England. Along the way, we’d also needed to figure out how to organize the process so that everything made it to the table at once—meaning that both fish and chips are served piping hot. Anything less just wouldn’t be acceptable.

Recipes:

Fish and Chips

Tartar Sauce

Tasting Lab: Mayonnaise

Equipment Center: Candy Thermometers—Update

High-End Deep Fryers

The hallmark of great chicken Kiev is the rich butter filling that melts into a sauce inside the chicken bundles and contrasts perfectly with the crisp bread crumb crust.

Popularized during the heyday of Manhattan’s now-shuttered Russian Tea Room, chicken Kiev became one of the restaurant’s premier offerings in the 1960s. The well-heeled were quite familiar with this elegant dish of pounded, breaded, and fried chicken breast stuffed with an herb butter that melted into a sauce. Although chicken Kiev’s Ukrainian roots remain unclear, its current fate is hardly in dispute: It has become a greasy bundle of poultry with a sandy, disconcertingly peelable exterior and a greasy, leaky center. Commonly found in banquet halls and at catered events, this once highbrow dish has become a self-parody. But after preparing several cookbook versions, we realized that pairing a crisp-fried coating with a delicately flavored butter sauce was a great idea that deserved a revival. A dish as special as chicken Kiev deserves a side dish with equal dazzle. We settled on broccoli and turned to pan-roasting, because it works well with many vegetables, imparting a toasty, caramelized flavor. Broccoli, however, can be fussy because the hardy stalks and delicate florets require different handling. We’d need to find a way to get around those issues.

Recipes:

Chicken Kiev

Pan-Roasted Broccoli

Pan-Roasted Broccoli with Lemon Browned Butter

Pan-Roasted Broccoli with Spicy Southeast Asian Flavors

Pan-Roasted Broccoli with Creamy Gruyêre Sauce

Tasting Lab: Sandwich Bread

Equipment Center: Cookbook Holders

We found a unique way to tame the bite on our pepper-crusted filet mignon.

Few main courses are as impressive as filet mignon, but such cachet comes with a hefty price tag. The hallmark of this luxury cut is its buttery, tender texture, but some argue that the beefy flavor is too mild, lacking the oomph of fattier (albeit chewier) cuts like the rib eye. So we aimed to boost the meat’s flavor with a lively peppercorn crust and a rich pan sauce. Peppercorn crusts, however, have their issues. They can be overwhelmingly spicy, masking, rather than enhancing, the flavor of the meat. We’d need to strike just the right balance. Getting the crust to evenly adhere to the meat would be a challenge too. In looking for a potato dish to serve alongside our steak, we quickly settled on the simple, but elegant, potatoes Lyonnaise—sautéed slices of buttery potato sweetened with caramelized strands of onion. But getting this dish just right can be a challenge. Buttery potatoes can easily turn greasy. And caramelizing the onion alongside the potatoes is difficult to do without steaming them. We’d need to find a way to get these two ingredients in sync. When you’re aiming to impress and willing to splurge a bit, you can be confident that these dishes will deliver.

Recipes:

Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon

Port Cherry Reduction Sauce

Blue Cheese Chive Butter

Potatoes Lyonnaise

Tasting Lab: Filet Mignon

Equipment Center: Cocktail Shakers

Science Desk: Taming Peppercorn Heat

Try serving a saucy stir-fry over an Asian-style noodle cake instead of the usual rice.

We love a good stir-fry served with rice, but sometimes a change of pace is welcome. A noodle cake, a savory round of tender noodles sautéed in a skillet until the exterior is crisp, is the perfect base for a saucy stir-fry. We’ve enjoyed noodle cakes in restaurants, but never at home. We set out to find the best way to make one. While we were at it, we also aimed to develop a chicken stir-fry with really juicy chicken in a fresh-flavored sauce. Too often, chicken can turn dry and stringy in a stir-fry and no amount of sauce can rescue dry meat. Another Asian classic, also more familiar at the restaurant table than in the average American home kitchen, is hot and sour soup—a spicy, bracing broth filled with pork, tofu, and wisps of egg. But is visiting your local Chinese restaurant the only way to enjoy this soup? We wanted to enjoy this complex-flavored soup at home. But with a host of hard-to-find ingredients and a long simmering time, we had our work cut out for us. We’d need to strategically choose our ingredients and find reasonable substitutions for those that are just too difficult to find at the supermarket. At the same time, we’d need to take a hard look at streamlining the soup’s lengthy preparation. And, we wouldn’t settle for a pale imitation of this heady soup—it would need to stand up to the authentic versions we often crave.

Recipes:

Stir-Fried Chicken with Bok Choy and Crispy Noodle Cake

Hot and Sour Soup

Equipment Center: The Little Nonstick Saucepan That Could

Science Desk: Mysterious Powers of Cornstarch

We wanted a complex dish with carefully balanced flavors—without an extensive list of hard-to-find ingredients and hours in the kitchen.

Thai-style stir-fries are a refreshing alternative to Chinese stir-fries. Spicy, sweet, sour, and salty, the flavors are well-balanced and complex. But who has the ingredients often required, such as shrimp paste, tamarind pulp, galangal, and palm sugar? And while the more familiar Chinese stir-fry is fairly quick to prepare, a Thai stir-fry can take hours. For our starting point, we looked to a restaurant favorite—Thai chile beef—and set out to streamline this dish without compromising its interesting combination of flavors. Potstickers are another Asian favorite we wanted to enjoy at home. At their best, potstickers are light dumplings filled with a well-seasoned mix of pork and cabbage. Dunked into a soy dipping sauce, they make a terrific start to a meal. Unfortunately, we’ve eaten more than our share of truly awful potstickers—leaden balls of pasty meat in a doughy wrapper. All it took was one bite for us to put our chopsticks down. We wanted to find out the secret to making great potstickers—the right filling, the right wrapper, and a method of assembly that wasn’t overly complicated and didn’t take all day. Most of all we wanted these potstickers to be so good, we’d rather make them ourselves than call for our favorite takeout.

Recipes:

Stir-Fried Thai-Style Beef with Chiles and Shallots

Potstickers

Scallion Dipping Sauce

Equipment Center: Nonstick Skillets, Update

We love good Tex-Mex, but depending on which part of the country you live in, chances are you’d be better off preparing it yourself at home. We wanted to take a look at two Tex-Mex favorites, chicken fajitas and huevos rancheros, and create authentic, tasty versions we could stand behind.

Chicken fajitas aren’t as easy a proposition as beef fajitas. Beef, by nature, packs a lot more flavor, while chicken fajitas seem to rely on a host of condiments to mask its lack of flavor, or worse, its dry texture. We wanted tender, juicy chicken, and we wanted it well seasoned. We wanted the same for our vegetables—too many vegetables in fajitas are treated as a bland afterthought. As for the tortillas, we wanted warm, soft tortillas, not the brittle tortillas we’ve often encountered in restaurants due to poor heating methods. Huevos rancheros are the answer to a hungry man’s (or woman’s) breakfast. But too often we’ve stared at what looks like a dish of fried eggs crossed with nachos. First, we wanted to get rid of all the unnecessary entrapments, paring back this breakfast classic to its tasty essentials. We’d need to focus on the fiery roasted salsa that typically is part of this dish, but making salsa with out-of-season tomatoes is a gamble. And without access to fresh corn tortillas, we needed to find a way to turn rubbery supermarket corn tortillas into a crisp, not greasy, base for our eggs. Last, we needed to figure out how to coordinate cooking the eggs with the other elements, so that everything comes together simultaneously—hot and fresh.

Recipes:

Chicken Fajitas for Charcoal Grill

Chicken Fajitas for Gas Grill

Chicken Fajitas Indoors

Chunky Guacamole

Huevos Rancheros

Refried Beans

Tasting Lab: Supermarket Refried Beans

Equipment Center: Do Grill Pans Really Grill?

Just when we think we’ve become familiar with every Italian dish under the sun, we’re pleasantly surprised to come across a dish we’d somehow overlooked. Join us as we resurrect one Italian classic and streamline another.

Take chicken francese. It’s true that this Italian-style chicken cutlet dish isn’t as well known as chicken parmigiana or chicken Marsala, but it’s no less delicious. Coated with a thin eggy crust, the cutlets are served in a light, lemony white wine sauce. With just a few simple elements, it’s hard to believe that such dish can go wrong, but versions we tried proved otherwise. In some recipes, the egg crust was unappetizingly thick and tough, or turned soggy once coated with the sauce. The sauces we tried weren’t much better. While we couldn’t detect lemon in some, others made us pucker, or the wine was too overpowering, giving the sauce an unpleasant boozy flavor. We aimed to conquer these issues and turn out a lemony cutlet dish that we’d want to incorporate into our Italian classics repertoire to make again and again. Another Italian classic, the rich tomato sauce marinara, is not a new discovery, but it’s one worth a second look in terms of simplifying. The hallmark of this sauce is a depth of flavor achieved by hours of cooking, but what if we didn’t have all day? After all, for the modern cook, an all-day marinara, just isn’t a reasonable option. We set out to create an authentic marinara with complex flavors without the hours of work involved.

Recipes:

Chicken Francese

Chicken Francese with Tomato and Tarragon

Marinara Sauce

Tasting Lab: Sleuthing Canned Whole Tomatoes

Equipment Center: Hand (Immersion) Blenders—Updated

We came up with a foolproof flambé method that doesn't intimidate the home cook.

Fifty years ago, steak Diane, pan-seared steak in a rich, peppery pan sauce, was a hot menu item at fancy restaurants. Prepared tableside, it included a burst of pyrotechnics supplied by a match and some cognac. Sure, such theatrics might seem a bit dated and silly, but who can resist having a little fun—especially when entertaining? To give this old-school dish a modern twist, we wanted to find a more reasonable substitute for the laborious veal stock that is the traditional basis for the pan sauce. While we were at it, we wanted to slim down the sauce a bit—yes, we love butter and cream, but many of the recipes we tried were just too rich tasting. And, as for the flambé method, we'd need to come up with a foolproof process that wouldn’t intimidate the home cook. While we were on the flambé bandwagon, it occurred to us we could continue the theme with dessert in the form of crêpes suzette, a stunning dessert consisting of warm tender crêpes served in a bright orange-flavored sauce. But most restaurants that prepare this dish do so for just two. Could we adapt this classic to serve a tableful of hungry guests? We were ready to find out.

Recipes:

Steak Diane

Sauce Base for Steak Diane—Demi-glaze

Crepes Suzette

Tasting Lab:

Veal Stock

Beefing Up Beef Broths

Orange Liqueurs for Cooking

Science Desk: Is Flambé Just For Show?

With these foolproof recipes, you just might find yourself making time to enjoy eggs a bit more often.

Most of us might not have time to prepare (and enjoy) egg dishes during the week, but come the weekend, eggs are a terrific way to begin a leisurely day. In this chapter, we wanted to take a look at a couple of our favorite egg dishes—scrambled eggs and omelets—and see how we could make the most of them. Sometimes you want something heartier than simple scrambled eggs. But adding meats, cheeses, and vegetables weighs down the eggs’ fluffy texture and, worse, turns the eggs watery. We wanted to solve these problems and turn out scrambled eggs that could stand up to the addition of hearty ingredients. And we also wanted an interesting mix of additions, so maybe we’d be inclined to make these eggs for dinner too. Omelets made for one or two aren’t difficult to prepare. But what if you’re making omelets for the whole family? You don’t want to be standing at the stove playing the part of short-order cook, right? We wanted to create one big omelet, big enough to serve 4. Working with such a large omelet wouldn’t be easy—we’d need to figure out how to cook through such a large omelet without it drying out, how to add the fillings (and heat them through), and how to turn the omelet out of the pan without it breaking apart.

Recipes:

Scrambled Eggs with Bacon, Onion, and Pepper Jack Cheese

Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Sweet Peppers, and Cheddar

Scrambled Eggs with Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Parmesan

Eggs in a Hole

Family-Sized Cheese Omelet

Family-Sized Tomato, Bacon, and Garlic Omelet

Tasting Lab: Is Fresh Breakfast Sausage Best?

Equipment Center: Plastic Nonstick Spatulas

Science Desk: How Scrambled Eggs Work

We tackle the best way to grill delicate shrimp as well as chicken destined to be served cold for a picnic.

Grilling imparts a smoky dimension to foods that is just about impossible to replicate indoors. So it’s no wonder that once the weather turns warm, we’re eager to get our favorites foods like steaks and burgers onto the grill. But delicate foods, such as shrimp, are trickier to cook over the grill’s intense, dry heat. We wanted to find the best way to grill shrimp so that it’s tender, moist, and flavorful, not dry and rubbery. And we wanted to do so without grilling shrimp in their shells. It’s true that the shells act as a protective barrier, but peeling shells at the table is cumbersome and messy, not to mention that with the discarded shells, the flavorful spice rub is also lost. Warm weather isn’t always about cooking outdoors—it’s about eating outdoors too. Cold barbecued chicken is a classic whether you’re planning a picnic or packing for a road trip. But once chilled, the meat can become very dry and the skin, once thin and crisp, can turn tough and flabby. We wanted to solve these problems and turn out moist chicken with spicy flavor and to boot, we wanted to make it easier to eat, so we didn’t have to use a knife and fork or rely on a wad of napkins to wipe our hands of sticky barbecue sauce.

Recipes:

Charcoal-Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Gas-Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Spicy Lemon-Garlic Sauce for Shrimp Skewers

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Feta and Olives for Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Charmoula Sauce for Shrimp Skewers

Spice-Rubbed Picnic Chicken

Broiled Shrimp Skewers

Tasting Lab:

Supermarket Veggie Burgers

Lemonade—Updated

Equipment Center: Skewers

Science Desk: Salting: Better Than Brining?

When you’re looking for a main course to serve a summertime crowd, or want to give a new twist to a summertime vegetable, we hope you’ll turn to these recipes.

Summertime entertaining can often mean preparing food for groups larger than 6 to 8—school graduations, Fourth of July, the neighborhood block party—the list goes on. For those times, hamburgers just aren’t practical—unless the cook plans on standing at the grill until everyone is fed. Instead, think brisket. This hefty piece of meat (a full cut can weigh 13 pounds) turns smoky and tender on the grill and leftovers, if there are any, are terrific. Best of all, brisket doesn’t require constant attention, so the cook can enjoy the party too. Brisket isn’t without its challenges, however. On the grill, the meat can take about 12 hours to become fully tender. We wanted to find not only the best way to barbecue brisket, but a way do so more quickly. Summertime also calls for corn. And while we love corn on the cob, we also enjoy other preparations. Take corn fritters. These savory cakes are pan-fried and served hot. They make a terrific side dish or hors d’oeuvres, served as is, or sprinkled with hot sauce. Some recipes are short on corn flavor, but we wanted a recipe that brings the corn front and center.

Recipes:

Barbecued Beef Brisket For a Charcoal Grill

Barbecued Beef Brisket for a Gas Grill

Spicy Chili Rub

Farmstand Corn Fritters

Corn Fritters with Cheddar and Chives

Out-Of-Season Corn Fritters

Tasting Lab: Hot Sauces

Equipment Center: Charcoal Grills—Update

With our recipes for Beer Can Chicken and Pasta Salad with Pesto, we show you how sometimes the strangest-sounding methods are the most rewarding and how a few easy tricks can give an old standby new lift.

Recipes:

Grill-Roasted Beer Can Chicken for a Charcoal Grill

Grill-Roasted Beer Can Chicken for a Gas Grill

Pasta Salad with Pesto

Equipment Center: Essential Grilling Gadgets

If you’re a fan of barbecue but never thought it could be replicated indoors, our menu should change your mind.

For many of us, it doesn’t seem fair that we can only enjoy barbecue during the short summer months. What about year-round cravings? Take barbecued ribs. If it’s February and a hankering for ribs strikes, does that mean a trip to a local barbecue joint or could we find the answer in our home kitchen? We wanted to develop a recipe for oven-barbecued ribs, so even in the darkest, coldest winter months, we could satisfy our barbecue urges. And these ribs would need to stand up to their outdoor counterparts: tender, fall-off-the-bone meat infused with smoky flavor. Rich, meaty ribs are best enjoyed with a side of tangy coleslaw—specifically buttermilk coleslaw. But while buttermilk provides a trademark tang, it can also make a dressing so thin that it sinks to the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the shreds of cabbage. Cabbage poses its own challenges too. We wanted even shreds that were easy to fork and toss with the dressing. And, we wanted crisp cabbage that won’t leach moisture into our dressing, diluting its flavor and turning our coleslaw bland.

Recipes:

Oven-Barbecued Spareribs

Quick Barbecue Sauce

Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw

Buttermilk Coleslaw with Green Onions and Cilantro

Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw with Lemon and Herbs

Tasting Lab: Is There a New King of Ketchup?

For our Strawberry Cream Cake, we wanted lots of strawberry flavor, a buttery sturdy cake that could stand up to them, and a lush whipped cream filling that would stay put, so even when cut this cake would be a stunner.

Looking for a drop-dead gorgeous summer dessert? Look no further than strawberry cream cake—a snazzier, more presentable version of strawberry shortcake. The components are almost identical—juicy strawberries, sweetened whipped cream, and layer cake (in place of biscuits). The cake, cream, and strawberries are layered, chilled, and served in tall wedges. It’s a terrific way to celebrate summer. We wanted to find the ultimate version of this dessert and solve the problems that often plague it. Because the cake, cream, and strawberries are all layered, cutting this cake can be tricky—the whipped cream can squirt out the sides or the strawberries will ooze out. The strawberries pose other problems too—their juices can soggy a cake that’s too delicate. Some recipes get around this pitfall, by using fewer strawberries, but this results in muted fruit flavor. We wanted those strawberries front and center.

Recipes:

Strawberry Cream Cake

Equipment Center: Mix Masters—Standing Mixers—Updated

Science Desk: Heavy Cream versus Whipping Cream

When you're looking to satisfy a serious chocolate craving, these recipes deliver.

No matter the dessert—cookie, pudding, cake, or pie—there’s nothing like the flavor of chocolate to make it truly irresistible. In this chapter, we set out to develop ultimate versions of two favorite chocolate desserts: chocolate mousse and chocolate cupcakes. Rich, frosting-like mousse is utterly delicious—for about two spoonfuls. Yet light and silky versions often lack decent chocolate flavor. Once you start adding more chocolate, texture suffers and becomes heavy. We wanted the best of both worlds—a light and silky texture with big chocolate flavor. Chocolate cupcakes are another treat that suffer from faint chocolate flavor. Ever try a mix? Sure they’re easy, but the flavor often falls short. And most homemade chocolate cupcakes aren’t much better. Some may have good chocolate flavor, but the crumb turns dense and confection-like. We aimed to develop a moist, feathery cupcake infused with chocolate flavor. And for such a homey treat, we didn’t want to spend all day, so these cupcakes would need to be almost as easy as using a boxed mix.

Recipes:

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate-Orange Mousse

Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse

Premium Dark Chocolate Mousse

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Easy Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Easy Chocolate Buttercream

Easy Coffee Buttercream

Easy Peppermint Buttercream

Tasting Lab: Just What Is Dark Chocolate, Anyway?

Equipment Center: Muffin Tins, Updated

We wanted a towering layer cake of childhood, moist and chocolaty and slathered with thick, billowy frosting.

Remember old-fashioned chocolate layer cake—the kind moms everywhere baked? Each towering slice had a tender, airy, open crumb and was frosted with silky-smooth wisps of chocolate heaven. These homespun cakes were tall, sweet, and chocolaty, not dense, dark, and bitter, and they were eaten with an ice-cold glass of milk, not a demitasse of espresso. Admittedly, many of those birthday party chocolate cakes were made with a boxed mix. While those mixes deliver a pleasantly spongy, moist texture and guaranteed height, they were also full of artificial flavors—which as kids, we did not find objectionable. But, as adults with grown-up palates, we wanted real chocolate flavor in our cake. Therefore our goals were two-fold: create an old-fashioned chocolate layer cake with the same moist, tender crumb we so fondly remember and infuse this cake with true chocolate flavor—chocolaty enough to please adults, but not so dense that it might scare away the kids at the table.

Recipes:

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake

Tasting Lab: Chocolate Chips

Equipment Center: Revolving Cake Stands

Science Desk: Enhancing Chocolate Flavor

For a not-too-sweet apple dessert, pair a tart apple such as Granny Smith with a sweet apple like Golden Delicious or McIntosh, as we did in Skillet Apple Brown Betty and Easy Apple Strudel.

When it comes to apple desserts, apple pie may be the most popular, but it’s also the most involved. When you don’t want to fuss with pie, but you still want that warm and comforting combination of apple and pastry, there are other options. Take apple brown betty—apples, sugar, and buttered bread crumbs. This baked fruit dish is decidedly humble, but delicious nonetheless—especially when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But this often-overlooked dessert needs a serious makeover—too many versions are a soggy mess with muddied flavors. Classic apple strudel, a European specialty, consists of lightly sweetened apples, raisins, and nuts wrapped in paper-thin pastry. Traditional recipes involve hours of preparation, rolling and pulling the pastry dough until it is so thin you can read a newspaper through it. We reasoned that there must be an easier (and quicker) way. Determined to find out, we set about streamlining this sophisticated dessert, without compromising its flaky texture and sophisticated flavors. Join us as we resurrect one humble apple dessert and streamline another.

Recipes:

Skillet Apple Brown Betty

Skillet Apple Brown Betty with Golden Raisins and Calvados

Skillet Apple Brown Betty with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

Easy Apple Strudel

Tasting Lab: The Scoop on Vanilla Ice Cream—Updated

Equipment Center: Pastry Brushes—Updated

Science Desk: Overrun and Ice Cream

Join us as we infuse one citrus dessert with bright lemony flavor and make another dessert easier than ever to enjoy.

Even after the heartiest meal, we find the bracing bite of a citrus dessert welcome. Lemon Bundt cake, glazed with a snowy white icing, is a simple, elegant dessert. But time and again, we are disappointed in its often elusive lemon flavor. Some recipes soak the cake in a sugar syrup flavored with lemon, but we find this makes the cake soggy, ruining its springy fine crumb. We wanted to find a way to infuse Bundt cake with the assertive tang of lemon without marring its texture. Key lime pie is another favorite citrus dessert, but transporting this pie, which has a delicate, wobbly filling, can be difficult. We wanted to find a way to transform this pie into a bar cookie. Not only would a Key lime bar be more portable, it could also be eaten out of hand, making it a far easier dessert to serve—and eat.

Recipes:

Lemon Bundt Cake

Key Lime Bars

Triple Citrus Bars

Tasting Lab: Are Key Limes Really Key?—Updated

Equipment Center: Are Nonstick Baking Sprays Better Than Butter?

Science Desk: The 'Magic' of Sweetened Condensed Milk

Join us as we uncover the secrets to low-fat desserts that you'll really want to eat.

While a crisp apple or bowl of juicy berries makes an admirable end to a meal, there’s an allure to baked desserts that is hard to resist. But many desserts carry a lot of fat and calories; for most of us, they should be more the occasional indulgence than regular weeknight fare. We wanted to come up with recipes for two classic desserts, carrot cake and cheesecake, that would make them both light enough and good enough to enjoy most any day of the week. Many light carrot cakes look like the real thing, but one bite quickly dispels the notion. Not only dry but also heavy and dense, these cakes may be "light" when it comes to fat and calories but not when it come to texture. We wanted tender cake, sweet and lightly spiced. And we wanted our cake to be slathered in a thick, creamy frosting. The recipes we tested for light cheesecake were no better than the carrot cakes — in fact, they were worse. Most were plagued by a rubbery texture and pasty, Spackle-like consistency. And in place of the lightly sweetened, tangy flavor of a full-fat cheesecake, these lightened cakes were tinged with off, artificial flavors. We would have to do some serious testing to come up with a lightened cheesecake that would pass muster among tasters.

Recipes:

Light Carrot Cake

Light Cream Cheese Frosting

Light New York Cheesecake

Light Fresh Strawberry Topping

Tasting Lab: Coffee--Tasting Supermarket Whole Bean Coffee

We wanted juicy pork chops slathered with a smoky, tangy barbecue sauce. But how would we replicate the savory crust of a grilled pork chop indoors? We set out to solve this puzzle. We also make a cool, creamy macaroni salad with the perfect ratio of macaroni to dressing.

Recipe: Skillet-Barbecued Pork Chops, Cool and Creamy Macaroni Salad

Equipment: Chef's Knives

Science: The Science of Brining

Layer cakes are desserts to be savored at birthday parties, holidays, and other celebrations. Ideally, the cake’s tender layers offset the bracing, citrusy filling, and the whole is swathed in a glossy, pale frosting. We’ll show you how to make a version that tastes as great as it looks.

Recipe: Lemon Layer Cake

Taste test: Yellow Cake Mixes

Stuffed manicotti makes a hearty and delicious main course, but in most cases its preparation is best left to a practiced and patient Italian grandmother. We wanted a simpler, easier method for making manicotti.

Recipe: Baked Manicotti, Cheesy Garlic Bread

Equipment: Garlic Presses

Taste test: Supermarket Parmesan Cheese

We turn our attention to two favorite cookies: a triple chocolate cookie so chocolaty it’s almost a brownie, and the humble brown sugar cookie, moist, chewy, and packed with butterscotch flavor.

Recipe: Brown Sugar Cookies, Triple-Chocolate Cookies

Equipment: Coffee Makers (Inexpensive)

It’s hard to choose a best-loved style of ribs, but we’d be willing to bet that smoky, sweet Kansas City ribs are a top contender. These meaty ribs are slow-smoked for their trademark flavor—and in traditional recipes they truly do take all day to cook. We wondered if there was a faster way.

Recipe: Kansas City Sticky Ribs on a Charcoal Grill, Smoky Kansas City BBQ Beans

Equipment: Barbecue Thermometers

Taste test: Pickles

Coq au vin’s appeal is timeless, but its preparation can be intimidating for the home cook. We set out to make this dish a little less overwhelming—but just as delicious as we remembered. We also simplify the process of making pot de crème without compromising this decadent dessert’s rich flavor or ethereal texture.

Recipe: Modern Coq au Vin, Chocolate Pots de Creme

Equipment: Dutch Ovens

Science: Cooking with Alcohol

In this episode, the test kitchen perfects two breakfast treats: blueberry scones and rich bran muffins.

Recipe: Blueberry Scones, Better Bran Muffins

Equipment: Commuter Coffee Mugs

Taste test: Strawberry Preserves

We develop a Thai-style chicken soup that uses supermarket ingredients without sacrificing authentic flavors, and we make a vegetarian stir-fry so hearty even carnivores will be satisfied.

Recipe: Stir-Fried Portobellos with Ginger-Oyster Sauce, Thai Chicken Soup

Equipment: Ladles

Taste test: Soy Sauce

Holiday Beef Tenderloin Dinner

Add a rich stuffing to beef tenderloin, and you’ve got the ultimate main course, at least in theory. But making a tenderloin through can be a challenge—this is an expensive piece of meat, so you don’t want to risk overcooking it. We also wanted mashed potatoes so rich and decadent, not a drop of gravy would be necessary to enjoy them.

Recipe: Roast Beef Tenderloin with Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Stuffing, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Equipment: Electric Knife Sharpeners

We don’t have anything against spaghetti and meatballs or pasta with marinara, but the world of pasta and tomatoes extends far beyond these popular standbys. Enter Penne alla Vodka and Pasta Caprese.

Recipe: Penne alla Vodka, Pasta Caprese

Equipment: Stockpots

Taste test: Penne

Brining is the best way to guarantee a moist turkey, but it isn’t always the most practical way. We rethink our brine-at-all-costs philosophy and find that salting, a kind of “dry-brining” in which we rub the bird with salt and let it rest in the refrigerator for several hours, not only seasons the meat but also helps keep it moist.

Recipe: Roast Salted Turkey, Roasted Green Beans with Red Onion and Walnuts

Equipment: Roasting Pans

Taste test: Turkey

Chicken chili might sound like heresy—after all, isn’t chili supposed to be made with beef?—but this Southwestern dish is a light, bright alternative to tomato-rich beef chili. The key to chicken chili is finding the right cooking method so that the white beans become tender and the chicken doesn’t dry out and turn rubbery.

Recipe: White Chicken Chili, Double-Corn Cornbread

Equipment: Cast-Iron Skillets

Taste test: Tortilla Chips

A tart should be easier to prepare than the typical double-crust American pie. But developing a flaky crust sturdy enough to support the fruit is a bit tricky. And getting the apples to caramelize by the time the crust is baked is also a challenge.

Recipe: Apple Galette

Equipment: Bakeware Basics

Science: Flour Types

It’s not a surprise that so many cooks turn to chicken breasts for dinner. They’re convenient, low in fat, and, when made right, juicy and satisfying. To keep boredom at bay, one of our simple skillet recipes features a flavorful drizzling sauce, another a golden Parmesan crust.

Recipe: Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Cutlets, Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Potatoes

Equipment: Inexpensive Instant-Read Thermometers

We set out to develop a better-than-takeout pizza in which the crust gets equal billing with the toppings and each is full of flavor—not grease.

Recipe: Pepperoni Pan Pizza, Antipasto Pasta Salad

Equipment: Toaster Ovens

Taste test: Frozen Pizza

Bakery versions of crumb cake often fall short. The crumb topping can be skimpy or dry and brittle. And the cake can suffer too, baking up too dry or not sturdy enough, so that the crumb topping simply sinks into the cake. We tackle these issues to develop the ultimate crumb cake.

Recipe: New York-Style Crumb Cake, Blueberry Boy Bait

Equipment: Square Cake Pans

Taste test: Hot Cocoa Mix

Cutting into a steak to find that the rosy meat is confined to a measly spot in the center—with the rest a thick band of overcooked gray—is a great disappointment. Our surefire method for pan-searing thick-cut steaks delivers both a flavorful crust and juicy, rosy meat throughout.

Recipe: Pan-Seared Thick-Cut Strip Steaks, Garlic and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

Equipment: Slotted Spoons

Science: Tender Steaks