American Test Kitchen Best of 2010 Cook Through

I have a problem.  Doesn't it seem like I'm always typing that?  Maybe I'm not.  Or maybe I just bitch about my "problems" more than most.  But let's continue with my current problem.  I love cookbooks!  And when I find one I love, I tell a lot a people about its beauty and worthiness.  You need this one!  You hide veggies in food!  This is the greatest Vegetarian cookbook to be written.  You don't even have to knead the bread.  It's true.  I have 4 cookbooks I flip through on a regular basis:

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian-Mark Bittman
Vegetarian Classics- Jeanne Lemlin
Betty Crocker Cookbook Bridal Edition
Food Revolution- Jamie Oliver

I reach for one of these cookbooks at least once a week.  These are my books that look a little gross within the pages.  Spines are cracked near certain recipes.  Juices are dried on favorite pages.  Soon I'll be making revisions on the pages of my favorites.

I also love cooking magazines.  It's their quickness mixed with their glossy photos of yummy dishes.  I dog-ear a dozen recipes and plot our dinners.  But my problem occurs when I fall out of love.  Those dog-eared recipes get recycled.  The cookbooks are replaced with newer ones.  And as if these loves need another kick to the gut, I rarely cook the same thing twice.  Maybe it's to be fair to the revolving number of cookbook/magazine.  Maybe it's because I want to have something new on my table.  I've gotten better, but still not as good as I'd like.  

One magazine that is the King of All Cooking Magazines is American Test Kitchen's special issues.  I think they come out 4 times a year, but I could be wrong.  The directions are things experienced cooks drool over and novice cooks crave.  The reviews are always spot-on and never feel like advertisements.  If you've never seen or purchased one of these issues, find one today.  I've flipped through this issue at least a dozen times.  Each time a new recipe would entice me, but I'd put it back.  I don't need another cooking magazine!  But last week I remembered my plan to cook through a cookbook.  Could this be considered a cookbook?  I think so.  It has 95 recipes ranging from snacks to desserts.  There isn't one recipe that I really don't want to try.  It's full of recipes that I would never try.  I'm not a huge fan of roast or ribs.  But the pages look delicious.  I'd try those recipes if I had to.  And now I'm forcing myself to try them.

I won't always blog about it.  I can't do that.  And I won't strive to photograph them like a food blogger.  But when I do, I'll share my opinions and what the family thought of them.  When we need a dinner, this will be the first place I'll go to.  Friends?  If we invite you to dinner, it will come from this magazine.  I'm not putting a deadline on it because I just want to finish them.  And I won't buy another cookbook or cooking magazine until I've finished.  Gasp...  With one little exception...  American Test Kitchen special magazines are fair game.  I've missed an issue before and it haunted me.  Thankfully a friend had it and I could copy the recipes I knew I'd try.  Scroll all the way to the top of this post and you'd also know that I haven't tried any of them.  But I have them if I want to.

I've made one and I'll write about it tomorrow: Empanadas.

p.s. Another cookbook that I'll tackle this year comes out in June.  I thought I'd add some balance to my diet.  Pre-order it.  And buy this while you're at it.  Come June you'll be thanking me.

-Erika