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NUMBER 159 J U LY & A U G U S T 2 0 1 9

Best Grilled Steak Tacos

Make the Most of
Your Fresh Herbs
Our Favorite Salsa Roja
Chile Trifecta

Grilled Whole Chicken

Little Prep, Big Flavor

Make Your Own

Kettle Chips
Ultracrunchy and Surprisingly Easy

Summer Green
Bean Salad
How to Make Pupusas
Fresh Plum-Ginger Pie
New Classic

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ice Cream Sandwiches
Beyond Greek Yogurt
We Taste Other Styles
CooksIllustrated.com
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Display until August 5, 2019

 J U LY & A U G U S T 2 0 1 9
PAGE 12
PAGE 19
2 Quick Tips
Quick and easy ways to perform everyday
tasks, from keeping food hot to keeping coolers
cold. BY ANNIE PETITO
4 Easy Grill-Roasted
Whole Chicken
Our dead-simple method delivers juicy, subtly
smoky meat with bronzed skin.
BY STEVE DUNN
6 A New Way to Steam Fish
Classic Chinese and French methods produce
moist, flavorful steamed fish. We used the best of
both and came up with an entirely new approach
that’s easy and equally impressive.
BY ANDREA GEARY
8 Tacos al Carbón
Each component of our quick and easy steak
tacos—tender, juicy meat; corn tortillas; and
scallion-jalapeño salsa—is cooked on the grill
to infuse it with smoky char. BY LAN LAM
10 Homemade Kettle Chips
Making the chips was quick and easy. Cracking the
code on a frying method that would yield deep
crunch? That was another matter.
BY ANNIE PETITO
America’s Test Kitchen, a real test kitchen located in Boston, is the home of more than 60 test cooks and editors. Our mission is to test recipes until we
understand exactly how and why they work and eventually arrive at the very best version. We also test kitchen equipment and taste supermarket ingredients
in search of products that offer the best value and flavor. You can watch us work by tuning in to America’s Test Kitchen (AmericasTestKitchen.com) and Cook’s Country (CooksCountry.com)
on public television and listen to our weekly segments on The Splendid Table on public radio. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
PAGE 6
12 How to Make Pupusas
These savory stuffed corn cakes are steeped in
2,000 years of Latin American history. But for a
version that even a rookie could pull off, we had
to break with tradition. BY STEVE DUNN
14 Best Ice Cream Sandwiches
Browned butter, brown sugar, and vanilla give
chocolate chip cookies toffee-like depth. But it’s a
purely pedestrian addition that keeps them tender
enough when frozen. BY LAN LAM
16 Making the Most of Fresh
Herbs
Fragrant, distinct, and abundant during warm
months, these verdant sprigs have much more to
offer than just a pop of freshness and color.
BY ELIZABETH BOMZE
18 Mexico’s Most Famous
Salsa
For a top-notch salsa roja, we triple down on
the chiles. BY ANDREA GEARY
19 The Best Way to Boil
Green Beans
For deeply flavored, tender, bright-green beans
for salad, we looked to the sea.
BY ANDREW JANJIGIAN
PAGE 14
PAGE 10
20 Chilled Soba Noodle Salad
Try these earthy Japanese buckwheat noodles
with a lush miso dressing and colorful, crisp raw
vegetables. BY ANNIE PETITO
22 An Uncommon Pie
The best fruit pie you’ve never made starts with
fresh plums and whole-wheat flour.
BY LEAH COLINS
24 Tasting International
Yogurts
Three styles of yogurt have recently appeared on
American supermarket shelves. We tasted them
alongside Greek and American yogurts to see
how they measured up. BY KATE SHANNON
26 Searching for the Best
Kitchen Sponge
Doing dishes is a dirty job. Is there a kitchen
sponge that makes it easier? BY KATE SHANNON
28 Ingredient Notes
BY STEVE DUNN & ANDREA GEARY
30 Kitchen Notes
BY LEAH COLINS, STEVE DUNN, ANDREW
JANJIGIAN & LAN LAM
32 Equipment Corner
BY MIYE BROMBERG, HANNAH CROWLEY,
RIDDLEY GEMPERLEIN-SCHIRM, EMILY PHARES
& KATE SHANNON
 EDITORIAL STAFF
Chief Executive Officer David Nussbaum
Chief Creative Officer Jack Bishop
Editor in Chief Dan Souza
Editorial Director Amanda Agee
Deputy Editor Rebecca Hays
Executive Managing Editor Todd Meier
Executive Food Editor Keith Dresser
Managing Editor Elizabeth Bomze
Deputy Food Editor Andrea Geary
Senior Editors Andrew Janjigian, Lan Lam
Senior Content Editor Kristina DeMichele
Associate Editors Steve Dunn, Annie Petito
Photo Team Manager Tim McQuinn
Assistant Test Cooks, Photo Team Sarah Ewald,
Jacqueline Gochenouer, Eric Haessler
Senior Copy Editor Jill Campbell
Copy Editors Christine Campbell, Rachel Schowalter
Senior Science Research Editor Paul Adams
Executive Editors, Tastings & Testings
Hannah Crowley, Lisa McManus
Senior Editors, Tastings & Testings
Lauren Savoie, Kate Shannon
Associate Editor, Tastings & Testings Miye Bromberg
Assistant Editors, Tastings & Testings
Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, Carolyn Grillo, Emily Phares
Creative Director John Torres
Design Director Greg Galvan
Photography Director Julie Cote
Associate Art Director Maggie Edgar
Senior Staff Photographer Daniel J. van Ackere
Staff Photographers Steve Klise, Kevin White
Photography Producer Meredith Mulcahy
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Senior Editor, Special Projects Christie Morrison
Senior Manager, Publishing Operations Taylor Argenzio
Imaging Manager Lauren Robbins
Production & Imaging Specialists Dennis Noble,
Jessica Voas, Amanda Yong
Test Kitchen Director Erin McMurrer
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Kitchen Assistants Gladis Campos, Blanca Castanza,
Amarilys Merced, Arlene Rosario
B U S I N E S S STA F F
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VP, Marketing Natalie Vinard
Director, Audience Acquisition & Partnerships Evan Steiner
Director, Social Media Marketing Kathryn Przybyla
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Chief Revenue Officer Sara Domville
Director, Public Relations & Communications Brian Franklin
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Development Colleen Zelina
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ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE
Circulation Services ProCirc
Cover Art Robert Papp
PRINTED IN THE USA
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
RED STATE
O
ne cool summer evening in 2005, I’d always known that paprika was fundamental
I found myself sitting by a small to Hungarian cooking, but I didn’t fully understand
campfire and holding a thin metal its import before arriving in Kétsoprony. More than
rod with a forked end. Skewered just a seasoning, paprika is the foundation of countless
onto the prongs was a hunk of slab Hungarian braises, stews, casseroles,
bacon scored at intervals down to and both fresh and dry-cured sau-
the rind and heavily coated with sages. It pairs just as well with chicken,
paprika. My charge was simple: pork, and beef as it does with fish,
Hold the bacon over the fire until eggs, potatoes, and cabbage. If the
its fat started to render, dab the fat Hungarians can grow, raise, or catch
onto a thick slice of country bread, it, paprika can season it.
and repeat. Eventually, the bacon During my first trip to the market,
turned crispy and the bread became I marveled at the massive open burlap
saturated. I then topped my bread sacks of the rust-red powder. They
with slices of raw onion, radish, and were arranged in pairs, one brimming
the crispy bacon. To my mind, it with sweet (mild) paprika and the
was—and still is—the world’s finest Dan Souza other with hot. I saw the same parity
open-faced sandwich. in home kitchens, too, where cooks
Making it took a while, and that was just the would blend the two types of paprika into dishes by
point. As I pressed the sizzling bacon into the bread, muscle memory, deftly feeling their way to the right
flooding its dense crumb with paprika-stained fat, I balance of heat and fruity chile flavor.
chatted with neighbors to my left and right. They, Compared to the stuff I’d grown up sprinkling
too, were plying porky tridents; as we talked, our on deviled eggs and lobster rolls, this paprika was far
nostrils became replete with the scents of pork fat and more aromatic and flavorful—but it wasn’t as potent.
smoke. This was my introduction to szalonnasütés, a That puzzled me at first, but over time I came to
Hungarian warm-weather tradition that I enjoyed understand that its mildness was actually an asset.
just as much for the campfire ritual and camara- It encouraged you to use a lot of the spice, which
derie as I did for the sandwich itself. It was also an explains how paprika became the central component
introduction to my new life as an English teacher in of so many dishes—and of an entire cuisine.
Kétsoprony, Hungary. It’s summertime again, and while I’m far from
I’d end up spending a year in this small farming Kétsoprony, I hope I’ll find my way to a few more
village located in the southeast corner of the coun- campfires. You never know who you might meet,
try’s massive, impressively flat Great Plain. During what new rituals you might discover, or what you
that time, I’d learn that my love for food and cook- might realize you’ve always underestimated.
ing was a powerful way to connect with just about
anyone—and that I had completely misunderstood Dan Souza
and underestimated paprika. Editor in Chief
FOR INQUIRIES, ORDERS, OR MORE INFORMATION
COOK’S ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE CooksIllustrated.com
Cook’s Illustrated magazine (ISSN 1068-2821), number 159, At CooksIllustrated.com, you can order cookbooks and
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For subscription inquiries, visit AmericasTestKitchen.com/support or call 800-526-8442.
july & august 2019
1
 Skinning Chickpeas Recycle Small Bits of

QUI C K
To quickly remove chickpea skins Spices for Scented Sugar
when making hummus, Kristine Inspired by making vanilla sugar,
Lukasik of New Hampton, N.Y., Nancy Merritt of Severna Park, Md.,

gently rubs skin-on chickpeas
between her hands in a bowl of
water. The beans sink to the bottom
while the skins float to the top, so
she can easily rake the skins away
with her fingers.
TI P S
adds small nubs of whole spices such
as nutmeg and cardamom to a small
jar of sugar. The mixture can be used
as a fragrant topping for baked goods
j COMPILED BY ANNIE PETITO k or as a sweetener for tea.

Hanging Herbs to Dry

Louise Gudac of Talladega, Ala., dries herbs by suspending them from
clothes hanger clips, each of which can hold two or three sprigs.

Water Balloon Ice Packs Reminder to Salt

Deborah Palmer of Carmichael, Calif., makes homemade ice packs by Bread Dough
freezing water balloons; the size of the ice packs can be adjusted by filling the Some bread recipes call for letting
balloons with more or less water. the dough rest briefly before adding
salt—a technique called autolyse.
Doug Thomas of Minneapolis, Minn.,
pours the salt on top of the resting
dough so he doesn’t forget to mix it
into the dough later.

An Apple Corer ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE

for Melon Pops

Apple corers aren’t just for apples.
Jenny Bishop of Duluth, Minn., uses
an apple corer to make “melon
pops” by pushing the tool through
the rind and pulling out plugs of
the fruit. The rind functions as a
SEND US YOUR TIPS We will provide a complimentary one-year subscription for each tip we print. Send your tip, name, address, and handle for tidy eating.
telephone number to Quick Tips, Cook’s Illustrated, 21 Drydock Avenue, Suite 210E, Boston, MA 02210 or to QuickTips@AmericasTestKitchen.com.

cook’s illustrated
2
Warm Rolls in a Rice Cleaning Reusable Straws
Cooker To clean the insides of her reusable straws, Linda Propsom of Valparaiso, Ind., wraps a small piece of wet, soapy paper towel
Jeff Garland of Sarasota, Fla., around one end of a wooden skewer and plunges the skewer into the straw, twisting it as she goes to scrub the inside and then
uses his rice cooker’s “keep finishing the job with a quick rinse.
warm” function as a gentle way to
keep rolls or muffins (individually
wrapped in aluminum foil) warm
during meals.

Grill Prep Kit

Rather than gather
paper towels, veg-
etable oil, and long
tongs to grease the
grates before every
grilling session,
Wayne Shirkson of
Wilmington, Del.,
keeps a set of those
items in a plastic tub
at the ready. The kit is
easy to transport out
to the grill.

Protective Bag for Produce

David Manzeske of Washington, D.C., transports bruise-prone produce such as
tomatoes and peaches in the divided sections of a wine bag. In addition to provid-
ing protective padding, the dividers evenly distribute the weight of the produce so
that the pieces don’t crush one another.

Frozen Chipotle Chile Log

Michael Wirth of St. Louis, Mo., preserves leftover chipotle chile in adobo
sauce by mincing it and transferring it to a 1-quart zipper-lock bag. He uses a
bench scraper to push the minced chile to the bottom of the bag, rolls the bag
around itself to press out the air, seals it, and freezes the minced chile in a log
shape. He then cuts pieces off the frozen log as needed.

july & august 2019

3
 Easy Grill-Roasted Whole Chicken
Our dead-simple method delivers juicy, subtly smoky meat with bronzed skin.
j BY STEVE DUNN k

L
ike so many of our readers, I love Plus, the breast meat was now a tad dry even
a simple roast chicken that tastes though I had pulled the chicken off the grill
of nothing but concentrated as soon as it reached its target temperature
chicken-y goodness. Our most of 160 degrees. My fix was to grab the bird
popular chicken recipe, Weeknight Roast by the cavity using tongs and drain the juices
Chicken (September/October 2011), into a bowl before moving it to the hotter
accomplishes exactly that—and with a side of the grill.
method that couldn’t be easier. There’s As for the dry meat, I remembered that
no brining, no salting, no knife work, the hotter the cooking temperature, the
and no dirtying of dishes required. higher the meat’s temperature will climb
I wanted to create an equally simple after cooking. Finishing over direct heat
method for the grill, and as with the caused the chicken’s temperature to rise
Weeknight Roast Chicken recipe, pretreat- rapidly. To account for that carryover
ments and extensive prep work were off effect, I pulled the bird off the grill when
the table. So were rubs, marinades, and it registered 155 degrees.
sauces. But I did want the bird to taste of Now the chicken was moist, with evenly
the grill—not so much as to overpower the bronzed skin and a good measure of that
clean chicken flavor, but enough that you unmistakable char. Time to add some
could tell that it had been cooked over coals. smoke for another layer of grill flavor.

Be Direct Up in Smoke
There are two main ways to achieve grill fla- The trick would be calibrating the smoke’s
vor. You can cook the food over direct heat, effect to keep it from overwhelming
which produces char—the dark browning the clean chicken taste. I tried various
that develops where food comes in contact amounts of wood chips using our standard
with the hot cooking grate—as well as all method—wrapping them in aluminum foil
the new flavor compounds that develop A small amount of wood chips and just 10 minutes over direct heat produce and cutting a pair of slits in the packet to
when meat juices and rendered fat drip onto a perfectly cooked chicken with light grill flavor. allow just enough airflow for the chips to
the heat source, break down, vaporize, and smoke steadily—and I found that I needed
condense on the surface of the food. You can also flipping it breast side down after a few minutes so just ¼ to ½ cup of chips (depending on whether I
add a wood chip packet to the fire to produce smoke, that both the top and bottom received direct heat. was using charcoal or gas, respectively) to generate
which also rises up and condenses on the food. What I hadn’t accounted for was that the chicken’s the subtle smoke flavor I wanted. I also made sure
For the moment, I put aside the notion of adding cavity became a receptacle for its fatty juices; when I to use dry wood chips, since they start smoking
smoke flavor and thought about how to use direct turned the chicken over, that liquid sloshed onto the right away while the bird is still cold, and smoke
heat. Trying to cook a whole chicken over direct heat fire and flames shot up, scorching the bird’s exterior. condenses much more readily on cold surfaces.
on the grill would be as silly as trying to sear it in a
skillet. The exterior would obviously overcook before
the interior cooked through. And while some measure A Griller’s Toolbox
of fatty juices dripping onto the coals creates desirable If you want to create the unmistakable flavors associated with the grill—earthy, savory char and nuanced
grill flavor, too much triggers significant flare-ups that smokiness—without overcooking the food, you have to use the tools that produce them.
leave a layer of black carbon on the bird’s exterior that
overwhelms its mild flavor. That’s why most recipes DIRECT HEAT directly over the heat—cooks it gently so that the out-
for grilling a whole bird call for indirect heat, which How it works: When the food is placed directly over side doesn’t burn before the inside finishes cooking.
cooks the meat gently and evenly—but also produces the heat, the searing-hot cooking grate creates char Note that cooking only over indirect heat and without PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
results without much grill flavor. marks that impart a range of smoky, earthy, and even smoke will yield little grill flavor.
My solution incorporated both indirect and direct sweet flavors. In addition, meat juices and rendered fat
heat. I built a fire with heat sources on either side can drip onto the coals, where they break down and SMOKE
of the grill and a cooler zone down the middle and vaporize (and sometimes create small flare-ups), and How it works: Wood—either large chunks or chips
cooked the chicken, breast side up, over the cooler then condense on the food, adding more grill flavor. wrapped in foil—that’s placed in the fire will not ignite
zone until the breast hit 130 degrees; at that point, due to limited airflow. Instead, it will smoke, flavoring
a good amount of the bird’s fat had been rendered, INDIRECT HEAT the food’s exterior. Cutting two slits in the foil allows
so I figured flare-ups wouldn’t be an issue. Then I How it works: Placing food over a cooler zone—not enough airflow for the wood chips to smoke steadily.
finished cooking the chicken over the hotter zone,

cook’s illustrated
4
 S T E P BY S T E P HOW TO CARVE A WHOLE CHICKEN
Carving a whole bird can feel like a daunting task. These steps break it down for you (pun intended).

1. Cut chicken where leg meets breast, 2. Pull leg quarter away from breast 3. Cut through joint that connects drum- 4. With cavity facing away from you,
holding knife close to leg quarter to keep while pushing up on joint. Cut through stick to thigh. Repeat steps 1 through 3 locate breastbone. Starting at cavity end of
plenty of skin covering breast. joint and skin to remove leg quarter. on second leg quarter. breast, cut just off center of breastbone.

5. Working from cavity end to neck 6. Insert your thumb into cut. Gently 7. Continue to cut until you reach wing 8. Placing knife as close to wing bone as
end and using breastbone as guide, cut pull back breast to expose rib cage. joint. Gently pull breast away from rib possible, cut wing from breast by slicing
straight down along breastbone until you Working from cavity end to neck end, cage while pushing up on wing joint from through skin and connective tissue. Slice
reach rib cage. cut breast from rib cage. As you cut, underneath. Cut through wing joint to 1 side of breast crosswise. Repeat steps 4
angle knife to follow curve of rib cage. remove breast and wing. through 8 on second side of breast.

After about an hour on the grill, my ideal
grill-roasted chicken was ready: succulent, subtly
smoky meat encased in well-rendered and deeply
golden skin. Behold, your (and my) new go-to
method for roasting chicken—alfresco.
EASY GRILL-ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN
SERVES 4 TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS
We developed this recipe on a three-burner gas grill
with burners that run from front to back. In this
recipe, we refer to the two outside burners as the
primary burners and the center burner as the second-
ary burner. If you’re using a two-burner grill, use the
side with the wood chips as the primary burner and
the other side as the secondary burner. Adjust the pri-
mary burner to maintain a grill temperature between
375 and 400 degrees. Place the chicken 6 inches from
the primary burner and rotate it after 25 minutes of
cooking in step 4 so that it cooks evenly.
1tablespoon kosher salt
½teaspoon pepper
1(3½- to 4½-pound) whole chicken,
giblets discarded
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼–½ cup wood chips
1. Combine salt and pepper in bowl. Pat chicken
dry with paper towels, then rub entire surface of
chicken with oil. Sprinkle salt mixture all over chicken
and rub in mixture with your hands to evenly coat.
Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wing-
tips behind back.
2. Using large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil,
wrap chips (¼ cup if using charcoal; ½ cup if using
gas) in 8 by 4½-inch foil packet. (Make sure chips
do not poke holes in sides or bottom of packet.) Cut
2 evenly spaced 2-inch slits in top of packet.
3A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open
bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter
mounded with charcoal briquettes (7 quarts). When
top coals are partially covered with ash, pour into
2 banked piles on either side of grill. Place wood
chip packet on 1 pile of coals. Set cooking grate
in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat
grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about
5 minutes. (Grill temperature will reach about
400 degrees and will fall to about 350 degrees by
end of cooking.)
3B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Remove cooking grate
and place wood chip packet directly on 1 primary
burner. Set grate in place, turn all burners to high,
cover, and heat grill until hot and wood chips are
smoking, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burners
(two outside burners) to medium-high and turn off
secondary (center) burner. (Adjust primary burners
as needed to maintain grill temperature between
400 and 425 degrees.)
4. Clean and oil cooking grate. Place chicken,
breast side up with cavity facing toward you, in
center of grill, making sure chicken is centered
between hotter sides of grill. Cover (position lid vent
over chicken if using charcoal) and cook until breast
registers 130 degrees, 45 to 55 minutes.
5. Using long grill tongs, reach into cavity and
carefully lift chicken by breast. Holding chicken over
bowl or container, tilt chicken toward you to allow
fat and juices to drain from cavity. Transfer chicken,
breast side up, to hotter side of grill (without wood
chip packet) and cook, covered, until back is deep
golden brown, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, flip
chicken breast side down; cover and continue to cook
over hotter side of grill until breast is deep golden
brown, about 5 minutes longer. Using tongs, flip
chicken breast side up and return it to center of grill;
take internal temperature of breast. If breast registers
155 degrees, transfer chicken to carving board. If
breast registers less than 155 degrees, cover and con-
tinue to cook in center of grill, checking temperature
every 2 minutes, until it registers 155 degrees, 2 to
10 minutes longer. Let chicken rest, uncovered, for
20 minutes. Carve chicken and serve.
R E C I P E S TO M A K E I T A M E A L
Find these sides in our archive: Greek Cherry Tomato
Salad (July/August 2008) and Grilled Corn with
Flavored Butter (September/October 2013).
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D
N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N
CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19

july & august 2019

5
 A New Way to Steam Fish
Classic Chinese and French methods produce moist, flavorful steamed fish. We used the
best of both and came up with an entirely new approach that’s easy and equally impressive.
j BY ANDREA GEARY k

I
f you’re not steaming fish, you The presentation wasn’t great either: The
should be. It’s a delicate method for now-soggy aromatics clung to the top of
cooking a delicate protein that leads the fish.
to supremely moist, tender results.
It’s fast enough to do on a weeknight but Sling It
delivers company-worthy elegance. And I had an idea for keeping the fillets intact
when it’s done well, there’s a real flavor during transfer: Treat them like bar cookies
benefit—if you know how to season and and cook them on top of a foil sling. That
dress the fish. way, I could gently lift all the fillets out of
Both Chinese and French cuisines have the pan at once and deposit them onto the
classic approaches to steaming. Cantonese serving platter with minimal disturbance.
cooks steam fish whole (typically sprinkled I folded an 18 by 12-inch piece of foil in
with aromatics such as garlic, ginger, and half lengthwise to create a sling, sprayed it
scallions) in a bamboo steamer set in a wok lightly with vegetable oil spray to prevent
filled with a few inches of boiling water. sticking, laid the sling in the pan, and
Once cooked, the fish is transferred to a placed the fillets on top.
platter, doused with soy sauce and maybe I covered the pan with foil and placed it
a splash of rice wine, and garnished with in the oven, but this time I made sure to
fresh scallions. The final flourish is a take the fish out earlier, when it reached
drizzle of hot oil that sizzles as it hits the 125 degrees, trusting that the hot oil and
fish, releasing a cloud of delicate aromas carryover cooking would help it reach its
into the air. target temperature. I then grasped each
The French technique, called en papillote end of the foil sling and transferred the
(“in paper”), calls for enclosing individual delicate fillets to the platter, carefully slid-
fillets in parchment or foil envelopes with ing the foil out from under them so that I
vegetables, perhaps a bit of fat, and a splash didn’t dislodge a single flake. I poured the
of wine or broth and then baking the pack- We steam the fish in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil, juices from the pan over and around the
ets in the oven. Each diner then gets their which then becomes the sauce. Scallions and cilantro add freshness. fish, topped it with scallions, and drizzled
own parcel of fish, vegetables, and steaming it with the hot oil.
cooking liquid to open at the table. Instead, I decided to steam all the fillets together Now the fillets were perfectly moist, and the
There’s a lot to love about both approaches, but in a single makeshift packet: a foil-covered metal cooking-liquid-turned-sauce balanced the delicately
I’ve long wanted a mash-up that offers what I con- baking pan. I arranged four skinless cod fillets in clean flavors of the fish. Seasoning the cooking
sider to be the best of each: the bold, fresh flavors the pan and topped them with some sliced garlic liquid with a little sugar, salt, and white pepper
and hot oil drizzle of the Chinese method and the and neatly julienned scallions and ginger. Next (more floral and delicate than black pepper) made
convenient oven cooking and flavorful fish jus of I pondered the cooking liquid. Since the fillets those flavors pop even more, but it was a subtle
the French method. Drawing inspiration from both would be sitting in the liquid rather than above it tweak I made to the aromatics that really gave the
and using easy-to-find fillets would lead to my ideal in a steamer, it made sense to follow the French sauce depth: Rather than place the garlic, ginger,
steamed fish. method and use something more flavorful than and scallions on top of the fish, where they turned
plain water. As a starting point, I whisked together sadly limp, I laid them in the baking pan under-
Full Steam Ahead a few tablespoons of soy sauce, some rice wine, and neath the foil sling so that they could infuse the
Though the steaming would take place in the a bit of nutty toasted sesame oil; poured it around cooking liquid and wouldn’t cling to the cooked
oven, crimping the fillets in individual packets was the fillets; and then covered the pan tightly with fillets. Once the fillets were safely deposited on the PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
a labor of love that I’d save for another time—not foil. After about 15 minutes in a 450-degree oven, serving platter, I strained the spent aromatics and
to mention the fact that packets opened at the table the fillets hit their target doneness temperature of drizzled the flavorful liquid over the fish.
would make it difficult to drizzle the cooked fillets 135 degrees. I scattered the fresh scallions over the fillets
with the hot oil. I worked carefully to maneuver the tidy fillets and was about to pour the oil over the fish when
onto the serving platter, but they flaked apart any- I realized that I could add even more sweet-spicy
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D way. Then, when I finished them with sliced scallions fragrance and texture to the dish by adding slivers
N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N and a splash of hot oil (which sent up an enticing of ginger to the hot oil, where they would turn
CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19 aroma), the combined effect of carryover cook- aromatic, golden, and crisp. Paired with the sauce,
ing and the oil caused them to overcook slightly. this would make a fragrant dressing for the steamed

cook’s illustrated
6
 rice I planned to serve on the side. Scattering cilan-
tro sprigs over the top made my quick, new-school
interpretation of steamed fish feel as elegant as it
was efficient.
OVEN-STEAMED FISH WITH
SCALLIONS AND GINGER
SERVES 4 TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR
Haddock, red snapper, halibut, and sea bass can
be substituted for the cod as long as the fillets are
about 1 inch thick. If the fillets are uneven, fold the
thinner ends under when placing the fillets in the
pan. If using a glass baking dish, add 5 minutes to
the cooking time. To ensure that the fish doesn’t
overcook, remove it from the oven when it registers
125 to 130 degrees; it will continue to cook as it is
plated. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables. Our
recipe for Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and
Ginger for Two is available for free for four months
at CooksIllustrated.com/aug19.
8 scallions, trimmed, divided
1 (3-inch) piece ginger, peeled, divided
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
4 (6-ounce) skinless cod fillets, about
1 inch thick
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1½ teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
⅓ cup fresh cilantro leaves and thin stems
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat
oven to 450 degrees. Chop 6 scallions coarse and
spread evenly in 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Slice
remaining 2 scallions thin on bias and set aside.
Chop 2 inches ginger coarse and spread in pan with
chopped scallions. Slice remaining 1 inch ginger
into matchsticks and set aside. Sprinkle garlic over
scallions and ginger in pan.
2. Fold 18 by 12-inch piece of aluminum foil
lengthwise to create 18 by 6-inch sling and spray
EASY TRANSFER
Steaming the fillets on top of an aluminum foil sling allows us to easily transfer them from the baking pan to
the serving platter without breaking them.
1. Grasping both ends, care-
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE
fully lift sling so that fillets slide
to center and are cradled in
middle. Place sling gently on
serving platter.
2. Place spatula at 1 end
of fillets to hold in place.
Carefully slide out sling from
underneath fish.
A Flavorful Steam Bath for Fish
Instead of steaming fish over water, Chinese-style, or enclosed in parchment with wine, French-style, we
came up with an approach that borrows from both traditions: oven-steaming cod fillets in a foil-covered bak-
ing pan. The fish sits in a shallow pool of potent soy-based liquid that gets infused with aromatics and fish jus;
when it’s cooked, we strain the fragrant cooking liquid and use it as a sauce for the fish. (It also tastes great
drizzled over steamed rice.)
FOIL
Goes over pan
to trap steam
FISH FILLETS
Release flavorful fish jus that
adds body to sauce
FOIL SLING
Helps remove fillets from
pan and prevents aromatics
from clinging to them
AROMATICS
Infuse steaming liquid with flavor
and then get strained out
FLAVORFUL STEAMING
LIQUID
Picks up more flavor from fish
and aromatics
BAKING PAN
Allows you to cook
4 fillets at a time
lightly with vegetable oil spray. Place sling in pan shimmering. Reduce heat to low, add reserved
lengthwise, with extra foil hanging over ends of ginger, and cook, stirring, until ginger begins to
pan. Arrange cod on sling. If fillets vary in thick- brown and crisp, 20 to 30 seconds. Drizzle oil and
ness, place thinner fillets in middle and thicker ginger over cod (oil will crackle). Top with cilantro
fillets at ends. and serve.
3. Whisk soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar,
salt, and white pepper in small bowl until combined.
Pour around cod. Cover pan tightly with foil and Finish with a Sizzle
bake until fish registers 125 to 130 degrees, 12 to We transfer the fish to a platter when it’s just
14 minutes. shy of its target temperature of 135 degrees and
4. Grasping sling at both ends, carefully transfer then pour hot ginger-infused oil over it. The oil
sling and cod to deep platter. Place spatula at 1 end finishes cooking the fish, releasing fragrant aromas
of fillets to hold in place and carefully slide out sling and adding some richness to this mostly lean dish.
from under cod. Strain cooking liquid through
fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, pressing on solids
to extract liquid; discard solids. Pour strained liquid
over cod. Sprinkle reserved scallions over cod. Heat
vegetable oil in small skillet over high heat until
R E C I P E S TO M A K E I T A M E A L
Find these sides in our archive: Chinese Restaurant–
Style Rice (March/April 2018), Sautéed Baby Bok Choy
(March/April 2017), Sautéed Snow Peas with Ginger,
Garlic, and Scallion (March/April 2011).
july & august 2019
7
 Tacos al Carbón
Each component of our quick and easy steak tacos—tender, juicy meat; corn tortillas;
and scallion-jalapeño salsa—is cooked on the grill to infuse it with smoky char.
j BY LAN LAM k

I
n Sonora, Mexico, a state dominated by
cattle ranches, tacos al carbón are a spe-
cialty. They’re not complicated—al carbón
just means that the protein, usually steak, is
cooked over charcoal. The meat is seasoned with
a marinade or spices, grilled, tucked into soft
corn tortillas, and topped with straightforward
garnishes such as charred scallions and lime juice.
I would adore these tacos even if they weren’t
so simple to make, but the fact that they come
together easily is an undeniable perk.
Many cuts of steak are used for tacos al carbón, but
skirt and flank are high on the list. I chose flank here.
Like skirt steak, flank is thin and beefy, cooks quickly,
and has lots of surface area for picking up flavor. And
flank is less expensive and more widely available.
After a quick trim to remove any patches of fat, my
first steak was just about ready to throw on the grill.
To flavor the meat, I opted for a spice paste.
Minimalists use a combination of salt, cumin, and
garlic. At the other end of the spectrum are recipes
that call for a laundry list of ground spices and chili
powders. To produce the
Since I had a hot complexity of the latter via
the short ingredient list of
grill, I decided
the former, I popped open
to do the rest a can of chipotles (smoked
jalapeños) in adobo sauce.
of the cooking
This powerhouse ingredi-
outside as well. ent would contribute spicy,
smoky, and savory notes.
I added cumin, oil, and a little salt to the minced
chipotles to make a paste. After evenly coating the
steak with the ruddy mixture, I headed outside and
lit a chimney full of charcoal.
Grilled directly over the coals (a gas grill works well,
too), the thickest part of the steak was medium-rare We lightly char corn tortillas in batches on the hotter side of the grill and then wrap them tightly in foil so they
(125 degrees) in 10 minutes. After letting the meat stay soft and warm until serving time.
rest, I thinly sliced it against the grain. The chipotle
paste was a keeper, but the thinner areas of the steak and gave the meat a concave shape. Frequent flipping I grabbed another steak, trimmed the thicker
were overdone. What’s more, the meat was unevenly helped the top and bottom shrink at about the same fat deposits to ⅛ inch, and left the thinner ones
browned and didn’t have much grill flavor. rate, so the steak stayed flat and browned evenly. in place. I applied the chipotle paste and grilled PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
For my second try, I sliced the steak into thirds the steak, flipping it every 2 minutes. Rendered
lengthwise. This separated the tapered edges from the Flare for Flavor fat dripped onto the coals, causing small flare-ups
thicker center so I could grill each piece to the proper As for the flavor deficit, I knew that cooking on a that brought with them a smoky, meaty flavor
doneness. These narrow strips, once sliced, would also grill doesn’t necessarily guarantee grill flavor. Many that tasted like success. This was an A-plus steak.
fit nicely into 6-inch tortillas. of the compounds responsible for this flavor are cre-
The mediocre browning in my first test had been a ated when fat and juices drip onto the coals, vaporize, Toppings al Carbón
result of the steak buckling as it cooked; the bottom and waft up and condense onto the food. If I wanted Since I had a hot grill, I decided to do the rest
of the steak (closest to the heat source) cooked more deep grill flavor, I needed drippings. And I had been of the cooking outside as well. Inspired by the
quickly than the top, which caused its fibers to shrink trimming away a main source: the fat on the steak. charred scallions that often adorn tacos al carbón,

cook’s illustrated
8
 I decided to whip up a grilled scallion salsa. Along
with the scallions, I threw some jalapeños onto the
fire, making a note that next time, I could grill the
chiles alongside the steak since they cook in about
the same amount of time. This would not only
be more efficient but also infuse the chiles with
the flavors of the vaporized drippings. Finally, I
blistered tortillas on the hotter side of the grill
until they picked up a toasty, popcorn-like aroma
and then wrapped them tightly in foil so that they
would stay warm and soft.
Back inside, while the steak rested, I seeded and
finely chopped the jalapeños and coarsely chopped
the scallions. I combined them in a bowl with a
squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt, assembled
some tacos, and rounded up my colleagues. This
time no one doubted that the rosy steak had come
from the grill. They also praised the lively salsa but
felt that the two elements were too disparate. I
reached for the canned chipotles and stirred just
enough of the savory adobo sauce into the salsa to
tie its flavor to the steak. That, along with dollops of
rich crema and a few more squirts of lime, brought
everything together.
EASY GRILLED STEAK TACOS
(TACOS AL CARBÓN)
SERVES 4 TO 6 TOTAL TIME: 1¼ HOURS
This steak’s grill flavor is created when some of
the fat and juices land on the fire and create small,
controlled flare-ups, so choose a steak that has some
fat deposits. Sour cream can be substituted for the
crema, if desired.
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in
adobo sauce, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
1 (1½- to 1¾-pound) flank steak
2 jalapeño chiles
20 scallions
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1½ tablespoons lime juice, plus extra
for seasoning, plus lime wedges
Fresh cilantro leaves
Mexican crema
1. Combine 1 tablespoon oil, chipotle, 1½ tea-
spoons salt, and cumin in bowl. Trim fat deposits
on steak to ⅛-inch thickness. Cut steak lengthwise
(with grain) into three 2- to 3-inch-wide strips. Rub
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE
chipotle mixture evenly into steak, then transfer steak
to rimmed baking sheet.
2A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bot-
tom vent completely. Light large chimney starter
mounded with charcoal briquettes (7 quarts). When
top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly
over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover,
and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot,
about 5 minutes.
Thirst-Quencher
Agua fresca means “fresh water” and is the catchall
term for a variety of beverages made by combining
fruits, grains, seeds, or flowers with sugar and water. To
make a watermelon version, we whiz chunks of melon
with water in a blender and strain out the pulp before
accenting the mixture with lime juice, agave nectar, and
a pinch of salt to bring out the sweet and tart flavors.
WATERMELON-LIME AGUA FRESCA
SERVES 8 TO 10 (MAKES 7 CUPS) TOTAL TIME: 15 MINUTES
Watermelons vary in sweetness. Adjust the amounts
of lime juice and sweetener to your taste.
8 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch
pieces 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey, plus
2 cups water extra for seasoning
¼ cup lime juice (2 limes), plus extra for ⅛ teaspoon salt
seasoning Fresh mint leaves (optional)
Working in 2 batches, process watermelon and water in blender until smooth, about 30 seconds. Strain
mixture through fine-mesh strainer into 2-quart pitcher; discard solids. Stir in lime juice, agave, and salt.
Season with extra lime juice and extra agave to taste. Serve over ice, garnished with mint, if using. (Agua
fresca can be refrigerated for up to 5 days; stir to recombine before serving.)
2B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to
high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 min-
utes. Turn off 1 burner (if using grill with more than
2 burners, turn off burner farthest from primary
burner) and leave other burner(s) on high.
3. Clean and oil cooking grate. Arrange steak
and jalapeños on hotter side of grill. Cook (cov-
ered if using gas), flipping steak and jalapeños
every 2 minutes, until meat is well browned and
registers 125 to 130 degrees (for medium-rare),
7 to 12 minutes, and jalapeños are blistered and For Flavor, Leave Some Fat On
charred in spots, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer steak To make sure that our tacos al carbón live up to
to clean cutting board and tent with aluminum their name—that is, have lots of grill flavor—we
foil. Transfer jalapeños to medium bowl and cover leave some of the steak’s fat attached. As the meat
tightly with plastic wrap. cooks, the fat will melt and drip onto the fire. The
4. Place scallions on hotter side of grill and cook grease, along with meat juices, hits the coals and
until dark green parts are well charred on 1 side, 1 to creates small flare-ups, sending up vapors that
2 minutes. Flip scallions, arranging them so that dark condense on the steak, giving it a meaty, smoky
green parts are on cooler side of grill while white and grilled taste.
light green parts are on hotter side. Continue to cook
until whites are well charred, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
Transfer to bowl with jalapeños and cover tightly
with plastic. Arrange 6 tortillas on hotter side of grill
and cook until lightly charred, 45 to 60 seconds per
side. Wrap warmed tortillas tightly in foil. Repeat
with remaining 6 tortillas.
5. Without peeling, stem and seed jalapeños;
reserve seeds. Chop jalapeños fine and transfer to
DON’T TRIM TOO MUCH
bowl. Chop scallions coarse and transfer to bowl with Trim fat deposits to ⅛-inch thickness.
jalapeños. Stir in lime juice, adobo sauce, remaining
2 tablespoons oil, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
Season with salt, extra lime juice, and reserved jala- S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D
peño seeds to taste. Slice steak thin against grain and N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N
transfer to serving platter. Serve steak in tortillas, pass- CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19
ing salsa, lime wedges, cilantro, and crema separately.
july & august 2019
9
 Homemade Kettle Chips
Making the chips was quick and easy. Cracking the code on a frying
method that would yield deep crunch? That was another matter.
j BY ANNIE PETITO k

M
y love for junk food is no
secret in the test kitchen.
In fact, I am the keeper
of the Cook’s Illustrated
team snack corner, which typically
includes everything from chocolate bars
and pretzels to popcorn and chips.
So I was excited when I was tasked with
developing a recipe for kettle chips, the thick
and crunchy style of potato chips that I hap-
pen to love. The prep work is a cinch—you
don’t even have to peel the potatoes—and
the frying method is actually tailor-made for
home cooks (keep reading and I’ll explain
why). Plus, if you’ve ever had freshly fried,
still-warm chips, you know that they’re a
real treat (especially homemade versions of
classic flavors such as barbecue, sour cream
and onion, and salt and vinegar). There’s
also a certain satisfaction that comes from
producing snack food that could pass for
store-bought.
Crispy versus Crunchy
Before I dive into the distinctive feature
of kettle chips—deep, satisfying crunch—
it helps to know the basic differences Leaving the potatoes unpeeled saves prep time and gives them rustic appeal. overbrowning; common russets (more
between this style of chip and the thin and
crispy kind (think Lay’s Classic). Crispy chips are
cut thin and cooked relatively hot and fast, while but it’s the frying time and temperature that make
kettle chips are cut roughly 50 percent thicker and the most profound difference. In fact, when I dug rounds using a mandoline and then heated 2 quarts of
fried at a lower temperature for longer.
E Q U I P M E N T Make Slicing Easy
With a mandoline—our favorite is the Swissmar
Börner Original V-Slicer Plus Mandoline—it takes batch-fried in vats of oil, the temperature of which together even with constant stirring. So I took a cue
just minutes to transform potatoes into perfectly follows a U-curve that is key to creating their char- from my recipe for Patatas Bravas (May/June 2016)
thin, even slices.
process called continuous frying—which
ensures that the oil temperature holds
steady at a high enough temperature for the
starches to desiccate before they can absorb
water and create much sticky gel. As a result,
the chips are delicate and crisp.
Generally speaking, it’s easy to follow
a U-curve when frying at home because
that drop in temperature happens naturally
when you add cold food to hot oil, and it
takes time to bring the oil back up to its
starting temperature. But after making a
few batches of kettle chips, I realized that
you have to control how steeply the tem-
perature drops and how quickly it recovers
and that frying in a regular pot on a regular
stove—as opposed to using a commercial
setup—has its limitations.
Timing Is Everything
When making chips at home, there is only
one variety of potato to choose: russet.
Good chips come from high-starch,
low-sugar potatoes. Commercial
producers actually use special varieties
that are extremely low in sugar to prevent
accurately known as Russet Burbanks) are
Potato slice thickness impacts a chip’s texture, the closest available alternative.
I sliced a pound of russets into ¹⁄16-inch-thick
through a stack of research papers to see how the oil in a 7-quart Dutch oven to 300 degrees, mimick-
two styles of chips are made commercially, it became ing the commercial method. But when I added all the
clear that manufacturers have these details down to potatoes, the limitations of my ordinary pot became
a science. obvious. The slices, which were covered in sticky sur-
First, let’s look at the kettle kind. They’re face starches, were crowded in the pot, and they stuck
acteristic crunch. The process goes like this: The and heated the oil for my next batch to 375 degrees,
potato slices are dropped into moderately hot (about knowing that the higher temperature would help
300-degree) oil, which plunges to about 250 degrees. immediately dry out the potatoes’ surface starches
As the oil slowly heats back up, the starches inside the and mitigate sticking (I’d still stir them as they fried). PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
potatoes absorb water, forming a sticky gel that glues Now the question was how much to turn down
the potato cell walls together, like mortar strengthen- the heat, since that would determine how quickly
ing a rock wall. Finally, the water is driven off, leaving the oil recovered to the 300-degree range and how
behind a rigid net of crisscrossed starch molecules with much time the starches in the chips had to give up
an open, crunchy structure. (All the while, the chips their water. I added the potatoes and played it safe
are stirred, which prevents sticking.) by turning the stove dial to low—but I shouldn’t
Meanwhile, crispy chips are made by propelling have. In total, that batch took more than 20 minutes
the potato slices quickly and continuously through to fry, and the chips were unpleasantly hard. That’s
hot (about 350-degree) oil along a conveyor belt—a because with the longer cooking time, the water

cook’s illustrated
10
 exited the gel so slowly that the starches had more
time to organize into a denser, tougher structure.
Cranking the heat to high after adding the pota-
toes was also a mistake. First and foremost, the chips
overbrowned. Second, a weaker gel formed and left
behind a disorderly and brittle matrix of starch; as
a result, the chips were more crispy than crunchy.
Frying over medium heat was the answer: It allowed
the oil to hover in that 250-degree “gel zone” for
SCIENCE What Puts the Crunch in Kettle Chips?
Maximizing chip crunch is all about controlling the rate at which the oil temperature recov-
375° 375° ers. Frying the potatoes over moderate heat (middle curve) gives their starches ample time
to absorb water and form a sticky gel that reinforces the potatoes’ cell walls, making for
360° sturdy chips with big crunch. But frying over high heat (left curve) cooks the potatoes too
quickly, forming less gel and a fragile matrix of starch; the chips cook up crispy and delicate.
345°
When the potatoes are cooked over low heat (right curve), the opposite happens: Water
330° exits the gel too slowly so that the matrix of starch has time to organize into a denser,
tougher structure.

OIL TE
about 5 minutes so that the chips began to stiffen. 315°
After another 6 to 8 minutes—just 13 minutes total 300° FRIED TOO 300° 300° FRIED 300°

MPE
frying time—the oil temperature had rebounded to QUICKLY JUST LONG
around 300 degrees, the rest of the water in the chips 285°

RA
Crispy ENOUGH

TU
had evaporated, and they’d turned completely rigid Crunchy
270° FRIED

RE
and golden.
VE

Powder to Coat
Now for those aforementioned seasonings. A
smoky spice mix for barbecue chips was easy to
make with pantry staples, and I imitated the other
two classic flavors—sour cream and onion and salt
and vinegar—with buttermilk powder and vinegar
powder, respectively. Processing the seasonings in
a spice grinder produced a fine powder that clung
nicely when tossed with the hot chips.
If you’re on the fence about DIY snack food, take
it from this aficionado: You’ll be wowed by these
chips, and making them is easier than you’d think.
CRUNCHY KETTLE POTATO CHIPS
SERVES 6 TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES
We strongly recommend using a mandoline to slice
the potatoes. A heavy 7-quart Dutch oven safely
accommodates the full batch of chips and helps the oil
retain heat; do not use a smaller, lighter pot. Stirring
the potatoes during frying minimizes sticking. For
information about reusing the frying oil, see page 31.
2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
1 pound russet potatoes, unpeeled
½ teaspoon table salt or 1 recipe topping
(recipes follow)
1. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line
with double layer of paper towels. Heat oil in large
O
TOO SLOWLY
255° R
T IM Hard
E
240°
Dutch oven over medium heat to 375 degrees. BUTTERMILK AND CHIVE TOPPING
While oil heats, slice potatoes crosswise ¹⁄16 inch
(1½ millimeters) thick. Carefully add all potatoes Look for buttermilk powder in the baking aisle of
to oil, 1 small handful at a time, separating slices as your supermarket.
much as possible (oil will bubble vigorously). Cook,
stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until bub- 4 teaspoons buttermilk powder
bling has calmed (it will not completely stop) and 1 teaspoon garlic powder
slices begin to stiffen, 2 to 4 minutes. ½ teaspoon onion powder
2. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until ½ teaspoon table salt
shape of chips is set and slices are rigid at edges ¼ teaspoon pepper
(chips will make rustling sound when stirred), about 1 teaspoon dried chives
5 minutes longer, adjusting heat as needed to main-
tain oil temperature between 240 and 250 degrees. Grind buttermilk powder, garlic powder, onion
3. Continue to cook, stirring and flipping pota- powder, salt, and pepper in spice grinder to fine
toes frequently with spider skimmer or slotted powder. Add chives and pulse until finely chopped,
spoon, until all bubbling ceases and chips are crisp about 3 pulses.
and lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes longer, adjust-
ing heat as needed during final minutes of cooking SALT AND VINEGAR TOPPING
to maintain oil temperature between 280 and
300 degrees. Using spider skimmer or slotted Look for vinegar powder online.
spoon, transfer chips to prepared rack. Sprinkle with
salt or, if using topping, let chips cool for 30 sec- 1 tablespoon vinegar powder
onds, then transfer chips to large bowl with topping ½ teaspoon table salt
and toss until evenly coated. Serve. (Chips can be
stored in zipper-lock bag at room temperature for Grind vinegar powder and salt in spice grinder to
up to 5 days.) fine powder.

SMOKY BARBECUE TOPPING

SCIENCE The Sound of Crispy versus Crunchy
Whether you experience the chip you’re eating as crispy or crunchy 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
is not a perfectly sharp distinction, but surprisingly, the difference may be 2 teaspoons sugar
more in the ears than in the mouth. Scientists have run very telling tests 1 teaspoon garlic powder
analyzing the differences in pitch among various foods being bitten, so we ½ teaspoon onion powder
set up a kettle chip listening experiment. ½ teaspoon table salt
Twenty-one test kitchen staffers listened to audio recordings of two Pinch cayenne pepper
ILLUSTRATION: JAY LAYMAN

different samples being eaten—our favorite commercial “crispy” chips and our Crunchy Kettle Potato
Chips—and classified the sounds they heard on a continuum from crispy to crunchy. The results were con- Grind all ingredients in spice grinder to fine powder.
clusive: Eighty-six percent of listeners rated the commercial chip as sounding “crispy,” and 95 percent called
the homemade kettle chip “crunchy.” Listeners’ auditory descriptions were even more compelling: “crackly,” S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D
“light,” “high-pitched,” and “tenor”-like for the crispy chips; “deep,” “low,” and “bass”-like for the kettle chips. N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N
To us, that was sound evidence that differences in texture can be heard as much as felt. CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19

july & august 2019

11
 How to Make Pupusas
These savory stuffed corn cakes are steeped in 2,000 years of Latin American history.
But for a version that even a rookie could pull off, we had to break with tradition.
j BY STEVE DUNN k

P
upusas have been sustaining Latin
Americans since pre-Columbian times.
And when a food has that kind of longev-
ity, you know it has to be good. Though
Salvadorans and Hondurans both lay claim to the
recipe, in El Salvador it is considered the national
dish. There, these enticing packages are made by
stuffing cheese, beans, braised meat, or a combina-
tion thereof into a ball of corn flour dough called
masa. The ball is flattened into a 4- or 5-inch disk
and cooked on a comal (a dry cast-iron griddle)
until the tender corn cake forms a spotty-brown,
crisp shell. Garnished with curtido (a bright slaw)
and a spicy salsa, the result is downright irresistible.
The Salvadoran cooks I’ve seen shape pupusas look
like they could do it in their sleep: They work masa
into a fist-size cup, spoon in the filling, and pinch the
dough closed to form a ball before slapping it back
and forth between their hands to create a disk. Sound
easy? It isn’t. The first time I tried, it was obvious I
was a novice. Using a dough made with the usual ratio
of 2 parts masa harina (corn flour) to 1 part water, I We stuff our pupusas with gooey Monterey Jack and salty cotija cheese and serve them with a bright cabbage
formed the cakes as best I could. But the masa was slaw called curtido and a spicy tomato salsa.
too dry, which caused the pupusas to crack and the
filling to spill out. harina with a full 2 cups of water. Now the dough spread to the edges, leaving all but the centermost
Using hot tap water instead of cool, as some was a dream to handle, and the cakes cooked up as bites tasting of plain dough.
recipes suggest, worked better since heat causes the moist as could be. I decided to try a riff on our technique for making
starch in corn to absorb more water (just as it does in But although the dough was no longer sticky, my tortillas. I rolled my superhydrated masa into a ball,
wheat flour). But boiling water was even more effec- pupusas were still thick at the centers and thin at the placed it inside a zipper-lock bag that I’d cut open at
tive, allowing me to superhydrate the 2 cups of masa edges—even after all my practice. The filling never the seams, and used a glass pie plate to press it into a

S T E P BY S T E P PUPUSAS FOR FIRST-TIMERS

The traditional method of shaping a pupusa—slapping a sticky ball of filled dough back and forth between your hands, patty-cake style—requires lots of practice to consis-

PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVE KLISE; ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE

tently produce neat, even cakes. We came up with a technique that’s virtually foolproof, even for beginners: First, prepare a superhydrated (and therefore easy-to-handle)
dough by mixing boiling water and masa harina. Second, shape the dough and the cheese into balls. Finally, follow our unique shaping steps.

1. Using marker, draw 4-inch circle in
center of 1 side of 1-quart or 1-gallon
zipper-lock bag. Cut open seams along
both sides of bag, but leave bottom seam
intact so bag opens completely.
2. Place open bag marked side down on
counter. Place dough ball in center of
circle. Fold other side of bag over ball.
Using glass pie plate, gently press dough
to 4-inch diameter.
3. Turn out disk into your palm and place 4. Return ball to zipper-lock bag and use
cheese ball in center. Bring sides of dough pie plate to slowly press to 4-inch diam-
up around filling; pinch to seal. Remoisten eter. Pinch closed any small cracks that
your hands and roll ball, smoothing any form at edges. Repeat steps 2 through 4
cracks with your damp fingertip. with remaining dough and filling.

cook’s illustrated
12
 disk. I turned the disk out into my palm, placed some
filling (more on that next) in the center, and gathered
the dough to form a ball, which I again pressed with
the pie plate to form a perfectly round pupusa of even
thickness. Even a newbie could pull this off.
As for the filling, basic pupusas are stuffed with a
fresh Salvadoran cheese called quesillo that’s delicious
but hard to find. Some recipes suggest swapping in
mozzarella, but we found it too bland. Instead, I
landed on a mix of Monterey Jack for its meltability
and cotija—a readily available Mexican cheese—for
its salty tang.
These perfectly flat, round pupusas, stuffed from
edge to edge with salty, supple cheese, would fool
anyone into thinking I’d been making them all my life.
PUPUSAS
SERVES 4 (MAKES 8 PUPUSAS) TOTAL TIME: 1¼ HOURS
For an accurate measurement of boiling water, bring
a full kettle of water to a boil and then measure
out the desired amount. Properly hydrated masa
dough should be tacky, requiring damp hands to
keep it from sticking to your palms. If the dough
feels the slightest bit dry at any time, knead in warm
tap water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough is
tacky. An occasional leak while frying the pupusas
is to be expected, and the browned cheese is deli-
cious. Feta cheese can be substituted for the cotija;
if you can find quesillo, use 10 ounces in place of the
cotija and Monterey Jack. For information on masa
harina, see page 29. Our recipe for Pupusas with
Beans and Cheese is available free for four months
at CooksIllustrated.com/aug19.
2 cups (8 ounces) masa harina
½ teaspoon table salt
2 cups boiling water, plus warm tap water
as needed
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
2 ounces cotija cheese, cut into 2 pieces
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 8 pieces
1 recipe Quick Salsa (recipe follows)
1 recipe Curtido (recipe follows)
1. Using marker, draw 4-inch circle in center of
1 side of 1-quart or 1-gallon zipper-lock bag. Cut
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN MITCHELL/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
open seams along both sides of bag, but leave bot-
tom seam intact so bag opens completely.
2. Mix masa harina and salt together in medium
bowl. Add boiling water and 1 teaspoon oil and mix
with rubber spatula until soft dough forms. Cover
dough and let rest for 20 minutes.
3. While dough rests, line rimmed baking sheet
with parchment paper. Process cotija in food proces-
sor until cotija is finely chopped and resembles wet
sand, about 20 seconds. Add Monterey Jack and
process until mixture resembles wet oatmeal, about
30 seconds (it will not form cohesive mass). Remove
processor blade. Form cheese mixture into 8 balls,
weighing about 1¼ ounces each, and place balls on
1 half of prepared sheet.
The Crack Test
Before forming the pupusas, test the dough’s hydration
by flattening a golf ball–size piece of dough. If cracks
larger than ¼ inch form around the edges, add more
water, 2 teaspoons at a time.
4. Knead dough in bowl for 15 to 20 seconds.
Test dough’s hydration by flattening golf ball–size
piece. If cracks larger than ¼ inch form around
edges, add warm tap water, 2 teaspoons at a time,
until dough is soft and slightly tacky. Transfer dough
to counter, shape into large ball, and divide into
8 equal pieces. Using your damp hands, roll 1 dough
piece into ball and place on empty half of prepared
sheet. Cover with damp dish towel. Repeat with
remaining dough pieces.
5. Place open cut bag marked side down on
counter. Place 1 dough ball in center of circle. Fold
other side of bag over ball. Using glass pie plate or
8-inch square baking dish, gently press dough to
4-inch diameter, using circle drawn on bag as guide.
Turn out disk into your palm and place 1 cheese ball
in center. Bring sides of dough up around filling and
pinch top to seal. Remoisten your hands and roll ball
until smooth, smoothing any cracks with your damp
fingertip. Return ball to bag and slowly press to 4-inch
diameter. Pinch closed any small cracks that form at
edges. Return pupusa to sheet and cover with damp
dish towel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
6. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch non-
stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Carefully lay
4 pupusas in skillet and cook until spotty brown on
both sides, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plat-
ter and repeat with remaining 4 pupusas. Serve warm
with salsa and curtido.
TO MAKE AHEAD: At end of step 5, wrap
baking sheet in plastic wrap and freeze until pupusas
are solid. Wrap pupusas individually in plastic, then
EL SALVADOR’S
NATIONAL DISH
Pupusas are a staple in El Salvador, where they are
eaten at home and in outposts called pupuserías.
The savory stuffed cakes are enjoyed throughout
the day; at breakfast, they are often served with
a cup of chocolate caliente, a mixture of hot milk
and water thickened with melted chocolate.
july & august 2019
13
TOO DRY
Large cracks
form in a test
piece of dough.
transfer pupusas to zipper-lock bag. Freeze for up
to 1 month. Cook directly from frozen, increasing
cooking time by 1 minute per side.
QUICK SALSA
SERVES 4 TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES
For a spicier salsa, add the jalapeño seeds as desired.
¼ small red onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
½ small jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 teaspoons lime juice, plus extra for seasoning
1 small garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon table salt
Pinch pepper
Pulse onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in food pro-
cessor until finely chopped, 5 pulses, scraping down
sides of bowl as needed. Add tomatoes, lime juice,
garlic, salt, and pepper and process until smooth,
20 to 30 seconds. Season with salt and extra lime
juice to taste.
CURTIDO
SERVES 4 TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES, PLUS 1 HOUR CHILLING
For a spicier slaw, add the jalapeño seeds as desired.
1 cup cider vinegar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ teaspoons table salt
½ head green cabbage, cored and sliced thin
(6 cups)
1 onion, sliced thin
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Whisk vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in large bowl
until sugar is dissolved. Add cabbage, onion, carrot,
jalapeño, and oregano and toss to combine. Cover
and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Toss slaw, then drain. Return slaw to bowl and stir
in cilantro.
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D
N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N
CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19
 Best Ice Cream Sandwiches
Browned butter, brown sugar, and vanilla give chocolate chip cookies toffee-like depth.
But it’s a purely pedestrian addition that keeps them tender enough when frozen.
j BY LAN LAM k

T
en years ago, this magazine To find out, I went straight to the
published a recipe for chocolate source, adding various amounts of water to
chip cookies that we consider the dough along with the egg and vanilla.
perfect: crisp, deeply caramel- Ultimately, I settled on 2 tablespoons,
ized edges; chewy centers; gooey pockets which, combined with a good 8 hours in the
of dark chocolate; and complex, toffee-like freezer, made for cookies sturdy enough to
flavor that’s not too sweet. Trust me when sandwich the ice cream but tender enough
I say that a glass of milk will never know a to bite through with just a hint of snap. (For
better companion. a full explanation, see “How More Water
So when I decided to make chocolate Makes Softer Frozen Cookies.”)
chip cookie ice cream sandwiches, I figured I also replaced the granulated sugar
I had the cookie part all figured out. I with more dark brown sugar, since the
baked off a batch, sandwiched two around molasses in brown sugar is a source of
a scoop of my favorite premium ice cream, simple sugars (glucose and fructose) that
and froze the sandwich until solid. are hygroscopic—that is, very effective at
Then I tried to take a bite. The cook- attracting water.
ies were so hard my teeth couldn’t get Brown sugar also boosted that prized
through them, and all that force caused the deep toffee flavor, though not quite enough,
ice cream to squish out the sides. When I so I also browned all the butter, which maxi-
finally did bite through the cookies, I found mized the amounts of browned flecks and
that the cold temperature had completely aromatic compounds that make the flavor
dulled their exceptional butterscotch flavor. of browned butter rich and round. I also
Obviously, these chocolate chip cookies upped the amounts of vanilla and salt, all
weren’t perfect for ice cream sandwiches, but of which added up to cookies that boasted
I hoped they’d be a good jumping-off point big toffee-like, hazelnutty richness even after
for calibrating a great sandwich cookie. To spending hours in the freezer.
compensate for the freezer’s flavor-dulling Fill the cookies with your favorite ice cream (any flavor will work); for tips
effect, I wanted even more deep toffee flavor on scooping, see page 30. Here’s the Scoop
packed into a cookie that would be thin and Now that the cookies were squared
tender enough to bite through when cold but still These cookies were not only thinner but also away, I focused on instituting some best practices
firm enough to house a generous layer of ice cream. flatter and more uniform in texture from edge for making tidy, professional-looking ice cream
to edge, since the lower baking temperature had sandwiches. Making sure to center the scoops of
Dimensional Analysis allowed the edges and centers to bake at nearly the
I figured out that 2 parts ice cream to 1 part cook- same rate. But once frozen, the cookies were still
ies was the ideal ratio. The cookies I’d been using hard and brittle. FILLING COOKIES EVENLY
were each about ½ inch thick; once I’d added a After placing the ice cream in the center of the
2-inch-thick layer of ice cream, it was all too much Just Add Water overturned cookie and topping it with the second
of a mouthful—the frozen-dessert equivalent of a One small fix was to swap out the regular chocolate cookie, gently press and twist the sandwiches
New York deli sandwich. Quarter-inch-thick cookies chips for mini morsels. The mini chips were easier until the ice cream spreads to the edges.
surrounding a 1-inch-thick ice cream center would to bite through; in fact, I enjoyed their delicate
make for a more edible package. crunch so much that I pressed more into the ice
Fortunately, it was easy to make thinner cookies: I cream around the rim of the sandwich for a dose of PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
again made the dough for our chocolate chip cook- Chipwich nostalgia.
ies, but instead of baking the cookies at 375 degrees, But then I made a fortuitous discovery. Until
I dropped the temperature to 325 degrees so that now, I’d been freezing the sandwiches for just a
the dough had more time to spread before it set. few hours. When I happened to leave a batch in
the freezer for nearly 24 hours, I noticed that the
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D cookies were much softer than before, clearly having
N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N absorbed more moisture from the ice cream over
CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19 time. It made me wonder if I should be making a DO THE TWIST
moister cookie from the start.

cook’s illustrated
14

SCIENCEHow More Water
Makes Softer Frozen Cookies
We made several changes to our Perfect
Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe to engineer
a frozen cookie that was soft enough to bite
through. Our new cookie contains a bit more fat
and a bit less sugar, but the real outlier is some-
thing rarely considered in cookie composition:
water. In fact, our ice cream sandwich cookie
dough contains almost twice as much water as
our “Perfect” formula. That may sound counter-
intuitive—you’d think frozen water would make
cookies harder—but it works because the sugar
in the dough lowers the temperature at which
water freezes, keeping it fluid. By increasing the
amount of sugary water in the dough, we were
able to make the cookies more tender.
JUST ADD WATER
For soft and tender frozen cookies,
add 2 tablespoons of water.
ice cream on the cookies translated into neater
results. Paying attention to the ice cream itself
mattered, too: Premium products with lower
overrun—the amount of air that gets added
during churning to make ice cream light and
fluffy rather than dense—were harder to scoop
straight from the freezer, so when I used those,
I briefly tempered, or softened, the ice cream in
the refrigerator to make scooping easier. (For
more information, see “Soften Ice Cream in the
Refrigerator” on page 30.)
Blueprint for the
Perfect Ice Cream
Sandwich
1½-INCH-
THICK
SANDWICH
Substantial
but not too
tall; perfect
ILLUSTRATION: JAY LAYMAN
If you love the deep toffee flavor and crisp-tender
texture of our Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
(May/June 2009), you’ll appreciate this ice cream
sandwich version, too. And if you were raised on
Chipwiches, consider this a nostalgic upgrade.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE
ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
MAKES 12 SANDWICHES
TOTAL TIME: 1½ HOURS, PLUS 9 HOURS CHILLING
These sandwiches should be made at least 8 hours
before serving. For the best results, weigh the flour
and sugar for the cookies. We prefer the deeper
flavor of dark brown sugar here, but light brown
sugar will also work. Use your favorite ice cream.
If using a premium ice cream such as Ben & Jerry’s
or Häagen-Dazs, which is likely to be harder than a
less-premium brand when frozen, let the ice cream
soften slightly in the refrigerator before scooping.
If you have it, a #16 scoop works well for portion-
ing the ice cream. We like these sandwiches with
chocolate chips pressed into the sides, but the
garnish is optional.
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup packed (5¼ ounces) dark
brown sugar
¾ teaspoon table salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5⅔ ounces)
all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (3 ounces) mini semisweet chocolate
chips, plus 1 cup for optional garnish
3 pints ice cream
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat
oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet
2-INCH SCOOP OF ICE CREAM
Flattens into manageable 1-inch-tall
by 3-inch-wide disk
¼-INCH-THICK
COOKIE
Thin and tender
enough to bite
through but firm
enough to house
ice cream
Boosting Flavor in the Cold
Cold temperatures are known for dulling flavor.
They diminish the responsiveness of our taste-
buds’ receptor proteins, hindering our ability to
taste, and they slow the movement of aromatic
compounds, preventing our noses from detect-
ing them. To compensate for the flavor-zapping
effect of freezing our ice cream sandwiches, we
use brown sugar instead of white and up the
amounts of browned butter, brown sugar, vanilla,
and salt. This not only boosts the complex flavors
we taste on our tongues but also increases the
number of aromatic compounds we smell, result-
ing in better-tasting cookies.
over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and scrap-
ing skillet constantly with rubber spatula, until milk
solids are dark golden brown and butter has nutty
aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Immediately transfer to
heatproof large bowl. Whisk in sugar and salt until
fully incorporated and let mixture cool for 10 min-
utes. Meanwhile, line 2 rimmed baking sheets with
parchment paper. Stir flour and baking soda together
in second bowl; set aside.
2. Add egg, water, and vanilla to browned butter
mixture and whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Using rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until
combined. Stir in ½ cup chocolate chips. (Dough
will be very soft.)
3. Using #60 scoop or 1-tablespoon mea-
sure, evenly space 12 mounds of dough on each
prepared sheet. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time,
until puffed and golden brown, 9 to 12 min-
utes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let
cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then trans-
fer to wire rack and let cool completely, about
45 minutes. Place 1 sheet, still lined with parchment,
in freezer.
4. Place 4 cookies upside down on counter.
Quickly deposit 2-inch-tall, 2-inch-wide scoop of
ice cream in center of each cookie. Place 1 cookie
from wire rack right side up on top of each scoop.
Gently press and twist each sandwich between your
hands until ice cream spreads to edges of cookies
(this doesn’t have to be perfect; ice cream can be
neatened after chilling). Transfer sandwiches to
sheet in freezer. Repeat with remaining cookies and
remaining ice cream. Place 1 cup chocolate chips, if
using, in shallow bowl or pie plate.
5. Remove first 4 sandwiches from freezer.
Working with 1 sandwich at a time, hold sand-
wiches over bowl of chocolate chips and gently
press chocolate chips into sides of sandwiches with

2:1 ratio of
ice cream
your other hand, neatening ice cream if necessary.
MINI CHIPS FOR Return garnished sandwiches to freezer and repeat
to cookies
COOKIES AND with remaining 8 sandwiches in 2 batches. Freeze
GARNISH
sandwiches for at least 8 hours before serving.
Add delicate
3-INCH DIAMETER crunch and burst of (Sandwiches can be individually wrapped tightly
Broad enough to house ice cream without making sandwich too tall chocolate flavor in plastic wrap, transferred to zipper-lock bag, and
frozen for up to 2 months.)

july & august 2019

15
Making the Most of Fresh Herbs
Fragrant, distinct, and abundant during warm months, these verdant sprigs have
much more to offer than just a pop of freshness and color. BY ELIZABETH BOMZE
One of the fastest, most economical ways to boost the flavor of food is to add fresh herbs. That’s long been the philosophy in cuisines around the world, particularly
in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where fresh herbs are an essential component at meals (often, whole sprigs are heaped onto platters and eaten like vegetables
alongside richer dishes). Happily, there are more varieties than ever available at farmers’ markets and grocery stores. All the more reason to work them into your daily
cooking repertoire.

TWO BASIC CATEGORIES: Hearty and Delicate ( Heartyª ( Delicate ª

We classify most herbs as either hearty or delicate. These adjectives refer not only to their textural qualities (leaves Rosemary, Basil, parsley,
that are sturdy and tough versus delicate and tender) but also to the strength or volatility of their flavor compounds; thyme, cilantro, dill,
in general, volatile flavor compounds in hearty herbs are somewhat more heat-stable than those in delicate varieties. oregano, sage, mint, chives,
These categories also help clarify the best ways to prep, store, and cook most herbs. marjoram tarragon

E I G H T H E R B S YO U S H O U L D B E C O O K I N G W I T H PREP SCHOOL
We love the classic Simon and Garfunkel quartet (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme), but the herbs below Wash, Then Salad-Spin Dry
are just as versatile and are worth snapping up if you come across them at the market or nursery. After rinsing delicate herbs, thoroughly
dry them by spinning them in a paper
towel–lined salad spinner. (Hearty
herbs don’t harbor much grit, but if
2 they are dusty, you can give them a
1
4 quick rinse.)
5
Pack Lightly When Measuring
Press down slightly on herbs in the
3 measuring cup to remove air pockets;
do not pack them down firmly.

Chop and Mince Like a Pro

1. CHERVIL 7 Running your knife over a loose pile is
Profile: Grassy, anise-like sweetness inefficient. Here’s a better way.
6
Try it in: Egg and fish dishes
Tip: Combine chervil with
arugula, lettuce, and endive
to make classic mesclun mix. 8

2. GARLIC CHIVES
Profile: Garlicky, crisp, juicy
Try them in: Stir-fries; as a substitute
for scallions
Tip: Garlic chives are sometimes
referred to as Chinese chives.
3. CURRY LEAVES
Profile: Lemony, cumin-y, menthol-y
Try them in: Curries, potato and
rice dishes
Tip: Curry leaves are unrelated to
curry powder.
4. LAVENDER
Profile: Floral, perfumy
Try it in: Syrups, custard, shortbread
Tip: Buy culinary, not ornamental,
lavender, and use it sparingly.
5. LEMON VERBENA
Profile: Minty lemon grass, menthol-y
Try it in: Infusions (drinks, syrups,
jams, custards); salads (tender leaves
only); with berries or stone fruit
Tip: Steeped in boiling water, it makes
a fragrant tisane.
6. MAKRUT LIME LEAVES
Profile: Tangy, bright, floral
Try them in: Thai curries and soups,
cocktails and limeade, rice dishes,
flavored salt (see recipe on page 17)
Tip: Use them as a fragrant garnish
for proteins and vegetables by cutting
out their tough spines and slicing the
leaves very thin.
7. SHISO
Profile: Minty, citrusy, bitter, medicinal (To chop: Gather leaves into tight pile
Try it in: Spring rolls, cold noodle and hold with your nonknife hand. Use
salads, green salads (tear tough rocking motion to slice thin. Turn sliced
leaves), fried rice leaves 90 degrees and repeat.
Tip: Red shiso tastes more bitter than
the green variety.
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE
8. SORREL
Profile: Juicy, lemony, tart
Try it in: Creamy soups, salsa verde,
salads; incorporated into a sauce; as
a garnish for salmon or lamb (To mince: Chop, then go over pile
Tip: Sorrel can be cooked similarly to again by placing fingertips of your non-
spinach or Swiss chard, but like those knife hand flat on top of knife spine and
tender greens, it shrinks way down, moving blade up and down with your
so start with an ample amount. knife hand while using knife tip as pivot.

cook’s illustrated
16
SAVVY STORA GE
Proper herb storage is all about controlling the leaves’ exposure to moisture. DIY DRIED HERBS A Keeper Worth
Hearty herbs are adapted to survive in dry weather by taking in moisture The microwave, which quickly Keeping: Cole
through their leaves, so it’s important to keep them dry. Delicate herbs take in drives off water, is the fastest way & Mason Fresh
and release a lot of water and therefore must to dry herbs. Herb Keeper
be kept moist lest they wilt (but they should Method: Place hearty herbs in a This slim rectangular
not touch liquid, which encourages rot). single layer between two paper container kept herbs
towels on the microwave turntable fresh longer than the
Favorite Storage Methods and microwave on high power for others we tested. It also features
When stored properly, many herbs will last at 1 to 3 minutes. When the leaves adjustable height, which makes it easy
least a week. turn brittle and fall easily from the to add and remove herbs; a vented
(Hearty: Store in original packaging or open stems (a sure sign of dryness), lid, which staves off condensation; and
zipper-lock bag; refrigerate. they’re done. dividers, which keep the contents tidy
(Delicate: Wrap in slightly damp paper towels, place in open zipper-lock bag, and organized.
and refrigerate.

USE SPRIGS FROM ROOT TO BLOSSOM Not All Herbs Can Take the Heat
While some herbs don’t have much use beyond their leaves, others (mostly delicate varieties) are edible up Due to variability in the strength and volatility
and down the sprig. Here’s a breakdown of usable components besides leaves and their suggested applications. of their flavor compounds, hearty and delicate
herbs behave differently when cooked. Here
ROOTS STEMS BLOSSOMS are general guidelines.
Cilantro roots are aromatic, Some herbs (such as cilantro, parsley, and In general, herb blossoms (Hearty: Add early in cooking to ensure
pungent, and citrusy. Cilantro basil) have delicate stems that can be minced taste like their parent maximum flavor extraction.
stems with the roots attached or chopped with the leaves or pureed into plants. Add them whole to (Delicate: Use as a garnish or add for the last
are commonly found at Asian sauces (such as pesto), curry pastes, or soups. salads or use them as an minute of cooking to preserve flavor and color.
markets. The whole plant is elegant garnish.
increasingly available at con-
ventional markets, too. Puree FRESH HERB FINISHING SALTS
the roots into marinades and MAKES ½ CUP
curry pastes; store unused TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES, PLUS 36 HOURS DRYING

roots in the freezer.

Flavored salts add crunch, mineral salinity, and
SEEDS concentrated flavor to meats and fish, popcorn, or
Some herbs (such even cocktails when used to rim a glass. Commercial
as cilantro and versions are expensive, but making your own is easy
dill) produce and preserves fresh herb flavor. –Sasha Marx
aromatic seeds
that can be used ½ cup coarse or flake sea salt
whole, crushed,
or ground. Choose one of the following:
1½ cups finely chopped fresh basil
1 cup thinly sliced fresh chives
1 cup finely chopped fresh dill
1 cup finely chopped fresh tarragon
¼ cup finely chopped fresh makrut
HERB SALAD lime leaves
SERVES 4 TO 6 TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES

1. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment

Tender herbs can be more than an accent in salads; in many cuisines, whole or torn leaves are lightly dressed paper. Combine salt and herb in large bowl. Pick up
and served as a refreshing, intensely flavorful accompaniment to grilled, fried, or roasted dishes. Here’s our handful of salt mixture and rub between your hands
take. Be sure to use vibrant, high-quality herbs; to wash and dry them thoroughly (excess liquid can wilt the to disperse herb throughout salt. Repeat until well
leaves or dilute the dressing); and to dress them lightly. For the mixed tender herb leaves, we suggest any combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to
combination of dill, chives, chervil, or tarragon. To introduce more dynamic color and texture, add up to prepared sheet and spread into even layer.
½ cup of thinly sliced vegetables, such as radishes, shallots, fennel, or celery. –Keith Dresser 2. Place sheet in 50- to 70-degree location away
from direct sunlight. Let mixture sit until completely
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ¼ teaspoon kosher salt dry, 36 to 48 hours, raking mixture with fork every
¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 2 cups fresh parsley leaves 12 hours to ensure herb dries evenly.
1 tablespoon juice 2 cups mixed tender herb leaves 3. Rub mixture between your hands to break
up any clumps of dried herb and evenly distribute
Add oil, lemon zest and juice, and salt to large bowl. Season with pepper to taste, and whisk to thoroughly herb throughout salt. Transfer to airtight container.
combine. Add parsley and herb leaves and toss until evenly coated with dressing. Season with salt to taste. (Herb salt can be stored at room temperature for
Serve immediately. up to 2 months.)

july & august 2019

17
 Mexico’s Most Famous Salsa
For a top-notch salsa roja, we triple down on the chiles.
j BY ANDREA GEARY k

C
onsidering its eminence in Mexican cui-
sine, salsa roja has a curiously modest
name. It translates prosaically as “red
sauce,” but that moniker fails to convey
the zippy tomato-and-chile-based sauce’s ability
to elevate so many foods: nachos, tacos, or que-
sadillas; fried eggs, potatoes, grilled chicken, or
steak. I’m such a fan that I always need a batch in
my refrigerator so that I have some at the ready
whenever the mood strikes.
Salsa roja is made with tomatoes, a fresh chile (or
several), onion, cilantro, and possibly garlic and dried
chiles. Some or all of the ingredients are cooked,
at least briefly, and the sauce is blended. It sounds
straightforward, but there’s a fascinating amount of
variation among recipes.
Some cooks char and blister the ingredients, while
others cover them with water and boil them for as
long as 30 minutes. Some cooks use a Mexican mortar
and pestle (known as a molcajete) for rustically chunky
results, while others use a blender for a smoother con-
sistency. The heat level can vary from relatively mild
to perilously spicy, making it advisable to approach
any salsa roja with respectful caution.
In a recipe that varies so much, the presence of
tomatoes and fresh chiles was reassuringly universal.
I chose to use plum tomatoes for their meatiness and
a single jalapeño to start, figuring I could always jack
up the heat later. Now, how to cook them?
Boiling the ingredients left the sauce watery,
so I tried charring the tomatoes and jalapeño in a
cast-iron skillet. The dry heat sweetened and con-
centrated the tomatoes and intensified the jalapeño’s
flavor. In the interest of efficiency, however, I decided
to char under the broiler, and I halved the tomatoes
so more of their watery insides could evaporate. For a
bit more flavor, I added a clove of garlic and a wedge
of onion to the pan as well.
I love pureed versions of salsa roja—they’re great
for dispensing from squeeze bottles onto everything.
So I opted to blend the tomatoes, chile, onion, and
garlic with some salt until smooth. The sauce was
good, but it lacked the brightness and depth of the
finest examples I’ve had. A handful of cilantro helped,
but not enough. A dried ancho chile would be just
the thing to add a bit of raisin-y backbone. Dried
chiles are usually softened in water before being
blended, but waiting around for that wasn’t ideal.
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D
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This salsa is great with chips but can also be loosened
with water to drizzle on many other foods.
Then it occurred to me: Maybe I could hydrate the
ancho and add brightness in a single step.
I tore the ancho into ½-inch pieces, which I put
directly into the blender and ground to tiny specks.
Then I added one of the raw tomatoes and pureed the
mixture. I let the mixture sit while I broiled the rest of
the ingredients. The fresh tomato pulp hydrated the
ancho and added brightness to the sauce.
I still thought the sauce could use more depth,
so I decided to add some minced chipotle chile in
Three-Alarm Fire
Fresh, dried, and canned chiles
each contribute their own
flavor profile.
DRIED ANCHO CHILE
Raisin-y, fruity backbone
CANNED
CHIPOTLE CHILE
Heat and smoke
FRESH JALAPEÑO
Green, grassy notes
adobo sauce. The chipotle added a little more heat
along with a welcome hint of smoke.
Now that I have a top-notch salsa roja, I’ll keep
a perpetual supply in my refrigerator so I can put it
on everything.
SALSA ROJA
SERVES 6 (MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS) TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES
Chiles vary in heat level, so adjust the amount of chi-
potle to your taste. This salsa is great with chips, tacos,
fried or scrambled eggs, quesadillas, or grilled meat.
1 dried ancho chile, stemmed, seeded, and torn
into ½-inch pieces (¼ cup)
1 pound plum tomatoes, cored and halved,
divided
1–3 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in
adobo sauce, divided
¼ small onion, root end attached
1 jalapeño chile
1 large garlic clove, unpeeled
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems,
chopped coarse
¾ teaspoon table salt
1. Process ancho pieces in blender until finely
chopped, about 20 seconds. Add one-quarter of
tomatoes and 1 teaspoon chipotle. Process on low
speed, scraping down sides of blender jar if necessary,
until tomatoes are finely chopped and ancho pieces
are moistened, about 45 seconds. Let mixture sit
for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with alu-
minum foil. Adjust oven rack 4 inches from broiler
element and heat broiler. Place remaining tomatoes
skin side down on prepared sheet. Add onion and
jalapeño and broil until onion and jalapeño are
blackened and tomatoes are beginning to turn spotty
brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip onion and jalapeño, add
garlic, and broil until all vegetables are blackened,
3 to 4 minutes.
3. Transfer jalapeño and garlic to cutting board;
let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel garlic. PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
Without peeling, stem and seed jalapeño; reserve
seeds. Add tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro,
and salt to blender and process until smooth, about
2 minutes. Season with salt and up to 2 teaspoons
additional chipotle to taste; process until smooth.
Transfer to serving bowl or squeeze bottle. If desired,
stir in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to loosen to driz-
zling consistency. (Leftover salsa may be refrigerated
for up to 1 week.)

cook’s illustrated
18
 The Best Way to Boil Green Beans
For deeply flavored, tender, bright-green beans for salad, we looked to the sea.
I
love the gorgeous bright color of briefly
blanched green beans in salad, but I’ve never
loved their starchy, still-raw taste or their
so-called crisp-tender texture, which is usu-
ally not tender at all. But cooking vegetables
until they’re soft enough to be speared with a
fork generally means you’ve got to boil the living
color out of them—not to mention all their fresh,
grassy flavor.
Years ago, I stumbled across a tip in Harold
McGee’s indispensable tome On Food and Cooking
(1984) that described how heavily salted water
speeds the cooking of vegetables. According to
McGee, the key is to cook vegetables in extremely
salty water—so salty that it has the same 3 percent
concentration as seawater. I’d never acted on it since
it translates into 2 tablespoons of salt per quart of
water—an extraordinary amount, given that I usually
throw that much into 4 quarts of water when blanch-
ing vegetables. Now, with loads of boiled green
beans on the horizon, I decided to finally give it a try.
I boiled 1½ pounds of green beans in a solution
of ½ cup of salt and 4 quarts of water alongside
another batch with just 2 tablespoons of salt in the
same amount of water. Sure enough, the beans in
the heavily salted water were tender a full 5 minutes
before the beans in the lightly salted water. They
had also retained their vibrant color, while the other
beans had faded to a drab olive.
This was a neat discovery, but the one I made
when I took a bite of the “seawater” beans was
even more important: They tasted incredible. The
heavily salted water had given them a meaty, highly
seasoned, and intensely green-beany flavor—and
FOR BEANS THAT ARE TENDER
BUT STILL BRIGHT, BRING ON
THE SALT
PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
TENDER AND TENDER AND DRAB
Cooking time: 12 minutes
BRIGHT
Cooking time: 7 minutes Salt per 2 quarts water:
Salt per 2 quarts 1 tablespoon
water: ¼ cup
j BY ANDREW JANJIGIAN k
Heavily salted water cooks the beans faster and
significantly enhances their flavor.
without making them overly salty. The beans that
had cooked with just a little salt, on the other hand,
barely tasted seasoned at all.
What’s so magical about supersalty water?
According to McGee, when vegetables are cooked
in salted water, sodium ions displace some of
the calcium ions in their cell walls. Calcium ions
strengthen pectin—the glue that holds plant cell walls
together—by allowing it to form cross-links, and the
ions’ displacement prevents that cross-linking and
causes the vegetable to soften. (It is for precisely the
same reason that we like to brine dried beans in salt
water: The displacement of the calcium ions in their
skins softens them and prevents them from bursting
during cooking.)
But ½ cup of salt was a lot to use for one dish. I
wondered if I could get the same effect with less, so
I tried going down to ¼ cup of salt per 4 quarts of
water. The beans took slightly longer to tenderize,
lost a little of their color, and were no longer as well
seasoned or as flavorful; clearly you need a strong salt
concentration to get enough sodium to infiltrate the
beans’ sturdy skins. The solution (pun intended)?
Keep the concentration the same but decrease the
volumes of water and salt. Just ¼ cup of salt in
2 quarts of water did the trick and felt like a reason-
able amount for such tender, vibrantly colored, and
deeply flavorful green beans.
july & august 2019
19
To highlight the beans in a salad, I created a few
variations: a Mediterranean composition using mint,
parsley, feta cheese, and tomatoes; a French-style ver-
sion with Dijon, capers, and tarragon; and a Southeast
Asian–influenced salad with fried shallots, carrots, and
peanuts. Not only were these some great salads, but
I also had a terrific new blanching technique that I
could apply to other vegetables as well (see “Best-Ever
Blanched Vegetables” on page 30).
GREEN BEAN SALAD WITH
CHERRY TOMATOES AND FETA
SERVES 4 TO 6 TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES
If you don’t own a salad spinner, lay the green beans
on a clean dish towel to dry in step 2. The blanched,
shocked, and dried green beans can be refrigerated
in a zipper-lock bag for up to two days. Our recipes
for Green Bean Salad with Shallot, Mustard, and
Tarragon and Southeast Asian–Style Green Bean
Salad with Carrots, Cilantro, Fried Shallots, and
Peanuts are available for free for four months at
CooksIllustrated.com/aug19.
1½ pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into
1- to 2-inch lengths
¼ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for blanching
12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (½ cup)
1. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large saucepan
over high heat. Add green beans and ¼ cup salt,
return to boil, and cook until green beans are bright
green and tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
2. While green beans cook, fill large bowl halfway
with ice and water. Drain green beans in colander
and immediately transfer to ice bath. When green
beans are no longer warm to touch, drain in colander
and dry thoroughly in salad spinner.
3. Place green beans, tomatoes, oil, mint, pars-
ley, lemon juice, pepper, and salt in bowl and toss
to combine. Transfer to platter, sprinkle with feta,
and serve.
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D
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 Chilled Soba Noodle Salad
Try these earthy Japanese buckwheat noodles with a lush
miso dressing and colorful, crisp raw vegetables.
j BY ANNIE PETITO k

H
earty, flavorful soba noodles Once they were tender but still retained
are a staple of Japanese cook- their chew, I drained the noodles in a colan-
ing. Made from buckwheat, der and promptly ran them under cold water
the seed of a flowering plant until they felt slick. Rinsing is essential to
closely related to rhubarb and sorrel, stop further cooking and cool the noodles;
these noodles boast an earthy taste and a it also removes sticky surface starch, helping
slightly chewy texture. the noodles remain distinct and separate.
Soba noodles can be slurped up along
with hot broth, but they also are often Using My Noodle
enjoyed in a spare bamboo-tray presentation With my soba ready to go, I whisked
featuring twists of chilled noodles; a dipping together a quick dressing inspired by the
sauce made with soy sauce, mirin, and rice zaru soba dipping sauce. To soy sauce and
vinegar; a dab of wasabi on the side; and salty-sweet mirin (see “Mirin”), I added
shredded toasted nori (dried seaweed). The nutty toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds,
simple dish, called zaru soba, is a beautiful grated fresh ginger for zing, and red pepper
way to showcase the noodles’ earthy, nutty- flakes for a bit of heat.
sweet flavor and resilient chew. When I tossed this mixture with the
There are also nontraditional recipes chilled soba, the soy dominated, and the
that take the concept and turn it into a thin dressing slid right off the noodles. So
more casual one-bowl noodle salad fleshed for my next batch, I reached for white miso
out with crisp vegetables and a flavorful thinned with a little water in place of the soy
dressing in place of the dipping sauce. The sauce. The thick, mildly sweet, umami-rich
dish would be just right to tote to work miso made for a velvety dressing that clung
for lunch or pair with salmon or tofu (and lightly to the soba and didn’t obscure its
perhaps a glass of sake) as a light, refresh- subtleties. Next, I sliced up a medley of raw
ing dinner. vegetables: clean, cool cucumber; peppery
Along with lots of fresh vegetables, we mix slivers of briny toasted nori red radishes; scallions; and snow peas.

PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY(TOP), ALFIO SCISETTI/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (BOTTOM)

Sleuthing Soba into the soba noodles; pretoasted seaweed snacks can also be used. To help keep the vegetables from collect-
There are a couple of types of soba noodles ing at the bottom of the bowl, I cut them
that are easy to find in the United States. Pure buck- that they were submerged and to prevent sticking. into shapes and sizes that would get entwined in the
wheat soba has a deep chestnut color, a pronounced Because soba varies so much from brand to brand, noodles (see “Vegetable Prep School”). I noticed
(but pleasant) bitterness, and a coarse texture. recommended boiling times range from 3 to 10 min- that the cucumbers shed a bit of water when I tossed
Because buckwheat lacks gluten, these noodles can utes. Ultimately, I found that it was best to follow them with the dressed noodles, so I decreased the
be quite fragile when dry and are less springy when the timing on the individual packages. Because soba water in the dressing by 1 tablespoon.
boiled. The other commonly available type replaces noodles are more delicate than the typical wheat Finally, in a nod to how cold soba noodles are
some of the buckwheat flour with wheat flour. In pasta, it was important to check them early and often traditionally enjoyed, I added strips of toasted nori
taste tests, we preferred this type for its milder taste during cooking. to my salad. Their understated briny taste was the
and, because of the gluten contributed by the wheat,
its more resilient texture.
To cook the soba, I brought a large pot of unsalted The Story of Soba
water to a boil. Salt is typically not added to the cook- Accounts of how soba originated vary, but some sources say that
ing water for soba because manufacturers sometimes buckwheat came to Japan as early as 10,000 BC in the form of a
add salt to the noodles and because the soba is usually porridge that sustained Buddhist monks during journeys from China.
paired with a highly seasoned dressing or sauce. In the late 16th century, the Japanese began to make soft
Once the water was boiling, I added 8 ounces of buckwheat-flour dumplings called sobagaki. Then, during PLANT-BASED
soba noodles and gave them a quick stir to ensure the Edo period (1603–1868), the dumplings evolved: In Soba starts with the
a process that required much more skill, a mixture of seeds of the flower-
ing buckwheat plant,
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D buckwheat flour and water was kneaded, stretched thin,
which are ground into
N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N and cut into the slender strands that we know today as a flour that’s used to
CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19 soba noodles. make the noodles.

cook’s illustrated
20
 perfect finishing touch to the earthy, perfectly
cooked noodles; sweet-savory dressing; and cool,
crunchy vegetables.
CHILLED SOBA NOODLES WITH
CUCUMBER, SNOW PEAS, AND RADISHES
SERVES 4 TO 6 TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES
Sheets of nori, a dried seaweed that adds a subtle
briny umami flavor and crisp texture to this salad,
can be found in packets at Asian markets or in the
Asian section of the supermarket. Plain pretoasted
seaweed snacks can be substituted for the toasted
nori, and yellow, red, or brown miso can be sub-
stituted for the white miso, if desired. Our favorite
soba noodles are Shirakiku Zaru Soba Japanese
Style Buckwheat Noodles; look for the full tasting
results in the next issue. This dish isn’t meant to be
overtly spicy, but if you prefer more heat, use the
full ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes. These chilled
noodles pair nicely with salmon, shrimp, tofu, or
chicken for lunch or a light dinner. Our recipe
for Chilled Soba Noodles with Cucumber, Snow
Peas, and Radishes for Two is available free for four
months at CooksIllustrated.com/aug19.
8 ounces dried soba noodles
1 (8-inch square) sheet nori (optional)
3 tablespoons white miso
3 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
¼–½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
⅓ English cucumber, quartered lengthwise,
seeded, and sliced thin on bias
4 ounces snow peas, strings removed,
cut lengthwise into matchsticks
4 radishes, trimmed, halved, and sliced into
thin half-moons
3 scallions, sliced thin on bias
1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Stir in
noodles and cook according to package directions,
stirring occasionally, until noodles are cooked through
VEGETABLE PREP SCHOOL
Here’s how to strategically cut the vegetables into shapes that will get tangled in the noodles instead of dropping to the bottom of the bowl.
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE
CUCUMBER SCALLIONS
Quarter lengthwise, seed, and slice Slice white and green parts thin on bias.
thin on bias.
Secrets to Stellar Soba Noodle Salad
Follow these guidelines to ensure properly seasoned, tender
noodles that don’t clump together.
1. Buy soba that lists wheat flour along with buckwheat
flour on the ingredient list. This type has a milder flavor than
the pure buckwheat style, and because of the gluten contrib-
uted by the wheat, it boasts a more resilient texture and a
nutty-sweet taste.
2. Don’t salt the water since the soba is served with a highly
seasoned dressing and the noodles themselves may have
been salted during manufacturing.
3. Follow package directions for timing since brands vary
widely. Check the noodles for doneness early and often.
4. Rinse the noodles with lots of cold water after draining RINSE CYCLE
them to stop cooking and remove excess surface starch that Cold water stops cooking and
could cause clumping. washes away surface starch.
but still retain some chew. Drain noodles and rinse halfway through toasting. Using scissors, cut nori
under cold water until chilled. Drain well and transfer into four 2-inch strips. Stack strips and cut crosswise
to large bowl. into thin strips.
2. Grip nori sheet, if using, with tongs and hold 3. Combine miso, mirin, oil, 1 tablespoon water,
about 2 inches above low flame on gas burner. sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl
Toast nori, flipping every 3 to 5 seconds, until nori and whisk until smooth. Add dressing to noodles and
is aromatic and shrinks slightly, about 20 seconds. If toss to combine. Add cucumber, snow peas, radishes,
you do not have a gas stove, toast nori on rimmed scallions, and nori, if using, and toss well to evenly
baking sheet in 275-degree oven until it is aromatic distribute. Season with salt to taste, and serve.
and shrinks slightly, 20 to 25 minutes, flipping nori
I N G R E D I E N T S P OT L I G H T MIRIN
The dressing for our soba noodles gets its depth from mirin, a Japanese rice
wine that can take different forms. The traditional form is hon-mirin (“real
mirin”), a delicately savory-sweet wine that’s made exclusively from fer-
mented rice and is available online and in some liquor stores. Supermarkets
sell a product labeled “sweet cooking wine,” “sweetened sake,” or “aji-mirin”
(“tastes like mirin”) that’s made with sweeteners, alcohol, rice, and salt. We
have determined that in applications where mirin is a main ingredient, it’s
worth seeking out the traditional, high-quality mirin. However, in recipes such
as this one that call for just a few tablespoons, it’s fine to use the supermarket NO NEED TO SPLURGE
stuff, which is much cheaper: In a taste test, we couldn’t tell which batch of Hon-mirin and aji-mirin both
noodles contained which type of mirin. work fine in this recipe.
RADISHES SNOW PEAS
Trim ends, halve, and slice into thin Remove strings and cut lengthwise into
half-moons. matchsticks.
july & august 2019
21
 An Uncommon Pie
The best fruit pie you’ve never made starts with fresh plums and whole-wheat flour.
j BY LEAH COLINS k

B
aking a blueberry, peach, or can therefore produce disappointingly
cherry pie is a terrific way to dense or crumbly baked goods—you’d
celebrate the abundant fruits normally be right. But my colleague Andrea
of summer. But I’ve spent the Geary came up with a unique method for
past several months baking pies for a adding whole-wheat flour to pie dough
forthcoming test kitchen pie book, and I that produces wonderfully tender and
urge you to consider another, less com- flaky results.
mon fruit filling for your next summer The method calls for using the food
pie: plums. The sweetness of ripe plums processor to make a paste with 1½ cups
is offset by their acidity level, which is of whole-wheat flour and two sticks of
higher than those of most other fruits; butter, effectively waterproofing the flour
when baked, plums offer a unique (no matter what kind of flour you use) and
sweet-tart fruitiness that will have you making it hard for the flour’s proteins to
hooked from the first bite. hydrate and form gluten. The paste is then
broken into chunks that are coated with
Plum Delicious 1 cup of all-purpose flour before being
For my pie, I used red or blue-black round tossed with half a stick of grated butter.
plums (2½ pounds for a 9-inch pie); they Finally, ½ cup of ice water is added,
are the most common and have an appeal- which hydrates the unprotected portion
ing, sweet yet bright flavor. If you’ve ever of flour and allows plenty of gluten to
made a peach pie, you probably remember form. Each nugget of the all-purpose flour
the tedious process of blanching and peel- dough is thus surrounded by a jacket of
ing the fruit so that the resilient skins don’t higher-gluten dough that provides plenty
ruin the tender, sliceable texture of the of structure.
filling. Well, I’m happy to report that with I used this whole-wheat dough to cre-
plums, peeling is not only unnecessary but ate a pie with a lattice top—a must since it
also detrimental. Plum skins are so thin A unique mixing method allows us to make a whole-wheat crust that’s would allow some of the plums’ moisture
and tender that they don’t detract from tender and flaky and has a nutty aroma. to evaporate during baking. Luckily, the
the succulent flesh, and if you remove the lattice was easy to weave since the dough
crimson-violet skins, the pie is not nearly as attractive Pie Dough with a Twist was relatively sturdy, and the pie baked up looking
(see “For Better Plum Pie, Leave the Skins On”). If my jammy, gingery filling has convinced you as great as it tasted. The crust was beautifully tender
I cut the plums into slim wedges, added them that plum pie is worth adding to your rotation, and flaky, with a tawny color and a nutty aroma
to a bowl with ¾ cup of sugar, and let them macer- great. Now, allow me to push you even further that paired beautifully with the ginger-scented
ate for 15 minutes. The sugar pulled juice out of outside the box with a pie dough that calls for plum filling.
the fruit that could be used to dissolve a thickener. whole-wheat flour. With this success under my belt, I also experi-
I wanted my thickener to produce a clear filling If you’re thinking that it would be wise to shy mented with an earthy rye pie dough that Andrea
to show off the plums. That meant that flour, which away from adding whole-grain flour to a pie crust developed, finding that it made a great match for
has a tendency to turn cloudy in fruit pie fillings, was since whole-grain flours are lower in gluten—and
out. In our Fresh Peach Pie (September/October
2013), we use both cornstarch and pectin to create
a translucent gel. But plums have more pectin than For Better Plum Pie,
peaches (one of the reasons they’re popular for Leave the Skins On
jams), so cornstarch alone was sufficient. Peeling slippery plums can be maddening, so we
Adding citrus is a common way to enhance fruit were happy to find that our pie actually turned out PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL TREMBLAY
pie fillings; here, I added floral lemon zest and tangy better when we left the skins on. The thin, tender
lemon juice to accentuate the tartness of the fruit. To skins dyed the filling a lovely purply-red, whereas
SKINS NO SKINS
perfume the plums with a sophisticated spiciness, I skinned plums produced a filling that looked
also added both ground and fresh ginger. like peaches. The bitter tannins in the skins also
produced a pie that tasted a bit less sweet, which
S T E P - BY- S T E P V I D E O A N D we preferred. Finally, the skins’ high concentration
N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N of pectin helped create a lightly gelled texture that
CooksIllustrated.com/AUG19 helped hold the filling together.

cook’s illustrated
22
another fruit that’s underused in pie: apricots.
I flavored the apricots with cardamom and vanilla
to enhance their aromatic sweetness.
FRESH PLUM-GINGER PIE WITH
WHOLE-WHEAT LATTICE-TOP CRUST
SERVES 8
TOTAL TIME: 2½ HOURS, PLUS 7 HOURS CHILLING
Be sure to weigh the flour. To ensure the best flavor,
use either recently purchased whole-wheat flour
or whole-wheat flour that has been stored in the
freezer for less than a year. In the mixing stage, this
dough will be more moist than most pie doughs, but
as it chills, it will become more workable. Roll the
dough on a well-floured counter. If at any point the
dough is too stiff to work with, let it sit at room tem-
perature until it is slightly softened but still very cold.
Conversely, if the dough becomes too soft to work
with, refrigerate it for 30 minutes to let it firm up. Our
recipe for Fresh Apricot, Vanilla, and Cardamom Pie
with Rye Lattice-Top Crust is available for free for
four months at CooksIllustrated.com/aug19.
Pie Dough
20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter,
chilled, divided
1½ cups (8¼ ounces) whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup ice water, divided
Filling
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
plus 1 tablespoon juice
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon table salt
2½ pounds plums, pitted and cut into
¼-inch-thick wedges
1 large egg, lightly beaten with
1 tablespoon water
1. FOR THE PIE DOUGH: Grate 4 tablespoons
butter on large holes of box grater. Transfer to freezer.
Cut remaining 16 tablespoons butter into ½-inch
cubes; set aside. Pulse whole-wheat flour, sugar, and
salt in food processor until combined, 2 pulses. Add
cubed butter and process until homogeneous paste
forms, about 2 minutes. Using your hands, carefully
break paste into 2-inch chunks and redistribute evenly
around processor blade. Add all-purpose flour and
pulse until mixture is broken into pieces no larger
than 1 inch (most pieces will be much smaller),
4 to 5 pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add
grated butter and toss until butter pieces are separated
and coated with flour.
2. Sprinkle ¼ cup ice water over mixture. Toss
with rubber spatula until mixture is evenly moistened.
S T E P BY S T E P WEAVING A LATTICE TOP
1. Evenly space 4 dough strips 2. Fold back first and third strips 3. Unfold first and third strips over
across top of pie, parallel to coun- almost completely. Lay 1 strip top of perpendicular strip.
ter edge. across pie, perpendicular to
counter edge.
4. Fold back second and fourth 5. Repeat, alternating between 6. Trim lattice ends, press edges
strips and add second perpendicu- folding back first and third strips and of bottom crust and lattice strips
lar strip. Unfold second and fourth second and fourth strips and laying together, and fold under. Crimp
strips. remaining strips evenly across pie. dough evenly around edge of pie.
Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup ice water over mixture into eight 1¼-inch-wide strips. Refrigerate strips on
and toss to combine. Press dough with spatula until sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.
dough sticks together. Use spatula to divide dough 5. FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to
into 2 even pieces. Transfer each piece to separate middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.
sheet of plastic wrap. Working with 1 piece at a Whisk sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, fresh ginger,
time, draw edges of plastic over dough and press ground ginger, and salt together in large bowl. Stir
firmly on sides and top to form compact, fissure-free in plums and lemon juice and let sit for 15 minutes.
mass. Press 1 piece into 5-inch disk. Press remain- Spread plum mixture into even layer in chilled
ing piece into 5-inch square. Wrap separately in dough-lined plate.
plastic and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or 6. To make lattice, evenly space 4 dough strips
up to 2 days. Let chilled dough sit on counter to across top of pie, parallel to counter edge. Fold back
soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling. first and third strips almost completely. Lay 1 strip
(Wrapped dough can be frozen for up to 1 month. across pie, perpendicular to counter edge, keeping
If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter it snug against folded edges of dough strips. Unfold
before rolling.) first and third strips over top of perpendicular strip.
3. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment Fold back second and fourth strips and add second
paper. Roll dough square into 10½ by 14-inch perpendicular strip. Repeat, alternating between
rectangle on well-floured counter. Transfer dough folding back first and third strips and second and
to prepared sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes. fourth strips and laying remaining strips evenly across
Meanwhile, roll dough disk into 12-inch circle on pie to create lattice pattern. Shift strips as needed so
well-floured counter. Loosely roll dough around they are evenly spaced over top of pie. Trim excess
rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, lattice ends, press edges of bottom crust and lattice
leaving at least 1-inch overhang around edge. Ease strips together, and fold under; folded edge should
dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly
with your hand while pressing into plate bottom around edge of plate using your fingers. Brush
with your other hand. Trim overhang to ½ inch dough with egg wash.
beyond lip of plate. Wrap dough-lined plate loosely 7. Bake pie on aluminum foil–lined rimmed bak-
in plastic and refrigerate until dough is firm, about ing sheet until crust is golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and
4. Transfer chilled dough rectangle, still on baking continue to bake until juices are bubbling and crust
sheet, to counter. Using pizza wheel, fluted pastry is deep golden brown, 35 to 50 minutes longer.
wheel, or paring knife, trim ¼ inch of dough from Let cool on wire rack until filling has set, about
long sides of rectangle, then cut rectangle lengthwise 4 hours. Serve.
july & august 2019
23
 Tasting International Yogurts
Three styles of yogurt have recently appeared on American supermarket shelves.
We tasted them alongside Greek and American yogurts to see how they measured up.
j BY KATE SHANNON k

W
hen thick, tart One of the biggest variables
Greek yogurt when making yogurt is the length
first became of fermentation. About half the
widely avail- companies shared information
able in the United States around about their processes. Among
2007, Americans were mainly those, we saw an enormous
eating thin, sweet yogurts. In range: from just 4 hours to around
10 years, Greek yogurt bal- 30 hours. That means some cul-
looned from 1 percent to tures had more time to convert
50 percent of U.S. yogurt sales. The eight yogurts we tasted varied in texture, ranging from thick (far left) to thin (far right). lactose to tangy lactic acid. Sure
Now, options such as Bulgarian, enough, the yogurts with the lon-
Australian, and Icelandic yogurts have emerged. Is Traditionally, the milk used to make yogurt was gest fermentation times in our lineup tasted the tartest
this just clever marketing by companies capitalizing cooked to thicken it. Robert Roberts, professor and and had some of the lowest sugar levels.
on Greek yogurt’s popularity, or do these products head of food science at Pennsylvania State University, To get a closer look, we had an independent lab
offer American consumers something different? told us that it’s common to use evaporated milk measure the yogurts’ pH levels. All the products in
To find out, we rounded up five styles of yogurt instead of regular milk because it contains more our lineup were fairly acidic. Most of the yogurts
for a total of eight products: three Icelandic yogurts protein, which leads to firmer body in the yogurt. had pH levels ranging from 4.11 to 4.44, with two
(or skyrs), two Bulgarian yogurts, one Australian Manufacturers can also thicken milk by adding nonfat especially bracing yogurts measuring 3.61 and 3.77.
yogurt (or “Aussie” yogurt, the company’s preferred milk powder. Because these products are technically Two of the styles, Greek and Icelandic, are strained
term), our favorite Greek yogurt, and our favorite milk without any other ingredients added, manufac- before being packaged. In addition to thickening the
traditional American-style yogurt. Tasters sampled turers are not required to list them on labels. yogurt, straining removes whey and concentrates the
them all plain, with granola, and in tzatziki. Using evaporated milk and/or adding nonfat protein in the yogurt. The Greek yogurt had 20 grams
We were surprised to learn that every yogurt milk powder also allows manufacturers to adjust a of protein per serving. The Icelandic skyrs had 24 to
was made in America. Another surprise: The U.S. yogurt’s fat content and body. The yogurts in our 26 grams, suggesting that they had been strained
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offers no lineup contained 8 to 11 grams of fat per serving more or made with a higher-protein milk base. The
special guidelines for the international styles. It with the exception of the one low-fat product, a Bulgarian, Aussie, and traditional American yogurts
merely defines yogurt as milk or cream that has been skyr, which had 3.5 grams per serving. But even this were not strained and contained less protein. Straining
cultured with two species of bacteria, Streptococcus low-fat yogurt tasted rich. also affects sugar content. Lactose is mostly found in
thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. It also sets the whey, so when the whey is removed, the sugar
certain requirements for elements such as milk fat, Eight Very Different Yogurts goes with it. As a result, the Greek and Icelandic-style
acidity, and sweeteners. But that’s it. To start the fermentation process, the milk is heated strained yogurts had less sugar per serving, while the
and the cultures are added. The cultures convert the unstrained American and Aussie yogurts had more.
Anything but Plain lactose (the sugar naturally present in milk) to lactic
The yogurts we tasted varied in flavor and texture. acid, which gives yogurt its tang and causes the milk’s Choose What’s Right for You
The Icelandic skyrs (“skeers”) were the most like proteins to gel and thicken the yogurt. The products So how do you decide what to buy? The skyrs were
Greek yogurt: thick and more tart and tangy than each contained a variety of cultures, and we were as luxuriously thick as our favorite Greek yogurt but a
sweet. One in particular was “bright” and “lemony.” curious about how they differed. bit less chalky. Their mild-to-tangy flavor was similar
The Bulgarian yogurts, the thinnest in our lineup, The two species of bacteria required by the FDA to that of Greek-style yogurt, too. If you like Greek
tasted bracingly tart. In addition, tasters noticed for yogurt have countless different strains. Mirjana yogurt, give skyr a try. The acidic Bulgarian yogurts
“funky,” “salty,” almost “savory” qualities that were Curic-Bawden, a scientist at Chr. Hansen, a com- boosted the flavor of tzatziki and would add vibrance
too strong for some when eating the yogurts plain but pany that develops cultures for use in dairy products, to other savory dishes. The Aussie yogurt was fairly
worked well with other bold ingredients in tzatziki. explained that all the strains “have different character- sweet and, while thinner than the strained yogurts,
The Aussie and American yogurts were looser than istics with regards to texture, flavor, mildness, [and] still thick and rich. Because they’re not strained during
the Icelandic and Greek products but thicker than how much acid they can produce.” In other words, processing and are thinner, the Bulgarian, Australian,
the Bulgarian ones. Tasters described the Aussie and although each species appears only once on a given and traditional American yogurts can’t be substituted
American yogurts as “mild” and “slightly sweet.” label, it’s possible that companies are using more directly for Greek yogurt in recipes; they must first be
Ingredient-wise, the yogurts we tasted contained than one strain of each to create a desired flavor and strained overnight in a fine-mesh strainer lined with a
only milk and/or cream and bacterial cultures. (One texture. But what about the other species listed on coffee filter or cheesecloth.
product used pectin as a thickener.) To understand our yogurts’ labels, such as Lactobacillus paracasei and These international yogurts were plain, but they
why the yogurts varied so much in texture and flavor, Bifidobacterium lactis? According to Roberts, they are were anything but boring. They vary so much in both
we wanted to learn more about how yogurt is made. secondary in importance. flavor and texture that we think they’re all worth a try.

cook’s illustrated
24
LEGEND:
FAT TASTING INTERNATIONAL YOGURTS
SUGAR We sampled five styles of yogurt (a total of eight products): three Icelandic, two Bulgarian, one Australian (or “Aussie,” the company’s preferred
PROTEIN term), and our favorite Greek and traditional American-style yogurts. We tasted them plain, with homemade granola, and in tzatziki. Ingredients
were taken from product packaging. Nutritional information was obtained from the labels and is based on a 227-gram (about 1 cup) serving.
z Manufacturers provided additional processing information. An independent lab measured pH levels. We purchased the yogurts in Boston-area
C AT E G O RY
WINNER supermarkets. The yogurts are listed by style, from thickest to thinnest. We named a category winner in each style.

GREEK

FAGE Total Classic Greek Yogurt COMMENTS: Our favorite whole-milk Greek yogurt combines
all the qualities we love about the style: It’s “plush,” “pillowy,”
11 g PRICE: $6.99 for 35.3 oz ($0.20 per oz) and “buttery” in texture, and its “delicate” flavor is “acidic but
INGREDIENTS: Grade A pasteurized milk and cream, not overly so.” Unlike some Greek yogurts on the market, it’s
7g live active yogurt cultures (L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus, strained and has no added thickeners or stabilizers. It was the
pH:
L. acidophilus, Bifidus, L. casei) “perfect backdrop” to the other ingredients in tzatziki and a
20 g 4.24
good “neutral” base for granola.
ICELANDIC (SKYR)

GREEN MOUNTAIN CREAMERY COMMENTS: Tasters loved that this skyr was “rich in flavor
8g Skyr Icelandic Style Yogurt and body” and marveled that it didn’t feel heavy despite being
so thick. It had a “subtle yet distinct tanginess” and “plenty of
PRICE: $4.99 for 24 oz ($0.21 per oz) flavor” without overwhelming the granola or the other ingredi-
3g INGREDIENTS: Pasteurized whole milk. Contains the
pH: ents in the tzatziki.
following live cultures: S. thermophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp.
24 g 4.11 Bulgaricus, B. lactis, L. acidophilus, L. casei
ICELANDIC PROVISIONS Plain Skyr COMMENTS: We never would have guessed that this skyr was
3.5 g PRICE: $5.99 for 24 oz ($0.25 per oz) made with low-fat milk and contained half the fat of every
other product in our lineup. As with other strained yogurts, its
INGREDIENTS: Cultured pasteurized Grade A low fat
9g “thickness made it seem really indulgent” and “decadent.” It
milk. Live and active cultures: heirloom skyr cultures
pH: had a “clean dairy flavor” with “great tang” that was balanced
(Streptococcus Thermophilus Islandicus), Lactobacillus
26 g 4.38 out by “natural sweetness.”
Bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium
SIGGI’S Plain Whole Milk 4% Skyr COMMENTS: This product was the tangiest of the Icelandic-style
9g yogurts in our lineup. Tasters described its “bright, lemony” fla-
PRICE: $5.99 for 24 oz ($0.25 per oz)
vor as “beautifully tart.” Because of both its pronounced acidity
6g INGREDIENTS: Pasteurized whole milk, pasteurized cream,
and its lush texture, many people compared it to sour cream.
pH: live active cultures: S. thermophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp.
As with the other skyrs, its “rich and silky” texture was deemed
25 g 4.25 Bulgaricus, B. lactis, L. acidophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp. Lactis
a good complement to both granola and tzatziki.
AUSTRALIAN

WALLABY Organic Aussie Smooth Plain COMMENTS: The only Australian-style yogurt in our lineup was
Whole Milk Yogurt an “in-between yogurt” in both flavor and texture. It wasn’t
strained and therefore was significantly thinner than the Greek
8g PRICE: $5.99 for 32 oz ($0.19 per oz) and Icelandic products but was thicker than the Bulgarian
INGREDIENTS: Cultured pasteurized whole organic milk. yogurt. Tasters could tell that this “very smooth and creamy”
10 g Live and active cultures: L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, yogurt contained more sugar than the Icelandic and Bulgarian
pH: S. thermophilus, Bifidus
4.44 styles. Some liked its “slight sweetness,” while others wanted a
11 g bit more acidity.
TRADITIONAL AMERICAN

BROWN COW Cream Top Plain Yogurt COMMENTS: Our favorite traditional whole-milk yogurt is
made without homogenizing the milk (an optional processing
9g PRICE: $3.99 for 32 oz ($0.12 per oz) step that keeps the fat and milk from separating), so the cream
INGREDIENTS: Cultured pasteurized whole milk, pectin, forms a layer and rises to the top during fermentation. The
13 g 5 live active cultures: S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, flavor seemed “mild” or “neutral” at first and had “a mild dairy
pH: L. acidophilus, Bifidus and L. paracasei tang on the finish.” It was on the sweet side, though, with the
8g 4.43
most sugar per serving in our lineup.
BU LGA R I A N

WHITE MOUNTAIN FOODS Whole Milk COMMENTS: If you’re accustomed to ultrathick yogurt or sweet
Bulgarian Yogurt yogurt, this Bulgarian-style product may seem like “a different
8g animal.” It’s unstrained and had a “looser, creamier texture.”
PRICE: $8.99 for 32 oz ($0.28 per oz) Some tasters thought it was “too thin,” but others thought it
5g INGREDIENTS: Organic Grade A pasteurized whole “coated the granola nicely.” Because we strained it before mak-
pH: milk and live cultures (L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, ing tzatziki, the sauce had a “nice creamy texture.” It was very
12 g 3.61 S. thermophilus, B. bifidum) tangy, and tzatziki made with it was “superflavorful.”
TRIMONA FOODS Bulgarian Plain Yogurt COMMENTS: Like the other Bulgarian-style yogurt we tried,
PRICE: $5.99 for 32 oz ($0.19 per oz) this product is not strained and has a thin, loose consistency.
8g INGREDIENTS: Pasteurized organic whole milk, live & Although different from what most of us were used to, this
active yogurt cultures: L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus, yogurt grew on us. “The more I eat, the more I like it,” said
6g L. acidophilus & Bifidobacterium one taster. Intensely flavorful, this yogurt was decidedly tart
pH: and “savory” and had a “hint of gaminess” that made it taste
8g 3.77 “farm fresh.” We loved the tanginess and complexity it added
to tzatziki.

july & august 2019

25
 Searching for the Best Kitchen Sponge
Doing dishes is a dirty job. Is there a kitchen sponge that makes it easier?
j BY KATE SHANNON k

W
e were scrambling eggs without
butter or oil in stainless-steel skillets
over high heat. The eggs stuck to
the pans and made terrible messes.
The test cooks working around us kept shaking
their heads, no doubt wondering why we hadn’t
switched to nonstick pans or tossed pats of butter
into the skillets. We just smiled and ignored them.
We wanted those eggs to stick. We’d just started
working on a review of kitchen sponges and needed
to use them for some challenging cleaning tasks. As
anyone who’s ever goofed up their scrambled eggs
knows, getting these skillets clean would be tough.
Our quest was to find the best all-purpose sponge,
so we nixed products that weren’t safe to use on
nonstick cookware. Several major brands had multiple
options for all-purpose sponges, so we conducted a
two-step preliminary test: cleaning onions and sticky,
cooked-on barbecue sauce off skillets and washing
delicate wine glasses, eliminating the lowest performer
from each brand. Our final 10 sponges varied consid-
erably in price, from about $0.70 to about $6.00 per
sponge, and came in a variety of designs and materials.
How We Tested
We expect a lot from a kitchen sponge, so we tested
accordingly, using them to clean nonstick, traditional,
and cast-iron skillets containing a variety of cooked-on
foods; mixing bowls with sticky biscuit dough; stained
carving boards; cheese-smeared box graters; dirty
chef’s knives; fragile wine glasses; and small measur-
ing spoons. Throughout testing, we controlled both
the water temperature and the amount of soap used.
We also sent three new copies of each sponge home
with staffers for several weeks of use in their kitchens.
Some sponges were ineffective and sometimes
downright unpleasant to use, but many performed
well and several really impressed us. To our surprise,
Our winning sponge ably tackled cooked-on eggs.
no one material or design stood out as best when it
came to performance; we found sponges we liked
across a range of materials and styles. So what mat-
tered most? Our favorites were more versatile, stayed
cleaner longer, and made quicker work of tough
messes such as those stuck-on scrambled eggs.
No Two Sponges Were the Same
We first looked at the scrubbing surfaces of the
sponges. Our favorites had coarse, textured surfaces.
Two had fibers formed into loops or woven into
netting that acted like mini scrapers. Others had
wide ridges or were covered with bumps and valleys
resembling an egg crate–style mattress pad.
The size of the sponges also mattered. The small-
est, though precise and agile, became too small when
squeezed to effectively clean larger items. Bigger
sponges were hard to maneuver into wine glasses or
tiny measuring spoons. The most versatile sponges
measured roughly 4.25 inches long, 2.5 inches wide,
and 1 inch thick.
Many people use sponges to clean up spills, so we
tested how much liquid the sponges could soak up.
Water streamed off the one all-silicone sponge: It
absorbed less than 4 grams, hardly enough to make
an impact on a big spill. The most absorbent sponge
soaked up more than 105 grams of liquid.
You Can’t Clean with a Dirty Sponge
By the end of testing, some of the sponges looked
downright dirty. One fabric-wrapped sponge became
so gunky that its fibers resembled a carpet into which
gum had been trampled, and food stuck to the sili-
cone sponge despite its “stay clean” promise. When
we tried to pluck trapped biscuit dough from two
other sponges, their fibers became pilled and grubby.
Other sponges trapped food temporarily but were
easier to rinse clean.
We also noted some wear and tear. Netting on
one sponge tore, and big patches of bristles were
missing from the silicone sponge; they had acciden-
tally been sliced off while cleaning a knife. All the
sponges were a little stained or discolored by the
end of testing, but we think that’s to be expected.
A Traditional (but Improved) Choice
Which kitchen sponge should you buy? The O-Cedar
Scrunge Multi-Use Scrubber Sponge impressed us
the most throughout testing. Its scrubbing surface
was heavily textured and gritty, so it was especially
effective at dislodging cooked-on food and grease.
It was also one of the more absorbent sponges we
tested, which makes it handy for cleaning counters
or wiping up spills. It was durable and easy to rinse
clean, even of sticky biscuit dough. Whether you
regularly cook elaborate meals and produce a pile of
hard-to-clean kitchen equipment or you just need
to wash a coffee mug every morning, we highly
recommend it.

What’s Growing in a Wet Kitchen Sponge?

We’ve always generally preferred to wring out our kitchen sponge and leave it in a dry place between uses,
assuming that a drier sponge harbors less microbial growth than a sopping one. But does it actually make a differ-
ence? We decided to find out. For 14 days, we used six identical sponges to clean up dishes, carefully measuring
the amount of food, as well as the temperature of the water and the amount of soap we used. After each use,
we squeezed the water out of three of the sponges and placed them in a dish rack so they could air-dry. We left
the other three wet and set them in open plastic bowls, mimicking sponges that had simply been dropped and
left in a damp place such as the bottom of your sink. After the two weeks, an independent lab measured the total
bacterial count of each sponge in colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL)—and the difference was stagger-
ing. The sponges that had been left wet averaged more than 500,000 CFU/mL, while the wrung-out sponges came in at just 20 CFU/mL. The lab did not differentiate
species of bacteria, so we don’t know if any of this bacteria was potentially pathogenic, but we’re still convinced. From now on, we’ll carefully wring out our kitchen
sponges and store them in a place where they can dry between uses. And we’ll insist that everyone else who does dishes in our kitchen do the same.

cook’s illustrated
26
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Then aunt took him upstairs to his room, and I was left alone with
Jack, who looked rather out of humour.

"How different from the dry-as-dust old professor we expected!" I

said to him. "He looks quite young."

"He says he is thirty-two," replied Jack. "I don't call that exactly
juvenile."

"It may not seem so to eighteen," I responded loftily.

"I shall be nineteen in July," said Jack hastily, "and you are only a
few months older, so there, Nan."

"I am aware of the fact," I said calmly, "and I consider myself quite
old enough. We were not discussing my age but Professor
Faulkner's."

"He does not like to be called Professor Faulkner," said Jack. "He
told me so."

"Did he?" I said. "That is rather sensible of him. He seems very

nice."

"Oh, of course, you'll think him so," said Jack impatiently. "Girls are
always taken with a fellow who gives himself airs like that."

"Airs like what?" I asked, but Jack vouchsafed no reply, and aunt
coming downstairs the next moment, he at once said that he must be
off. She detained him while she told him about the Americans, a
piece of news which seemed to cheer him somewhat. Then she
reminded him that he and his father were to dine with us on the
following evening, and he departed.

"Oh, auntie, how different from what we expected!" I said, as soon as

we were alone in the drawing-room. "He is not in the least like the
Vicar."
"Very different from what you expected," she retorted. "He is so
pleased with his room, Nan. He says he feels that he has come to a
haven of rest."

"How nice of him!" I said. "You like him, do you not, Auntie?"

"Yes," she said decidedly. "I feel sure that we shall find him easy to
get on with, and I am not often mistaken in first impressions."

Our guest did not join us till the dinner-gong sounded. When he
entered the dining-room I was glad that I had taken pains with my
toilet, for he was carefully dressed, and a little cluster of my
primroses adorned his dinner-jacket. He saw my eyes rest on them,
and said with a smile:

"You cannot think how pleased I was to find some primroses in my

room. It is years since I plucked an English primrose."

"You will be able to do so here," said my aunt; "they are coming out
in our woods, and will be plentiful in a week or two."

"I am so glad to hear it," he said simply. "They will be a delight to

me."

"Then you are not like the immortal Peter Bell?" I said, speaking my
thought almost involuntarily.

"By no means," he said, smiling, "since all the joys of my childhood

seem to live again for me when I see a primrose."

We got on marvellously well together on that first evening. Aunt and I

found him such an interesting companion that we almost forgot how
recent our acquaintance was. He talked a good deal about his life in
India, and it was evident that he had relinquished his work there with
great reluctance. He had met with sundry adventures there, too, of
which he spoke in the simplest fashion, but which showed me he
was a man of fine courage and a good sportsman. I thought that
Jack would like him better when he came to know more about him.
He made very light of the health failure which had brought him home.
It was the result of the warm, moist climate of the place of his
sojourn. He had got the better of the feverish attacks which had
prostrated him. What he lacked now was nervous strength, and that
he believed the fresh air and repose of the country would soon
restore.

When he said this, Aunt Patty explained that I too was suffering from
nervous exhaustion, and, rather to my vexation, told the story of my
disappointment. But as I met his look of perfect comprehension and
sympathy, I felt that I did not mind in the least.

"Ah, Miss Nan, don't I know what that meant for you!" he said. It was
strange how from the first he fell into the way of addressing me as
"Miss Nan," just as if he had known me all my life. And stranger still it
was that, though I was rather wont to stand on my dignity, I felt no
inclination to resent his thus dispensing with ceremony.

"It did seem hard at first," I murmured, "but now I don't mind."

"I know," he said. "It went sorely against the grain with me when I
found that I must resign my post at the college, and go back to
England. My students were very dear to me, and I hoped that I was
impressing some of them for good. But there was no alternative—if I
would go on living. So you and I have the same duty before us at
present—to lay up a fresh store of energy."

"I have found it an easy duty so far," I said cheerfully.

"Indeed, in this fair home, with the spring unfolding about us, and all
the lovely summer to come, it promises to be a delightful one," was
his ready response.

So a bond of mutual comprehension was at once established

between me and Alan Faulkner.

Aunt Patty got on with him equally well, and I could see by the way in
which he listened to her and deferred to her that he felt the attraction
of her unaffected goodness and kindness.

Nor was the Vicar less pleased when he made the acquaintance of
our guest on the following evening. He found an affinity with the
Professor at once, and showed a desire to monopolise his attention;
but whenever, as we sat at the table, their talk threatened to become
too abstruse, Mr. Faulkner would seek, by some explanatory word, to
draw me and aunt into it, or would try to divert it into a more ordinary
channel. How deep they plunged, or how far back in human history
they went after we left them to themselves, I cannot say. Their
conversation soon wearied Jack, for within five minutes, he joined us
in the drawing-room.

Jack was in rather a perverse mood.

"I suppose that is the sort of chap the governor would like me to be,"
he growled, "able to jaw on learned subjects in that conceited
fashion."

"Then I am afraid he will be disappointed," I said severely; "for even

if you succeed in passing your exam, you will never be in the least
like Mr. Faulkner."

"I am exceedingly glad to hear it!" he said with a disagreeable laugh.

It was so odd of Jack to take such a dislike to the Professor. I never

saw the least trace of conceit in his bearing, and he showed the
utmost consideration for Jack. I was vexed with the boy for being so
unreasonable; but it was of no use my saying anything—he only
grew worse.

For my part the more I saw of Alan Faulkner, the better I liked him. I
was glad we had time to get well acquainted with him before any
other guests arrived. For aunt's sake I was, of course, glad, but
otherwise I could have regretted that the Americans were coming on
the morrow.
 CHAPTER VII
THE AMERICANS

MR. JOSIAH DICKS and his daughter arrived on the following day,
just as we were about to sit down to luncheon. They drove in a fly
from Chelmsford and brought with them a goodly array of trunks and
valises, though they presently explained that this represented but a
fraction of their luggage.

He was a tall, thin, cadaverous-looking man, and had the yellow,

parchment-like complexion with which I had credited Professor
Faulkner; but his restless movements and keen, alert glances
showed him to be very much alive. His forehead was bald, save for a
wisp of hair which stood up on it in such a manner as to give him
somewhat the appearance of a cockatoo. His daughter was a tall,
slight, smart-looking girl. Her face was rather pasty in its colouring;
but the sharp, piquant features were not devoid of charm. She wore
a most remarkable hat, with so many wings sticking out of it that one
shuddered to think how many small birds had been slaughtered for
the gratification of her vanity. I could not admire it, yet it was of a
style that suited her. She was a striking figure as she entered the
house wearing a long, drab travelling coat with gilt buttons, and a
magnificent boa of Russian sable, with a muff of the same fur,
depending from her neck by a gold chain.

"So this is 'Gay Bowers!'" she said in a high, thin voice with the
unmistakable enunciation of an American as she looked about her,
frankly observant, "and really it is as pretty as its name. I call this old
hall perfectly lovely."
"It's real antique, this," said her father, speaking with a still more
striking accent, "that staircase now—"

But here my aunt's advance cut short his words.

"Mr. Dicks, I believe?" she said.

"Right you are, ma'am," he replied; "you see Josiah Dicks of

Indianapolis, and this is my daughter, Pollie—or, as she prefers to be
called, Paulina. We've come, as I wrote you we should, and I hope
you can take us in."

"I have some vacant rooms which I shall be happy to show you,"
said Aunt Patty, "but we were just going to lunch; will you not sit
down with us, and we can discuss business matters later."

"I guess that will suit us excellently, eh! What say you, Pollie?" was
his response. "The fact is, we left our hotel soon after ten, and the
fresh country air on the way hither has given a decided edge to our
appetites."

I took Miss Dicks to my room to refresh herself after the journey. She
sniffed with her pretty little nose as we went up the staircase, and
said, "How deliciously fresh it smells here! I hate the smell of
London, don't you? Are there many people staying in the house?"

"Why, no," I said, rather embarrassed by the question. "You see it is

a new thing for us to have boarders at 'Gay Bowers,' and at present
there are only ourselves and Mr. Faulkner."

She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, to be sure, and I

thought there would be twenty at least! I looked forward to music and
dancing in the evening!"

I felt inclined to laugh too, but I answered gravely, "Then I am afraid

our home will hardly suit you, for it is small, as you see, and we
could never accommodate more than half the number you name."
"I see," she said with a little pout. "Well, I must make the best of it
now, I suppose. I like the look of the lady, Mrs.—what is her name?"

"Mrs. Lucas," I said; "she is my aunt."

"Oh!" Thereupon she turned and looked at me from head to foot with
a thoroughness which let slip no detail of my appearance. My colour
rose, yet I gave her credit for intending no insolence by her cool
survey.

A moment later, as she removed her hat with her eyes on the mirror,
I took the opportunity to observe her more closely. Her hair was a
pale brown and fairly plentiful. It presented an arrangement of poufs
and combs, and tortoiseshell ornaments, which was quite novel to
me. I found it more extraordinary than beautiful, though when I got
used to the style I saw that it suited her.

The travellers had acquired the art of quickly making themselves at

home. As we took our luncheon they spoke and acted as if "Gay
Bowers" belonged to them. More than once I saw Aunt Patty flush
with resentment at what she evidently considered an impertinence.
But she had the good sense to hide her annoyance.

Cook, knowing that strangers were expected, had risen to the

occasion and sent up some very dainty dishes. Josiah Dicks did
ample justice to her excellent pastry, although he assured us he was
a martyr to dyspepsia.

When luncheon was over, aunt offered to show our visitors the
rooms she could give them. As they followed her from the room,
Miss Dicks turned and said to me in a very audible undertone, "How
very good-looking he is!" She jerked her head towards the window
where Alan Faulkner stood playing with Sweep. It was extraordinary
how that dog had taken to him. Ever since my arrival I had sought in
vain to coax her into accompanying me on my walks. She had
always preferred to wander alone about uncle's favourite haunts, or
to crouch disconsolately on the mat outside his former sanctum; but
now she was ready to follow Mr. Faulkner anywhere.
"Oh, hush!" I responded in a whisper to Miss Dicks's remark. "He
may hear you."

"Would it matter if he did?" she returned coolly. "Men like to be told

that they are good-looking."

"That may be," I replied; "but it is a taste I should not care to gratify."

She laughed.

"Pollie Dicks," called her father from the staircase, "are you coming
to choose your room?"

"He means to stay," she said to me with a sagacious nod, "and I've
no objection."

When she came downstairs a little later, Aunt Patty told me that Miss
Dicks had chosen the room on the left of mine. It was a large room,
commanding the front of the house. Her father had had to content
himself with a smaller room at the back.

"He seems much pleased with the place," said my aunt, "but his
daughter is evidently afraid of finding it dull."

"Do you like them, auntie?" I asked.

An odd smile crossed her face.

"They are mortals," she said. "I don't quite know what to make of
them, but I mean to like them, Nan. I cannot afford to quarrel with my
bread and butter."

"Still, I do think that they might have behaved a little more like
'guests' at luncheon," I said. "Mr. Dicks asked for 'crackers' just as if
he were in an hotel."

"I must confess that I felt rather riled for a moment," said my aunt;
"but I am sure he did not mean to annoy me. They are evidently
used to hotel life, and they cannot guess, nor do I wish that they
should, how it feels to me to receive strangers thus into my home.
My common-sense tells me that I must not allow myself to be over-
sensitive. I only hope Mr. Faulkner will like them."

"He seems to like them," I said.

Indeed I had been astonished to see the friendly interest in the

newcomers which he displayed, and the readiness with which he
talked to them.

The following day was Easter Sunday, and for once the weather was
all that one could wish it to be upon that day. It was not exactly
warm, but the sun shone brightly, and there was a delicious,
indescribable feeling of spring in the air. The trees were budding,
and the hedges breaking into leaf. Every day now showed some
fresh sign of spring's advance.

We all went to church in the morning. Mr. Dicks was struck with the
venerable beauty of our church, but he was severe in his criticism of
the service and the sermon. He had no patience with the defects of
our choir, and certainly their singing was very rural. He was anxious
to impress us with the superior order of things to be found in
America.

Jack joined us after the service, and we all, with the exception of my
aunt, took a short walk before luncheon. Mr. Dicks explained that he
was not fond of walking, but that his doctor had advised him to walk
several miles every day. His daughter frankly said that she hated it,
and certainly the smart pointed shoes she wore appeared ill adapted
to our country roads. I saw Mr. Faulkner looking at them, and
wondered whether he were admiring, or merely struck, as I was, with
their unsuitability.

"Pollie is fond of cycling," said Mr. Dicks, looking at me. "Do you
cycle?"

"I can," I said, "but unfortunately I have no bicycle of my own. I use

my sister's sometimes when I am at home."
"That is a pity," he said. "Pollie's machine will be sent down to-
morrow. It would be nice if you could ride with her."

"Do you cycle?" asked Miss Dicks, turning to Mr. Faulkner.

"I have not ridden since I came back from India," he said.

"Did you ride there?" she asked.

"Yes; I often rode with my students," he said. "In the province where I
was living the roads were as smooth and level as a billiard-table, so
that riding was delightful."

"Then I don't wonder that you have not ridden since," Jack said.

"Are the roads very bad about here?" she asked, glancing at him.
"You ride, of course?"

"They are not so bad," he replied, "but I don't say they would
compare favourably with a billiard-table."

"You will ride with me, won't you?" she said to him with a fascinating
smile.

"With pleasure," he responded, adding loyally, "and we'll hire a

machine at Chelmsford, so that Miss Nan can accompany us."

"And you will come, too, will you not?" she said, turning towards
Professor Faulkner.

I did not hear his reply, for at that moment Mr. Dicks addressed a
question to me; but it struck me that she was rather a forward young
woman.

Two days later a consignment of trunks arrived for Miss Dicks. She
had already displayed such a variety of pretty and fashionable
changes of attire that I wondered how many more clothes she had.
Judging by the size of her trunks she might have had a different
gown for each day of the year.
She appeared delighted to receive her luggage, and spent the
greater part of the next day in her room, engaged in unpacking the
boxes. Late in the afternoon I was going upstairs when I heard a
voice calling, "Nan, Nan!" Glancing upwards, I saw Miss Dicks
standing at the door of her room. I had not given her permission to
address me by my Christian name, and it would not have occurred to
me to call her "Pollie." But this was only another instance of the
inimitable coolness with which she made herself at home with us all.
I could only conclude that her free and easy bearing was typically
American, and endeavour to reconcile myself to it with as good a
grace as possible.

"Do come here, Nan, and look at my things," she cried as she saw
me.

As I entered her room I exclaimed at the sight it presented. Bed,

sofa, table, chairs, and even the floor were littered with all kinds of
choice and pretty things, making the place look like a bazaar. There
were mosaics and marbles from Italy, Roman lamps, conchas,
cameos, exquisite bits of Venetian glass, corals and tortoise-shells
from Naples, silk blankets from Como, and olive-wood boxes from
Bellagio. But it is vain to attempt to name all the things that met my
eyes. I think there were specimens of the arts and manufactures of
every place which she and her father had visited.

"Oh, how lovely!" I exclaimed. "But what will you do with all these
things? Are you going to open a shop?"

"Not exactly," she said with a laugh. "I am going to take them back to
America with me. Some are for myself, and some for my friends.
Father wanted me not to unpack them till we got them home, but I
felt that I must look and see if they were all safe."

For the next half-hour I had nothing to do but admire. There were
little boxes packed with small and rare ornaments, which she opened
one by one to show me the contents. I felt sure now that Josiah
Dicks must be a millionaire. It was a delight to me to see so many
pretty things, and their possessor seemed to enjoy my appreciation
of them.

"Aunt Maria begged me to buy everything I wanted. She said, 'Now

don't come home and say "I wish I had bought this, that, or the
other." Get all that pleases you while you are there,'" Miss Dicks
explained.

"You seem to have obeyed her most thoroughly," I remarked. "Does

your aunt live with you at home?"

"Yes, I have no mother, you know," she said. "She died when I was a
child. She nursed my little brother through scarlet fever. He died, and
then she took it and died."

She told me this in the most matter-of-fact way; but somehow I felt
differently towards her after she said that. I was feeling rather
envious of the girl who had carte blanche to spend money so
lavishly, and wondering what Olive and Peggy would say when they
heard of it, but now I felt that, though we girls had so few of the
things that money could buy, yet, as long as we had father and
mother and one another, we were richer than Paulina Dicks.

When I had looked at everything, she startled me by saying:

"Now I want you to choose something for yourself."

My colour rose as I replied by saying hurriedly:

"Oh, no, I cannot do that!"

"Why not?" she asked, surveying me with frank surprise. "When you
see that I have such heaps of things? I can never make use of them
all myself." But I still decidedly declined.

"Take this coral necklace," she said. "You were admiring it, and it
would look pretty on the black frock you wear of an evening. Why,
what is the matter with you? Are you proud? I believe you are, for
you never call me by my name, although I call you 'Nan.'"

"I will call you whatever you please," I said, "but I cannot accept any
of your pretty things, for you did not buy them for me."

"No, because I did not know you when I bought them; but I meant to
give a good many away. Oh, very well, Miss Darracott, I see you do
not mean to be friendly with Paulina Dicks!"

So in the end I had to yield, and accepted a little brooch of Florentine

mosaic, which I have to this day. And I promised that I would call her
Paulina.

"Paulina Adelaide is my name," she said. "No one calls me Pollie

except my father. And one other person," she added, as an
afterthought.

Presently she asked me if I thought Mrs. Lucas would like to see her
collection of pretty things. I said I was sure that she would, and ran
to call my aunt. When aunt came, Paulina exhibited everything
afresh, and described in an amusing fashion how she had made
some of her purchases. The dressing-bell rang ere aunt had seen
everything. Then their owner plaintively observed that she did not
know how she should get them all into their boxes again. Unpacking
was much easier than packing, she feared. Thereupon aunt and I
pledged ourselves to help her after dinner, with the result that we
were busy in her room till nearly midnight.

Paulina came to the dinner-table wearing a set of quaint cameo

ornaments, which excited Mr. Faulkner's attention. It appeared that
he knew something of cameos. He had passed through Italy on his
way home from India, and he and the Americans were soon
comparing their experiences of Vesuvius, Sorrento, and Capri, or
discussing the sights of Rome.

I listened in silence, feeling out of it all and rather discontented as I

compared Paulina's exquisitely-made Parisian frock with my own
homely white blouse. I must have looked bored when suddenly I
became aware that Alan Faulkner was observing me with a keen,
penetrating glance that seemed to read my very thoughts.

"We are wearying Miss Nan with our traveller's talk," he said. "She
has yet to learn the fascination of Italy. But the time will come, Miss
Nan."

"Never!" I said almost bitterly. "I see not the least chance of such
good fortune for me, and therefore I will not let my mind dwell on the
delights of travel!"

The look of wonder and regret with which Alan Faulkner regarded
me made me instantly ashamed of the morose manner in which I
had responded to his kindly remark. I heartily wished that I could
recall my words, or remove the impression they had created.

"Whatever he may think of Pollie Dicks," I said to myself as we rose

from the table, "he cannot help seeing that she is more good-natured
than I am."

CHAPTER VIII
A PRINCELY GIFT

"IS Miss Nan here?" asked Mr. Dicks, opening the door of the
drawing-room, where I had been pouring out tea for Aunt Patty and
such of her guests as liked the fragrant beverage. Josiah Dicks
never drank tea; his daughter took it with a slice of lemon in Russian
fashion.

"Yes, I am here," I responded. "What can I do for you, Mr. Dicks?"

"Just come this way, young lady, that is all," he said. "I have
something to show you."

As I rose and went towards him, I saw a look of amusement on Alan

Faulkner's face. Our eyes met, and we smiled at each other as I
passed him. He and I got a little quiet fun sometimes out of the
Americans. I could not help thinking that he wanted to come too and
see whatever Mr. Dicks had to show me.

It was a lovely day towards the end of April, the first really warm day
we had had. The hall door was open. Signing to me to follow him,
Josiah Dicks led the way to the back of the house, where was the
tool-house in which Pollie's bicycle was kept. She had already taken
one or two rides with Jack Upsher, but there had been some little
difficulty in hiring a bicycle for me, and I had not yet had a ride with
her.

As I approached the tool-house I saw Paulina within, flushed with

sundry exertions. She had just removed the last wrapping from a
brand-new machine.

"What!" I exclaimed. "Another bicycle! What can you want with two?"
Her beautiful machine had already moved me to admiration, if not to
envy, and here she was with another first-class one!

"Pollie does not want two, but I guess you can do with one," said Mr.
Dicks. "This is yours, Miss Nan."

I think I was never so taken aback in my life. I did not know what to
say. It seemed impossible that I could accept so valuable a gift from
one who was almost a stranger; yet I could see that both Josiah
Dicks and his daughter would be dreadfully hurt if I refused it. I knew
too that he did not like the idea of Paulina's riding about the country
alone, and that this was his way of securing a companion for her. I
tried to say that I would regard it as a loan; but that would not do. I
had to accept it. I had heard mother say that it sometimes takes
more grace to receive a gift than to bestow one, and I felt the truth of
the words now. I fear I expressed my thanks very awkwardly, yet I
was truly grateful in spite of my overwhelming sense of obligation.

"You must try it," cried Paulina eagerly. "Let us take it round to the
front of the house, and I'll mount you."

In a few minutes I was riding up and down the short drive before the
house. Mr. Faulkner caught sight of me from the drawing-room
window, and he and aunt came out to see what it meant. Aunt Patty
was as much astonished as I was by Josiah Dicks's munificence; but
she had more presence of mind and thanked him very warmly for his
kindness to me.

"That's all right," he said; "you've no need to thank me. It's just as it
should be. I like to see young people enjoy themselves. They'll never
be young but once."

Meanwhile Mr. Faulkner had been quietly examining my machine,

and he told me, in an aside, that it had all the latest improvements,
and was one of the best he had ever seen.

Certainly I found it an easy one to ride, and after a little practice I

began to feel as if it were part of myself. It was too late for us to do
much that day; but Paulina got out her machine, and we rode as far
as the village. As we passed the Vicarage we caught sight of Jack in
the garden. He shouted as he saw me spinning by, and I had to halt
and show him my delightful gift. He seemed almost as pleased as I
was. We arranged forthwith to ride with him on the following
afternoon. After dinner, I managed to get away by myself for a time,
and wrote a long letter to mother, for I felt that I must tell her about
my present.

It would not be easy to say how much enjoyment I derived from Mr.
Dicks's gift. As long as the weather continued fair, Paulina and I rode
every day. Jack accompanied us as often as he could, and was
sorely tempted to curtail the time he devoted to his studies. Then
one morning, Mr. Faulkner went to London by an early train, and
when he came back in the evening he brought a bicycle with him.
After that he too was often our companion. If we rode out a party of
four, Jack always elected to ride beside me, while Paulina seemed
equally bent on securing Mr. Faulkner as her escort, so that I had
little opportunity of talking with him. This vexed me somewhat, for
Alan Faulkner had generally interesting things to tell one, whereas
Jack's never-ceasing flow of small talk was apt to become a trifle
wearisome. We had some delightful rides and visited most of the
picturesque villages or fine old churches within twenty miles of "Gay
Bowers." But after Miss Cottrell came to stay with us, I was less free
to scour the country.

Colonel Hyde and Miss Cottrell arrived about the same time, when
spring was merging into summer, and we fondly hoped that cold
winds were over. There was no other connection between these two
individuals. The Colonel was an old friend of Mr. Upsher's. He was
Jack's godfather, and being a widower and childless, the chief
attraction "Gay Bowers" had for him was that it was so near
Greentree Vicarage.

Miss Cottrell might have been fifty. She informed Aunt Patty that she
was thirty-nine, and my aunt charitably believed her, though she
certainly looked much older. She was fond of the country, and her
coming was simply the result of seeing our advertisement. She
furnished aunt with references to persons of good social standing,
yet somehow she always struck us as not being exactly a
gentlewoman. She said she had been a governess for many years, a
fact which perhaps accounted for her worn and faded appearance,
but had taught only in the "best families." As she occasionally let fall
an "h" or made a slip in grammar, we came to the conclusion that the
"best families" known to her had not a high standard of education.
She was fond of talking of a certain Lady Mowbray, with whom she
had lived in closest intimacy for many years. "Dear Lady Mowbray"
was quoted on every possible occasion, till we grew rather weary of
her name, and longed to suggest that she should be left to rest in her
grave in peace. We knew she was dead, for Miss Cottrell had
spoken of the "handsome legacy" which this friend had left her. This
sum of money, together with some property she had inherited from
an uncle, had rendered it unnecessary for her longer to "take a
situation," a consummation for which she seemed devoutly thankful.

Yet Miss Cottrell was by no means of an indolent nature. She prided

herself on her active habits, and was especially fond of gardening.
Her love for this pursuit brought her into collision with old Hobbes,
our gardener. He could not forgive her for presuming to instruct him
on certain points, and when she offered to help him, he well-nigh
resigned his post. In order to secure peace between them, aunt had
to make over to her a tiny plot of ground, where she could grow what
she liked, and make what experiments she pleased, Hobbes being
strictly forbidden to interfere with it. The scorn with which he
regarded her attempts at horticulture was sublime.

Unfortunately, though fond of exercise, Miss Cottrell did not care for
solitary walks, and I often felt it incumbent on me to be her
companion. Her society was far from agreeable to me. It was
wonderful how little we had in common. Although she had been a
governess, she seemed absolutely without literary tastes, and even
devoid of all ideas that were not petty and trivial. Every attempt to
hold an intelligent conversation with her brought me face to face with
a dead wall.

All she cared for was to dwell on personal details of her own life or
the lives of others. She had an insatiable curiosity, and was for ever
asking me questions concerning my aunt or her guests, or my own
home life, which I could not or would not answer. Her love of gossip
led her to visit daily the one small shop the village could boast, and
marvellous were the tales she brought us from thence. She was
ready to talk to any one and every one whom she might encounter.
She was fond of visiting the cottagers, and they appreciated her
visits, for she listened attentively to the most garrulous, and told
them what to do for their rheumatism or cramp, and how to treat the
ailments of their children. I must say she was very kind-hearted; her
good nature and her love of flowers were her redeeming qualities.

She professed to admire the Vicar's preaching, and she often found
cause to visit the Vicarage. She paid both the Vicar and his friend
the Colonel more attention than they could appreciate. And the worst
of it was that she was slower to take a hint than any one I had ever
known. How Aunt Patty bore with her irritating ways I cannot tell.
Miss Cottrell certainly put a severe strain upon the politeness and
forbearance of her hostess. She was not a bad sort of woman, but
only insufferably vulgar, tactless and ill-bred.

Paulina made fun of her, yet neither she nor her father seemed to
object to Miss Cottrell's cross-questioning, or to shun her society; but
Colonel Hyde and Professor Faulkner would make their escape from
the drawing-room whenever it was possible, if that lady entered it.
Aunt confessed to me that she longed to dismiss this unwelcome
guest, but had no sufficient excuse.

She had not been with us very long when Josiah Dicks had an attack
of illness. Miss Cottrell, having wrung from me the statement that I
believed him to be a millionaire, evinced the utmost interest in the
American. She annoyed me very much by saying that she could see
that Professor Faulkner was looking after his money by courting
Paulina. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It was, of course,
possible that Alan Faulkner might be attracted by Paulina, but he
was not the man to woo her for the sake of her father's wealth. But it
was absurd of me to mind what such a one as Miss Cottrell said.

Though he was very far from well, Mr. Dicks would not stay in his
room, but hung about the house looking the colour of one of the
sovereigns he spent so lavishly. Miss Cottrell was full of sympathy
for him. She suggested various remedies, which he tried one after
another, while he rejected Aunt Patty's sensible advice that he
should send for a medical man from Chelmsford.

Miss Cottrell's solicitude contrasted oddly with Paulina's apparent

indifference. When she came downstairs the next morning she was
wearing a hat, and carried a coat over her arm, and she said quite
calmly as she took her place at the breakfast-table:

"Poppa says he is worse. He has been in awful pain all night, and
has not slept a wink. He thinks he is dying."

"My dear," ejaculated Aunt Patty, "I am distressed to hear it. And are
you going for the doctor?"

"Oh, no," said Paulina, opening her eyes widely. "He isn't dying, you
know. I am going to London."

"On his account—to get him medicine perhaps?" suggested my aunt

anxiously.

Paulina glanced across the table with amusement in her eyes.

"I am going to London to have a new gown fitted," she said, "and to
do some shopping."

"But, my dear Miss Dicks, what will your father do without you? Is it
well that you should leave him alone all day when he is suffering
so?"

My aunt looked amazed as she put these queries.

"Oh, he says now that he will see a doctor," Paulina replied. "I can
call and tell him to come if he lives near the station. I should do
Poppa no good by staying at home. He has had these attacks
before, and they will take their course. I knew he would be ill when I
saw him eating that salmon."

"But would you not like to see the doctor yourself?" aunt said.
"Cannot you put off going to London for a day or two?"

"That would inconvenience Madame Hortense," Paulina said gravely.

"No, I had better keep my appointment. I know you will look after
Poppa, Mrs. Lucas, and you will help her, will you not, Miss Cottrell?"