The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook by The Editors at America's Test Kitchen Read Free Book Online Page A

Shake colander to drain off excess tomato juice. Discard juice; wipe out bowl.
    3. Transfer tomato mixture to bowl. Add 2 teaspoons lime juice, salt, and pepper and toss to combine. Add sugar to taste and additional lime juice to taste before serving.

TEST KITCHEN TIP NO. 4 TOMATOES—SKIP THE FRIDGE, PLEASE
    We never store tomatoes in the refrigerator. Cold damages tomatoes in two ways: It destroys an enzyme that produces flavorful compounds, and it makes water in the tomato expand, rupturing cells and turning the flesh mealy. But what about storing a partially used tomato? We cut a dozen ripe tomatoes in two, stored half of each in the fridge, and kept the other half at room temperature (both were wrapped tightly in plastic wrap). After a few days, the halves at room temperature had begun to soften, while the refrigerated halves were still as firm as the day they were cut. Upon tasting, however, we found the refrigerated halves were bland and mealy compared with the never-refrigerated halves. Our advice? Keep cut tomatoes tightly wrapped at room temperature and consume them within a few days. The shelf life gained by refrigeration doesn’t make up for the loss in flavor and texture.

ONE-MINUTE SALSA
    WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
    When we’re considering a quick snack of chips and salsa or a topping for our ultimate nachos, we don’t want to settle for the watery, overprocessed jarred stuff, especially when we can make a far better option from scratch in a few minutes. For a salsa that avoids the hassle of chopping multiple vegetables and herbs, we turned to the food processor. After a few tests, we happily discovered this salsa tastes just fine, and still beats out the commercial varieties, when made with canned diced tomatoes.

ONE-MINUTE SALSA
    MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
    This quick salsa can be made with either fresh or canned tomatoes, but if you’re using fresh, make sure they are sweet, ripe, in-season tomatoes. If they aren’t, canned tomatoes are a better choice.
¹⁄ 2
small jalapeño chile or ³⁄ 4 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
¹⁄ 4
small red onion
2
tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
2
teaspoons lime juice
1
small garlic clove, minced
¹⁄ 4
teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
2
small tomatoes (12 ounces), cored and cut into eighths, or 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
    Pulse all ingredients except tomatoes in food processor until minced, about 5 pulses, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Add tomatoes and pulse until roughly chopped, about 2 pulses. Serve.

CHUNKY GUACAMOLE
    WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
    Most guacamole recipes sacrifice the extraordinary character of the avocados by adding too many other flavorings, and the texture of these dips is usually reduced to an utterly smooth, listless puree. We wanted to highlight the buttery texture and nutty flavor of the avocado; any additions needed to provide bright counterpoints to the avocado without overwhelming it. Neither pureeing in a food processor nor mashing all the avocados at once—two commonly used methods—gave us guacamole with the right texture. Instead, mashing one of the avocados lightly with a fork and mixing it with most of the other ingredients, then gently mixing in the remaining avocados, broke down the cubes just enough to make an appealingly chunky yet cohesive dip. Restraint when incorporating additional ingredients was key. We added just enough onion, garlic, cumin, and jalapeño to lend balance and depth to our dip without overwhelming the starring ingredient. Acidity, in the form of lime juice, was a necessity, not only for flavor but also to help preserve the mixture’s green color.

CHUNKY GUACAMOLE
    MAKES 2¹⁄ 2 TO 3 CUPS
    To minimize the risk of discoloration, prepare the minced ingredients first so they are ready to mix with the avocados as soon as they are cut. Ripe avocados are essential here. To test for ripeness, try to flick the small stem off the end of the avocado. If it comes off easily and you can see