The Best Make-Ahead Recipe [Hardcover]

Cook's Illustrated Magazine (Editor), John Burgoyne (Illustrator), Daniel J. Van Ackere (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2007

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In its many publications and on TV, Cook's Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen offers exhaustively tested "best" recipes, tips, and product evaluations. Among its cookbooks, The Best Make-Ahead Recipe offers over 300 formulas that can be prepared in advance, held, and finished later. The recipes range widely from pre-prepared oven-ready dishes like Baked Fish Provençal; "double-duty" recipes, such as Mexican-Style Pork and Chorizo Stew, that use leftovers imaginatively; slow-cooker items like Tuscan white bean soup; and desserts, such as a chocolate soufflé that can go from freezer to oven successfully. In addition, the fully illustrated book offers helpful charts like How to Reheat, which provides advice according to portion size and heating method; special-occasion menus that can be started up to a month ahead; and discerning product and equipment advice.

As with other Cook's Illustrated projects, Make-Ahead includes recipes that have appeared previously in its other works, though a majority of these have been amended with make-ahead or scaling-up data. Almost all the recipes are prefaced with their trademark testing "diaries," exhaustively detailed accounts of the recipe-making process ("With the onion shells figured out, we focused next on the filling...," gives the flavor), which some readers will find enlightening, but others will think excessive. Of course, certain recipes, or recipe classes, like that for desserts, are necessarily made wholly or partially in advance--but the book's point is to provide formulas designed to yield superior results even when the uncompleted dishes are held, as most can be, in the refrigerator or freezer. Mission accomplished. Readers will find the book a consistently reliable resource for superior make-ahead dishes for everyday and special-occasion cooking. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

The thorough, ever-reliable experts at Cook's Illustrated (The Best 30 Minute Recipe, The New Best Recipe) return with definitive make-ahead recipes for a number of classic dishes. Busy cooks will find recipes for standards such as Lasagna and Twice-Baked Potatoes as well as Slow-Cooked Barbecued Brisket and Lamb and Eggplant Moussaka. It should be noted that while the final steps-thawing a dish or throwing a prepared casserole directly in the oven-are easy, preparation often requires some planning. The authors' well-known compulsion to test recipes multiple ways before declaring a "best" version leads to text-heavy introductions for each dish, but readers are frequently rewarded with helpful tips and tricks. Flat no-bake lasagna noodles make fine stand-ins for the titular pasta in Baked Manicotti, and flank steak frozen for twenty minutes firms up the fibers before it's sliced to accommodate a cheese and spinach stuffing. Combined with a plethora of recommendations for everything from dutch ovens and hand blenders to "the best dark chocolate," this title makes a helpful resource for cooks with a passion for doing their "best."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 435 pages
• Publisher: America's Test Kitchen; 1st edition (March 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933615141
• ISBN-13: 978-1933615141
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Professional Cooking > Quantity
  • #56 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Entertaining
  • #94 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Occasions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

278 of 290 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Do You Own "Cover & Bake?", August 25, 2007

By 

NuJoi "Create with me" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Best Make-Ahead Recipe (Hardcover)

If you don't own "Cover & Bake," this a five-star book; skip down to "Here's What I Like ..."

I think this may be the lowest rating I've ever given to a CI book (I own seven in the Best series and a handful of others.) If you own "Cover & Bake," you have many of the recipes in this book, hence the low rating.

Some of the shared recipes include:
Slow Cooker Favorites (5 of the 17 are shared with C&B)
-Pot Roast
-Beef Stew
-Brisket
-Chili
-Beef & Barley Soup

Sides (There are two shared recipes)

Casseroles (There are more variations of the recipes in this book) both books share:
-Baked Ziti
-Lasagna
-Manicotti
-Mac & Cheese
-Chicken Enchiladas
-Chicken Pot Pie
-Beef Pot Pie
-Tamale Pie
-Shepherd's Pie
Lamb & Eggplant Moussaka
-Chicken & Rice Casserole

Breakfast & Breads (only the bread recipes are unique to this book. What irks me is that the same photo is used for the start of the breakfast chapters in each book.) Shared recipes are:
-24-Hour Omelet
-French Toast Casserole
-Breakfast Strata

Here is what I like about the book
-TOC in each chapter
-The Double-Duty Cooking Chapter is great -- cook a little extra now for tomorrow's dish that won't taste like leftovers
-All of the stews and the majority of the casseroles can be made ahead and frozen. Outside of those categories, you'll find maybe 10 additional recipes that can be frozen.
-Desserts
-Make-Ahead Holiday Menus

If you don't have "Cover & Bake" get this book. When reviewed in isolation, it is a five-star book. If you're deciding which to choose, this book has a range of recipes across appetizers, sides, main courses and desserts. If you're looking for a complete make-ahead meal, this book is the way to go.

80 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful cookbook!!!, July 22, 2007

By 

L. Martin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Make-Ahead Recipe (Hardcover)

I have purchased other make-ahead cookbooks, such as Once a Meal Cooking and Frozen Assets. This cookbook is the best I've found. This cookbook teaches you how to prepare dishes so that they test fresh when reheated.

I have tried several recipes in this cookbook and they have been great. I was skeptical that it was possible to freeze pasta dishes and reheat them without the pasta tasting mushy. But to my pleasant surprise, the pasta dishes were very good.

Some of the recipes in this book are not recommended for freezing. They are considered "make ahead" since they can be stored in your refrigerator for a few days before cooking or baking.

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed - not many freeze ahead recipes, May 14, 2007

By 

R. Lickman (ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Make-Ahead Recipe (Hardcover)

Once a month I get together with a friend and we make 10-12 meals to freeze for future use. I purchased this book with the understanding that there would be lots of recipes that I could make ahead and freeze. This book was not helpful for this purpose. There just weren't enough recipes that fall into the true make ahead and freeze category.

This book is well-organized, has good details/descriptions and some good recipes (some may be repeats from other publications). If you are a person who likes pictures, this book is not for you. I am a big fan of the publisher's other books. Sad that this one was such a disappointment!