Product Description

With Cover & Bake, the editors at Cook’s Illustrated set out to revive the venerable casserole. From Turkey Tetrazzini and Chicken Divan to Crab Imperial and Hoppin’ John, casserole cooking represents the ingenuity and practicality of the American cook. In Cover & Bake, the editors set out to investigate the old standards and in the process have re-imagined the art of the one-dish meal to meet the demands of today’s cook.

Here you will find classic assemble and bake casseroles like Macaroni and Cheese and Creamy Chicken and Rice as well as more inventive dishes like Mediterranean Chicken Bake and Polenta Casserole with Italian Sausage. We’ve experimented with techniques that allow you to cook everything in just one pot where possible, avoiding the need for hours of preparation and clean up just to get a casserole in the oven. And nearly every recipe can be made ahead allowing busy cooks to serve these wholesome dishes on a busy weeknight.

Looking beyond what most people consider to be a casserole, the editors offer a rather original take on the subject with inventive skillet "casseroles," slow cooker meals that are really worth serving, pot pies with multiple topping options (many of which you can make ahead), oven braises and stews that cook in a low oven for hours so you won’t have to stand over a hot stove, and breakfast and brunch dishes that can be assembled the night before.

In addition, this book contains all the relevant tastings and testings conducted in America’s Test Kitchen. Learn which casserole dish is our hands-down favorite. Are all storage containers created the same? Want to know which slow cooker has the best combination of features?

In short, Cover & Bake is filled with 200 one-dish meals for everyday cooking. We’ve made these casseroles a whole lot better tasting while making sure that what everyone loves about casseroles remains – the fact that they are practical one-dish meals that require a minimum of fuss and last minute attention.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25474 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 338 pages

The New York Times, December 8, 2004
". . . .makes one-dish dinners a reality for average cooks, with honest ingredients and detailed make-ahead instructions."

From the Inside Flap
No potluck dinner or church supper would be complete without Baked Ziti or Tuna Noodle Casserole. But are these dishes ever as good as they sound? More often than not, the noodles are dry and crunchy, the sauce lackluster, and the overall dish, well, passable at best. And while everyone loves the idea of a one-dish meal that is made ahead and pulled hot and browned from the oven, the reality is often disappointing.

With Cover & Bake, the editors of Cook’s Illustrated set out to revive the venerable casserole. This kind of cooking is uniquely American, and many recipes have deep roots in regional traditions. From Turkey Tetrazzini and Chicken Divan to Crab Imperial and Hoppin’ John, casseroles represent the ingenuity and practicality of the American cook. But over the last 50 years, many of these classics have taken a turn for the worse as busy home cooks, pressed for time, turned to sorry shortcuts like processed foods to make things easier. For Cover & Bake, the editors tested new versions of old standbys and in the -process have re-imagined the art of the one-dish meal to meet the demands of today’s cook.

Here you will find classic assemble-and-bake casseroles like Macaroni and Cheese and Creamy Chicken and Rice as well as innovative dishes like Mediterranean Chicken Bake and Polenta Casserole with Italian Sausage. The key to making these recipes work, apart from using the freshest of ingredients, is to use high heat and shallow baking dishes that allow you to put already cooked ingredients into a hot oven for a short period of time so that their flavors can meld without overcooking. We’ve experimented with techniques that allow you to cook everything in just one pot whenever possible, avoiding the need for hours of preparation and cleanup just to get a casserole in the oven. And nearly every recipe can be made ahead, allowing home cooks to serve these wholesome dishes on a busy weeknight.

Looking beyond what most people consider to be a casserole, the editors offer an original take on the subject with inventive skillet "casseroles" (Skillet Lasagna and Beef Stroganoff), slow-cooker meals that are really worth serving (Curried Chicken with Potatoes and Peas), pot pies with multiple topping options (many of which can be made ahead), oven braises and stews that cook in a slow oven for hours so that you won’t have to stand over a hot stove, and breakfast and brunch dishes that can be assembled the night before, allowing you to relax along with your guests. For every type of one-dish meal, we have given you practical tips and techniques along with step-by-step illustrations that make the process easier. For instance, in the slow-cooker chapter, there is a detailed guide to using slow cookers effectively based on our extensive testing, along with specific tips, such as how to arrange vegetables around the edge of the slow cooker so that they will cook all the way through.

In addition, this book contains all the relevant tastings and testings conducted in America’s Test Kitchen. Learn which baking dish is our hands-down favorite. Are all storage containers created the same? Want to know which slow cooker has the best combination of features? We’ve done thorough research into each of these topics (and more) and recommend specific kitchen items (yes, we name brands) that deliver superior results. In Cover & Bake, you will learn which brand of chicken broth tastes best, how to buy canned tomatoes that taste almost as good as fresh, and how to choose among myriad brands of rice, pasta, and noodles when you’re in the supermarket. Starting with the right ingredients and the best possible equipment makes all the difference, so we have made sure to give you the information you need to be successful in the kitchen.

Cover & Bake is packed with more than 200 recipes for one-dish meals for everyday cooking. These practical recipes will allow you to get dinner on the table with a minimum of fuss while still serving up a fresh-tasting meal.

Founded in 1980, Cook’s Illustrated magazine is renowned for its near-obsessive dedication to finding the best methods of American home cooking. The editors of Cook’s are also the authors of a best-selling series of cookbooks (The Best Recipe Series) and a series of companion books to the America’s Test Kitchen public television show (which reaches 2.4 million viewers per episode). Filmed in America’s Test Kitchen (a 2,500-square-foot test kitchen in Brookline, Massachusetts), the show features the editors, test cooks, equipment testers, science experts, and food tasters from the magazine’s staff.

Customer Reviews

So far so good
I mainly bought this book to see what dishes I can make ahead of time and that doesn't require an inordinate amount of time. I can't say that the few recipes I've tried saved me any time, but they were not difficult to replicate. I tried two chicken slow cooker meals so far and both turned out delicious, even though I didn't have all the ingredients listed. I loved that it told me not to cook chicken in a slow cooker on high or for more than 3-4 hours (in the discussion about slow cookers). Both times the chicken came out moist and flavorful. The directions were easy and thorough...I'm hoping that with this book, my husband would join in the cooking and make me a meal some time. I would recommend this book based on the two recipes I've tried. I plan on trying out some more yummy recipes!

Yummy
My sister made me a dish from this cookbook that I loved so I just had to have the cookbook for myself. But I didn't realize how involved the recipes are :( I like simple recipes that don't require a huge list of ingredients or take hours to prepare. So this just wasn't the cookbook for me. It's just sitting on my shelf now. But the food is amazing!! So if you truly love to cook, it's wonderful for you :)

Poorly organized book of unhealthy recipes
I had two major problems with this book. First is its organization. It's separated into chapters by theme: slow-cooker recipes, skillet recipes, etc. However, there's absolutely no table of contents showing the recipes in each chapter. Nor are the recipes organized one to a page or anything like that. This makes it absolutely impossible to browse. There's an index in the back, but since that's a comprehensive (rather than a recipe) index, it's also not useful for browsing. Other books in this series have full tables of contents; I don't know why they omitted it from this one.

The second problem is that many of these recipes are just stunningly high fat. Now, I understand this isn't a low-fat cookbook, and I wasn't expecting low-fat recipes. However, while they don't give nutritional information, many recipes are well over 100 grams of fat per serving. Heavy cream, butter, and eggs feature heavily in many of the dishes. Others use fatty meats without ever removing the rendered fat. For example, I calculated the amount of fat in the slow-cooker recipe "Asian Spiced Pork Ribs with Noodles." It serves 4-6; if you split it among 5 people, each would get 114 grams of fat!

There are a few recipe gems in here, especially the braised chicken recipes. And while I haven't tried them, I'm sure many of the very high-fat recipes taste great, since, as we all know, fat tastes good. But, overall, this book is a disappointment compared to Cook's Illustrated's usual standard.