cover image The Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen Cookbook: Essential Recipes for Every Home Cook

The Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen Cookbook: Essential Recipes for Every Home Cook

Editors of Good Housekeeping Magazine. Hearst, $29.95 (690p) ISBN 978-1-58816-905-1

This solid, encyclopedic reference opens with an equipment overview, including basic knife skills, and is followed by practical advice for food safety and healthy eating, some entertaining strategies, and an introduction to wine. Recipes, which are helpfully coded with symbols for heart-healthy, slow cooker, and make ahead , reflect the magazine’s multicultural but accessible sensibilities: miso soup stands by split pea with ham, and chicken with rice; Brazilian pork chops and Cajun meat loaf are included alongside oven-barbecued spareribs. Vegan pumpkin waffles and crustless leek and gruyere quiche are thoughtful nods to changing contemporary diets. Throughout, tips on buying and preparing whole grains, freezing and reheating casseroles, and frosting layer cakes enhance the educational experience. This volume brings the venerable institution up to date with QR codes that enable the reader to instantly watch helpful how-to videos on a smartphone. While this volume isn’t breaking any new culinary ground, it would make an ideal gift for a young or emerging home cook. Photographs. (Oct.)