Blog Posts by America s Test Kitchen

Welcome to Cooking 101, a fun, weekly series of cooking lessons and hands-on learning from America's Test Kitchen. Who are we? Our knowledge and techniques are based on 20 years of test kitchen work creating foolproof recipes for Cook's Illustrated magazine and for our television shows. We believe that everybody, whether novice or advanced, can gain the skills and confidence to become a better cook.

Week 1: TEST YOUR RECIPE IQ

Do you know how to think like a cook? Knowing how to read a recipe is key to success in the kitchen, but recipes are often written in their own language and require deciphering by the cook. For example, do you know the difference between "minced" or "chopped fine"? How does one get the most accurate reading in a liquid measuring cup? And what is a shallow-fry, anyway? Take this quick quiz and improve your knowledge of recipe and cooking concepts.

1. If a recipe calls for "1 cup chopped nuts," would you:

A: Chop the nuts, then measure
B:

by Bridget Lancaster

When was the last time you made eggs for dinner? I'm not talking some frou-frou frittata or delicate French omelet. I mean a big ol' plate of hearty scrambled eggs--with maybe some bacon on the side.

In my house, scrambled eggs are for dinner at least once a week. They're easy to make (I'm thinking of you bachelor(ette)s out there.), super-fast to get to the table, a perfect source of protein, and (channeling my starving college student here,) really, really cheap. And if those reasons to make scrambled eggs weren't enough, they're pretty darn tasty too.

But that doesn't mean that you can beat the hell out of a couple of eggs and then toss them in a hot skillet. Well, not unless you want tough, rubbery, weeping eggs. No, I didn't think you did. So

Get ready for next week's LIVE FACEBOOK CHAT on Keep-Cool Summer Cooking with Bridget Lancaster, one of the stars of the top-rated public TV food show, America's Test Kitchen, and the face of America's Test Kitchen Online Cooking School.

Mark your calendars! The chat will happen on facebook.com/yahooshine on Friday, August 3, at 11am EST.

Got a cooking question in the meantime? Leave a question for Bridget in the comments on this post, and say hi during the live chat on August 3 on Facebook to see her responses!

From refreshing salads to easy grilled suppers, summertime is the season for keep-cool, stress-free, easy-breezy cooking. This is the perfect opportunity to ask all your questions and get tried-and-true advice from an experienced chef and supermom. Bridget's also a Southern barbecue queen, fried chicken's #1 fan, and a pastry pro!

by Jack Bishop

Jack's undercover sleuthing reveals grilling mistakes you can easily avoid

Most summer weekends I secretly conduct field research at cookouts in my neighbors' backyards. While everyone else is chatting and relaxing, I'm watching my friends work the grill. In general, I don't like what I see. Even good cooks seem to lose their "kitchen sense" when operations move outside. Based on years of undercover recon, I've compiled this list of top 10 grilling mistakes.

RELATED: Learn the Secrets and Techniques Behind Great Grilling

1. Poor Location.
Most folks know to avoid grilling in the garage or setting up the grill directly next to the house. But many cooks position the grill too close to foot traffic, with kids and pets passing by all day. My advice is to tuck the grill well away from established traffic routes.

No fuel means you're finished before you've begun
2. No Fuel, No Party.
This one is pretty obvious, but nothing ruins dinner like a gas shortage. If you grill on gas, always keep an extra tank on hand.

Keep it together, people
3. Dirty Grate.
Would you sear a steak in the dirty pan used last night to cook

A burger might seem quite simple to prepare, but not all burger recipes are created equal. Whether it's for a pan-seared burger made on a stovetop, or a classic backyard burger served at a weekend barbecue, the perfect burger recipe starts with the right ingredients, equipment, and cooking techniques.

HAMBURGER KEYS TO SUCCESS

Three common mistakes to avoid in the quest for the perfect burger.

1. DON'T UNDERSEASON. Just dusting salt on the exterior of shaped patties doesn't cut it. Put the ground beef in a bowl. Lightly break up the meat with your hands and sprinkle evenly with salt. Use 1 teaspoon of table salt for 1½ pounds of ground beef, the amount you will need for four burgers.

2. DON'T OVERWORK. Ground beef is not Play-Doh. The more you handle it, the denser and more rubbery it will become when cooked. After you've seasoned the meat, divide it into individual portions and, with lightly cupped hands, shape into patties. As soon as the patties hold together, stop!

Smooth and mild, yellow mustard is a North American thing. In other parts of the world, mustards are hotter, darker, and grainier. But what yellow mustard may lack in worldliness and guts, it makes up for in versatility. Yellow mustard is as much at home on a ballpark hot dog as it is on cold cuts or in potato salad, barbecue sauce, salad dressing, or marinades for chicken or pork. To determine which yellow mustard is best, we bought seven nationally available brands and called 24 cooks and editors from America's Test Kitchen to taste them plain and with steamed hot dogs.

Yellow mustard is made from white (also called yellow) mustard seed, which is flavorful but doesn't cause any of the nasal burn of brown or black mustard seed; these last two are used in Dijon, Chinese, and other spicy mustards. Our tasters wanted to actually taste the mustard seed; the two brands they judged to have the most mustard flavor both list mustard seed second in their ingredients. The other brands

This post is courtesy of the America's Test Kitchen Cooking School. Curious to try? Start your cooking lessons today with our 14-day free trial.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: While all flourless chocolate cake recipes share common ingredients (chocolate, butter, and eggs), the techniques used to make them vary, as do the results. You can end up with anything from a fudge brownie to a bittersweet chocolate soufflé. We wanted something dense, moist, and ultra-chocolaty, but with some textural finesse.

We started with the type of chocolate. A cake made with unsweetened chocolate was neither smooth nor silky enough for this kind of cake. Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate each won out--both delivered deep chocolate flavor and a smooth texture. Next we turned to the eggs--we compared cakes made with room temperature whole eggs and whole eggs taken straight from the fridge. The batter made with chilled eggs produced a denser foam and the resulting cake boasted a smooth, velvety texture.

Nutella and I have been through a lot together. It made me late to classes in college, when I used to sneak into the student-run coffeeshop I helped manage to make a quick snack of the creamy spread and a thick piece of pita. It almost got me kicked out of a music festival in France, when security guards found and confiscated a glass jar of the stuff that I was attempting to smuggle into the venue.

So I felt like a bit of traitor when on a trip to a Nutella-less Whole Foods, I picked up a jar of another hazelnut-chocolate spread called Choco Dream. Sure, its texture was a bit plasticky and dry, but it was chock full of nutty hazelnut flavor. It highlighted my beloved Nutella's one shortcoming: lack of any real nuttiness. Tasted side by side with Choco Dream,