Ask the Test Kitchen with Sam Block and Joe Gitter



Joe and Sam, who were test cooks for our new Cooking for One book, chat about key tips and recipes when cooking for one!

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ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.

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37 Comments

  1. Thank for this video! So much valuable information! And the celery gimlet on top, wonderful! You guys should have a show together.

    Can you create a baking book for one or two? Cakes and cookies always come in such big batches.

  2. I love using my slow cooker on low heat with a water bath, and a ceramic dish or soup cup that fits inside it, to make overnight creamy steel cut or old fashioned organic oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon. It's one serving for me and is so nice to have ready and hot in the morning.
    I have used the same slow cooker doing this for 4 years, and it's still works. It helps to use distilled water, to avoid calcium build up. I make most things this way. I think you can buy a smaller size slow cooker, but this works fine for me.

    I guess it's a little like Su Vide, so maybe you could use that to make individual portions of food cooked slowly, but I'm not sure about leaving it running overnight or while you are away at work.

  3. Many years ago I read this book called "Living Alone and Liking It" by Lynn Shahan. And it has some recipes and ideas for cooking for one and living single. It's been very helpful over the years. I don't live alone at this time, but I cook for myself all my own meals because of having Celiac for the last 12 years.

    I still have the book, and have re-read it from time to time. I guess it's stood the test of time.
    Maybe it could be republished someday. You can still find the book pretty easily.

  4. Sausages.

    Make a ton of marinara and freeze it.
    Shaved fresh celery and mushroom and good olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan salad.

    Celery gimlet. Finely slice a stick of celery. 3 quarters of an ounce of simple syrup, (sugar and water,) 3 quarters of and ounce of lime juice, mash it up, muddled up, 3 quarters of an ounce of lemon, good gin, ice cubes. Shake in a shaker.

    Small size pans, plates, bowls, utensils, equipment.
    For a small kitchen, an immersion blender, to save counter space.
    A micro plane. For grating.
    Bench scrapers.

  5. Souper cubes. No, I'm not sponsored, but maybe I should be 'cause these are a game changer. They are silicone freezing trays with a built-in steel frame and a lid. They come in different sizes but I like the one cup which also has a measurement for a half a cup. I freeze my soups, stocks, and broths. I made tiny one cup meatloaves. Eight cubes store up nicely in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Now when I buy milk, or juice, or fruit for a smoothie that I can't finish before they go bad. I can freeze it in the perfect increments to use later. I'm transforming my freezer into a culinary Lego World!

  6. To half a recipe with one egg just use one egg anyway. depending on what you are making you can also use the yolk only or the white only( also cool to kinda whip your whites before incorporating them for some recipes. )

  7. Half an egg? I have lots of 1/2 cup Ball jars. Use a mini whisk to blend together the white and yolk in the jar. Pour out 1/8 cup (half of a large egg), refrigerate the rest of the egg and have an omelet or scrambled egg for breakfast in the morning (with more egg).

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