Magazine: Cook's Illustrated

I have a bit of a confession to make. I'm addicted to food porn. If you haven't heard this term before, don't be too scandalized. It just means: food photography that makes your mouth water, it looks that good. I love photos of food. I think subconsciously I browse through them while eating, pretending that my reheated potato-leek soup is really steak frites with herb butter.

Which can occasionally be my downfall. My love of food photography kept me from ever picking up the magazine Cook's Illustrated in the bookstore, which is completely black and white. But this magazine is truly awesome. It comes out of America's Test Kitchen, which is a real kitchen/science lab located near Boston. Each recipe is accompanied by an in-depth article on the additions, subtractions, and other changes made to the dish, and how it affected the final product.

I finally picked up this magazine when I saw a color copy of their Best Recipes edition, and it's fabulous. It contains a lot of meat recipes, an area in which I need more expertise, and other delicious-looking dishes I want to try like oven-fried onion rings and boston cream cupcakes. It also includes sidebars on cooking techniques like choosing proper cuts of meat, kneading dough, etc.

I am also aware that there is a television show called America's Test Kitchen, which looks to be completely available online. I haven't watched yet, but I may today instead of reading my early American lit homework.