Read an Excerpt
a note from bridget and julia
We’ve kind of grown up here at America’s Test Kitchen. We started cooking and developing recipes during the test kitchen’s early days, when we were just starting our careers. Now, nearly 20 years later, we are the hosts of the company’s two hugely popular TV shows. Along the way, we’ve developed a lot of recipes and cooked hundreds more on set. People always ask us which recipes are our favorites and why. Our new special collection,Cooking at Home with Bridget and Julia, answers that very question. It features 150 recipes (75 from each of us) from the test kitchen’s archives that we cook at home time and time again. The process of choosing and writing about these recipes has led us on an interesting journey because the recipes we love are connected to how and where we were raised, where we have traveled, and what we like to cook for our husbands and children. So you’ll learn more about us by reading this book. Personal facts abound in the narratives accompanying each recipe, like how Bridget became addicted to Indian food on a trip to Scotland to meet her future husband’s parents, which is why she picked Chicken Tikka Masala. A family trip to Tuscany in her teens showed Julia the power of a simple fresh tomato sauce, which is why she chose Skillet Campanelle with Fresh Tomato Sauce, a recipe that brings her back to that time and place whenever she makes it.
Cooking for us is about feeding family and friends. And since we like to pull out all the stops on occasion, you’ll find a chapter devoted to holiday celebrations as well as one covering casual entertaining. We tell you which appetizers make the cut for our parties (Bacon and Chive Deviled Eggs and Stuffed Mushrooms with Boursin and Prosciutto); which main courses never disappoint (Pasta with Classic Bolognese and Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Peach Sauce); which stunning desserts are a must on our holiday table (Coconut Layer Cake and Goat Cheese and Lemon Cheesecake with Hazelnut Crust); and much, much more. In addition, as working mothers, we have to put dinner on the table every night so we appreciate rock-solid, easy-to-execute recipes: Spaghetti with Turkey-Pesto Meatballs is on heavy rotation at Julia’s house while Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps are a favorite of Bridget’s two sons. You’ll find these recipes and more among the home-style dinners, while the weekend breakfast chapter tells you just what we like to eat on a lazy Sunday morning.
We hope you enjoy both this collection and getting to know us better. We love to cook and think you’ll share our enthusiasm for the work we do here at America’s Test Kitchen.
