From Scratch

If I had to choose only one cooking magazine, it would be Fine Cooking from The Taunton Press. The magazine and the website are exemplary.

Even though I was a Charter Subscriber to Cook’s Illustrated, after seven or eight years we began drifting apart, like people in a relationship turned tepid. I let my subscription lapse but would buy it from time to time, along with other magazines. A few years ago I flipped through Fine Cooking and noticed their baking recipes list ingredients by weight as well as volume. I think weighing produces better, more consistent results so I bought it on the spot and was enamored by evening. 

You’ll find equipment and product testings and tastings, food science, tips and techniques and good recipes, but — and this is important for me — it’s all presented without a hint of elitism. You’ll also find familiar food world names, including a few contributors who used to appear in Cook’s Illustrated. Like BBC Good Food, another favorite and one which has been in the Blogroll from the first day, Fine Cooking highlights what’s in season and has let readers give some recipes a real-life test drive before they’re published. (I believe Cook’s Illustrated has adopted reader testers and it has followed Fine Cooking’s lead in providing weights.)

One of my favorite Fine Cooking recipes is the marinara which can be the basis for quick variations from arrabiata to pink sauce. I’ve made them all more than once. This is the marinara (with alterations for my palate) I keep in the freezer, the one I use in my baked ziti and other dishes. For a quick side dish of green leafies, the Spinach Saute with Brown Butter & Garlic  is hard to beat.

The Website

Fine Cooking’s site has also been in the Blogroll since day one and has so much content it’s virtually impossible to take it all in with one visit. In addition to the expected current issue highlights and recipe database, there are, among other things, databases for tips and techniques, many videos and downloadable PDF bonus files. If you’re chatty, there’s a forum with a couple message boards, but you can just lurk if you choose. And If you like email, you can sign up for the newsletter, currently featuring lemon desserts, risotto and artichokes.

All in all, it’s an intuitive, attractive site where I can explore and learn. without the frustration of running up against information locked behind a subscription door. Well done, Taunton.

October ‘07 update - Parts of the website are subscription-only now, with one annual rate for people who subscribe to the magazine and a monthly rate, about $3, for everyone else. There’s still plenty of free material available and I still love the site.

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