Season 4

We give much needed makeovers to two classic salads. Salad seems so easy. Just dress some leafy greens and serve, right?

Recipes: Basic Tossed Green Salad; Greek Salad; Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

Tasting Lab: Red Wine Vinegar

Say goodbye to thick, bland gazpacho and soggy tomato tarts. It’s feast or famine when it comes to good tomatoes.

Recipes: Gazpacho; Quick Summer Tomato Tart

Tasting Lab: Mozzarella Cheese

The notion of dinner made in a single pot is certainly alluring. Two complete meals from a pot; one a classic, the other a surprise.

Recipes: Beef Chili with Kedney Beans; Indoor Clambake

Equipment Center: Crock Pots

Tasting Lab: Tomato Puree

We solve the problem of porridge-like chowder and bready crabcakes. Clam chowder and crab cakes are available in most every seafood restaurant in the country. These dishes both have their origins along the East Coast and have been subjected to numerous changes (most not for the better) as they became more popular.

Recipes: New England Clam Chowder; Maryland Crab Cakes

Tasting Lab: Mayonaise

We bring a taste of New Orleans into the home kitchen. Jambalaya and bananas Foster are two of our favorite dishes from New Orleans.

Recipes: Jambalaya; Bananas Foster

Equipment Center: Ice Cream Scoops

Tasting Lab: Vegetable Broth

Skip the marinara and try these two vegetable sauces. Tired of the same old marinara sauce?

Recipes: Pasta with Mushrooms; Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Equipment Center: Herb Choppers

Tasting Lab: Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Everyone knows pasta is quick. That's one of the reasons Americans (and Italians) love it.

Recipes: "Quick" Bolognese; Four Cheese Pasta

Tasting Lab: Tomato Paste

Pot roast can be the ultimate comfort food or a huge waste of time. We solve the problem of dry, gray, tough meat.

Recipes: Pot Roast with Root Vegetables; Skillet Green Beans

Equipment Center: Vegetable Choppers

Say goodbye to dry, tough, candy-like roasts. The marketing of the “other white meat” would be amusing if today’s pork weren’t so lean and flavorless.

Recipes: Maple-Glazed Pork Loin; Wild Rice Pilaf

Equipment Center: Food Storage Containers

We perfect two roadside classics: chicken-fried steak and coconut cream pie. Truckers often know where to find the best home cooking.

Recipes: Chicken-Fried Steak with Gravy; Coconut Cream Pie

Tasting Lab: Graham Crackers

A skillet can turn out hundreds of chicken dinners. For most Americans, chicken breasts are the holy grail of weeknight cooking. (We think thighs are more flavorful, but that’s another story.)

Recipes: Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts; Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Wilted Spinach

Equipment Corner: Traditional Skillets

Two French takes on an American promise. Herbert Hoover may have promised Herbert Hoover may have promised Americans a chicken in every pot, but no ne said that chicken couldn't be French.

Recipes: Chicken Provencale; Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Equipment Corner: Kitchen Shears

Tasting Lab: Vermouth

We take the mystery out of properly grilled steaks. It’s hard to beat steak and mashed potatoes for both simplicity and flavor.

Recipes: Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions; Grilled Steaks

Equipment Center: Kitchen Shears

Tasting Lab: Mail-Order vs. Supermarket Steaks

Steak tips and steak fries sound like bad menu offerings from your local low-rent steakhouse. We rescue steak tips and fries from low-rent steakhouses.

Recipes: Steak Tips; Steak Fries

Equipment Center: Grill Brushes

Stir-fries at home that are better than takeout. Ordering Chinese takeout is like playing Russian roulette.

Recipes: Stir-Fired Pork with Eggplant; Stir-Fried Beef and Broccoli

Equipment Center: Electric Woks

Tasting Lab: Oyster Sauce

Say goodbye to bad Americanized versions of pad Thai and sesame noodles. We no longer think of noodles as just Italian.

Recipes: Pad Thai; Cold Sesame Noodles

Equipment Center: Flat Bottom Woks

Americans love Italian food - and rightly so.

Recipes: Chicken Diavola; Frico; Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

Tasting Labs: Balsamic Vinegar

We bring two classics into the home kitchen for great results in a fraction of the time.

Recipes: Simplified Cassoulet with Pork and Kielbasa; 30-Minute Tarte Tatin

Tasting Lab: Diced Canned Tomatoes

Say goodbye to leaden scones and pound cake. In the test kitchen, we think afternoon (or morning) tea is an excellent excuse to whip up a batch of scones or a golden loaf of lemon pound cake. Making these simple baked goods at home certainly yields better results than what you can buy.

Recipes: Lemon Pound Cake; Oatmeal Scones

Equipment Center: Citrus Juicers and Reamers

Tasting Lab: Supermarket Teas

We solve the problem of rubbery omelets and dry, hockey puck muffins. Sunday brunch sounds so civilized.

Recipes: Denver Omelet; Corn Muffins

Equipment Center: Rubber Spatulas

Tasting Lab: Baking Powder

Few recipes deliver so much pleasure for so little work as pancakes. The batter comes together in minutes, and the cooking time is brief. Why, then, do most Americans never make pancakes from scratch?

Recipes: Blueberry Pancakes; German Apple Pancakes

Equipment Corner: Electric Gridles

Tasting Lab: Fresh vs. Frozen Blueberries

Good cookies don’t really require any more work than bad cookies. Unless, of course, you are willing to consider dry, crumbly, tasteless packaged cookies from the supermarket - but we aren’t.

Recipes: Thin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies; Coconut Macaroons

Equipment Corner: Potholders

Tasting Lab: Refrigerator Cookie Dough

When local berries are in season, we like to showcase them in simple desserts. Two simple showcases for fresh summer berries.

Recipes: Summer Berry Pie; Berry Gratin with Lemon Sabayon

Equipment Corner: Ice Cream Makers

We solve the problem of dry, sticky, flavorless cakes. A sheet cake is like a with training wheels--it's hard to fall off.

Recipes: Chocolate Sheet Cake; Carrot Cake

Equipment Corner: Milk Chocolate

Light, creamy, and great lemon flavor--neither too fleeting nor too harsh.

Recipe: Lemon Cheesecake

Equipment Center: Springform Pans

Two desserts that pull out all the stops yet are easy to prepare.

Recipes: Chocolate Mousse Cake; Chilled Lemon Souffle

Tasting Lab: Unsweetened Chocolate