Raita Cooks Illustrated Recipes

RAITA

Steps:

• Place yogurt in a medium bowl. On the large holes of a box grater, grate cucumber directly into the bowl. Season with salt, cumin, and mint; stir to combine. Transfer to refrigerator until slightly chilled. Garnish with mint and serve.

RAITA (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Stir all ingredients together. Refrigerate until needed.

BEST TURKEY GRAVY FROM COOK'S ILLUSTRATED

Steps:

• Make the Broth: Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Brown turkey giblets and neck for 5 minutes. Cook onion for 3 minutes. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
• Add chicken broth and water, scrape pan bottom, and bring to boil. Add herbs and simmer, skimming foam from surface, for 30 minutes.
• Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer. Reserve and dice heart and gizzard. Refrigerate broth and diced giblets until ready to use.
• Make the Roux and Thicken the Broth: Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until nutty brown and fragrant, 10 to 15 minutes. Bring reserved turkey broth to simmer.
• Gradually add hot turkey broth to roux. Vigorous and constant whisking at this point is key to avoiding lumps. Reserve 1 cup of broth for deglazing roasting pan (see #9).
• Simmer gravy, stirring occasionally and skimming scum from surface with spoon, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Set aside, covered, until turkey is done.
• Deglaze the Pan and Add the Drippings To the Gravy: Pour drippings through mesh strainer set over measuring cup. Let liquid settle until fat rises to top. Return vegetables in strainer to roasting pan.
• Tilt measuring cup and use wide, shallow soup spoon to skim fat off surface. Reserve defatted drippings. Return gravy in saucepan to simmer.
• Place roasting pan over two burners at medium-high heat. Add wine and reserved 1 cup broth and scrape up browned bits in pan. Boil until liquid reduces by half, 5 minutes.
• Strain roasting pan liquid into gravy, pressing on solids to extract all liquid. Add defatted drippings to taste. Stir in giblets and serve.

MADELEINES(COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees, middle rack.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, salt. Set aside.
• Beat yolks with whole egg and vanilla in bowl of electric mixer, about 5 minutes on high speed if using hand mixer. Slowly add sugar beating until a ribbon drops from beaters, about 5 minutes with hand mixer. The batter should be very light and fluffy.
• Gradually fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula. Fold very gently and carefully. Then do the same with the melted butter.
• Spoon batter into molds. (Batter should come just flush with mold rim.) Don't bother smoothing the batter; you don't want to deflate it, and it will smooth out on its own in the oven. Bake until tops are golden and cakes spring back when pressed lightly, about 10 minutes.
• Spread out a clean dishcloth on your work surface. When the madeleines come out of the oven, turn them out right onto the dishcloth. You need to get them out of the pans while they're still very hot. Do not let them cool in the pans. The madeleines are delicate when warm, so they're easily broken, so be careful when moving them until they are cool. Cool to room temperature. (Can be stored in airtight container up to 3 days or frozen up to 1 month.).

CHALLAH(COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Whisk together 3 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Mix together 2 eggs, egg yolk, melted butter, and 1/2 cup of water in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Add flour mixture to wet mixture; knead at low speed until dough ball forms, about 5 minutes, adding remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to prevent dough from sticking. Whisk reserved egg white with remaining 1 tablespoon water in small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
• 2. Transfer dough to very lightly oiled large bowl, turning dough over to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Gently press dough to deflate, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size again, 40 to 60 minutes.
• 3. Lightly grease large baking sheet and set aside. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 2 pieces, one roughly half size of other. (Small piece will weigh about 9 ounces, larger piece about 18 ounces.) Divide large piece into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into 16-inch-long rope, about 1 inch in diameter. Line up ropes of dough side by side and pinch ends together. Take dough rope on bottom and lay it over center rope. Take dough rope on top and lay it over center rope. Repeat until ropes of dough are entirely braided, then pinch ends together. Place braid on baking sheet. Divide smaller piece of dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into 16-inch-long rope, about 1/2 inch in diameter. Braid together, pinching ends to seal. Brush some of egg wash on top of large loaf and place small braid on larger braid. Loosely drape loaf with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until loaf becomes puffy and increases in size by a third, 30 to 45 minutes.
• 4. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush loaf with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds, if using. Bake until loaf is golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into side of loaf reads 190 degrees, 30 to 40 minutes. Place baking sheet on wire rack. Cool loaf completely before slicing.