Cook's Illustrated's Chris Kimball @ Borders

Sorry for the short notice, but Christopher Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated and host of America's Test Kitchen, is at the Borders on the Mag Mile (just north of Chicago Ave.) to pimp out this year's ATK cookbook. I'm going, mostly to see if he'll teach how to tie a bowtie.

Did any other LTHers attend? I'd guess the crowd at about 60 seated and as many standing. I was very surprised by and happy with the turnout.

He's a great speaker; I wish he'd been able to talk much longer. The 40 minutes or so was divided between some comments about work at the magazine and show and a Q&A session. (If anyone was there, I was the troublemaker in blue seated in the back who asked him about the balance between authenticity and convenience. Glad I did, as it was an interesting answer.) If he comes through again, I recommend seeing him, especially if he's in a more chow-friendly area than the north end of the Mag Mile. (But the Italiano sub at L'Appetito was OK.)

Hi,

I wanted to go but life kept me here.

Do you care to provide a summary of his answer to your question?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I wanted to go but life kept me here.

Do you care to provide a summary of his answer to your question?

Regards,

Well, I introduced my question by alluding to the recipes they create along the lines of "cassoulet or osso buco you can make in half an hour on a Tuesday night," and how they devise a balance between authenticity and convenience. And in response he provided a fair amount of background that's difficult to summarize. But he concluded by saying that the staff had an "80/20" rule: For that kind of recipe, if they can attain 80 percent of the flavor with 20 percent of the effort, they're OK with it.

Incidentally, the new cookbook -- the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook -- is, he says, exactly an attempt to collect recipes that are good, easy weeknight recipes; he estimated that only 20 percent of the 1,200 recipes in the book have appeared in the magazine or on the show, and all of those have been considerably simplified. Just a warning if anyone is thinking about buying it based on other recipes they've seen from them -- it's something you'll want to read through and make a decision on.

Hi Bob,

I was also there last night and surprised by the good turnout. My boyfriend and I were seated up front, second row on the right. I remember glancing back when you asked your question.

I thought it was a pretty interesting as well. Just wish there was more time for him to talk. I thought one of the most useful things I got out of attending was the pocket "Ingredients Buying Guide" they handed out listing the top-rated brands of grocery store items from their blind taste tests.