food: how-to-cook on your iPhone

Ok, now the iPhone Kindle application is earning its keep–even though it was already free. As mentioned before, The Cook’s Illustrated How-To-Cook Library is freely available from Amazon’s kindle and it’s big. I’m already a big fan of Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen, but even so I wasn’t expecting them to give away an e-book that was very detailed. They don’t deal in “ultimate” recipes, but they do slap “best” on some of their books. Their philosophy is testing out various methods, ingredients and tools to arrive at the most universally accessible version of a recipe for the home cook. Even though I stray from

In addition to the table of contents below, the e-book contains several illustrations taken right out of their books and magazines to give further guidance on certain techniques. I find this helps a cook most of all whether novice or expert since sometimes even if you’re sure of your kitchen skills, you want to know if what you’re doing looks close to what the recipe writer is talking about.

Each chapter title is preceded by “How To Cook/Make”: Quick Appetizers, Salad, Soup, Stew, Garden Vegetables, Potatoes, Pasta Sauces, Shrimp & Other Shellfish, Chicken Breasts, Sauté, Pot Pies and Casseroles, Holiday Roasts & Birds, Grill, Barbecue & Roast on the Grill, Stir-Fry, Chinese Favorites, Pizza, Muffins, Biscuits & Scones, Cookie Jar Favorites, American Layer Cake, Pie, Simple Fruit Desserts, Holiday Desserts, Ice Cream, and, Sauces and Gravies.

Say what you like, that’s a lot of content for a freebie. And yet it isn’t making me want to rush out and buy a Kindle. For a how-to book like this, being on the iPhone is perfectly fine. I’ve tried cookbook/recipe database applications on my MacBook and even with a “cookbook mode” they’re really just in the way when trying to cook or bake. But having a small device in my pocket or on the counter that I can refer to when I have a clean hand would be nice. Similar to how I jot down recipe crib notes to keep from running back and forth between the kitchen and computer or book.

I still don’t see myself hunched over for a novel on the iPhone, but a reference book has a different feel to it. I guess this one’s filed under gadget appreciation instead of lust.