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I've always had a love/hate relationship with upscale cookbooks and food magazines. I enjoy flipping through them, ogling the stunning food images and imagining a life where I have the time and energy to create dishes that take 7 pots, 11 hours and 26 ingredients. However, it's that level of intensity that so frustrates me, as while those recipes are nice to look at, reality says that they aren't something I can tackle. It's one of the reasons that the only food magazine that I've consistent subscribed to over the last five years is Everyday Food (the recipes are just so darn accessible).
However, according to an article in today's New York Times, it appears that those more refined and haughty food magazines are changing their ways and including recipes that home cooks can make on a budget and in that window of time that exists between the end of your commute home and the start of the dinner (half) hour.
Gourmet is including a new feature in their monthly publication called "Cook Smart" that tries to help the folks at home with easy, budget-friendly meals that will produce leftovers and keep them from calling out for pizza in desperation. Other publications like Food & Wine and Bon Appétit are choosing similar paths.
As readers and consumers of food media (I'm guessing that at least a few of you still subscribe to some of the glossies), what are you looking for? Do you use the food magazines that land in your mailboxes each month? Would you appreciate it if those glossies started printing more useful recipes?
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3-02-2009 @3:03PM Barry said... If they had any sense about them they'd identify the recipes two ways:
"for a weekday
"for the weekend"
It'd help people frame how to think about the recipes and their complexity. And they could even keep their essay based formats.
Needless to say, anyone could try any recipe they want at any time.
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3-02-2009 @3:16PM Cory said... I'm not saying it's the best thing out there, but Food Network Magazine divides things for weekdays and weekends, and includes dishes that you can make using the leftovers of other dishes in the magazine. There's a good deal of fluff in the magazine about the Network's "stars", but the recipes are pretty down to earth so far (I think it's only had 2 issues...)
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3-03-2009 @12:46AM Bernie B said... Cook's Illustrated is first-rate though they do have a tendency to re-visit recipes every couple years.
What C.I. does best is to describe the process in which they arrived at the recipe in print. Even if you don't particularly like that recipe, the insight is still worth the price of admission.
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3-03-2009 @4:44PM joe said... I agree with Bernie B.
I don't subscribe to any food mags, but I do flip through them on a monthly basis at news stands, walmart and chapters. I buy one if the particular issue interests me or has interesting food photography. My last purchase was of FoodTV mag. For recipes, Canadian Living, although not soley dedicated to food has the most practical, easy but full recpies. I like C.I. for the process and insight. It's like taking a cooking course in the time it takes to read two pages. I would subscribe to them if they had full page photos accompanying each recipe.
One thing that I found interesting is that before I became interested in Food Media, I thought Donna Hay books and magazines had great photos. As my experience evolved, I began finding them boring since they were so clinical. Environmental shots offered in LCBO Food & Drink as well as their photos takes the cake for me.
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4-04-2009 @7:27PM Jodi said... Cooks Illustrated is THE BEST. Even if you never make the recipe, you might remember the techniques behind it and can apply them to other recipes.
Like starting pork chops in a cold pan.
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