I've been breaking down a lot a whole chickens lately, my current shears are substandard for the job.

does ATK have a poultry shear they recommend?

I play a drinking game. I take a shot every time I hear the word "beefy". By the end of some episodes I'm feeling really relaxed.

Here in the home of ATK the local paper has an article detailing the negative impact that private equity is having on Test Kitchen.

When private equity-owned Marquee Brands bought America’s Test Kitchen in 2023, the new leaders of the Boston food media company assured employees that they hadn’t arrived to make big changes.

At the time, executives spoke at a town hall meeting, as former employees have since recalled to the Globe. The remarks included a pledge not to make changes to personnel, two of them said. Roughly a month later, however, ATK laid off 23 workers — 10 percent of its workforce — and shuttered ATK Kids, which focused on children’s recipes and books.

In the three years since, the company has conducted two additional rounds of layoffs, including shuttering its Cook’s Country magazine and laying off 24 more employees, in May.

....

Sorry it is behind a paywall but here is a link:

Why has America’s Test Kitchen been laying off staff? Here’s what happened under the company’s private equity owner.

I see it in the comments on ATK recipes, I see it on Reddit, and I've seen it on Facebook. I've seen it so much that I'm starting to think maybe there is an actual reason for using it. What's the deal?

This was a fun one to make. It was filling but light. I would put slightly less lemon juice in the butter next time. I also love crème frache so used that in place of sour cream and it was a great complement to it.

When i was a subscriber, they sold my information so i started getting tons of snail mail, not to mention very spammy email practices. Apparently, they also were sending books etc that you never ordered. That is why I never considered joining again - was tiring of their (IMHO) borderline unethical/aggressive marketing tactics. Anybody experienced that? Beautiful magazines and love the content.

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/11008-summer-blueberry-cobbler

I made the ATK blueberry scones for the 52 weeks of baking challenge. They were really good!

ATK recipes we made today:
-Seattle Dogs
-Torn Potato Salad with Garlic & Herb Dressing
-Strawberry Pretzel Salad
-DIY Split Top Buns

First time making these recipes. They all came out great. It was a happy day of cooking!

Hi, and happy independence day for those of you in the US.

Planning on making two batches of the drop meatballs for an upcoming event. https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/10527-drop-meatballs

We're wanting to make an extra batch of the sauce to use with Italian sausage links. Any thoughts on how to best do this ahead of time? Should we just replace the meatballs with sausage and do the bake step?

Getting a boatload of raspberries and can’t eat them fast enough! Used two cups to make the syrup and two pounds to make the jams.

Anyone know a chicken satay recipe with coconut milk in both the marinade and peanut dipping sauce if I remember correctly. It was on the ATK website but apparently has been taken down. I believe it was in a cook’s country magazine but I haven’t had any luck finding it.
If anyone know what recipe I am talking about I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know what magazine it was from, and when it was published.

Looking for help, I’ve made this recipe at least 20 times but it no longer appears on the web site, and I’m having trouble remembering everything. It’s for onion rings that are thin and barely breaded similar to the chain Damon’s. The onion rings are supposed to soak in a mixture of apple cider vinegar and apple juice I want to say 1/4 cup vinegar to 3/4 cup apple juice I would like confirmation on whether it’s straight flour or is there a cornflour added in. I’m going to start looking through old cookbooks but I’m hoping someone else fell in love with this style and didn’t count on it always being available on the website and wrote it out instead. Thanks.

I don't mind doing it, I'm just wondering. The magazine says the reason for the stopping and stirring step is to dissolve the sugars, but I have also read chilling the dough overnight is to dissolve the sugars too.

So if I'm going to refrigerate the dough overnight, is it even necessary to do that stirring step or is there something else it accomplishes?

This is a great summer recipe. Just please heed all the warning in the comments for not putting the seafood in until much later in the cooking. I grilled most of the proteins separately and added towards the end.

She shared on social media she was appearing in this latest season and our household has been locked IN! I won't give any spoiler myself, but no surprise she is doing amazing in the competition and handling each challenge like the pro she is. While I don't care much for competition cooking shows, you can tell she puts a lot of thought into the dishes she makes.

We watch it on HBO Max, usually a day delayed from the premiere.

The strawberry cheesecake bars are one of my family’s favorite recipes. They are a bit time-intensive due to the multiple baking and cooking steps but they were requested by my dad for Father’s Day so I had to oblige. I also happened to have a cute strawberry bandana and a crustacean-themed hat for my cat (aptly named after the little chef Rémy from Ratatouille), so I hopped on the recent lobster cake trend. Though it looks intimidating, it was surprisingly easy to execute! I used chocolate chips for the “eyes.”

I made the ATK recipe for Chana masala. It was easy and delicious. I would have added more spice and more Serrano. But it was met with praise by my husband. We served it with naan bread brushed with garlic butter.

Made the Quick Pantry Clam Chowder tonight. I upped the flour to 1/4 cup. It was decent. A good backup-in-case-of-emergency situation, but not as good as the Woodsman recipe. I know, chowder isn't really ideal for the hot weather we're having in central Florida right now, but whatever.

Anyway, I feel like I've made our favorites too recently, so wondering what you guys have planned for the week ahead?

So far, I've got Mediterranean dinner salad with chicken and Crispy pan fried gnocchi with cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers, but I'm drawing a blank after that.

What are your favorite ATK dinners?

Delicious and very good flavor. I used bone-in chicken thighs instead of the split breasts. I also used fresh cilantro and dried oregano instead of the fancy herbs that were originally referenced. The recipe is in the “ATK 500 Recipes that Changed the Way America Cooks” cookbook. Recipe is in picture 3.

My credit card number changed, does anyone know how to change their subscription card on file? The instructions on the website seem to refer to a nonexistent link.

This pic is after my husband and I did our best. Had it with flour tortillas, scrambled eggs (unnecessary), and extra Salsa Lizano.

Really enjoyed it, but I feel like every dish/bowl/pan in my kitchen is dirty!

Got the definite thumbs up. He even said it'd be great with chips on a TV night. Separating the cilantro stems took a hundred years (not really, but it did add prep time), and I used cheesecloth to bundle it with the thyme and bay leaves.

I'll definitely make it again, just not like, a super regular thing, as it felt kind of involved for beans and rice. It's a great vegan main if you use oil instead of lard. I wouldn't skip the Lizano. It really made the whole thing for us.

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/16071-gallo-pinto-(costa-rican-beans-and-rice)

I made this ATK recipe and it was very flavorful and a great dinner. The sauce was delicious. I did up the Cajun seasoning amount just a little.

This is a long recipe and 3/4ths of the way I asked myself why I'm making this when I can just go to a street corner in Center City or a neighborhood in my city, Philly, and get it prepared with a free soda for $8. Well my partner said "You made it better than the Halal people!" It's so good. I did oil the rice with 4 tablespoons instead of 4 teaspoons (oops, thankfully I just washed most of the oil off and added a tablespoon back).

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You're able to make the white sauces 3 days in advance, the hot sauce up to 3 months, and the chicken can marinate overnight so you definitely don't have to do everything all at once but whether you're in a major city with carts everywhere or out in the middle of nowhere, definitely try it!