I've seen episodes of both shows (isn't Cook's Country the successor to America's Test Kitchen?) and the shows do have merit, certainly.

The problem for me is when they claim their recipe for a given dish is "the best." Everything in cooking is very subjective. What one person thinks is the ideal recipe may be totally unpalatable to another. But the shows can be quite fascinating - often times I've learned something about cooking "mechanics" (or the scientific reasons for something) that I was absolutely clueless about before.

But, for me, perhaps the most worthwhile part of America's Test Kitchen was the product comparisons - how people rated things like canned tomatoes, non-stick fry pans (to name just a couple of items), etc., in blind tests. That part I found quite interesting.

Also worth mentioning, there are some weighty books put out by those people that are quite valuable. (Not cheap, either, I have to say, at least according to my wallet.) But public libraries may also have these recipe collections, and they are definitely worth looking at. The books also are instructional, which is a plus right there.

Signor V.