Known for its reliable recipes, the culinary media company America’s Test Kitchen and its affiliate magazines Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country have a method that we can learn from in our own goal-setting. According to the show’s website, America’s Test Kitchen is “the most-watched cooking show on public television” with nearly 2 million weekly viewers. Distributed to public television by Boston Common Press, the show is in its 16th season.
So, what is the secret to America’s Test Kitchen’s success? The very answer may be found simply in the recipe narrative. Let’s take a look at headnotes for Blueberry Muffins and Coffee Cake Muffins from The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook (2014) by the Editors at America’s Test Kitchen:
Blueberry Muffins
“Blueberry muffins for all of their simple, warm appeal, have a host of problems, as they often emerge from the oven too sweet, too dense, or just plain bland, with little blueberry flavor. We wanted delicate muffins with a balanced fresh blueberry flavor. To achieve a delicate texture, we decided to forgo creaming the butter and sugar and instead folded melted butter into the batter. Plain yogurt added moisture and a nice tang, and a little lemon zest completed the sweet blueberries nicely. Sprinkling the muffins with lemon-sugar topping was the perfect finishing touch. Any muffin tin with standard-size cups will work here, and the batter can be placed in any of the cups. Frozen blueberries can be substituted for the fresh blueberries; rinse and dry the frozen blueberries (do not thaw) before folding into the batter.”
Coffee Cake Muffins
“The perfect coffee cake muffin should have a texture somewhere between the delicate, buttery crumb of coffee cake and the slightly coarser, chewier crumb of a muffin. To make our ideal version, we started by testing different fats. Sour cream gave the muffins a light texture and a nice tanginess, but sour cream alone also made the batter too wet. Swapping in some butter fixed the problem and enriched the muffins’ flavor. A combination of granulated and dark brown sugar gave the muffins the right sweetness. For the streusel topping, we liked a combination of flour, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. But when sprinkled on top of the muffins, the streusel refused to stay put. Our solution was to layer it inside the muffin instead; we filled the muffin cups partway with batter, added the streusel, and dolloped the rest of the batter on top. This gave us muffins with an attractive swirl of streusel in the center. Any muffin tin with standard-size cups will work here, and the batter can be placed in any of the cups.”
The recipes both start with the identification of a problem—too sweet, too dense, too chewy, bland. Following are key statements that describe the ideal muffin: “we wanted delicate muffins with a balanced fresh blueberry flavor” and “the perfect coffee cake muffin should have a texture somewhere between the delicate, buttery crumb of coffee cake and the slightly coarser, chewier crumb of a muffin.”
The clarity lies in knowing exactly the end product desired. The test kitchen directed all their efforts into achieving this one goal, this perfect idea of a muffin. With 50 test cooks, having an explicit and definitive goal is critical for a successful joint venture.
Like recipe writing, we need to set clear goals.
What do we envision? What does your goal taste like? Then, how can we get the desired results? What are potential problems ahead?
Try, and try again. The test kitchen dealt with issues of gumminess, dryness, streusel not sticking, gumminess, etc., and kept reiterating the recipe, tweaking it until achieving the perfect results.
Let’s apply the same method of goal setting for cooking to your personal life. Like recipe writing, we need to set clear goals. Are you living your life your way? What do you envision? What does your goal taste and look like? Then, how can you get the desired results?
Plan to live the life you want by setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) goals.
How to set a goal? Set SMART goals:
S– Specific
M– Measurable
A– Attainable
R– Relevant
T– Time-bound
First, decide what you want to achieve. Think about what you want from life. More time? Money? Health? Setting goals will help you organize your time and resources, so you can make the most out of you and your life. SMART goals will motivate you and give you results.
For example, instead of saying “to run more” as a goal, it’s more powerful to use the SMART goal “to run 6 miles without stopping by July 30, 2017.” This is attainable if you work on it consistently. Plan the steps you must take to realize your goal, and cross them off as you work through them.
Learn more about goal setting and its significance and listen to these this podcast and this one with John Lee Dumas, a successful entrepreneur and author of “The Freedom Journal,” a guide that helps people achieve their #1 goal in 100 days.
We too need to keep working towards our goal, learning from mistakes and making changes until arriving at the goal.
Once you’re there, you’ll know it; your senses will tell you. The smell will be wonderful, the taste exquisite, and the satisfaction enormous. Enjoy the muffin, and share your bounty with others!
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