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America's Test Kitchen Season 26 Episode 3
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FunTranscript
00:00I don't know what to do
00:30Today on America's Test Kitchen, Becky makes Julia Venezuelan cheese-filled corn cakes.
00:44Adam reviews dish towels.
00:46Dan uses physics to demonstrate the importance of a sharp knife.
00:51And Jill makes Bridget fresh corn chowder.
00:54It's all coming up right here on America's Test Kitchen.
01:00Cachapas con queso de mano are Venezuelan corn cakes with a sweet, savory flavor.
01:12They're cooked on a griddle and filled with fresh cow's milk cheese.
01:15And today, Becky is going to show us how easy they are to make at home.
01:18Yeah, these cakes are topped with a pat of butter and served for breakfast with fresh juice.
01:22Or it can be a snack, meal, anytime.
01:26It sounds so good.
01:27They're delicious.
01:27So let's get started.
01:28Okay.
01:29Corn cakes, we're using fresh corn.
01:31I already stripped the kernels from three ears of corn.
01:34I'm going to do the last one.
01:35And you can use frozen corn or even canned corn.
01:38Oh, wow.
01:38If you want to for this.
01:39So I like to cut the cobs in half just to make it a little easier to strip the kernels off.
01:44And then I just cut right down the side here.
01:47So we want three cups.
01:48Okay.
01:48This is almost all corn.
01:50We're just going to add a few other ingredients to bring it together into a pancake batter.
01:52Okay.
01:53So we're going to put two and a quarter cups of the corn into the blender.
01:56Now we have a quarter cup of masarepa.
02:01This is a super fine flour made from corn.
02:03Mm-hmm.
02:04I have three tablespoons of Mexican crema.
02:07It's pretty similar to sour cream and you can swap that in if you can't find the Mexican crema.
02:11Then we have one whole large egg.
02:15I love that you're just dumping this all in the blender.
02:17A blender batter.
02:17It's super simple.
02:19Tablespoon of sugar.
02:20Some recipes call for quite a bit of sugar but the corn itself is quite sweet.
02:24So we like just a tablespoon here.
02:27And then three quarter teaspoon of salt.
02:29So we're going to put this in the blender for 30 seconds until we get a nice thick batter.
02:38All right.
02:3930 seconds.
02:40Mm-hmm.
02:40And now this is that three quarters cup of corn that I reserved.
02:43We're just going to pulse that in because we want some nice little pops of corn in these delicate cakes.
02:47That makes sense.
02:51There we go.
02:52Awesome.
02:53That is a thick batter.
02:55Yeah.
02:55Nice and thick.
02:56All right.
02:58So there's our batter and we need to let this sit for 10 minutes.
03:02We need to give that masarepa a little bit of time to hydrate.
03:05All right.
03:05Our batter has been resting for 10 minutes and now it's time to cook these corn cakes.
03:09Great.
03:09Now I have a tablespoon of unsalted butter that's melting over low heat.
03:14We cook these corn cakes very gently.
03:16Really?
03:16Yeah.
03:16So it's going to take about 10 minutes total to cook each batch.
03:20Okay.
03:20So I have a quarter cup measuring cup.
03:23Put these into the skillet.
03:26There's not even a sizzle.
03:29Low heat.
03:29Low heat.
03:31So I just want to spread these out a little bit.
03:33You want about four inch rounds here.
03:36And now I'm going to increase the heat to medium here.
03:39And we'll let these cook for about four to five minutes.
03:41They're going to get really nice and brown on the bottom side.
03:43Okay.
03:43All right.
03:45It's been about five minutes and you can actually smell that caramelized corn sugar.
03:49It smells delicious.
03:50Yeah.
03:51That's how we know they're ready to flip.
03:52You can see they're browning a little bit.
03:53Mm-hmm.
03:53So I'm going to use, these are very delicate.
03:55So I'm going to use a wide thin spatula.
03:57I'm going to actually use two to help me get underneath here.
04:00Oh, double spat.
04:01That's gorgeous.
04:02That looks pretty good.
04:04All right.
04:04So we want to let these go for another three to four minutes until they get nice and brown
04:08on the other side.
04:09And then we'll continue.
04:11All right.
04:11It's been about three more minutes and these are done now.
04:13So I'm going to put these onto a baking sheet.
04:17All right.
04:17I have the oven set at 200 degrees.
04:19If you'll pop these in to keep them warm.
04:21And then I'll wipe out the pan, add more butter, and we'll cook the other four.
04:24Okay.
04:26All right.
04:27So all of our eight corn cakes are nice and warm.
04:30They smell delicious.
04:31Yeah.
04:31You can smell that caramelized corn, right?
04:33Mm-hmm.
04:33So good.
04:34And now here we have queso de mano.
04:36Ha!
04:37Cheese of the hand.
04:38Right.
04:38Stretched by hand until it's really smooth and elastic.
04:41Kind of like mozzarella.
04:42Kind of.
04:42You can actually swap in fresh mozzarella if you can't find the queso de mano, but it's
04:47great if you can find it.
04:47It's a little bit salty, a little bit tangy, nice and delicate.
04:51It's really good.
04:52So it comes in a 24-ounce package like this in three slabs.
04:56This is how it's usually sold.
04:58And we only need eight ounces of it.
05:00So you're going to have quite a bit left over.
05:02You can put it in nachos, omelets, just nibble on it.
05:05Yeah.
05:05Leftover cheese is not a problem at my house.
05:07No.
05:07No problem at all.
05:08So we have a three and a half inch cutter.
05:11Ah, to match the corn cakes.
05:12Exactly.
05:13So I'm going to cut out some rounds here.
05:17All right.
05:18So now we have three, but we need one more.
05:20So I'm just going to use my cutter.
05:22I'm going to cut out one shape like this, and then another little snippet from the other
05:30side.
05:30I see what you did there.
05:32I see what you did there.
05:33And that's kind of going to fit together.
05:35Once it relaxes between the corn cakes, you'll have almost a circle.
05:39All right.
05:40So nice big piece of cheese.
05:42And you don't want the cheese.
05:43It's not going to completely melt.
05:44Okay.
05:44It's just going to relax and soften a little bit when we pop these back in the oven.
05:49Now we sandwich it like this.
05:51Oh my gosh.
05:52Man, that looks good.
05:53Oh, I can't wait to have you taste these.
05:55You're going to love these.
05:57Okay.
05:57So I'm going to pop these back into a 200 degree oven.
06:01Like I said, we don't want the cheese to melt.
06:02It's just going to slump a little bit, nice and melty.
06:05Okay.
06:05And we'll give them a taste.
06:08I can't wait to see these.
06:09Oh, I know.
06:10It's been about four minutes.
06:11Oh.
06:14All right, Julia.
06:16So you can see the cheese, it's not melted.
06:19It's just a little bit kind of relaxed.
06:21Yeah.
06:21Let's serve these up here.
06:23All right.
06:23Don't eat yet because I'm going to give these a little bit more butter.
06:27That's what this needs.
06:29You never have too much butter, right?
06:31Okay.
06:33My mouth is already watering.
06:34Oh, I know.
06:35So it's just delicately crisp.
06:37When you cut in, you'll notice.
06:38And then you get that melty cheese.
06:40Oh my gosh.
06:44Mmm.
06:44Oh, this is comfort food, isn't it?
06:49The corn, the sweetness, the cheese.
06:53A little bit salty, a little bit sweet.
06:55Mm-hmm.
06:56Just delicately crisp on the outside.
06:58But it tastes like corn.
07:00Yeah.
07:00It's as though fresh corn is just barely held together and made into a cake.
07:04Yeah.
07:04And that queso de mano is delicious.
07:07I can't believe I've never had it before.
07:08Yeah.
07:08It is the perfect flavor and texture for so many things.
07:13But in this, man, this is good.
07:15Yeah.
07:16Becky, this is really cool.
07:18Thank you for showing me how to make these.
07:20It was my pleasure.
07:20If you want to make these wonderful Venezuelan corn cakes, make a corn batter in the blender,
07:26then let it rest for 10 minutes.
07:28Cook the pancakes in batches, then layer cheese between the pancakes to make a sandwich,
07:33and let that warm through in the oven.
07:35From America's Test Kitchen, a fun and easy recipe for cachapos con queso de mano.
07:40This would be great as an after-school snack.
07:44Oh, my gosh.
07:44Wouldn't that be fun?
07:45Yes.
07:51They dry your hands, and as advertised, they should dry your dishes.
07:56Adam's here, and he's going to take us through the world of kitchen towels.
08:00And what does a dish towel really need to be?
08:03Absorbent.
08:04Absorbent and strong and easy to clean.
08:07True.
08:07We got this lineup of 10 different dish towels.
08:10They came in sets of two or more.
08:12One of them came in a set of 12, as a matter of fact.
08:15Oh, jeez.
08:15The per towel cost worked out to $1 to $15.
08:20We focused on cotton and linen.
08:23In terms of absorbency, it didn't really depend entirely on the type of fiber.
08:29It depended as much on the weave used to make the fabric.
08:33Okay.
08:33The most common weaves are plain, waffle, basket, and terry.
08:38A plain weave is going to make a flat, kind of thin fabric like this.
08:44Yep.
08:44That is really good for handling delicate items like champagne fluids or wine glasses, something
08:50like that.
08:51It's maneuverable.
08:52Not as great for absorption.
08:54And I want you to show me.
08:56In that bucket of blue water, you have a plain weave towel that has been soaking up water.
09:03If you could pull that out, squeeze it into a measuring cup, and let's see how it did,
09:07how much water it absorbed.
09:08All right.
09:09Plain weave.
09:10Plain weave.
09:11All right.
09:11I'm going to hold it over one of these and squeeze.
09:19That looks like even less than half a cup.
09:21Definitely.
09:21If you go for one of the other weaves, like waffle, basket, or terry, that's going to create
09:28a looser fabric.
09:30That's going to absorb more water.
09:33Because the fabric fibers are looser, there's more space for the water to go into, and there's
09:37also more space for the fabric fibers to expand.
09:41And believe it or not, you have one of those in your bucket of blue water, too.
09:46Would you squeeze that one out?
09:47Let's see if it actually held any more water.
09:49This is the worst carnival I've ever been to.
09:52All right.
09:56Oh, it's going, yeah, a lot more.
09:58Look at that.
09:59It's a lot more.
10:00Check that out.
10:01It's nearly a cup.
10:02It's a lot more.
10:02First one.
10:03It's about twice as much.
10:04Twice as much.
10:06There were a couple of other benefits to the looser and thicker fabric.
10:10One of the tests was to actually fold over a dish towel and grab a hot pan with it.
10:15Sure.
10:15A lot of people do that instead of using oven mitts or a potholder.
10:18I do it, too.
10:19The thicker the fabric, the more heat protection you had.
10:22And also, thicker fabric just feels better in your hand, which is nice.
10:26It really does.
10:27All of these were machine washable.
10:30All but one of them could go into the dryer.
10:32And we recommend washing them before you use them.
10:35New textiles generally have some residual protective treatment called sizing.
10:41That's meant to keep them in shape as they are transported,
10:44also to prevent pilling.
10:46But it's water repellent, so your towels are not going to be as absorbent
10:49as they should be until you have washed them.
10:51Get rid of the sizing.
10:52Get rid of the sizing.
10:54We had three winners.
10:56One of them is this guy.
10:57This is the Williams-Sonoma Classic Striped Towel.
11:01It's a set of two for $23.
11:04And it combines two different weaves.
11:07These red stripes are the plain weave, so they're flat.
11:11They give it really good handling on delicate glassware.
11:14The white parts are a basket weave.
11:17They're a little thicker, so it's also absorbent and heat protective.
11:22If you want to go for a terry towel, if that is more your style,
11:26this is the Now Designs Ripple Kitchen Towel, set of two for $18, terry cloth.
11:33This was the most absorbent of all of them.
11:35We tested 2.3 cups of water came out of this one.
11:39Wow.
11:39And if you're a linen type because you value maximum maneuverability over absorption,
11:45this is the Linen Vibe Pure Linen Tea Towel for the kitchen.
11:49It was $30 for a set of two.
11:51All right.
11:52A lot of choices.
11:53We've got three winners of kitchen towels for you to peruse.
11:56And if you go to our website, you can go check them out.
11:58We'll see you next time.
12:28That's powerful.
12:30Now, if I try this again with one sphere and one cube, let's see what happens.
12:36Well, there's a little dent, but basically nothing happens.
12:40That's because the force is spread out over a much wider area.
12:43These two spheres, they represent a very sharp knife.
12:46The edge of a sharp knife is just a line of single points.
12:49If I cut a tomato with that knife, the thin edge contacts the tomato at a single point,
12:53so all of the force I exert goes into cutting.
12:57The knife glides right through.
12:58If I substitute in a very dull knife, which has more surface area like those cubes,
13:03the force is spread out over a wider area.
13:05Instead of effortlessly gliding through, we just end up smooshing our tomato.
13:11So, if you're cutting tomatoes, reach for the sharpest knife.
13:14And when you want to make a tiny hole in a piece of paper,
13:17got to be spheres.
13:18Recipes that use summer's best corn rarely taste as fresh and sweet as they should.
13:33But, lucky for us, Joe's here and he's got a recipe for a corn chowder
13:37that's going to bring out the best of corn.
13:40That's right.
13:40This recipe is all about packing in as much fresh corn flavour as possible.
13:45And for that, we're going to be using a lot of fresh corn.
13:47Good.
13:47But the traditional start for all New England chowders is salt pork.
13:51Yes.
13:51Which I've got over here.
13:52All right.
13:53So, this is something that you might find in the chilli cabinet next to your bacon.
13:57Light bacon, it's a cured pork product.
14:00So, I'm just going to cut the rind off these three ounces of salt pork.
14:07And we're going to cut this into two one-inch pieces.
14:10Okay.
14:12I'm going to transfer them to a large Dutch oven.
14:15Okay.
14:16Now, if you could just set this to medium-high heat and I can wash my hands.
14:20So, salt pork has been cured for longer than bacon and it's saltier.
14:23So, it's really going to add a lot of depth of flavour.
14:26But we want to release some of its fat.
14:27We want to render it.
14:28So, we're going to cook this over medium-high heat until it's really well browned and the fat is rendered.
14:32That'll take about 10 minutes.
14:33Perfect.
14:34So, if you could tend to that, that would be great.
14:36Yes, I'm on pork patrol.
14:37Yes, please.
14:38And if you could just turn it, make sure it cooks evenly and you can press down every so often to help release that fat.
14:44Gorgeous.
14:44All right.
14:44So, here is the corn that we promised.
14:46This recipe is going to use 10 ears of corn.
14:49Oh, wow.
14:49Which is rather a lot.
14:50I've already cut the kernels off two of them and I'm just going to cut off the kernels from these other two.
14:56I like to use a rim baking sheet and a sharp chef's knife.
14:59I just like to anchor the corn of the cob on the rim baking sheet and I just run my knife down the side of the corn.
15:07And it just comes right off and this rim baking sheet captures all of those flyaway pieces.
15:14So, we're actually going to treat the corn in three different ways so that they can really maximize their own potential, their own greatness.
15:21All right.
15:21So, the first way is cutting the kernels off the cob.
15:23Now, the second thing that we're going to do is something a little unconventional.
15:26We're going to grate them.
15:27Okay.
15:28Just using a regular cheese grater with the big holes.
15:32I'm just going to take my ear of corn and I'm just going to run it down the cheese grater.
15:39And as we do that, we're breaking open all of those little kernels and we're releasing some of the sap, the milky juice on the inside that is going to give us so much flavor.
15:48Right now, I've just released some of the juice and a lot of the pulp.
15:53But actually, there's still more to go.
15:55So, we've grated it, we've cut it, and now we're going to milk it.
16:00You could use a butter knife, but I'm just going to use the back side of my chef's knife.
16:04I'm just going to run it down the corn and you can see this thick, milky pulp comes out.
16:13Oh, yeah.
16:13And that's where so much of the flavor is.
16:17Smells...
16:18Fantastic.
16:19Yes, it does.
16:20So, it's been about 10 minutes and we've got our salt pork nice and brown.
16:23Yeah.
16:23We've also got a lot of fat rendered into the pan.
16:26So, to this, we're now going to add one large onion.
16:31And then a tablespoon of butter.
16:33Now, this isn't the main fat here, but it's just going to add that slight little buttery flavor that goes so well with corn.
16:38A little sweetness.
16:39And a little sweetness, too.
16:40Mm-hmm.
16:40And a teaspoon of salt.
16:43I'm going to reduce the heat to low.
16:44Cover all of the onions with that fat and the salt.
16:48And we're going to let the onions basically stew until they're super soft, which will take 12 minutes.
16:56But it's over low heat.
16:58We're not looking for much browning other than the browning that we got from the salt pork.
17:01It's just going to help absorb all that flavor and just get really soft and sweet.
17:05Gorgeous.
17:07So, it's been about 12 minutes.
17:09And, mm, this is what we used to call sweaty onions.
17:13That sounds terrible.
17:14Smells amazing.
17:15I had a boyfriend with that nickname.
17:19Okay.
17:19So, now we should see a lot more fat come out because the salt pork has continued to render its fat.
17:25We're going to take it out of the pan for now.
17:27But we're going to come back to them later.
17:30And into our onions, we're going to add two cloves of garlic that we've minced.
17:34And we're just going to cook this until it's fragrant, which will take about a minute.
17:38We're now going to add something that's very common to a lot of soups.
17:41And that is three tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
17:44Okay.
17:45So, this is actually going to perform two purposes.
17:48First of all, I'm just going to make a roux, which just means cooking the flour in the fat.
17:52And I'm just going to use a whisk just to make sure that all the flour gets evenly broken up.
17:56We don't really want any clumps.
17:58Right.
17:58And we want the fat to really coat all of it.
18:00Now, typically, people will make a roux in order to just thicken a soup.
18:03But in this case, it's actually going to serve another purpose.
18:06Now, we're adding a lot of dairy.
18:08And when you heat dairy, it can sometimes curdle and break.
18:11And that will turn your soup grainy.
18:13And it's not a terribly pleasant thing to do here.
18:15It looks split.
18:16It looks split.
18:17And the roux, because it thickens it a little bit, will help preserve the integrity of the emulsion of the milk.
18:24Okay.
18:25And so it's going to be nice and smooth.
18:26So I'm just going to use something that we use in a lot of soups, and that is chicken broth.
18:31So I'm just going to whisk this in.
18:32It just adds a really lovely, subtle, savory backdrop to a soup.
18:38It's just going to heighten all the other ingredients without dominating.
18:41And I'm just going to whisk this in slowly, because we're essentially forming an emulsion here, much like you would a mayonnaise.
18:48And you can see it immediately thickens up as we keep on adding it.
18:52Because we're doing it very gradually, we're not having any lumps form.
18:55And this is three cups of chicken broth.
18:57Okay.
18:58To that, I'm going to add two cups of whole milk.
19:04And to that, we're going to add 12 ounces of red potatoes.
19:09A lot of corn chowders are traditionally thickened just using potatoes.
19:14And that's because the potatoes, as they cook, will give off their starch.
19:18And that starch is going to help thicken the soup.
19:21To that, we're going to add back our salt pork, because this has got more love to give.
19:27Thank goodness.
19:27A teaspoon of minced thyme.
19:31I'm using fresh here.
19:32If you wanted to use dried, you could substitute a quarter teaspoon.
19:35Okay.
19:36One bay leaf really does make a difference.
19:38It really does.
19:39We have tested this.
19:40And then we're going to add our grated corn and milk.
19:44We're not going to add the whole corn kernels just yet.
19:47Okay.
19:48I'm going to bring this to a boil now.
19:50And as you're doing that, you really want to make sure you keep on stirring it,
19:53so that the bottom doesn't get too hot, because that could break the emulsion.
19:56Right.
19:57And turn it grainy.
19:57So we're going to bring this to a boil, and then we're going to turn it down to a simmer,
20:01and let it cook until the potatoes are almost ready.
20:05Not quite ready.
20:06Look at that beautiful yellow color already starting.
20:08Already getting there.
20:09Ugh.
20:10And this will take about eight to ten minutes.
20:13So it's been about nine minutes, and let's check on our potatoes.
20:16Okay.
20:17So I'm just going to fish out one or two, and then just using a paring knife,
20:20I want to make sure I just feel just a little bit of resistance.
20:24Yep.
20:24It mostly penetrates easily, but there's just a little bit of...
20:27firmness left over.
20:28So now we're going to add our fresh corn.
20:31Okay.
20:31So this is, it should be about three cups of corn from our forays from earlier.
20:35Just put it right in.
20:37Now, I didn't add this at the beginning, because we really want to preserve their fresh flavor.
20:40Right.
20:41And also their texture.
20:42Those lovely little pops that you get when you bite into something that's not fully cooked.
20:45It's so true.
20:46And really great corn, you almost don't need to cook it.
20:49Exactly.
20:49It's so sweet, so lovely.
20:51And then to this, we're now going to add a cup of heavy cream.
20:54We're not adding it too early on, because cooked cream can get a very sort of heavy character
20:58to it, whereas fresh cream really can lighten things up and just heighten the other flavors
21:03that are already in there.
21:03My goodness.
21:04So we're going to bring this back to a simmer, and we're going to cook it for another five
21:08minutes until the potatoes are fully tender and the fresh corn is just cooked.
21:13Okay.
21:14Mmm.
21:15That looks like summer in a pot.
21:17That's right.
21:18So let's take out the salt pork, and then you've got to find the bailey.
21:23Oh, good luck.
21:24This is always a fun game.
21:24Oh, oh, oh, oh.
21:25There we go.
21:26We got it.
21:27That never happens to me.
21:28My lucky day.
21:29And now, let's just kill the heat.
21:33All right.
21:33And we're going to finish it off with a little bit of fresh parsley.
21:38So, you know, herbs really should be seen as a vital part of seasoning.
21:43So you really want to get your herbs in before you do your final check for seasoning.
21:47Let me just check this out now.
21:48Oh, it's nice and thick.
21:51Mmm.
21:53Lovely.
21:54So I'm definitely going to give it some pepper.
21:56Fresh crab pepper is such a lovely accompaniment to this.
22:00And I'm just going to add just one little pinch of salt just to get it right there.
22:05Well, that's a really good thing to bring up, too, because you don't know how salty the salt pork is.
22:10That's right.
22:10That you start with, and also the chicken broth that you're using.
22:13So always best to go low on it, taste it.
22:16You can always add more.
22:18Let's plate up.
22:19Oh, that looks so lovely.
22:21You've got so much in there.
22:22Oh, it's perfectly thickened, too.
22:26It's not stodgy.
22:27At least it doesn't appear that way.
22:28That's right.
22:29I'm going to go over to Joe's house, because he gives big bowls of soup.
22:33Loving it.
22:36I mean, that's beautifully brothy.
22:38Mm-hmm.
22:40Mm.
22:40Mm.
22:41Gorgeous.
22:42Potatoes are lovely and tender.
22:44Actually, each little bite has just the right amount of potato and corn in it.
22:49But the broth itself, the base, is super corny.
22:52So it's not like you just added corn into a chowder.
22:56It tastes like you designed it with corn from the very first step.
22:59Exactly.
22:59And we are starting from scratch.
23:01You know, you could add a condensed sweet corn soup, but that really isn't going to give you that same purity of flavor.
23:06So the corn is front and center.
23:09It's sweet.
23:10It's tender.
23:12Summer spectacular.
23:13Thank you so much, Joe.
23:15This was lovely.
23:16So if you want to make this beautiful, fresh corn chowder, it starts by cutting the kernels from fresh ears of corn,
23:22then grating the cobs to extract flavorful corn pulp.
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