- 2 days ago
Americas Test Kitchen - Season 26 - Episode 05: Farmer’s Brunch
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02:39and it's time to add the onion.
02:40So I'm just gonna stir this into the bacon.
02:42We're gonna let those cook for another three to five minutes.
02:46It's been three minutes,
02:47and you can see that the onions have softened
02:49and started to pick up some color.
02:51Bacon has rendered.
02:52Smells so good in here.
02:54Smells great.
02:54Now I'm gonna take this out of the pan
02:56before we cook our potatoes.
02:57If I try to cook the potatoes
02:59with those aromatics in there, they'll start to burn.
03:02So I'm gonna return this,
03:04I'm gonna turn that down to medium heat.
03:05I'm gonna add two tablespoons of unsalted butter.
03:09Okay, I think that's good.
03:11So I'll add our two pounds of peeled potatoes.
03:14I'm gonna sprinkle that with a half teaspoon of table salt.
03:19Now I'm just gonna stir that.
03:21Okay, so I'm gonna leave that on medium heat.
03:24I'm gonna put a lid on it.
03:25I'm gonna go for nine minutes shaking this pan gently.
03:29It's been nine minutes,
03:30and this is just a status check about halfway through.
03:33What I'm looking for is this nice bubbling
03:36that I'm seeing around the potatoes.
03:37If the heat's too high, we won't see that bubbling,
03:39and you will evaporate all the moisture off the potatoes
03:42so they won't cook evenly.
03:44So this looks actually perfect.
03:45So I'm gonna put the lid back on,
03:47and then we're gonna go for another six to nine minutes
03:50and make sure that the potatoes
03:52are completely tender at that point.
03:53Okay.
03:54It's been another six minutes.
03:56Now I wanna check these potatoes.
03:58I'm just gonna take a paring knife
04:00and insert it in the center,
04:02and I have no resistance.
04:04So that means those potatoes are perfect.
04:07So I'm gonna leave the lid off at this point,
04:09and we wanna evaporate that liquid off,
04:12and we wanna continue to brown these potatoes.
04:14Now I'm gonna go in there every two to three minutes,
04:16stirring those over
04:17because it's gonna brown on the bottom,
04:19flip it over, get brown on the second side.
04:21That will take about 10 minutes for that to happen.
04:24I've been cooking these potatoes for 10 minutes,
04:27stirring them occasionally,
04:28and you can see all this wonderful browning
04:30that we've gotten.
04:30I'm gonna add our onion and bacon back to the pan.
04:36I'm just gonna stir this in.
04:40Okay, so this is our side dish.
04:42This is brat katafeln.
04:43We would stop here,
04:44and you could serve it with a roast, fish,
04:46really anything.
04:48But we're gonna go one step further.
04:51So I'm just gonna let that heat go down a little bit,
04:54and now I have six eggs.
04:56So we're gonna make our Baumwurstruck,
04:59which is a German farmer's breakfast.
05:01Okay.
05:01Party rich.
05:02So I'm just gonna add a quarter teaspoon of salt,
05:06quarter teaspoon of pepper.
05:10Before we add the eggs,
05:11I'm gonna add another tablespoon of butter.
05:14The pan is fairly dry at this point,
05:15so the butter will kind of help cook those eggs.
05:18Yeah, I was getting worried.
05:18Twirl that around.
05:19No, you said farmer's breakfast.
05:21So in theory, we've been out in the fields for two hours,
05:25and we deserve this at this point.
05:27Okay, so I'm just gonna pour the eggs over the potatoes.
05:31Oh my.
05:35Like that.
05:36Incredible.
05:37We're gonna let the eggs cook for 45 seconds.
05:39Just allow them to set a little bit.
05:41Okay.
05:42Okay, so I'm just gonna start to lift the egg
05:45from the edges like this.
05:48What I'm doing is I'm letting that egg run from the top
05:52into that little void that I create.
05:55Now you can see that I can't get all of that runny egg
05:57onto the edges underneath to cook it.
06:00So we're gonna use our lid again.
06:02I'm gonna put this on here.
06:04The steam's gonna come up and cook the eggs
06:06that are on top of the potatoes
06:07that we can't get underneath.
06:09Been a couple minutes,
06:10and we're just gonna check on this.
06:13That looks perfect, right?
06:14There's no runny egg on the top here.
06:16So we're just gonna slide this onto a platter.
06:20Spatial around.
06:21That non-stick pan is doing a really good job.
06:24Boy, does it ever.
06:25Oh, man.
06:27Beautiful.
06:28I might fight you for it.
06:30One last thing.
06:32A little parsley.
06:33Parsley.
06:34Ready?
06:35Yes.
06:36Okay.
06:36This is beautiful.
06:37It is beautiful, isn't it?
06:38I'll give you a hearty wedge.
06:42This is stunning.
06:44It's simple, but it's absolutely gorgeous.
06:48Look at this perfect slice that Keith gave me.
06:50That is as good as it gets.
06:53Oh, my goodness.
06:54Between the bacon fat and the little bits of bacon in there,
06:57you're getting potato, bacon, butter.
06:59Yeah, and it's really about the potato flavor,
07:01not necessarily all the bacon and the onion.
07:04That's true.
07:05The potatoes are perfectly cooked, creamy.
07:07Really creamy.
07:08And the egg.
07:09It's almost like it's a little beautiful pie shell
07:12underneath all of this filling.
07:14One word.
07:15That is wunderbar.
07:16Wunderbar.
07:17How about that?
07:17Nice.
07:18This is spectacular.
07:19I'm going to make it whether or not I'm working out on the farm.
07:22Now, if you want to make this fantastic breakfast,
07:25it starts by cooking bacon and onion until golden brown.
07:28Sauté and steam the potatoes with butter in the rendered bacon fat.
07:32And after browning the potatoes, pour over eggs and cook it until just set.
07:37So, from America's Test Kitchen, a hearty breakfast fit for champions, it's Ban for Stuck.
07:45Now, I'm thinking sausages in here, too, maybe.
07:49Ooh.
07:50Sausage and bacon.
07:51Yeah.
07:57This is not a cookie sheet.
07:59It's a baking sheet, a rimmed baking sheet, in fact.
08:02And it's great for other things.
08:03But if you're baking cookies, you might need a tool just for that job.
08:07Enter the cookie sheet and add them.
08:09Let's talk about some of the differences here, Bridget.
08:12You can see that this thing has about a one-inch rim around all four sides.
08:16An actual cookie sheet, which is what we're testing here, we have 12 in the lineup.
08:21The price range was $17 to $100.
08:24The actual cookie sheet is like this.
08:27It doesn't have a full rim around the whole thing.
08:30Right.
08:31There are a couple of disadvantages to having all four sides here.
08:35It can't expand and contract in the oven heat, so sometimes it'll warp.
08:40Also, with these tall sides, it's a little harder to get in there with spatulas and really get the cookies
08:45on and off.
08:45Definitely.
08:46So we're getting rid of this thing.
08:47Okay.
08:48That's gone.
08:49A dedicated cookie sheet, or the ones we like, have fewer sides.
08:53Much easier access with a spatula, or take it away, Bridget, with that piece of parchment.
08:58Nice.
08:59Love doing this.
09:00So you've got this nice flat edge, just grab the parchment.
09:03All the cookies come off at once.
09:05The whole thing slides off.
09:07Not doing that with a rim around there.
09:09No, no.
09:09Not easily, that's for sure.
09:10Definitely not.
09:10So we like them when they have just two raised edges, like that one does, and this one.
09:15They're the same one.
09:17This has about 200 square inches of baking space.
09:20This one, for instance, has about 165 inches of baking space, so it felt a little cramped.
09:27It's also got just one barely raised edge.
09:30It was kind of hard to grab with an oven mitt on.
09:33One of our testers went in and tried to grab it to rotate it mid-bake and smooshed a cookie.
09:37That is unacceptable.
09:39Not good.
09:39So this lineup covers a range of materials.
09:42There's steel, there's aluminum, there's aluminized steel.
09:45Some of them are nonstick coated.
09:47This one is clad.
09:49Ooh.
09:50And we know what that means.
09:51That's an aluminum core with stainless steel on the outside.
09:54That's gorgeous, but it's heavy.
09:55It's $100, and it weighs four pounds for a cookie sheet.
10:00$100.
10:00I'm putting it back gingerly.
10:02Very careful.
10:03Not ideal.
10:05This is another one that testers didn't actually love.
10:07This one is insulated.
10:09This one was not ideal because it baked cookies unevenly.
10:12The air in between the two layers of metal would heat up unevenly.
10:15There were cool spots.
10:16There were hot spots.
10:17So the cookies didn't bake evenly, and it even warped a little bit in the oven.
10:21Not good.
10:22Not good.
10:22In the end, what testers really loved was this one here.
10:26This is the Volrath, wherever, aluminum cookie sheet.
10:30It's uncoated.
10:31It's $33, and it's got everything that we love.
10:34It's got 203 square inches of baking space.
10:37It's got two raised edges, so you can turn it easily in the oven,
10:40but you can also get on there easily with a spatula.
10:43Or you can slide the whole sheet of cookies off and on.
10:47Perfect.
10:47This is pretty much the ideal cookie sheet, and you want to have one of these in your bakeware collection.
10:53Well, there you go.
10:53And if you want to find out more about our product testing here, you can go to our website.
10:58In the meantime, I'm going to have a cookie.
11:01Can I have one, too?
11:02Oh, Bridget, thank you.
11:03Cheers.
11:04Cheers.
11:10If you look up recipes for Dutch apple pie, you'll find a variety of interpretations.
11:15Some use pie plates.
11:16Others, tall cake pans.
11:17Some add a little cream to the filling.
11:19Others put crumb topping on top.
11:21But today, Bridget's going to show us a more traditional recipe for Dutch apple pie.
11:26That's right.
11:27Yeah, we went straight to the Dutch, and we said, what do you think apple tart is?
11:30Because they said, this is apple tart.
11:32Big, it's tall, it's beautiful.
11:34But great news for the home cook, it's one of the easiest apple pies you will ever make.
11:39So, let's start off with the apples.
11:40Okay.
11:41So, I've got four pounds.
11:42These are golden delicious apples, obviously.
11:44Peeled them, cored them, and then cut them into quarter-inch slices.
11:48Now, we don't want them to turn into applesauce, so we're going to precook them before we bake them.
11:52And now, just a little bit of dark brown sugar.
11:55This is a quarter cup.
11:57And I'm just going to toss this together.
12:00And that's the pie.
12:01I told you it was super easy.
12:02Well, it isn't a Dutch oven.
12:04Or as they call it, oven.
12:07All right.
12:07So, I'm going to turn this to medium-high heat.
12:10Put a lid on it.
12:12And we're going to let this go from 8 to 14 minutes.
12:15Really, anywhere in there, what I'm looking for is the apples to start to soften.
12:19About half of them should start to look a little translucent.
12:21Okay.
12:22All right.
12:23All right.
12:23Let's check this.
12:24It's been about 10 minutes.
12:26All right.
12:27Now, this.
12:28This is what I'm looking for.
12:29So, you can see it's a little bit translucent.
12:31Yep.
12:32And now, I'm going to dump them out onto this rimmed baking sheet.
12:35We want them to stop cooking.
12:38All right.
12:38Spread this out.
12:40So, I've got here flour.
12:41This is 2 1⁄2 cups, 12 1⁄2 ounces of all-purpose flour.
12:45I've got 5 1⁄4 ounces or a 3 1⁄4 cup packed dark brown sugar.
12:50Dark brown.
12:51Dark brown.
12:51A little bit of an odd ingredient for a pie crust.
12:54This is baking powder.
12:55Oh, yeah.
12:56A tablespoon of it.
12:57And a half a teaspoon of just regular table salt.
13:01Now, I've got a spatula here, but what's really good is to get in here with your hands,
13:05break up those clumps of brown sugar.
13:08All right.
13:09So, now, let's talk liquid ingredients.
13:11One egg.
13:12Crack it.
13:14Whisk it.
13:16All right.
13:17Now, I do want to reserve a little bit of this beaten egg, about a tablespoon, for later on.
13:22We're going to use it in our egg wash for the top of the pie.
13:25Yeah.
13:26All right.
13:27So, the egg goes right in.
13:29Now, I've got some butter here.
13:31Just a little bit.
13:32Just a little bit.
13:32It's 14 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and still hot.
13:36That's going to make it easy to incorporate in our dish.
13:39And just to help things along, I've got a tablespoon of water just to bring the dough to the texture
13:44that I'm looking for.
13:46All right.
13:46Just want to bring this together.
13:48All right.
13:49I'm going to dump this onto my surface here.
13:52Now, I get to have some fun.
13:54Just going to knead this until it comes together.
13:56Then, all the ingredients look to be well mixed.
13:58So, now, I just want to roll this out to about a nine-inch log.
14:02All right.
14:03And I'm doing this because it's going to make it easier for me to portion this out into three equal
14:08portions.
14:09Ah.
14:10All right.
14:11I'm going to put you to work.
14:12You're going to help me make this crust.
14:14So, this is a non-stick springform pan.
14:17It's nine inches.
14:18If you're using a regular one that's not non-stick, you'll need to grease it with a little bit of
14:22vegetable oil spray.
14:23Okay.
14:24But we're going to take one-third of this.
14:25So, we just crumble this into the bottom.
14:28I just need you to press this just into the bottom at this point.
14:31No sides.
14:31No sides.
14:32Thank you for giving me something to keep busy with.
14:34Of course.
14:35You know me.
14:36Next up, I'm going to take another blob, one-third of the dough.
14:42And I'm going to pat it out to about an eight-by-four-inch rectangle.
14:46Now, I'm going to put another piece of parchment on here just so it's making contact there.
14:51How's that?
14:51That looks great.
14:52Almost done.
14:53Just set that aside for a minute.
14:54Okay.
14:55So, again, I've put a little piece of parchment on top.
14:57Got it to stick.
14:58And now, I'm going to roll this out to a 10-by-12-inch rectangle.
15:04All right.
15:04I'm going to leave this between the sheets of parchment.
15:06Mm-hmm.
15:07And I'll put it on a rimmed baking sheet.
15:09This is going to go in the fridge in just a moment.
15:11All right.
15:12So, this last piece of dough, what are we going to do with it?
15:15I know.
15:15Let's build the side crust.
15:17So, same thing.
15:18Just crumble around the edges and then start patting up the sides of the pan.
15:23That dough really is easy to work with.
15:25Yes.
15:26All right.
15:26So, I need the butter to chill, get a little bit firm.
15:29Apples still have to cool down, so I'm going to go put these in the fridge.
15:32Okay.
15:34Well, as Bridget mentioned earlier, it's important to par-cook the apples so that they hold together in the tart.
15:40Here's why.
15:42If you bake raw apples for an hour and 15 minutes, which is the total baking time of the tart,
15:47the pectin in the apples, which holds the cell walls together, separate from each other, turning the apples mushy.
15:53The key to avoiding mushy apples is to par-cook them to around 140 degrees for at least 10 minutes.
16:00At this specific temperature, an enzyme called pectin methylesterase, or PME, becomes more active in the fruit.
16:08The enzyme modifies the pectin that holds the apple cells together.
16:12Once the pectin is modified, calcium ions, already present in the fruit, can easily link the chains of pectin together.
16:20These pre-cooked apples now have a sturdy pectin mesh that allows the apples to stay firm and intact throughout
16:26the rest of baking.
16:27So, the trick to preserving the texture of the apples is to par-cook them before baking the pie.
16:33Next step, we've got to make our apples taste spiced.
16:37Okay.
16:38Yeah.
16:38And these apples, I let them fully cool.
16:40That did take about 30 minutes.
16:42All right.
16:42So, let's get the apples out of here into our bowl.
16:46And I just, if there are any juices, I'm going to leave them behind.
16:49All right.
16:50So, let's add the rest of our filling to the apples.
16:53Now, a little bit of a polarizing.
16:56Do you have to?
16:56You don't.
16:57I like it.
16:58This is golden raisins.
17:00Okay.
17:00So, a half cup.
17:02You don't have to add it, but it really is very traditional with the Dutch apple pie.
17:07All right.
17:08A little bit of thickener here.
17:09This is a tablespoon of cornstarch.
17:12Mm-hmm.
17:13A little bit of lemon juice.
17:14This is a tablespoon.
17:16And a pinch of salt.
17:18Okay.
17:18Just regular table salt.
17:19All right.
17:20Let's talk about the spice blend here.
17:22Let me tell you what we have here.
17:23Now, our backbone is cinnamon.
17:25You know, it's one of my favorite spices.
17:27A teaspoon of cinnamon.
17:28So, this is a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger.
17:32Mm-hmm.
17:33Quarter teaspoon of cardamom.
17:36Oh, I love cardamom.
17:38Yeah.
17:38We have a quarter teaspoon of ground coriander.
17:41And I've got an eighth of a teaspoon of nutmeg.
17:45Really pays to freshly grate it yourself rather than get the stuff out of the jar.
17:49They taste completely different to me.
17:51They do.
17:51So, this is just a little bit.
17:53And I'm going to start tossing this, but I'm almost ready for the pie dough.
17:58So, if you wouldn't mind going to the fridge and getting out both the tray and the pie plate.
18:02Okay.
18:03Would you like it here?
18:04Just here is perfect.
18:05All right.
18:05Thanks, Julia.
18:07All right.
18:07So, that looks great.
18:09So, this is going to go right into the base here.
18:13So, I'm just going to arrange these.
18:15We want them to be compacted in there.
18:18So, now, let's talk about the top of this pie.
18:21You mentioned crumb toppings.
18:23Mm-hmm.
18:23You can find some of those, but the most traditional is lattice.
18:26Oh.
18:27Now, I said that this pie was one of the easiest pies that we've ever made, this apple tart.
18:31This is why.
18:32You think lattice and fear is struck into your heart.
18:36Yes.
18:36A little bit.
18:36This is super easy.
18:38So, let me just take this out of the sheet pan and I'm going to peel off this top layer.
18:44And we're going to put this back in this rim baking sheet because we're going to use this to put
18:48the pie on before we put it in the oven.
18:50All right.
18:50Now, we need to cut some lattice strips.
18:53So, I need eight in total and we're going to space these about one and a quarter inch apart.
18:59All right.
19:00So, I'm going to use a pizza cutter.
19:02You could use a knife for this.
19:04And I'm going to start using those little marks to make my little lattice.
19:09Now, again, it's fine if the edges are not perfect.
19:12This is one of the most forgiving doughs I've ever worked with.
19:17All right.
19:18So, we're going to use an offset spatula and I'm just going to loosen this first one.
19:30There we go.
19:30I'm going to place it right on the top of my pie, spacing them evenly apart.
19:36I'm going to give a little bit of space between them, adjust at this point.
19:40All right.
19:41So, now, we're going to put the remaining four at a 45-degree angle.
19:46And I'm not going to be picking up any strips to braid it and to make a basket weave at
19:51all.
19:54All right.
19:55So, now, I just want to go in there and kind of press the strips down onto the pie.
20:00So, now, I'm going to take a paring knife and I just want to start going around and just removing
20:06the excess dough.
20:12Woo-wee.
20:14I'm about ready to bake, Julia.
20:16One last step.
20:18This was that one tablespoon of the reserved egg.
20:21Just beaten egg.
20:23All right.
20:23Time to bake this.
20:24This is going to go into a 375-degree oven.
20:27And we're going to bake this in two stages.
20:29But for this first stage, I'm going to leave it in there for 45 minutes.
20:34Oh!
20:35Bridget, that is gorgeous!
20:37That was just 45 minutes.
20:39It's not done cooking, though.
20:41Now, it's colored quite a bit.
20:43So, we don't want it to color too much more.
20:45So, I'm going to tint it loosely with foil.
20:50All right.
20:50Doesn't have to be too tight.
20:51Just protecting it.
20:52But we're going to leave this for another 30 minutes until the skewer inserted comes out nice and clean.
20:57Okay.
20:59Still there!
21:01That was another 30 minutes.
21:03So, I'm going to take this out.
21:04And if you wouldn't mind getting the oven door for me.
21:08You bet.
21:11All right.
21:12I can't wait for the reveal.
21:13Let's hope it's still there.
21:16Et voila!
21:17Goodness, Bridget.
21:18Now, the test to see if it is actually done.
21:21I'm going to take a skewer.
21:22All right.
21:23It's good to go around a few places just to make sure.
21:26It's all baked evenly.
21:27And that looks great.
21:28Mmm.
21:29So, one thing I want to do before I release the side here.
21:33I just want to take a paring knife and go around just the top where the lattice and the side
21:38met.
21:39And release that nice and gently.
21:43Oh, look at that.
21:45Come on.
21:46That is statuesque.
21:48My goodness.
21:49She's a looker.
21:50She is a looker.
21:51Yeah.
21:52All right.
21:53Now, obviously, we can't cut right into it.
21:55We've got to let it rest for at least four hours.
21:58Cool down so it's going to be nice and sliceable and ready for you.
22:03Completely cooled.
22:04That was four hours.
22:05You can see that the dough really kind of heals itself.
22:08Doesn't matter if it has little imperfections.
22:10All right.
22:11So, I'm going to use a sharp knife.
22:12And you want to just gently saw this because it is kind of crumbly.
22:18I love how tall it is.
22:20Oh, yeah.
22:20Oh, goodness.
22:23That's gorgeous.
22:24Isn't that?
22:25It's a sexy pie right there.
22:27All right.
22:28There you go.
22:30Bridget.
22:31Now, in Holland, the Dutch like to serve this with whipped cream, although you could use ice cream.
22:35But with whipped cream, it's called Met Slagrum.
22:39Oh, I like it.
22:40And we've got our recipe for our easy whipped cream on our website.
22:44I've got to get in there.
22:46You know, another beautiful thing about this dough is because it's not that super flaky American pie dough, which I
22:51love for certain things, but it just kind of breaks apart so easily.
22:56Mmm.
22:57The flavor of the apples.
23:00Mmm.
23:00You can really taste the apples.
23:02And the spices, they're there, but they're nuanced.
23:05They really are just background notes.
23:07Mmm.
23:07And it's not just cinnamon or maybe a little nutmeg.
23:10It's the coriander and the cardamom.
23:13Right.
23:13They all, it's like an orchestra of flavors in the background.
23:16And you get that little bit of ginger without it turning into gingerbread.
23:20Bridget, this is incredible.
23:21Thank you for showing me how to make it.
23:22You bet.
23:24You want to make this magnificent apple tart.
23:27Start by par cooking four pounds of golden delicious apples.
23:31Make a press in pie crust and top with lattice.
23:34Then bake for an hour and a quarter, covering with foil for the final 30 minutes.
23:38From America's Test Kitchen, a magnificent recipe for apple tart.
23:43You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with our product reviews and select episodes
23:49at our website.
23:50America's Test Kitchen dot com slash TV.
23:54I can't wait to make this for my family.
23:56They are going to flip.
23:57Let's take a quick stab.
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