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Americas Test Kitchen - Season 26 - Episode 12: Zesty Salmon and Salad
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00:36Today on America's Test Kitchen,
00:39Elle makes Julia double-glazed salmon with lemony thyme glaze.
00:43Jack talks all about tofu.
00:46Hannah and Lisa explore natural cleaning sprays.
00:49And Becky makes kale salad with radishes, grapefruit, and candied pepitas.
00:54It's all coming up right here on America's Test Kitchen.
01:07Salmon is as popular today as it's ever been.
01:10In fact, it's the second most popular seafood here in the U.S., a close second to shrimp.
01:15And today, Elle is going to show us a new cooking method that's as easy as it is elegant.
01:20That's right.
01:21And with a little extra care and attention here, we're going to have some elegantly glazed salmon fillets
01:26with a spectrum of sweet, tart, and savory flavors.
01:31Ooh, so glazed salmon.
01:32Oh, yeah.
01:33Consistency is key here, right?
01:35So I have here a two-pound center-cut fillet.
01:39Mm-hmm.
01:39It's gorgeous.
01:40And I chose this because I can cut this into even pieces, which is what I'm going to do right
01:45now.
01:46Right.
01:46I'm going to give us four even fillets.
01:48So I'm going to do a little kitchen math, cut it down the middle.
01:52Well, and if they're all the same size, then they'll cook at the same rate.
01:55That's right.
01:55So you're already off to a good start.
01:57That's right.
01:57That's that consistency we're talking about.
01:59What I've learned over the years is you have to ask for this piece of salmon because they're
02:02going to try to sell you the pre-portioned ones.
02:04They're going to throw one of the wonky ones in there.
02:06You can't let them.
02:07The little skinny tail.
02:07Yeah.
02:08You can't let them do that.
02:09We don't need that.
02:09Mm-mm.
02:11So the next question we came up with here is the best way to cook this salmon.
02:15And of course, brining is the way to go.
02:18So I have two quarts of cool water here, a quarter cup of salt, and a quarter cup of sugar.
02:26Mm-hmm.
02:28All right.
02:28I'm just going to give it a little whisk.
02:33All right.
02:34I think we're looking good.
02:35How does that look?
02:36All right.
02:37Awesome.
02:37All right.
02:38So I'm just going to put our salmon fillets in here, make sure that they're all submerged
02:41under the water so they can get that good brine.
02:44All right.
02:44We're going to let this hang out for about 15 minutes, and now we're going to start working
02:47on our glaze.
02:48Now, this glaze is not going to be like that typical one-note glaze that you've had in
02:52the past, right?
02:53So I'm going to start with a quarter cup of lemon juice.
02:56A little acidity really goes a long way with a good glaze.
03:00A little quick umami boost of soy sauce, and this is four teaspoons.
03:06Just to balance things out, we have three tablespoons of water, two tablespoons of sugar, and finally,
03:17one and a half teaspoons of cornstarch.
03:19Mm-hmm.
03:19So this cornstarch is going to give our glaze that nice silky texture that we're looking
03:23for.
03:23All right.
03:24So I'm going to just give it a little stir to get it all mixed in together.
03:28No clumps, right?
03:29So we're looking to get all those cornstarch clumps out.
03:31Mm-hmm.
03:32All right.
03:32That looks good.
03:33And finally, I'm going to add six sprigs of thyme because thyme and citrus, whoa.
03:38Okay.
03:39All right.
03:40I'm going to put this over medium-high heat.
03:43There we go.
03:44Now, this cooks really quickly.
03:46It only takes about a minute, but we do have to stir it consistently to make sure that there's
03:50no sticky things going on in there.
03:52That's right, because of the cornstarch.
03:54That means you've got to whisk it consistently because otherwise it'll settle to the bottom
03:57and clump on you.
03:58That's right.
03:59So we're just going to bring this to a simmer and let it cook for about a minute.
04:02Okay.
04:04Awesome.
04:04All right.
04:05So I'm going to just let it sit for five minutes.
04:07All right.
04:08So I'm just going to take the thyme out of here.
04:10We get to score that.
04:12What we do need to do is reserve two tablespoons of this glaze for our first round of glazing of
04:19the salmon.
04:21Okay.
04:21So I have here our four fillets out of the brine, and I've patted them dry with paper
04:26towel so they're ready to go.
04:28So I have half a teaspoon of vegetable oil here, and this is a 12-inch nonstick and oven-safe
04:34skillet.
04:35We need that.
04:36All right.
04:37And so it's at medium-high heat.
04:39Okay.
04:39So I'm going to put these salmon fillets in flesh side down.
04:42Mm-hmm.
04:44Okay.
04:45So these only need to cook for about three minutes.
04:47Okay.
04:47And what we're looking for is a nice, even, beautiful brownie.
04:51All right.
04:51So it's been three minutes.
04:53I'm just going to flip these fillets over.
04:54Oh, my goodness.
04:56That's gorgeous.
04:56What a reveal.
04:58It is.
04:59And again, that little bit of sugar in the brine is helping them get this even, gorgeous
05:03crust.
05:03It did the thing.
05:04Mm-hmm.
05:05Okay.
05:05So now I'm just going to turn the heat to low, and I'm going to put on our first glaze
05:09of this salmon.
05:10I've reserved two tablespoons from our original batch of glaze, and I'm just going to give
05:15this a beautiful brush.
05:17Okay.
05:17I'm going to get this into the oven.
05:18It's set at 300 degrees.
05:20The rack is in the middle position.
05:22And what we want is for the salmon to be translucent and to register at 125 degrees.
05:27Okay.
05:27And 300 is a relatively low oven temperature, but that's just so you nail the doneness.
05:32Consistency is key.
05:33All right.
05:33All right.
05:34I'm going to take it to the oven.
05:38So this recipe is all about the sleek, shiny glaze, but what makes a glaze shine?
05:44When light hits most objects, like a piece of salmon, the light scatters when it bounces
05:50off.
05:50Still water is different.
05:52It's shiny like a mirror because its surface is extremely smooth on a microscopic level.
05:58The light that hits it bounces off without scattering.
06:01The glaze we put on our salmon is water-based, but we thicken it with both cornstarch and
06:07sugar so it has a syrupy consistency.
06:09This means that it keeps the gloss of water, but it's sticky enough to stay put on the fish
06:15and lend that shine.
06:16And that's why glaze is not only at a boost of flavor, but also a beautiful shine.
06:23Oh.
06:24That looks wonderful.
06:26That looks gorgeous.
06:27Yeah, it does.
06:30All right.
06:31This fish looks like it's giving everything we're asking for, but let's check to make
06:34sure that we are at 125 degrees.
06:37Only one way to know when your food is properly cooked, and that's by taking its temperature.
06:41That's right.
06:42So good.
06:43We got 127.
06:44I like it.
06:45Perfect.
06:45And that's perfect for farm-raised salmon.
06:47If you're using wild salmon, you want to be a little less, about five degrees less or
06:51so.
06:51That's right.
06:52All right.
06:53And I'm just going to transfer these to our platter.
06:56Gorgeous.
06:57All right.
06:58So now we have the rest of our glaze.
07:01We actually have other variations of glazes that you can make on this salmon that you can
07:05also find on the website.
07:06Hmm.
07:07Okay, so I'm going to finish it off with a little garnish, parsley, chopped parsley.
07:12Isn't this taking you back to culinary days?
07:14Totally.
07:15Yeah.
07:16All right.
07:17Looks good enough to eat.
07:18All right.
07:18Let's eat.
07:19Mm-hmm.
07:20Salmon for you and a little salmon for me.
07:24Ah, I can't wait to dive in.
07:26I know.
07:26I'm very excited.
07:28Oh, look how juicy that is.
07:34Hmm.
07:37Hold on to your socks.
07:38I was not expecting that flavor.
07:41The glaze, the flavors have totally transformed from the ingredients I saw you put in that
07:46pot.
07:46Yeah.
07:47It almost has a tangerine, mandarin flavor, and there was no orange in it.
07:51It was lemon.
07:52Yeah.
07:52Soy, thyme.
07:53That combination of flavors really creates something very unexpected, right?
07:57It does.
07:58It is so interesting and elegant, but it's also simple.
08:02I mean, I could imagine this pleasing a wide range of palates.
08:05You know what else is interesting?
08:06Sometimes when you're trying to get a glaze on a fish, you end up overcooking the fish
08:10just to get the right glaze.
08:11Mm-hmm.
08:11Here, you have both perfect glaze and perfect fish temperature.
08:14I mean, look how juicy that salmon is.
08:17And again, thanks to the brine.
08:18That's right.
08:19Seasoned all the way through.
08:20Elle, this is fantastic.
08:22My pleasure.
08:23If you want to make the perfect double-glazed salmon, brine the salmon in a sugar and salt
08:29solution, make a shiny and viscous glaze with lemon juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch.
08:35Then sear the salmon quickly and glaze and finish in a moderate oven.
08:40From America's Test Kitchen, an elegant but easy recipe for double-glazed salmon with lemon
08:45and thyme.
08:47This is awesome.
08:48Oh, yeah.
08:56I adore tofu.
08:58It is so versatile.
08:59I think it's useful to think of it kind of like cheese.
09:02You start with the same base ingredient.
09:04In the case of tofu, it is soy milk.
09:07You heat it, add a coagulant, and you can get a wide range of incredible products that
09:13have so many different uses across cuisines and in the kitchen.
09:17So let me start with silken tofu, which is here up front.
09:21So they take the soy milk, they heat it, they add the coagulant, and then they pour this
09:26into a mold.
09:27And it is almost like pudding.
09:29I'm going to put my finger into it, and you can see I can put my finger right through
09:32it.
09:33It is best used in cold applications.
09:36Let's say a salad with a chili, spicy dressing, or maybe just a couple of spoonfuls in a soup.
09:44It's texture is really delicate.
09:46You don't want to press this.
09:47You really want to just slice it or break it apart.
09:51Now, most of the other blocks of tofu that are in the supermarket are agitated during the
09:57coagulation process, and then they're pressed to remove some of the water.
10:01So this is how soft, firm, medium, extra firm, all of the tofus that you see labeled that
10:07way, that's where they come from.
10:08Now, this is soft tofu.
10:10This is our favorite brand.
10:12It's pulmone.
10:13And, you know, it bounces back.
10:15You see, I can't really put my finger through this.
10:17But it can be used like silken tofu in cold applications.
10:22It's our favorite thing for mapo tofu.
10:26And again, it's got a little bit more water than, let's say, the medium.
10:30Or back here, we have firm tofu.
10:32Now, this is a little bit more kind of bouncy than the soft tofu.
10:38Our favorite brand is from House Foods.
10:41This is really, if you want to pan fry it, deep fry it, saute it, you're going to cut
10:46this into slabs, blot it dry.
10:49You may want to even press it a little bit to get out excess moisture so it doesn't splatter.
10:53And then you can get a great crust on this.
10:57This is great for glazing.
10:58This is also lovely if you want to deep fry cubes of cornstarch-coated tofu.
11:04So in addition to the silken, the soft, and the firm tofu, I have three interesting kind
11:09of convenience products.
11:10And the first one is fried tofu.
11:13And this is exactly what it sounds like.
11:15They take squares of firm tofu, coat it and fry it, and then it's sold this way.
11:21This is a wonderful addition to, let's say, a spicy Thai stew.
11:25Next up, I've got tofu puffs.
11:28Now, this may seem similar, but it's made in a really different way.
11:32So they take the soy milk and the coagulant and they shoot in a jet of cold water to get
11:39these incredibly sort of wonderful clouds.
11:42They get rid of some of the excess moisture and then fry this up.
11:46This is used in a Vietnamese soup and kind of puffs up and absorbs the broth and is a wonderful
11:53addition to your kitchen.
11:56And last, we have tofu skin.
11:58Now, there's no coagulant involved in making these.
12:00This is similar to, let's say, the skin on dairy milk.
12:04When you heat up soy milk, you'll get a skin on the surface and they can remove that and
12:09then either dry it or, in this case, sell it fresh.
12:12This can be sliced and put in a soup.
12:14It can be filled and rolled and kind of used as a wrapper as an interesting way to add protein
12:21to your diet.
12:22So there you have it.
12:24Some of the wonderful things that you can do with tofu and the forms that it takes.
12:29Look for it when you're shopping.
12:36Multi-purpose cleaning sprays can make cleaning your kitchen faster and more effective.
12:41They're designed to work on all kinds of surfaces from countertops to appliances.
12:44The trouble is that some are harmful to both humans and the environment, and others just
12:50don't work.
12:51So that's why we were so excited when our testing proved that a natural cleaning spray
12:55was actually better at cleaning.
12:57But what does natural even mean?
12:58It's one of the most overused terms these days.
13:01Natural cleaning sprays use cleaning agents like citric acid.
13:05And actually, in our third-party lab tests, citric acid proved just as effective even against
13:11bacteria like salmonella as harsher chemicals.
13:13Our top performer in every test was Method All-Purpose Spray Cleaner.
13:19This is a really great product.
13:21It sprays easily, it comes in a nice bottle, and it cleans really well.
13:27Method also makes our winning antibacterial spray right here.
13:30We recommend using the regular one most of the time and pulling this out when someone
13:35in the household is sick.
13:36But what if you're looking to reduce your plastic waste?
13:39Most cleaning sprays are mostly water, and they come in disposable bottles.
13:43Eco-friendly products promise to change all that.
13:46They sure are trying a lot of different things.
13:48They come in concentrates or dissolvable tablets.
13:50One even uses electricity to turn water and vinegar into a more effective cleaner.
13:55Another ships in beeswax pods?
13:59Unfortunately, these typically busted in transit.
14:01Another one was only effective for two weeks after you mixed it, and some of them honestly
14:06smelled pretty bad.
14:07It wasn't good.
14:07And some didn't really clean.
14:10What's the point?
14:11Yeah.
14:12We did, though, find two that we really liked.
14:14Grove Collaborative, which is a concentrate, and Simple Human, which is a tablet form.
14:19The Grove Collaborative gives you a starter kit with a glass bottle and little glass vials
14:25of concentrate, and you just add your own tap water to that, and you're good to go.
14:29Simple Human, the other eco-friendly product we really like, comes in these dissolvable tablets.
14:35They take 17 minutes to dissolve, but once that period is done, they're a powerful, effective,
14:40and pleasantly scented cleaner.
14:42For more information and full testing results, head to our website.
14:51Despite what you might have heard, I actually do like vegetables, including salad.
14:57I actually love a great, fresh salad.
14:59But when you start talking about hearty greens, that might be something I have to endure, like
15:05kale.
15:06Becky's here.
15:07She's going to show me how to make a kale salad that's going to win me over.
15:09I promise, Bridget, we're going to add so many goodies to this salad.
15:13It's really vibrant.
15:14It can be served with almost anything, and you can actually make it a head.
15:17Okay.
15:18So let's get started by making a nice, crunchy topping with pepitas that's going to go on
15:22top of the salad to give it a little spiciness, a little sweetness.
15:26I feel like this is the distraction method.
15:28You're distracting me from kale by adding crunchy, sweet, salty, savory things.
15:33Right.
15:33Candied pepitas.
15:34I am totally in.
15:35All right.
15:35Let's do it.
15:35We're starting with one egg white, and I'm just going to whip these up until they're
15:40a little bit frothy.
15:42All right.
15:43So I'm going to add a tablespoon of unsalted melted butter, two tablespoons of granulated
15:48sugar, two tablespoons of brown sugar, and then half teaspoon of cardamom, which is going
15:55to give it a nice little spice flavor, half teaspoon of salt, and then just a pinch of
16:01cayenne.
16:01I'm just going to use about half of that.
16:03A smidge.
16:04Just a smidge.
16:06Put that all together.
16:10All right.
16:11So now I have a cup of pepitas.
16:16And we'll mix that together.
16:18It's like praline.
16:20Yes.
16:21These beaten egg whites and sugar, you often do this with pecans, right?
16:25You probably had that.
16:26Oh, yeah.
16:27Yeah.
16:27Praline or, depending on where you're from, praline.
16:29Praline.
16:30Did I say that right?
16:31Yeah.
16:31You said it great.
16:33All right.
16:33So there's our pepitas.
16:35We're going to put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
16:38I'm going to spread these out.
16:42Now I'm going to put these in a 350-degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes.
16:47I'll stir them partway through, and then they'll be done.
16:53All right, before we get to the kale, I have a gorgeous red grapefruit here that I'm going
16:57to cut up.
16:57And this is going to be a really refreshing, sweet, juicy part of the salad.
17:01So we're going to peel it first.
17:03I just like to cut off the ends like this.
17:06And I'm just going to work my way down the sides of the grapefruit.
17:11All right, and I don't like any pith at all, so I just like to go back around, take any
17:16off that I missed.
17:17Ruby red.
17:18Yeah, beautiful, right?
17:20Now I'm going to cut this grapefruit into six pieces.
17:23Six, like this.
17:25Cut that into three.
17:28Cut that into three.
17:30And I'm going to cut these into quarter-inch slices.
17:35All right, put those in a bowl.
17:38Set those aside.
17:40All right, and now let's get on to the kale.
17:42All right.
17:43So we're going to do 12 ounces of curly kale.
17:47It's going to be about 10 cups once it's all prepped.
17:48I have a couple left here that I'm going to prep.
17:51So I don't know how you do kale.
17:53I just like to go at it with my fingers.
17:54The stem is nice and sturdy, so you can just kind of pull it off like that.
17:58And then if a little bit of stem remains, you can just pull it out.
18:02Some people use a knife.
18:03I just prefer to use my hands.
18:05And now we're just going to chop these into kind of bite-sized pieces.
18:08Okay.
18:08You can really just kind of crumble it up.
18:10Kale is so sturdy.
18:11That's why this salad is great for a make-ahead.
18:13Kale can stand up to a couple days in the fridge with a dressing on it.
18:16This would be great for a big gathering.
18:18Perfect for a holiday.
18:19Perfect for entertaining.
18:20Your salad's done.
18:21A lot of times you don't have salad at the holidays.
18:23I think for this very reason.
18:24All right, so there's our 10 cups of kale.
18:27All right, so now I'm going to give this kale a little bit of a massage.
18:30Excuse me.
18:31Yep.
18:32With oil.
18:33So this is a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
18:36I'm going to drizzle that over the kale.
18:37And I'm going to spend about a minute giving the kale some love here.
18:41It kind of tenderizes the kale.
18:43Kale's a sturdy green.
18:44Oh, yes.
18:45It really is.
18:45So this will season it a little bit with the olive oil and just about a minute of, you know,
18:50a firm massage.
18:51Yeah.
18:52Yeah.
18:53It's going to work its magic.
18:54A little shiatsu in there.
18:55Yeah, a little bit.
18:56Deep tissue.
18:57Deep tissue.
18:58I can feel the leaves softening in my fingers here.
19:02You can see they're actually wilting down in the slightest bit.
19:04Yeah, the volume has gone down.
19:06Yeah, it has.
19:07All right, so let's make a quick dressing.
19:09Perfect.
19:10I'm warming up, Becky.
19:11All right, I know.
19:11I can tell.
19:12I can tell.
19:12You're starting to get into it here.
19:14All right, three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
19:17Three tablespoons of white wine vinegar.
19:21Teaspoon of cardamom.
19:22Remember, we used cardamom on the pepitas, so we're tying all those spice flavors together.
19:26Love it.
19:27Teaspoon of salt.
19:28And a quarter teaspoon of pepper.
19:31All right, just going to whisk that all together.
19:33And the dressing is ready to go.
19:36All right, it's been about 15 minutes, so I'm going to go grab those pepitas out of the oven.
19:40All right.
19:44Oh, those smell so good.
19:46Oh, you can actually smell the brown sugar and the cardamom.
19:49Oh, wow.
19:51Oh, I know.
19:52Don't they smell good?
19:55So they're a little moist, and they're going to take about 20 minutes to cool.
19:58They're going to firm up, and they're going to get nice and crunchy and crispy.
20:01Gorgeous.
20:02All right, I have a few more goodies that we're going to add to the salad now.
20:04Okay, great.
20:05So I'm going to start with six radishes.
20:07I just have one more that I'm going to prep for you.
20:09I'm just going to trim off that end.
20:12The nubbin.
20:13Trim off that nubbin.
20:14Cut it in half.
20:15And then slice it into thin little half moons.
20:19There goes our six radishes.
20:21Great.
20:22And now I have one and a half cups of parsley.
20:26And you want to make sure you use the flat parsley, not the curly kind.
20:28Okay.
20:29We're using curly kale, but flat parsley.
20:31Got it.
20:32All right.
20:32So we're just going to give this a rough chop.
20:34I just like to kind of wad it up with my fingers here.
20:38This is just going to add a nice, fresh, herbal element to the salad.
20:41And like kale, parsley stands up really well, too.
20:46All right.
20:46Ingles are parsley.
20:48And here's the grapefruit that I cut up earlier.
20:50Yes.
20:51Can't forget that.
20:51Gorgeous.
20:53And here's our dressing with the cardamom.
21:01Toss this all together.
21:04Oh, my gosh, Bridget.
21:06How pretty does that look?
21:07That is so pretty.
21:08That smells really good.
21:11The cardamom.
21:12Yes.
21:13That's what I'm getting as you toss that.
21:14Yeah.
21:15Really nice compliment to the grapefruit, I think.
21:17Yes.
21:17So that's nicely mixed together.
21:20All right.
21:20What a looker.
21:21I know.
21:22All right.
21:22Here's our pepitas.
21:23They've cooled for about 20 minutes.
21:26Yep.
21:26Yeah.
21:27You can see how nice and crispy they are.
21:29Oh, yeah.
21:29I'm just going to break these apart.
21:30This is a fun little job that I quite enjoy.
21:33Pepita brittle.
21:34That's it.
21:35Just break it into half-inch pieces.
21:36Okay.
21:37So I'm going to finish this up.
21:38And we'll come back, put the salad together.
21:41You can leave this at room temperature for up to three hours.
21:43Or you can do what I'm going to do, which is put it in the fridge.
21:46It can stay there for up to two days.
21:47So I'm going to slide this in the fridge.
21:49Then we'll come back and finish it up.
21:50Perfect.
21:52All right.
21:52Let's get the pepitas in here.
21:53Okay.
21:55Let me just make sure they're okay.
21:57Yeah.
21:57Give them a little test there, Bridget.
21:58Yeah.
21:59Aren't those yummy?
21:59Mm.
22:01Mm.
22:01Okay.
22:02Let's get this in a nice big bowl.
22:04I don't say this a lot about salads.
22:06I don't say salad and spectacular in the same sentence.
22:08But I'm going to make an exception here.
22:10This is really something special.
22:11Yeah.
22:12All right.
22:12All right.
22:13A nice big serving here.
22:14Yes.
22:15Make sure we get you those pepitas.
22:17Lots of that yummy grapefruit.
22:19Mm.
22:20Mm-hmm.
22:21How lovely is this?
22:23Yeah.
22:23Dig in there and get a nice little bite full.
22:27So stopping.
22:28Mm.
22:28Those pepitas.
22:29Mm-hmm.
22:30Mm.
22:31But I love those.
22:32The kale, it's relaxed just a little bit, but it's still got some good texture in there.
22:37It's really, really nice.
22:38It's almost velvety.
22:39Mm.
22:39You get the radishes, crunchy, peppery.
22:42You get the beautiful, soft grapefruits.
22:45It's got that sweet and kind of tangy taste to it.
22:48The dressing is beautiful.
22:49Star of the show, besides Becky, is those candied pepitas.
22:53They are the things that dreams are made of.
22:56Don't forget the cardamom, too, because you inhale that.
22:59You smell it a little bit.
23:00Mm-hmm.
23:00And you taste it in the dressing and in the pepitas.
23:03So we have some flavor variations to this recipe on the website, Bridget.
23:07And one has pecans.
23:08It's orange kohlrabi and candied pecans.
23:10So, yeah, I know that one's right up your alley.
23:13I am hitting the website next.
23:14This is delicious.
23:16Definitely made for the holiday table.
23:18Yeah.
23:18Thanks so much, Becky.
23:19You're welcome.
23:19So if you want to make this fantastic salad, it starts by baking spiced pepitas to create
23:24a crunchy topping, massage curly kale with olive oil to soften the leaves, and toss in crunchy
23:30radishes and sweet grapefruit along with the dressing.
23:33So from America's Test Kitchen, a beautiful kale salad with radishes, grapefruit, and candied
23:39pepitas.
23:40You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews
23:45and select episodes.
23:46And those are all on our website, americastestkitchen.com slash TV.
23:52So pecans, you say.
23:55Kohlrabi, you say.
23:57Kohlrabi.
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