America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 17, Episode 26 - Comfort Classics - full transcript

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

- Today, on
"America's Test Kitchen"...

Julia and Bridget
cook a comfort-food classic:

roast chicken
with root vegetables,

and Dan shows Julia
a foolproof recipe

for making sourdough
bread from scratch.

's all coming up, ghhere
on "erics Te Kiten."

♪♪

- Today, we're making roast
chicken with root vegetables.



Now, roasting a chicken
is difficult enough,

but surround that chicken
with vegetables

and roast them together?

Well, there you have
a study in mediocrity.

- Mm-hmm.
- And much like the key

aucceful rria
isepare baroom

- [Chuckle]
- the key to a successful

roast chicken and root veg
are roasting them separately.

But don't worry. We're gonna add
that chicken flavor back

to the vegetables
at the very end.

- Sounds great.
- All right.

So here is
a 3.5-to 4-pound chicken.

First, I'm gonna cut
some slashes in

all the fat pockets
to help it render as it roasts.



And taking a sharp
paring knife,

I'm just gonna make
four little slashes

right in the fat pockets.

All right. So now, we're gonna
flip the bird over

and we're gonna put the wings
back behind its neck.

That gets them out of the way,
so that the skin

is really nice
and open for browning.

And, as you can see,

there's some good fat pockets
here along the sides

and right re
onop othe thighs,

so I'm gonna use
a sharp metal skewer.

I'm just gonna poke it
a few times

in each of those
sort of fatty pockets.

This will just help
that fat render out

as the chicken roasts.

And now, I'm gonna turn
this chicken around

and I'm gonna loosen the skin
over the breast and the thighs.

Again, that's gonna help
that fat render as it roasts.

So going in from the neck,

I'm st gna sde
thus inhere,

just loosen the skin there

and then run my thumb
all the way

down over the thighs
and the drumstick,

and then, I'm gonna go
on the other side

ando t samthin

Loosened all the skin,

and now, it's time
to brine the chicken.

We're gonna add 1/2 cup salt
to 2 quarts of water.

We're also gonna add some sugar.

This is 1/2 cup of sugar

anthatoth ds flavor
and helps the chicken brown.

We want to make sure that's
dissolved before you add

your meat, so we're gonna
give it a good whisk.

That salt and sugar
has dissolved, so now,

we'rjust gonna submerge

our whole chicken
right into the brine.

I'goa cor itnd wre
gonnput in e reigerator

and let ititn th bri
r abt 1 ur.

All right. So the chicken is
out he bne.

It's time to get roasting'.

We're gonna use a combination
of root vegetables here:

carrots, parsnips, and potatoes.

The key to getting the
vegetables to roast

at the same time is cutting th
to silarizediece

You cut the carrot in half.

You leave that side alone,

and you cut this side in half,

and now, they're
in a similar size,

sohey can roast
at the same time.

You cut itn ha,

and en wre gonna cut
the thick end in half that way,

so that's 12 ounces of carrots,
12 ounces of parsnips,

and we're gonna add about 1.5
pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes.

We're just gonna cut them
into 2-inch pieces.

The are little guys,

so a I he too
cuthem in half.

Now, we're gonna put them
on this rimmed baking sheet

that I've already sprayed
with vegetable-oil spray,

and we're just gonna
spread 'em around

and make sure the potatoes
are cut-side down,

so they get a little brown.

Gonna put some carrots.

Last, but not least,
the parsnips.

Thesvegeblesealldo td
to dry out in the oven.

We solve that by simply
covering the pan with foil.

That foil will trap in the steam

and prevent them
from dryg t.

And our vegetables
are ready for the oven.

- Okay.
- Now, moving on to the chicken,

so I obviously have
taken it out of its br

and I'm gonna give it
a ick t-dr

with some paper towels

and now, we have to season
the chicken with some pepp

because remember, the brine
only had sugar and salt.

So this is 1 tablespoon
of olive oil

and 1/2 teaspoon
of ground black pepper.

And that oil will not
only help the pepper stick,

but it's gonna help the skin
get nice and brown as it roasts.

I'm gonna rub it all over the
chken, oth ont d back.

We're also gonna tie
the legs together

because that just helps
the chicken

hold its shape as it roasts.
All right.

We're gonna snip off the ends.

I'm just gonna wash my hands
before we continue.

All right. So the chicken's
ready for the oven;

thvegebles
are ready for the oven;

and, in the oven,
I have a secret waiting.

It's a skillet and it's been
heating up for about 15 minutes

and the key to a perfectly
roast chicken is a hot skillet.

Now, the skillet
has very low sides,

so there's a lot
of air circulation

that can move around the chicken
to help get it golden,

but also, by heating it up,

you're jumpstarting the cooking
of the dark meat, the thighs,

'cause that's at
takes e longest to cook.

And she's a hot one,

so I'm just gonna leave
the towel right on the handle,

so we all remember
that it's a hot handle.

I'm gonna add 1 teaspoon of oil
to the pan, swirl it around.

l rit. A now
we're gonna take the chicken

and add it right to the pan.

Ooh, hat ar mns

's rlly gonna jumpstart
the cooking of the bottom.

We're gonna put the chicken
and the vegetables both

in the ove 4°
for about half an hour.

All right.
it'beenalf hour.

- Roast chicken!
- I know.

Don't sme goo
Alrigh

So I'm just gonna
rotate the skillet...

that helps ensure that
the chicken browns evenly...

and I'm gonna take
out the vegetables.

All right.
So these vegetables

are not fully cooked
ts pot,

but I'm gonna take
the foil off

and t th cool
for a few minutes

and we're gonna finish 'em
in the oven just before serving.

So is be abo 20 nute
- [Prolonged gasp]

- Let's take a little look
at our bird.

- Ohhhhh, gorgeous!
- Mm-hmm.

, yeah. All right.

So let's take its temperature,

if you wouldn't mind
getting' the oven door for me.

Mm-hmm!
And now, again,

we're looking
for an internal temperature

in the breast of about 160°.

Now, I'm gonna take 'him
out of the skillet.

Of course, I'm just gonna
make sure to drain

any juices inside the cavity,

make sure they get
right back into that skillet.

Now, I'm gonna put 'him
over here on this carving board

and we're gonna let
this chicken rest

for about 20 minutes,
which gives us plenty of time

to finish our vegetables
with chicken fat!

- Yay, thank goodness
for chicken fat!

- All right. So I'm gonna want
to make sure we get up

all these browning off
the skillet,

so I'm gonna add 1/4 cup water.

We're just gonna
whisk it around,

make sure you get up
all those flavorful bits.

I'm gonna pour this
flavorful juice,

this liquid gold,

through a fine-mesh strainer
into a fat separator.

We're just gonna let this sit
for about 5 minutes.

Then we'll add it
to the vegetables.

All right.
So our chicken fat

has been separated
fromheuice

Now, I'm gonna pour off
most of the juices,

servg 3 blesons
of fat for the vegetables.

Using our fat separator,
there are the juices.

Oh, that's the fat starting'
to be on the top,

so I'm gonna measure out
3 tablespoons

and the rest of it, we're
gonna leave with t juis.

t woy. We're not throwing
this liquid gold out

We're just not gonna use it
right now.

All right.
Soset ese ide r later.

Take these 3 tablespoons
of chicken fat.

Gonna drizzle it
over our vegetables.

I'm also gonna add
a little fresh thyme.

Th is teason
mind fresh thyme.

1 teaspoon of salt
and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Gonnsprile tt evly

over all these partially
roasted vegetables

and w, wre jt goa
give them a good toss,

make sure they're
all evenly coated

with all this chicken-fat love.

Now, these vegetabs
ed tgo ft-si dow

That helps them roast
nice and evenly.

They're going back
in a 5° oven,

on the upper rack,
for another 20 minutes.

After 5 minutes, I'm gonna
give them a good stir,

and after 15 minutes,
I'm gonna drizzle

the rest of the juices over top
so they get nice and glazed.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.

- That is what I'm talking about.
- Mm-hmm.

- Looat tt.
- oh.

- Sizzling!
- Sizzling' in that little bit

ofchmaltz.

Now, those are
roasted vegetables.

- That's beautiful.
- So now,

I'm just gonna sprinkle
these vegetables

with 1 tablespoon
of minced fresh parsley.

On to the chicken. I'm just
gonna snip off this twine

that's holding
the legs together.

First thing I'm gonna do
is cut off the legs.

I'm gonna cut down
through that joint,

and I'm just gonna put
my hands underneath

and pop out that hip joint

and then, go right in there
to cut the leg away.

Right between this drumstick
and this thigh, there's a line

that you can slide
your knife right through.

Last, but not least,
the white meat,

anl'm st gna sce it
right down through the center,

rit ne to at be,

that breastplate that runs
down through the center,

and then, slowly following
the curvature of the breastbone,

I'm just gonna slice
that meat away.

And there we a:

perfect roaschicken
and vetables.

Now, would you like
light meat or dark meat?

- Yes
- [ught]

- Breast meat, please.
- I'm gonna give you

a nice big piece right here
and, of course,

some of these
gorgeous vegetables.

What are you gonna
go for first?

- Oh, chicken first.
- Oh, I see.

- I go for the veg first.
- I'm saving' the best for last.

- Mmm
, I ve schmaltzy vegetables.

Th're rfecy roted,
nice and caramelized.

That little bit
of chicken flavor

really just makes them
taste amazing.

- I was a little bit
skeptical about the skin here

because it didn't look
very crisp,

buit'saperhin
and it's so well-rendered.

It's delicious,
absolutely delicious.

- Mm-hmm.
- Hooray for Julia,

and hooray for chickenat.

We saved the marriage
of roast chicken and vegetables

with a few easy steps.

Brine the chicken
for moist meat.

Then roast the bird
in a skillet for maximumolor

and lots of flavorful
pan drippis.

Meanwhile, roast the vegets

separately ueroil
to kick-start cooking.

Drizzle the vegetables
with chicken f, yum, andhen,

return them to the oven
until lden and glazed.

So there you have it: from our
test kitchen tyour kitch,

the very best, most excellent,

roast chicken
with root vegetables.

- And lots of chicken fat.
- [Chuckle]

♪♪

- Sourdough bread is
the first type

of leavened bread ever made,

and one of the neatest things
about sourdough

is that no two loaves will ever
taste exactly the same.

Now, there's a lot of science
happening in this little loaf,

and that's why Dan's
the right person

to walk us through the recipe.

- So, Julia, a lot of people,
I think,

are afraid to make
sourdough bread at home, right?

- Mm-hmm.
- It involves the starter.

Then you have to feed it.
You can't go on vacation 'cause

- [Laughs]
- you have to take care of it.

- It seems like a huge commitment.
- It does

- Wbrokit dn. It's really
not as complex as it sounds

and, once you get into it,
it's really fun.

So we're gonna start down here
and we're gonna mix up

the flour mixture
that we're gonna use to start

and then feed our dough
the entire time.

- We're gonna start
with the starter.

- We're gonna start at the
beginning with the starter.

Now, a lot of recipes we saw

start withus
l-puose our

and you can totally make it work
with all-purpose flour,

but we actually use
a combination

of all-purpose and whole-wheat.

- Hmm.
- Whole-wheat provides

more nutrition
for the yeast

and thbactia tt li
inde t staer,

so it actually comes to life
a little bit faster

and we get more robust
growth and better flavor.

So I've got 25 ounces
of all-purpose flour

and then 24.75 ounces
of whole-wheat flour.

- Now, I notice you're talking
in ounces, not cups,

and that's because
we're making bread,

and when you make bread,
especially a sourdough

like this, you want to measure
everything in ounces

'cause it's far more accurate.

- To begin our starter,
we have 5 1/ounces of water

in ts bo, and I'm gonna add
5 ounces of our mix here.

So I'm just gonna use a wooden
spoon to stir it together.

at's fascinating about
sourdough is that

everhinge ne is read
in this bowl with this starter.

- And ts whyiffent
sourugh eads

om dfere regns
ll tte dfere:

because there's different
types of bacteria in the air

that then give
the sourdough its flavor.

- It's like the ultimate
local food, right?

- [Chkle]
- Okay. So that's perfect.

I'm gonna cover
this with plastic

and this step in the process,

where iteally starng
and allyominto le,

tas ywhe from 48
to 72 hours.

- Okay. So that's the starter.
- Yeah.

ut wt abt
e re of at flour?

- So at'sctuay goa
come with rht or he.

So this is a 3-day-old starter.
- - Oh, it looks much different.

- All right.
- I want you to give that a smell.

-[Snfing

Ooh!
It smells almost like beer.

- Mm-hmm, really boozy.
- Ooh, really boozy!

- And lite funky, rig?
- eah.

- Like maybe not necessarily
all good, right?

-No, not good beer.

- Not good beer, yeah,
a little bit funky,

so t yea
is probably giving you

a lot of the alcohols
thatoue geing

d th's reminding you
of beer, but the bacteria

whas ging I
at kd ofdge d th funk.

So that's a really healthy-
looking, 3-day-old starter.

- ll rht.
- So now, the next process

is feeding it,
and this is where

there's so much folklore
around what you need to do.

- Take it on an airplane
with you, so you don't...

- You could hire a babysitter.
- Hire a babysitter for it.

I've heard of that.
So right now,

while we're trying to get this
to a really healthy state that

canake th, 's gna
quira bit more attention.

ery hours, we're gonna
do something to it.

- Every day.
- Every day,

and at the same time,
really easy to remember, right?

In t morng
in e eving.

Once it's established
and really healthy

and we can bake with it,
then we want to store it.

It'sealleverweekhat
we need to do something with it.

- Okay. Now, how long does it
take to get to that stage?

- So it's gonna take 10
to 14 days of this feeding.

So the feeding process
is really simple.

I have 2 ounces of water here
and to that,

I'm gonna add
2 ounces of the starter.

All right. That's great.

Now, this,
u dot ne anyre.

And what I like to...
- Really?!

- Yeah. What I like to do is
actually give it to a friend.

- Ohhh!
- It's like sourdough club,

you know?
You start spreading it around.

- [Laughing]
- Okay. And I'm actually gonna

add in 2.5 ounces
of our flour mixture.

Okay.
And again, stir it

until there's no
dry flour remaining.

- All right.
- So this is what the first

- feeding would look like.
- Exactly.

So every feeding, you're gonna
do the exact same thing.

So we're gonna do that
for 10 to 14 days,

until it's basically
really, really lively

and, in an 8-to-12-hour period,
it doubles in volume.

- Okay.
- That's your indicator

that it's ready to go.
A little more plastic on top.

Thisight here is a mature,
ready-to-go starter.

This is ready to bake with.

So this is about 14 days old.

We did that process every day.

[ Laughter ]

- It's in there.
- It's in there, yeah.

- It's not that liquidy starter
that you had before.

- No.
- This is a real solid

- sort of thing.
- Yeah. It's really robust.

You can see how small
the amount I have there is,

- Yeah.
- how much it's grown.

That's exactly what we want.
Really bubbly,

[sniffing]
d itmellgood

This doesn't smell
quite as funky,

- right?
- Oh, that es sll gd.

- Th smes like good beer.
- Good beer, yeah.

- Not skunked beer.
- Not skunk beer.

So now, it's time
to mix up our bread.

You can make a lot of different
breads with sourdough.

It's not just one style.

- Mm-hmm.
- We really like doing it with

an almost-no-knead method.

So we're starting
with 3 ounces of our starter

that is really healthy.

Next up, I'm gonna
add our water,

so this is 12 2/3
ounces of water.

- Okay.
- It's at room temperature.

We're gonna do our fermentation
at room temperature,

so that's perfect.

I like to add the water first
to the starter and loosen it up.

- Mm-hmm.
- It makes it a lot more easy

- to incorporate everything in.
- Yeah. I was wondering

hoyou re gna g tha
sort of sticky lump of dough

evenly mixed into the flour.

- Because we're not using
a high-speed processor

or a stand mixer,
it's a lot easier this way.

So I just add my water in.

- You're almost dissolving it.
- Exactly, yeah.

Break it up with the whisk.

Okay. So now, it's time
for our flour.

We're using King Arthur
alpurpose flour.

It's an all-purpose flour
that has a lite t hier

protein than most.

If you can't find it,
you can substitute

a regular bread flour for it,
but we like this.

It's a bit more tender loaf.

So I have 18 1/3 ounces,

and have.75 aspoons
of salt here.

Just gonna whisk this in here.

Flour mixture into our starter
and water mixture.

- Well, I like that this
is jt bowlixinmeth,

no need to drag out
the stand mixer.

-No. It's really nice.

- ing'ack basics.
- Mm-hmm.

- So again, I'm just gonna
stir this

until there's
no dry pockets of flour.

I really like a wooden spoon
for this.

- It works pretty well.
- Mm-hmm.

- If you bake a lot,
- Hah-hah-hah.

- you can also invest
in a dough whisk.

- Mm-hmm.
- I aspire to own one of those.

- You do? If you bake a lot,
it makes sense.

It's much nicer and easier

to kind of incorporate
l thingrient

We have a baker inouse

at jt ablute loves
using this thing,

so I've kind of taken
to it over time.

Okay.
So that's eat.

I'm gonna switch from
myough whisk here to my hands.

We're gonna knead this...
not a lot...

bujustonnaet I
to come together a bit more.

- Yeah. It looks pretty
shaggy, right now.

- Yeah, and shaggy is okay.
- Looks good.

I'm gonna cover
this with plastic wrap,

and it's gonna sit at room
temperature

for lea 12 urs

- and up to 18 hours.
- All right.

How do you know
it's time to make bread?

- It's gonna be
about double in volume.

- Oh, all right.
- That's pretty easy.

- Okay. O weave
our 18-hour risen dough here.

- It's beautiful.
- Beautiful, righ

I'gonna get this set up
overe

for our Dutcov,
ich 're nna bake in.

This is a 12x12 sheet
of parchment

and I'm just gonna spray it.

A little cooking spray.

I'm gonna lightly
flour this counter.

is iwherwe'rgonn
dour wk.

Don't wantoo mh.

's oy ift sticks
a little bit.

We can always add more.

And I like to dip
my bowl scraper,

give it a little flour
on there, too,

and use that to pull it out.

- I love seeing all the big
bubbles on the bottom

of t bowwhenou pl out
a freshly risen dough.

- It's so satisfying, isn't it?
- It's really satisfying.

- All right.
- So I'll sit that aside

Now, this is
an almost-no-knead dough,

so we are gonna do
a little bit of kneading.

Dust with a little flour on top.

- Ooh, that dough looks soft.
- So I'm just doing

10 to 15 times here,
not very much a.

- Looks good.
- That looks perfect.

- I'm gonna pull some
of this in here,

soe caget litt
tighter top, flip it over,

and I like to just do a little
of this action, roll it around.

- I'm pulling the bottom in.
- Mm-hmm.

- And thas goa titen
thatkin st ait me.

Looks good.
So just go like this.

Transfer it over to our
parchment, so that's perfect.

Now, transfer it
to our Dutchve

Thiss onof t coolest parts
of this recipe.

So we found, years ago,

that baking in a Dutch oven
is reallgrt fobrea

It's basically shrinking your
oven to this really small size.

So if this gets really hot,

it traps all that steam
in there

and those French ovens
that are steam-injected,

- Mm-hmm.
- that's how you get that crispy,

really crackly crust on there,

so this kind of simulates it
in a very simple way.

But what's unique is that

we're actually not going to
preheat this,

so we're gonna do
our first rise in this.

So I've got plastic wrap here.

st cer ts ni
and tightly.

So the natural yeast
in the sourdough starter

is what gives this dough
rise, right?

It works reallwell
grt flor.

It's a little bit slower

- than using commercial yeast.
- Oh, okay.

- It just doesn't
metabolize it as fast,

so what we need to do is warm up
the temperature a little bit.

This dough's gonna go
on the middle rack.

- Now, I want to point out.
- This oven is off. Right?

- It is off.
- It's not even warm.

- Not even warm.
- It's never been turned on.

Well, not today, anyway.

- [Laughs]
- So I want to pull this out,

and you can see that I've got
a loaf pan here, right?

- Mhmm.
- Ande ha 3 cs

of boing wer he. I gon
ha youour that in.

- There we go.
- Great.

And we'll close it right up.

That hot water is actually gonna
make the oven about 95°,

really nice and humid,
and it'll stay that way,

so the yeast
is gonna work a lot faster.

So that rise is gonna
take 2 to 3 hours,

anwee loing r thloaf
toot ph ba toouch

when we put our thumb into it.

It's been hours.

We're gonna check out our dough

and if you wouldn't mind
grabbing the water pan out.

We don't want that in
for e tualakin

I'm gonna take
the plastic wrap off

and wee goa check
to make sure...

- Ooh!
- It's gotten a lot bigger.

- Look how pretty that is!
- Looks great, smells good.

- mm.
- Mmmthat aweme.

- [Sniffs, chuckles]
- So it's gotten a lot bigger.

Our real test is we're gonna
put our finger in,

push a little bit,

and we don't want it to really
spring back very much, right?

- Oka
- So we're gonna look here.

So that's perfect.
So I'm gonna dust the top

thiloafith st
little bit of flour,

which is really beautiful
once it bakes on there.

- Mm-hmm.
- Bread should be beautiful.

That's great

Now, I'm gonna score the loaf.

Now, this obviously
looks beautiful...

it's where the loaf
will expand and crack...

bualsoerve
anmportant function.

If we don't do that,
we get blowouts in odd places,

d it notery pretty
So I'm gonna make

a 7-inch score about 1/2-inch
deep across the top here.

You can see it start
to expand a little bit

- Mm-hmm.
- right where I do that.

My next step
is I'm gonna cover this,

and this is gonna go
into a cold oven.

- Reay?
- Yea Whas rely fcinating

about this process is everything
kind of happens in slow motion.

Normally, we'd have
to drop this into a really hot

Dutch oven that's all preheated,

try and move it back
into the oven.

This way, all that steam
is trapped in there

and the dough heats up
along with the oven,

so you get this
really awesome oven spring.

I'm gonna pop the lid on

and 're nna
into that cold oven.

And we'll turn the heat to 425°,
bake for 30 minutes,

en remove the lid and ba
for anotr 20 to 30inutes.

Okay. It's abou
anher 30 minutes

- Ohhh!
- ith e lioff.

- No better smell in the world
than freshly baked bread.

-It oks autil.

We're gonna take
the temperature.

We'rlookg fo210°
telus tt it done.

So this nice parchment sling
that we ha in here

makes it really easy to transfer
it out of the Dutch oven

and over there.

- 'Cause the dough
doesn't stick to the pot.

- Doesn't stick tthe t,
ves u a ce ltle ndle

Pop it over here
and slide it off.

- Mmm!
- Look at that.

- So here we have
a loaf of bread

that we didn't slash
before baking,

and if you can see
that little crack,

that steam inside the bread

is gonna find a way out,
one way or the other,

and it makes this
really uneven crack

that makes it hard
to slice the bread.

But when you slash
the dough before baking,

u gi it e peect ace
for e stm to rise

and make a nice,
tall loaf of bread.

- And it's got to be pretty.
- Right?

We went through all this work
- Right.

- and this is beautiful this way.
- Gorgeous.

- So we're gonna let this cool.
- We can't dig into it quite yet.

- Mm-hmm.
- We gotta let it cool down,

or it's gonna be
a little gummy inside.

That's gonna take about 2 hours
and then, we can slice in.

- Sounds good.
- It's time to slice it up.

It's nice ancool
at this point.

[ Crunching ]

- Oh-hoh-hoh!
- That sounds pretty good.

-Listen to that!

And here, it looks like we have
some salte softened butter.

- I'll just do a little bit.
- Thank you.

Oh, it smells so good.

-[Laug]

- Mmm!
- [Crunching]

- Oh, that's awesome.
- Mm-hmm!

Sotimes, when you buy
sourdough at the store,

it almost tastes like vinegar,
li ty fad it

but this is really delicate
and almost floral.

- This is totally
authentic flavor.

- Mmm!
- really, really awesome,

and like you said,
no two loaves taste the same,

so this is a really
unique experience

to have just thi
e rit he.

- It's a Dan loaf.
- It's a Dan loaf, yep.

- [chuckle] To make an authentic
sourdough bread at home,

start with a starter.

Each is one-of-a-kind
as it matures in your kitchen.

Let the shaped loaf sit above
pan of steing water

in a turned-off oven

to ensure that it rises high
without dryi out.

nally, bake the bread
in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven

until it's deep and golden-
brown, and there you have it:

a traditnal foolproof recipe
for the best sourdough bread.

You can get this recipe, all the
recipes from this season,

along with our tastings,
testings, and selected episodes

[ Jazz pla ]

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