America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 21, Episode 18 - Back to Grilling Basics - full transcript

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-Welcome to "America's
Test Kitchen" at home.

Today, I'm making
grilled pork tenderloin

with a pineapple salsa.

Adam's got all the tools
you need

when heading out to the grill,

and Dan's making
grilled cauliflower.



We've got a lot in store today,
so stick around.

♪♪

Pork tenderloin is often
sold preseasoned

or marinated
at the supermarket,

but I'm not a fan
of those products.

I think they taste
a little artificial,

and they have a mushy texture.

So today I'm gonna show you
how to make

a good pork tenderloin
with real flavor

by putting it on the grill
with a little spice rub.

As long as we're on the grill,
I'm gonna make a quick

grilled pineapple salsa
to go with it.

Now, how to tell
if a pineapple is ripe.

This is what I've been told,



and this has always
worked for me.

So I'm gonna
pass it on to you.

You want to try to pick
the pineapple

with a leaf from the center.

If you can't pick
the pineapple up

or it goes like that
and a leaf falls out,

your pineapple is ripe.

I don't know
if that's exactly true,

but it's never let me down.

Alright.
So now we're just gonna grill

half of this pineapple
for the salsa.

You're gonna cut the top off,

and I'm gonna cut
the bottom off.

Now I'm just gonna use
a sharp knife

to cut the skin away
from the pineapple.

And I know there are some fancy
ways to do it at a diagonal

with these little grooves
to get out those pineapple eyes.

I'm still mastering that.

So when I master it,
then I'll show you.

You want to trim away
those dark eyes,

but you don't want to waste
too much pineapple.

So this is where I go back,

and I try to just take off
just enough

because those eyes have
a really funky texture

that you don't want to eat.

Alright,
so we're gonna save

half of this pineapple
for later.

To grill the pineapple,

I'm gonna cut this half
a pineapple into six wedges,

and I haven't
removed the core yet.

You can just slice it right out.

Cut it into some
nice, long wedges

that won't fall through
the grill grates.

I'm gonna put it over here
on this baking sheet.

We're gonna have a clean sheet
for the cooked food

when it comes back in.

The salsa also has
a little bit of red onion,

and we're gonna grill that,
too, for a little extra flavor.

I'm just gonna cut off
the stem end,

then cut through the root end,
leaving that root end intact

so it helps keep those
layers together.

And now is when
I peel the onion.

Cut this into eight wedges.

That just ensures
that they'll cook

through quickly on the grill.

Put these on the baking sheet
to go outside.

Now I'm gonna give that pork
just a little bit of flavor

by making a simple spice rub.

And it starts

with just a teaspoon and a half
of kosher salt

and -- secret ingredient --
teaspoon and a half of sugar.

This adds flavor,

but it also encourages
good browning on the grill.

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

and 1/2 teaspoon -- ahh --
of chipotle powder,

which adds spice
and a little smoky flavor.

So I'm just gonna mix this up,
and I'm going to reserve

1/2 teaspoon of this
to add to the salsa.

That way,
the flavors will marry nicely.

Time for the pork tenderloin.

Now, usually these don't need
a ton of trimming,

but you can see this one
has some silver skin.

You want to take that off

because that's gonna be
pretty chewy.

Just gonna use
a boning knife.

Boning knives are good here
because they're flexible,

and that flexible knife
is gonna make it really easy

to get under that silver skin

without getting
too much of the meat.

You just poke
right under the silver skin,

and then angle
the knife blade up.

You see how it's angled up away
from the pork tenderloin?

That just allows you
to get very little meat.

So you're not wasting a lot,

but you're getting that
chewy silver skin off.

Now, that looks pretty good.

This little bit of fat
I'm gonna leave on.

It's gonna render
on the grill,

and it's gonna taste
pretty good.

You don't want it
to be too lean.

I put everything
on the sheet pan.

That just makes it easy
to carry it out to the grill

all at once.

To get ready for the grill,

the pineapple and the onions
just need a little bit of oil.

This is vegetable oil.
Gonna rub it all over.

And then for
the pork tenderloin,

I'm gonna sprinkle
with this spice rub.

Mm. You want
to sprinkle it all over.

Oh, it's gonna add good flavor.

Alright, so this is all ready
for the grill.

I'm just gonna get cleaned up,
and we can head outside.

♪♪

-One of my favorite books
about food is called

"Zora Neale Hurston
on Florida Food:

Recipes, Remedies
& Simple Pleasures."

This book is written
by Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie,

and it's centered around
Zora Neale Hurston's journey

around Jacksonville, Florida,

studying food of Black people
in the region.

It's of the early 20th century,
and it talks about food recipes

and also recipes
that heal the body,

which is very interesting.

It talks a lot about
how the people of Jacksonville

actually used herbs
from the land for medicine.

One of my favorite recipes
is for upset stomach.

"Upset stomach remedy recipe,
makes 1 serving.

Parched rice, bay leaves,
1 cup hot water.

Make a tea
of parched rice and bay leaves.

Give a cup at a time.
Drink no other water."

Sounds like we've been doing
a lot of food healing

for a very long time.

This book is full
of great information

about the people
of Jacksonville.

It has some really great
Southern recipes

and also the health remedies
actually do still work.

♪♪

-So I've been heating this grill
up for about 15 minutes

with all the burners on high,
so it's good and hot.

And I have no shame in my game,
putting one of these on.

This grill gets really hot,
and I like to protect my hands.

So first up,
we're gonna clean the grill.

We're just gonna scrape off
any of the food

that stuck to the grill grates
from last time I cooked.

And now we're gonna oil
the grill.

So I have a wad of paper towels
and a nice, long pair of tongs

and a bowl of vegetable oil.

I just dip the paper towels
into the vegetable oil.

We're gonna rub it
all over the grill grates.

Now that the grill
is all good and clean,

it's time to turn two
of the burners off.

I'm leaving just that
primary burner on.

That creates a hot side
and a cool side,

which is what you want when
you're cooking pork tenderloin.

And I'm gonna cook this
on the hot side

for about eight minutes,
turning it every few minutes

so that it gets nice
and well browned on all sides.

Now, depending on the strength
of your gas grill,

you might want to close the lid
to help trap that heat

so you can get nice browning
on all sides.

If you have a really
powerful grill, however,

you can just cook
with the lid open.

So it's been a couple of minutes
on that first side.

Oh, looking good.

So we're just gonna spin it

and get grill marks
all the way around.

I've been browning
this pork nicely on all sides.

We have one last side to do.

You can see how beautiful
that char is.

That's the charred sugar
and spices,

which is gonna taste delicious.

So it will just be
a couple more minutes

on this last side.

Oh, beautiful.

You can see, it's nice
and evenly charred all around.

Now I'm gonna slide
these pork tenderloins

over to the cool side
of the grill.

That way they can
finish cooking evenly

without burning on the outside.

And while they cook through,
it's time to cook

the pineapple and onions
for the salsa.

So onto the hot side
the pineapple goes,

and it's the same
for the onions.

About eight minutes
to get some nice grill marks

on all sides.

Let's see.

Oh, this pineapple has beautiful
grill marks on both sides,

but it's still holding together.

We haven't overcooked it,
which is just right.

So I'm gonna take it
off the grill,

and I'm putting it
on a clean try.

These onions also look perfect.

You can see
they're lightly charred,

and they've really wilted
substantially.

And that's a good thing.

Put them on the sheet pan.

Alright. So now let's take
a look at the pork.

Again, we're looking
for an internal temperature

of around 140 degrees.

Perfect.
142.

Right on the money.

So I'm gonna take
these off the grill.

This looks beautiful.

Now I'm just gonna tent
the pork just while it rests,

and we can head inside.

Now that we're back inside,

I'm gonna transfer these pork
tenderloin to a carving board

so they can finish
resting there.

And we'll set that aside while
we make the pineapple salsa.

I'm just gonna chop
the pineapple

into slightly smaller pieces

before I add it
to the food processor.

For the onions,
I'm gonna do the same thing,

but I'm gonna cut out
that root end

because that doesn't taste good.

Few other things to add
to the salsa.

I'm gonna add a chili pepper.

I'm just gonna cut it in half,

and I'm gonna scrape out
the ribs and the seeds

because I don't want
this salsa too spicy.

Just gonna cut these into
slightly smaller pieces

before I add it
to the food processor.

In it goes.

Next I'm gonna add
a little fresh lime juice.

About 2 tablespoons or so.

You can add more to taste.

That looks good.

And now the reserved
spice seasoning

that we used for the pork.

I'm gonna add this to the salsa.

I'm gonna add a tablespoon
of vegetable oil.

And last but not least,
a good helping of cilantro.

You want to go
for about 1/2 cup.

But I love cilantro, so
sometimes I add a bit more.

I'm gonna trim away
those tough stems at the bottom.

But the more delicate stems in
the middle and towards the top,

I'm just gonna throw
right in there.

Into the food processor
goes the cilantro.

And now I'm just gonna
pulse it a few times --

four or five times --

until it's
a nice salsa consistency.

Hmm.

Little extra cilantro on top
for a garnish looks pretty.

Now, we do have
a few other salsas

that taste great with this pork,

one with tomatilloes
and one with tomatoes.

And you can find them
on our website.

The pork is done resting,

and it's time
to give it a taste.

Now, this looks really good.

I love that char on the pork.

Mmm, that little bit of the pink
inside is just how I like it.

And now the salsa.
Mmm!

Perfectly cooked.

That has good flavor.

The texture of the pork
is just tender enough

with that nice char
on the outside,

and the salsa has a bright,
fresh flavor.

Oh, the total bite right here.

A little bit of pork,
a little bit of salsa.

That's what pork tenderloin
is supposed to taste like.

If you want to make this
awesome pork tenderloin,

just remember two things.

First, you want to turn the pork
frequently as it cooks.

And second, pull it
from the grill

when it reaches 140 degrees.

From "America's Test Kitchen"
at home,

an amazing recipe
for grilled pork tenderloin

with a grilled pineapple
and red onion salsa.

♪♪

-On a gorgeous day like this,

you probably want to go outside
and grill as badly as I do,

and regardless of what
you're gonna cook

or the type of grill
you're using,

there are a couple of tools
and techniques

that you can have on hand

to set yourself up
for grilling success.

Now, a gas grill
is undeniably convenient.

I use mine all the time,
but to be honest,

I still prefer the flavor
and aroma of food

cooked over charcoal.

And in that case, you're gonna
have to light your charcoal.

We don't like using
lighter fluid

because we think it gives
the food sort of an off flavor.

We prefer to use
a chimney starter,

and the chimney starter
we prefer to use

is the $15 Weber Rapidfire.

It's super simple to use.

There's a little chamber
in the bottom

where you put a few sheets
of crumpled-up paper.

You don't need much more
than two or three sheets.

You put that down in the grill,

load the top chamber with
charcoal, light that paper

through one of these slits
in the bottom.

That will, in turn,
light the charcoal.

And 20 minutes later, you'll
have beautiful glowing coals,

which you then have to pour
out of the chimney starter

into your grill.

And that's one of the reasons
we love this chimney starter.

Look at this big, beefy handle.

It's easy to pick up,
and there's a helper handle,

so it's super easy to pour
out the coals

and aim them precisely.

In my ever humble opinion,
it is imperative to start

with a hot, clean grill grate
to hedge against any sticking.

So you put the grate in place,
you heat it up,

and then you have to
scrape it clean,

and you're gonna need
a grill brush for that.

Our favorite model is this one.

This is the Weber
12-inch grill brush.

It's $8,
and it's super easy to use.

It's got this triangular head,
and you take the wide end,

and it covers a lot of territory
on your grill grate.

And then you can take
the little edge of the triangle

and put it in between the tines
on the grill grate.

This brush has wire bristles,

and some people
prefer to avoid those.

So another great choice
is this one.

This is the Kona Safe/Clean
bristle-free grill brush.

It's about $20.

And instead of wires,

it's got stainless-steel coils
as the brushing part.

The next step is to oil
the grill grate.

And again, no matter what you're
cooking, this is a good idea.

You're gonna need
a wad of paper towels.

And our favorite is Bounty.

You wad them up,

you dip them into a little bit
of neutral oil,

and then you grab them
with tongs

and rub the oiled paper towel
across the grate like that.

These are our favorite tongs
for grilling.

They're the OXO Good Grips
16-inch locking tongs.

They're about $15.

They have a great degree
of tension.

And the business end,
called the pincers,

is precise enough
to pick up a toothpick,

hefty enough to pick up
a big slab of ribs.

I also use a lot of rimmed
baking sheets when I grill.

These are great for carrying
raw food out to the grill,

and you can use a clean one

to bring the cooked
food back in.

This is our favorite one.

It is the Nordic Ware
Baker's Half Sheet.

It's made of aluminum.
It's about $15.

I have five or six of these.
I use them all the time.

So here you have it --

a few of our favorite tools
for grilling.

♪♪

-Cauliflower is one
of my favorite vegetables,

and a lot of people think of it
as a cold-weather vegetable.

It's from the fall and winter,
and we roast it,

we turn it into soup,
and that's all great.

But it's actually
really nice on the grill.

If you do everything right,
you can get something

that's charred on the outside,
tender on the inside.

It's really, really beautiful.

So that's what
we're gonna do today.

We're gonna start

with this gorgeous
head of cauliflower here.

And the first step
is to remove the leaves.

So I'm just gonna snap
these guys off.

And what I like to do
in order to get rid

of all of this green
that you see around here

is to use a paring knife
and just trim around.

It makes it much easier
to pull everything out.

Okay, great.
So the next step is to trim

the stem so that it's flush
with the end of the cauliflower.

So just a little bit here.
Just take that off.

A lot of times that part
can be a little bit tough.

So we're gonna
cut this into wedges,

which are a really nice shape
for the grill.

They're gonna hold together
really well.

It's not gonna fall
through the grates.

And they give us a lot of
surface area for great browning.

So I'm gonna cut it
into six wedges.

Just gonna go first
right down the center like that.

I'm gonna turn the cauliflower
this way.

It's gonna allow me
to see the stem here

and I can judge how far my cuts
are going in

and really get nice wedges
out of it.

So for each side,
we're gonna get three.

That's great.

So now we have a little bit
of core on each one.

That's gonna
help them hold together.

So seasoning this with dry salt
is not really a great option.

The salt is just gonna
bounce right off

of the hard cauliflower.

To get around that,

we're actually gonna make
a solution of salt and sugar

and dunk the cauliflower
in that,

which will help season
the outside

really, really nicely.

So it starts
with 2 cups of water,

and then we're gonna do
1/4 cup of salt.

To help with browning
on the grill

and improve the flavor,

we're also gonna add
a little bit of sugar.

So I'm adding
2 tablespoons of sugar.

And I'll just whisk it
until it's completely dissolved.

Alright.
Now that that's all dissolved,

we'll take each piece
of cauliflower one at a time

and just kind of hold it
by the stem here, dunk it in,

make sure it's nicely coated
in that brine.

We're not gonna
leave it in there.

We're gonna get it out.

I'm gonna put it down here
on the rounded side.

Alright.
And that is the last one.

It takes a fairly long time
for it to soften

and get nice and tender
on the inside.

So we're actually gonna
jump-start this

in the microwave.

So I have it on my plate here.

I'm gonna top it
with a large bowl.

I'm gonna pop this
in the microwave

and cook on high power
until it is tender.

And I'll tell that
by using a paring knife

going right into the stem
until it meets no resistance.

It usually takes
about 14 to 16 minutes.

♪♪

-When I entertain,

I really like putting out
cheese and charcuterie.

It's a really attractive
and tasty way

to give people a chance

to kind of mingle,
chitchat, and snack.

So let's get started.

I have a Robiola here.

I cannot wait to eat this.
It's gonna be delicious.

Next up, a cheddar.

And last, a nice Brie.

Make sure you have a couple
that are really approachable

that are gonna be
really popular

and satisfy everyone

and then have one or two items
that are a little funky,

a little challenging so that
people are trying something new.

Next up, I have some meats.

Here is a Coppa.

This is a cured Italian salumi.

It's amazing.

It's gonna go right here.

And I also have
some summer sausage.

But before I put that down, I'm
gonna lay down some mustard.

And that's because
I really like this sausage

with a mustardy garnish.

And it's a good idea
to kind of clue your guests in

as to which garnishes are
for which item.

And this doesn't
have to be perfect.

It's gonna get
partially covered...

with sausage.

This gets the key players down,
and now it's time to garnish.

And we're just kind of filling
in these empty spaces here.

First up, I have some cornichon.

They'll be great
with both of the meats.

Also great with those meats,
pickled shallots.

And what else do we have?
Some peaches.

I really like the peaches
with the Brie.

And also I think the sweetness

will be really nice
with the summer sausage.

So I'm gonna pop my peaches
down over here.

Some forks for the meats.

Mm. Mm.

That can be right there.

If you don't have forks,
toothpicks are great, too.

And last up -- crackers.

And that's it.

Just a couple simple tricks
for the next time you entertain.

♪♪

-So it's been 14 minutes,
and it looks good.

See lots of steam in there.

This is a very hot bowl.

So you want to be really careful
as you take the top off.

And I like to do it away from me

so that you don't
get hit with the steam.

So I'm gonna take my paring
knife, and we're gonna test

to make sure
this is nice and tender.

So we're going right
into the stem,

and there should be really
no resistance at all.

And that is super, super tender.

That's perfect.

When we go on the grill,

we know that water
is the enemy of good brownings.

We want to get rid of as much
as we can on the surfaces.

We'll get better
browning for it.

I'm gonna transfer
my cauliflower

over to this
paper-towel-lined plate here

and get rid of some of that
excess moisture.

And I'm just gonna pat them,

make sure
we get rid of any moisture

that's kind of hanging out
on the surfaces.

You can see the paper towel
on the bottom soaked up a lot,

which is great.

Now they're nice and dry.

I'm gonna transfer them
over here to this baking sheet,

make it easier
to take them out to the grill.

After the cauliflower
is grilled,

there are so many different ways
to finish it

with different sauces.

But I'm gonna go
with something super simple,

just chives and lemon.

I'm gonna start
with the chives here

while my knife is still
nice and dry,

and I'm just gonna mince
about a tablespoon.

I find having them wrapped
in a paper towel like I do here

really helps hold them together,
make slicing a lot easier.

And then as you get towards
the end there,

you can just push them up
a little bit more.

Otherwise, you get chives
all over your cutting board.

It's no good.

Beautiful.

Okay, next up, I'm gonna serve
these with some lemon wedges.

Now it's time to head out
to the grill.

So the grill has been heating
on high for about 15 minutes,

so it's nice and hot.

I'm gonna turn the burners
all down to medium high.

Next step is I'm gonna get it
nice and clean.

So I'm gonna use my grill brush
and give it a good scrub.

And because
we want nice browning

and no sticking,
I'm gonna put a little oil

on this paper towel
and grease them up.

Now time for my cauliflower.

Now, this is nice and tender
because we got it

in the microwave
for about 14 minutes.

So we're just gonna
look for really beautiful

browning here on the grill.

I've got a tablespoon of
extra virgin olive oil here,

and I'm gonna brush
all sides with it.

That's gonna help get us
some really beautiful browning.

And I want to flip them
and make sure

that we get both sides nice
and oiled up.

Okay. So now I'm gonna go
on to the grill

with the cut side facing down.

I like to use
a thin fish spatula

for something like this.

You can get under there,

be really, really gentle
with the cauliflower.

It's a little bit more gentle
than using tongs.

Lower the lid here.

We're gonna cook
for about three to four minutes

until it's spotty brown
on that side

and then we'll flip.

So it's been four minutes.
We'll take a look.

And we've got some gorgeous
browning underneath here.

We've got good browning
on that first side.

I'm gonna flip it
to the other flat side.

That's the beauty
of making wedges.

You get two really gorgeous
sides for browning.

Okay, so now we're gonna close
the lid, and we're gonna go

for another three
to four minutes, again,

looking for that gorgeous
spotty browning.

It's been
another four minutes,

and we've got gorgeous
browning on our second side.

What I'm gonna do
is actually get them

onto the rounded side
of the cauliflower

and give that a couple
of minutes to cook.

So that's only gonna take
another minute or two.

And while that's happening,

I'm gonna run inside
and grab my platter.

Okay, so it's been
another two minutes,

and these are
perfectly done now.

So I'm gonna bring my platter
over here,

and we'll pull them off.

We're gonna finish this
really simply.

We want that cauliflower and
charred flavor to come through,

so a little bit more
extra virgin olive oil.

I'm gonna use
about a tablespoon.

I really like to keep it
in a squeeze bottle at home.

Just makes it so much easier
to apply it.

So just give a nice drizzle.

Some freshly
sliced chives on top.

One of my favorite
things to add.

Alright, so it is time to eat.

I'm gonna go
for this nice one right here.

I love it with
a little bit of lemon,

so I'm gonna do
a little squeeze on that.

Now, this is one of
the most simple ways to do this,

but we've got some really
interesting flavor combinations

and spices up on the website

if you want to get
a little more creative.

That is absolutely delicious.

It's so tender on the inside,

beautifully charred
on the outside.

And I love it dressed simply

with just a little olive oil,
lemon, and chives.

So the two keys
to doing it right

are dunking the cauliflower
in a salt and sugar solution

to season it really thoroughly
on the outside.

Then we microwave
the cauliflower

before it hits the grill

so that it's beautifully tender
inside,

nicely charred outside.

For "America's Test Kitchen"
at home,

my absolute favorite recipe
for grilled cauliflower.

♪♪