America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 21, Episode 23 - Elegant French Desserts - full transcript

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-Welcome to
"America's Test Kitchen"

at home.

Today, we're focusing
on recipes for two.

I'm making grilled scallops with
a fennel orange salad.

Jack's dropping
some pepper knowledge on us.

And, finally, Bridget's making
summer fruit tartlets.



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

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♪♪

-My husband, Ian, worked in the
fish industry for many years,

but we've never gotten tired

of eating gorgeous scallops
like this,

which are rich and buttery.

And I love cooking them
on the grill

because it imparts
a good flavor.

And I'm gonna serve these
with a delicious

fennel orange salad.

I'm gonna start by
cutting up the orange.

Now, a lot of times I see
[chuckles]

people segment the orange



when you're throwing it
into a salad,

'cause you get rid of
those membranes,

which is a nice idea,

but it's not my favorite way
to cut an orange for salad,

'cause I feel like
those segments,

although pretty,
are very delicate.

They fall apart, and they get
everything covered with pulp.

So instead, I'm gonna lop off

the top and the bottom
of the orange,

and then standing it on edge,

I'm just gonna trim away,
using a knife,

the peel on the outside.

Now that the skin's all off,

I'm gonna quarter the orange,

cut out that center core
and, along with it,

any seeds that are hanging out
in there.

And now I'm gonna slice it
crosswise into pieces.

Alright,
so that is the orange.

Now on to the fennel.

What I'm gonna do is

I'm gonna trim
the top of the funnel

and the bottom of the funnel.

I'm gonna cut it in half,

and I just want to
cut out the core.

Now I'm just gonna slice it
into nice, thin pieces.

You can take your time.

You can do it one layer
at a time.

You can stack the layers.

Alright, into the bowl
with the oranges this goes.

Now I'm gonna put just
a little mint in here,

and this is some beautiful,
fresh mint,

only about a tablespoon.

But I gotta say, any fresh herb
tastes good in here.

I've used basil, I've used
cilantro, scallions, tarragon.

The combination of fennel
and orange

really goes well with a lot,
but fresh herbs are key.

Never use dry herbs
for something like this.

Just gonna mince up this mint.

Mmm. Perfect.

Add that to the bowl.

Now I'm gonna add
just a little bit of olive oil,

some salt and some pepper,
and that's it.

That's how easy this salad is.

Alright, we're gonna
set this aside.

On to the scallops.

So when you buy scallops,
a few things to keep in mind.

You want to buy dry scallops.

That means they haven't been
treated with any chemicals.

They're gonna have
a fresh flavor,

and they're gonna have
a nice, dry, tacky texture.

So if you go to the store
and you see scallops

sitting in that pool
of milky liquid, stay away.

Those scallops have been
treated,

and they'll have an artificial
taste and a mushy texture.

Now, sometimes scallops come

with this little
side muscles attached.

You just want to pull that off

'cause it never softens
during cooking,

and it's always quite chewy.

Now, to season these scallops,

make them taste
a little special,

I'm gonna add
some pink peppercorns --

2 teaspoons
to the mortar and pestle.

They have a lovely, fragrant,
slightly spicy flavor.

They're actually from
the Peruvian pepper tree.

It's a dried fruit, and it's
a member of the cashew family.

Alright, so I'm just gonna
take this mortar and pestle,

and I'm gonna crush
these up lightly.

Don't want to
make them too fine.

I like the big pieces 'cause
I think they look pretty.

That's good.

Alright, I'm gonna set
those peppercorns aside,

and now we're gonna focus
on the scallops.

Now, I'm gonna use skewers
to help make them easier

to maneuver around a hot grill.

And notice
this is a double skewer.

If it's on a single skewer --
just one --

[chuckles]
they tend to spin around.

The double skewer just keeps
them securely in place.

I'm gonna do about
four scallops per skewer.

I'm gonna space them out nicely
on the skewers.

They all have plenty of room.

Now I'm gonna take them out
to the grill

on a little rimmed baking sheet.

I've lined it with foil.

That way I can use
this baking sheet again

to bring them back in,

but it won't have
the raw seafood on it.

And I'm gonna put
just a little bit of oil

on the scallops.

Going to season them up
with a little pepper

and some salt,

and, of course,
the pink peppercorns.

Alright, that's one side.

Let's get the second side,

and then we can head out
to the grill.

I've been heating this grill up
for 15 minutes

with all the burners on high,

[chuckles]
so it is rippin' hot,

which is good if you're
cooking seafood or scallops

because it's less likely
to stick.

Now, the other trick
is to get a really clean grill.

So while it's hot, I'm gonna
go in with a scrub brush

and really get off
any little bit of food

that's been stuck
on the grill grates

from the last time I cooked.

Alright, so that grill is
good and clean.

And now what I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna rub the grill

repeatedly with vegetable oil.

And how you do that is
you have a long pair of tongs,

a nice thick wad
of paper towels,

and a bowl of vegetable oil.

I'm gonna dip the paper towels
in the vegetable oil

and just run them over
the hot grill grates.

What we're doing is we're not
only cleaning the grill grates,

but you're actually
seasoning them

so the scallops
won't stick so much.

Now, when you're grilling
something

that's a little sturdier,
like a steak,

I just usually run the oiled rag

over the grill grates
once or twice.

But for fish,
I'm gonna run it over

these grill grates
at least 10 times

and really try to build up
that nonstick coating.

I like to call this
super-oiling the grill,

and it's gonna catch on fire.

It always happens.

Personally,
I think that's the fun part.

But don't worry,
those flames will die down.

And you want to make sure
they die down

before you start cooking.

Gonna give it one last good
coat of oil.

That should be pretty good.

Now, cooking the scallops
is incredibly easy.

High heat,
about three minutes a side,

and that's all there is to it.

One skewer on.

Two skewers on.

Start the timer, and we're off.
[ Timer beeps ]

So it's been about
three minutes.

Time to flip them over.

Alright, three more minutes
on the second side.

It's been about three minutes
on the second side.

Oh! You can see
nice grill marks.

Time to pull them off the grill.

Again, not even
a lick of sticking.

I love it when that happens.

Alright,
just turn off the grill,

let it cool down,
and let's head inside.

Now that the scallops
are off the grill,

it's time to give them a taste.

First, put a little salad
in the bottom of the bowl.

This salad is delicious
with almost anything.

With the mint and the fennel,
it's just fresh.

Now for the scallops.

Sometimes I think
seared scallops

have too much browning,
too much flavor.

The grill just gives it
a little bit of browning,

but not overwhelming.

Now to dive in.

Oh!
Perfectly grilled scallops.

I especially like it
when you have

a little bit of the scallop

with a little bit
of the juicy orange.

Mmm! Such a simple dish,
but so elegant

and has nice, fresh flavors.

If you want to make this lovely
scallop dinner for two,

remember two things.

First, only buy dry scallops.

And second,
before you start cooking,

make sure to
super-oil that grill.

From "America's Test Kitchen"
at home,

a wonderful recipe
for grilled scallops

with a fennel orange salad.

♪♪

-Pepper is probably
the most used

and least understood spice
in your kitchen,

so let me tell you everything
you're gonna need to know

about pepper.

Let's talk about
the black peppercorn,

the thing we use most often
in the kitchen.

So, the berries are picked
when they're unripe,

and then they're dried
in the sun.

And the thing to know
about black pepper

is this has got
the most piperine,

the compound
that makes pepper spicy.

It's not really
the same as chilies,

but it's the thing
we perceive as spicy.

White starts with berries
that are fully ripe,

and then they are soaked
in water and fermented.

And, basically, this processing

washes away
a lot of the piperine,

and you can kind of taste
the floral and citrusy notes

that are there kind of in the
background in the black pepper

come to the foreground
in the white pepper.

Obviously
also a different color.

In some cases, you don't want
those little black specks

in your food.

Green pepper is also unripe
berries, like the black.

But in this case,
they're either flash frozen

or they're blanched.

And so this sets their color
so they remain green.

Again, I would say
the flavor here

is more like white pepper --
floral and citrusy.

So let's talk about
the two things

with the last name Peppercorn

that actually come from
different plants.

These are also dried parts
of the plant,

but it is a different variety.

The pink peppercorns here --
these are very mild.

They have a sort of
fruity flavor.

Honestly, they probably have
the least flavor

of anything on the table.

Sichuan peppercorns --
they have the most flavor

of anything here on the table.

They're musky.
They're a little lemony.

But most importantly,

they cause this numbing,
tingly sensation.

They have a compound,
hydroxy-alpha sanshool,

that actually causes
this really unique

chemical reaction in your mouth.

There's nothing like them
on the planet.

They are definitely
not a substitute

for anything else
here on the table.

So let's go back
and talk about black pepper,

the thing that you're
most likely using.

And I know some of you
are doing something really bad.

And I know this 'cause
when I come to your house,

I look in your pantry,
and I see already-ground pepper

that you bought that way
in the supermarket.

Please don't do that.

I want you to buy
whole peppercorns.

I don't care whether
it's Tellicherry or Malabar.

Those are varieties indicating
where the peppers are from

and the size of the peppercorns.

It's just important
that you buy whole peppercorns

and that you grind them
yourself.

Honestly, the pre-ground stuff

that you sprinkle
over your food --

it's basically sprinkling
sawdust on your food,

and you don't want
to be doing that.

So there you have it.

Pepper --
it is the spice of life.

♪♪

-One of the best ways to enjoy

all of that
beautiful summer fruit

is to make a freeform
summer tartlet.

It's so easy to put together.

And the only thing that
I can think of that's better

than one big one
is two small ones,

because you get more of that
outside crust,

and it's made just for you.

Really easy to make.

And I'm gonna show you
how to whip together the dough.

Now, we're using an all-butter
dough here because, guess what?

We like butter.
It just tastes great.

But we're gonna use a little
bit of a different technique

to get some beautiful,
flaky layers.

So I'm gonna start off
by measuring my flour.

Always a good idea
to weigh your flour

instead of measuring it
by volume

because it's just
that much more precise.

I'm looking for 3 3/4 ounces
of all-purpose flour,

so that's gonna be somewhere
in between

3.7 and 3.8 on this scale.

There we go.

And now this is gonna
go into a food processor.

We're gonna add
a little bit of salt,

1/4 teaspoon of table salt.

It's just gonna dissolve
nice and easy in there.

And then I'm gonna combine
these two very quickly.

That's it.

Now I just need
to get the butter.

Alright, this is 5 tablespoons
of unsalted butter.

I've cut it into
these small pieces

about 1/2 inch in size.

That way they will incorporate
into the flour more easily.

We want these
really nice and cold,

so I put them into the freezer

to make sure
that they're very, very chilled.

So I'll scatter these pieces
over our flour mixture.

There we go. Lid goes on.

And now I'm going to pulse this
about 8 to 10 pulses.

We're gonna look for that butter
to be incorporated in there

with pieces no larger
than a small pea.

Alright, always be mindful
of where the blades are,

but you can see that the butter
is really worked into the flour

at this point.

That looks great.

So now we can add our water,

and we're using ice water here.

Again, we want this to stay
really nice and cold

so that the butter doesn't melt.

We're gonna start off
with a tablespoon of ice water.

Just add that right in there.

I'm gonna give it
a quick pulse.

So I'll probably add between
2 to 3 tablespoons

of ice water in here,
pulsing in between each time.

What we're looking for is the
dough to start to come together.

Let's see if the third
tablespoon does it.

So I can see the pieces
starting to come together

just a little bit.

Now, if I go in there
and I pinch them together,

you can see that they actually
stick together in a big flake.

That is perfect.

So with many pie doughs,
at this point,

you would just bring it
together into a disc

and then wrap it in plastic
and chill it.

But we're gonna do
an extra step

to ensure some beautiful, flaky,
thin layers of butter.

I want to lightly flour
my countertop here.

Alright,
so that looks good.

And now I'll go ahead and dump
this out onto my countertop.

And that just looks like
a pile of crumbs at this point,

but it really isn't.

So what I'm gonna do
is kind of mush it together

into a really rough rectangle
here.

About 8 inches by 3 inches
is what we're looking for.

And I'm gonna do something
called fraisage.

Now, fraisage
is a French technique,

and it's where you smear
the dough in increments

so that it creates
these beautiful, flaky layers.

And it's not
a really big movement.

We're just gonna
start at the end

and start to smear
and then work your way back.

Alright, so now I'm gonna move
all this back together,

flour the bench again,

and, again, we're gonna do this
one more time,

about an 8x3-inch rectangle.

I just want to bring
this together,

because at this point,
I want to divide it in half

because we're making
tartlets for two.

So I'll shape these into
3-inch discs

and then wrap them
nice and tight in plastic.

These are ready for the fridge.

I'm going to let them
sit in there.

You want to give them
a good hour in the fridge

so that the flour
can hydrate fully,

but these can stay in the fridge
for up to two days,

or you can
put them in the freezer

and let them go for two months.

I'm gonna opt for the fridge.

We have some
well-chilled dough here.

So it spent an hour
in the fridge,

and now it's time
to roll these out.

Gonna grab some of
my bench flour,

but I'm not going to roll
this out right on the counter.

Instead,
I'm gonna roll this out

between two sheets of parchment.

Now, I've cut half sheets
of parchment in half again,

just because I like to do that
with these little tartlets.

Just gonna flour
the parchment here.

Dough half goes on,
flour the top,

and another sheet right on top.

So we're gonna roll this out
to about 7 inches round.

And at first
I'm just going to rock

the rolling pen back and forth

a little bit to get this
started into a round.

Now, you can also roll this out
on the countertop if you want,

but this dough is
a little bit moist,

so it might stick,

and you might have
the tendency to add

a little bit too much flour.

As I've worked it,
I'm just rotating the disc.

And you can see
I can really get this rolled out

without adding too much flour.

I'm gonna give you
a little peek

and see what's going on there.

Hey?
That doesn't look very round.

I'm gonna work on that side.

And it's okay
if the edges aren't perfect.

If your edges
really aren't perfect,

you just call it
a rustic freeform tartlet.

That looks spot-on.

There we go.

So now I'm gonna keep this
between sheets of parchment

and put it on
a rimmed baking sheet.

And then we'll do
the second round,

just like the first one
out to a 7-inch circle.

I'm gonna put it right on top
of the first one I rolled out

and put this back in the fridge.

You want to let it sit in there

for at least 15
and up to 30 minutes.

It's time for the fun part.

We get to fill these tartlets
with fresh summer fruit.

Now, I took the shells
out of the fridge.

You keep them in the fridge
for more than an hour,

they're gonna be
a little too hard to fold.

So I'm letting them sit here
at room temperature

just for a few minutes
while I work on the fruit.

We're using a combination
of stone fruit

and fresh berries.

Now, you can use apricots,
peaches, plums.

I'm using nectarines today,
and these are beautiful.

You can actually smell them.

They have
a little bit of a fragrance.

And if I just press them,
they press just gently.

I can make a little bit
of an indent.

But you don't want to use
too-ripe nectarines,

otherwise you're gonna end up
with nectarine applesauce.

It's just not good.

So I need 8 ounces
of fresh nectarines,

so that's probably
a little less than two.

There's a couple different ways
that you can pit a nectarine.

I'm going to go around
from the equator,

and this is going to make it
a lot easier

for me to get the pit out.

So already it's easier to hold,

and it just comes off like that.

Now, to get this little
clingstone out,

all I have to do now

is cut this way.

And they just pop right up.

So easy.

So now I'm gonna cut these
about 1/2 inch thick.

I'm gonna use a paring knife

since I've got
relatively small wedge here.

Alright, that's easy.

Into the bowl these go.

I mentioned fresh berries.
We're using blackberries here.

This is about 2 1/2 ounces,
or 1/2 a cup.

And these are blackberries,
obviously,

but you can use blueberries
or raspberries.

We're gonna add these in here,
and it's really nice

because you have the sweetness
from the nectarine,

the tartness
from the blackberries.

Perfect combination.

Because a little bit of sugar
goes a long way,

I'm gonna start off
with 2 tablespoons,

and toss these again.

It's okay if the sugar
doesn't fully dissolve.

No problem.

I'm gonna taste one of these.

These are really spot-on
in terms of sweetness.

If they had been
a bit more tart,

I might have added
another tablespoon of sugar,

but don't need to.

That's all we need to do
with the fruit.

Let me move this off to the side

and bring up
my two little discs.

I'll get rid of these papers.

Alright.

So now you want to mound
the fruit in the center,

and leave about an inch
and a half of a perimeter

around the sides.

And when I say mound,
it's really --

it's better to place them
on there, I think.

You don't have to be
too precious about it.

Alright,
that's looking pretty good,

but I better save a little bit
of room for those blackberries.

So let's add those in, too.

Oh! I love it when they fall
into the little nooks.

So now I'm gonna bring the
sides up into the tart itself.

Now, as I do that,
I want about an inch of space

between the edge of the fruit
and where this comes over.

So I'm only going to have to
fold this over by about an inch.

And then as I go around,

I'm just pleating the dough
where I need to.

And I'm gonna press these.

I'm gonna go around and pleat,

and then I'll go back
and press them all,

just to make sure
that the dough stays up.

So the pleats are about
every inch, maybe two inches.

Really, there are no rules
at this point.

It's Thunderdome.

Alright,
so I'm gonna go back

and just pinch
the pleats together

so that they stick,

but I don't want to pinch them
and press them onto the fruit.

These are looking mighty fine.
Gorgeous.

So now all I want to do
is add a little bit more shine

and a little bit of enhancement
to the crust

so it'll be super crisp.

So I've got some water here.

Just brush the outer edge.

And now I'm gonna add
another tablespoon of sugar

and just start
sprinkling it all over.

Just the edge, really.

If some gets on the fruit,
I'm not gonna tell.

So these look
absolutely gorgeous.

Now I'm gonna pop these
into a 400-degree oven,

and we'll let them bake in there
for about 40 to 45 minutes.

I'll rotate the pan
halfway through baking.

But as these bake,
the fruit is gonna slump

and kind of give up their ghost,

and the juices
are gonna come out.

May be a little bit of spillage
on the pan,

but that's totally fine.

♪♪

Ohhh! Beauties.

Look at those!

Ah! All bubbling and juicy
and really hot,

so obviously I'm not
gonna eat it right now.

We're gonna let these firm up
a little bit,

stay on the sheet pan
for about 10 minutes,

and then I'll slide them
onto a rack,

release them
from their parchment.

I'll let them cool down
for another 20 minutes

just so those juices
thicken up a bit.

We are so close to the end.

All we really need to do
is gild the lily

with a little bit
of whipped cream.

You could also use ice cream.

Whatever floats your boat.

So I've got a chilled bowl
here --

just took it
out of the fridge --

and a chilled whisk.

Now, the chilled bowl
and the chilled whisk are great

because the colder
that the cream is

and the bowl is
and the whisk is,

it's going whip up a little
faster and a little easier.

So we're gonna add about
1/3 cup of heavy cream.

Don't really need to measure it.

Make as much cream as you want.

About a teaspoon of sugar

and 1/4 teaspoon
of vanilla extract.

I'm just gonna move
my whisk back and forth.

And you can see when the whisk
starts leaving a trail behind,

it's getting close to soft peaks
at that point.

Alright,
so that looks great.

We're not looking
for stiff peaks here,

so nice, soft cream.

Let's plate.

A beautiful
little tartlet for me

and a nice, beautiful dollop
of soft whipped cream.

That looks great.
Maybe a little bit more.

That looks pretty enough to eat.

Don't mind if I do.

The juices in there have
thickened up a little bit.

Again, I let it cool
for another 20 minutes

after I took it
off the parchment.

And really, you can let these
cool even longer.

Great to make ahead.

So I'm gonna put a little bit
of cream right on top there.

There we go.
A petite little wedge there.

That's a mouthful.

Mmm!

Amazing.
Sweet nectarines.

You get a little bit
of that tartness

from the blackberry,

but the whole thing is not
overly sweet,

and the pastry is so, so flaky.

It's really tender,
incredibly buttery.

That's about as good
as summer gets.

And the best part is,
this is for two,

so after you finish this one,
you get to eat the other one.

Now, if you want to
make this at home,

remember these three keys.

Fraisage the dough.

Sugar the fruit
right before baking.

And pleat the dough loosely.

So from "America's Test Kitchen"
at home,

freeform summer fruit tartlets
for two.

This one's for me.

That one's for you.