America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 21, Episode 4 - Simple and Elegant Dinner - full transcript

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-Welcome to
"America's Test Kitchen"

at home.

Today, I'm making an easy recipe
for pan-seared strip steaks,

Adam's showing us
how to be nice to our nonstick,

Lisa shares her favorite
cleaning tools,

and Dan's making a beautiful
beet salad.

We've got so much in store
for you today, so stick around.



♪♪

-A thick, juicy steak cooked
to perfection needs little,

if any, adornment, and I'm going
to prove that today.

We're making beautifully
pan-seared strip steaks.

Now, you want to buy steaks

that weigh between 12
to 16 ounces apiece.

And these are about
1 1/2 inches thick.

That's perfect
for our needs today.

Nice and thick and juicy.

One of the great things
about strip steaks

is the amount of marbling.
It means beautiful flavor.

Now, we don't need to trim
too much of this fat off,

but we do want to
just get a little bit,

and I'm just going to shave off
a little of this thicker part.



But we don't want to go
too crazy here.

Leave on some of that fat.

I'm going to do
the same to this.

And the only other thing
I need to do

is sprinkle each side
with a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Now, these are going
to go into the fridge

for at least 45 minutes,
but they can stay in there

for up to 24 hours
in advance

because the salt is going
to start to draw out

some of those beef juices

and then work its way
into the meat.

And it needs 45 minutes

for that salt
to work its way through.

And now I'll just put them
on this quarter sheet tray.

You can also put them
on a plate.

I'm going to go put these
in the fridge.

♪♪

It's time to cook the steaks,

and they've been salting for
about 45 minutes.

So you can see there's a little
bit of surface moisture here.

I want to get rid of that
because surface moisture

is the enemy of producing
a really nice brown crust.

And that's what we want.
We want a really good,

developed brown crust
with a nice, rosy interior.

So let me flip these over.

Got to pat the tray, as well,

so we don't put it
back down onto a wet tray.

That's good enough.

Again, they're seasoned
with salt.

I do want to hit them
with some pepper,

a teaspoon of pepper.

Working out of
a little bowl here

so I don't contaminate
my pepper mill.

All right.
So this is where things get

a little bit different.

And I got to give credit
to my friend Andrew,

who came up
with this ingenious method.

It really has saved my bacon
when it comes to cooking steaks.

And it means
I don't have to clean up

all of that oil splatter
all over my kitchen.

So we're going to put
these steaks

right into a nonstick skillet
that is cold,

and there's no oil in the pan.

This really is breaking
all of the rules.

Usually, we'll preheat a pan,

we'll put some oil in that,

wait till that oil starts to
smoke before we add the steaks.

But, again,
you get all of that splatter.

And I'm going to turn this
to high at this point.

We're going to cook these
over high heat for two minutes

a side, but since we started off
in a cold skillet,

it means that the steaks
can warm up gradually.

We're not going to get
a really thick band of gray

around the perimeter.
There's no oil in the pan.

You can already hear
some of that fat

rendering out of the steaks.

There's just enough for them
to cook in that fat.

And then, finally,
it's a nonstick skillet.

So any fond that is formed
is going to stick to the steaks

and not the pan.

[ Timer dings ]

Time's up. Time to flip.

All right, second side.

Yeah, that's not looking great
at this point.

I'm going to start
the timer again, two minutes,

and we're going to let it go
over high

for another two minutes
before we flip again.

[ Timer dings ]

Time to flip.

So, we're going to flip again.

Ah, you can see some of that
browning happening.

There we go.
The pan's a little bit hotter.

But I am going to turn it down
to medium.

You want to start
to build that crust.

And we don't want
to really blast it

with heat at this point.

So, another two minutes.

Boy, when you time two minutes,
it's a long time.

[ Timer dings ]

It's flipping time.

That is gorgeous.

I'm going to continue to flip
these every two minutes,

and I want to cook them
until they register

between 120 and 125.

That's how I like it.
Nice and medium-rare.

It's always a good idea to take
the temperature a few times

just to see where you are.

And always pay more attention
to your thermometer

and the interior temperature
of the meat

than the recipe timing.

Yeah, we got a ways to go here.

Let's flip these over.

And you can see,
every time I flip them over,

they just start to look better
and better.

And you can see that
that top is sizzling.

Now, that's a good example
and a reason

why I'm flipping
these over every two minutes.

Both the bottom
is getting heated

and the top that was just
flipped over is still hot.

So you're literally cooking
these steaks from the bottom up

and the top down.

Let's flip them over
and then take the temp again.

I mean, come on,
we're really building

these beautiful crusts here.

Now check the temp
on each of these.

Nice and steamy.

This one was just
slightly thinner, just a tad,

so I'm going to take it out.

That's the beauty
of this method, as well.

Just really want to take
the steaks out

as they get to
your preferred doneness.

If you have people over that
like them a little bit more

well done, just leave
the other steak in the skillet

for a couple of minutes more.

All right. Let's check
this last steak in the pan.

That one's mine.

Now, before I tuck into these
and slice them,

want to let them rest
for a good five minutes.

That's really important

any time
that you're cooking meat,

especially over
a relatively high heat,

because you want to allow
the meat to relax a little bit

so they can reabsorb the juices.

So five minutes and then
it's steak time.

♪♪

All right, it is time
to cut into these steaks.

Again, rested five minutes.

Still, it's going to be
a little bit of juice

coming out,
but that's all right.

So, just want to slice
these nice and thin.

There's that beautiful,
juicy, rosy center.

Oh. This looks absolutely
gorgeous.

All right, so, now, I can get
some of this onto my plate.

A really good steak needs
very little adornment.

That's why we're slicing them
before we serve them.

So you can hit it with a little
bit of flake sea salt.

You can use coarse
sea salt, as well.

But that way, you get a little
bit of salt on every bite.

All right.
I mean, very juicy here.

Incredibly beefy.
Beautifully cooked.

That crust is amazing.
It really is so full of flavor.

Just gets better and better
with each bite.

It really is one of
the best ways

that you can cook steaks
at home.

And you're going to want
to make this at home,

so remember these keys.

Start the steaks in a cold,
nonstick skillet,

turn this to high heat
and flip every two minutes,

and then lower the heat

to finish
cooking the steaks through.

So, from
"America's Test Kitchen"

at home,

a mess-free, worry-free way
to pan sear strip steaks.

♪♪

-Metal utensils are a bad idea
for nonstick cookware

because they can scratch
and nick the surface.

Instead, you're going to want
to use nonstick-friendly nylon,

silicone, or other
nonmetal utensils.

And I brought four
of our favorite ones.

They're all around $15.

Let's start with this spatula.

This is the Matfer Bourgeat
Exoglass Pelton Spatula.

And you can see that the shape,
the head, is sort of long

and narrow with a wide edge.

This mimics the shape
of our favorite fish spatula.

It's also got a nice,
thin leading edge.

So it will slide
under whatever you're sautéing

for an easy drama-free
flip or turn.

If you're going to be scraping
or folding or stirring,

you want a different
type of spatula.

You want a flexible
silicone spatula.

We like the DI ORO Living
Seamless Silicone Spatula.

This is the large size.

It's great
for a couple of reasons.

It's got a generously sized head
that's firm enough

for a lot of scraping
on the bottom of the pan

and folding and turning over.

You can see that it's got
a rounded corner

which fits beautifully into
the rounded edges of a pan

to get stuff at the edges.

Tongs are an often-used
kitchen utensil,

and if you use ones that have
bare metal pincers, again,

you can scrape up your nonstick.

So you want to get them that
have silicone-coated pincers.

That's the head end here.

These are the OXO Good Grips

12-inch tongs
with silicone heads.

Also silicone on the handle.
A great degree of tension.

Testers love these tongs.
Nonstick friendly.

Last, you may want to consider
a nonstick-friendly whisk,

especially if you make sauces
that have a roux base

or you like to whisk some butter
into a pan sauce to finish it.

This is the OXO Good Grips
silicone balloon whisk.

Testers liked it
because these wires,

which are all coated
with silicone,

were firm enough
to really get in there

and mix a roux into the liquid
that you're adding,

but they were also flexible
enough to get a lot of air

into an egg mixture if you're
whipping it around to aerate it.

So this is a very good idea.

Do me a favor -- please,
be nice to your nonstick.

♪♪

-Sometimes the right equipment

makes a surprisingly
big difference,

like with cleaning up
your kitchen.

I have a few items here
that may seem simple and basic,

and they're anything but.

Each one is a "Test Kitchen"
winner in its own category.

First, the humble
kitchen sponge.

This one is the O-Cedar Scrunge,
and it knocked us all out.

This performed so much better
than typical sponges.

One side is very heavily
textured with ripples,

so that can really scrub.

The overall size is just right.

It's substantial to hold
but small and flexible enough

to get into small spaces.

It absorbs like a champ
and it stayed looking good

throughout testing.

Another lifesaver --

our favorite
all-purpose cleaner by Method.

Now, the powerful natural
surfactants in this spray

quickly break up
dirt and grease.

It wipes clean with no streaks
or stickiness,

and it leaves just
a light scent,

no horrible fumes.

I use it on everything.

I put it on the countertops,
the stove, the sink,

cabinets, appliances.

It really works.

Next, we've loved these dish
towels from Williams-Sonoma

for a long time,
and believe it or not,

they actually get better and
softer with lots of hard use.

This is one that
I've had for almost 10 years.

And it looks as good
as these new ones.

Now, they're pretty big.
They're not enormous.

And they actually absorb
lots of moisture,

unlike other dish towels
we've tested.

They're 100% cotton

and they come in this cute
little package of four.

So it's a nice gift.

Now, finally,
I'm a bit embarrassed

by how much I love my kitchen
trash can by simplehuman.

Mine is 10 years old,
and it's held up beautifully.

This can is trim
and it's sturdy.

It holds standard 13-gallon
kitchen trash bags

nice and snug,
so they never sag.

The top opens with a pedal,
and that's great

when you're cooking
and have your hands full.

And it softly closes itself.

You can also prop it open
with this little switch.

Best of all,
trash odors stay in,

and it's brushed steel surface
stays neat.

This can's a little bit pricey,
but it's worth it.

With any of these
better-than-basic items,

it's much easier
to keep your kitchen clean.

♪♪

-Beets are definitely
one of those

love-it-or-hate-it vegetables.

I will argue against people
who hate beets

any day of the week.
I think they're awesome.

They're lusciously sweet
when they're cooked right.

They're beautifully tender with
a little bit of snap to them.

The one thing I won't
argue against

is that they take
a really long time to cook.

Most of the time we cook beets,
we throw them in an oven,

leave them there for at least
an hour

just to get them tenderized,

which is pretty unique
for a vegetable.

We're actually going to speed
things up significantly today

using our microwave and
a couple of other cool tricks

to make a really
beautiful salad.

And we're going to start,
obviously, with the beets.

Now, at the supermarket,
there are roughly three choices

for beets
that you're going to find.

You can find golden beets,
like this one here,

which have a really stunning
yellow color inside.

A little bit of that striated
look to it there.

They have almost a carrot-like
sweetness.

They're really, really nice
in certain applications.

We also have our Chioggia,
or candy stripe beets,

and these definitely win awards
for most beautiful beet.

That's striation is awesome.

The only thing here is,
while they're wonderful raw,

when they cook,
they actually turn

to kind of an even pink color.

So you lose a little bit
of that drama there.

We're actually going to set
these aside and today

use classic red beets,

which are going to give
our salad

the most kind of vibrant,
punchy color.

And so I have about
two pounds of red beets here.

And before I prep them,
I'm actually going to throw on

some rubber gloves.

If you don't mind
your fingers getting stained,

you don't have to do this.

It's just a nice way to keep
the stains off my fingers.

Okay, so now
we've got these peeled.

I'm just going to trim them,

and I like to take off
a little off the top,

especially if it's got one of
these little stems poking out.

And then, a little bit
off the root end,

which can be just
a little bit tougher.

And I'm going to cut them up
into 3/4-inch chunks.

Beautiful. So now we have our
3/4-inch cut beets.

I'm actually going to steam
these beets in the microwave.

That's the fastest way to cook
them once they've been cut up.

So I've got 1/3
of a cup of water here.

Because we're cooking them
in a closed environment

with just a little
bit of water,

we can actually season them
really nicely.

So I'm going to include half a
teaspoon of table salt, as well.

And I'll just stir this around,

make sure salt
is evenly distributed.

I'm going to cover it
with a plate.

I'm going to microwave
these beets on high power,

25 to 30 minutes,

until the beets
are nice and tender

and have almost no resistance
when poked with a paring knife.

Beets can easily handle
30 minutes in the microwave,

whereas other root vegetables
like carrots

would totally turn to mush.

Now here is why beets
can handle the heat.

As vegetables cook,
the pectin

that cements the cell walls
to each other dissolves.

This allows the cells
to separate from each other,

which softens the structure
of the vegetable.

Beets, however, contain
a compound called ferulic acid.

Ferulic acid strengthens
the bonds

between the pectin molecules

so that the cellular cement
is harder to dissolve.

That's why beets require such
a long cooking time to soften.

And beets aren't
the only vegetable

that are rich in ferulic acid.

Lotus root and bamboo shoots
also contain it,

and that helps give them
a crunchy texture.

♪♪

So it's been 25 minutes.

We're going to check
and see if our beets are tender.

This is really hot,
so you want to make sure

that you carefully remove
the plate.

I like to use side towels
the whole time.

And then, using a paring knife,
we're going to go in

and make sure we get very little

to no resistance
when we poke a beet.

Great.
So those are nice and tender.

Now I'm just going to drain them

and cool completely
in the colander here

before we incorporate them
into the salad.

So, while those beets cool,

I'm going to put together
a nice, spiced,

really, really flavorful,
creamy yogurt dressing.

It's going to balance
beautifully with those beets.

And we're going to start
with some ginger.

So I'm just going to use
my spoon to peel off a bit here,

get the skin off.
This is a nice way to do it.

You don't really remove
all that much of the ginger.

You can obviously use a paring
knife here if you prefer.

Looking for
about 2 teaspoons.

And I'm going to use
a rasp-style grater.

And we use this
for a bunch of the prep.

It just makes a really quick job

of getting things
to a nice fine paste.

Great.

Next, I'm going to get
some garlic into my dressing.

I'm just going to use a clove,
and you can mince this by hand.

You can use a garlic press.

I've already got
the rasp grater dirty.

Next up on the rasp is a lime.

So the acidity in the dressing

is going to come, obviously,
from the yogurt,

but also lime juice,
which I really love.

We're going to use both
the zest and the juice.

So I'm looking for about
a teaspoon of zest.

I like a lot of lime flavor,

so I'm going to really pack
in this teaspoon.

Beautiful.
That goes into my bowl.

And at least a tablespoon
or more of juice.

So I'm just going to roll this
to get the juices going.

Cut in half and juice.

And you always want
to zest first

and then do your juicing.

So for the dressing,
I'm going to do

a tablespoon right into there,

and I'm going to save
the rest of this.

We're going to use it to season

the beets
and the greens as we go.

Next up, I'm going to work
with some cilantro,

so I've got some
cleaned sprigs here.

And I'm looking for about
4 tablespoons total.

And we're going to use them
in a couple of different ways.

So, for cilantro,
you can eat the entire thing.

The stems are delicious
all the way down.

They obviously get
a little bit tougher as they go,

but for the most part,
they're nice and tender.

Just mince from the top down
until I feel like

I have about what I need.

3 tablespoons are going to
go into my dressing bowl.

And I'm going to save
the final tablespoon

for sprinkling on the top
as a nice garnish.

I really love yogurt
and spices together,

and so we're going to use
two of my favorites --

I have coriander and cumin.

We're going to use
1/2 teaspoon of each.

I'm also going to add about
1/4 of a teaspoon

of fresh ground pepper.
I'm going wild.

I'm just going to go
right into the bowl.

And 1/2 teaspoon
of table salt.

So now it's time
for some richness in there

and a lot of creaminess,
and that's going to come

in the form of both extra virgin
olive oil and some Greek yogurt.

I'm going to start with
the extra virgin olive oil.

I'm going to add 2 tablespoons.

And now Greek yogurt.

So this is full fat
Greek yogurt,

which is really key
for this recipe.

You need that richness
to balance everything out.

And I'm going to do a cup
and 1/4.

Okay, so now I'm just going
to whisk this together

until nice and smooth.

It's really all about

packing that dressing
with tons of flavor.

It's going to carry that
throughout the whole dish.

I'm going to use a little water
to thin this out just so that

when I spread it on the plate,
it lays nice and flat

and it's easy to incorporate
with every bite.

So that's 3 tablespoons
of water.

Now, depending on the type
of Greek yogurt

you buy, the brand,
you may not need

all 3 tablespoons of water,
but you're trying to get it

to basically
a regular yogurt consistency,

even though it has all that
other stuff in there.

We want a salad like this

to offer
lots of different components

in terms of different textures
and flavors.

And one thing that
we're going to add here

is some toasted pistachios
for crunch and richness.

So I'm going to take
1/4 cup of pistachios

into a dry medium skillet,

and I'm going to toast them
over medium heat,

stirring them pretty frequently
so they don't burn,

for about three to five minutes.
They'll be nice and toasty.

The pistachios are smelling
and looking awesome.

I can see lots of nice browning
on them and they smell great,

so it's time to get them
out of the skillet.

So I'm chopping these up
so we get nice distribution

throughout the salad.

Beautiful.

♪♪

-When I'm not in the kitchen,

I spend a lot of my time
woodworking.

Now, like being in the kitchen,

woodworking,
you need to be very precise

and accurate
in your measurements.

Now, I've actually found a tool
that I use in woodworking

that is very useful
in the kitchen.

They're called setup bars
or setup gauges,

and they come
in different sizes.

This one right here
is a 1-inch high

by 2-inches tall
by 3-inches wide.

Really good for when you're
cutting large pieces of meat

for a stew.

These here are 3/4-inch,
1/2-inch, and 1/4-inch.

Really nice when you're making
a precise dice with carrots

or celery or onions.
And over here,

these are 1/8 of an inch
and 1/16 of an inch.

Really good when you're slicing
something, like a cucumber.

Also very good for when you're
rolling out a pie dough.

You can really feel
the thickness of the pie dough

by running your hand
across the pie dough

and feeling this measurement,
so you'll be perfectly accurate.

So there you have it --
setup guides,

which would be great in
your kitchen and your woodshop.

♪♪

-It is finally time to assemble
the salad,

and I'm getting really excited.

We're working with a green
that I really love.

This is cress. You can get
watercress or upland cress.

They're both peppery.
They have an awesome bite

that balances
everything else out.

I think it's
an underused salad green.

So we're going to dress
this really, really lightly.

We're going to start with 2
tablespoons of these pistachios

that we toasted and chopped up
for a little texture.

2 teaspoons of extra virgin
olive oil.

Pinch of salt.

And one teaspoon
of our lime juice.

Then gently toss just to coat
all of the leaves.

Beautiful.
I'm going to set this aside.

So, in the center
of my large plate,

I'm just going to put
all of my creamy dressing,

and then, using the back
of a big spoon,

just spread it out to the edge.

We could take
this creamy dressing,

toss it with the beets,
and we'd end up with something

that looks pretty pink
and not that attractive.

What we're going to do is
actually layer everything

on this dish so that it's
beautiful to present.

And then, as you serve
and eat it, it all gets mixed.

So I'm putting down
the cress here,

and this is upland cress,

which is a little bit
more delicate in texture,

but still really
peppery in punch.

And that's what's key to this.

Watercress also has the crunch
and punch to kind of line up

with the beets.
Leave a nice little border,

about an inch around the sides.

And now, to the same bowl,

going to add our beets.

And we're going to season these
beets up really, really simply.

Going to use a teaspoon
of extra virgin olive oil.

Two teaspoons of our lime juice.

So we carry the same flavors
throughout every component,

make sure they really
balance nicely.

And a pinch of salt.

I'll just stir to make sure
we're nice and combined.

They look like
little jewels now.

I love it when they get
that nice shine to them.

Gorgeous.

So now we're just going
to put this directly

on top of our cress.

Okay, this is starting
to look really, really good.

Just a couple final touches.

We're going to go
with 2 tablespoons

of our toasted pistachios
right over the top.

Finally, that one tablespoon
of cilantro.

I just had to go
all over with that.

And if that isn't the most
beautiful beet salad

you've ever seen, I want to know
where you're eating.

I think it's time to dig in.

I'm going to go in
and get a nice big scoop,

get that creamy dressing on
the bottom, some of that cress,

and then some
of those nice beets.

Beautiful.

Let's get
a little bit of everything.

Mm.
That is so good.

The beets, which are tender
after just 25 minutes --

which is pretty crazy --
they're sweet,

they're really,
really dense and flavorful.

I love the creamy
balance with that.

Instead of goat cheese,
it's nice to have

something different, and that
spiced yogurt totally delivers.

That is absolutely delicious.
So the keys to making

a great beet salad this way
are to microwave the beets

and then layer
all of the components.

So, from
"America's Test Kitchen"

at home,
an absolutely beautiful

and delicious recipe
for beet salad

with spiced yogurt
and watercress.

-Thanks for watching.

You can get all the recipes
and product reviews