America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 21, Episode 5 - Breakfast Basics - full transcript

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-Welcome to
"America's Test Kitchen"

at home.

Today, we're cooking breakfast.

I'm going to show you
how to fry the perfect egg.

Erin's going to talk to us
all about cold brew coffee.

Adam has a roundup
of tools for eggs.



And last but not least,
Elle's going to show us

how to make yeasted waffles.

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

♪♪

♪♪

-There are three recipes
that I think every home cook

should know how to make.

First up,
the perfect roast chicken.

Second, a killer
vinaigrette that

you could put it on anything
from salad

to grilled vegetables to meats.

And last but not least,
a perfect fried egg.

One that has crisp edges,
tastes a little buttery,

the whites are fully
cooked through,



but that yolk
is still a little runny,

which is what I'm going to
show you how to make today.

Okay, now, first up,
let's talk about the pan.

We're going to use
a 12-inch nonstick skillet

because I'm making four eggs,
so you want

a lot of surface area.

Nonstick for the obvious reason
that you want the eggs

to come out of the pan
without breaking the yolk.

Also, I have 2 teaspoons
of veg oil.

This pan is heating up
over low heat.

And you want to let it preheat
for five minutes.

That way, there's no hot spots
in the pan,

so the eggs will cook evenly.
All right.

So while that's heating up,
let's talk about the eggs.

I'm going to use
four large eggs.

And you don't want to crack them
one at a time into a hot pan

because the cooking time
on these eggs

is really short,
about a minute.

So if you crack them
one at a time,

they're all going to be
at various stages of doneness.

So you want to crack them
into two bowls

so you can add them at once.

No magic here, just cracking,

except you don't want
to break any yolks,

because in my world,
a broken yolk means

you have a rough day ahead,
so take your time.

All right.

Now we're just going to season
with a little salt and pepper.

And if you want to, this is when
you can jazz it up a bit.

You want to add
a little cayenne,

a little smoked paprika,

a little chili powder,
or a little Syrian pepper.

If you've ever had that on eggs,
it's good stuff.

All right.
So the eggs are ready.

And now this skillet has been
heating up for five minutes.

I'm going to turn the heat up
to medium high,

and I'm going to look for this
oil to start to shimmer.

That's going to let me know
that the skillet is hot enough

to fry the eggs
and get those crisp edges.

So while that is heating up,
I'm going to get some butter

that I've been keeping cold
in the fridge.

The oil is starting
to shimmer.

Now I'm going to slice off
just a little bit of butter,

about 2 teaspoons,
a little less than a tablespoon.

Again, this butter
is nice and cold.

Cutting it into small pieces.

We're going to add it
to the skillet.

Yeah, that little bit
of sizzle is perfect.

Now the butter
just adds flavor.

We're going to swirl
the skillet around,

get that butter to melt
nice and quickly.

Mm.

Oh, perfect.
All right.

Now, in go the eggs,
and as soon as the eggs go in,

I'm going to put the lid on.

Cooking the eggs
under the lid

is the other thing
that most people skip.

But it's really important

because you want
to trap the steam,

and that'll help cook the egg
whites that are sitting on top.

And the timer gets started
for one minute.

Okay, here I have some plates
all ready to go

with some nice
oven-cooked bacon.

If you don't cook your bacon
in the oven, you are missing out

because it cooks
through perfectly.

And my favorite --
whole grain toast,

some coffee
and orange juice.

All right.
That's been a minute.

And now, last but not least,

the key
to perfectly cooked eggs

is to slide
the skillet off the heat

to let them finish cooking.

That way,
you won't overcook the yolk.

Now, you're going to let this
sit off the heat

anywhere from 15 seconds
up to a minute or more,

depending on how you
like your yolks.

Now, I like my yolks
on the runny side,

so I'm usually around 15,
20 seconds.

Okay, now look at these eggs.

The top of the yolks,
that albumin,

that egg white,
has just clouded over.

You can see the yolks
are still runny.

All right,
I'm going to cut this in half.

Here we go.
We're going to slide --

ooh -- on one plate.

Ohh!

Time to dig in
while they're good and hot.

I love doing it
with a piece of toast.

Best bite of the day right here.

Oh, yes.

Mm-hmm.

You break in --
Oh, look at that.

Mm-hmm.

[ Crunches ]

Mm-hmm!

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Good morning.

Now I'll use the fork.
[ Laughs ]

This part, this fried edge.

It's like diner-style eggs,
right?

Dip it a little in the yolk.

Oh, yeah.
Let the day begin.

So if you want to make perfect
fried eggs,

remember to heat that skillet up
first for five minutes.

Next, you want to make sure
you cover that skillet

while you're cooking the eggs,
and last but not least,

slide that skillet off the heat
to finish cooking the eggs.

From "America's Test Kitchen"
at home,

perfect fried eggs.

♪♪

I started drinking
iced cold brew coffee

about 10 years ago,

and since then, I drink it
pretty much regularly,

especially during
the warm weather months.

I love iced cold brew coffee
because it's a lot smoother

and less bitter than regular
iced coffee, which I also love.

But I also started making
iced cold brew coffee

concentrate at home,

and I'm going to show you
how to make that.

And it all comes down
to the beans.

So we're going to start
with medium roast coffee beans.

And it's important to use
medium roast coffee beans

because you can really taste the
true flavors of the coffee bean.

It's also very important
to grind your own coffee beans

right before you make your
concentrate so that it's fresh.

I'm going to start by

weighing out 7 ounces of
the medium roast coffee beans.

If you don't have a scale,
all you have to do

is measure out 2 1/2 cups.

All right.
So now that we have our beans,

now we're going to grind them.

So you have two different
grinding options.

You have a blade grinder
and you have a burr grinder.

A blade grinder is designed
where it has one hopper.

And inside of it,
it has a blade.

It's just like a little
mini food processor.

And what you do is you put
your coffee beans in there,

put the lid on it,
and you press the button,

and the blade just really
chops up those coffee beans.

And you have to shake it
a couple times,

and it does generate heat,
and it does take away

a little bit
of the flavor of the coffee.

So a more gentle approach
is using a burr grinder.

So a burr grinder has
three different parts to it.

It has a hopper,
where you put your beans into,

and then inside it has a chamber
where it grinds up

the coffee beans as the
coffee beans go through it.

It's kind of like
how a pepper grinder works.

And then as it grinds,

it falls right into
this little removable container.

So I have it set at coarse.

When it comes to
iced cold brew coffee,

we want coarse.

All I'm going to do
is pour the coffee beans

right into the hopper.

Before I start
to grind my coffee beans,

as I've made this
over the years,

I've discovered that static
is created as it grinds.

So when you open up the chamber,

little coffee bits
go flying everywhere.

So I found a little trick
to avoid that from happening.

And that's basically
taking a paper towel,

dipping it into water,

and then just dripping maybe
about 10 drops of water over it.

And then I stir that in
with the base of a spoon.

And what this does is the water

really just kind of keeps
the beans from flying around.

I used to make a mess
every time I made this

until I figured out
how to fix it.

All right, so now you put the
lid on and we're ready to grind.

[ Whirring ]

Okay, if there's static,
we're going to find out.

And there's no static,
so it's this...

perfect thing,
it's a game changer.

Okay, so here is
our French press,

and I'm just going to add this
coffee into the French press.

[ Tapping ]

And grind the rest
of the coffee beans.

[ Whirring ]

I wish you could smell this
right now.

The smell
of fresh ground coffee,

it just wakes you right up.

Okay, so that's our coffee.

It's waiting for us
in our French press.

So let's go on to our second
ingredient, which is water.

So when making cold brew
concentrate,

it's really important that you
use good filtered water.

And that will allow
the true flavors

of the coffee bean
to come through.

You can taste
all the little nuances

and the caramel notes
and the coffee notes

and the chocolate notes.

So we want 2 1/2
cups of water.

What this comes down to is
basically a ratio of one to one.

So one part coffee
to one part water.

We're using
2 1/2 cups of coffee.

We're using
2 1/2 cups of water.

I'm going to pour this water
over the coffee grinds.

If you have a larger
French press, by all means,

just increase
the ratio accordingly.

And see, all the coffee's
kind of rising to the top.

And so I'm going to use
a chopstick.

And what this chopstick
is going to do,

it's a very gentle method
for stirring the water

and the coffee together.

So now I'm kind of making
a ground coffee slurry.

And it's really important
that all the coffee grinds

come in contact with water.

All the flavors are going to
come out of the coffee

and into the water,
which is what we want.

And so I'm feeling pretty good
about this.

It's definitely loosened up.

But just to be sure, I'm going
to let this sit for 10 minutes

and I'm going to come back
and stir it one more time.

Okay, so it's been
about 10 minutes.

And as you can see,
a raft has formed.

The coffee grinds have slowly
risen and the water is settled.

And so now I just want
to make sure

that I give it one more stir.

It's very important
that the coffee grinds

have full contact
with the water.

So I'm breaking up the raft
and giving it another stir.

I should mention that there's
a lot of recipes out there

that call for constant
agitation, stirring it often.

It's really not necessary.
This is it.

This is all that you have to do

is just stir it
this one last time.

And now I'm going to cover it
with plastic wrap.

And this is where it's going
to do its thing.

Takes a little bit of time,
but it's all hands off.

So I'm going to sit for about
24 hours,

and you can let it
sit from anywhere

between 12 hours
and 72 hours,

whatever works best for you
and your schedule.

But I found that the 24-hour
mark is the perfect mark

for the extraction that I like.

So I'm just going to
let this sit for 24 hours

and we'll come back.

♪♪

It's been 24 hours,
and our coffee has steeped.

And it's ready to press,

so I'm going to remove
the plastic wrap.

It's good to give it
a little quick, gentle stir,

and that will help the raft
to kind of break up again

and the pressing will be
a little bit easier.

So then I'm going to
take my plunger

and I'm going to start pressing.

This does take
a little bit of muscle.

You don't want to put
a ton of muscle into it

because remember,
you are pressing on a glass jar

and you don't want it to break,
which has happened.

Okay, so now
it's ready to strain.

So over here
I have a fine mesh strainer,

and I put a coffee filter in it.

So what I'm going to do
is I'm going to pour the coffee

that I've pressed,
and then it's going to

drain again through
the coffee filter.

And this step really is not
100 percent necessary,

but what it does is it removes
any extra kind of coffee sludge

that I really don't want
in my coffee.

Some people like it.
I don't really care for it,

so I'm going to
strain it out.

Oh, smells delicious.

All right. Smells amazing.
I'm getting excited.

Okay, so while
that's starting to drain,

I'm just going to
slide this over here.

There's another step.
So I have a large bowl

and I have a triple layer
of cheesecloth

that I've lined it with.

I want to get every drop
out of the coffee grinds

that are still
in this coffee press.

So I'm just going to
transfer them to the setup.

Scrape them in.

This is gold, ah.

I gather all the corners
together,

make a little --
little pouch.

So I'm just going to give it

a couple of squeezes.

And now I'm just going to
pour this

right into the coffee filter
as well.

Okay, so now we're just
going to let this sit.

And it takes about
a couple of hours

for all that coffee
to go through the filter.

And you can take
a rubber spatula

and help kind of move
any silt and any sludge

that is left behind
so that the coffee

can flow through
a little bit faster.

♪♪

It's been a couple of hours,
and our coffee has fully

gone through the filter.

So as you can see,

it's really strained out
quite a bit of coffee grit.

So I'm just going
to put this aside,

and now we're ready to basically
put this into a jar

and refrigerate it.

It keeps for about one week.

What I like to do at this point

is put it into
individual servings.

So I have a couple of jars.

So I take my concentrate and
I'm just going to divide it up.

A 1/2 cup of concentrate
is a full portion.

This makes two portions.

Now it's ready to put
into the refrigerator,

and I have my individual
portions ready to go.

♪♪

My cold brew has chilled,
and it is showtime.

I have 1/2 cup of concentrate.

Now I have cold-filtered water.

So I'm going to measure out
1/2 cup.

Again, you want to use
really good water

when you're making
your cold brew,

so you really want those
coffee flavors to come through.

The ratio here is one to one,

but if you like
your cold brew stronger,

you can use a little less water.

If you like it
a little bit weaker,

you can use
a little bit more water.

So I like it at
one-to-one ratio.

So I'm going to pour that
into my cold brew.

And this is kosher salt.

I'm going to add
just a little pinch,

and what this does
is the salt

really kind of rounds out
the flavors of the coffee,

and it also tames down
any remaining bitterness

that might be left over.

So just going to swish
that around

to let that salt
dissolve a little bit.

Okay, so now it's ready
to pour over my ice,

but I want to point out that
I actually made my own ice cubes

from filtered water.

You start with filtered water,

you should really have
clean ice cubes as well.

So all you do is just pour this
right over those ice cubes.

And when I drink cold brew,
I like to add almond milk to it.

So I'm going to foam some.
I don't do this all the time,

but it really does make it
a little extra special.

The head of the foamer
you want to be

at the bottom of the liquid,

and then as it becomes
greater in volume,

you can slowly lift up
the tip of the foamer

just so it's just under
the surface of the foam.

So this milk foamer is really
kind of a fun gadget to have.

I use it when making lattes
or cappuccinos.

You can foam milk
or you can foam almond milk.

All right.
So now all you do is just

hold a little foam back,
pour almond milk in.

Look at that beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful foam.

All right. My iced cold brew
is ready to drink.

You can really taste the coffee.

I'm getting, like,
little chocolate bits

and roasted coffee,
but it's not too roasted,

it's not too strong,
it really doesn't dominate.

And making the foam
is really nice

because you can actually taste
the foam as it's sitting on top.

You can also really enjoy it

as it's mixed
into the cold brew as well.

But this is well worth
every step that I have taken.

The payoff is having
a couple bottles in your fridge

at all times so that you have
this to pour and make yourself,

and it's a nice treat.

If you want to make the best
iced cold brew concentrate,

remember to use
medium roast coffee

that's coarsely ground,
filtered water,

and a one-to-one ratio
of coffee to water.

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

a spectacular recipe for
cold brew coffee concentrate.

It's such a treat.

♪♪

♪♪

-Eggs serve more culinary
purposes

than I could possibly
rattle off,

but around here,
the most important one

is they're the basis
of all kinds of simple,

satisfying meals that I would
eat morning, noon, and night.

Here are a couple
of our favorite tools

that you need
to achieve "egg-cellence."

First, let's start
with a nonstick skillet.

That's the right choice for
making omelets or fried eggs.

We've tested them all,

and the one that we like
the best

is the OXO Good Grip's
Non-Stick Pro Open

12-inch fry pan.

It's about $42.

It's got a good, slick
cooking surface.

It's broad also
at 9 3/4 inches,

and the pan is light
and easy to maneuver.

It also comes in a 10-inch size
and an 8-inch size.

Now, if you're going to follow
the "ATK" recipe for fried eggs,

you'll need to cover the pan.

And most of these
nonstick skillets

don't come with a cover.

We've tested all of
the universal covers out there.

Weren't really impressed
with any of them except for one.

It's not, strictly speaking,
a universal cover,

but this one is the $36
Lodge Tempered Glass

12-inch cover.

It seals really well
to our favorite 12-inch skillet

and it's definitely
the cover to get.

Even if you have the cover
and the right skillet,

it's super easy
to overcook eggs.

So timing them
carefully is paramount.

And for that, obviously
you'll need a timer.

Our favorite timer is this one.

It's the OXO Good Grips
Triple Timer.

It's about $20,

and it's got lots
to recommend it.

There are three timers, which
you can read simultaneously

so that you can monitor three
different projects at once.

It's got a clock,
it's got a stopwatch,

it keeps track of elapsed time.

And our favorite feature
is the direct entry keypad.

So you can type whatever time
you want right in there

without all kinds
of irritating scrolling.

You really cannot
"eggs-aggerate" the need

for the right equipment
when you're cooking eggs.

♪♪

-If y'all know anything
about me, you know

I love a "make ahead" moment.

So the idea of having
a waffle recipe in the fridge

waiting for me Saturday morning
is kind of exciting.

Let me show you how I do it.

I start with 1 3/4 cup
of low-fat milk.

And to that I'm going to add
8 tablespoons of butter,

a whole stick.

So you know
it's going to be good.

I'm going to turn this on
to a medium low heat,

about three to five minutes.

All right.
It's been about five minutes.

The butter has melted.

This is exactly
what we were looking for.

I'm going to go over
to the table

and start mixing
our dry ingredients

while I let this buttermilk cool
until it's warm to touch.

In the meantime, I'm going
to start to make our dry mix.

I'm going to start with
10 ounces of flour.

Perfect.
To the flour,

I'm going to add
a tablespoon of sugar.

Also, 1 1/2 teaspoons
of yeast.

And finally,
1 teaspoon of salt.

And I'm going to whisk together

these dry ingredients
until they're well combined.

So the yeast here
plays two roles.

It provides leavening
and it adds great flavor.

All right. I'm going to set
this mixture to the side.

I'm also going to test my milk
to see if it's warm to touch.

Still a little hot.

So I'm going to start
with the eggs.

And we have two large eggs.

And I'm going to add
a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Now I'm just going to whisk
the vanilla and the eggs

until they're well combined.

All right, that looks great.

Before I put this in, I have to
add the milk and butter.

And make sure it's ready.
Warm to touch.

Perfect.

So I'm going to slowly
whisk this in.

So the warm milk jump-starts
the yeast.

All right, so I'm just
going to mix it well.

I'm using my whisk to scrape

any flour from around
the edges of the bowl.

All right.
And now I'm going to add

our egg-vanilla mixture.

And I'm just going to whisk it
until it's well combined.

I'm just going to use my spatula
to scrape down the edges

to make sure that all
of the batter is mixed well.

So the warm milk
jump-started the yeast,

but now we need to
slow it down

by putting it
in the refrigerator,

or else we'll have a sour,
tangy batter,

and no one wants that.

I'm going to cover it
with plastic

and put it in the fridge
for 12 to 24 hours.

♪♪

It's been 12 hours,
and our batter is ready.

And you can tell that it's ready
because it's foamy

and it has doubled in size.

I'm just going to use the whisk
to kind of reconstitute it.

So it will deflate
once you start to whisk it,

but that's perfectly normal.

So I have my waffle maker
preheated.

I'm going to spray it with some
cooking spray, top and bottom.

So I'm going to put about a cup
of batter into the waffle maker.

And this cool dude
makes two waffles,

so I'm saving some time.

So to go with
my very special waffles,

I have a very special guest
for brunch today,

my mom, Dr. Price.
-Hi.

-Hi. I made waffles!
-Hi. I'm excited.

You know I love waffles.
-It's your favorite.

It's your favorite.
-It's my absolute favorite.

-All right.
So these waffles are done.

Oh, my.
And they're nice and golden.

-Oh, they smell so good.
-All right.

A lot of butter for you.
-Lots of butter.

-I know you like
a lot of butter.

-Yes. Mm.
-On your waffle.

-That looks good.
-Is that good?

A little syrup.
-Oh.

-[ Laughs ]

-It goes right into
the little --

-You get so excited
over the little things.

-I do. I do.
This is good.

-Do you want peaches, Mama?
-I want everything.

Heavy on the goodness.
Thank you.

Mmm.

-All right.

Ah, let's dig in.

-Let's get started.
-I'm so excited.

-Yes.

-Mm.
-Mm.

Mmm!

Oh, that's fantastic.
-Mm-hmm.

-Did you almost rub your belly?
-I did. I did.

I caught myself.
[ Laughter ]

This is so good. Mm-hmm.
-[ Humming ]

Yeah.
-Singing a little tune.

-If you're not dancing
and singing...

-Humming.
-Right.

-...it's not good.
-Right.

-That's the number one sign
that it's delicious.

Okay, I need to finish this up.
You can enjoy.

-Okay.

-So if you want
to make special waffles

for your special mom,

just remember these key steps --
kickstart it with warm milk

and rest it
in the fridge overnight.

-So from "America's
Test Kitchen" at home...

-Crispy, fluffy
yeasted waffles.