America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 22, Episode 1 - Turkey Two Ways - full transcript
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-Today
on "America's Test Kitchen,"
Bridget makes Julia
the perfect turkey-thigh confit
with citrus mustard sauce.
Jack challenges
Julia and Bridget
to a head-to-head tasting
of cranberry sauce.
And Becky makes Bridget
updated skillet turkey burgers.
It's all coming up right here
on "America's Test Kitchen."
♪♪
-There are many ancient methods
for preserving food
that have stood the test of time
despite the invention
of the refrigerator.
And these methods last because
they add flavor and texture
to otherwise simple ingredients.
Confit is a good case in point,
and today Bridget's
gonna tell us more.
-I am here to represent
ancient cooking techniques
and preservation techniques.
-[ Laughs ]
-We are going to use confit
to really elevate turkey
so it's gonna really
make it special.
You can use this
for Thanksgiving
or any time
you have a special occasion.
So let me take you through
the process.
This is 4 pounds
of turkey thighs.
They're full of collagen.
And during cooking that's gonna
convert into gelatin,
so you get that really rich
and silky texture.
-Okay.
-The first process
when making confit
is you want to cure the meat.
Now, curing usually involves
salt --
lots and lots and lots of salt,
and you pack the meat,
and you let it sit over time.
That salt starts to work its way
into the meat
and really give it
a different texture.
We're going to use
the time factor,
the fact that this is going
to cure for several days,
to add some flavor, as well.
So, I've got onions.
-A lot of onions.
-A lot of onions.
This is three large onions.
And I'll add this
into my food processor.
And now we're going to add
a little bit of flavor here.
12 sprigs -- stems, leaves,
and all -- fresh thyme.
There's tons of flavor
in those sprigs.
So, now we need to get to the
curing agent, and that is salt.
This is just plain table salt.
We're using 2 1/2 tablespoons.
4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.
It's going to really balance out
the flavor.
And 1 1/2 teaspoons
of black pepper.
- Gesundheit!
[ Both laughing ]
-I'm going to let this process
for about 20 seconds,
but I'm looking for the onions
to be finely chopped.
Alright.
Looking pretty good.
So, I've got a 9x13"
baking dish.
You want to use something
that's nonreactive,
since the meat and the onions
are gonna be in there
for a little while.
We're gonna take
a third of this mixture,
plop it in there,
and just spread it out
in the bottom of the pan here.
And now 4 pounds
of bone-in turkey thighs
just goes right on there.
We want to make sure
that they are all in one layer,
meat side down
so that they're nestled
in that onion mixture.
I'm going to add the rest
of this onion mixture
right over the top.
I'm gonna put a little bit
of plastic wrap on this.
We're gonna need
a little bit of time
for all these water-soluble
compounds
to work their way into the meat.
-Now,
we say a little bit of time.
How much time?
-4 days.
-[ Laughs ]
So you have to plan in advance
for this.
-You do.
It's a minimum of 4 days
really to allow that flavor
to get to the bone
and the salt, as well.
But you can leave it
in the fridge
for up to six days.
If you're planning ahead
and six days works out better
for you, no problem.
-So in order to make
a turkey confit
with a deep, savory flavor
and tender texture,
you first have to cure the meat.
Now, here's how curing works.
Before cooking
the turkey thighs,
we coat them with salt paste
and let them sit in the
refrigerator for 4 days.
Now, as the salt dissolves,
it naturally moves from places
of high concentration
to places of low concentration
by winding its way
between the meat fibers.
This is called diffusion.
As the salt
passes through the meat,
it makes it firmer and juicier.
Now, 4 days is not
long enough for the salt
to be perfectly even throughout.
That can take weeks.
But it's plenty of time
for this recipe,
because we're curing for flavor,
not for preservation.
♪♪
-After 4 days of curing,
this is what
the turkey looks like.
-Interesting.
-Now, I've rinsed off
three of them.
-Mm-hmm.
-One's still in there.
-You can see the meat is a
little bit darker in places.
-Yeah.
-That's totally normal.
-Okay.
-If you wouldn't mind
turning the water on,
I'm going to rinse
the rest of these aromatics,
the onion mixture, off.
I'll go ahead
and scrape some of it.
And just rinse it
under running water.
I just want to get any
particulates off of the turkey,
because we're gonna get ready
to put it in fat.
-Gotcha.
-And I don't want anything to go
in there to start to brown.
-That make sense.
-Alright. So that looks great.
-Thank you.
-Mm-hmm.
-I'm gonna move it over here.
I need to blot these dry
as much as I can.
And we'll flip them over.
-They're resting
on paper towels. That's smart.
-Let's talk about
what's in the measuring cup.
This is pure duck fat, which is
traditional for making confit.
Now, you could use chicken fat
if you don't have a source
for duck fat.
You can actually
buy it online now.
-Mm-hmm.
-Or you can use vegetable oil.
Again, 6 cups total.
But really, duck fat
is the premium choice here.
And I'm gonna show you
that you can reuse it again.
-Okay.
-So it's not just like
you're gonna break the bank here
and never see it again.
It will come back and serve
you time and time again.
Okay, so 6 cups.
Going to add it
to my Dutch oven here.
Just scoop it in there.
Gonna put this over medium heat,
and we're gonna melt the fat.
Now, we're not going
to fry this.
We're going to start the confit.
So, we want a really low
temperature to start,
and that's going to be 165.
-That's very low.
-Very low.
That's on purpose.
-Okay.
-Alright.
So let's check the fat here.
And we are looking
for right about 165.
Alright. 165.
-Just barely melted,
-just barely melted.
So we're gonna go ahead
and add our turkey in there.
-Mm-hmm.
-Skin side down.
It's a really low heat,
so you're not going to see
any vigorous bubbling.
Again, we're not frying.
Taking my time to make sure
that they're fully submerged.
A lot of people might be scared
seeing all that meat
going into fat
and thinking,
"That's going to be greasy."
But the meat really
doesn't suck up the fat.
In fact, the fat allows
the moisture in the meat
to stay inside the meat.
Just really, really gentle heat.
Now, a couple of additions here.
Two bay leaves
and a whole head of garlic.
Cut it right in half.
You're gonna nestle those
down in there.
So, we're done
with stovetop cooking.
-Okay.
-Don't need it anymore.
We're gonna move this operation
to the oven.
And it's really low --
200-degree oven.
If it was at
a higher temperature,
it might start to simmer
a little bit.
-Mm-hmm.
-We don't want that.
It's gonna cook for 4,
maybe up to five hours.
And what I want to look for
is the meat
to become nice and tender.
♪♪
-Well, I don't see any bubbling.
-[ Chuckles ]
-We're bubble free.
So I just need to check
the turkey
and see if the meat is really,
really nice and tender.
So I'm gonna take
a metal skewer,
pierce it into the meat,
and it really shouldn't pull up
from the bottom
of the Dutch oven.
Like that.
Turkey is nice and tender.
Need to get it out of the pot.
You can use tongs for this,
but I like to kind of zhuzh it
onto a little skimmer here,
just to support it.
And then we're gonna put this
onto our rack.
I don't want to disturb
the skin.
The skin is really rendered
and very, very thin
at this point.
-Ooh, it is delicate skin.
-Isn't that?
-Yes.
-That's really well-rendered.
All of that turkey fat
that was underneath the skin
is in the pot,
making the duck fat
even more tasty.
So now we need to deal with
what to do with this duck fat.
I see kind of a layer of turkey
juice underneath the fat.
-So we need to separate the two.
I'm just gonna strain
this mixture
through a fine-mesh strainer
over a bowl. Alright.
So now we want to separate
the fat from the juices.
And I'm going to use something
called a fat separator
for such a job.
There we go.
And I'm gonna have to do this,
obviously, in batches.
So I'm gonna let this sit
for about five minutes,
allow the fat to separate.
And then we'll pour it off.
Alright, Julia.
You got to keep them separated.
-Those are two beautiful bowls
of golden liquid.
-That's right.
I've separated all the fat
from this beautiful liquid.
And you can see not a lot
came out during cooking.
That's good. That means
it's still in the turkey.
-And that's
an intensely flavored broth.
-It sure is.
Now, we're gonna use
some of it at this point
to make a kind of sauce.
We're doing something a little
bit different from a gravy here.
I think you're gonna like it.
So, I need 4 teaspoons
of this beautiful turkey broth.
And I'm going to add it
to 1/2 cup of orange marmalade.
-Okay.
-We got that backbone
of the turkey broth in there,
some brightness
from that orange marmalade,
a little sweetness, too.
Now, the marmalade
is a little thick,
a little chunky.
-Mm-hmm.
-So I'm just gonna pop this
in the microwave
for about 30 seconds
until the marmalade
is nice and fluid.
A few bits in there,
but that is the marmalade.
-It's steaming.
-Let me just whisk this
together.
So, to this, I'm going to add
some whole-grain mustard.
This is 2 tablespoons.
And 2 tablespoons
of freshly squeezed lime juice.
That is 3/4 teaspoons
of fresh-grated lime zest.
Oh, you can smell it
as soon as it hits there.
-Mm-hmm.
-Alright. A little salt.
This 1/4 teaspoon of table salt.
And an 1/8 teaspoon
of cayenne pepper.
Alright. So that looks
phenomenal, smells great.
So, I've hiked the oven
temperature to 500 degrees.
Really good blast.
And these are gonna go in there
until they're really deep brown.
That's gonna take
maybe 15 minutes.
♪♪
Whoa.
-Goodness.
That went from zero to 60
like that.
-That is the payoff.
15 minutes, a 500-degree oven,
and look what a change.
Alright, but we do need
to let this cool down,
allow any of those juices
to be reabsorbed into the meat.
And of course,
cool enough for us to eat.
15 minutes is plenty of time
to let these cool down.
And they are still hot,
but cool enough to handle.
And that's really important,
because we want to make
a nice presentation of these.
Alright.
So I'm gonna flip this over.
And we want to remove this bone.
So I'm gonna take
a paring knife,
and I just want to eke it
around the bone.
I mean,
it's basically popping out.
Look at that.
Oh!
That's a good sign.
And I'll flip this back over.
And now we want to take care
to preserve the skin,
so you can use a slicing knife
or a really, really sharp
chef's knife --
something that's really gonna
cut through easily.
So I'm going to make the cuts
perpendicular
to where the bone was.
Just makes it really pretty
slices that way.
And I'm gonna cut
3/4-inch slices.
Oh, look at that meat.
It is so tender,
almost falling apart.
-You can see steam
coming out of there.
That turkey thigh is still hot.
-Super juicy. Look at that.
I've got to go ahead
and bone out these turkey thighs
and then slice them, too.
-Alright.
-What do you think?
-I think I'm hungry. [ Laughs ]
-Right.
How many pieces would you like?
-Yes.
-Yes. Alright.
Let me suss you up here.
That skin is mahogany.
-I know. It's gorgeous.
-Alright. Because it is
a very potent sauce,
do a little restaurant-y thing
going on here.
Can we have a moment
to celebrate...
-Yeah. Go ahead.
-...all that duck fat
has done for us?
-Go on. Enjoy it.
I am diving in.
-You're already in.
-Uh-huh.
-Mmm.
Mmm!
That is the most amazing
turkey meat I've ever eaten.
It is tender.
It is seasoned throughout,
falling off the bone.
-I actually think it tastes like
the gravy is inside the meat.
-Well,
that actually makes sense,
since all the juice
stayed in the meat.
Bridget, this is incredible.
You coming over?
-Yes, anytime.
-Thank you.
-You bet.
To make this incredibly luscious
turkey confit,
coat turkey thighs
with an onion salt paste
and refrigerate
for several days.
Submerge in duck fat
and cook at 200 degrees
for several hours.
Then finish in a 500-degree oven
just before serving.
From "America's Test Kitchen,"
a decadent new take on the
Thanksgiving centerpiece --
turkey-thigh confit
with a citrus mustard sauce.
I can't wait to make this
for people.
♪♪
-Julia, do you make
homemade cranberry sauce?
-Oh, yeah.
And I like it very tart,
and I like whole berries.
-Yeah. I like the relish
where you just grind
everything together,
the oranges and the cranberries.
-Mm-hmm.
-So homemade we both like.
But Jack is here,
and he's gonna ask us
to reconsider the premade stuff.
I might be a tough sell
on this one. Good luck.
I want you to have
an open mind here.
-Okay.
-So, we have 4 samples.
As you can tell,
two of them
are what I'm going to call
whole berry.
Basically,
they're pieces of cranberry
in number 1 and number 2.
-Alright.
-Number 3 and 4 are the jellied.
The jellied are sieved,
so there's absolutely no skins.
There's no texture to it.
They're put inside the can with
water and sugar and then cooked,
and basically the natural
pectins in the cranberries
sat inside the can, and that's
how you get the ridges.
So, the whole berries are cooked
with sugar and with some water.
They can be sieved,
and then they add back
cranberry solids.
Most brands just leave
the cranberries
if they cook in there.
I want you to pay attention
to what else is there besides
cranberry, water, and sugar.
Now,
those are the three essentials.
Well, when I'm making
my cranberry sauce at home,
I like to make Grand Marnier.
-Ooh. That sounds swanky.
-We would know this
if we had been invited.
-So, there is no Grand Marnier
here,
and I would say
the additions here
were minuses rather than pluses.
So, I'm throwing you a big hint.
Anything that you're noticing
in these samples?
-Cinnamon.
That's what I taste
in this one.
-Okay. Is that a good thing
or a bad thing?
-Well, I love cinnamon,
but it tastes a little bit
like pie filling.
-And you?
-Well, the texture of 1 and 2
is striking.
Number 1, it feels more like
whole berries in jelly,
where the number 2,
there's really more of a sauce.
And I thought based on that,
I was gonna like
the saucy one more,
but this one is so sweet.
The sweetness
is too much for me.
The tartness of number 1
is where it's at for me.
-Okay. And what do you guys
think about these jellies?
-They taste the same to me.
-You sure about --
-Pretty sure.
-Julia never is confident.
Have you noticed that?
-I know
-She has no opinions whatsoever.
-I got to say,
I'm not hating them.
There's something about
that retro kind of feel to it.
Spread it on a sandwich
day after Thanksgiving.
-Yeah, that's what
they're good for.
-I think 4 is very sweet.
-It's very sweet,
but this one tastes less sweet,
but it also tastes
a little watery to me.
-Mm, I don't know.
-Alright. So we're gonna pick.
-1.
-1.
And if you had to pick a jelly,
favorite?
-I think I'd go with 4.
-And you?
-Number 1, for sure.
-Okay.
For jelly, it doesn't matter.
I'll take both or neither.
[ Laughs ]
Well, I agree with you.
4 has more flavor,
but it's sweeter.
3 is more tart, which I like,
but it also is very flat.
-Yeah.
-Let's do
a little bit of reveal.
-Alright. So, number 1,
you guys both picked our winner,
New England Cranberry.
Simple -- water, sugar,
cranberries.
-That's what it tastes like.
-Sweet, but not too sweet.
It's got a nice texture.
So, number 2, the Harry & David.
-Ooh!
-And this was
pretty controversial.
Cinnamon. Yes.
-Yeah.
-Also has port, walnuts.
-Oh!
-Walnuts.
-And it sounds nice,
but honestly, it distracts
from the cranberries,
and so it was in the middle
to the bottom of the pack.
Number 3 was Woodstock.
So, this was bland.
You thought it was watery.
It just basically
didn't have as much flavor.
It was at the bottom
of the rankings
when it came
to the jellied sauces.
And then our favorite
jellied sauce,
this is sample number 4.
This is the Ocean Spray.
-Quite the nostalgia
in that can there.
-Yeah.
-You know it's upside down,
right?
-They can it upside down.
-Do you know why that is?
-I don't know.
You guys are teaching me here.
-Oh! Yeah, you see,
this is really what you think of
as the top of the can,
but it's on the bottom
of the label.
That so there's an air pocket
at the top.
-That's right.
-So you can jiggle it out
in one piece!
-And that's when
you get the sound.
-Yes! Exactly.
-[ Chuckles ]
So there you have it.
If you're buying prepared
cranberry sauce,
look for New England Cranberry
Colonial Cranberry Sauce.
-Or if cranberry jelly's
more your jam,
then go with Ocean Spray
Jellied Cranberry Sauce.
♪♪
-Hi. Can we talk about
turkey burgers?
They're kind of dry, and often
there's so many ingredients
that are plopped into
a turkey burger
that you can barely taste
the turkey at all.
And I really love turkey.
Well, if there's anyone
that can convert me
to team turkey Burger,
it's Becky.
[ Laughs ]
-Alright. I love that challenge.
But I'm up to the task.
Now, we have to start
with step one, okay?
Step one, we have to make peace
with the fact that turkey
is not beef.
-I can totally accept that.
I actually love turkey.
-Alright, good.
The thing about turkey is it has
a lot more moisture than beef.
It has about 71%
versus 66% for beef.
And that can make turkey
actually kind of difficult
to work with.
But turkey, at the same time,
can also dry out quite a bit,
like you said, because we have
to cook it to 160 degrees.
-That's right.
-So a little bit
of a conundrum there,
but we're gonna give it
some special help
and land on a great-tasting
turkey burger.
-I know you can do it.
-Let's start with the turkey.
This is a pound
of ground turkey.
And just like ground beef,
you can buy ground turkey
with different fat percentages.
This is 93%.
-Okay.
-So, I'm just gonna gently
break the turkey up.
This is going to make it easier
to incorporate
all of our mix-ins,
and we don't want
to overwork it.
That's what makes
a dense burger.
So I have 1/4 teaspoon
of baking soda
and a teaspoon of water.
It's gonna dissolve that
to make a little potion here.
And this is going to alter
the pH of the meat,
and it's gonna change the
protein structure a little bit
so it's better able
to hold on to moisture.
And then that baking soda
also helps
with browning a little bit, too,
so get a lot of bang
for our buck.
And now I'm adding
1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
That's gonna season it
with its salt
and also going to add
some nice umami.
A tablespoon of melted butter.
And then when I add this
to the cold turkey,
it's gonna firm
back up again,
and then when we cook
the burgers,
that little bit of butter
is gonna remelt
and get in all the nooks
and crannies
and give us a little bit
of extra buttery goodness.
-So we did need the cow.
-[ Laughs ] Yeah, that's true.
The cow is contributing here.
You had to bring that up.
Thank you, cow.
-[ Laughs ]
Alright.
3 tablespoons of panko.
Now the panko is gonna sort of
physically disrupt
the proteins of the meat,
keep them loose and tender
so we don't get
that dense texture.
Now, 3 tablespoons
of Parmesan, loaded with umami.
It's gonna complement the umami
that we added
from the soy sauce.
So, we have 1/2 teaspoon
of gelatin.
We're gonna sprinkle that in.
The gelatin's gonna help
the meat hold on to moisture
so we get that really nice,
juicy sensation.
And then, finally, 1/4 teaspoon
of black pepper
and an 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
We just need a tiny bit 'cause
we added all that soy sauce.
-Alright.
-So, I'm gonna use my hands.
I want to be gentle here, again,
just to mix everything up.
Don't want to overwork it,
but we do want to get all of
those secret ingredients
nicely incorporated.
Alright.
I think that's pretty good.
And let's make
some burgers here.
-Alright.
-I'm gonna divvy this up
into four portions,
about four ounces each.
Want to give me a hand here?
-Sure do.
-Alright. These need to be
about four inches in diameter
and a half-inch thick.
-Okay. So not paper thin,
but not too thick.
Do you have a burger technique?
-No. I just kind of pat it
until it's right.
How about you?
-I have this little something
that I like to do
on all the way around.
-Oh, that's good.
-Yeah.
-That's good.
-So it's definitely not
compacting too much, right?
-That's right. You still want
to use a gentle hand here.
Otherwise we're gonna work
that myosin, that sticky protein
and we'll up
with a dense burger.
Now, I have 2 teaspoons of oil
in a nonstick skillet here.
And the skillet's cold,
and I know
it seems a little weird.
Yeah. [ Laughs ]
But we're gonna put the burgers
right into the cold skillet.
-Alright.
-So we'll make two more burgers,
and then it's time to cook.
-Sounds good.
-Alright.
So, our burgers
are in the unheated skillet,
and I'm going to turn the heat
to medium now.
If I were to add the burgers
to a hot skillet,
the outside of the meat
would cook really fast,
and it would get
a little bit leathery, even,
while the interior
would stay cool.
This way, the burgers
are gonna cook nice and gently
all the way through.
So, we have medium heat here,
and now we're starting to hear
the burgers
start to sizzle a little bit,
so I'm gonna put
a lid on the pan.
We're gonna cook them
for 2 1/2 minutes
until they start to get some
nice browning on the bottom.
And a lid
is kind of unusual, too,
when you're cooking burgers,
but that's gonna capture
all the moisture
and the steam that's coming
out of the meat,
and it's gonna help them
cook nice and evenly.
Alright,
it's been 2 1/2 minutes.
Let's take a peek
at the undersides here.
And I have a pair of
fish spatulas
that makes it really easy
to turn these guys.
Oh, that's beautiful. [ Laughs ]
-Ooh!
-So, if we didn't see
that browning,
I would put the lid back on,
and we'd go another 30 seconds.
-Okay.
-But this looks
pretty good to me.
-It's looking great.
-Let's put the lid on
for another minute and a half,
and then I assume
you want cheese.
I want cheese on mine.
I mean, do I even have to ask?
Yeah, okay. We're adding cheese
in a minute and a half.
-That smells delicious.
-I know. It smells good already.
Ooh! [ Laughs ]
-Oh, yeah.
-Okay.
It's been a minute and a half,
so let's add our cheese.
Nice American cheese there.
Alright, let's give them
another minute and a half,
and then we'll take
their temperature.
-Okay.
They look amazing.
-Mm-hmm.
-Alright. Let's just take
a quick temperature check.
-They smell amazing.
-161. That's perfect.
-Yeah, you definitely want
a well-done turkey burger.
-Yeah.
-No medium rare, no rare.
-Got to hit that 160 mark.
-Okay.
-But you don't want to go
much above it.
It will eventually turn dry.
-Yes.
-So, let's put these on a plate.
We're gonna let these rest
for five minutes.
-Okay.
-It's burger time.
-You've been busy
in the last five minutes.
-Yeah. I've gotten
everything ready for it.
A nice little burger
spread here.
You've got the buns
that I toasted up for us.
-I've got the buns. Yes.
-[ Chuckles ]
-I have some pickled avocado
here to go on top,
and I made that in advance.
These pickled avocados
were so easy to make.
-And we've got
all the instructions for that
on our website.
-So, a nice slice of tomato
for each of us.
-Beautiful tomato.
-Yeah, very nice.
And then a nice piece
of lettuce.
-Sure.
-Okay.
I mean, let's do the works,
right?
-Let's do the works.
-Yeah.
-Look at that.
In the world of burgers,
that's like a centerfold.
That is so tender.
-Mm-hmm.
-That is not dry at all.
It is not dry at all.
-Your eyes are kind of saying
everything.
You didn't even need to speak.
I could just tell
how much you liked it.
-The meat is actually silky.
It's juicy and silky,
and it's really meaty.
-And it's full of flavor, right?
-Mm-hmm.
-These turkey burgers are --
I'm just gonna call them
a burger.
-Yeah.
-You don't even need
to mention turkey.
But you know what?
Be proud of it.
Why not? Be proud
that I'm on team turkey?
Thanks, Becky.
-You're welcome.
-Well, if you want to make
turkey burgers
that are actually
incredibly flavorful and juicy,
use a little baking soda
to keep the turkey tender.
Load in umami-rich ingredients,
like soy sauce and Parmesan,
add richness
with butter and gelatin,
and start them
in a room-temperature skillet
for gentle cooking.
So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"
a turkey burger
that might just put
the beef burger
out to pasture --
Becky's skillet turkey burgers.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-Today
on "America's Test Kitchen,"
Bridget makes Julia
the perfect turkey-thigh confit
with citrus mustard sauce.
Jack challenges
Julia and Bridget
to a head-to-head tasting
of cranberry sauce.
And Becky makes Bridget
updated skillet turkey burgers.
It's all coming up right here
on "America's Test Kitchen."
♪♪
-There are many ancient methods
for preserving food
that have stood the test of time
despite the invention
of the refrigerator.
And these methods last because
they add flavor and texture
to otherwise simple ingredients.
Confit is a good case in point,
and today Bridget's
gonna tell us more.
-I am here to represent
ancient cooking techniques
and preservation techniques.
-[ Laughs ]
-We are going to use confit
to really elevate turkey
so it's gonna really
make it special.
You can use this
for Thanksgiving
or any time
you have a special occasion.
So let me take you through
the process.
This is 4 pounds
of turkey thighs.
They're full of collagen.
And during cooking that's gonna
convert into gelatin,
so you get that really rich
and silky texture.
-Okay.
-The first process
when making confit
is you want to cure the meat.
Now, curing usually involves
salt --
lots and lots and lots of salt,
and you pack the meat,
and you let it sit over time.
That salt starts to work its way
into the meat
and really give it
a different texture.
We're going to use
the time factor,
the fact that this is going
to cure for several days,
to add some flavor, as well.
So, I've got onions.
-A lot of onions.
-A lot of onions.
This is three large onions.
And I'll add this
into my food processor.
And now we're going to add
a little bit of flavor here.
12 sprigs -- stems, leaves,
and all -- fresh thyme.
There's tons of flavor
in those sprigs.
So, now we need to get to the
curing agent, and that is salt.
This is just plain table salt.
We're using 2 1/2 tablespoons.
4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.
It's going to really balance out
the flavor.
And 1 1/2 teaspoons
of black pepper.
- Gesundheit!
[ Both laughing ]
-I'm going to let this process
for about 20 seconds,
but I'm looking for the onions
to be finely chopped.
Alright.
Looking pretty good.
So, I've got a 9x13"
baking dish.
You want to use something
that's nonreactive,
since the meat and the onions
are gonna be in there
for a little while.
We're gonna take
a third of this mixture,
plop it in there,
and just spread it out
in the bottom of the pan here.
And now 4 pounds
of bone-in turkey thighs
just goes right on there.
We want to make sure
that they are all in one layer,
meat side down
so that they're nestled
in that onion mixture.
I'm going to add the rest
of this onion mixture
right over the top.
I'm gonna put a little bit
of plastic wrap on this.
We're gonna need
a little bit of time
for all these water-soluble
compounds
to work their way into the meat.
-Now,
we say a little bit of time.
How much time?
-4 days.
-[ Laughs ]
So you have to plan in advance
for this.
-You do.
It's a minimum of 4 days
really to allow that flavor
to get to the bone
and the salt, as well.
But you can leave it
in the fridge
for up to six days.
If you're planning ahead
and six days works out better
for you, no problem.
-So in order to make
a turkey confit
with a deep, savory flavor
and tender texture,
you first have to cure the meat.
Now, here's how curing works.
Before cooking
the turkey thighs,
we coat them with salt paste
and let them sit in the
refrigerator for 4 days.
Now, as the salt dissolves,
it naturally moves from places
of high concentration
to places of low concentration
by winding its way
between the meat fibers.
This is called diffusion.
As the salt
passes through the meat,
it makes it firmer and juicier.
Now, 4 days is not
long enough for the salt
to be perfectly even throughout.
That can take weeks.
But it's plenty of time
for this recipe,
because we're curing for flavor,
not for preservation.
♪♪
-After 4 days of curing,
this is what
the turkey looks like.
-Interesting.
-Now, I've rinsed off
three of them.
-Mm-hmm.
-One's still in there.
-You can see the meat is a
little bit darker in places.
-Yeah.
-That's totally normal.
-Okay.
-If you wouldn't mind
turning the water on,
I'm going to rinse
the rest of these aromatics,
the onion mixture, off.
I'll go ahead
and scrape some of it.
And just rinse it
under running water.
I just want to get any
particulates off of the turkey,
because we're gonna get ready
to put it in fat.
-Gotcha.
-And I don't want anything to go
in there to start to brown.
-That make sense.
-Alright. So that looks great.
-Thank you.
-Mm-hmm.
-I'm gonna move it over here.
I need to blot these dry
as much as I can.
And we'll flip them over.
-They're resting
on paper towels. That's smart.
-Let's talk about
what's in the measuring cup.
This is pure duck fat, which is
traditional for making confit.
Now, you could use chicken fat
if you don't have a source
for duck fat.
You can actually
buy it online now.
-Mm-hmm.
-Or you can use vegetable oil.
Again, 6 cups total.
But really, duck fat
is the premium choice here.
And I'm gonna show you
that you can reuse it again.
-Okay.
-So it's not just like
you're gonna break the bank here
and never see it again.
It will come back and serve
you time and time again.
Okay, so 6 cups.
Going to add it
to my Dutch oven here.
Just scoop it in there.
Gonna put this over medium heat,
and we're gonna melt the fat.
Now, we're not going
to fry this.
We're going to start the confit.
So, we want a really low
temperature to start,
and that's going to be 165.
-That's very low.
-Very low.
That's on purpose.
-Okay.
-Alright.
So let's check the fat here.
And we are looking
for right about 165.
Alright. 165.
-Just barely melted,
-just barely melted.
So we're gonna go ahead
and add our turkey in there.
-Mm-hmm.
-Skin side down.
It's a really low heat,
so you're not going to see
any vigorous bubbling.
Again, we're not frying.
Taking my time to make sure
that they're fully submerged.
A lot of people might be scared
seeing all that meat
going into fat
and thinking,
"That's going to be greasy."
But the meat really
doesn't suck up the fat.
In fact, the fat allows
the moisture in the meat
to stay inside the meat.
Just really, really gentle heat.
Now, a couple of additions here.
Two bay leaves
and a whole head of garlic.
Cut it right in half.
You're gonna nestle those
down in there.
So, we're done
with stovetop cooking.
-Okay.
-Don't need it anymore.
We're gonna move this operation
to the oven.
And it's really low --
200-degree oven.
If it was at
a higher temperature,
it might start to simmer
a little bit.
-Mm-hmm.
-We don't want that.
It's gonna cook for 4,
maybe up to five hours.
And what I want to look for
is the meat
to become nice and tender.
♪♪
-Well, I don't see any bubbling.
-[ Chuckles ]
-We're bubble free.
So I just need to check
the turkey
and see if the meat is really,
really nice and tender.
So I'm gonna take
a metal skewer,
pierce it into the meat,
and it really shouldn't pull up
from the bottom
of the Dutch oven.
Like that.
Turkey is nice and tender.
Need to get it out of the pot.
You can use tongs for this,
but I like to kind of zhuzh it
onto a little skimmer here,
just to support it.
And then we're gonna put this
onto our rack.
I don't want to disturb
the skin.
The skin is really rendered
and very, very thin
at this point.
-Ooh, it is delicate skin.
-Isn't that?
-Yes.
-That's really well-rendered.
All of that turkey fat
that was underneath the skin
is in the pot,
making the duck fat
even more tasty.
So now we need to deal with
what to do with this duck fat.
I see kind of a layer of turkey
juice underneath the fat.
-So we need to separate the two.
I'm just gonna strain
this mixture
through a fine-mesh strainer
over a bowl. Alright.
So now we want to separate
the fat from the juices.
And I'm going to use something
called a fat separator
for such a job.
There we go.
And I'm gonna have to do this,
obviously, in batches.
So I'm gonna let this sit
for about five minutes,
allow the fat to separate.
And then we'll pour it off.
Alright, Julia.
You got to keep them separated.
-Those are two beautiful bowls
of golden liquid.
-That's right.
I've separated all the fat
from this beautiful liquid.
And you can see not a lot
came out during cooking.
That's good. That means
it's still in the turkey.
-And that's
an intensely flavored broth.
-It sure is.
Now, we're gonna use
some of it at this point
to make a kind of sauce.
We're doing something a little
bit different from a gravy here.
I think you're gonna like it.
So, I need 4 teaspoons
of this beautiful turkey broth.
And I'm going to add it
to 1/2 cup of orange marmalade.
-Okay.
-We got that backbone
of the turkey broth in there,
some brightness
from that orange marmalade,
a little sweetness, too.
Now, the marmalade
is a little thick,
a little chunky.
-Mm-hmm.
-So I'm just gonna pop this
in the microwave
for about 30 seconds
until the marmalade
is nice and fluid.
A few bits in there,
but that is the marmalade.
-It's steaming.
-Let me just whisk this
together.
So, to this, I'm going to add
some whole-grain mustard.
This is 2 tablespoons.
And 2 tablespoons
of freshly squeezed lime juice.
That is 3/4 teaspoons
of fresh-grated lime zest.
Oh, you can smell it
as soon as it hits there.
-Mm-hmm.
-Alright. A little salt.
This 1/4 teaspoon of table salt.
And an 1/8 teaspoon
of cayenne pepper.
Alright. So that looks
phenomenal, smells great.
So, I've hiked the oven
temperature to 500 degrees.
Really good blast.
And these are gonna go in there
until they're really deep brown.
That's gonna take
maybe 15 minutes.
♪♪
Whoa.
-Goodness.
That went from zero to 60
like that.
-That is the payoff.
15 minutes, a 500-degree oven,
and look what a change.
Alright, but we do need
to let this cool down,
allow any of those juices
to be reabsorbed into the meat.
And of course,
cool enough for us to eat.
15 minutes is plenty of time
to let these cool down.
And they are still hot,
but cool enough to handle.
And that's really important,
because we want to make
a nice presentation of these.
Alright.
So I'm gonna flip this over.
And we want to remove this bone.
So I'm gonna take
a paring knife,
and I just want to eke it
around the bone.
I mean,
it's basically popping out.
Look at that.
Oh!
That's a good sign.
And I'll flip this back over.
And now we want to take care
to preserve the skin,
so you can use a slicing knife
or a really, really sharp
chef's knife --
something that's really gonna
cut through easily.
So I'm going to make the cuts
perpendicular
to where the bone was.
Just makes it really pretty
slices that way.
And I'm gonna cut
3/4-inch slices.
Oh, look at that meat.
It is so tender,
almost falling apart.
-You can see steam
coming out of there.
That turkey thigh is still hot.
-Super juicy. Look at that.
I've got to go ahead
and bone out these turkey thighs
and then slice them, too.
-Alright.
-What do you think?
-I think I'm hungry. [ Laughs ]
-Right.
How many pieces would you like?
-Yes.
-Yes. Alright.
Let me suss you up here.
That skin is mahogany.
-I know. It's gorgeous.
-Alright. Because it is
a very potent sauce,
do a little restaurant-y thing
going on here.
Can we have a moment
to celebrate...
-Yeah. Go ahead.
-...all that duck fat
has done for us?
-Go on. Enjoy it.
I am diving in.
-You're already in.
-Uh-huh.
-Mmm.
Mmm!
That is the most amazing
turkey meat I've ever eaten.
It is tender.
It is seasoned throughout,
falling off the bone.
-I actually think it tastes like
the gravy is inside the meat.
-Well,
that actually makes sense,
since all the juice
stayed in the meat.
Bridget, this is incredible.
You coming over?
-Yes, anytime.
-Thank you.
-You bet.
To make this incredibly luscious
turkey confit,
coat turkey thighs
with an onion salt paste
and refrigerate
for several days.
Submerge in duck fat
and cook at 200 degrees
for several hours.
Then finish in a 500-degree oven
just before serving.
From "America's Test Kitchen,"
a decadent new take on the
Thanksgiving centerpiece --
turkey-thigh confit
with a citrus mustard sauce.
I can't wait to make this
for people.
♪♪
-Julia, do you make
homemade cranberry sauce?
-Oh, yeah.
And I like it very tart,
and I like whole berries.
-Yeah. I like the relish
where you just grind
everything together,
the oranges and the cranberries.
-Mm-hmm.
-So homemade we both like.
But Jack is here,
and he's gonna ask us
to reconsider the premade stuff.
I might be a tough sell
on this one. Good luck.
I want you to have
an open mind here.
-Okay.
-So, we have 4 samples.
As you can tell,
two of them
are what I'm going to call
whole berry.
Basically,
they're pieces of cranberry
in number 1 and number 2.
-Alright.
-Number 3 and 4 are the jellied.
The jellied are sieved,
so there's absolutely no skins.
There's no texture to it.
They're put inside the can with
water and sugar and then cooked,
and basically the natural
pectins in the cranberries
sat inside the can, and that's
how you get the ridges.
So, the whole berries are cooked
with sugar and with some water.
They can be sieved,
and then they add back
cranberry solids.
Most brands just leave
the cranberries
if they cook in there.
I want you to pay attention
to what else is there besides
cranberry, water, and sugar.
Now,
those are the three essentials.
Well, when I'm making
my cranberry sauce at home,
I like to make Grand Marnier.
-Ooh. That sounds swanky.
-We would know this
if we had been invited.
-So, there is no Grand Marnier
here,
and I would say
the additions here
were minuses rather than pluses.
So, I'm throwing you a big hint.
Anything that you're noticing
in these samples?
-Cinnamon.
That's what I taste
in this one.
-Okay. Is that a good thing
or a bad thing?
-Well, I love cinnamon,
but it tastes a little bit
like pie filling.
-And you?
-Well, the texture of 1 and 2
is striking.
Number 1, it feels more like
whole berries in jelly,
where the number 2,
there's really more of a sauce.
And I thought based on that,
I was gonna like
the saucy one more,
but this one is so sweet.
The sweetness
is too much for me.
The tartness of number 1
is where it's at for me.
-Okay. And what do you guys
think about these jellies?
-They taste the same to me.
-You sure about --
-Pretty sure.
-Julia never is confident.
Have you noticed that?
-I know
-She has no opinions whatsoever.
-I got to say,
I'm not hating them.
There's something about
that retro kind of feel to it.
Spread it on a sandwich
day after Thanksgiving.
-Yeah, that's what
they're good for.
-I think 4 is very sweet.
-It's very sweet,
but this one tastes less sweet,
but it also tastes
a little watery to me.
-Mm, I don't know.
-Alright. So we're gonna pick.
-1.
-1.
And if you had to pick a jelly,
favorite?
-I think I'd go with 4.
-And you?
-Number 1, for sure.
-Okay.
For jelly, it doesn't matter.
I'll take both or neither.
[ Laughs ]
Well, I agree with you.
4 has more flavor,
but it's sweeter.
3 is more tart, which I like,
but it also is very flat.
-Yeah.
-Let's do
a little bit of reveal.
-Alright. So, number 1,
you guys both picked our winner,
New England Cranberry.
Simple -- water, sugar,
cranberries.
-That's what it tastes like.
-Sweet, but not too sweet.
It's got a nice texture.
So, number 2, the Harry & David.
-Ooh!
-And this was
pretty controversial.
Cinnamon. Yes.
-Yeah.
-Also has port, walnuts.
-Oh!
-Walnuts.
-And it sounds nice,
but honestly, it distracts
from the cranberries,
and so it was in the middle
to the bottom of the pack.
Number 3 was Woodstock.
So, this was bland.
You thought it was watery.
It just basically
didn't have as much flavor.
It was at the bottom
of the rankings
when it came
to the jellied sauces.
And then our favorite
jellied sauce,
this is sample number 4.
This is the Ocean Spray.
-Quite the nostalgia
in that can there.
-Yeah.
-You know it's upside down,
right?
-They can it upside down.
-Do you know why that is?
-I don't know.
You guys are teaching me here.
-Oh! Yeah, you see,
this is really what you think of
as the top of the can,
but it's on the bottom
of the label.
That so there's an air pocket
at the top.
-That's right.
-So you can jiggle it out
in one piece!
-And that's when
you get the sound.
-Yes! Exactly.
-[ Chuckles ]
So there you have it.
If you're buying prepared
cranberry sauce,
look for New England Cranberry
Colonial Cranberry Sauce.
-Or if cranberry jelly's
more your jam,
then go with Ocean Spray
Jellied Cranberry Sauce.
♪♪
-Hi. Can we talk about
turkey burgers?
They're kind of dry, and often
there's so many ingredients
that are plopped into
a turkey burger
that you can barely taste
the turkey at all.
And I really love turkey.
Well, if there's anyone
that can convert me
to team turkey Burger,
it's Becky.
[ Laughs ]
-Alright. I love that challenge.
But I'm up to the task.
Now, we have to start
with step one, okay?
Step one, we have to make peace
with the fact that turkey
is not beef.
-I can totally accept that.
I actually love turkey.
-Alright, good.
The thing about turkey is it has
a lot more moisture than beef.
It has about 71%
versus 66% for beef.
And that can make turkey
actually kind of difficult
to work with.
But turkey, at the same time,
can also dry out quite a bit,
like you said, because we have
to cook it to 160 degrees.
-That's right.
-So a little bit
of a conundrum there,
but we're gonna give it
some special help
and land on a great-tasting
turkey burger.
-I know you can do it.
-Let's start with the turkey.
This is a pound
of ground turkey.
And just like ground beef,
you can buy ground turkey
with different fat percentages.
This is 93%.
-Okay.
-So, I'm just gonna gently
break the turkey up.
This is going to make it easier
to incorporate
all of our mix-ins,
and we don't want
to overwork it.
That's what makes
a dense burger.
So I have 1/4 teaspoon
of baking soda
and a teaspoon of water.
It's gonna dissolve that
to make a little potion here.
And this is going to alter
the pH of the meat,
and it's gonna change the
protein structure a little bit
so it's better able
to hold on to moisture.
And then that baking soda
also helps
with browning a little bit, too,
so get a lot of bang
for our buck.
And now I'm adding
1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
That's gonna season it
with its salt
and also going to add
some nice umami.
A tablespoon of melted butter.
And then when I add this
to the cold turkey,
it's gonna firm
back up again,
and then when we cook
the burgers,
that little bit of butter
is gonna remelt
and get in all the nooks
and crannies
and give us a little bit
of extra buttery goodness.
-So we did need the cow.
-[ Laughs ] Yeah, that's true.
The cow is contributing here.
You had to bring that up.
Thank you, cow.
-[ Laughs ]
Alright.
3 tablespoons of panko.
Now the panko is gonna sort of
physically disrupt
the proteins of the meat,
keep them loose and tender
so we don't get
that dense texture.
Now, 3 tablespoons
of Parmesan, loaded with umami.
It's gonna complement the umami
that we added
from the soy sauce.
So, we have 1/2 teaspoon
of gelatin.
We're gonna sprinkle that in.
The gelatin's gonna help
the meat hold on to moisture
so we get that really nice,
juicy sensation.
And then, finally, 1/4 teaspoon
of black pepper
and an 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
We just need a tiny bit 'cause
we added all that soy sauce.
-Alright.
-So, I'm gonna use my hands.
I want to be gentle here, again,
just to mix everything up.
Don't want to overwork it,
but we do want to get all of
those secret ingredients
nicely incorporated.
Alright.
I think that's pretty good.
And let's make
some burgers here.
-Alright.
-I'm gonna divvy this up
into four portions,
about four ounces each.
Want to give me a hand here?
-Sure do.
-Alright. These need to be
about four inches in diameter
and a half-inch thick.
-Okay. So not paper thin,
but not too thick.
Do you have a burger technique?
-No. I just kind of pat it
until it's right.
How about you?
-I have this little something
that I like to do
on all the way around.
-Oh, that's good.
-Yeah.
-That's good.
-So it's definitely not
compacting too much, right?
-That's right. You still want
to use a gentle hand here.
Otherwise we're gonna work
that myosin, that sticky protein
and we'll up
with a dense burger.
Now, I have 2 teaspoons of oil
in a nonstick skillet here.
And the skillet's cold,
and I know
it seems a little weird.
Yeah. [ Laughs ]
But we're gonna put the burgers
right into the cold skillet.
-Alright.
-So we'll make two more burgers,
and then it's time to cook.
-Sounds good.
-Alright.
So, our burgers
are in the unheated skillet,
and I'm going to turn the heat
to medium now.
If I were to add the burgers
to a hot skillet,
the outside of the meat
would cook really fast,
and it would get
a little bit leathery, even,
while the interior
would stay cool.
This way, the burgers
are gonna cook nice and gently
all the way through.
So, we have medium heat here,
and now we're starting to hear
the burgers
start to sizzle a little bit,
so I'm gonna put
a lid on the pan.
We're gonna cook them
for 2 1/2 minutes
until they start to get some
nice browning on the bottom.
And a lid
is kind of unusual, too,
when you're cooking burgers,
but that's gonna capture
all the moisture
and the steam that's coming
out of the meat,
and it's gonna help them
cook nice and evenly.
Alright,
it's been 2 1/2 minutes.
Let's take a peek
at the undersides here.
And I have a pair of
fish spatulas
that makes it really easy
to turn these guys.
Oh, that's beautiful. [ Laughs ]
-Ooh!
-So, if we didn't see
that browning,
I would put the lid back on,
and we'd go another 30 seconds.
-Okay.
-But this looks
pretty good to me.
-It's looking great.
-Let's put the lid on
for another minute and a half,
and then I assume
you want cheese.
I want cheese on mine.
I mean, do I even have to ask?
Yeah, okay. We're adding cheese
in a minute and a half.
-That smells delicious.
-I know. It smells good already.
Ooh! [ Laughs ]
-Oh, yeah.
-Okay.
It's been a minute and a half,
so let's add our cheese.
Nice American cheese there.
Alright, let's give them
another minute and a half,
and then we'll take
their temperature.
-Okay.
They look amazing.
-Mm-hmm.
-Alright. Let's just take
a quick temperature check.
-They smell amazing.
-161. That's perfect.
-Yeah, you definitely want
a well-done turkey burger.
-Yeah.
-No medium rare, no rare.
-Got to hit that 160 mark.
-Okay.
-But you don't want to go
much above it.
It will eventually turn dry.
-Yes.
-So, let's put these on a plate.
We're gonna let these rest
for five minutes.
-Okay.
-It's burger time.
-You've been busy
in the last five minutes.
-Yeah. I've gotten
everything ready for it.
A nice little burger
spread here.
You've got the buns
that I toasted up for us.
-I've got the buns. Yes.
-[ Chuckles ]
-I have some pickled avocado
here to go on top,
and I made that in advance.
These pickled avocados
were so easy to make.
-And we've got
all the instructions for that
on our website.
-So, a nice slice of tomato
for each of us.
-Beautiful tomato.
-Yeah, very nice.
And then a nice piece
of lettuce.
-Sure.
-Okay.
I mean, let's do the works,
right?
-Let's do the works.
-Yeah.
-Look at that.
In the world of burgers,
that's like a centerfold.
That is so tender.
-Mm-hmm.
-That is not dry at all.
It is not dry at all.
-Your eyes are kind of saying
everything.
You didn't even need to speak.
I could just tell
how much you liked it.
-The meat is actually silky.
It's juicy and silky,
and it's really meaty.
-And it's full of flavor, right?
-Mm-hmm.
-These turkey burgers are --
I'm just gonna call them
a burger.
-Yeah.
-You don't even need
to mention turkey.
But you know what?
Be proud of it.
Why not? Be proud
that I'm on team turkey?
Thanks, Becky.
-You're welcome.
-Well, if you want to make
turkey burgers
that are actually
incredibly flavorful and juicy,
use a little baking soda
to keep the turkey tender.
Load in umami-rich ingredients,
like soy sauce and Parmesan,
add richness
with butter and gelatin,
and start them
in a room-temperature skillet
for gentle cooking.
So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"
a turkey burger
that might just put
the beef burger
out to pasture --
Becky's skillet turkey burgers.
♪♪