America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 22, Episode 23 - Starring: Tomatoes - full transcript

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"

tomatoes for everyone.

Elle makes Bridget a savory
upside-down tomato tart,

Lisa reveals her favorite
bowl scraper,

Jack shares tips
for buying tomatoes,

Dan explains the science of
the Leidenfrost effect,

and Becky makes Julia
Greek horiatiki salata.



It's all coming up right here on
"America's Test Kitchen."

♪♪

♪♪

-Tomatoes --
fruit or a vegetable?

Well, today we are going to lean
into tomatoes being a fruit

and use them to make
a spectacular tart,

and Elle is just the right
person to show us how it's done.

-A traditional tarte Tatin
is made with apples,

and we're gonna use
that same formula

as a framework for tomatoes.
-Ohh.

-But you can't treat tomatoes
like you would treat apples

and expect
to get the same result.

-That's true.
-Right?

So we have to prep the tomatoes.



I have 2 pounds total
of plum tomatoes,

and I'm just gonna show you
how to prep a couple.

-Okay.
-We're gonna start by coring

with a paring knife
and halving lengthwise.

We're also gonna need to get
the seeds

and the jelly
out of the middle,

so I'm just gonna use my knife

and cut around, super easy.

We tried this recipe
with beefsteak tomatoes

and we quickly found their
juiciness a little problematic.

They actually made
our crust soggy.

-That makes sense.
-And they didn't caramelize

when cooking.
-Right.

Too much liquid in there.
-Yeah, it's not ideal,

but we found that plum tomatoes,

they have a low moisture content
and they're still meaty.

-Yeah, they've got a little bit
more structure in them.

-Yeah. Okay, now that our
tomatoes are prepped,

we can start working
on our caramel sauce.

-Okay.
-I have here a 10-inch

oven-safe skillet,

and I'm just gonna put it
on medium-high heat.

And to it, I'm gonna add
1/3 cup of sherry vinegar.

-I was a little nervous
when you were talking

about caramel and tomatoes,

but this is great because
you're using sherry vinegar...

-Yeah.
-...so it's gonna be tart

and sweet.
-That's right.

2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar,

1/2 teaspoon of salt,

and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

I'm just gonna bring this
to a simmer.

It'll only take about 2 minutes.

-Okay.

-Okay,
quickly comes to a simmer,

and we just need to cook it
for 2 minutes,

and I'm gonna swirl it
a few times

just to make sure
that the sugar is dissolved.

-And what kind of texture
are you looking for?

-I need this to be
the texture of maple syrup.

-Okay.

-So, we reduced this sherry
vinegar and sugar mixture

so that we could get
the caramelization

that mimics the apple tart.
-Alright.

-So we're gonna finish it off
with a medium shallot,

finely diced,
a tablespoon of unsalted butter,

and 2 teaspoons of minced thyme.

-This is going to be
spectacular.

The shallot, the vinegar, oh!

-Yeah, we're adding savory
notes here, right?

-Looking fabulous.

-Yeah, it looks good,
it smells good,

and the butter has dissolved,
so now we can toss the tomatoes

into our shallot sugar caramel.

And we also can remove it
from the heat,

so if you could turn that guy
off for me, that'd be great.

-You got it.
-So we're just gonna toss

these tomatoes just to make sure

that they all
get covered evenly.

It already smells so good
and fresh, like summer.

-I love this.

Kind of an alternative
to tarte Tatin.

-Yeah.
-But it makes sense, too,

I think.

Tomatoes were once called
love apples.

-Really?
-Yeah.

Why aren't they still called
love apples?

-I don't know.
That sounds really good.

I would be much more inclined
to eat a love apple, I think.

-Yeah.
-Alright,

these look pretty good.
They're all covered.

-Okay.
-So what I'm gonna do

is just make sure
that these tomatoes

are lined cut-side up
into the pan.

Try to keep them flat to the
surface of the pan if you can.

-Okay.
-There'll be a little overlap,

but it's fine
because they're gonna shrink

when you cook it.
-Alright.

-So we have the tomatoes
lined evenly in the pan.

We're just gonna finish off
with 1/4 teaspoon of salt

and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

Roasting these in the oven

is gonna get
the excess moisture out.

It's also gonna concentrate
that fruity flavor

that the tomatoes offer...
-Mm-hmm.

-...and it's gonna give us
some caramelization

around the edges
of the tomatoes, as well.

It's gonna go in the oven
at 400 degrees

on the middle rack for one hour.

-Okay,
I'll get the door for you.

-Thanks.

Okay, so while the tomatoes
are in the oven,

we're gonna start making
the dough for our tart.

-Okay.
-I am using

a store-bought puff pastry.

-Thank you.
-I love to do this.

I call it the no-fuss crust.

-It is already made for you.
-That's right.

I'm gonna put it on a lightly
floured surface here.

-Okay.
-And I'm gonna roll it out

into a 10-inch square.

This is better than pie dough
or biscuit crust

because you can just
thaw it and go, you know?

-Exactly,
it's got that super flaky --

all those layers
that someone else did for you.

-That's right.

Okay, so my dough is
a little sticky.

I'm using a little extra flour

just so it doesn't
stick to the rolling pin.

Putting a little flour
on the rolling pin.

-Great.
-And I'm just gonna

roll this out to 10 inches.

-Yeah, it's just literally flour
being held together by butter,

so it's gonna be
a little sticky.

-Yeah.
-Puff pastry is one

of those items I absolutely
do not mind buying,

having somebody else
done all the work.

Do you refine your own gas

or do you have
someone else do that for you?

-Don't reinvent the wheel.

So we want to roll this out
a little larger than 10 inches

because we need to cut
a 10-inch circle of it.

-Okay.

-Alright,
so I have a 10-inch plate here.

So, I'm gonna
put the plate down

and kind of use it as my guide.

I'm using my paring knife.
-Fabulous.

-And I'm just gonna
cut around like so.

-Lovely.
-Thanks.

Alright, we don't need
this extra dough here.

I'm gonna get rid of it.

I'm gonna use
my rolling pin here,

and this is just gonna go
in the fridge and cool

while we wait
for the tomatoes to be done.

-Alright, we need
that butter to re-chill.

-Oh, yeah.
-Okay.

-Okay.

-Ooh!

-Oh, that's beautiful.

Alright.
-I got that.

-Thank you.

-Oh! That smells like
slow-roasted tomato sauce.

-Yeah, it's so beautiful,

and it did exactly what
we needed it to do in an hour.

We have some moisture
absorption.

We have caramelization.

This tart is ready
for some dough.

-It's almost a shame
to cover them up.

-It's so beautiful.

There'll be some beauty
to see at the end.

-Alright.

-Alright, I'm just gonna
lay this over the top.

-And that's really
firmed up nicely.

-Yeah, it did.

Let me get this little
crinkle out of here.

This needs to go back
into the oven...

-Okay.
-...for 30 minutes.

We're looking for it
to be nice and golden brown.

To get that, we'll have to

rotate it halfway
through the cooking time.

♪♪

-When we handle dough
in the test kitchen,

we love to use bowl scrapers.

These little paddles are made
of plastic, nylon, or silicone,

and they have curved edges
designed to conform to the bowl.

They help you scrape up every
last bit of dough for breads,

cookies, and pastries.

And with no handles, you can get
great leverage to reach

right in for lifting
and folding.

We bought 8, priced from
about $2 to about $13,

and we tried them
with sticky bread dough,

dense cookie dough,

and we compared them
to our winning silicone spatula.

We wanted a scraper
with a versatile shape

that could fit into
all sorts of bowls,

but that was sturdy and flexible

and could hold up
to long-term use.

Some of these had
kind of weird shapes, like this.

We just couldn't figure it out.

As you're using it
and you're choking up,

it's hitting the other side
of the bowl.

This one was so stiff and sharp
that it couldn't scrape

without cutting up
the dough or our hands.

This guy is super flexible
and bendy.

That may seem good
until you're trying to lift

heavy cookie dough.

Not so good.

This one's our favorite.

It's the Fox Run
silicone dough/bowl scraper.

This teardrop shape really works
with different curves

to fit a variety of bowls.

It's very comfy to hold and
the core reinforced with steel,

so it holds up
to dense cookie dough,

but its flexible edges
really get under delicate dough.

So you can scrape really well
and you can lift it,

but without deflating it
or cutting it up.

Now, this also came through
in our durability tests

in perfect shape.

And at about $5,
certainly worth the investment.

Another great choice
is this one by KitchenAid.

It's got that grippy silicone
that's comfortable.

It's got the sturdy build
that gave us good leverage

for scraping and lifting dough.

But it wasn't quite
as versatile.

It took a few extra strokes
to clean the bowl.

But that long edge is also great
for dividing dough.

And for $7.99,

it also comes
with a pan scraper.

♪♪

-Oh!
-Wow.

-Whoa is right.

-That looks pretty amazing.

Alright.

-Ah!
-Alright.

30 minutes cooking,
we rotated it halfway.

It is beautifully golden brown,
if I do say so myself.

-It is spectacular.
-Yeah.

-And the puff is starting
to settle in there.

-Mm-hmm.
-It did what it was

supposed to do, right?
It puffed.

-It did, it puffed.

We cannot eat it yet,
though, obviously.

It's piping hot.

So we're gonna let this cool
for about eight minutes.

-Alright.

-Okay, Bridget,
it's been eight minutes.

This has cooled enough for me
to take my paring knife

and go around the edge
to loosen it up.

-You can see it started
to pull away

a little bit from the edges,
too.

-It has.

Imagine if we had too much juice
in here from tomatoes.

It wouldn't do this.

-Yeah, we'd end up with
tomato soup

with a giant crouton.
-Yeah.

[ Laughs ]

Feel like it's loose.

So I'm going to invert this
onto the plate.

-Okay.

-So I'm gonna put the plate
on top.

This has to be fast.

Ready?
-I am so ready.

-Okay, me too.

Voilà.
-You got to be kidding me.

-It's gorgeous.
-Gorgeous.

-Alright, I'm gonna quickly get
this onto the cutting board.

-Look how beautiful!
-It's beautiful.

So we need to let it cool
for another 10 minutes.

-Alright.

-And then we can enjoy
this gorgeous tart.

-She just released the most
amazing smells into the kitchen

as she flipped that over.

That's crazy.
-So good.

Okay, Bridget,
so it's been 10 minutes.

This tart has cooled.

I'm just gonna finish it off

with 1/2 teaspoon
of minced fresh thyme.

-You could smell it.

Hits that still-warm tart.

All that fragrant aroma.

-It not only smells good,
but it's beautiful.

I hope you're ready to eat.

-I am so ready to eat.
That is gorgeous.

-Alright.
I'm gonna cut some for you.

-Alright.

So that serves two, right?
-Yes.

Half for me, half for you.
-[ Laughs ]

Oh.

-You want a big tart?

-Yeah, I'm starving.

Oh!
-There we go.

-Look how well
it's holding together, too.

-Yeah, it's because we chose
those beautiful plum tomatoes.

-Oh, it's also because you know
what you're doing.

It's almost too pretty to eat.

-Mmm.
-Almost.

-Says you.
-[ Laughs ]

-I'm digging in.
-Alright.

-Oh, man.

-Gorgeous. Oh!

-Wow.

-And you're right,
the plum tomatoes,

they're the key, because
this is not tomato sauce.

-That's right.
-They still have some texture

to them.
-Lots of texture,

and the sweetness
of the sherry vinegar

and sugar syrup
is unbelievable.

-This would be beautiful
with a salad.

-Mm-hmm.

Wow. Juicy.

Mmm-mmm-mmm.

-And the crust --
beautiful, light, flaky.

-The crust
understood its assignment.

-It's just got that lovely,
sweet,

tart thing going about it.

-It really does.

-Thanks for sharing this
with us.

-Thanks, boo.

-So if you want to make this
beautiful tomato tart at home,

start by seeding plum tomatoes.

Create a potent caramel
with vinegar and sugar,

roast the tomatoes
to concentrate their flavor,

and then top it with puff pastry

and bake it
until light and lofty.

So from America's Test Kitchen,
a little sweet, a little tart,

so easy and elegant
upside-down tomato tart.

Mmm.

-Give me more.
-Crispy.

-Mm-hmm.

♪♪

-When it comes to
supermarket tomatoes,

there are many choices.

Unfortunately,
there are many bad choices.

I'm gonna teach you
how to avoid making a mistake.

So it's all about jelly.

And you're like, "Jelly?

Wait a minute,
we're talking about tomatoes."

Jelly is the gooey stuff.

Get down in here
and take a look.

The thing that surrounds
the seeds.

It's packed with flavor,
has glutamates,

the same compound that makes
Parmesan cheese

and mushrooms so delicious.

In a really good tomato,

it'll have thin walls
and lots of pockets for jelly.

In a really poor tomato,

like this one here,
the walls are really thick.

There's almost no room left
for the jelly,

meaning there's no room left
for flavor.

A lot of commercial tomatoes
have thick walls

because they ship really well.

They show up 3,000 miles away
from where they were grown

with no flavor whatsoever.

It's probably a bad idea

to slice the tomato
in the supermarket,

so how do you know that
there's a lot of jelly inside?

So first thing is look
for a locally grown tomato.

A lot of heirloom tomatoes
like I have here in front of me

are locally grown
because they have thin walls.

That means they can't ship.

So that's always gonna be
my first choice.

Another way you can tell
it's an heirloom tomato,

and in this case,
a true heirloom tomato,

meaning it's got
the original DNA

from the pre-Columbian tomatoes,
are these ridges.

That means it hasn't
really been hybridized.

Now, that's not to say
that heirloom

is the only good choice.

I actually love
a good beefsteak,

especially from
a local farm stand.

Now, these don't really
get shipped very often

because they're too big,
and supermarkets and growers

don't want to deal with them.
But I love them in a BLT.

Something I don't love would be
these vine-ripened tomatoes.

Yeah, if you grow tomatoes,
you know that ripe tomatoes

would never stay
on the vine like this.

And the reason
why these are so sturdy

is because they're harvested

when they're only 10% ripe,

and then they're shipped,
treated with ethylene gas.

They look beautiful,
but they don't have much flavor.

If you're looking
for something year-round

in the supermarket
that has more flavor,

more acidity,
more sweetness, the Kumato.

This is actually
imported from Europe,

so it travels a long way,

but it's been bred to have
more acidity and more sweetness.

And just overall,
it's a much livelier tomato.

It's a brown-green color.

A lot of them
are grown in greenhouses,

so they're available
12 months of the year.

It's actually one
of the best choices,

especially in the middle
of the winter

if you're insisting on having
fresh tomatoes.

Romas.
So if we can talk about,

these are large plum tomatoes.

Romas are great for sauce.

I don't really want
to eat them raw.

They don't have enough flavor.
They're too bland.

They don't have
enough sweetness.

Same thing with
the grape tomatoes.

I love to cook them
and make a sauce out of them.

They roast up in 15
or 20 minutes

and really come out
with so much more flavor,

but when it comes to salad,
if I'm looking for a raw tomato,

I really want
the cherry tomatoes.

They're juicy, they're lively,
and they're almost always good.

So there you have it.
It's the world of tomatoes.

Yes, there's some
terrible choices,

but there are also
some amazing choices.

♪♪

-Has this ever happened to you?

You go to pour liquid nitrogen
on the counter,

and it just floats
above the surface like magic?

What about this?
You let a few drops

of that water that you dyed blue
drip into a ripping-hot skillet

and instead of evaporating,

they just dance around,
these beautiful little orbs.

Feels like they last
for an eternity.

Now, both are examples
of the Leidenfrost effect.

When a liquid encounters
a surface

that is a lot hotter
than its boiling point,

a layer of insulating vapor
raises it off the surface,

protecting it from
that intense heat.

You can actually harness
the Leidenfrost effect

to tell when your skillet
is hot enough for searing.

As your skillet heats up,
drip water onto its surface.

If it evaporates right away,
the pan is too cool.

When the water is dancing
around the skillet like this,

it is ready to go.

♪♪

-An American-style
Greek salad,

made with lettuce,
crumbled feta,

and a thick dressing,
can be found in pizzerias

all over the country.

And while it's delicious
in its own right,

today, Becky's gonna show us
a more traditional style

of Greek salad
called horiatiki salata.

-That's right. This salad
is a staple on Greek tables,

and we're gonna treat
each ingredient with respect

so we can have
the best salad possible.

-I'm excited for this.
-It's gonna be so good.

So we have lots
of fresh produce...

-Mm-hmm.
-...starting with 1 3/4 pounds

of round red tomatoes,

and this is really a time to use
the best tomatoes you can find.

Local tomatoes.

Don't go for the cherry variety
or the Roma types.

You want the nice round ones.

They have thinner skins
and, frankly,

a better flavor
for this kind of recipe.

-Yeah, a more potent flavor.
-Yes.

So I'm just gonna pop out
the cores here.

I'll cut the tomato
into half-inch-thick wedges.

-Okay.
Nice, big, rustic pieces.

-That's right, this is gonna be
nice and chunky.

You could eat this
as a main course with some bread

or as a side dish,
however you want to do it.

And then we'll turn
those pieces 90 degrees

and cut them in half again
so you get these nice chunks.

I'm gonna toss the tomatoes
with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

This is gonna season them
very deeply,

and it's also gonna draw out
a lot of moisture

that would otherwise
saturate the salad.

-Okay, so that's why
the colander, obviously.

-That's right. So I'm going
to let this sit for 30 minutes,

and that's enough time
to pull out all those juices.

Alright.
What should we do next here?

Let's do the cucumber.

I have an English cucumber.

We like this type
because it has thin skin

and not that many seeds.
-Right.

-And we'll cut this
into quarters

and then we'll cut those
into 3/4-inch pieces.

So, again, nice and chunky.
-Mm-hmm.

-We're paying attention
to each vegetable,

making it the best
it can possibly be.

Cucumbers don't need much.

They're so good.
-Mnh-mnh.

-Next,
we have a green pepper,

and we like
the faintly bitter

taste of the pepper here.
-Mm-hmm.

-It's got, like, a nice
vegetal grassy kind of flavor

that's really good in the salad.
-Yeah.

-So I'm just gonna lop off
the top and bottom here.

We'll save this for munching.

We want the salad to be really
pretty with perfect pieces,

so we'll just set those aside.

Now, we'll just slit this
down the side,

get rid of the seeds
in the middle,

and then with those ribs here,

you can just slide them out
with your knife.

-I love this method
for cutting up bell peppers

because, at this point,
you can cut this

into any size you want,
or if you are grilling them,

they would just
lie nicely on the grill

without falling through
the grill grates.

-Yeah, exactly.
-Yeah.

-You get some nice
flat pieces here.

-Mm-hmm.
-So we want 2-inch

by half-inch pieces here...
-Okay.

-...so I'm gonna cut this
like so.

-So long pieces?
-Yeah, we want some nice variety

in our -- in our salad here.
-Ah.

-And then, lastly,
we have half of a red onion.

So we're getting
some beautiful colors here.

Slice this thinly.

-I notice you're going
pole to pole.

-That's our preferred way
for a salad like this, yes.

-Yeah, I think it
looks pretty, too.

-I do, too.

We're gonna soak the onions
in ice water.

That's gonna remove
the harsh-tasting compounds

that are in there, the sulfur.
-Mm.

And that's a good trick whenever
you're making a salad,

to soak your onion
in ice water.

-We tried soaking them in a
baking-soda solution with water,

and they tasted kind of
chemically when we did that.

-Yeah.
-That didn't work.

And then we also tried
salt and vinegar,

but that actually
pickled the onions.

-Yeah.
-They tasted good,

but that's not what we wanted
for this salad.

-You want them nice and crisp.
-That's right.

Those need to soak
for 15 minutes.

And while those soak,
we'll start on

a little dressing for the salad.
-Okay.

-So I'm not gonna make
an emulsified salad dressing.

I'm gonna make
a vinegar mixture,

and then we'll drizzle
the oil on top of it.

-Ooh, I like that
'cause it's easier, in a way.

-Yeah, and this way,
you get little hits

of vinegar and little hits
of the fruity olive oil,

so it's a really nice way
to dress a salad.

I have 2 tablespoons
of red wine vinegar here,

also a teaspoon
of dried oregano.

-Ooh, that's a lot.

-Yeah, Greeks cook a lot
with dried oregano.

It has a woodsy, floral
kind of taste.

It's very different
from fresh oregano,

so it's really nice
in this salad.

To that we'll add
3/4 teaspoon of salt

and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

We'll just whisk that
together.

Alright,
and then we'll let our tomatoes

and our onions
finish sitting here,

and then we'll come back
and put it all together.

-Great.

-Alright,
let's put this together.

-I'm excited.
-I am, too.

So here's our tomatoes
and onions that I've drained.

Put our peppers in
and our cukes.

Now, I have a cup
of Kalamata olives.

This will add a really nice,
briny saltiness to the dish.

And 2 tablespoons of capers
that have been rinsed.

Again, just some little pops

of salt and vinegar here
is gonna be really nice.

And here's that red wine vinegar
mixture that we made earlier.

-Mmm.
This is already looking good.

-Yeah, this -- it's gorgeous.
You can't go wrong.

And everything is treated
as best as it could possibly be.

And then, finally, 1/4 cup
of extra virgin olive oil.

Again, break out
the good stuff here.

Something nice and fruity.
A little bit peppery.

Okay, and now we'll just
toss that all together.

I mean, that's just gorgeous.
-Yeah.

-Glistening with oil,
all the beautiful colors.

-Yeah.

-Let's put this
on a nice, big platter here.

-Mmm.
-Okay.

-Oh-ho-ho-ho.
-I mean, come on.

You put that down
on the table...

-That looks so good.

-...people will go crazy
for this.

-Yeah.
-Of course, we have to add feta,

and you want to make sure
and use

a Greek sheep's milk feta here.

-Right. The good stuff.
-The good stuff.

You don't want to buy
that pre-crumbled stuff.

Get something nice here.
-Right.

-So this is 8 ounces of feta,
and I cut it into triangles.

Now we're gonna sprinkle that
with a little more

of that dried oregano
we put into the vinegar.

And then I have a tablespoon

of more of that
extra virgin olive oil

just to drizzle that on top

'cause the cheese wants to
glisten a little bit, too.

Alright.
-Becky, that is beautiful.

I love rustic salads like this,

where you really
highlight the vegetables.

Alright,
good enough to eat.

-Let's do it.
-[ Chuckles ]

Are you giving me
a whole big piece of feta?

-Of course.
-I'm so excited about that.

-I knew you wanted it.
I didn't even ask.

-[ Chuckles ]
-I just assumed.

-Yes, you did.
-And I assumed correctly?

-Yes, you did.
-Alright, great.

So we're getting
all those chunky veggies.

-Mm, and a little of that juice
that is...

-Yeah.

-...in that dressing
on the bottom.

-The olives.
-Ah.

-Ooh. Alright.

-This is a meal for me,
especially when it's hot

in the summertime.
-Yes.

-This, a piece of bread,
a nice, crisp glass of wine.

-You're set, right?
-Mm-hmm.

This is my kind of food
right here.

-Oh, me, too.
-Not fussy.

High-quality ingredients.

[ Chuckles ]
-Mmm.

-Mm-hmm.
-Mm.

The salty feta...
-Yeah.

-...with the fresh veggies...
-Mm-hmm.

-...all the different textures
and colors.

-And I really love the tomatoes
'cause they were salted.

They have a lot of flavor.
They're still crunchy.

You know, they're not cooked,

but they're
ever so slightly softened,

which is lovely in the salad.

-And you can see
the salad isn't watery.

-Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
-It's beautifully dressed,

and that's because we got
all that excess juice

out of the tomatoes.

The onions are just right.
They're not too sharp.

-Mm-hmm. Mm!

-Capers and olives.
-Mmm.

-I'm so happy that you like it.
-Yeah, I love it.

So if you want to make a salad
this good,

salt and drain the tomatoes,
soak the onion in ice water,

and use good-quality
olive oil and feta.

From America's Test Kitchen,
a classic Greek salad,

horiatiki salata.

You can get this recipe,

all the recipes and product
reviews from this season,