America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 22, Episode 26 - Unexpected Salads - full transcript

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-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"

we're making unexpected salads.

Erin makes Bridget
broccoli salad

with creamy avocado dressing.

Becky makes Julia
roasted radishes

with yogurt tahini sauce.

Adam reviews
inexpensive coffee makers.



And Lan makes Bridget
watermelon salad

with Cotija
and serrano chilies.

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

♪♪

-Today's the day
that we're giving salads

their do here
in the test kitchen.

And we've got three really
interesting salads for you.

First up, Erin's here,
and she's going to show us

a new spin on an old classic,
a broccoli salad.

-Absolutely, Bridget.

This is a salad
that everybody has had

before in their life, right?

So we want to give this
a makeover,

a fresher look, right?



-An update.
-An update. Exactly.

Okay, so the first thing
that we're gonna do

is cook the broccoli
very briefly.

And we're also gonna use
the entire stalk.

-Love it.

-We're gonna cut these
into 1-inch florets.

I always go floret by floret
and just kind of

walk my way through --
through the broccoli.

First you cut off
all the florets

and then you kind of
run through them,

and you want them to be
about 1-inch pieces.

-Alright.
-We want them to be

bite-sized in your salad.

So I always cut through the stem

by going through
and cutting halfway

and then just kind of twisting
your knife and popping them out.

So it's a little trick.

That's it for the florets,
Bridget.

We didn't want
to just go with florets

and throw the stalks out,
which many people do.

I'm gonna show you how to save
and preserve the stalks.

-Love it.
-Okay, so first,

always trim off the bottom.

And I just lob that off.

Alright.
So this is gonna go over here.

Because the outer part
of the stalk is very tough,

you want to remove it.

So I'm gonna use a peeler
and peel it.

-It's really woody and fibrous.
-Very woody and fibrous.

Now I'm gonna cut this in half
lengthwise.

We're gonna slice these into
1/4-inch thick pieces.

-Okay.

-Okay, so we have our broccoli
all prepped.

-Beautiful.
-And now we're gonna

cook it very quickly,
like I mentioned earlier.

So I have one cup of water
boiling here.

I'm just gonna add 1/2 teaspoon
of table salt to the water.

Because the stalks
are much denser,

we're gonna put these in first.

We're gonna kind of layer
our cooking.

And the florets,
they're gonna go on top.

We're gonna cook these
for about 3 minutes

until they're bright green and
just starting to become tender.

We're at 3 minutes.

-Emerald.

-Beautiful, right?
-Absolutely.

-Okay, so now we're gonna go
and drain this

and immediately we want
to plunge them into ice water.

We want to stop
that cooking process.

-Right.
-Immediately.

-So basically, we're blanching
and shocking almost.

-We are blanching and shocking,
absolutely, yep.

Okay, Bridget,
so we're gonna let this sit

and chill to the core
for about 2 minutes.

Now comes the dressing.
So I have one avocado.

The avocado is gonna be
the base of our dressing.

Now I'm just gonna cut this
into 1/2-inch pieces.

-Just scoring it.
-Just scoring it. Yep.

And I'm gonna scrape
this beautiful avocado

into the food processor.

So we're gonna add 2 tablespoons
of extra virgin olive oil.

This is gonna add
a little fruitiness to it.

And then we're gonna add
1 teaspoon of lemon zest,

3 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Fresh lemon juice is gonna add

a lot of brightness
to our salad dressing.

One minced garlic clove.

We're gonna add 3/4 of
a teaspoon of table salt

and 1/4 teaspoon
of black pepper.

We're gonna use a food processor
to make our dressing,

and the avocado is gonna be
the base of our dressing.

Avocado has a lot of
really good fat in it,

and that's gonna give
our dressing

a really nice, creamy texture.

-Lovely alternative to mayo.
-Yes.

So we're just gonna process this
for about 30 seconds

until it's nice and creamy.

Alright.

Isn't that beautiful?
-That is absolutely beautiful.

-Absolutely.
Smells delicious.

But I'm gonna taste it,

make sure that
it is seasoned properly.

Whoo.
-[ Laughs ]

-I'm gonna add
a little bit more salt.

Avocado is one of
those ingredients

that definitely needs
a little salt.

-Mm-hmm.
-Wow. That is amazing.

You're gonna love it, Bridget.
-Oh, great.

-Okay.
-Lovely.

-So we are looking good here.

Let's go back to our broccoli.

-Okay.

-So I'm just gonna take
my spider

and just skim off the ice cubes

so that they don't get
onto the paper towel,

because it's really important
with the salad

that the broccoli is dry
before it's dressed.

-Right.
-Now we want to drain it

on a plate that is lined with
a triple layer of paper towels.

We want to really absorb
all of that moisture.

Alright, Bridget,
it is time to toss our salad.

-Fantastic.
-Alright.

I have saved the bowl
from our ice bath,

and I dried it out.

And here is our broccoli
that has been draining.

And that, you can see,
is very dry.

All the water is
in the paper towels.

Alright.
So there's all of our broccoli.

-That beautiful dressing.
-Can you smell this?

-[ Sniffs ] Yes, I can.

-Just give me a spoon.

It's heaven.
-The lemon is coming out.

-Yeah. The lemon
and the lemon zest.

You can smell the zest
and a little bit of garlic.

So now we're gonna
jazz the salad up.

-I assume it would be good
on its own at this point.

-It would be great on its own,
yeah, absolutely.

So I'm gonna add 1/2 cup
of dried cranberries

and 1/2 cup
of toasted sliced almonds.

It's gonna give, like,
a little crunch to our salad

and also a nutty flavor.

One shallot that I sliced
thinly.

And this is gonna add
just, like, a savory note.

And we're gonna add

a tablespoon of minced tarragon
to this.

Alright, so now I'm just gonna
toss our salad.

-It's vibrant, gorgeous.
Beautiful, Erin.

I love that the avocado's green

so it's not masking
that beautiful,

vibrant broccoli color.
-Absolutely.

-Alright, going right in
for the broccoli.

-Success?
-It's really, really good.

That dressing --

I almost don't want to call it
a salad dressing.

It really is part
of the salad itself.

I mean, it's vibrant.
It's got that lemon flavor.

The avocado is beautiful sub--
maybe even better than mayo.

And you get a little bit of
the almond toasty.

-Mm-hmm.
-Mmm.

Alright, I'm heading over

if you're making
this broccoli salad

for your next cookout.

-Deal.
-Alright.

Well, if you want to make
this beautiful broccoli salad,

layer the broccoli florets

on top of the stalks
when simmering,

create a creamy dressing
with avocado instead of mayo,

add dried cranberries, toasted
almonds, and tarragon to finish.

So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"

a revamp on a retro classic,

broccoli salad
with creamy avocado dressing.

I'm thinking lime would be good
in here.

-Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
-Chives.

♪♪

-In ancient Greece, there was
a vegetable so revered

that Romans offered pure gold
replicas of it to Apollo,

the god of sun, music,
poetry, and more.

That vegetable was the radish.

And today,
Becky is gonna show us

how to pay homage
to the humble radish,

which maybe today we should call
by its Latin name,

Raphanus sativus.

-Wow. Very fancy.

-Yes, it makes it sound
pretty elegant.

-We're gonna be
cooking the radishes,

which is something
that you don't usually do.

We're starting with
2 pounds of radishes.

We have beautiful ones
here today.

-Yeah, they're gorgeous.

-Just your basic
red round radishes.

And I'm gonna cut off
the greens here.

And I'm gonna save these greens,
because we're gonna use them

as a nice, fresh salad
to go with the roots.

And then I'm going to cut them
in half this way.

I like to leave
these long roots on.

They're really pretty.
And we're gonna cook them,

and they get nice and crispy
in the oven.

So now let's make
a little coating

to go on the radishes
while they roast.

I have 1/2 teaspoon of honey
already in here,

and that's just gonna accentuate
the natural sweetness

that's gonna come out
of the radish.

And it's also gonna help
with browning.

-Makes sense.
-3 tablespoons

of unsalted butter.
-Mmm.

-5 teaspoons of miso.
-Yeah.

-That's gonna add
a lot of umami to the radishes.

-And that's a white miso.
-That's right.

And 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Alright, so we'll just
whisk this all together.

So this is nice and smooth now.
Ready for our radishes.

So the crisp radishes really
hold up nicely in the oven.

They turn tender, but they still
have kind of a meaty texture

and they get really juicy.
-So they don't break down

and turn mushy
like a potato might.

-No, they don't. They're lovely
when they're roasted.

So they're nicely coated.
So let's put them on to

a tray here,
and I'm going to arrange them

so they have all
their cut sides down.

-Okay.
-Because we want them to get

nice and brown in the oven.

Alright. That looks good.

So I'm going to roast these
in a 500-degree oven

on the bottom rack, and
they'll turn nice and tender.

And that will take 10
or 15 minutes.

-Okay.

-Thank you.

-Wow.
Well, I didn't expect that.

Looks a little burned.
Is that okay?

-It's fine.
Have a little confidence.

-I do have confidence in you.

-You'll see the radishes
themselves are...

-Oh, just a little bit
of browning.

-...really nicely browned.

We're just gonna
let them cool down

while we prepare
the rest of the salad.

-Okay.
-Plain whole-milk yogurt.

I have 1/2 cup
already in the bowl here.

We're gonna add some tahini.

I have 2 tablespoons.

And that'll add
some nice nuttiness.

-Yeah.

-A tablespoon
of fresh lemon juice.

A teaspoon of lemon zest.

One garlic clove minced up

for just the tiniest
little bit of kick there.

And 1/4 teaspoon of salt

and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.

We'll just give that
a little whisk.

So that's a nice,
easy little base for our salad.

-Yeah.

-Alright, so we'll let
that hang out for a minute.

And now let's go over to these
beautiful radish greens

that we've held on to
from before,

and we're gonna just put
a nice light dressing on them.

So I have 1/2 teaspoon of honey
to sort of echo

the honey that we put
on the radishes earlier.

-That's right.

-Teaspoon of
extra virgin olive oil.

-Oh, not a lot at all.

-No, just the tiniest
little bit.

This is just
very lightly dressed.

Teaspoon of lemon juice,

1/2 teaspoon of miso.

Again, just like we put
onto the radishes

before we roasted them.

And then 1/8 teaspoon of pepper

and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

-That is a tiny amount
of dressing.

You weren't kidding.

-But remember, we also have
the yogurt as well.

And here goes
our beautiful greens.

And if you can't find radishes
with their tops on,

you could substitute watercress.
-Oh, yeah.

-You could also
use baby arugula.

You can also cook them.

Just really quickly sauté them
like you would spinach.

Alright.
I think that looks good.

-Mm-hmm.
-So we'll just let our radishes

finish cooling,
and then we'll come back

and we'll put everything
together.

-Sounds good.

-So I have 2 tablespoons of
toasted pistachios chopped up,

1 1/2 teaspoons of
toasted sesame seeds,

and then just 1/8 teaspoon
of cumin.

And then 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

Stir that up.

Oh, I can smell that cumin.
-Smells amazing.

-Yeah, really nice -- really
nice flavor combination here.

Alright,
so let's assemble our salad.

So here's that yogurt sauce
that we made before.

Put this onto the platter here,

and I'm just putting it
on one side of the platter

'cause I want it to peek out
from underneath the greens.

Using the back of a spoon,

kind of spread it.

That looks good.

Now we'll take our greens
that are beautifully dressed

with the honey, the lemon.

Put these on top.

And now our radishes.

I'm just gonna scatter these
on top of the greens.

And they're so beautiful
and brown

and the -- see how
the little tails?

-Yeah.
-They look so nice.

-Yeah.
-Show off those

crispy little radish tails.

And now my topping here.
I'm just gonna use my fingers.

I feel like I have more control
over it if I use my hands.

-Oh, I love that.
-Isn't that nice?

-Yeah. This would be
impressive to serve

if you have people coming over.

-Oh, this is definitely
dinner party salad for sure.

-That is beautiful.

-Get some of that
beautiful yogurt.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright, here we go.
-Here we go.

-Mmm.
-Mmm.

-The radishes are so good.

They're soft, but toothsome.

They don't fall apart.

Almost like a cooked apple

that still has
a little texture to it.

-They're sweet.
They're so juicy.

I love the texture.
I'm just in love with these.

-Mellow butteriness.
-Yeah.

Aren't those greens good?
-The greens are good.

And that dressing is awesome.

This is a terrific
combination of flavors.

Becky, this is fantastic.
-Thank you.

-I can't wait to make this
when I have people coming over.

I think it's really impressive.
-I agree.

-To make this
regal radish recipe,

start by roasting them

in a ripping-hot
500-degree oven.

Make a yogurt sauce with tahini
and lemon juice,

and put those radish greens
to use when plating it all up.

So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"

a dish worthy of the gods --

roasted radishes
with a yogurt tahini sauce.

This is incredible.

-Such a good one, right?
-I am such a huge fan of this.

-Yeah, me too.

♪♪

-I love coffee just as much
as the next guy.

Well, maybe not as much
as Mr. Adam Ried,

but I would never spend more
than $100 on a coffee maker.

Now, Adam,
I know you're a coffee guy.

Would you spend a lot of money
on a coffee maker?

-You know, I love coffee, Julia,

but I'm a cheapskate at heart,
and I'm with you.

I don't really want
to spend that much

on a coffee maker either.

The last time we tested
high-end coffee makers,

it was a $300 machine that won.
-I know.

-Makes really good coffee,

but it begged the question
in my mind,

and it sounds like yours, too,

can you have great coffee
for less money?

-Mm-hmm.
-And we have this lineup

of nine machines here
with a price cap of $100.

-That's a lot of machines.
-A lot of machines,

but only $100 or less.
-Mm-hmm.

-We know from experience
that the ratios of coffee

to water that get recommended
in the manuals

are all over the place, and we
wanted an even playing field.

So we used the recommendation

of the Specialty Coffee
Association of America.

Their ratio is 1 part coffee
to 18 parts water.

We also used tap water
because most people at home

will use tap water
and we use medium-roast beans

that we bought in bulk
and ground in batches

in a commercial grinder.

Now, let's talk about timing
and temperature a little bit.

Temperature first.

You don't want water at the full
boil when you're brewing coffee.

You want it to be between
195 degrees and 205 degrees

to get all the right flavors
out of the coffee beans.

You also don't want to brew it
too fast or too slow.

A whole pot should take
no more than 8 minutes.

So we looked for guidance again

from the Specialty
Coffee Association,

measuring the temperature
of the water

as it goes into
the brew basket,

measuring the temperature
of the finished coffee,

and timing the brew cycle.

And it was sort of surprising
what we found.

That temperature range
of 195 to 205,

a lot of the machines never even
made it into that range.

-Really?

-They fell short of the range
altogether.

Some of the machines
that did make it into the range

only spent about 10%
of their brew cycle there.

The one that did the best,
that made it into the range

and spent 71% of its brew cycle,
was this one right there.

The next tests, our testers
put on their coffee geek hats,

and they got out
their coffee refractometer,

and they measured the total
dissolved solids in the coffee,

which will give you
an extraction level.

And that's just talking about
how many of the compounds

get dissolved in the water.

And that really reflects
on how the coffee tastes.

What you're looking for there
is a range of 18% to 22%,

and this one machine
that did well with the timing

and the water temperature was
right in the sweet spot, 21.6%.

Some of them were as low as 11%,
which resulted in weaker coffee.

So in the end, this is actually
the one that we loved the best.

This is the Bonavita 8-Cup,
One-Touch coffee maker.

It's 94 bucks.

As I promised, less than $100.

Makes really good coffee.

It's simple to operate.
One switch turns it on and off.

The parts are easy
to pull out and clean.

It's got a thermal carafe,
which we loved,

and it was also the best buy

in our high-end coffee maker
testing.

Above and beyond that,

there's an even better
recommendation.

Our director and his wife,

who are our coffee machine
skeptics,

loved this machine.

So it gets a solid
real-world recommendation.

-Alright.
So this is the all-star.

If you're in the market
for a new coffee machine,

try out the Bonavita 8-Cup,
One-Touch coffee maker

for just $94.

♪♪

-Who says that fruit salads
have to be sweet?

Well, not Lan,
because she's here,

and she's gonna show us
how a melon salad

can be the start
of something spectacular.

-That's right, Bridget.

I'm going to make
a watermelon salad today,

but I think you can do this
with any melon salad.

-Okay.
-And you really want the melon

to be the star of the show.

Before we get to the melon,

we're gonna work
on the dressing.

I've got two scallions here,

so I'm just gonna take off
the bottom

and slice these thinly.

What I love about scallions
in a melon salad,

the savoriness of the scallions
helps the fruitiness

of the melon really shine.

These whites
and these pale green bits,

they are for the dressing.

So I'm just gonna put that
in a bowl.

And the rest of these
we'll save for later.

-Okay.

-So next up, to highlight
the melon's coolness,

I've got something
a little bit hot.

I'm working with serranos here,
and I'm just gonna take

the tops off of these,
split them.

And I'm not looking
for a ton of heat,

so I'm gonna ditch
the seeds and membranes.

But if you like heat,
feel free to keep them in.

Serranos are great because
they have kind of thin walls.

They're not too obtrusive and
they bring a nice fresh heat.

But you could use jalapeños.

Dried chilies like Aleppo

would be lovely too.
-Oh, yeah.

-There's a lot of options
out there.

Just gonna slice these thinly.

Great.

So these are gonna go
into that bowl as well.

And last ingredient
for our dressing is

1/3 cup of lime juice.

So I'm just gonna let
this mixture hang out

for about 5 minutes.

That's enough time
for everything

to kind of mellow and meld.

Next up is the melon.

And I have
a seedless watermelon here.

I'm just gonna take
the top and bottom off.

I'm looking for
about 6 cups of melon.

I don't think I'll need
this whole thing.

So let me just split this.

And I like to have a nice,
stable base

for peeling off the rind.

It just makes everything
a lot safer.

And I'm just gonna run
my knife down the side

and rotate the melon as I go.

So now that the rind is gone,
let's cut this up.

I'm going for 1 1/2-inch chunks
here.

I want to keep the watermelon
in nice large chunks

for a couple of reasons.

One, it means fewer knife cuts.
-Mm-hmm.

-Which is great
'cause that's easier.

Two, every time
you make a cut in the melon,

you are breaking down the cells,

and juices come spewing out.

We don't want that.
We don't want a puddle of juice

at the bottom of our salad bowl.

Lastly, these big chunks
are gonna eat really nicely.

They're gonna offer contrast
when you take a bite

because the exterior will be
seasoned with the dressing.

But the inside is just
pure melon, and it's great.

I'm looking for 6 cups
of 1 1/2-inch chunks.

-Okay.

-And this looks like
it'll be plenty

Last thing --
We need to have a taste.

Because melon can vary
in sweetness,

I want to make sure
that I season the dressing

for the melon I have rather than
just kind of guessing.

-Great.
-You want to have a little bite

and tell me what you think?
-Very much so.

Love watermelon.

-That's a good melon.

-That is a really good melon.
Very sweet melon.

-Since that melon was so sweet,

I'm only gonna add about
a tablespoon of sugar.

If it hadn't been as perfect
as it was,

I might add up to 2 tablespoons.

Next up, I've got just
3/4 teaspoon of table salt,

and I'm gonna give this
a quick stir.

And now our melon goes in.

Gonna try to not splash.

Stand back.

-[ Laughs ]
You did that gracefully.

-So quick toss to make sure all
the pieces are nicely coated.

My dressing didn't contain
any oil,

and there's a really
good reason for that.

Watermelon, as we talked before,
is just pretty much water.

And so when you try
to add oil to it,

it's all just gonna run off.

There are better ways
to add richness

that will cling to the melon.

And something like a cheese,

nuts, even olives
would be great here.

First up, I've got 1/2 cup
of crumbled Cotija.

1/4 cup of chopped,
salted, roasted pepitas.

-Yum.
-I know.

1/4 cup of cilantro.
-Oh, my.

That looks gorgeous already.
-Yeah.

Those scallion greens
we had from earlier.

-Okay.

-One more toss.
-Oh, look at that.

-Right? It's so festive.

This is it. We're done.

-That's it?
-We're done. How fast was that?

-You usually make me wait hours
before I can eat anything.

-Let's get this into
a serving bowl

and give it a taste.

-This is my bowl, okay?

-Yes, ma'am.

Just to finish this out,

I've got 1/4 cup of Cotija
just for the top.

-Yes.
-Great.

Can't have too much cheese.

Another tablespoon
of those pepitas

and a tablespoon of cilantro.

-That is stunning.

This is a five-star salad.

What's so nice about this
is you have

those really assertive flavors

from the chilies
and the lime juice,

and it's really going to
heighten the watermelon.

-They're all there as
supporting characters, really.

It's pretty great.

Ready?
-Yes, please.

-Mmm.

As you chew the watermelon,
it releases more and more

of that sweet juice, and then
it blends with the chilies.

Oh, that chili's
just creeping up now.

-Yeah, it's --
it's great how with each bite,

it kind of evolves
on the palate.

One of the things I love about
this salad is the way

the principles can be applied
to other melon.

And you can check out
those recipes on our website.

-This is the start
of something special.

-You're gonna be eating
melon salads all summer.

-Thanks, Lan.

Well, if you want
to eat watermelon salad

that's not watered down,
make a dressing

with assertive flavors
like lime juice and chilies,

cut the watermelon
into large pieces,

and skip the oil in the dressing

and use creamy cheese
and nuts for richness.

So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"

a melon salad that heats you up

and cools you down
at the same time --

watermelon salad with Cotija
and serrano chilies.

You can get this recipe and all
the recipes from this season,

along with product reviews
and select episodes,

-Mmm.

Mmm.