America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 22, Episode 4 - Prime Rib and Popovers - full transcript

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-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"

Bridget and Julia
make a showstopping,

sous-vide prime rib
with mint persillade,

Adam reveals his top pick
for vacuum sealers,

and Julia makes Bridget
perfect popovers.

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



♪♪

-Prime rib is an intimidating
cut of meat.

It's big, it's expensive,

and it's usually reserved
for holidays

and when you have company
coming over, so no pressure.

But luckily today,

Bridget's gonna show us
a foolproof recipe

because you have a lot of
experience cooking prime rib.

-I do. I have a little bit
of experience cooking prime rib,

like maybe once a week.

-[ Laughs ]
-No, not really.

But I do have some
restaurant experience with it,

and I think that that can
actually help

the home cook, too.



You said holidays.

This is also just a great roast
for a special occasion.

-Mm-hmm.
-But you want to cook it right.

So I think one
of the most important things

is knowing exactly what to buy,

because even the name prime rib
is a little bit misleading.

Prime rib doesn't mean
the grade of the meat.

It actually comes
from the primal rib cut.

-Aha.

-And the cow has
13 ribs on each side.

That's a huge cut,

but the prime cut
is ribs 6 through 12.

-Mm-hmm.
-I'm telling you this

because you
can actually specify the ribs

that you want to buy
at the butcher.

We want a first cut, and that
is ribs 10, 11, and 12.

-Three ribs.
-Three ribs.

It's closer to the loin.

You end up
with a really nice eye there.

-Yeah.
-Big meat muscle.

And that's really good,
and it's also very tender.

Now, before I start
to really butcher into this,

I want to get rid
of some of this fat.

You want about a half-inch
fat cap on here.

I'm just gonna take
a boning knife.

You can use a chef's knife,

but a nice,
flexible boning knife

is just going
to shave off the fat

and leave the meat behind.

Take your time.

Notice that I'm not really
digging in there too much.

I'm gonna leave some on here

because it's going to help
to baste the meat.

But, also, you want to prevent
moisture loss

as much as possible.

So that fat
is also acting as a heat shield.

-That makes sense.

-Alright.
So this is looking pretty good.

I want to remove these ribs.
-Mm-hmm.

-I want to I remove them
in one piece,

but I want to leave as much meat
on the roast as possible.

So find the ribs, and you
insert, again, a thin knife.

You can use a paring knife
to start this, as well.

And you start to make
a cut straight down

for your first cut,
just like this.

And then once you start
to make that first cut --

I'm gonna turn it around --

you can pull apart the meat
just like that.

Alright. That should clear it,
and it'll fall.

Yay!
-[ Chuckles ]

-Alright. I'm just gonna set
this rack aside for a second.

Couple more things to do.

We're gonna do
a little crosshatching.

So I'm gonna take a knife,
and we want to cut through here

and just make a little
crosshatch pattern

through the fat and down to,
but not into, the meat.

And this is going to do
a few things.

One -- it's really pretty.
-Mm-hmm.

-It's gonna make
a lovely pattern.

It's also going to allow
any seasoning

to penetrate into the meat.

And, also, it's going to help
that fat in the fat cap render

and baste the meat as it cooks.

So, I'm gonna space these cuts
about one inch apart.

-I like how you're taking
your time

just to go through the fat,
but not the meat.

-And the fat isn't always even,
either -- the thickness.

-Right.

-So you definitely want
to take your time.

Going to season this.

And this is kosher salt.
It's 2 tablespoons.

And the sides.

Alright, and seasoning
this top, as well.

And now I want to gently work
some of that salt

in between the cuts
that I made here.

-Mmm. Yes.

-Alright.

Alright,
so that is looking great.

And we need to give
the salt plenty of time

so it can pull out some of
that moisture from the roast

and then work its way

all the way back in
close to the center.

But we're gonna put it
into the fridge.

So can't forget the ribs.

Put these right on top.

And then this is going to go
into the fridge

for at least 24 hours,

but you can do this
up to 96 hours in advance.

-Wow.
-Yeah.

-Covered or uncovered?
-Uncovered.

We want to let
the surface dry out

because we're going
to sear later on.

But again, it's 24 hours
minimum, 96 hours maximum.

-Okay.

♪♪

-Hello, old friend.
Hello, old friend.

-You can see the meat has turned
a little bit darker,

which is what happens
after it's salted.

-Yeah. It really does dry
the fat on top,

so it looks very different.

It also firms the meat
a little bit.

But all of this is to ensure

that we get a gorgeous crust
on our prime rib.

So we're gonna sear it,

and I've got a tablespoon
of vegetable oil.

We're gonna heat this oil
over medium-high heat

until it just starts to smoke.
-Okay.

-Let's talk a little bit
about sous-vide.

Here's our large container --
12 quarts.

-Mm-hmm.
-Big cut, big container.

And if you're unsure
how much water to use,

when you bring this home,

you can put it in a bag,
submerge it in water,

and use that as your measurement

before you go ahead and season
it and dry it and everything.

That's the great thing
about sous-vide --

we're going to cook the beef

at the temperature
that we're going to serve it at.

-Brilliant.
-Or very close in there.

So it's heating up.

It's set at 133.
Got our oil heating up.

We're gonna put this
right into the skillet.

[ Sizzling ]

-Ooh, that's a good noise.

-Fat cap side down.

We're gonna brown this on the
sides and that fat cap

for between six
to eight minutes total.

You don't really need
to brown this other side.

It's curved, so it's hard to get
a good, even browning on it.

-That makes sense.

-Just browning that last
little bit down there.

Thank you.

-Oh, that's beautiful.
-Good?

-That smells delicious.

Smells like
a beautiful brown steak.

-Now, before I tie
everything together,

we're gonna let this cool down
just a little bit.

About 10 minutes.
-Okay.

-Done. It's cooled off.
Now I can handle it.

So the bones are sitting
underneath the roast.

We're gonna reattach them.

That's both for flavor
and, also, it acts as, again --

remember I said moisture loss
was an issue?

We don't want that.
So we want to make sure

that as little liquid escapes
from the meat as we cook it.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I'm tying these
between the ribs.

So just make a nice,
little knot here.

I would be so happy
if I got that as a gift.

-[ Laughing ] I would, too.

-Just cut off
the excess twine here.

There we go.

And, since my hands
are a little bit messy,

if you wouldn't mind giving
that a good peppering.

-Sure. Do you have a preference
on your grind, Madame?

-Ladies' choice.
-[ Laughs ]

I'm gonna go right
in the middle. Alright.

-I'll flip it over
when you're all set.

Thank you.

-Oh, the smell of fresh pepper
and ground beef.

-There you go.
-[ Laughs ]

-And, again, we don't need
to salt at this point

because we salted ahead of time.

-That's right.
-So that looks great.

So now we're going
to put it into...

-May I hold this for you?
-...our large bag.

This is a 2-gallon
zipper-lock bag.

-I was gonna say this is not
your average zipper-lock bag.

-I know. This is huge.

Zip it up, almost all the way.

Now, if you had a vacuum sealer,
you could absolutely use that.

Now, the problem
with any cut of meat

when you're using
a sous-vide method

is the air in the bag.

We want to get rid of as much
of that as possible.

-Right.

-So I have left a corner
of this bag open here.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm gonna work out
some of the air at this point.

Alright, so, I'm just
slowly lowering this

so that the meat is submerged.

And you see as I'm lowering it,
keeping that one open corner,

that air is all out of there.

Now I can seal.

Make sure it's all sealed.

So now, in order to ensure

that the seam doesn't go
below the water,

we're gonna use
a good old office binder clip.

-Love it.
-Which I stole from your desk.

-[ Laughs ]
I'll look for that later.

-It's set at 133.

We're gonna wait now.
-[ Chuckles ]

-Minimum 16 hours.

That's how we'll know
it's done.

Let it sit in there for up
to 24 hours if you need to.

-Wow. That's convenient.
-It's convenient.

It's also going to make
the meat more tender.

-Mm-hmm.

♪♪

-Alright. We are done
with our sous-vide here.

So, I'm just gonna
take this out.

Now, we need to get this
out of the bag.

I've got a little trick
that I use

when I'm cooking with sous-vide.

I get a pair of scissors,
and I just clip that.

-That is clever.

-Just so you don't want to be
handling hot juices

out of that bag.

So we're gonna put this out
on a rack.

Now, it's set over
a piece of foil,

which has been sprayed
with some vegetable-oil spray,

because we are not done
cooking it yet.

And you can see why.

-It's a little wet-looking.
-And we don't want that.

We want crackling
that's nice and crisp.

So we're gonna let this rest
for 10 to 15 minutes.

And during that time,
the meat is going to reabsorb

some of those juices.

Alright. So that looks great.
-Okay.

-While that's resting,
We can make our sauce.

So we're gonna make
a really quick sauce.

You could serve this, of course,

with the traditional
horseradish cream.

-Mmm!
-So good.

You could use a chimichurri.
We're making a persillade.

-Ooh, I love persillade.

-So this is, of course,
a parsley sauce,

but it has mint in it, too,

so a little kick here.
-Nice.

So, we've got a cup
of fresh parsley leaves

and a cup of fresh mint,

three peeled garlic cloves,
and three little fishies.

-Oh, nice.

-We've got three
little anchovies.

We've rinsed these
and patted them dry.

A teaspoon
of grated, fresh lemon zest,

1/2 teaspoon of salt,

and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.

Alright. So we're gonna
pulse this about 15, 20 pulses

until it starts
to look broken down.

Alright.

And a tablespoon
of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

We're gonna pulse this
until that's combined.

Scrape this into our bowl.

Last step -- just going
to whisk in

1/3 cup
of extra virgin olive oil.

We're doing it here instead
of in the food processor

because, you know,
the food processor can kind of

bring out bitter flavors
in the olive oil.

-That looks delicious.
-Mm-hmm.

And that is all she wrote
for the sauce,

so we're gonna leave this here.

The roast
has a few more minutes,

and then we'll get back to it.

So it's about to go
into the broiler.

And to ensure that this gets
nice and crisp,

we're going to pat it dry
with some paper towels.

Alright.
So that is good enough.

-Mm-hmm.

-So now we want this to broil
evenly, and it's curved.

So we want to make sure
that this fat cap...

-Ooh!
-...is raised up.

Yeah.
-I like this.

-That's just a loosely balled-up
piece of foil.

-It's a pillow.
-This is going to go

under the broiler
and the rack is set at middle.

-Mm-hmm.

-So it's got
a little bit of space

between it
and the top of the broiler.

We're gonna leave it in there
for about four to eight minutes.

We want this to be
all nice and crisp

and bubbly and crackling...

-Mmm!
-...but not burnt.

Oh-ooh-ohh.

-Oh, goodness!

Come to mama.

-Now, that's a looker.

-Alright. So, this doesn't need
any more resting time.

It was just a few minutes
under the broiler --

again, four to eight minutes --

but we rested it earlier,
so we are done at this point.

-Nice.

-I do want to release it
from the bones, so...

Alright.

And transfer it
to our carving board.

-Because now
it's not only gorgeous,

but it's easy to slice
'cause the bones are not there.

-That's exactly right.
And it lays nice and flat,

not having to worry
about the bones at all.

-Oh, my goodness.
-How is that looking?

-Um...it looks pretty perfect.

I mean absolutely perfect.

Look at that rosy color
from the very center

all the way to the outside.

-Oh. Beautiful.
-Gorgeous.

-That is for you, ma'am.

-Oh, that's a beauty.

-And don't forget
our beautiful mint persillade.

-Beautiful job, Bridget.
-Thank you.

-What part do you go for first?

-I always go right for the eye.

Look how tender that is.

That's a beautiful
medium rare.

-Yes.
-Yes.

-Mmm.

Mmm.
-Like butter.

-Mm-hmm. Perfectly cooked.

The meat is so tender,
it's seasoned throughout,

and it has a really strong,
beefy flavor

that prime rib is known for.

That is perfection.

Thank you
for showing me how to do this,

because prime rib, you know,
is intimidating,

and getting the doneness
just right

is the name of the game,

but using a sous-vide just takes
all the guesswork out

so you nail it every time.
-Good.

-Great job.
-Thank you.

-So if you want to make
the ultimate prime rib,

go sous-vide.

Start by separating
the bones from the meat

and salt the meat
for at least 24 hours.

After browning the roast,
cook it sous-vide.

Before serving, run it quickly
under the broiler.

And don't forget
the herb sauce.

From "America's Test Kitchen,"

a foolproof recipe for sous-vide
prime rib with mint persillade.

♪♪

I don't own a vacuum sealer,
and here's what I do instead.

[ Inhaling ]

Works pretty good for me,
but Adam's telling me

there's a better way
to handle this task.

-Julia, eye roll all the way
back in the head.

That's kind of sad.

We are gonna set you up
with a countertop vacuum sealer

that will save you
the meat breath from now on.

We tested
five different sealers.

We got them for a price range
of about $60 to $382,

and they all work in pretty much
the same way.

The food goes into
a specially designed bag.

The bag goes into the machine.

There's a chamber here
with a little gasket

and there's a port
in the chamber.

The bag goes over a heat bar,
goes into that chamber,

you seal it up,

you hit the button,
and off it goes.

So what's happening is there's
a port inside of that chamber

that is sucking the air out.

Plastic is tightening
around the food.

There's a little indication
about when the vacuum cycle

is complete.

When it is complete, what will
happen is that heat bar

that we put the plastic over
will heat up

and seal the plastic.

And then you have a nicely
sealed container of coffee.

Look at that.

-So there's not a little dude
in there with a straw?

-There's not
a little dude with a straw.

Let me tell you about the tests.

Testers vacuum-sealed
strawberries,

which are very delicate,
ground coffee like we just did,

ground beef,
chicken-leg quarters,

steaks, and individual
portions of lasagna,

and those all got stored
in the freezer.

They vacuum-sealed cereal
and pretzels,

which got stored at room
temperature in the pantry.

And they also vacuum-sealed
chunks of butternut squash,

which they cooked sous-vide.

In addition to the food,
testers also sealed in these,

these are oxygen-sensing tabs.

They're pink when
there's no oxygen around.

They turn purple
when there is oxygen,

which would indicate
a leaky seal.

Beyond that, they also tested
the vacuum power

with a vacuum gauge.

-That is cool.
-Check that out.

Now, that gets rated
from zero to 100.

Zero is normal atmosphere.

100% is every last
molecule there is absent.

Most of these machines
performed within a range

of 68% to 78%.

One enthusiastic editor
with a straw --

I'm not naming names --

got 30% of the air
out of the bag.

Now, most of these performed
really well actually.

We checked the food
over a period of months,

periodically.

All of the food in the pantry,

that being the cereal
and the pretzels --

condition unchanged...
-Wow.

-...which is to say it was great
after four months.

In the freezer,
the coffee looked great,

the strawberries looked great.

The lasagna looked great.

So based on just performance,
we could recommend any of these.

But none of these machines
are gonna get used

if they're tricky
or hard to use.

So controls, we wanted those to
be simple and straightforward.

A lid that was easy
to open and shut.

They also determined
that having an automatic mode

and a manual mode
is totally necessary,

and it was nice to have,
like, a pulse feature

or a gentle feature.

So when you're doing
delicate foods like cereal

or strawberries
or something like that,

you have more control
over the suction.

In the end, this model
that we used in the demo

at the beginning stole the show.

This is the Nesco Deluxe
Vacuum Sealer.

We got it for about 90 bucks.

It ticked all of our boxes.

It worked really well.
It was easy to use.

We knew when the lid
was shut and secure

and also it only weighs
about 6 pounds,

so it's really easy to pick up

and stash in a drawer
somewhere

when you're not using it.

-So it sounds like if you store
a lot of stuff

in the freezer, like I do,

this is gonna help prevent
a lot of freezer burn.

-Definitely. And you can
retire your straw.

-So there you have it.

If you're in the market
for a new vacuum sealer,

check out the Nesco Deluxe
Vacuum Sealer for about $90.

♪♪

-Popovers can be real tricky
and using a random recipe

to make popovers
and expecting success

is kind of like
using scratch lottery tickets

as your retirement plan.

Things are not gonna
work out for you.

Well, Julia is here and things
are working out for us

because she's going to show us
popover perfection.

-[ Laughs ]
No pressure on my part.

-No, just -- just perfection.
That's all we expect.

-Okay.
Well, the thing about popovers

is that it's
a very simple recipe.

In fact, this batter
only has four ingredients.

And so with simple recipes,
the devil is in the details,

and you have
to get each part right.

-Okay.
-So starting with the pan.

-Now, this is a popover pan.

This recipe is really foolproof.

If you didn't have this,
you could use a muffin tin

and that would make 12,

and you'd have to adjust
the cooking time a little bit,

but it totally works.

Popover pans are gonna give you
those really tall popovers...

-Yeah.
-...which is kind of a hallmark.

I sprayed this popover pan
with some vegetable-oil spray,

and I'm wiping most of it out.

You just want a nice,
thin layer,

almost like seasoning
a cast-iron pan.

You're just seasoning
the popover tins.

Alright, so that's set aside,
ready to go.

Now this is 1 1/2 cups
of 2% milk,

and now we're gonna
heat it up.

We want the batter
to be on the warm side.

That'll help you get
that rise in the oven.

-Okay.
-Moving on to the flour.

We're gonna use
bread flour here.

Bread flour has more protein,
more gluten,

so it makes taller popovers
that also are a bit more crisp.

-You need the structure.
-That's it.

Now, we could measure the flour

using the standard
dip-and-sweep method.

That'd be 1 1/4 cups.

But in this recipe, when there's
so few ingredients,

weighing it really takes a lot
of the guesswork out.

So it's 6 3/4 ounce
of flour.

There we go.
"Poifect."

-"Poifect."

-Into this goes 3/4 teaspoon
of table salt.

I'm whisk that in.

Alright, so flour, salt, milk.

Last but not least -- eggs.
This is three large eggs.

Now, a lot of recipes
make this batter in the blender,

but we saw no reason
to dirty that pan.

It's just as easy to make this
in a liquid measuring cup,

because then you can easily pour
it into the popover pan.

-You are the blender.
-Exactly.

Alright.
So three eggs into the liquid.

Alright.

So the milk is right in
that sweet spot of 110 to 120.

Gonna add this to the flour.

I mean, such a simple batter.

Alright, into the prepared
popover pans it goes.

-This is so much safer, too,
because a lot of recipes

will start with a super-hot pan.
-Oh.

-Hot fat in the bottom
of the pan,

almost like a Yorkshire pudding.
-Mm-hmm. Alright.

That's six nice big popovers.

Alright. So these popovers
are ready for the oven.

Now, a lot of recipes crank
the oven at the beginning

to get that first puff...
-Sure.

-...and then turn the oven down
so they cook through.

But we found that really
isn't a reliable recipe

for multiple ovens

because different ovens
act differently.

So using a steady
400-degree oven temp

for 40 to 45 minutes is perfect.

-You are breaking all the rules.
-I'm a rebel.

Will you help me
get the oven door?

-Sure will.

-Alright.
-Pull that for you.

-Oh, full service.

-The hallmark of popovers

is the steamy airspace
inside them.

After the batter
is placed in a hot oven,

the first thing to happen is
that the proteins on the surface

are set into a solid
but stretchy skin-like layer.

As the water in the batter
turns to steam,

it begins to expand
and inflate the popover.

Eventually,
the once-stretchy surface

becomes a crisp, rigid shell,

which prohibits
any further inflation.

Our pre-warmed batter ensures

that the steaming
and inflation process

happens more quickly than
when using a chilled batter,

and the result is steamy,
airy, lifted popovers.

-♪ Mmm ♪

-[ Gasps ]
-♪ Dun dun dun da ♪

I know.
-Wow.

-I know, right?

-Talk about a statement

-I know.
Just so impressive.

I mean, this is -- this is
a restaurant quality.

Alright. We're gonna get
them right out of the hot pan.

Oh, oh.

-Oh!
-Oh, yes.

Whoo! Hot popover.

-Aren't they gorgeous?

-And they come right out
of the pan so easily.

Oh, my goodness.

Alright. Got to eat them while
they're hot, you know?

-That is the law.

-And the thing is,
there's no butter in the batter,

which means you can put
a little extra butter on now

and be totally okay.

-These are great because
you're supposed

to serve them nice and hot.

Oh, and then
you break it open?

Break it open.

-Oh, oh, oh!

That custardy inside.

-Alright. Schmear there.
-This is good butter.

-Yes, it is.
-Mm.

You can imagine this

with a nice, hearty stew
in the dead of winter

when it's freezing outside.

-Mm.
-It is just so comforting.

-These are popover perfection.

You've delivered,
and you broke all the rules.

-I did.

-Thanks, Julia.
-Anytime.

-So if you want to make
the ultimate statuesque,

crisp popovers at home,

heat the milk
to create a warm batter,

use bread flour for structure,
and bake at 400 degrees.

So from "America's Test
Kitchen,"

lofty, statuesque,
voluminous perfection.

No-fail popovers.

And you can get this recipe
and all the recipes this season,

along with product reviews
and select episodes

-♪ I've got a butter lake,
and you don't ♪

-I'm a little jealous.
-Oh, come on.

See?
This is butter gravy boat.

-Mmm!

-Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.