America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Elle makes Julia double-glazed salmon with lemony thyme glaze.

Jack talks all about tofu.

Hannah and Lisa explore natural cleaning sprays, and Becky makes kale salad with radishes, grapefruit, and candied pepitas.

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

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-Salmon is as popular today as it's ever been.

In fact, it's the second most popular seafood here in the U.S., a close second to shrimp.

And today Elle is gonna show us a new cooking method that's as easy as it is elegant.

-That's right.

And with a little extra care and attention here, we're gonna have some elegantly glazed salmon fillets... -Mmm!

-...with a spectrum of sweet, tart and savory flavors.

-Ooh.

So glazed salmon.

-Oh, yeah.

Consistency is key here, right?

So I have here a 2-pound center-cut fillet.

-Mm-hmm.

It's gorgeous.

-Thank you.

And I chose this because I can cut this into even pieces... -Mm-hmm.

-...which is what I'm gonna do right now.

-Right.

-I'm gonna give us four even fillets.

So I'm gonna do a little kitchen math.

Cut it down the middle.

-Well, and if they're all the same size, then they'll cook at the same rate.

So you're already off to a good start.

-That's right.

That's right.

That's that consistency we're talking about.

-I've learned over the years you have to ask for this piece of salmon because they're gonna try to sell you the pre-portioned ones.

They're gonna throw one of the wonky ones in there.

You can't let them.

-Got a little, skinny tail.

-Yeah.

You can't let them do that.

-We don't need that.

-Mnh-mnh.

-So the next question we came up with here is the best way to cook this salmon.

-Mm-hmm.

-And, of course, brining is the way to go.

So I have 2 quarts of cool water here, 1/4 cup of salt, and 1/4 cup of sugar.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

I'm just gonna give it a little whisk.

Alright, I think we're looking good.

How does that look?

-Looks great.

Yeah.

-Alright.

Awesome.

Alright.

So I'm just gonna put our salmon fillets in here.

Make sure that they're all submerged under the water so they can get that good brine.

Alright.

We're gonna let this hang out for about 15 minutes.

And now we're gonna start working on our glaze.

Now, this glaze is not gonna be like that typical... -Mm-hmm.

-...one-note glaze that you've had in the past, right?

-Yep.

-So I'm gonna start with 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

A little acidity really goes a long way with a good glaze.

A little quick umami boost of soy sauce.

And this is 4 teaspoons.

Just to balance things out, we have 3 tablespoons of water, 2 tablespoons of sugar.

And finally 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch.

-Mm-hmm.

-So this cornstarch is gonna give our glaze that nice, silky texture that we're looking for.

Alright, so I'm gonna just give it a little stir to get it all mixed in together.

No clumps, right?

So we're looking to get all those cornstarch clumps out.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

That looks good.

And finally I'm gonna add six sprigs of thyme because thyme and citrus... whoa.

Okay?

Alright, I'm gonna put this over medium-high heat.

There we go.

Now, this cooks really quickly.

-Mm-hmm.

-It only takes about a minute.

But we do have to stir it consistently to make sure that there's no sticky things going on in there.

-That's right, because of the cornstarch.

That means you got to whisk it consistently.

Because otherwise it'll settle to the bottom and clump on you.

-That's right.

So we're just gonna bring this to a simmer and let it cook for about a minute.

-Okay.

-Awesome.

Alright.

So I'm gonna just let it sit for five minutes.

Alright.

So I'm just gonna take the thyme out of here.

We can discard that.

What we do need to do... -Mm-hmm.

-...is reserve 2 tablespoons of this glaze for our first round of glazing of the salmon.

Okay.

So I have here our four fillets out of the brine.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I've patted them dry with paper towel, so they're ready to go.

So I have 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil here, and this is a 12-inch nonstick and oven-safe skillet.

-Mm-hmm.

-We need that.

Alright?

And so it's at medium-high heat.

-Okay.

-So I'm gonna put these salmon fillets in flesh side down.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay.

So these only need to cook for about three minutes.

-Okay.

-And what we're looking for is a nice, even, beautiful browning.

Alright.

So it's been three minutes.

I'm just gonna flip these fillets over.

Oh, my goodness.

-That's gorgeous.

-What a reveal.

-[ Giggles ] It is.

And again that little bit of sugar in the brine is helping them get this even, gorgeous crust.

-It did the thing.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay.

So now I'm just gonna turn the heat to low.

And I'm gonna put on our first glaze of this salmon.

I reserved 2 tablespoons... -Mm-hmm.

-...from our original batch of glaze.

And I'm just gonna give this a beautiful brush.

Okay, I'm gonna get this into the oven.

It's set at 300 degrees.

The rack is in the middle position.

And what we want is for the salmon to be translucent and to register at 125 degrees.

-Okay, and 300 is a relatively low oven temperature.

But that's just so you nail the doneness.

-Consistency is key.

-Alright.

-Alright, I'm gonna take it to the oven.

-So this recipe is all about the sleek, shiny glaze.

But what makes a glaze shine?

When light hits most objects, like a piece of salmon, the light scatters when it bounces off.

Still water is different.

It's shiny like a mirror because its surface is extremely smooth on a microscopic level.

The light that hits it bounces off without scattering.

The glaze we put on our salmon is water-based, but we thicken it with both cornstarch and sugar, so it has a syrupy consistency.

This means that it keeps the gloss of water, but it's sticky enough to stay put on the fish and lend that shine.

And that's why glazes not only add a boost of flavor but also a beautiful shine.

Oh.

-That looks wonderful.

-That looks gorgeous.

-Yeah, it does.

Alright, this fish looks like it's giving everything we're asking for.

But let's check to make sure that we are at 125 degrees.

-Only one way to know when your food is properly cooked, and that's by taking its temperature.

-That's right.

So, good.

We got 127.

I like it.

-Perfect.

-Yeah.

-And that's perfect for farm-raised salmon.

If you're using wild salmon, you want to be a little less, about 5 degrees less or so.

-That's right.

Alright, I'm just going to transfer these to our platter.

Gorgeous.

Alright.

So now we have the rest of our glaze.

We actually have other variations of glazes that you can make on the salmon that you can also find on the website.

-Hmm.

-Okay.

So I'm gonna finish it off with a little garnish.

Parsley, chopped parsley.

-Nice.

-Isn't this taking you back to culinary days?

-Totally.

-Yeah.

Alright.

Looks good enough to eat.

-Alright.

-Let's eat.

-Mm-hmm.

-Salmon for you.

And a little salmon for me.

-Ah, I can't wait to dive in.

-I know, I'm very excited.

-Oh, look how juicy that is.

Mmm!

-Hold on to your socks.

-I was not expecting that flavor.

The glaze... The flavors have totally transformed from the ingredients I saw you put in that pot.

-Yeah.

-It almost has a tangerine-mandarin flavor, and there was no orange in it.

It was lemon... -Yeah.

-...soy, thyme.

-That combination of flavors really creates something very unexpected, right?

-It does.

It is so interesting and elegant, but it's also simple.

I mean, I could imagine this pleasing a wide range of palates.

-You know what else is interesting?

Sometimes when you're trying to get a glaze on a fish, you end up overcooking the fish just to get the right glaze.

-Mm-hmm.

-Here you have both perfect glaze and perfect fish temperature.

-I mean, look how juicy that salmon is.

And again, thanks to the brine... -That's right.

-...it's seasoned all the way through.

Elle, this is fantastic.

Thank you.

-My pleasure.

-If you want to make the perfect double-glazed salmon, brine the salmon in a sugar and salt solution.

Make a shiny and viscous glaze with lemon juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch, then sear the salmon quickly and glaze and finish in a moderate oven.

From "America's Test Kitchen," an elegant but easy recipe for double-glazed salmon with lemon and thyme.

This is awesome.

-Oh, yeah.

-I adore tofu.

It is so versatile.

I think it's useful to think of it kind of like cheese.

You start with the same base ingredient.

In the case of tofu, it is soy milk.

You heat it, add a coagulant, and you can get a wide range of incredible products that have so many different uses across cuisines and in the kitchen.

So let me start with silken tofu, which is here up front.

So they take the soy milk, they heat it, they add the coagulant, and then they pour this into a mold and it is almost like pudding.

I'm gonna put my finger into it.

And you can see, I can put my finger right through it.

It is best used in cold applications.

Let's say a salad with a chili, spicy dressing, or maybe just a couple of spoonfuls in a soup.

Its texture is really delicate.

You don't want to press this.

You really want to just slice it or break it apart.

Now, most of the other blocks of tofu that are in the supermarket are agitated during the coagulation process, and then they're pressed to remove some of the water.

So this is how soft, firm, medium, extra firm -- all of the tofus that you see labeled that way, that's where they come from.

Now, this is soft tofu.

This is our favorite brand.

It's Pulmuone and, you know, it bounces back.

You see I can't really put my finger through this, but it can be used like silken tofu in cold applications.

It's our favorite thing for mapo tofu.

Um, and again, it's got a little bit more water than, let's say, the medium or back here we have firm tofu.

Now, this is a little bit more kind of bouncy than the soft tofu.

Uh, our favorite brand is from House Foods.

This is really if you want to pan-fry it, deep-fry it, saut it.

You're gonna cut this into slabs, blot it dry.

You may want to even press it a little bit to get out excess moisture so it doesn't splatter.

And then you can get a great crust on this.

Um, this is great for glazing.

This is also lovely if you want to deep-fry cubes of cornstarch-coated tofu.

So in addition to the silken, soft and the firm tofu, I have three interesting kind of convenience products.

And the first one is fried tofu.

And this is exactly what it sounds like.

They take squares of firm tofu, coat it and fry it, and then it's sold this way.

This is a wonderful addition to, let's say, a spicy Thai stew.

Next up, I've got tofu puffs.

Now, this may seem similar, but it's made in a really different way.

So they take the soy milk and the coagulant, and they shoot in a jet of cold water to get these incredibly sort of wonderful clouds.

They get rid of some of the excess moisture and then fry this up.

This is used in a Vietnamese soup and kind of puffs up and absorbs the broth and is a wonderful addition to your kitchen.

And last we have tofu skin.

Now, there's no coagulant involved in making these.

This is similar to let's say, the skin on dairy milk.

When you heat up soy milk, you'll get a skin on the surface and they can remove that and then either dry it or, in this case, sell it fresh.

This can be sliced and put in a soup.

It can be filled and rolled and kind of used as a wrapper, as an interesting way to add protein to your diet.

So there you have it.

Some of the wonderful things that you can do with tofu and the forms that it takes.

Look for it when you're shopping.

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-Despite what you might have heard, I actually do like vegetables, including salad.

I actually love a great fresh salad.

But when you start talking about hearty greens, that might be something I have to endure.

Like kale.

Becky's here.

She's gonna show me how to make a kale salad that's gonna win me over.

-I promise, Bridget, we're gonna add so many goodies to this salad.

It's really vibrant.

It can be served with almost anything, and you can actually make it ahead.

-Okay.

-So let's get started by making a nice, crunchy topping with pepitas that's gonna go on top of the salad to give it a little spiciness, a little sweetness.

-I feel like this is the distraction method.

You're distracting me from kale by adding crunchy, sweet, salty, savory things.

-Right.

Candied pepitas.

-I am totally in.

-Alright, let's do it.

We're starting with one egg white.

-Okay.

-And I'm just gonna whip these up till they're a little bit frothy.

Alright.

So I'm gonna add a tablespoon of unsalted melted butter, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar... -Mmm.

-...2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and then 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom, which is gonna give it a nice little spice flavor.

1/2 teaspoon of salt.

And then just a pinch of cayenne.

I'm gonna use about half of that.

-A smidge.

-Just a smidge.

Put that all together.

Alright.

So now I have a cup of pepitas.

And we'll mix that together.

-It's like praline.

-Yes.

These beaten egg whites and sugar, you often do this with pecans, right?

-Mm-hmm.

-You've probably had that.

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Praline or depending on where you're from, "prawleen."

-"Prawleen."

Did I say that right?

-Yeah.

You sounded great.

-Alright, so there's our pepitas.

We're gonna put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread these out.

Now I'm gonna put these in a 350-degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes.

I'll stir them partway through and then they'll be done.

-Okay.

-Alright.

Before we get to the kale, I have a gorgeous red grapefruit here that I'm gonna cut up.

And this is gonna be a really refreshing, sweet, juicy part of the salad.

So we're gonna peel it first.

I just like to cut off the ends like this.

And I'm just gonna work my way down the sides of the grapefruit.

Alright, and I don't like any pith at all.

So I just like to go back around, take any off that I missed.

-Ruby red.

-Yeah.

Beautiful.

Right?

Now, I'm gonna cut this grapefruit into six pieces.

Six like this.

Cut that into three.

Cut that into three.

I'm gonna cut these into quarter-inch slices.

Alright.

Put those in a bowl.

Set those aside.

Alright.

And now let's get on to the kale.

-Alright.

-So we're gonna do 12 ounces of curly kale.

It's gonna be about 10 cups once it's all prepped.

-Okay.

-I have a couple left here that I'm gonna prep.

So I don't know how you do kale.

I just like to go at it with my fingers.

The stem is nice and sturdy, so you can just kind of pull it off like that.

And then if a little bit of stem remains, you can just pull it out.

Some people use a knife.

I just prefer to use my hands.

-Yep.

-And now we're just gonna chop these into kind of bite-sized pieces.

-Okay.

-You can really just kind of crumble it up.

Kale is so sturdy.

That's why this salad is great for make-ahead.

Kale can stand up to a couple of days in the fridge with a dressing on it.

-This would be great for a big gathering.

-Perfect for a holiday.

Perfect for entertaining.

Your salad's done.

A lot of times, you don't have salad at the holidays... -Right.

-...I think, for this very reason.

Alright.

So there's our 10 cups of kale.

Alright.

So now I'm gonna give this kale a little bit of a massage.

-Excuse me.

-Yep, with oil.

So this is a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

And drizzle that over the kale.

And I'm gonna spend about a minute giving the kale some love here.

It kind of tenderizes the kale -- Kale's, it's a sturdy green.

-Oh, yes.

-It really is.

So this will season it a little bit with the olive oil and just about a minute of, you know, a firm massage.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's gonna work its magic.

-Little shiatsu in there.

-Yeah, a little bit deep, deep tissue.

-Deep tissue.

-Yeah.

I can feel the leaves softening in my -- in my fingers here.

You can see they're actually wilting down in the slightest bit.

-Yeah.

The volume has gone down.

-Yeah.

It has.

Alright, so let's make a quick dressing.

-Perfect.

I'm warming up, Becky.

-Alright, I know.

I can tell, I can tell.

You're starting to get into it here.

Alright.

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, teaspoon of cardamom.

Remember, we used cardamom on the pepitas.

So we're tying all those spice flavors together.

-Love it.

-Teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

Alright, I'm just gonna whisk that all together.

And the dressing is ready to go.

Alright.

It's been about 15 minutes, so I'm gonna go grab those pepitas out of the oven.

-Alright.

Oh, those smell so good.

-Oh, you can actually smell the brown sugar and the cardamom.

Mm.

-Oh, wow.

-Oh, I know.

Don't they smell good?

-Mmm.

-Mmm.

So they're a little moist and they're gonna take about 20 minutes to cool.

They're gonna firm up, and they're gonna get nice and crunchy and crispy.

-Gorgeous.

-Alright, I have a few more goodies that we're gonna add to the salad.

-Okay.

Great.

-So I'm gonna start with six radishes.

I just have one more that I'm gonna prep for you.

I'm just gonna trim off that end.

-The nubbin.

-Trim off that nubbin, cut it in half, and then slice it into thin little half moons.

There goes our six radishes.

-Great.

-And now I have 1 1/2 cups of parsley.

And you want to make sure you use the flat parsley, not the curly kind.

-Okay.

-We're using curly kale, but flat parsley.

-Got it.

-Alright?

So we're just gonna give this a rough chop.

I just like to kind of wad it up with my fingers here.

This is just gonna add a nice, fresh, herbal element to the salad.

And like kale, parsley stands up really well, too.

Alright.

In goes our parsley.

And here's the grapefruit that I cut up earlier.

-Yes.

Can't forget that.

-Gorgeous.

-Mm.

-Thank you.

And here's our dressing with the cardamom.

Toss this all together.

Oh, my gosh, Bridget.

How pretty does that look?

-That is so pretty.

-It does smell really good.

-The cardamom.

-Yes.

-That's what I'm getting as you toss that.

-Yeah.

Really nice complement to the grapefruit, I think.

-Yes.

-So that's nicely mixed together.

Alright.

-What a looker.

-I know.

Alright, here's our pepitas.

They've cooled for about 20 minutes.

-Yep.

-Yeah.

You can see how nice and crispy they are.

-Oh, yeah.

-I'm just gonna break these apart.

This is a fun little job that I quite enjoy.

-Pepita brittle.

-That's it.

Just break it into half-inch pieces.

-Okay.

-So I'm gonna finish this up and we'll come back.

Put the salad together.

You can leave this at room temperature for up to three hours.

Or you can do what I'm gonna do, which is put it in the fridge.

It can stay there for up to two days.

So I'm gonna slide this in the fridge.

-Okay.

-Then we'll come back and finish it up.

-Perfect.

-Alright, let's get the pepitas in here.

-Okay.

Let me just make sure they're okay.

-Yeah.

Give them a little test there, Bridget.

-Yeah.

-Aren't those yummy?

- [ Gasps ] Mmm.

-Okay, let's get this in a nice big bowl.

-I don't say this a lot about salads.

I don't say salad and spectacular in the same sentence.

But I'm gonna make an exception here.

This is really something special.

-Yeah.

Alright.

-Alright.

-A nice, big serving here.

-Yes.

-Make sure we get you those pepitas.

Lots of that yummy grapefruit.

-[ Gasps ] Mm-hmm.

How lovely is this.

-Yeah.

Dig in there and get a nice little biteful.

-Showstopping.

-Mmm.

-Those pepitas.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

I love this.

The kale, it's relaxed just a little bit.

But it's still got some good texture in there.

It's really, really nice.

It's almost velvety.

-Yeah.

Mm.

-You get the radishes -- crunchy, peppery.

You get the beautiful, soft grapefruit.

It's got that sweet and kind of tangy taste to it.

The dressing is beautiful.

Star of the show, besides Becky, is those candied pepitas.

They are the things that dreams are made of.

-Don't forget the cardamom, too, because you can -- -Mm!

-You inhale that, you smell it a little bit.

-Mm-hmm.

-And you taste it in the dressing and in the pepitas.

So we have some flavor variations to this recipe on the website, Bridget, and one has pecans.

It's orange, kohlrabi, and candied pecans.

So yeah, I know that one's right up your alley.

-I am hitting the website next.

This is delicious.

Definitely made for the holiday table.

-Yeah.

-Thanks so much, Becky.

-You're welcome.

-So if you want to make this fantastic salad, it starts by baking spiced pepitas to create a crunchy topping.

Massage curly kale with olive oil to soften the leaves and toss in crunchy radishes and sweet grapefruit along with the dressing.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," a beautiful kale salad with radishes, grapefruit and candied pepitas.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes.

And those are all on our website at americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Mmm.

So pecans, you say.

-Mm-hmm.

-Kohlrabi, you say.

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