Cook's Country

-"Cook's Country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table.

We're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes.

We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.

We bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you.

This is "Cook's Country."

Today on "Cook's Country," Bryan travels to Minneapolis to learn about Hmong cuisine and then grills hilltribe chicken with kua txob for Julia, I share the history of Italian fonduta, and Ashley prepares tomatoes with fontina sauce and cornichon dressing.

That's alright here on "Cook's Country."

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills -- made for everyone, from the backyard master to the weekend host and the beginner just starting out.

Monument brings people together.

Monument Grills -- the everybody everywhere grill.

-Teakhaus -- inspired by a passion for cooking and respect for our planet.

Each board is handcrafted from sustainably sourced wood designed for every step, from food prep to presentation.

Teakhaus.

-The city of Minneapolis is known for its beautiful lakes and parks.

It's a diverse place that's home to a large Hmong community, a minority group indigenous to East and Southeast Asia.

I came here to meet with Yia Vang, a Hmong chef and restaurateur, to learn more about his culture and cuisine.

-You know, you have your American culture, your Western culture, and you have your Hmong culture.

And when these two cultures collide, you create this beautiful third culture.

-The Vietnam War displaced much of the Hmong population, and many people sought refuge in the United States.

They mostly settled in California and Minnesota, and today, the U.S.

is home to the largest population of Hmong people outside of Asia.

-When you have a group of people that does not have a land of their own, home of their own, or a country of their own or an anthem of their own, you're constantly moving.

You know, when war determines where your next location's gonna to be, no matter where you are in the world, if there's another Hmong person there, that's home.

-Yia started Union Hmong Kitchen to share his family's home cooking with the people of Minneapolis.

-We really wanted to introduce people to Hmong food 'cause a lot of times, Hmong food gets categorized under Chinese food, Lao food, Thai food... -Mm-hmm.

-...Vietnamese food.

And so we just broke it down to the very basic elements of Hmong food, where it is a rice, a protein, a vegetable, and some kind of hot sauce.

For me, it was digging into these dishes that we grew up eating.

-And while the restaurant offers an expression of Yia's parents' cooking, he wanted to take me back to the source that inspired it all.

-We're confined to the way we do it here in the restaurant, right?

-Mm-hmm.

-If you really want to experience Hmong food, you have to be invited or you get to be invited into a Hmong household.

-Yia asked me to join him at his parents' house to do just that.

So we headed out to the suburbs where Yia's mom, Pang, and his dad, Nhia, were cooking up a feast.

[ Speaks a global language ] -My mom's also micromanaging my dad right now... -That's good.

-...saying, "Yeah, you want to put that over there," you know?

So, it's funny, right?

-Yeah.

-Like, he is the person grilling, but then it's her who's like, "No, no, no, no, no.

You want to turn that."

It's like any family, right?

-Yeah.

[ Laughs ] They were grilling up lemongrass pork sausage and fresh turkey and scallion sausage that Pang had prepped earlier.

It's a real team effort, with the women doing a lot of the prep inside and the men grilling outside, with a little bit of guidance.

-Like, was there turkeys in the hills of Laos?

No.

But we have turkey here.

So just use it, you know?

It's that resourcefulness, right?

-Hmong are a hill tribe from the mountains, and Yia told me that grilling is the main way they cook their proteins.

-Yeah, we might have this little fancy grill here, but in the mountains of Laos, it's literally a fire on the ground.

And then you just, you know, kind of makeshift some kind of little grill rack on top of it, and then you just cook.

-Once the meats were grilled, I headed inside to learn more about the all-important hot sauce from Yia's aunt -- a staple on any Hmong table.

You can really smell the chilis kicking in.

-Oh, yeah.

-It's spicy.

Yeah, sure -Okay, you hold it like this.

-Okay.

-And that's for your hand, okay?

-Yep.

-Uh-huh.

Yeah.

-And just take a break and just -- you'll smell it, like -- -Oh, I can smell it.

I don't even have to lean in.

-Yeah, dude.

[ Conversing in a global language ] -I'm trying not to sneeze and cough.

-So, my mom was warning that this is -- the heat level is high on this one.

-Finally, it was time to eat.

-[ Speaks a global language ] -Amen.

-Amen.

-Okay.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-I pile my plate with rice, braised mustard greens, sausages, and hot sauce, and listen to the stories being told around the table.

-Food is a universal language.

Like, to me, it's, like, incredible to think about that, you know?

-Yeah.

-Like, a grandmother who can't communicate with her grandkids because of, you know, their language barrier, but when they come over and they see this and they put this down, they, like -- they know it.

-This is the only language they need, yeah.

-Absolutely.

Yeah.

-Throughout my visit, Yia translated for his family, but with every bite I took, I felt like I understood their story a little more clearly.

-What I always tell people is this, that our cultural DNA is intricately woven into the foods that we eat.

If you want to know our people, you got to know our food 'cause our food is actually our story.

-Bryan, I love how Chef Yia talks about his heritage and food in the same breath, as though they're so intertwined, you can't have one without the other.

-Yeah, absolutely, and this recipe was so interesting to me personally because I said, "Yia can you make me something that's indicative of Hmong culture here in Minneapolis?

And he said, "You know, my dad made this dish the other night, and I'm gonna make it for you."

And it's a really interesting just -- this is your weeknight cooking.

You know, I think a lot of times, we associate cultural recipes with being a lot more involved.

-Mm-hmm.

-But, you know, there are weeknight dinners, as well.

-Yeah, it's grilled chicken, but it's the flavors that make it unique.

-Right, and there's a little something extra there, too.

-Okay.

-And it starts with this sauce.

It's called kua txob... -Kua txob.

-...which means "pepper sauce."

-Mm-hmm.

-This sauce is based on a sauce that Yia's mom makes.

So, we're gonna start off by chopping up 1 cup of cilantro leaves and stems.

So, I like to just start by kind of bunching it all up.

And then a nice medium chop here.

So, we can just drop that into our bowl.

Next we're gonna mince up a red Fresno chili.

-Okay.

-So, this is a mild chili.

We're just gonna take off the stem and we're gonna chop it with the seeds.

-Okay.

-It's got a little bit of heat, but not as much as something like a Thai chili.

Incidentally, if you did want to use something spicier and you love heat, which this is typically a very spicy sauce... -Mm-hmm.

-...you could use a couple of Thai chilies with the seeds.

You could also use the red Fresno without the seeds entirely.

We'll add that Fresno to our cilantro.

Now that I have the cilantro and the Fresno in there, we're gonna add 2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon of lime juice.

We have 2 tablespoons of fish sauce -- so, just slightly more lime juice than fish sauce.

-Gotcha.

-And then two minced garlic cloves.

This sauce is really one of those things that you're gonna have in your life.

It's so good.

And it's so simple, too.

So, we'll just give this a mix.

Alright, so, now we're going to make the spice rub for our chicken.

This is very simple.

We start off with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.

To that, we're gonna add 1 1/2 teaspoons of granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika.

The spice rub is done.

Now we're going to talk about our chicken here.

We are gonna butterfly this chicken.

This is a 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken.

And we're gonna butterfly it a little bit differently than we have done in the past here at the Test Kitchen.

Traditionally, we've always removed the entire backbone.

So, we cut on either side of the backbone and save it for stock.

But Yia and his family -- they don't let anything go to waste, and they're gonna cut one side of the backbone and keep the backbone intact for grilling.

So, you could do this with a pair of kitchen shears.

I like to do it with a chef's knife.

The way I like to do this, you just kind of find this little tail here, also called the pope's nose, and we'll just run our knife right along side of it.

You know, just start the incision right there.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I find the closer you are to that spine, the easier it is to make that cut all the way through.

If you go out a little further, then you're running into rib bones and it gets a little bit more sticky.

-Especially down towards the neck.

-Right.

And so what we want to do is we want to split this thing open.

So, another thing we've done in the past -- and we typically put the chicken like this and we get a flat line and we clear it.

-[ Chuckling ] Yeah, you do CPR.

-But sometimes the chicken will split as easy if you put it on the skin side.

Not always, but -- -Yep.

-You know, it's just, you get a little bit more leverage to press it down.

-Nice.

-You see, once you've exposed the keel bone, you know that both sides are gonna sit flat on the grill.

This is gonna be a little bit heavier and higher because it's got the backbone attached.

-Gotcha.

-Now we're gonna tuck these wingtips underneath.

Okay.

And I like to make sure the legs are oriented in the same way.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then we can just transfer it over to his sheet-pan home.

-[ Chuckles ] -And we are going to season.

I like to start by seasoning the underside of the chicken 'cause I like to make sure I have enough to season the skin side.

So, we'll just go ahead and start sprinkling.

Just get everything, especially any exposed meat, those little armpits.

-[ Chuckles ] - Dee, deet You know?

-[ Chuckles ] -And then we'll flip it over.

And now we can go with the rest of the seasoning right on top.

If we want to make it ahead of time and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, it's totally fine to do that.

So, I'm gonna wash up, and then we can head out to the grill and start cooking.

-Great.

-Alright, Julia, I have 4 1/2 quarts of charcoal briquettes, and we'll scatter those evenly over the grill.

I like to dump them out in just one pile and then use my tongs to scatter them around, nice and even.

Okay, so, we're gonna throw the grate on top here, cover the grill, and let it heat up for a good five minutes.

-Alright.

-You'll note that the top and the bottom grill vents are fully open.

Okay, the grill grate has heated up for five minutes.

-Smoking!

-Nice and hot.

And now we'll just clean off the grill with our wire brush.

And then we'll brush it with a little bit of oil.

And now we're ready to put the chicken on the grill.

So, we're gonna put it on bone side down.

And so, you know, typically when we cook chicken, we're always concerned about getting the thighs or the dark meat cooked all the way through.

When you're cooking a chicken like this, especially on the grill, you'll note that the breast is so much thicker than the thigh, which is pretty much in direct contact with the coals.

So, for this first stage of cooking, we're gonna temp the breast.

So, we're gonna put the probe right in the thickest part of the breast, and we're gonna wait till it gets to 135 degrees, which takes about 45 minutes, okay?

Once it hits that temperature, then we'll flip it over and cook the second side.

-Gotcha.

-Alright, Julia, it's been about 45 minutes.

We could take a look at our chicken.

-Oh, wow!

-It's looking gorgeous.

-That is beautiful!

-Right up at 134 degrees there.

So at this point we could remove the probe, flip the chicken over, and really start to brown that skin side.

Just kind of gently nurse it.

-Nice.

-And carry it over.

Okay, so, now we're gonna reinsert the probe into a thick part of the breast.

Again, the breast is gonna be our guiding light on this chicken.

And then we're going to cover it and let it go until it hits 160 in the breast and at least 175 in the legs and thigh.

So, we'll let this go for a good 15 minutes until we hit temperature.

Alright, Julia, we're at 160.

-Nicely done.

-And we'll take a look at this chicken.

Do you mind holding that tray for me?

-Oh, it smells so good, Bryan.

-So, I'm gonna pull out this probe first.

Okay.

And set that aside.

And then I like to remove it with this fork here and then support the legs and then drop it on over here onto the tray.

-Oh, that is gorgeous!

-Yeah.

And it smells so good, doesn't it?

-Yes!

-So, all that's left to do now is let it rest for 20 minutes, and then we can start carving it.

-Alright.

That's a good-looking bird, Bryan.

-Thank you so much.

So, she's been resting for 20 minutes now, and we're ready to go ahead and start carving.

So, I always like to start by removing the leg thigh joints here.

-'Cause it's the easiest.

-Right.

And we'll come back to this in just a minute.

We'll set that aside and do it from both sides.

-And this side has the backbone.

-Right.

So we may hit a little bit of turbulence.

But, no, it just -- Sometimes you -- it wants to pull the entire backbone off, but not that time.

And then we'll take off these wings.

-Those wings look incredible.

-And you want to just kind of -- I always, like, lift the chicken up and kind of work into it.

Okay, so, when it comes to removing this second wing, the side with the backbone... -Mm-hmm.

-...we just have to contend with the backbone a little bit.

So, we just want to knock that out of the way.

-That was easy.

-Yeah.

And just kind of push it out of there.

And then again, you lift, kind of pull, expose that joint.

-Mm-hmm.

-And with the breast, since it's all bone-in pieces here, we'll have to keep with the theme and just go right through it.

And then I think it's always easier to eat these big chicken breasts when they're cut in half.

So, I like to slide the knife through until I hit that resistance of the bone and then push it forward, put my hand on the front, and then push through on the back end to pop through that bone.

Then we have our leg quarters here, and we're gonna go right through here.

There's a little joint between the drumstick and the thigh.

You know, when you butterfly a chicken like this, the backbone is still attached to it.

-Yep.

-You know what I'm talking about.

-Yep.

-And, like, you could come through, and you could either just pull it off when it's cooked -- -Right.

-You pull it off with your fingers very easily.

Okay, so, we can plate this up.

One of the best things about watching Yia plate the food is that it's all very artistic without meaning to be artistic.

It's just all really beautiful.

Okay, so, we have a beautiful array of garnishes here, and the first thing that we're gonna garnish with is pickled mustard greens.

-Never had them.

-So, to me, I love it.

It's a little salty, a little fermented, nice texture, a little crunch.

I think it's called haam choy in the grocery store.

It adds a nice earthiness and a little bit of vinegary pop.

-Mmm!

-So, I just kind of like scatter it around here.

And you can put it on as much or as little of that as you want.

I tend to use about a cup for one whole chicken here.

And then some pickled red onions.

-Ooh.

I love pickled red onions.

-I mean, who doesn't?

These things are just -- They're just so great, just to have a jar of them in your refrigerator.

-You can find our recipe for those on our website.

-That's right.

And then we're going to go with 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro leaves.

And then we have some torn mint leaves, again, about 1/4 cup.

And then finally, we're gonna finish it off with a couple of thinly sliced scallions.

-That's gorgeous.

-Can I serve you up a piece of chicken here?

-Yeah.

I want to try both the white and the dark meat, if you don't mind.

-It's not a problem at all.

-Ooh!

-Some of the mustard green.

And then on top of this, we're gonna hit it with our kua txob, a little pepper sauce.

Alright.

-Oh, I am looking forward to this.

Mmm!

-Yeah.

There's nothing wrong with that dish.

-There is a lot of flavor.

-Yeah.

-And it's so fresh-tasting.

-Mm-hmm.

-The chicken is perfectly cooked.

-And try a little bit of that pickled mustard green.

-Mmm!

-So good.

-Wow, Bryan, this is incredible.

I mean, it's pretty simple, too.

-So simple.

-Simple sauce.

-Simple garnish.

-A really simple spice rub.

Taste the fish sauce, the lime juice, the cilantro, obviously.

The mince and nice cooling effect.

-Mm-hmm.

When you eat this dish, you just have to smile.

-Yeah.

-It's that good.

-Bryan, this is fantastic.

Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

-You want to give this Hmong-style grilled chicken a try, start by making kua txob with fresh cilantro and a Fresno chili.

Butterfly the chicken and season with a smoked paprika rub.

Then start the chicken skin side up on the grill, then flip and brown at the end.

From "Cook's Country," with special thanks to Yia Vang and his family, grilled hilltribe chicken with kua txob.

This can go on anything.

-Yeah.

-I could see why you make big batches of it.

-A fonduta is a rich cheese sauce from northern Italy.

It's a close cousin of the more well-known Swiss fondue.

But while fondue is made of different cheeses and eaten from a communal pot, Fonduta is traditionally made with fontina cheese and served individually.

In Europe, fonduta is pretty straightforward.

It typically includes fontina, egg yolks, and truffles.

It's not the same story in the US.

Here, fonduta recipes haven't stuck to a specific formula and have included a variety of ingredients.

In the early 1900s, American newspapers described fonduta as a polenta casserole.

At the 1939 World's Fair in New York, the Italian Pavilion restaurant served a similar European version of fonduta with white truffles, but with butter instead of egg yolks.

And by 1969, Chef Hector Boiardi developed a fonduta recipe.

His version included canned spaghetti sauce with mushrooms, Swiss cheese, red wine, and garlic.

Today at "Cook's Country," we introduce some southern Italian flair into the mix with a fonduta that's rich and creamy and pairs perfectly with a tomato salad.

-I think of fondue as a winter dish, probably because it's associated with that aprs-ski culture.

But what if you want fondue in the middle of summer?

Well, you call Ashley because she's gonna show us how to make the Italian cousin of fondue -- fonduta.

-Mm-hmm.

So, a colleague of ours recently had a fontina fonduta, and it is absolutely delicious.

I'm so excited to make it for you today.

-Me too.

-And best of all, it's great all year round.

You can have it in the summer, spring, fall, or winter.

-Okay, great.

-So, naturally, if it is made in the summertime, you probably have some gorgeous ripe tomatoes on hand.

-These are lovely.

-Yeah.

So, this is a pound of what's called cocktail tomatoes.

They're also called Campari tomatoes.

And you can also find Kumato tomatoes, as well.

But, heck, if it's the summertime and you have your hands on some other types of tomatoes, go hog wild and use those if you wanted to.

-Great.

Farmers' market backyard.

-Exactly.

-The best type of tomato.

-The best type of tomato.

Exactly.

So, again we have about one pound here.

I'm gonna just start by cutting these into 1-inch-thick wedges.

-Okay.

-Alright.

I'm gonna season the tomatoes now with some salt and pepper.

I've got 1/2 teaspoon of both.

So, now we are going to make the dressing.

So, this dressing is -- Again, I know I'm setting this up, but it is so good.

One of my all time favorites.

-[ Chuckles ] -Cornichons.

-No stranger to the fondue.

-Mnh-mnh.

So, I have a 1/4 cup that I'm going to slice thin on the bias.

A few more ingredients.

I have one finely minced shallot.

I've got 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, brine from the cornichon.

Why not, right?

-Why not?

-Mm-hmm, more bang for your buck.

I've got 1 tablespoon here.

And finally, just 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

I'm just gonna whisk this together.

Again, cannot be easier.

-No.

Especially since you're doing it.

-[ Laughs ] I see what's going on.

-Mm-hmm.

So, I'm gonna let these hang out, as well.

-Okay.

-Now we're gonna move on to our cheese sauce.

So, I've got 2 cups of heavy cream, and I'm just gonna bring that to a boil over medium high heat.

-Okay.

-But in the meantime, I need to prepare the cheese for our fontina fonduta.

Here I have some large holes on the box grater, and I have 2 ounces of a young fontina.

And that's important because it's gonna melt a lot nicer than if you were to use an aged fontina.

-Right.

As soon as the cheese starts to age, it gets a little bit of that crystallization and it has a hard time melting.

-Exactly.

There we go.

And then finally I've got some Parmesan.

I have 1 1/2 ounces here that I'm going to just grate over a rasp-style grater.

It's just the best way, especially when you want to have the Parmesan melt really nicely.

It has these really light, feathery little wisps of Parm.

-Yes.

-And you definitely want to use the real Parmesan here.

The pre-grated often has other additives in it.

-Yeah, it usually has a little bit of cellulose in it, which is just a plant-fiber material to prevent it from sticking together, but it will also prevent it from becoming nice and creamy.

-Exactly.

Alright, Bridget, this cream is looking a little different now than it was.

-Definitely.

-It's been about 15 minutes.

I went ahead and reduced the heat from medium high down to medium low.

-Okay.

-And I let it simmer until the cream now measures about 1 1/2 cups total.

-Okay.

And you started at 2.

-Exactly.

-Okay.

-So, now, off the heat, I'm gonna add our cheeses, the Parmesan, that fontina.

-Mm-mmm!

And now we don't want the cheese sauce to break at this stage.

-Right.

-So that's why adding it off heat is gonna ensure that it'll stay nice and smooth and not broken.

So, I'm just gonna whisk this until the cheese is fully melted.

And finally, 1/4 teaspoon of some salt.

-Okay.

-Alright, now, at this stage, the sauce may look a little bit on the thin side.

But just rest assured it's going to thicken up slightly as it cools 'cause now I'm gonna be pouring the sauce onto this gorgeous platter.

-Oh, we're almost done.

-Yes!

And I'm just gonna pour it evenly over the bottom of this platter.

-Mmm!

-I know.

Alright, so, now you can kind of use your inner artist.

-Oh, my gosh.

-I know.

And just spread it into a beautiful even layer.

So, we've got the seasoned tomatoes.

Any way you arrange this, it will not look bad.

I promise.

Here we have that cornichon dressing.

-Oh, my gosh.

-Mm-hmm.

-So, finally I've got 2 teaspoons of beautiful, fresh, fragrant thyme.

-How lovely is this?

-Ah, I know.

And finally, some flaky sea salt.

Add a little bit of that crunch, that texture.

-Gorgeous.

-Yeah.

And we have some toasted bread here for us... -Okay.

-...which, trust me, you are going to want.

-Alright.

I'll take a wee piece here.

-Okay.

And then here you go.

-Mmm!

Mmm!

-I know.

-[ Gasps ] Mmm.

Mm-mm-mmm.

-Bon apptit.

-Yes.

And to you.

-Thank you.

Mmm.

-That's unbelievable.

-Not too rich, not too heavy.

It's just doing all the things I want it to.

-That sauce is so creamy, but I love how pickley briny it is, too, because of the cornichon.

-And it may have seemed like a good amount of salt because we did add it at a few different stages.

But as you can taste now, I really think it's important to do it that way.

-It doesn't taste salty.

It tastes seasoned.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Big difference.

-Yeah.

-And it really draws out the freshness of those tomatoes.

They are perfection.

-Mmm.

-This isn't just creamy.

It's dreamy.

-Ooh.

-Positively summery.

Cheesy, tomatoey.

Perfection.

Thanks, Ashley.

-You're very welcome.

-Well, if you want to make this great dish, make a tangy dressing using tart cornichons and shallots, add fontina and Parmesan to a reduced cream mixture off heat, and arrange seasoned tomatoes on the fonduta, then drizzle with the dressing.

So, from "Cook's Country," tomatoes with fontina sauce and cornichon dressing.

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

And those are all on our website, CooksCountry.com/TV.

Now, this set out at a party... -Mm-hmm.

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for the newest season's rigorously tested recipes, full episodes, ingredient advice, and equipment reviews.

CooksCountry.com/TV.

-"The Complete Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook" brings together every recipe, tasting, and test from 18 seasons of the beloved TV show, with trusted equipment recommendations and insights from the entire cast.

This book is your guide to the very best in regional cooking.

The cost is $24.99 -- $15 off the cover price of $40.

To order, head to our online shop at CooksCountry.com/book.

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills -- made for everyone from the backyard master to the weekend host and the beginner just starting out.

Monument brings people together.

Monument Grills -- the everybody everywhere grill.

-Teakhaus -- inspired by a passion for cooking and respect for our planet.

Each board is handcrafted from sustainably sourced wood designed for every step, from food prep to presentation.

Teakhaus.