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," Morgan makes Bridget a show-stopping porchetta Abruzzese.

I talk about pig farming in early America.

Jack explores the world of hardy greens, and Christie makes quick braised broccoli rabe.

That's all right here on "Cook's Country."

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

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast, with a lineup of gas grills designed with durability in mind, including the Eminence 605 with LED touch panels and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at MonumentGrills.com.

-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.

-Like many recipes from Italy, porchetta varies from region to region, but the type that we're going to concentrate on today comes from Abruzzo and it's got a beautiful crackling pork skin, juicy meat inside, and absolutely permeated with the flavors of garlic and fresh herbs.

Sounds divine, doesn't it?

Well, we've got here the mistress of pork, Morgan, and she's going to show us how to make this incredible dish at home.

-I'm so honored to be called the mistress of pork.

That's my new favorite nickname.

But, yeah, this is a dish that's also common in Philly.

It's where a lot of immigrants from the Abruzzo region of Italy immigrated.

So they do these like very amazing whole hog porchettas.

They take a boneless whole pig and make this delicious, garlicky, herby porchetta.

-I want to go to there.

-I know.

Oh my gosh, let's go.

But first let's make this one.

-Okay.

-Okay.

So I'm going to actually start by making the spice rub for it.

So I'm going to use two teaspoons of orange zest.

It's often lemon zest but I really like what the orange does here.

So I'm just going to get about two teaspoons.

And I'm not going to waste any of this orange.

We're going to use this, too.

I'm just going to lop off the top and bottom of the orange.

And then I just use my knife to go around and peel it.

-Very efficient.

-Very efficient.

Let me get that last little white pith.

I don't want any bitterness in here.

All right.

So I'm just going to go through and do quarter inch thick slices here.

And these are going to show up as little gems in the porchetta later.

But I'll show you what I'm talking about.

-How nice.

-All right.

So orange good to go.

Now let's talk about the spices.

I've got a tablespoon of toasted fennel seeds.

I feel like this very signature to porchetta.

I like really associate the two flavors.

-Definitely, and orange and fennel are magic together.

-Yeah.

And then you throw in pig, and you're, like, having a good day.

I've got a tablespoon of chopped sage.

I've got a tablespoon of roughly chopped rosemary in here.

-Mm!

Mm-mm!

-And then I've got a teaspoon of red pepper flakes and a teaspoon of black pepper.

-Okay.

-So I'm just gonna give it about eight pulses.

It'll be really nice and finely pulverized then.

-Gorgeous.

All right.

All this is just going right in with the orange zest.

I have five garlic cloves here.

-I'm not going light on garlic.

-Good.

-And then I've got two tablespoons of kosher salt.

I'm just gonna stir this all up.

And this is the bulk of our seasoning.

So this is going to provide most of the flavor of what we've got going on apart from pork.

-Okay I'll put that to the side.

-Okay.

-Got our spice mixture.

-Fantastic.

-Now, let's talk pork.

My favorite topic.

-Welcome to Jurassic Pork.

-Jurassic Pork.

Oh my gosh, I love that.

We're not messing around.

I have pork tenderloin, it's a little more lean.

And I've got pork belly, which is a lot less lean.

-Yes, it's pre bacon.

-Yes, this is pre bacon.

The same cut used for bacon.

So I've got a one pound pork tenderloin here.

This doesn't require much work -but it does require a little love.

-Okay.

-So I'm just going to butterfly it.

-Okay.

-And I'm just going to hold my hand over top of the pork and then use my knife to go in perpendicular.

And just use a lot of slow control here.

I'm just going to go in and try to leave about a half inch so I can re-close it like a little, you know, folded piece of paper or something.

-Sure.

-Perfect.

Okay, so this just gets a teaspoon of salt in here.

So, again, I'm using kosher salt.

Just a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Just making sure everything's really seasoned.

Now, let's talk about the pork belly.

So this is a 10 inch by 12 inch pork belly.

You're looking for something that's about an inch and a half thick.

It also has the skin on.

So I like to actually talk to my butcher in advance, because it is a little specific.

Now, the skin is really important here because I'm going to try -to get some nice crispy skin for us at the end.

-Yeah.

-But you do want to give it a little care.

So I'm going to go through and just poke holes about every one inch on here.

It's going to go in the oven.

It's going to shrink down a lot.

And having these little holes, it'll just actually, you know, kind of already have some little spots that steam can release from.

-Got it.

-Yeah.

Okay.

Now let's flip this over.

I'm just going to check it and make sure it's all about an inch and a half thick.

Yeah, this side's perfect.

This side's just a tiniest bit thick, so I'm going to pound it down to make sure it's all really even.

-Okay.

-Now I want to crosshatch this so I'm not going to go deep.

I'm just going to go about a quarter inch.

And I'm just going to do little cuts about an inch apart and go through.

-On the meat side.

-On the meat side, this is just giving me a little extra surface area.

We have that amazing spice rub, and I want to make sure it gets all up in here.

And delightful.

-Lovely.

-Lovely.

Now spice rub.

And massage it in here.

So now these oranges from earlier.

I'm just going to arrange these in a nice little row down the center of it.

And what's going to happen is once I roll this all up, there will be these little orange segments poking -through like little jewels.

-Delightful.

-And this tenderloin is just going right here.

You can see it has a little skinny side, which is great because I'm just going to tuck it in.

When you tuck it in, it becomes the same size and even throughout.

-Very nice.

-So, time for the roll.

All right.

So I'm just going to position it seam side down.

I do think it's steady, but let's make sure it's held together.

I have some twine.

I'm just going to give it a nice tie.

I always like to start in the center, just 'cause it kind of contains things.

And then you can work your way out.

And I'm just tying it every one inch or so.

And lovely.

So I'm just trimming any of the overhang from the twine.

It's a pretty roast.

I want it nice and even.

I want it nice and clean.

I don't want any rogue twine.

-Fantastic.

-Fantastic.

And then last little bit of care for this.

This is five teaspoons of kosher salt.

I'm just going to make sure it's sprinkled nice and evenly all over.

We have our beautiful seasoned roast.

-Amazing.

-Now, I am just going to put it on a plate.

And I'm going to pop it in the fridge and just leave it uncovered.

And I'm going to let it sit in the fridge uncovered -for at least one day and up to two days.

-Okay.

-What that's going to do is it's going to season the meat really well throughout.

It's going to help dry out the exterior, so then it'll get extra crispy in the oven.

-Lovely.

-Do you mind grabbing the door for me?

-Sure.

-It's hard to imagine, but there was a time when pigs didn't exist in North America.

It was Christopher Columbus who introduced them to the Caribbean.

Then Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto brought them to the region we now know as Florida in 1539.

Other explorers followed suit.

English settlers even named an area near the Jamestown colony, Hog Island, after the pig population boomed in 1607.

Pigs were good livestock for these pioneers because they required little maintenance, their diet was diverse, and they reproduced quickly.

By the 1800s, pigs were plentiful across North America, and as immigrants from varying backgrounds made their way to the country, they brought their pork recipes with them, dishes like German schnitzel and Irish pork stew.

Here at "Cook's Country," we celebrate an Italian pork recipe in our take on porchetta Abruzzese.

-Okay, so 24 hours does some magic to this.

It did season the meat really nicely throughout.

It's going to firm it up a little bit.

And that skin's nice and dry, so it's going to be really good in the oven.

-It's gonna get nice and crispy.

-Gorgeous.

-So I've placed it on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.

And then I've got a probe thermometer here.

So I want to go about an inch down and six inches in.

I'm going through the pork belly an inch down from the skin.

-All right.

Not in the tenderloin.

-Not in the tenderloin, yeah, because we're going to try to keep track of the temperature of the pork belly.

I really want that to get nice and tender.

By the time that gets to temp, the pork tenderloin is going to be plenty cooked.

-Got it.

-But this is what I'm really paying attention to.

-Perfect.

-So I'm going to cook it until it's 190 degrees.

I'll place it on the lower middle rack and cook it in a 325 degree oven.

And it'll take about four and a half hours to get to 190 degrees.

Okay, Bridget, we're at 189.7.

I'm going to call it.

That's essentially 190.

-Yes, I will accept that.

Definitely.

-Oh!

[gasps] I'm so excited.

All right.

Could you crank that up to 450 degrees for me?

-You got it.

-Thank you.

This is like 190 degrees in the pork belly.

The pork tenderloin is a lot lower.

It's more around 140 degrees.

It's still going to be nice and juicy, so I don't actually need this anymore.

We know that it's going to be nice and tender, so I'm just going to pull this out.

-Okay.

-And I'm actually going to move it to another wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.

You can actually see how there's like a good slick of fat under here.

-Yes.

-That's delicious stuff.

But if I put it back in the oven, especially at that high temp, it could get really smoky.

So this is really just kind of giving it a fresh place to cook.

So the oven is now 450 degrees.

And this is going to actually go back in.

I'm going to let it go for about anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes.

And what's going to happen is the skin is going to get a little crackly on top.

It's going to like just bump it up a notch.

It's going to get nice and bronzed.

It is a big range, 5 to 15 minutes.

You want to check it regularly during that time because it can go from like crispy and amazing to a little overcooked pretty quickly.

-Does it get a little puffed?

-Yeah it does get a little puffed.

Yeah.

Get excited.

-Ah!

-Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?

-That is Pork-adise Found.

-Oh my gosh, I love that.

It definitely is.

It's just hard to not look at this and just be so excited.

Like, look at the crackly, crisp skin.

-I'm speechless.

-Thank you.

-I honestly don't know what to say.

-Well, just get excited to eat, but not too excited because it needs to rest for about 30 minutes or up to two hours.

But you know, we'll cut it on the shorter side for our rest.

-Thank you.

-But while it rests, I'm going to make us a sauce.

-Oh, lovely.

-So I do want to make a sauce that feels worthy of a celebration.

So I'm going to make a salsa verde with mint.

Here I have three cups of parsley leaves.

Just because it's fancy.

Doesn't mean it's hard.

I've got a cup of mint.

These are just the mint leaves.

No stems.

And then I have half of a cup of olive oil.

I'm just going to dump this in here as well.

-Okay.

-And three tablespoons of white wine vinegar for a little acidity.

Two tablespoons of capers for just a little brininess.

-Pickley flavor.

-Yeah, a little pickley flavor to cut through that pork fat.

-Mm-hm.

-And garlic clove.

-Can't have enough.

-And then a half teaspoon of table salt.

I'm just going to pop this lid on.

I'm going to give it a couple pulses.

So I'm just going to pulse it about ten times, by then it'll be really nice and finely chopped.

I am pulsing it rather than processing.

Once you start processing oil, it can get really bitter.

-Yes.

-So just some light pulsing.

I think this looks great.

I'm going to transfer it in here.

I do always like to just check the consistency.

If you wanted, you could add a little more oil if it feels like it's a little too thick.

But I'm pretty happy with how this is looking.

It's the moment of truth, Bridget.

-That swine looks divine.

-With some twine.

-With some twine.

-Speaking of the twine, let's cut it.

So I do like to cut it one piece of twine at a time, and then actually do my slice right after that, just because it helps hold it together.

Now I'm using a serrated knife because of this crispy skin.

So I want to cut through that.

And that's a good sound.

Oh okay.

Then we go through and get this next piece of twine.

-This sweet little orange jewel there.

-I know, right?

-That's a thing of beauty.

-All right, I'm gonna give you two slices.

Not skimping over here.

-Ah-ha-ha!

-Lest we forget, the mint salsa verde.

-Here we go.

-Ah!

Can you imagine this on your holiday table or your Tuesday table?

-My Tuesday table is where I'd prefer it.

-Please.

-Oh!

All right.

Okay.

I got a nice piece of skin here.

-Same.

-Okay.

Look at that.

[ Contented sigh ] -[ Laughing ] There are no words.

I think it's so juicy, that pork belly is shreddy tender.

It's so moist.

Plus, you get that really crispy skin.

It's so well seasoned.

-There was the most beautiful, tender, porky-ness that just melted in my mouth.

I'm going to grab a little bit of the actual meat, a little bit of that salsa.

You don't even need teeth for that.

That is so tender.

-The little bit of orange is so nice.

I got a little bit of the sauce and I'm like, it's so fresh and vibrant and such rich, fatty pork.

It feels so elegant together.

-Elegant and decadent in the very best way.

-Mm-hm.

-I almost have no words, but I do have a few.

-Mm-hm.

-Stupendous.

-Fantastical.

Legendary.

-Wow.

-Thank you for bringing this to us.

This is fantastic.

-It was so fun.

My joy.

-Run to your butcher and get the pork to make this fantastic dish.

And it starts with a little butchery.

Butterfly a pork tenderloin and score some pork belly.

Make a flavorful seasoning and work it right into the meat.

Let the seasoning penetrate the pork for a couple of days, then crank the heat at the end of roasting for a truly beautiful, crackly skin.

So from "Cook's Country," the ultimate pork dish.

Porchetta Abruzzese.

-I'm not sure.

Should we try the whole pig one?

-Yes!

Well, let's get through this one first.

-Yeah, exactly.

[ Both laugh ] -I love hardy greens.

They are powerhouses in my kitchen.

Now, I'm sure you're asking, what is a hardy green?

Basically, it's kind of a made up term for a green that can withstand some cooking.

So think about spinach as a delicate green because you really can't cook that for very long.

Everything here on the table, you can cook for a long time.

Now when you're shopping for these you want to get greens with thinner stems.

Now, no matter what, you're going to be getting rid of the stems because they're not that great to eat.

But the thinner stems are an indication that the leaves are going to be more tender.

And so that's a nice thing.

One more thing.

When you get these greens home, dry them.

Those supermarket misters are not doing us any favors.

And if you just put the wet greens in a plastic bag, throw it in the refrigerator, you're going to come back two days later and they're going to be slimy and gross.

So I like to blot them dry on paper towels, actually roll them in towels, and then slide the whole paper towel with the greens inside a plastic bag that I leave open so these don't get rotten, and then wash them just before you want to use them.

Now let's get into what's on the table, what they taste like and how I use them.

First up we have the collards.

These actually have a little bit of a smoky flavor.

There's a reason why collards are always paired with pork products because they work so well with bacon.

And yes, collards can be cooked for a very long time, but you can also blanch them for a minute, drain them, and then saut them briefly in olive oil with garlic and chilies.

Next up we have curly kale.

What I would call traditional kale.

This has got more of a grassy, earthy flavor.

But honestly, if you can get Tuscan kale.

I know -- I always like the Italian things, but this actually has a better texture.

You're going to see it sometimes labeled dinosaur kale, black kale, or probably most often as lacinato kale.

And this is the one you're going to want to use in a kale salad where you're not cooking the kale.

You're going to massage this kale, maybe dress it for an hour before you serve it.

This is what you want to be using.

It's got a minerally flavor that I just think is wonderful with both spicy things, sweet things.

It kind of works with everything.

The bright green thing here on the table, this is mustard greens.

Mustard greens have the most personality of anything here.

They're kind of pungent and sharp like mustard.

Finally, turnip greens.

Now, these are the tops of turnips.

And if you grow turnips you can be harvesting your turnip greens.

They're kind of mildly pungent.

They're one step down in the sharpness peppery category from the mustard greens.

So there you have it, hardy greens.

They belong in your refrigerator as long as you've dried them first.

-There is only one vegetable I dislike more than broccoli, and that's broccoli rabe because it has that bitter aftertaste.

But today, Christie has promised to change my mind.

And that's, I don't know, good luck to you.

-I'm going to try my hardest, and I have to say, it's really hard to completely eliminate all of the bitterness, -and that's kind of what makes it distinctive.

-Mm-hm.

But we're going to do our best to tone down kind of the rough edges of it.

-That's exactly it.

-Yeah, we'll make it a little smoother.

We'll add some flavors to make it more balanced, and we'll make a really holiday worthy dish that's pretty easy.

-Okay.

-So you have to start with a little prep first.

So I have six cloves of garlic here.

And I just tipped them.

And I'm going to slice them thinly.

And by cooking the broccoli rabe with these strong flavors, they're going to kind of compete and complement the bitterness.

All right.

So I have half a cup of extra virgin olive oil in my big Dutch oven.

It's off heat, burner's not on yet, so I'm going to kind of chop and drop.

[ Both laugh ] But we have a couple more ingredients.

I have six anchovies and we don't even have to rinse them.

-We're just going to give them a mince.

-Okay.

-Strong flavors.

Hello.

-[ Laughing ] Once we cook it all together the anchovy really just dissolves into everything.

You don't really taste the anchovy.

You just get that really savory umami.

All right, I have one final ingredient.

-I have half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

-Okay.

-I'm going to turn my heat on to medium low.

And we're gonna bring everything up really slowly, really gently.

So we have time to get the garlic nice and soft -and get a little golden around the edges.

-Mm-hm.

-It'll take about three minutes to get there.

-Okay.

-I'll just give this a quick stir.

While that is kind of melding and coming together, -we can talk about the broccoli rabe.

-Mm-hm.

-First of all we want to look for really bright green broccoli rabe.

If you see any yellow flowers, -it's getting a little long in the tooth.

-Yep.

-Not the best.

But it's really easy to work with.

I'm just trying to kind of gather my stems and give this just a quick trim.

We're going to keep all of this stem and use it, because it's delicious and it becomes really tender when it's cooked.

So I want to cut this into about two inch pieces.

All right, I think this is good.

It's getting a little golden.

-Smells delicious.

-Now we go in.

So what we're going to do is go in, really, I think you really want to use tongs for this.

Because we want to make sure that all of this broccoli rabe -gets in contact with that hot oil.

-Mm-hm.

-We're just cooking this for about two minutes, but we're looking for all of the broccoli rabe to get bright green in color.

-Okay.

-I'm going to turn up my heat to medium high.

This is three quarters of a teaspoon of salt.

And now I'm just going to twist and turn this so I can get as much of it in contact with the hot oil -and the bottom of the pot.

-Mm-hm.

-And, you can see, it's touching that heat -and it's getting brighter green.

-Yep.

-Plus we want to get that garlic up -off the bottom of the pot.

-Right.

-So giving it a good stir.

All right.

I don't see any pale green at this point.

So I'm going to add half a cup of chicken broth.

It's going to add some salt.

It's going to add some slightly meaty flavors.

So we just want this to come up to a simmer.

And also now's the time to kind of de-glaze the bottom of the pan.

If you have any bits and pieces on the bottom, scrape those up.

And now I'm going to put the cover on.

Turn my heat back down to medium low.

And we're going to let this braise.

We want to cook this until the stalks are tender, but they're still nice and bright green.

And that's going to take somewhere between 6 to 8 minutes.

-Oh, not very long.

-Not long at all.

-It's been a little over six minutes.

-Mm-hm.

-So let's take a peek.

-Oh, it's wilted down so much.

-But still nice and bright green, right?

-Mm-hm.

-You can see it looks nice and tender.

It's got a little, little give.

Perfect.

So I'm going to turn off my heat.

Now, usually with the braise you serve the braising liquid with the thing that you braise.

But this braising liquid contains all of that bitterness that we've washed away.

So we're not going to take it with us.

-Very clever.

-So it's perfectly fine for some of that yummy garlic to come with.

It also looks pretty.

-Yeah.

Please do.

-So now we have a few garnishes to continue balancing that slight bitterness that may be left.

I have some extra virgin olive oil and I'm just going to give this a little drizzle.

-Mm!

-That fruity peppery flavor will work nicely and there's some extra.

So if you want to add a little bit more you can.

-May I serve you?

-Thank you.

-And feel free to grab a lemon wedge, because we know that acidity also helps to balance bitterness.

-All right.

Getting ready.

[ Laughing ] Mm.

-Could it be?

-It's delicious.

There's just a little bitterness on the end but it's welcome.

It's not too much.

That's delicious.

-And it's got a great texture, too.

-I think people get so focused on the bitter flavor that you -- -Yes.

-...miss what an interesting combination of textures it is.

-The stems have a little bit of crunch.

The leaves are nice and silky.

-Mm-hm.

And there's garlic flavor, but it's very mild and soft.

-And I don't taste the anchovy.

There's just a fullness, a roundness behind the broccoli rabe flavor.

-I really love that little drizzle of olive oil, too.

-Mm-hm.

-Because it's a vegetable, it feels a little bit more decadent.

-Well, perfect for a holiday.

-Mm-hm.

-Christie.

This is incredible.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-If you want a game changing recipe for broccoli rabe, start by sauteing anchovy, garlic and pepper flakes.

Add chicken broth to the pot to steam the broccoli and leave that bitter cooking liquid behind in the pan.

From "Cook's Country," an easy and awesome recipe for quick braised broccoli rabe with garlic and anchovy.

You can get this recipe, and all the recipes from this season, along with our product reviews and select episodes at our website, CooksCountry.com/TV.

I can't believe you changed my mind on this.

I was pretty certain I was going to hate it.

-Mm!

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for the newest seasons, 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, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast, with a lineup of gas grills designed with durability in mind, including the Eminence 605 with LED touch panels and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at MonumentGrills.com.

-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.