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 Julia smoked prime rib, I talk about the art of leftovers, Adam shares our recommended grill gloves, and Christie makes torn potato salad with toasted garlic and herb dressing.

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 to suit every level, our mission is to ignite your passion to pursue the art of grilling.

Learn more at monumentgrills.com.

-The only thing better than a perfectly roasted prime rib is a prime rib coming off the grill with a nuanced smoke flavor.

And today, our own grilling expert, Morgan, is going to show us how it's done.

-Yeah, Julia, well, I believe most things are better smoked.

So, here I have a 6-pound, bone-in standing rib roast.

-Mm-hmm.

-It is a first cut standing rib roast.

What that means is that it's cut from closer to the loin on the rib roast rather than actually the shoulder.

So it has this really nice, beautiful eye.

If you get it a little lower, in second cut, it's just a little lower quality, and we're going all out with this.

We're going big.

-All right.

-So it's got this beautiful 1/4-inch fat cap here.

It's really nice and even.

I'm going to actually crosshatch that in 1-inch pattern, and that's going to give me a little extra surface area to season with salt and pepper.

It's also going to help it render on the grill.

As I cut through it I'm going gently.

This is the kind of thing that you can do quickly, but you really don't want to cut into the meat here at all.

You just want to go through the fat.

So you can see now I have a little bit more surface area.

-Mm-hmm.

-Here I have 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, and I'm going to rub this and a tablespoon of pepper into the meat.

With that little extra cross-hatching, I can actually get under some of that fat into the meat.

And it's going to help it render well on the grill.

And then my tablespoon of pepper.

So, I'm going to refrigerate this uncovered for 24 hours or up to four days.

It's going to do the same sort of thing that dry aging does.

But first, I'm gonna wash my hands.

-Okay.

-Okay.

So we're not messing around with the meat, so we're also not going to mess around with the sauce.

I'm going to make a really nice horseradish sauce.

I have 1/2 cup of mayonnaise.

I have 1/3 cup of prepared horseradish.

Gonna pack some punch.

You know, it's gonna be a little of that nasal-clearing thing going on.

I have 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of pepper, a minced garlic clove.

I always love a little garlic.

-Mm-hmm.

-3/4 of a teaspoon of salt.

I'm just using kosher salt because that's what I used on the beef, but you could use half the amount of table salt and that would be just fine.

And a pinch of cayenne.

-Just a little.

-Just a little.

Just gonna whisk this up.

-That really is easy.

-Yeah.

Super simple.

I know it feels very fancy, but that's done.

I'm gonna cover it and refrigerate it at least 30 minutes.

It can go up to two days in advance.

So if you're hosting people, great make ahead.

-Great.

-All right, Julia, the roast has been salting overnight.

It's looking a little deeper red, and it's ready for the grill.

So now I need to set up the grill.

So you can see I have the vents totally open.

And I have 40 briquettes around here in a C shape.

I'm going to add 40 briquettes on top.

So, this is a grill setup called a charcoal snake.

So it's one of my favorite grill setups, and it's going to do a slow, steady burn.

We're going to light one side and it's going to function like a domino and just slowly burn all the way around here.

We can keep the heat going for hours without having to reload.

Okay.

40 briquettes on the bottom, 40 briquettes on the top.

-Okay.

So 80 total.

-Right.

And now I have some wood chunks.

So I'm using hickory wood.

So I'm going to start 2 inches from each side and place one on each and then one here in the center.

-Aha.

-When I light this, it's going to get little bursts each time it hits that wood.

It's also going to get this really nice smoky flavor.

So I'm not using a ton.

Like, you can put wood chunks all over, but this is such a beefy cut of meat.

I want it to mostly taste like beef with just a little smoke.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

-So no soak.

-No soak.

So now I'm going to add a water pan.

This is just a disposable pan.

It's a 13x9 pan.

-All right.

-I'm going to add 6 cups of water to this.

So this is gonna do a couple things.

It's gonna help control the heat in the grill, and then, that water is also going to make it a nice moist cooking environment which will keep that meat nice and moist.

-Okay.

-Okay?

So, now it's time to light the grill.

-Okay.

-And we're just gonna actually, like, start one side of it nice and gently.

So, I only have 10 here.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm being pretty strategic about placing them.

Of course, you only want to light one side.

-Okay.

-These are all gonna ignite all the way around and just keep this whole thing going.

-Okay.

-That's good.

And now I'm gonna put on the grill grates.

And let's clean and oil these.

-Mm-hmm.

-This just keeps the meat from sticking.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's a little extra insurance.

You always want to start with a nice clean grill.

And the beautiful meat.

-Ah, it is gorgeous.

-It is gorgeous, and it's expensive.

-It is.

-So I have a few things.

So I'm going to actually take these ribs and put them so they're facing the arch of the snake.

-Okay.

-This is because we want to keep it nice and rosy.

The ribs will act as like a little layer of protection.

-Gotcha.

-This part can get a little more heat.

That's fine.

It's going to hit a little more heat, but that meat will stay nice and juicy.

Very important part of this recipe -- the probe.

This is actually less expensive than the meat.

It is worth getting this to make sure your meat is cooked well.

So I'm going to just insert it in the middle of the roast.

-Okay.

-It's totally fail-proof if you have a probe thermometer.

-All right.

-I'm gonna put the lid on.

-All right.

-And I'm gonna put the vents over that gap in the snake.

So this smoke will actually envelop the meat and come out through these vents, and we'll get this really deliciously smoky meat.

I'm just going to wait until it hits 115 degrees.

-Okay.

-It's going to take 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 hours.

Okay, Julia, it's been 2 1/2 hours, but the more important thing, it's 115 degrees.

Okay, so... -Ooh!

Hubba hubba!

-I know, right?

-That is quite the reveal.

-Yeah.

If you do this at a barbecue, people are like, "Wow."

It's a little bit of effort, but it's well worth it.

So I'm gonna grab this guy, too.

-Right here good?

-And we're gonna pull this off.

I see your method -- tongs and a big, sturdy spatula.

-You can also see the snake is not fully burned through.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's okay.

You know, I'd rather have a few extra coals that didn't get burned than not have that finish.

-Gotcha.

-So I'm just gonna cover it with some foil, and we'll bring it in.

And then, in 45 minutes, we get to eat.

-All right.

-Julia, this roast has rested 45 minutes and still looks beautiful.

-It still looks gorgeous.

-So, during that time, it's gone from 115 degrees.

It's carried over into 125.

It's going to be beautiful and rosy pink in the center.

With this, what I like to do is, I like to actually prop it up so that I have access and I can see the bones really nicely, and I actually use the bones as a guide.

So I hold my knife so it's actually sort of resting against the bones.

And then I like to use long motions.

-My mouth is watering at all those juices dripping right out the sides.

That looks gorgeous.

-Now I want to do some nice 3/4-inch-thick slices.

The end pieces are going to be a little more well done.

If someone wants that, that's great.

They have their options.

And then, as we get to the center, we're gonna get some nice rosy pieces.

-The doneness is picture perfect.

And it hasn't lost any of its moisture because that's a long cooking time.

You think it would dry out.

-Okay, I want to go center.

I feel like that's gonna be a nice balance.

It's going to be hopefully nice and beautiful pink.

-Well, and look at that solid muscle, which again, that's because we used the right cut to start with.

-Exactly.

We used that first cut.

And then you get a nice little smoke ring around the edge.

Like I said, we use not a ton of wood but just the right amount, so you get a little smoke ring.

It sort of is like the eye is this perfect medium rare, and then the deckle is a little more well done, so you get this lovely, like, almost brisket-like bit and then this delightful steak.

It's like two cuts in one.

-That's incredible.

Because, I mean, it's prime rib, so the flavor's there.

But even the texture of the meat on the outside, it is moist.

And it just has a little bit of smoke.

It's not overpowering by any stretch.

It's just almost a background note, but it adds so much.

It's the perfect balance.

-I'm going in for some of the eye.

-And you have a little bit of char on the outside, that little bit of texture, crispness.

-Yeah.

And then the center has this really nice beefiness, but it's not overpowered with smoke.

It's just kissed with smoke.

And the sauce, it's got this nice kick of horseradish.

It's like -- it definitely has a lot going on.

-Morgan, this is the best prime rib I've ever had.

Thank you for showing me how to make it.

-Thank you for grilling with me.

-If you want to make the ultimate smoked prime rib, start by building a two-level charcoal snake and add a few wood chunks.

Use a probe thermometer and grill the prime rib to 115 degrees.

Then let the roast rest for 45 minutes before serving.

From "Cook's Country," the last word on smoked prime rib.

-You know, Julia, I don't know about the last word.

I actually have another idea.

We have a lot of prime rib left.

-Yeah, we do.

-Maybe we make something with it.

-Like what?

-Like some sandwiches?

-Really?

-Yeah.

-You have something up your sleeve, don't you?

-Oh, yeah.

I got an idea.

-Okay.

Morgan, you had a little sparkle in your eye when you said, "Let's make sandwiches," like you had something good up your sleeve.

I feel like I often have a sparkle my eye when I'm talking smoked meat, but I had a sandwich at Lewis's Barbecue in Charleston, South Carolina.

They did a beef and cheddar.

Their take was smoked prime rib, green chili queso, on a buttered bun with horseradish sauce.

So, here I have 12 ounces of our leftover smoked prime rib.

But I'm going to cut it in half and slice it thin on a bias.

So, it's a lot easier to cut when it's cold, so I always like to let it cool down if you can, to get this happening.

So, when you slice it thin on a bias, you get these nice long roast-beef pieces.

-Mm-hmm.

Man, that looks good.

-That's gonna be the sandwich filling.

So, here I have a tablespoon of vegetable oil that I've heated here in a 12-inch nonstick skillet.

It's over medium-high heat, and I actually want it to be nice and smoky.

I want it nice and warmed through.

I want to let this go three minutes.

All that fat is going to get nice and crispy.

We're going to have some sort of, like, little bits of fat to turn into almost like a beef bacon.

It's gonna be delightful.

-That sounds amazing.

-While that cooks, I'm gonna do a really quick green chili queso.

So, here I have an ounce of American cheese.

It's also 1/4 cup shredded.

And then, to that, I'm also gonna add another ounce of pepperjack cheese.

So I want a little heat.

-Okay.

-I have 2 tablespoons of milk.

-Ah.

-And then 2 tablespoons of salsa verde.

So this is just a jarred tomatillo salsa.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm gonna microwave this for 30 seconds, until it starts to melt around the edges, and then I'll microwave it another 1 to 2 minutes until it's fully melted and it's bubbling around the edges.

-Okay.

I'll keep my eye on this beef for us.

-Thank you.

Okay.

You can see it's just melting around the edges.

I'm gonna stir it and let it go another 1 to 2 minutes.

By then, it'll be bubbling around the edges.

[ Microwave beeps ] It is very bubbly around the edges.

-Mmm!

-It's gonna thicken up in just a second.

While it does that, we can assemble the rest of our sandwiches.

-Okay.

-So this is our horseradish sauce from earlier.

I do a tablespoon and a half on the top of each bun.

It's not like a shy amount, but you want it to -- Like, that's the point.

-I love it.

-Here I also have half a thinly sliced small white onion.

I'm just going to add this to the bottom bun.

Here is our 12 ounces of beef that we've reheated.

-Look at those crisp edges.

-I know, right?

Doesn't that look good?

-Oh, goodness.

-It is totally warmed through.

That fat has crisped up on the edges.

And then, here is this queso.

-Mmm.

-I'm gonna shower you in queso.

-Oh, my goodness.

That smells good.

That is a really clever, quick queso.

-Yeah.

So, when you microwave it, you're actually steaming the cheese, which is really nice.

It's a really gentle way to cook the cheese.

And then, also, by using American cheese, I'm keeping it from breaking.

So it's like a really quick, forgiving way to make a queso.

Okay.

Want to make sure I'm not missing any meat in mine.

Give it a little tuck back in there.

-That's incredible!

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm!

I feel like I have it all over my face, and I don't care.

-I don't care, either.

It's a flavor explosion in my mouth.

-Well, you get the horseradish, and then you get the beef, and then you get the green chili queso.

It's this richness, a little spicy kick.

I mean, the prime rib was amazing, but almost I would make the prime rib just to make these sandwiches.

They're that good.

Oh, wow.

I'm so glad you shared this with me.

Thank you.

-Oh, thank you, Julia.

-If you want to make this incredible sandwich using leftover smoked prime rib, start by thinly slicing and reheating the prime rib and make a quick green chili queso with jarred salsa verde.

From "Cook's Country," a magnificent way to use up leftovers in a smoked prime-rib sandwich with green chili queso.

-Leftovers are the food equivalent of the expression "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

Where some see old or unwanted food, others see flavorful opportunities.

If you've ever snacked on a baby carrot, you can thank California farmer Mike Yurosek.

Yurosek was bothered by the tons of carrots he had to throw away for cosmetic reasons, so in the 1980s, he put the ugly carrots through his green bean cutter and created the baby carrot.

They were an immediate hit and transformed the carrot industry by reducing waste.

Another example of leftover ingenuity is the cake pop.

Leftover cake crumbs are formed into a ball, covered in frosting, and stuck on a lollipop stick.

Many people credit blogger Angie Dudley with inventing the treat in 2008.

And after she demonstrated how to make them on Martha Stewart's show, cake pops started popping up at bakeries across the country.

And here at "Cook's Country," we join in that proud tradition by using our leftover smoked prime rib to create a delicious sandwich.

-Barbecue pitmasters wear long, heavy gloves to protect their arms and hands from the brutal fire.

But should you include them in your grilling repertoire?

Well, Adam's here, and he's gonna tell us all about grill gloves.

-I should take a cue from the barbecue pitmasters, 'cause even though I spend my life surrounded by kitchen equipment, I'm the idiot who will grab, like, a potholder to run out and turn the chimney full of coals over, and I always feel the heat.

-They're not good enough for that.

-You are much better off with dedicated grill gloves, also called barbecue gloves.

-Okay.

-We have nine different pair here.

The price range is a little less than $18 up to $47.

-Okay.

-Different materials.

You can see that these three in front of you, those are suede.

These two brightly colored ones are silicone.

And then these three over here are something called aramids, That is a durable polymer that can be woven into fibers.

It's used for industrial applications and, apparently, for grill gloves, too.

-Yes.

-A lot of these have multiple layers, two layers.

There's the exterior layer of a heat-resistant material, like suede, and also an interior layer of cotton for comfort.

-Okay.

Right.

-Some of them don't have that.

You just have that exterior layer -- in this case, silicone.

No interior layer for comfort.

-Oh.

Right.

-Now, obviously, heat protection is job number one for any of these gloves.

And, in fact, it was the suede ones and the silicone ones that did best.

But the ones with multiple layers were definitely more heat-protective than the single-layer ones.

Testers particularly liked this one because not only is it cotton, which is comfortable, in the cotton is foil, and the foil is air-isolated, so that layer of air around the foil will prevent heat from getting in, it prevents conduction of radiant heat.

And then, the foil itself, whatever heat does get in, gets reflected back out.

So these were super comfortable to wear and really good for heat protection.

-So that foil is in between the cotton and the suede.

-It's in between the cotton.

Exactly.

-Gotcha, okay.

-Testers also like liked the fact that the suede felt durable but supple enough to give them a lot of dexterity so they could pick things up and it felt natural.

-Right.

-And you can see, these go all the way up your forearm, basically.

That has extra length, so you get heat protection on your forearm as well as your hands.

-So suitable for evening wear.

-Suitable -- [ Laughs ] Yes, absolutely.

I want to go to your kind of events.

You know, the one thing that the silicone gloves had going for them is they were super easy to clean.

If you got some stuff on them, you just wipe them off, and they're good and clean.

-That makes sense, yeah.

-We have winners in two categories.

These suede ones are the WZQH Leather Forge welding gloves.

They were a little less than $18, so they were inexpensive.

They were the heat-protection champs.

They have that lining, so they're super comfortable.

They give you good dexterity, and you can get them in different sizes, too.

-That's a big deal for me.

I have very small hands, so some of these gloves are just mammoth.

-Gigantic.

-Right.

-And these you can get sized for your hands.

-Lovely.

-But the one complaint with these is, they're not super easy to clean.

-Right.

-You can't just wipe off the schmutz that gets on them, or if you pick up food directly, that'll really trash them.

So if cleaning is really important to you, they also chose a winning silicone pair.

-Okay.

-This one is the Kitchen Perfection Silicone Smoker oven glove.

It's $35.

It's silicone on the outside, so it wipes clean, and it does have a cotton lining, so it's more comfortable than these unlined ones.

I mean, ridiculous to look at but a lot better to use.

-Much more comfortable because of that cotton lining.

-Well, pick up some grill gloves.

And our winner is the WZQH Leather Forge welding gloves.

They run about $18.

But if cleanability is a factor for you, then, for $35, you want to pick up the Kitchen Perfection Silicone Smoker kitchen gloves.

The classic cool, creamy potato salad will always have a place at my picnic, but sometimes I want to change things up.

Look for a potato salad that's a little bit different.

Christie's here, and she's brought what I think might be the impossible -- a potato salad that I've never heard of.

-This is a really new approach.

The cool thing is that it's so dead simple.

We're just going to have to get our hands a little dirty.

-Okay.

I like that.

-You're up for that.

-I'm so up for that.

-So I'm gonna add 3 tablespoons of table salt to 3 quarts of boiling water.

-Okay.

-I have this on high heat in my large saucepan.

Now this is 2 pounds of baby Yukon golds.

You could use red bliss potatoes, as well.

But we're going to leave the peels on.

And the size is important here.

So you really want potatoes that are 1 1/2 to 2 inches, because we don't want to cut these in half to make them fit.

We don't want to expose any surface area.

So I'm going to add these to my boiling water.

And then we're going to let these simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

We want the potatoes to be very tender.

So, it's been 25 minutes, so I'm going to fish out one of my potatoes.

Okay.

Now I'm going to test this, but I'm not going to pierce it to test it.

We want to make sure that it's crushable but it doesn't totally break apart.

And that's great.

-Okay.

-Now I'm going to let these cool a little bit, but just until they're cool enough to handle -- about 10 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooling, we are going to start on a creamy garlic dressing.

-Okay.

-Now, I still have my pot from earlier, but I've wiped it out with some damp paper towels to get rid of the starchy residue because we're going to use that again.

-Perfect.

-First, we're going to slice some garlic.

I have six garlic cloves here just for you.

-Was gonna say, you're not slicing some garlic.

You're slicing a lot of garlic.

-[ Laughs ] So, we want nice thin slices.

And we'll add that to the pot.

And I'm also going to add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil.

-Okay.

-I'm going to put this over medium heat.

I'm going to keep an eye on this until it starts to sizzle.

As soon as it starts to sizzle, I'm going to start swirling.

So, you can see it's starting to sizzle.

-Yes, I can smell it's starting to sizzle.

-So we're going to cook this until it starts to get light golden brown, which should only take 3 to 5 minutes.

-Okay.

-Okay, Bridget, these look light golden brown.

And we want to get them out of the hot pan before they get too dark, because they'll keep getting more brown because that oil is still really hot.

We have toasty garlic, toasty oil.

Now we'll get started with the rest of this dressing.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Well, we're gonna add some mayonnaise, which you're not averse to.

-No!

I am one quarter mayonnaise.

-[ Laughs ] Well, this is 2 tablespoons mayonnaise.

I'm also going to add a tablespoon of sherry vinegar.

-Mmm.

-Now, you could use red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.

They're just going to be a little more subtle.

A teaspoon of table salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

And we'll just give this a whisk.

I'm not cutting these potatoes.

I'm going to tear these potatoes.

When we tear these, we get these kind of craggy edges, and that's going to give us more surface area for this dressing to cling to.

So we just want about 1-inch pieces, which, since these potatoes were only 1/2 to 2 inches to begin with, is roughly cutting them in half.

We have this earthy potato salad, toasty garlic.

It just needs something fresh.

-Okay.

-So we're gonna add some herbs.

I have parsley and dill.

And so I'm just going to get the leaves off of these thicker stems.

Little stems are fine, but we don't like to use those thick stems.

And for the dill, I can grab the fronds.

Just don't want the really thick bottoms.

We're just going to give this a chop.

All right.

That looks pretty good.

And we needed 1/2 cup.

Now I'm gonna mix it up a little.

-Mmm.

-We're ready.

-All right.

My goodness.

-[ Laughs ] -You know, it just looks absolutely perfect, too.

-Mm-hmm.

-Fresh, not overkill, not gloppy.

And I will say "gloppy" with love.

-[ Laughs ] And its torn potato salad, but I think that almost implies sloppy, but it's -- it's not.

It's just -- has all those really nice crags, nooks and crannies for that dressing to get into.

All right.

-That's gorgeous.

-I love how the garlic has just a little texture, too.

We got it just far enough.

-Every bite is infused with big garlic flavor.

but it's not harsh at all.

It's just beautiful and buttery and mellow, but at the same time really bold.

And those herbs right at the end.

The dill.

Yeah, I love me some.

Oh, me too.

And I do love that these craggy pieces are holding on to more of that dressing than they would if they were just cut.

This is the new gold standard for potato salads?

Absolutely.

Bar none.

And I love that there's still a little bit of mayonnaise on it.

That made me very.

I just couldn't take it all out.

I couldn't take it all out.

Thank you so much.

My pleasure.

Well, if you'd like to make this amazing potato salad, make a dressing with oil, poached garlic, sherry vinegar and a little mayo.

Tara cooked potatoes directly into the bowl of dressing and then finish with lots of fresh herbs, like parsley and dill.

So from Cook's Country, the new gold standard in potato salads, it's torn potato salad with toasted garlic and herb dressing.

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

Those are all on our website, Cook's country.com/tv.

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