America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Carmen makes Julia kousa mihshi... Jack talks all about capers... and Sam makes red lentil kibbeh.

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

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

-Plugr European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers, slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugr -- from professional kitchens to your home.

-Sur La Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.

-Stuffed zucchini is a dish popular throughout the Middle East and parts of northern Africa, and versions can vary quite dramatically from region to region.

But today, Carmen is going to make kousa mihshi, which is a Lebanese style.

-That's right, Julia.

This is a really great version.

It features a spiced rice and lamb-filled zucchini.

It's simmered gently in a meaty and savory tomato sauce.

-Wow.

-And it's really quite lovely.

But it starts off with our hashweh.

Our hashweh is our filling.

-Oh, okay.

-So let's get started there.

We have here 1/2 cup of long-grain white rice.

I've already rinsed off all the excess starch off of this.

So I'm going to transfer this to my bowl.

I'm going to pour 2 cups of very hot water right over this rice.

I'm going to let it soften and hydrate over the course of 10 minutes.

That's going to allow all of the components of this dish to finish cooking at the same time.

So while our rice does its thing, I'm going to step over here and show you these beautiful zucchinis that I already hollowed out.

I have three.

It's a vehicle for this really delicious food.

And we have a specific tool.

So we have a zucchini corer.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

If you don't have this at home, you can absolutely use an apple corer or a melon baller.

So I'm just going to show you how to get that done.

I picked zucchinis that were very straight.

They're about 6 to 7 inches long, maybe an inch and a half in diameter.

So all I'm going to do is simply chop off the stem end, and I'm going to hold the zucchini in a certain way, just kind of cupped in my hand.

-Mm-hmm.

-And basically I'm going to create a small indent first, and then I'm going to scrape on the bottom as I rotate the zucchini.

-Okay.

-What I'm doing is being very careful to not burst the walls of this zucchini.

I'm trying to keep things very intact because I want my filling to stay inside where it should be, and I want to get as far in as about half an inch from the bottom of the zucchini.

This is my sixth one.

-Nicely done.

-Took a little time, but now we have to rinse them out and make sure there's no debris or seeds inside of them.

-Okay.

-And I have here a sheet tray that I just put a dish towel on.

And this is just going to dry them off while we're preparing our other ingredients.

And we're going to move on to our next step, which is building our hashweh.

It's been 10 minutes, Julia.

I've already drained off all of that water that was hydrating our rice.

And I'm going to build our hashweh right here.

So, you'll see some ground lamb.

I have 8 ounces of ground lamb right here in this bowl.

I'm going to add to that 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of table salt, 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

So I'm going to use a spatula just to incorporate all of these ingredients.

And I'm going to ask you, while I'm doing this, to please turn the heat up to medium high in my 12-inch nonstick skillet.

-Mm-hmm.

-I have 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in there.

-Okay.

-And the way that I know that the rice is fully incorporated is it's not hanging out on the sides of my bowl anymore.

It's all a nice big meatball.

-[ Laughs ] -That oil looks like it's perfectly shimmering.

I'm just going to add my hashweh in.

I'm essentially going to be mashing it into a single layer onto the bottom of my skillet, so I'm not looking for the rice or the meat to be fully cooked because we're going to do that later.

Right now we're releasing all the meaty juices and fat because we're going to capture that to build our sauce.

It's been three minutes, and we can see some pops of pink, but that is not a problem.

I'm going to bring the skillet very carefully because it's hot, and I'm going to use this strainer right here to separate the liquids from this delicious hashweh.

That cinnamon smells so nice.

-Mm-hmm.

It really came alive in the skillet.

-Absolutely.

So I have captured here the meaty juices and fat.

This will go right back into my skillet.

I'm just going to pour this hashweh back into my bowl.

And so I have a fork here.

I'm just going to break up this hashweh into small pieces.

So maybe like a quarter inch.

You don't want them too big.

So, this is broken up into small pieces.

I can put this aside and I can focus on our next step, which is building our sauce.

-Alright.

-I have here the meaty juices that we have captured from our hashweh.

And I'm going to add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to this skillet.

And I'm going to turn the heat on to medium low.

And I have 1/2 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper and another 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

-Mmm!

I love the repeating flavors.

-Yes, there are layers of flavor that we'll be able to really discern when we're starting to eat this.

Those spices are smelling really great.

-They are.

-This is the perfect time to add the rest of our sauce base ingredients.

I have here one small chopped onion and two minced garlic cloves.

And this is just going to cook very, very slowly for 7 to 9 minutes until softened and lightly golden.

-So you don't want to burn those spices.

Slow and low is the name of the game here.

-Slow and low is the name.

Absolutely.

It's been 8 minutes, and these onions and garlic are smelling wonderful.

-Mm-hmm!

-The spices have really done their job here.

So we're going to transfer this to our food processor.

So again this is hot, so I'm going to be very careful as I'm putting all of these aromatics into my bowl.

I want to get every last bit of flavor in there.

I have here 2 pounds of coarsely chopped tomatoes that I have also cored.

I'm going to add them directly to my food processor bowl.

We have layers of tomato flavored throughout this dish.

This is 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar, some acidity to really help out the rest of these flavors, and 1 teaspoon of table salt.

I'm going to process this in our food processor for 1 to 2 minutes until completely smooth.

I'm going to go ahead and transfer them back to our skillet here.

-Mmm!

Back to all these drippings.

-Absolutely.

And I'm going to be careful with the blade.

I always like to put my finger right in the middle and hold it secure.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm going to use my spatula to make sure I'm getting all of this goodness right where I need it to be.

I'm going to bring this to a boil over medium-high heat.

And then I'm going to reduce the temperature down to low to keep it at a gentle simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.

While this sauce continues to reduce, we can take care of these beautiful zucchinis.

We're going to stuff them with our hashweh.

I like to just use my hands.

It makes it a little bit easier to drop the pieces in.

You'll notice I'm holding my zucchini upright just because gravity can do the work for me.

-[ Chuckles ] -I'm lazy.

It's all about efficiency.

If you don't feel comfortable using your fingers, you can always use a spoon.

You can use gloves, whatever makes you comfortable.

And you'll notice that I'm not packing in.

-Yeah, you're just letting -- -I'm letting it -- I'm letting gravity do the work for me.

And I'll, like, drop it onto the surface just to let things settle naturally.

-Okay.

-Well, rice tends to expand when it cooks, so I want to have space for that rice to grow and really absorb the flavors from the sauce that it's going to cook in.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm going to leave a little bit of space at the top.

-Head room.

-Exactly.

There's head room.

There's room for this to grow.

Would you like to help me out?

-Yeah, I'm dying to do this.

-Absolutely.

-Alright.

I'm gonna use my fingers, too.

-That's fine.

You can really see how this is like a family affair of people doing this together right before people get together to celebrate something.

-Mm-hmm.

Doing a big old batch.

-Absolutely.

Because you're not going to eat just one of these.

You're going to eat maybe two.

[ Both laugh ] And we'll continue stuffing these and check on our simmering sauce.

-Alright.

This is fun.

-Yes.

It's been 25 minutes, and our sauce has reduced significantly.

-Mm-hmm!

-So I'm going to check and make sure that this is correct to receive our hashweh.

I'm just going to drag my spatula, and it is leaving a trail.

-Ah!

-This is the perfect time to add my zucchini.

I'm going to turn the heat off.

-Okay.

-And I'm going to carefully arrange my zucchini around the perimeter.

This is the method that I found that allows the zucchini to fit perfectly.

-I was going to say that's a lot of zucchini for a 12-inch skillet.

-Exactly.

So, I have four.

-Very clever.

I did not think that was going to work.

-We're gonna make it work, Julia.

Look at how nice that is.

-Perfect.

-This is gonna fit.

And it looks like there's not a lot of sauce in here right now, but the zucchinis are going to release some liquid, so this is going to really come together very nicely.

I'm going to turn the heat back up to medium high and bring this to a boil.

This has come up to a boil.

I'm going to reduce my heat to low.

And I'm going to cover and cook this for 20 minutes.

It's been 20 minutes, Julia.

And you've noticed that we've kept this at a gentle simmer for this whole time.

It's time to flip our zucchinis.

-I'm really impressed with how gentle a simmer this is.

-Yes, very, very gentle.

And also, I'm being very careful with my tongs because once things cook, they can bruise.

So I don't want to leave an imprint of my tongs on this.

-Gotcha.

-We're going to recover these and let them cook for 25 minutes at that gentle simmer and let it do its thing.

It's been 25 minutes, Julia, and we are ready to eat.

These zucchinis are looking tender.

They're keeping their shape.

I like to just test that by pressing it slightly.

-Oh, look at that.

-Yeah, these are ready.

So I'm just going to go ahead and serve us.

-Okay.

-And of course we need to get this delicious sauce that has concentrated all of those meaty, juicy flavors.

This is just some whole milk yogurt.

That tanginess really helps balancing out the acidity from the tomato sauce.

I have here a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

-Mmm.

-And some whole parsley leaves.

-That really elevated the whole dish.

-It does.

-Now it really does look like it's meant for a celebration or a special occasion.

-Absolutely.

-Oh-ho-ho-ho!

-Look at that.

-Perfectly cooked.

-Perfectly cooked.

The zucchini is definitely holding its shape.

-Mm-hmm.

But it is so soft, I don't really need the knife.

My fork could really do the job.

Priorities, right, Carmen?

-Always.

Hunger is the motivation.

-Wow!

-[ Laughs ] Oh, the sauce is so delicious.

-That's spectacular.

-Yes, and it only has 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

And that spice really carries this dish.

-It really does.

There are layers of flavor.

The fresh tomato sauce, the cinnamon, the lamb of course.

-And we use tomato paste to make it even more concentrated.

All of those qualities really make this dish spectacular.

-This is really surprising me how much flavor is in it.

-It's so good.

-It's delicious.

-And you can see how you wouldn't eat just one of these.

-Mnh-mnh.

Mnh-mnh.

-No.

-Carmen, this is marvelous.

Thank you.

-It's my pleasure, Julia.

-If you want to try this classic Lebanese dish, core the zucchini carefully and gently stuff -- don't pack -- with the parcooked rice and lamb filling, and then simmer until tender in the tomato sauce.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a stuffed zucchini worthy of a special occasion, kousa mihshi.

This is so good.

-It's so tasty -- the yogurt.

-Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

-My pleasure.

-If you like chicken piccata, then you have a jar of capers probably sitting in your fridge right now.

But did you know there are other forms of the plant that you can use in the kitchen?

Now, everything here on the table comes from Capparis spinosa, and it is grown in the Mediterranean.

It's got little thorns.

The thing that we are most familiar with the caper is the flower bud of the plant.

These are packed in brine.

You can buy them either brined or salt-cured.

The salt-cured are lovely, but they're very tender and you have to rinse them several times, so we prefer the ones in brine.

This is our winning brand from Reese.

They're small.

They're sometimes labeled nonpareils, the small capers.

We like them because honestly, the bigger ones can be a lot.

If you want to sort of dial it back, rinse them before you use them, or you can take them straight from the jar and add them to your favorite cooked dishes.

Next up, we've got caper berries.

Now, if these buds were allowed to flower, they'd be beautiful white or purple, and the stigma of the plant can be picked and then put in brine just like the regular capers.

So these are nice and big, but they can even be larger, even the size of a grape tomato.

I love them in a martini, a Bloody Mary.

They're lovely on a charcuterie board to cut the richness of the cheese and the meats.

Or you can slice them and put them on top of a pizza.

Finally, we've got the caper leaves, and you guessed it -- it's the leaf of the plant.

Now, they can be packed in brine or in olive oil, which is what I have over here.

The olive oil ones really need to be patted dry to remove some of the oil.

These are super mild.

Think of them as an herb.

Cut them into chiffonade and sprinkle them over a pasta dish or a pizza.

Add them directly to a salad or a sandwich.

They're for someone who thinks, "I'm not sure I like capers."

They give you a little bit of grassy notes without kind of the big caper flavor that you get from the berries or the buds.

So there you have it, a caper for every use in the kitchen.

-Kibbeh is a popular dish throughout the Middle East, and there's lots of versions of it.

Some include ground meat, most often lamb, others are vegetarian.

Pumpkin is a very popular flavor, but they all include bulgur and some spices.

So inspired by Middle Eastern kibbeh, we decided to come up with our own recipe, and Sam is here to show us how it's done.

-That's right, Julia.

This kibbeh is a meat-free version, and rather than using ground meat, we're going to use red lentils.

-Ooh!

-Yes, it's really going to sort of mimic that ground beef texture to our kibbeh.

We're very inspired by the Middle Eastern spices, so we're going to use them here as well.

-Mmm!

-But it's super delicious.

So let's get started on our vegetable base.

-Okay.

-So, here I have an onion and a bell pepper.

And I'm just going to mince these fine.

And peel the skin off.

So, I'm going to take a few slices this way with my hand.

And then I'm going to make some vertical slices across the onion.

And...away we go.

-Nicely done.

-Now I'll transfer my onion to a bowl so that we just have more space to cut our pepper.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright, so here I have a bell pepper.

This is going to add a little sweetness.

And it's really the starting point to that bright red hue that we're going to develop to this kibbeh as we're cooking it.

So I really love that as well.

Cut my pepper into strips.

And it's important to cut our vegetables fine because when we eat this later we don't want huge pieces of vegetables flying out.

-That makes sense.

-Alright.

So we'll add our pepper to our onions.

And then, Julia, if you wouldn't mind turning on that saucepan, I have a tablespoon of olive oil in there... -Mm-hmm.

-...on medium heat so that we can start to cook our veggies.

Alright, Julia, as you can see in our pot, our oil is at a nice shimmer, which means we're ready to saut our vegetables.

So in goes our onion.

-Oh!

[ Sizzling ] That's a good sound.

-Sound of the gods.

[ Both laugh ] Onion and pepper.

As well as a teaspoon of salt.

Now, the salt is going to, of course, season our vegetables, but it's also going to help jump-start the cooking process for our veggies so that we can start to cook them down until they're nice and translucent.

So I'm just going to let these cook for about 5 minutes until they're nice and tender.

Julia, our vegetables are nicely softened, so now we can start to add our flavor bombs.

-Flavor bombs?

-Yes.

-I like the sound of this.

-[ Laughs ] So this kibbeh recipe was inspired by the spices of the Middle East, in which case we're starting with harissa.

-Mmm.

-This is a delicious North African spicy chili paste, and you can find it in the grocery store or you can make it yourself.

This is our recipe at "America's Test Kitchen," which you can find on our website, but it carries a bunch of coriander, Aleppo pepper, garlic, all the good stuff.

-Yeah, and it lasts for a long time in the fridge.

-It sure does.

-And once you have it on hand, you'll find yourself adding it to everything.

-For sure -- scrambled eggs.

-Scrambled eggs!

-Pizza.

You name it, harissa goes on it.

So we have 2 tablespoons of harissa I'm going to add right into our pot.

Yum.

-Mm-hmm.

-And next up we have tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.

This is not only going to add a little bit of umami, a little bit of added sweetness, but that concentrated red color that's going to develop almost like a neon hue to it when it's done.

Very cool.

-Very cool.

-Last but not least, I have 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

-Gesundheit.

[ Both laugh ] That's a lot!

-Got the whole cloves.

-Yeah, that's a lot of heat.

-That's right.

Now, this is optional, of course, but, Julia, you seem like someone who likes a little kick.

-Opt in.

-Excellent.

So in we go, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne.

And we're just going to give this a stir.

We're just going to cook these for about 30 more seconds until that flavor really starts to blossom in our vegetable mixture.

Julia, we can really smell those spices, right?

So now we're ready to add our first grain of the day, which is bulgur.

Now, this is a medium-grind bulgur.

As you can see, it's a little bit heftier than fine grain, which you would use for things like tabbouleh.

But in this case we wanted a more heftier grain.

So we're opting for the medium grind.

So I'm going to add 1 cup of medium-grind bulgur to our pot as well as 4 cups of water.

Julia, I'm going to now bring this up to a simmer, lower the heat, cover it, and cook it for about 8 minutes or so until it's just barely tender.

-Alright.

-Time to check our bulgur.

Oh, great.

-Boy, it doesn't take much time for that bulgur, really, to start to swell and absorb the liquid.

-It sure doesn't.

It's only been about 8 minutes, and our bulgur is barely tender.

Now it's time to add our lentils.

So here I have 3/4 cup of red lentils.

Red lentils are brown or green lentils that have been skinned and split, so they cook in basically half the time, which is great.

They're also that bright red hue that I was talking about earlier, which we loved.

I've also given these a quick rinse and picked through them just to be safe.

But into our pot goes 3/4 cup of red lentils.

-And I love the texture of cooked red lentils because they really break down.

It'll make it more of a cohesive kibbeh.

-Absolutely.

I'm going to give these a stir and then cover them and give them about 8 to 10 more minutes until both the lentils and the bulgur are fully cooked through.

-Great.

-Time to check on our bulgur and lentils.

-Oh, that looks good.

-That does look good.

Our bulgur and lentils should be fully cooked.

I'm just going to taste test to make sure we're in a good spot.

-Only one way to tell if it's tender.

-That's right.

Don't throw this against the wall.

[ Both laugh ] Perfect.

As much as I'd love to dive in, as you can see, there's a lot of liquid in the pot still, so I'm just going to take a dish towel and drop this on top of our saucepan, turn off the heat, and put the lid back on, and we're going to let this sit for about 10 minutes.

This will do a couple things.

The dish towel is going to absorb any excess moisture out of the kibbeh.

And it's also going to allow the mixture to thicken and be nice and cohesive when we're ready to eat.

Julia, our kibbeh has been sitting, thickening and cooling, so let's check it out.

-Time to eat?

-Almost.

-Oh, that towel really did absorb some of that liquid.

-It sure did.

Now, we've developed a ton of deep, dark, rich flavors, so now it's time to wake it up not only with more flavor but a little bit of aggression.

-[ Laughs ] -So here I'm going to add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Here we have 1/2 cup of finely minced chopped parsley.

Pop of green, little fresh grassy flavors, which I love, and also 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, that bright acid punch.

-That'll wake things up.

-Exactly.

I'm going to give this a stir, but as I said, not too gentle.

We really want to stir this vigorously.

-You said aggression.

[ Both laugh ] -It's an aggressive day today.

You can actually see those lentils starting to break down as I'm smashing this with my spatula.

[ Sloshing ] -You can hear it.

-Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

This looks great.

-That looks delicious.

-Doesn't it?

Now I'm just going to transfer our kibbeh to a big bowl.

Look at that red hue from that harissa and the tomato paste.

And of course the little speckles of bell pepper in there.

-You can tell it's going to have a lot of flavor just by looking at it.

-Absolutely.

I'm going to drizzle our platter with just 1 more tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

-Yes, please.

-Alright.

You ready to eat?

-I am, and I noticed some lettuce leaves, which is not traditional.

So I'm interested to hear what you have to say about them.

-That's right.

This is a vegetarian version, so we wanted to add a little bit more vegetables here.

So we're going to eat these out of these adorable little Bibb lettuce cups.

-I love it.

-Isn't that sweet?

Alright.

So I'm going to lay out two Bibb lettuce leaves.

And I'm going to take my spoon.

There's no rhyme or reason here.

But, you know, we don't want this to go all over the place.

So I guess a solid 2 tablespoons or so right on top.

Now, we also have some yogurt.

I have some plant-based yogurt here, but you could certainly use dairy yogurt if you wish.

But the little brightness and the acid from the yogurt is going to help awaken all these flavors.

-Mm.

-Just a dollop of yogurt right on top.

Lovely.

And I'll also give you a lemon wedge, just in case you want a little extra zhuzh on top.

-Ah!

Alright, here we go.

That's delicious.

You taste the spices, the harissa, the heartiness of the bulgur, and that texture of the red lentils that are starting to break down.

-Definitely.

-That is a ton of flavor.

-I love it so much -- the harissa, exactly, the tomato paste, a little kick of cayenne really adds great depth of flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

And the yogurt on top.

-Not to mention that beautiful hue that we got, that red hue.

I feel like this would look beautiful on a meze platter.

Anything.

-Sam, this is delicious.

-Thank you.

-Thank you for showing me how to make this.

-Any time.

-So there you have it.

If you want to try our inventive recipe for red lentil kibbeh, stir in a few flavor bombs, including harissa and tomato paste, cook the bulgur for a few minutes before adding the red lentils, and stir the mixture vigorously before serving.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a brand-new recipe for red lentil kibbeh.

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

-Visit our website where you can sign up for our free e-mail newsletter for even more of the recipes and stories you love from all of our cast and cooks, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

-From the cooks and editors of "America's Test Kitchen," Cook's Illustrated magazine has been all about the why and how of cooking for over 30 years.

Get a year of award-winning reporting, science-based discoveries, trusted reviews, and more.

The cost is $19.95.

That's 63% less than the cover price.

To subscribe, scan the QR code on your screen or visit cooksillustrated.com/ tvsubscribe.

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

-Plugr European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers, slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugr -- from professional kitchens to your home.

-Sur La Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.