America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen"... we're headed to Ireland.

Bridget makes Julia Irish stew with carrots and turnip.

Adam reviews all-in-one machines.

And Erin makes Bridget classic Irish brown soda bread.

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

-Simple stews made with just meat, vegetables, and water are an old-school kind of recipe that tastes clean and elegant.

And I think every cook should learn how to make them.

And today Bridget is gonna walk us through the basics using an Irish stew as the example.

-That's right.

And when you have a minimal amount of ingredients, then the ingredients themselves and the technique really has to matter.

-That's it.

-All right.

Now, one of the first steps that we do with many stews is, we brown it.

-Mm.

-So before I get to the meat, I'm just going to start to heat up a little bit of oil.

I've got a tablespoon of vegetable oil here in a Dutch oven.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm gonna turn this to medium-high heat.

We'll keep an eye on it.

We're just gonna look for that oil to heat up and start to shimmer.

So let's talk about meat.

We're making it with lamb.

-I love it.

-Lamb already has so much flavor, but we're using one of the most flavorful pieces of the lamb.

It's shoulder chops.

Shoulder cuts are very tough but incredibly flavorful, so they're perfect for stewing because it takes a tough cut and turns it tender.

-That's right.

-Now, this is a total of 4 1/2 pounds of lamb shoulder chops, about an inch, inch and a half thick.

And they do have the bone in it.

-Mm-hmm.

-And that's actually a very good thing.

We do want to cut away from the bone here, and you can see all that marrow in there.

-Mm-hmm.

-We are going to keep the bones.

We're going to add these into the stew, as well, and we'll fish them out a little later on.

-That's right, 'cause that's gonna help make the broth.

-That's exactly right.

So, now, there should be another one.

Yeah, there we go.

We got these little riblets here.

You can see this little tail end of the ribs there.

-Ah.

Sneaky buggers.

-That's exactly right.

So I just want to start the cut there, and I'm using my boning knife and just cutting the meat away, and you just want to get in there and feel it.

All right.

And you can put these in there, as well, if you like.

And now all we're left with is some fat and meat here.

-Mm-hmm.

-We're gonna cut these into pretty big pieces.

-How much fat do you leave on the meat when you cut it for stew meat?

-I like a rich, flavorful, fatty kind of stew, but for, like, any big globules, I'll take those away.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then we want to cut, as I said, into to pretty large pieces, about 1 1/2 inches.

I'm going to season these with salt, and I'm gonna have you be pepper lady.

-All right.

-Thank you.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now, if after you've cut the meat, it's really wet, very moist, you might go at it with some paper towels.

That's going to help with browning.

-Mm-hmm.

-But this is actually pretty dry.

-Yeah, it looks perfect.

-All right.

We're gonna cook this in two batches.

-Mm-hmm.

[ Sizzling ] So that's all I want to add at this point.

But we're gonna let that first side go for about two minutes until we start seeing some color.

-All right.

Mmm.

It's starting to smell good.

-That's the color we want.

-That's it.

-Maillard reaction to browning -- That means development of flavor.

So I'm gonna go ahead and turn these over.

We're gonna let this go for another, I'd say, five minutes.

We want to get browning on all the sides, or roughly all the sides.

After that, I'm gonna take them out, add another tablespoon of vegetable oil, and then I'll add the rest of the lamb and cook it through that same way.

-All right.

Two batches.

-All right.

So that was that second batch of lamb, again cooked for about five to seven minutes in total.

Nice and brown.

Good color in the pan.

-Mm.

-Before we add our next ingredient, I need to chop it.

We're using onions.

-Mm-hmm.

-Three large onions.

It's about 5 cups of chopped onion in total.

All right.

So I've got another tablespoon of vegetable oil.

-Mm-hmm.

-And this time I'm going to keep the heat over medium.

Since we're adding the onions... -Yep.

-...a little bit of a lower heat.

The pot is still nice and hot, though.

-It is.

-So we'll add the onions right in there.

-Mmm.

-So now I really want to get in there with a spoon and start to scrape up that fond.

This is 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Just add that in there.

The salt will help the onions release their juices and will start to deglaze this pot.

You'll see some more caramelization going on there.

-Mm.

-So all in all, we're gonna let this go until the onions are nice and well browned.

That's gonna take about eight minutes.

-Okay.

Ah.

[ Laughs ] That's some good color.

-And it smells fantastic.

-So now another stew basic -- a little bit of thickener.

This is 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.

I'm gonna sprinkle it over our onions and stir that in.

And we want to give that flour some time to cook off that raw flavor.

So just a minute or two.

Okay, so now the star of the show -- water.

We've got 3 cups of water straight from Ireland.

-[ Laughs ] -Straight from the tap.

3 cups of water.

We're gonna add half of it, so 1 1/2 cups goes in.

And then we're gonna scrape up more of that fond.

So that looks good.

Incorporated that flour and water together.

So I'm going to add the rest.

Again, that was 3 cups total.

So now a little bit of seasoning.

We've got some dried thyme here.

It's a teaspoon of dried thyme.

You can always add fresh if you want, but dried thyme is one of those herbs that's great to keep on hand.

It tastes great.

All right.

A little bit more salt.

That was a teaspoon of salt.

So we're gonna let this come back up to a simmer.

We have reached simmer.

-Mmm.

-So now we're gonna add the meat and bones back in.

I'm gonna put the bones towards the bottom just to make sure that all of that marrow is sitting underneath.

The rest goes in, all of those juices.

-Mmm.

-Now, we want to make sure that's submerged, and we want to make sure it's back up to a simmer, which it is.

So if you wouldn't mind putting a lid on it... -You got it.

-There we go.

Now, this is going to go into a pretty low oven -- 300 degrees.

So it's gonna be in there for an hour before we move on to the next step.

Thank you.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now, the stew has been in there for an hour.

But before we bring it out, we need to prep our veg.

-Mm-hmm.

-Along with the onion, we're gonna use carrot and turnip.

-All right.

-Now, our carrot -- already peeled.

Just gonna slice the carrot into quarter-inch slices.

As it gets to the thicker part of the carrot, I like to cut it in half.

-Mm-hmm.

-Otherwise, you end up with a giant coin.

-That barely fits on the spoon with everything else.

-That's exactly right.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then continue to cut it again into slices.

This is 1/2 pound of carrots.

I've already prepped two more.

You really want to go by weight here.

And then purple top turnip.

I love that little bit of a horseradish-y flavor that it gives.

-Mm-hmm.

-We're just gonna peel this.

So I'm going to cut off the stem.

Put that in the ground, you can grow another one.

-Really?

-No, I have no idea.

It just sounded really smart.

We're gonna cut this a little bit bigger.

The carrots, they cook at a different rate from the turnips, so the carrots, we sliced them thin.

-Mm-hmm.

-1/4 inch thick.

The turnip, I'm gonna cut into 1-inch cubes.

-Nice.

-So I just make 1-inch planks and then cut across.

So that looks good.

And now, could you get the door for me?

I'm gonna get the stew.

-You bet.

-Thank you.

-Oh.

Oh-oh-oh.

-Oh, it smells so good.

-[ Sighs ] You know, it smells like fall to me.

This is the smell of fall.

There's a cold, brisk wind, and this is the smell of the kitchen.

-Smells like stew.

-Yeah.

-All right, pot super-hot.

But you can see there's a lot more liquid in there now.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's because the meat has given off some of its liquid.

Of course, the onions, as well.

So we can now add our vegetables to it.

I'm just gonna place them right on top.

This is going to go another hour, and by that time, the meat should be good and tender.

-Okay.

-So it was in there for that second hour.

Nice and bubbly here.

-Oh-ho-ho.

-I really want to check whether or not the lamb is nice and tender.

There we go.

And then just take a paring knife, and it should go in and out very easily.

-Mm-hmm.

-Which it does.

-That looks very tender.

-So now I'm just going to stir the turnip and the carrots down into that gorgeous broth.

-Mm.

And we're gonna let this sit here just uncovered.

Let it cool down a little bit for about five minutes, and a little bit of that fat's gonna rise to the top.

And you can tell me if you want me to get rid of it or not.

-[ Laughs ] Okay.

[ Breathes deeply ] -It's still there.

-[ Laughs ] I'm so ready to eat this.

-I really thought it was gonna be gone by the time I came back in five minutes.

But look.

It's still there, you're still there.

-Mm-hmm.

-So it's rested.

Now, you can see there's a little bit of fat on the top.

If you want to get rid of some of that fat, you just take a shallow spoon like that.

-Mm-hmm.

There really isn't that much fat on this batch.

-There isn't a lot.

It really depends on how much you trim the lamb.

-Mm-hmm.

-Let me go ahead and stir this real quick.

So now I'm just gonna try to find some of those bones and fish them out.

Another advantage of this is, you can serve people the bones with a little bit of marrow on it... -Ooh.

-...to spread on the bread that you eat with the stew.

-Ooh!

-How about that?

-I like that idea.

-Oh, there's a good one.

Look at that marrow.

-Mmm.

-I'm going to a little bit of green here, a little bit of flavor.

I've got 1/4 cup of fresh minced parsley.

Look at that.

-Oh, that's beautiful.

-One last thing to do.

Always a good idea with any kind of cooking -- Taste it for seasoning.

I wouldn't mind a little more salt.

How's that looking?

-That looks good enough to eat.

-Thank goodness because we are ready to eat.

-Oh, goodness.

Yeah, this with an ice-cold beer by a fire.

Snowing outside.

Oh, look at that beautiful bowl of stew.

Has the right proportion of vegetable to meat.

Oh!

-Now, that spoon can take apart that lamb.

No problem.

Look how tender that is.

-Mmm.

You can taste all the ingredients.

You can taste the lamb, the onions, the carrots, and the turnips.

But it's more than just a sum of its parts.

It is an elegant, simple flavor.

-The sauce is amazing.

-Oh, my goodness.

-But even the vegetables.

-Yes.

-The turnips and the carrots, they're not so tender that they're just breaking down into a mush.

-Mm-hmm.

-They've retained some of their flavor.

Oh.

-This is terrific.

-And this is just with water.

-I know.

I love it.

Thank you.

-Thank you.

So if you want to make this simple-but-elegant stew, just follow the basic rules of braising.

Brown the meat and create good fond in the pot.

Use a 300-degree oven for an even distribution of heat.

Give the meat a good head start before adding the vegetables.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a classic recipe for Irish stew with carrots and turnip.

I need to pull this up a little closer.

-I'm thinking that's right.

-Mmm.

That sauce, dipping a little soda bread in there?

[ Gasps ] -We are getting closer to cooking like the Jetsons, where all you have to do is press a button, and whoosh, dinner is done.

Case in point, these all-in-one machines, which claim to do a lot, but they're expensive.

And are they worth the money, Adam?

-Julia, these things sell like hotcakes throughout Europe and Australia.

-And they're endorsed by famous chefs like Thomas Keller and Heston Blumenthal.

-Totally true.

We can get them now, too, and they do promise a lot.

You can see what the form factor is.

They essentially look like a stand mixer.

-Mm-hmm.

-There is a base with a work bowl on top.

The base has a motor.

It also has a heating element because in addition to prepping ingredients, these things will cook the ingredients for you.

It is a pretty bold promise, and it is a very steep price of admission.

We got these for between $395 and almost $2,000 for this lineup of six.

-That's pricy.

-Crazy.

They come with a bevy of attachments, though.

I mean, they will chop, they will grind, they will knead.

They will grate.

They're supposed to act as blenders.

Some of them do special things like slow cooking or sous vide cooking or steaming, even making caramel.

-Mm.

-They all come with their own recipes, either in a separate booklet or programmed right into the machine.

-Hm.

-So the way we approached the testing was to try a bunch of their recipes and then "ATK" counterparts to compare the two.

Bread dough was one of the recipes.

We did theirs and ours, and that was a win for all these machines.

-Hm.

-They were able to produce really beautiful, elastic, silky bread dough.

So score one for the all-in-ones.

Hollandaise was another test that we did.

-Mm-hmm.

-That was essentially a fail in most of these.

-Oh, no.

-There were a couple of reasons for that.

The appliance honestly is new to a lot of our testers, so there was a learning curve, and it was hard to nail the heat exactly.

So some of them got a little too hot, scrambled the eggs.

Second reason is that a lot of these will only operate with their chopping blades installed, and that scrambled some of the eggs... -Huh.

-...in the cooking bowl, too.

The risotto tests were sort of a mixed bag.

Testers had better luck with the recipes that came with the machines.

-Mm-hmm.

-With the Test Kitchen recipe, that was a chicken risotto that started by browning pieces of chicken.

-Mm-hmm.

-Most of them, because the blades have to be installed in order for them to operate... -I see where this is going.

-Yep.

It chucked the chicken around the bowl, didn't brown well.

In some cases, it got all nicked up.

-Ah.

-The rice got beat up in the risotto.

There were two machines, though, that did a better job for a couple of reasons.

These two can be operated... -Mm-hmm.

-...without their chopping blades installed.

-Ah, that seems key.

-That's totally key.

So the chicken browned a lot better.

Also, their work bowls are a little wider at the bottom.

-Mm.

-So that was a big help in terms of the browning of the chicken.

-More surface area.

-Testers also tried using these as food processors... -Mm-hmm.

-...by making a mirepoix, which is that mixture of onions and carrots and celery; dicing pancetta; and grating Parmesan.

And again, a lot of these didn't do a super job at the mirepoix.

It came out a little slushy.

There was that learning curve involved.

It was hard to get it just right.

Except for this one in front of me.

-Hm.

-Which was just as easy to use as a regular food processor.

-Huh.

-It was intuitive to figure out, and the mirepoix was crisply cut and lovely.

And testers actually thought this one overall was the easiest to use.

The controls are simple and straightforward.

It has sort of a familiar form factor.

It was a little easier to clean because more of its parts were dishwasher-safe than some of the other machines.

-That's key.

-That is key.

So if you want to inch towards the Jetsons in your cooking, you're gonna want this, which is the Cuisinart CompleteChef cooking food processor.

$700.

-Whoof.

-So it's not cheap, but you know what?

It outperformed all the other ones as a food processor, it did a great job as a stand mixer.

It did a really good job cooking the food.

-Hm.

-It wasn't a terrific blender.

That was its Achilles' heel.

But all of the other functions were up to snuff.

-Wow, so you actually would recommend this?

-You know, the tester who tried this, I had to pry it out of her hands.

-Really?

-She didn't want to give it up.

-All right.

I was pretty skeptical about these in the beginning.

But there you have it.

If you're ready to enter the world of all-in-one machines, look for the Cuisinart CompleteChef cooking food processor, and that's gonna run you about $700.

-Today, we're making soda bread.

Not that sweet loaf that's filled with raisins and caraway and resembles a scone.

No, we're making real Irish brown soda bread.

It's malty, it's craggy, and it's made with very few ingredients, the star of which is wholemeal flour.

Now, this wholemeal flour has a really coarse texture.

It actually has the whole bran.

Very coarse grind.

You can see all the bits of the wheat right in there.

But it can be really hard to source here in the United States.

And when you do find it, it can be very expensive.

But it's what gives Irish soda bread that craggy, rustic interior and nice, sweet, nutty flavor.

So Erin's here, and she's going to show us how to make Irish brown soda bread without the star of the show -- wholemeal flour.

-I certainly am, Bridget.

Absolutely.

So I actually grew up on the style that you mentioned earlier... -Mm.

-...with the raisins and caraway seeds, and it's a family recipe, so I'll always love it.

It wasn't until I went to Ireland about 25 years ago that I discovered this type of bread that you're describing, the Irish brown soda bread.

It was everywhere.

-Yes.

-In the B&Bs, in the pubs, in the restaurants, everywhere.

And as you mentioned, this wholemeal is not really easily found here.

-No.

-So one of our biggest challenges was to make a substitute.

-Okay.

-I'm gonna show you how.

So as you can tell, American whole-wheat flour is very fine.

It's very uniform, and it's very different from that wholemeal flour.

-Right.

-So we are starting with 2 cups of whole-wheat flour, and it's really important that you have fresh whole-wheat flour, or that you pull it out of your freezer, that it's been in there for no longer than 12 months.

And to this, to get that texture, we're gonna add 1 cup of bran.

And then we're gonna add 1/4 cup of the germ, which is the center part of the kernel.

-So you're basically re-creating wholemeal flour.

-I am.

Yes, absolutely.

-Yeah.

-One ingredient at a time.

The loaf that we baked with just this mixture was definitely better in texture, but was a little too wheaty.

So we're gonna add 1 cup of all-purpose flour to kind of cut that wheatiness.

To this, we're gonna add 2 teaspoons of sugar, and this is gonna kind of mirror the sweetness that you would get with a wholemeal flour.

-Nice.

-We're gonna add 1 teaspoon of table salt and I'm gonna add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda.

Believe it or not, we're not relying on the baking soda to leaven our bread.

We actually are relying on it for flavor.

It adds a nice mineral-y flavor to the bread, and it also helps with browning.

We're gonna add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and that's gonna really leaven our bread.

All right.

So now we're gonna whisk these together.

Now I'm gonna add 2 cups of buttermilk.

It adds a nice tang, and also the acid in it is gonna react with the baking powder and the baking soda.

So now I'm just gonna stir this together until that buttermilk is worked in and all the flour has absorbed the buttermilk.

And it's just a rough, craggy texture, as you can see.

And now I'm just gonna turn it out onto our board.

I'm just gonna mix it together until it comes into a 6-inch round.

It's a little tacky, but it's still manageable.

Ruler.

And there we are.

Now I'm gonna cut a 5-inch cross in the top.

That's about a half of an inch deep.

As it bakes, it's gonna allow it to spread.

Now I'm just gonna transfer this to an 8-inch cake pan to really corral the loaf.

So as it bakes, it's gonna start to spread, and we want to corral it so it spreads out and up.

This is gonna bake in an oven that's at 375 degrees on the middle rack.

It's gonna take about 40 to 45 minutes to bake, and I'm gonna rotate it halfway through.

-Okay.

-All right.

-Soda bread gets its name and flavor from its traditional leavening agent.

That's baking soda.

But our version also uses baking powder.

So what's the difference?

Well, for starters, baking soda is what's called single-acting.

Baking soda is a simple chemical compound containing sodium, hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon.

It acts as soon as it comes in contact with an ingredient that's acidic, like buttermilk, by breaking down into smaller molecules, including carbon dioxide gas.

This single-acting baking soda reaction is fleeting and will wind down with time.

Now, baking powder is a mixture of a few different chemicals, one of which is baking soda.

It also typically contains two or more different acids.

Baking powder is considered to be double-acting.

The first reaction happens when it becomes wet and one type of acid reacts with some of the baking soda.

Once the batter is heated, a second reaction of the other acid and baking soda is activated.

This double action gives the loaf more time and a more foolproof ability to rise.

So although it's called soda bread, we use baking powder for dependable lift and baking soda to impart that distinct flavor.

Oh, that smells good.

-Oh, look at that, Bridget.

-Oh!

-You smell that?

-[ Sniffs ] That smells so toasty.

Oh!

-So it's nice and lightly golden brown on top.

It baked for about 45 minutes.

And I'm gonna take the temperature, and it should be 185 degrees.

And we have 186.

-Oh.

-And that's great.

That's fabulous.

-Fantastic.

-All right.

-Yeah.

well, that's really important, especially with a brown loaf of bread.

-Yep.

-It's hard to tell if it's done or not.

-Yeah, absolutely.

So now I'm just gonna invert it onto this cooling rack.

-Mmm.

And then I'm gonna reinvert it.

So now we're just gonna let this cool for about an hour.

All right, Bridget, it is time.

So I'm just gonna slice this in half.

[ Crunching ] Can you hear that crust?

-I can hear that.

-Yep.

That's a great sign.

-Oh.

Look inside.

Oh, that is beautiful.

-Beautiful, rustic, craggy crumb.

-And as much as I want to tear into a loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven... -Yeah.

Yeah.

-...it's that cooling period that really also helps set the structure.

So it is important to let it cool.

-Absolutely.

All right.

How many slices would you like?

-How many slices are you gonna have?

I'm gonna start with one.

-All right.

Then I shall start with one, as well.

-All right.

Great.

And we do have butter.

We have Irish butter.

-All right.

-Salted.

You got to have the salt, right?

-You do.

You go for it.

-Oh, my goodness.

Thank you.

-You have to have the butter.

-There you go.

-Properly softened.

Beautiful crust.

[ Sniffs ] Oh, the aroma.

-I just drove right in, Bridget.

-Mmm!

-Mm-hmm.

-Unmistakably soda bread.

-Yep.

-It's got that little bit of that mineral tang to it.

-Mm-hmm.

-But it's just a little sweet.

It's not the current cakey scone version at all.

-Worlds apart.

-Which is fine.

-Worlds apart.

-But this is a whole other thing.

-Absolutely.

Has that great texture.

That rustic texture.

You would never know that it wasn't wholemeal flour.

-Beautiful flavor.

And it's not too dense.

-Mnh-mnh.

And this goes with pretty much anything.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Soups, salads, cheese.

-Thanks, Erin.

This is amazing.

-Thank you.

Thanks for sharing this.

-And if you want to make this beautiful Irish brown soda bread at home, use wheat bran and germ in addition to whole-wheat flour.

Add a combo of baking powder and soda for optimum lift and flavor, and bake in a cake pan for a taller loaf.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," a craggy, hearty, and easy loaf to make -- Irish brown soda bread.

And you can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes, on our website.

That's americastestkitchen.com/tv.

It's also lucky because I get to make with you.

-Mm-hmm.