America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Keith makes Bridget pincho morunos, Jack talks all about dried chilies, Erin makes Julia pa amb tomquet, Dan experiments with melting points, and Bridget and Julia make ros sangria.

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

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-I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite on a great tapas spread, but if I had to choose, it might be those beautiful charred meat skewers that are imbued with Moorish spices and flavors, called pinchos morunos.

And Keith's here to tell us more about it.

Now, sometimes it's made with pork, sometimes chicken.

What are we doing today?

-So, we're going to use pork today.

-Alright.

-Pork goes really well with the spices in that spice mixture on the outside.

But pork kebabs, as you know, can turn out really, really dry.

When you grill them, they're really lean, so, there's not a lot of protection there.

So, I have a couple tricks that's going to make this super moist, super tender, super flavorful.

-Fabulous.

-So, the first thing is, is using the right cut of pork.

We're going to use country-style boneless pork ribs.

And you can see here that they have a nice mix of white meat, which is the loin; and also some dark meat, you can see right here, which is up from the shoulder.

And it has a lot of nice intramuscular fat, so, it's going to be flavorful and it's also going to keep it nice and moist when we grill it.

But one more thing we're going to do before we grill these is that I'm going to make a brine.

I have 1.5 quarts of water here, cold water.

I'm going to add 3 tablespoons of table salt.

That salt is dissolved and I can just place our pork in here, like so.

The salt is going to do its job.

We're going to let this sit at room temperature for half an hour.

-Great.

-While that's sitting, we're going to work on our spice paste.

So, I have 1/4 cup of vegetable oil here.

And the predominant flavors in this marinade are garlic and lemon.

So, I have 6 cloves of garlic, minced; and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Also add some spices for complexity.

I have 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika.

-Mmm!

-I also have 1 teaspoon of ground coriander.

-Alright.

-And 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin.

I also have 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of table salt.

Now, the brine is going to season the pork, but we also want to season our spice paste.

-Gotcha.

-So, I have two other additions.

We're going to do some fresh grated ginger in here.

So, I've already had these peeled.

We'll capture all those juices coming out of there, too.

1 grated tablespoon.

Perfect.

-That's gorgeous.

Alright!

-So, one other addition.

I have some fresh oregano here.

-Mmm!

-Slide that off the stem.

Now, this oregano is going to give that marinade and spice paste kind of an earthy flavor.

Okay, so, I'm going to take 1 teaspoon of this.

That goes in the spice paste.

And then I'm going to take another teaspoon and we're going to use that to garnish the cooked pork later on.

-Lovely.

-So, I'll have you hold on to that.

-Fantastic.

-Hide it.

Don't let anybody take it.

-Alright.

Alright.

It's going in the vault.

-Just stir this all together.

So, we're just going to let the pork finish for 30 minutes and we'll come back and cut it and skewer it.

-Alright.

-It's been 30 minutes and the pork is out of the brine.

The brine has done its job and it's seasoned that pork.

-Very fast.

-So, I'm just going to pat it dry, to make sure that we don't have any brine on the surface here.

Now, it's time to cut the meat for our kebabs.

You can see that we have white meat and dark meat.

The white meat and the dark meat need to be handled a little differently.

They're going to cook at different temperatures.

-Right.

-So, when I cut them into pieces, we want to separate them.

So, I'm going to cut these into 1-inch cubes.

Those 1-inch cubes are going to allow the pork to brown on the grill, but not overcook.

This will be our dark bowl.

And, now, if you have a piece that has dark and light, I would put that with the dark, like so.

This is our white meatball.

-Ah.

-Okay, if there's any fat, like this, we want to get rid of that as well.

Okay, our last piece.

And I would say that falls in the dark meat camp.

And here, white meat.

-Look at that.

-Perfect.

Now that we've got our pork cut, we can put the spice paste on.

Now, inevitably, I think you'll probably find that you have less dark meat than you have white meat, so, we're going to kind of add the spice paste proportionally.

So, I'm going to add, let's say, about one-third of the spice paste here and the remaining two-thirds over here.

So, there's no better way to do this than with your hands, so, I'm just going to get in here, mix the spice paste in, and then start to skewer.

So, I have metal skewers here and I'm just going to thread these on.

Now, I want to keep some space in between here.

You want to make sure you have a little bit of a gap in there, so the heat can get between the pieces of pork.

-Makes sense.

You get more char that way, too.

-Right.

I'm trying to get an even amount.

So, it looks like I have seven pieces on there.

It's coated pretty well.

Looks good.

So, I'm going to put this on the left side of our tray.

This is your job to remember -- left side is dark, right side is white.

-Okay.

-Okay.

And so, I'm just going to finish up skewering these and then we can go outside and grill them.

-Don't forget to put that on the right side.

-Right side.

-Right side.

-Right.

So, our pork is marinated and skewered and now, it's time to cook.

-Oh, good.

-So, I've preheated our gas grill on high for 15 minutes.

Make sure it's nice and hot.

Now, I'm just going to take a brush and I'm going to clean off our grill grates.

Now that we've gotten rid of any stuff that stuck to the grill, I'm just going to take a towel and some vegetable oil.

I'll just dip it in here and start wiping that.

Now, I'm going to shut off the outer two portions here.

I want it to be hot underneath the pork, but I don't want the whole grill to be hot and overcook the pork.

-Okay.

-So, we really want to concentrate the heat right underneath the pork.

Now, you remember that I separated the dark and the white meat?

-Yes.

-Well, there was a reason for that.

So, the dark meat contains more fat and more collagen, so, we're going to need to cook that to a little bit higher of a temperature than the white meat.

So, I'm going to take the dark meat skewers, put that on the grill first, and give it a head start before the white meat.

-Okay.

-I'm going to cover it and we're going to cook for 6 minutes, give it a little bit of a head start, and then we'll come back and we'll add our white meat.

So, it's been 6 minutes and that dark meat has gotten a head start and now, I'm going to flip this and I'm going to add our white meat and continue to cook.

-Okay.

-You can see we're getting some color on there.

Just kind of roll that over.

Okay, now, our white meat.

We're going to go for another 4 minutes and then we'll come back and we'll flip all of those skewers.

It's been 4 minutes and we can check on our skewers, see how they're doing.

-Mmm!

-These look great.

So, check to see what we're going on here.

Oh, that's perfect.

-Just a little bit of browning.

-Just a little bit of browning, yeah.

These are going to go a little bit longer, so we can continue to brown them.

-Okay.

-So, I'm going to also rotate and flip the dark ones and make sure those are getting nice, evenly browned.

And what we're looking for is the white meat will register 140 degrees.

The dark meat will be 155 degrees, so, a little bit higher than the white meat.

And that's going to take 4 to 8 minutes and I'm just going to go in there every 4 minutes and make sure I flip and get even browning on those.

So, let's check on our pork to see if it's done.

This is our white meat, so, I'm looking for 140 degrees.

141 degrees.

I'll take that.

-I'll take it.

Ah!

That smells so good.

-Smells great.

Looks wonderful.

So, I'm just going to take some foil and tent this so it doesn't cool off on our way in.

I think we're good to go.

Let's go eat.

-Let's go eat.

-It's been 5 minutes.

The pork has rested.

It's time to eat.

So, I'm just going to take this off the skewer and I'm going to mix this up.

So, you want to make sure the guests get some dark meat and some white meat.

-Because we were basically only separating it so that it would cook well.

-Right.

Okay, and I'm just going to put this onto a platter.

Now, you remember that 1 teaspoon of oregano that I saved?

-Yes.

Just a nice sprinkle over that.

-[ Sniffs ] A little freshness at the end.

-Yeah, the heat on that pork is kind of blooming, the aroma of that oregano, it's fantastic.

-It's gorgeous.

-Okay, it's time to eat.

No more waiting.

So, make sure that you have a nice mix here.

Some dark meat.

Squeeze of lemon.

Try the dark meat, first.

-Okay.

Mmm!

-Garlic is the first thing that you get here.

-But it's not overpowering.

-No, it's not.

-The real challenge, really, is the white meat.

Which is still juicy.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm!

Very tender, not overcooked at all.

-The smoked paprika really... -Mmm!

-...comes out, accentuates the grill flavor, and that brine has really done its job -- meat's moist, juicy, fantastic.

Not dried out at all.

-Not dried out, at all.

I think this is the best skewers we've ever done.

-That's great.

-Doesn't get any better than this.

Thanks, Keith.

-You're welcome.

-If you'd like to try this beautiful recipe at home, brine country-style pork ribs, season and skewer the light and dark meat separately and then give the dark meat a head start on the grill.

So, from America's Test Kitchen -- a little bit spicy -- beautifully cooked pinchos morunos.

-I'm basically a very lazy cook, so, I'm looking for little work and big wins, and dried chilies is a big win with almost no work.

What makes dried chili so amazing is the complexity and the nuance.

Think about the difference between, let's say, an apricot and the intensity of that when you eat dried apricots.

So, that's what you get with dried chilies, you don't get with chili powder, is nuance and complexity and depth.

So, first thing you need to do is shop for them when they're fresh.

You want to get chilies that are pliable.

Pick them up, bend them.

They break?

Put them back down and look for other chilies.

When you get them home, put them somewhere cool and dry.

Airtight container, zipper lock bag is fine in the pantry.

Months, even years, later, they will be fine, as long as they were in an airtight container.

When it comes to cleaning them, sometimes they can be a little dusty or a little dirty.

Just use a damp paper towel.

You don't need to rinse them.

Just a little light pressure to clean them off.

And, finally, toasting -- that is the key to unlocking their flavor.

Then you can remove the stem and the seeds.

I often do it in the microwave.

Sure, you can do it in the skillet or the stovetop or the oven, but the microwave takes 10 seconds for one chili, maybe 30 seconds for a bunch of chilies.

Do it in 10-second increments, so you don't overdo it.

As soon as you can smell them, they're good to go.

Alright, you will see recipes that call for dozens of varieties of chilies and I know I've got a lot of chilies here.

I'm going to make it super simple for you.

There are four categories.

The first category are these four down here and I'm naming them the Fruity and Funky Family.

That's not an official name.

That's a Jack Bishop name.

And these all are relatively mild.

They have a lot of fruit flavor and you can substitute one for the other.

They're going to be a little bit different.

The anchos are really raisiny, with some chocolate notes.

The mulatos, I think, have more of what I would call licorice notes.

These are a little smoky.

And the guajillos, they might have little bits of herbaceousness in them, but they're similar enough, similar intensity.

So, that's your first family, Fruity and Funky.

Second family is these middle two, what I'm going to call Earthy and Nutty.

New Mexicos are just really a versatile, delicious chili.

The cascabel are more woody and nutty and really have more of that earthiness to them.

The third family are these two -- Hot Things Come in Little Packages, or, at least, in these two cases.

These are both pretty spicy chilies.

They're bright, more acidic, almost citrusy.

Again, they can be used in place of each other, but you wouldn't really want to swap these out for other chilies on the table.

And the final category is this last one down by himself -- Smoky.

This chili's actually smoked.

It's typically a jalapeo smoked over wood fire.

And, yeah, you get chocolaty and tobacco notes, but what you mostly get is smoke.

Dried chilies -- they're more than just heat.

-Pa amb tomquet, or "bread with tomato," is a standard Spanish tapa and a staple of Cataln cuisine.

And it's just two ingredients, but how you put them together makes all the difference.

-Absolutely, yeah.

As you said, it's just tomatoes and bread.

It doesn't get any simpler, does it?

But it's greater than the sum of its parts.

-Awesome.

-So, we're going to start with two or three tomatoes.

I know that I'm going to need three because they're medium size.

-Mm-hmm.

-You really want thick skin and a high quantity of juice.

-Okay.

-Okay, so, I'm going to cut these in half across the equator.

We're going to leave the skins behind and just grate the pulp.

Grating it on the large holes of a grater.

You just want to hold it.

You can see all that beautiful pulp coming... -Yeah!

-...out right there, right?

All the flavor of the tomato is really in the pulp.

The key is that they are juicy tomatoes.

You do not want to use plum tomatoes here because those are not high in juice.

So, we get all of that pulp.

-That smells so good.

-So, I have about 1.5 cups of tomato pulp here.

I'm just going to add 1/2 teaspoon of table salt and just stir it together.

Pretty basic, pretty simple.

-Pretty basic.

-Yep.

Okay, so, now, I'm going to just move on to the bread.

-Okay.

-Here we have a loaf of ciabatta.

-Mm-hmm.

-In Catalonia, they use a bread called pan de cristal.

It's often compared to ciabatta, which is what we're using today.

So, the ciabatta has a nice crust and it also has that open, airy crumb and it's perfect for this recipe.

-Okay.

-Alright, so, I'm going to cut this in half horizontally.

-Oh, look at those big holes!

-Check that out, yeah.

-I love it.

-Alright, so I'm just going to cut this into 2-inch pieces.

Okay, so, now, I'm going to just broil this for 2 to 4 minutes.

-Mm-hmm.

-I have the oven rack set about 6 inches away from the heating element and we're going to let it go until it's nice and crusty and golden brown.

Alright.

Alright.

-Those are perfectly toasted.

-They're beautiful, right?

-Yes!

-So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to rub each piece of toast with half a clove of raw garlic.

And this is optional, but it really does kind of pull everything together.

And so you can go lightly over the crust, so that... -Uh-huh.

-...the rough surface of the bread is going to like juice the garlic.

-Yeah, almost like sandpaper.

-Exactly, yep.

Now, I'm just going to transfer them to a serving platter.

I do recommend, if you're serving this to guests, to toast the bread right before you serve it.

You really want that warmth.

Alright, excellent.

And here we have our tomatoes... -Mm-hmm.

-...our tomato pulp.

Alright, so, now, I'm just going to spoon the tomato mixture evenly over each one.

So, you want those juices, so that the crust and the open crumb of the bread can really capture them.

It's roughly about 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato pulp per toast.

Ah, so pretty, isn't it?

-It's really pretty.

-We have 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil here.

I'm just going to drizzle a little over each one.

This is going to add fruitiness and richness.

Last but not least, flake sea salt.

-Mmm.

-Flake sea salt -- if you don't have it, you need to get it 3 or 4 flakes, it just makes your mouth come alive.

-And the texture, that little bit of crunch.

-Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

-I love it.

-Alright, Julia.

-Good enough to eat?

-Good enough to eat.

You want to grab one?

I forget which ones were the garlicky ones, which ones are the lighter ones?

-[ Laughs ] I forgot.

-Well, we shall see, right?

-I forgot, too.

-Yeah!

I'm going to go for this guy.

-Yeah, that's beautiful.

-Uh-huh.

-I'm going to go with this guy.

Mm.

-Oh!

Gorgeous.

-Yeah.

I'm just going to dive in.

-You're going to dive in?

-Mm-hmm.

[ Crunching ] -It really just transforms into something completely different.

-Mm-hmm.

-Just tomatoes and bread... -That's it.

-...a little olive oil and salt.

-Mm-hmm.

-But together, it's magic.

-Mm-hmm.

That garlic comes through nicely.

-Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!

-But the texture, that's like what I love.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's heaven, isn't it?

-Mm-hmm!

This is delicious, Erin.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-If you want to make this Cataln favorite, start with perfectly ripe tomatoes and use a grater.

Toast ciabatta bread, using the broiler, and finish with good olive oil and flake sea salt.

From America's Test Kitchen, a simple, but terrific, recipe for pa amb tomquet.

This is incredible.

-It's so good, isn't it?

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm.

-Joe and I love grilling together and today he's going to help me grill some mushrooms.

Joe, why don't you throw your skewer on?

What Joe doesn't know is that my skewers are made out of stainless steel, which melts at about 2,700 degrees.

And his are made out of gallium, which melts at about 85 degrees.

-Hm.

-Do you want to give mine a turn?

Yeah, make sure you keep turning yours.

You want to make sure that it's even.

-Hm.

-Hey, Joe?

I think your mushrooms are done.

You can get those off.

Thanks.

You mind if I finish up here?

Now, that was funny, but melting point differences are serious business in the kitchen.

Check this out.

This biscuit was made using lard, which turns liquid at about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

And this one was made with olive oil, which turns liquid at 50 degrees.

Because the lard is solid at room temperature, we were able to build alternating layers of fat and dough, for super flaky results.

Not so with olive oil, which ends up distributed evenly throughout.

It even makes a big difference for something like vinaigrette.

Kept in the fridge, an olive oil-based vinaigrette will break as the olive oil starts to solidify.

Understanding melting points will help you reach for the right fat for every application.

And, hopefully, now, you'll think twice about using those gallium skewers on the grill.

-The one thing you may not know about my dear friend Bridget is that she makes magnificent cocktails.

And today she's going to show me how to make sangria using ros wine.

-Yes, we are using your favorite cocktail -- wine.

[ Laughter ] -It's true.

-It's so easy to make sangria.

You know, traditionally, it's made with red wine and citrus, but there are so many variations.

As you said, we're using ros, which pairs beautifully with berries.

-Mm-hmm!

-And we're going to get to the berries in just a minute.

-Okay.

-But first, kind of a generic cocktail tool, which is simple syrup.

Right around 1: 1 ratio of water to sugar.

It's great to keep this on hand.

It'll store in the fridge for up to a month and you can use it to quickly sweeten, not only cocktails, but iced teas and things like that.

So, I've got 5 ounces of water and we've warmed it up a little bit.

It's just going to allow the sugar to dissolve.

And to that, I'm going to add 3/4 cup of granulated sugar.

Now, since this is warm, it's going to dissolve that sugar quickly.

And once it's all dissolved, you want to let it sit for about 10 minutes, cool down before you store it in an airtight container.

So, we'll set this aside while we work on berries.

-Mmm!

-Yeah, perfect pairing for ros wine.

And we've selected, here, raspberries and blackberries.

You can use any berry that you want.

You can use strawberries, blueberries, snozzberries... [ Laughs ] -...whatever you've got.

I've got 2 cups of mixed berries.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now, this is another kind of generic tip.

You always want to make sure that your berries are nice and clean.

Berries are pretty fragile, but we want them to be really dry when we use them, especially in desserts.

So, we're just going to put them in a salad spinner basket and run them under water.

So, notice I'm not tossing these around.

Just letting the water run through.

And just give it a spin.

You don't need to go too crazy.

Put the brakes on it.

There we go.

Alright, so, we've got nice, dry berries.

So, we're going to let this cool down for a minute and then we can put together a sangria.

-Alright.

-Alright, we have transferred those beautiful... -Mm.

-...washed berries into our pitcher.

We're going to serve out of this.

But aren't they gorgeous?

-Yeah.

-Already.

Already, we're winning.

-[ Chuckles ] -We're going to add that simple syrup.

This is 4 ounces of the simple syrup.

Picking up on kind of the jammy berriness, this is 8 ounces of pomegranate juice.

And 4 ounces of elderflower liqueur gives a floral note, a little bit of citrus.

It's gorgeous.

Have to have the ros.

So, I've got two 750-milliliter bottles of ros.

You want to use a ros that you want to drink.

I like ones that are kind of moderately dry... -Mm-hmm.

-...not too sweet.

-[ Laughs ] Filled to the brim!

[ Laughs ] -Every last drop.

Alright, so, I'm just going to -- I'm not really looking to mash up the fruit too much.

Just really want to stir this.

-That is so pretty!

-Isn't that gorgeous?

-Yeah.

-So, we need to let this kind of meld.

I'm going to put this in the refrigerator.

Sangria should be ice cold... -Mm-hmm.

-...so, we want to let it sit in there for at least 2 hours.

-Mm.

-I like to let it go 8 hours, maybe even a little bit more.

Just gets a much more beautiful, balanced flavor.

I am the sangria fairy... -[ Laughing ] -...and I'm here to bring you good wishes.

This has chilled for several hours.

Oh!

And I know it's going to be good.

It smells so... -It smells delicious.

-...good.

-You can really smell the pomegranate juice and the elderflower liqueur.

-Yes!

We've got two chilled wine glasses, half filled with ice.

Everything should be super cold.

-What a pretty color!

-Isn't that beautiful?

-That is gorgeous!

-I do want to fish some of those berries out.

-Mm-hmm!

Nice and plump with all that wine.

-Isn't that gorgeous?

Ohhh!

And this is just such a lovely little combination of the fruit.

I've seen white sangrias that use white wine... -Peaches.

-...and apples or pears, peaches.

We've got all the variations on our website.

But I love this, you know.

It just looks like summer.

It looks like a celebration.

Alright, hope you enjoy it.

[ Clink ] Cheers.

-Cheers.

Ohhhhh!

Hits me right here.

-Oh, yeah?

-Oh, yeah.

My little -- -That's the sweet spot?

-My dimples.

[ Laughs ] -Oh, this is good!

Mm.

-I love the flavor of the ros.

Ros's a lovely summer wine, but, really, you've brought it alive with the pomegranate juice and that elderflower.

-It's beautiful.

You get that little elderflower note in there... -Mm-hmm.

-...but it's not overwhelming.

-Bridget, thank you for showing me how to make this.

-Absolutely.

Cheers.

-Cheers.

[ Clink ] So, if you want to make a ros sangria, start by making a simple syrup using warm water, combine the ros with some elderflower liqueur and pomegranate juice and let the flavors develop in the fridge for a few hours.

From America's Test Kitchen, a fabulous recipe for ros sangria.

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

Mm.

-Cheers again!

[ Clink ] Ooh!

-[ Laughs ] Mmm!

-Mmm!

Let us help you with dinner tonight.

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