Cook's Country

-"Cook's Country" celebrates the best of American home cooking.

Succulent tender pork.

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-We highlight classic comfort food... This is burger perfection.

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-Those bell peppers remind you of being in the South.

-This is "Cook's Country."

-Today on "Cook's Country"... Kelly makes me roasted poblano and white bean chili, Jack challenges me to a tasting of vegan mayo, and Lidey makes Bridget a one-pot fagioli bake.

It's all coming up right here on "Cook's Country."

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following... -Monument Grills Denali 605Pro.

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-When it comes to making a vegetarian bean chili, black bean chili reigns supreme because the flavor and texture of black beans is very hearty, so it pairs well with the tomato and the red chilies.

But today, Kelly's got something new for us.

It's a white bean chili with fresh green chilies.

-White beans here are really creamy and they add pops of brightness.

-Mm-hmm.

-The chili is still super hearty and flavorful.

-I like it, but fresher than your traditional sort of red dried chili.

-Absolutely, yes.

And because there isn't that strong tomato presence or beef, we really want to focus on building flavor complexity into the base and letting our fresh produce sing.

-Makes sense.

-So, speaking of produce, I have two types of peppers that I'll be using in the chili today, both poblanos and Anaheims.

-Mm-hmm.

-They have a little bit of a different flavor profile.

Poblanos are a little bit milder and they have this sweet, earthy flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

-And Anaheims are slightly hotter and a bit tangier.

Now, I've already pre-prepared some chilies.

I have a total of five poblanos and three Anaheims.

Now, when I'm working with chilies, I like to put on some gloves.

-Ah, you're a glover.

-Just so I don't touch my eyes and cry later.

And, yeah, we don't want to spill tears over peppers.

-Yeah.

-So I just want to glove up.

So, to stem the chili, I just like to pop off the top.

This can be put to good use.

-Mm-hmm.

-Save that.

And then, just halve it lengthwise to reveal the seeds inside.

Scrape that off into the bowl.

So, nice and clean.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'll repeat the same with the Anaheim.

And this one I like to have kind of on the tall end so that it can sit flat later.

Now that my chilies are prepped, I'm going to toss them with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Make sure everything is well coated.

And then, I'll transfer these skin side up to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

This will be a bit of a tight fit, so just make sure everything has a home.

And we'll actually be broiling these chilies to bring out a little bit more sweetness, tenderize the flesh, and add a more smoky base.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now we're ready to pop these under the broiler.

I've moved the rack to be 6 inches under the broiler element, and I just want to broil these until the skin is beginning to soften and blister.

-Mm-hmm.

-And that should take about 10 minutes.

-All right, and it'll char a little bit, too.

-Exactly.

Yeah.

-Oh, you can smell them.

-Oh, yes.

Roasty, toasty.

-That is such a unique smell.

The roasted poblanos.

-So, you can see the skins have been blistered.

-Mm-hmm.

-And this not only adds smokiness but also makes them easier to peel off.

Just because they have a little bit of tannic bitterness, so I want to remove them.

But to do that, I'm going to transfer the chilies into a bowl to steam, and that natural moisture will help soften the skin slightly.

And I'm just going to cover this with some plastic wrap.

I'm going to give this 10 to 15 minutes until the skins begin to rub off easily.

-Okay.

-And we'll hang on to this sheet tray.

In the meantime, I'll show you how I prep another piece of fresh produce.

Here I have some fresh corn that I'm going to strip off the kernels and use in the chili.

-Mm!

-And also use the cob.

Here I have two cobs that I've already prepped.

-Mm-hmm.

-So, to peel off the kernels of the corn, I just like to rest it on the side of a bowl, and using a paring knife just so you have some more dexterity, you just want to scrape the kernels right off.

-Now, you mentioned you were saving the cobs, and I see the other two cobs hanging out here.

-That's right.

Well, a lot of the roots of those kernels are still in the cob itself.

-Mm-hmm.

-So that's going to add a lot of milky sweetness... -Yep.

-...that we want to maximize for later.

-Okay.

-So, hang on to the cobs.

-Got it.

-And just like the peppers, I'm going to add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to coat the kernels.

Great.

And I'm going to give these a similar treatment to the peppers by broiling them.

-Mm-hmm.

Ooh, a little more char flavor.

-Exactly.

More and more.

So, you can really use the same tray as before.

It's very handy.

And I just want to spread these out so they get nice, even browning.

So these are more tender, so they only take about 5 to 10 minutes.

-Okay.

-You just want to get them to the point where they're starting to brown and show some color.

And I'm going to stir these halfway through the broiling time just to get even browning.

-That broiled corn just smells so good.

The caramelized sugars... -Oh, yeah.

-...just have a unique aroma.

-You can smell the sweetness.

-Yep.

-These have been sufficiently broiled.

I'm going to let them cool completely while I work on everything else.

-Okay.

-Now, our peppers have been in their steam bath, and they're ready to be peeled.

So, I'd actually love some help for this step.

-Absolutely.

-To peel the peppers, I like to just sort of rub the skin off or, you know, peel it off.

It's quite therapeutic, honestly.

-Yeah, it is.

I'm glad you asked me to help.

-The peppers here.

And if you don't get the skins perfectly off, that's okay, too.

-A little bit of that bitter flavor is lovely in a chili.

-Yes.

And we'll just continue on this until we've peeled all of our peppers.

Okay, so we've peeled everything.

Thank you for your help.

-My pleasure.

-Now I'm going to chop the peppers into 1/2-inch pieces, and that's going to go into our chili.

So, I've chopped all of my chilies, and now I'll transfer them back to the original bowl they were steaming in.

There's some accumulated juices in the bowl that I want to keep and add back to the chili.

So, we'll set these aside for now.

-Mm-hmm.

-Here I have two onions that I've chopped into large pieces, and I'm just going to add that to a food processor to chop finely.

And I'm also going to add two raw jalapeos that I've stemmed and seeded and chopped.

-Okay, so three chilies all day.

Two of them were roasted.

But you didn't roast the jalapeos.

Why not?

-Well, I want to keep them raw just to preserve some of that grassy vegetal flavor.

-Got it.

-So you get that hit of raw pepper flavor, which, you know, is distinct.

-Yes.

You got layers of chili flavor.

-Exactly.

So I'm going to pulse this with the onions until it becomes the texture of a chunky salsa, about 6 to 8 pulses.

And this is just going to build a really concentrated, flavorful base for us.

Now, I'm still going to use the food processor for another step, so I'm just going to transfer this to a bowl.

Now I'm going to add 1 cup of cannellini beans into the processor.

I've drained and rinsed these.

Now, here I have 1 cup of vegetable broth.

And I'm also going to add a 1/2 cup of my chopped chilies.

-Okay.

-This is going to really infuse the chili flavor into the base.

And any of those accumulated juices you can add here, as well.

-Chili flavor.

-As much as we can pack in.

Now I'm just going to process this until it's completely smooth for about 45 seconds.

You can see the mixture is nice and thick, and that's going to help add a silky base to our chili without adding extra thickeners like flour or cornstarch.

-Nice.

Add some body.

-Exactly.

So, all our prep is done, and we're ready to put everything together.

In my large Dutch oven, I have 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil that I've just heated till shimmering on medium heat.

Now, to my oil, I'm going to add my onion-pepper mixture.

And I'm just going to cook this until the onion is softened.

And that should take about 5 minutes.

And you can see that the onion has fully softened.

-Mm-hmm.

It smells good.

-Yeah.

This is going to be a really aromatic base.

Now I'm ready to add even more aromatics.

I'm adding in 6 cloves of minced garlic.

And I'm also adding in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste just to add a little bit of sweetness and depth.

-Yep.

-I'm also adding 1 tablespoon of ground cumin.

-Mm-hmm.

-And 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground coriander.

And, finally, I'm adding in 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.

And I'm just going to cook this until the tomato paste begins to darken, which should take about 2 minutes.

-Okay.

-So, now that it's been 2 minutes, I'm going to stir in my remaining 3 cups of vegetable broth and just scrape up the bottom as I do that to really get that fond in the chili itself.

It's all the caramelized sugars from our aromatics.

-Mm-mm!

-Now I'm just going to add in my pureed bean mixture.

Like I said, this is going to give the chili a lot of nice silky body.

And I kept some other beans intact, like we mentioned.

Here I have one 15-ounce can of pinto beans that have been drained and rinsed.

-Mm!

So it's two-bean chili.

-Double beans.

Yes.

Pinto beans have a little bit of a meatier flavor, whereas cannellini beans are a little bit creamier.

And here I have my remaining cannellini beans.

I had a total of two 15-ounce cans that I drained and rinsed.

And I'm also going to add in my roasted chopped chilies.

These I kept in their bite-sized pieces just so we get little pops of them.

And, finally, I'm adding in those reserved corn cobs, which we're just going to let soak into the chili as it simmers.

I'll let this simmer for 40 minutes, just to let everything get to know each other a little bit more.

-Let those flavors meld.

-Exactly.

-Okay.

Cobs have done their work.

-They've sacrificed everything, given themselves to us.

So we're just going to remove them.

Thank you, cobs.

-Mm-hmm.

-And this has simmered for 40 minutes now.

It's gotten quite a bit thicker.

And the flavors are really perfuming the air.

We're actually going to add back in our corn that we broiled before.

And I'm waiting till the end to add in the corn just because they're so delicate that, if we added them earlier, they'd get a little blown out.

-That makes sense.

-So I just want to cook these until they're heated through for about 1 minute.

And now I'm shutting off the heat.

Now, for a final touch, I'm going to add in some fresh herbs.

-Mm-hmm.

-Here I have 4 scallion greens that I've sliced thin, as well as a quarter cup of fresh mint cilantro and one tablespoon of lime juice.

-Mm!

-You want to wait till the end so that the herbs don't get muddied.

And now I think we're ready to tuck in.

All those fresh pops of flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm!

A few chips.

-Add a little crunch.

-Ooh, I see some sour cream.

-It's gonna add a nice cooling bite, a little bit of creaminess.

-A little fresh lime over the top?

-Just an extra squeeze.

Never hurt anyone.

-All right, first bite without sour cream.

I just want to taste the broth.

I want to taste the chili.

-Mm.

Pure bite.

-Oh.

That's good.

It's got a depth of flavor.

You can taste layers, the corn, the beans.

You can taste the two different chilies, but it's not heavy.

It's actually a little bit on the light side, which is lovely.

-I still feel really healthy eating this.

-Yeah.

-Really nourished.

-You can taste the vegetables, which is usually a problem with a vegetarian bean chili.

If it's heavy and dark, it's as though you're missing the meat.

In this, you're celebrating the beans and the vegetables.

-Yeah.

And I love the -- again, the pops and the crunches and just the textural symphony in my mouth.

-Yeah.

The corn, also.

-Mm.

-And a little bit of sweetness with the charred poblanos.

-Mm-hmm.

-What a great combination.

Kelly, this is terrific.

Thank you.

-Anytime, Julia.

-If you want to make this lovely, hearty fresh bean chili, start by broiling poblanos, Anaheims, and fresh corn kernels.

Blend some of the beans with some of the broth, then simmer the corn cobs right in the chili.

From "Cook's Country," a wonderful recipe for roasted poblano and white bean chili.

I like how hardy it is.

Yeah, the two beans is nice.

-Yes, it's so delicious.

-Mayonnaise is a classic French sauce made by whisking oil into an egg yolk.

Now, today, we're talking about vegan mayonnaise, which begs the question, what do they substitute for the egg yolk?

-That is the $64,000 question.

I'm going to tell you, we've been tasting vegan mayonnaises for over a decade, and I think they've actually gotten pretty good.

-Yeah, they were lousy when they first came out.

-Yeah.

So, you can dip in.

-All right.

-So, classic mayonnaise at home, there are three ingredients.

-Mm-hmm.

-Either vinegar and/or lemon juice, something acidic, the oil, and then the egg.

And the egg is there as an emulsifier because, you know, vinegar and lemon juice are water.

And if you want to keep water and oil together, you're going to need an emulsifier.

And when you make homemade mayonnaise, you're probably using one egg for every cup of mayonnaise.

-Mm-hmm.

-Ballpark.

Commercially, they make gallons and gallons of mayonnaise from one egg, so you don't really need that much emulsifier.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now, the choices are soy protein, pea protein, modified food starch.

So, how's it going so far, by the way?

-You know, I was really shocked.

The first two weren't so bad.

That third one was like old-school vegan mayonnaise.

It was harsh.

-Okay.

And harsh and just... -Tastes like salad dressing.

It doesn't even taste like mayonnaise.

It's just really vinegary, really salty.

Yeah.

Kind of terrible.

-Yeah.

So... -This, this fourth sample here, terrific.

Tastes like mayonnaise.

Tastes like Hellmann's from my refrigerator at home.

These definitely don't taste exactly like mayonnaise, but they're not bad.

This one, especially number 1, it looks like sour cream, and it has a different sort of flavor, but it would be a good substitute.

I could put it on a sandwich.

I could be convinced to substitute it for mayonnaise in a dip or something.

So, I like this one.

-Okay.

It's pretty vinegary, but I like that.

-Yeah.

-It's nice.

This one, the texture is a little off-putting.

It's grainy.

This one I really didn't like.

I don't think you could mask those flavors.

It's really potent.

-Okay.

All right.

Let's start down here.

-Okay.

-All right, so -- -This one was pretty good.

-Yeah.

So this is the Hellman's plant-based spread or dressing.

This is our co-winner.

-That's pretty good.

-Yeah, it is a very credible substitute.

Next up, this was the other co-winner.

-All right.

-And, so, this is Follow Your Heart Vegenaise This one has some of the soy protein in it.

Also had some mustard flour as the emulsifier.

-Oh.

-The Hellmann's was modified food starch.

-Okay.

-And we felt like they did a pretty good job of emulsifying.

You didn't -- Texture is a little... -Funky.

-Yeah.

-But, again, that's eating it straight.

I think if you spread it on a piece of bread or on a sandwich, you wouldn't notice.

-Yeah.

Third.

-Okay, third.

Not my favorite.

-Yeah.

And the tasting panel did not like this.

It was at the bottom of the rankings.

It's Sir Kensington.

Well, this is one they're using aquafaba.

-Oh.

-And they're using xanthan gum.

And we felt like those just didn't work as well as some of the other emulsifiers.

All right.

And the last sample?

-Yeah.

It's the real deal.

-Yeah.

I tried to fool you.

This is Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise, otherwise known as Best Foods.

You picked this out as what's in your refrigerator.

-Yep.

-You know.

But I think these get -- the good ones get pretty close.

-Well, they've really come up a few notches in the past decade or so, haven't they?

-They have.

-There you have it.

Vegan mayonnaise.

Pretty good.

For more information, check out our website.

-Bold and brothy, pasta e fagioli is perfect for turning into a weeknight casserole.

Well, here to tell us more is Lidey.

And I think this is your concoction, isn't it?

-It is.

You know, I love soups.

I eat them all the time.

-Yes.

-But sometimes, when it's dinner time, I want something a little bit heartier.

We're going to start this recipe by dicing some pancetta.

Pancetta is a common ingredient in pasta e fagioli.

It adds a little bit of that meatiness.

It's cured, but it's not smoked the way bacon is.

-Right.

-So it has a little bit of a milder flavor.

-It's so complex, though.

It adds so much... -It does.

-...savory rich flavor and, more important, rendered fat.

-Absolutely.

We're going to saut the vegetables in the fat that comes off this pancetta.

-Gorgeous.

-So, you can buy pancetta pre-cubed in little packages.

But for this recipe, I like to cut it into a little bit bigger chunks.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I go to the deli and I ask for a piece of pancetta, and then I cut it myself.

-Got it.

-And we're looking for about a 1/4-inch dice here.

-Got it.

-All righty.

In a large Dutch oven, I've got 3 tablespoons of olive oil heating up.

We'll add our pancetta right in.

And we're going to cook, just tossing occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pancetta is nice and crispy.

Smell that.

-Oh, I am.

-See, it's looking nice and crisp and brown.

-Yes.

-And it's rendered so much delicious fat.

I'm going to go ahead and use my slotted spoon to transfer the pancetta to a paper-towel-lined plate.

And we'll add it back later.

Now to our hot oil.

We're going to add 1 large onion, chopped, 3 medium carrots, 1/4-inch diced.

-Okay.

-And 3 celery ribs, also 1/4-inch diced.

These are nice and small, if you notice.

-Yes.

-And that's 'cause, you know, this is still a pasta bake.

I don't want huge chunks of vegetables.

Just kind of want a little bit in each bite.

And then I'm gonna add 2 teaspoons of minced fresh rosemary.

-Lovely.

-Which is just going to give this a really nice herbal aroma.

And these are going to go for about 10 to 12 minutes, just until they're softened.

Okay.

These look nice and tender.

The onions a little bit translucent.

And they'll have more time to cook as we continue adding the other ingredients.

-Gotcha.

-So, now we're gonna add 4 minced garlic cloves, one of the key ingredients in any Italian-American dish.

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt.

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

If you're me, I'm adding a little less because I'm such a baby.

-Ooh!

-But you can always add more if you love spice.

-Gotcha.

-And we're going to cook this for just a minute until that garlic is fragrant, but we don't want to overdo it.

-Okay.

That garlic's nice and fragrant.

So, I'm gonna add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and that's going to help thicken our broth and our liquids into a nice sauce.

We'll cook this for about 2 minutes.

And what I'm looking for is for that tomato paste to start caramelizing and browning on the bottom of the pan.

It's gonna add so much flavor and kind of deepen that tomato flavor.

-Definitely.

So, completely different flavor compounds are developed as it cooks on the bottom of that pan.

-You can see here along the edges of the pot, we're getting a little bit of caramelization.

-Yes.

-We're gonna add the fagioli, the beans.

-Right.

-We have two 15-ounce cans of cannellini beans that have been rinsed and drained.

28-ounce can diced tomatoes.

And now I'm adding 3 cups of chicken broth.

I'm gonna bring this to a boil, and then we'll add our pasta directly to the pot.

All right.

Our broth is coming up to a boil here.

So I'm going to go ahead and add 8 ounces of pasta.

I'm using medium shells.

You can use any shape you like.

-Macaroni?

-You can use macaroni.

Yeah!

I love the shells because they kind of scoop up all that delicious sauce.

-Yeah.

-We're gonna cook this for just about 2 minutes just to parcook the pasta a little bit, and then it will finish cooking in the oven.

-Okay.

Every time you open that, it gets better.

-It smells so good.

-Mm-hmm.

We're almost ready to go in the oven, but first I'm going to add in our reserved pancetta.

-Yes.

-We did a good job not eating it, I would say.

-Well, thank you for saving that little piece.

-I'm going to do 1/2 a cup of grated Parmesan, saving the remaining 1/2 cup for a little bit later.

This is just going to help make that broth a little bit richer so it turns into a really nice sauce.

Then I've got a 1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley.

-Need a little bit of green.

-Yes.

I'm just going to stir this in.

Okay.

Last but not least, we're going to do a layer of cheese that's going to get melty and toasty and a little bit crispy around the edges as this bakes.

So I'm doing a cup and 1/2 of whole milk shredded mozzarella cheese.

-It's the law, you know, that you have to top a casserole with cheese.

-It is.

-It is.

-And I don't want to break the law.

-No.

And then, that remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan.

Mozzarella is a pretty mild cheese, so adding a little bit of Parmesan adds some salt, a little more flavor.

And this is going to get really nice and toasty in the oven.

This is going to go into a 425-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, just until that cheese is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

-Yes.

-Oh-ho-ho.

This looks good.

-I see bubbling cheese.

-Oh yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

-This looks absolutely delicious.

You can see that cheese bubbling and browning.

-Yes.

It looks gorgeous.

It smells even better.

-We're gonna dress this up with a little bit more fresh parsley.

A little more salad for you, Bridget.

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley for the top.

-That is beautiful.

-Thank you.

Excited for you to try it.

So, spoon this up.

-Oh.

-You can see that sauce has thickened beautifully.

-Yes.

This is definitely not a soup.

-Definitely not a soup.

No confusing this with a soup.

-Mnh-mnh.

-All right.

I'm going to give you a little bit of Parmesan.

You want to tell me when?

-Sure.

-And I'm going to be here all day.

-That's right.

5:30.

That's great.

Thank you.

All right.

I made sure that I got a little bit of the pasta e fagioli on it.

-There you go.

-Mm.

-You know, the first thing that hits me is that rosemary and the pancetta, and it's just the most delicious savory bite.

-There's less liquid added to the pot, so you ended up with just a much more concentrated group of flavors in here.

-And it didn't take that long for that sauce to come together.

I mean, it kind of tastes like it's been simmering for a lot longer than it has.

-It does.

Mm.

And the shells were just the right size.

-The beans are nice.

They've kind of taken on the flavor of the sauce, too.

I think dressing up canned beans is really a great way to make something that's so convenient really taste good, too.

-It's such a time saver, and the quality of canned beans is good to begin with.

Same thing with canned tomatoes.

I mean, everything that you have here, you can pretty much keep on hand in your house.

-Absolutely.

-And put this together.

This was absolutely beautiful.

And you know I love a good casserole.

-So glad you enjoyed it.

-And this was a great one.

So, if you'd like to make this beautiful dish at home, it starts by cooking aromatics in rendered pancetta fat.

Simmer beans, tomatoes, and pasta with broth.

Stir in Parm, top with mozzarella, and bake until browned and bubbling.

So, from "Cook's Country," a very hearty one-pot meal -- baked pasta e fagioli.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes, and you'll find them all on our website, CooksCountry.com/TV.

Back to eating.

-Oh, yeah.

-Enjoy this season's recipes, read our ingredient and equipment reviews, and cook alongside your favorite test cooks at CooksCountry.com.

You'll have access to every episode from the season and more, all at CooksCountry.com/TV.

-Your favorite recipes, rooted in history, plus the tips, ingredients, and equipment you need to cook them, can now all be found in one place.

Introducing our complete "Cook's Country" cookbook, now with every recipe from all 19 seasons.

This volume of "Cook's Country" helps with planning, prep, and cooking, and at a cost of $24.99, $15 off the cover price of $40.

To order, head to our shop at CooksCountry.com/TVBook.

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With 900 square inches of cooking space, several accessories, and Bluetooth capabilities, it's designed with the host in mind.

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