Cook's Country

-Today on "Cook's Country," Ashley makes Bridget a fool-proof version of crumb-crusted rack of lamb, Adam reviews electric knives, and Christie makes Julia the ultimate Brussels sprout gratin.

That's all right here, on "Cook's Country."

-Americans eat way more beef than lamb, and one of the reasons may be a 19th-century battle you've probably never heard of.

-Now, that battle, or series of battles, was known as the range wars.

Essentially, it was a turf dispute between Wyoming sheepherders and Colorado cattlemen.

-Now, John Muir famously called sheep "hoofed locusts" because they were known for rapidly consuming and devastating grazing areas.

So when herders started driving their sheep towards established cattle lands, those cattle ranchers responded with violence.

-Things escalated quickly.

In one incident, cattlemen shot a sheepherder and caused his 3,800 sheep to stampede over a 1,000-foot bluff into Parachute, Colorado.

-Eventually, the law stepped in, and the cattlemen emerged victorious.

But still today, you can see the direct result of these range wars in the supermarket meat case, where beef is plentiful but lamb is reserved for special occasions.

-Today, we're tipping our hats to the sheepherders of the range wars.

I'm heading into the kitchen with Ashley to make a beautiful crumb-crusted rack of lamb.

Let's go.

It's not just beef that outsells lamb.

For every pound of lamb Americans eat, they eat about 50 pounds of pork.

For me, that's before breakfast.

So, Ashley's here.

She's gonna tell us all about lamb, why we should be eating it, and a great recipe to change our mind.

-So, this is a recipe for people that don't even like lamb.

-I love lamb.

-Okay.

Well, you're really gonna love this recipe.

There's a main reason why a lot of people sometimes get deterred from the taste of lamb, and that's because it usually has a gamy funkiness to it.

But a lot of that gamy, funky flavor lives within the fat.

-It's true.

-So, for this recipe, we're able to control that gamy, funky flavor because we start by trimming out a lot of the fat.

So, here I have two racks.

They're about 1 3/4 to 2 pounds each.

And these are domestic.

You can either get lamb from here in the United States, which tends to be a little bit bigger and a little bit more mild, or you can get racks from Australia or New Zealand.

And just the opposite, they're gonna be a little bit smaller, and they're gonna be a little bit more gamy.

So, I'm just trimming this fat down to 1/8 of an inch.

So, I think that looks pretty good.

-I do, too.

-Now we are going to be making our panko coating.

So here I have 1 cup of panko bread crumbs, and that's the Japanese bread crumbs -- really nice, coarse texture.

Just gonna turn this over medium heat.

Now I'm gonna add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of minced fresh thyme.

It's a good amount of thyme.

And then we have six cloves of minced fresh garlic.

Alright, now, here we have an optional ingredient.

These are four minced anchovy filets that I rinsed and then patted dry.

It really provided a really nice, complex, overall umami flavor to the bread crumbs.

-Savory, right.

-And now I'm gonna add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.

And here we have 1 teaspoon of pepper.

And I'm just gonna cook this, again, over medium-high heat until the bread crumbs are turning golden-brown, which will take about five minutes.

-Alright.

-Okay.

So, it's been, again, five minutes, and now we are cooking with gas here.

-It smells really good.

-Alright, so, I'm gonna transfer that to this 13"x9" dish.

This is gonna make life a little bit easier in a few minutes.

But first, I'm gonna add a couple tablespoons of some minced fresh parsley and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest.

-Mmm!

-Alright.

So, I'm gonna set that aside.

Now let's move on to the lamb.

-Okay.

-So, first, I need to wipe out the skillet.

I have these paper towels here.

Gonna keep that over medium-high heat and add 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and then move back over to our lamb.

-Alright.

-So, we need to season the lamb.

I have 2 teaspoons total of kosher salt -- 1 teaspoon per rack.

Little bit of pepper.

Then I'm gonna flip them over and do the other side.

Alright.

And you know the pan is ready when the oil begins to just smoke.

So, now I'm going to start by browning each rack.

I'm gonna do one at a time, and I'm gonna go about two to four minutes per side until they're nice and golden-brown.

Start with the fat side down first.

-Sounds good.

-Those look pretty good, and they've been resting, at this point, for about five minutes, and, really, that's just so that they're cool enough to handle.

So, here we have some Dijon mustard.

We have 1/4 cup of it.

And I'm just going to brush all sides of it, and it's gonna work in a couple different ways.

Number one -- it's gonna act as a glue.

It's gonna hold this panko mixture on to the lamb, but it's also gonna give a little bit of extra kick.

Got that savory Dijon mustard.

-And some acidity, too.

-And some acidity.

-Yep.

-Gonna do all sides.

Don't be shy here 'cause I don't want any bald spots.

I'm just gonna transfer one rack at a time to our panko mixture.

Like the mustard, you want to make sure to get all the sides here.

So, I have an oven that's been preheating at 300 degrees, and we're gonna be cooking these racks for 40 to 50 minutes until they register 135 degrees.

-Alright.

I'll get the oven for you.

-And if you notice, I have the fat-cap side up.

-So it can baste the meat.

-Yeah.

-Oh, that smells so good.

-Oh, wow.

-Wow, that is beautiful.

-Just like a restaurant.

Alright, so, I'm gonna take an internal temperature.

Again, we want 135 degrees for medium.

Just gonna go right in the middle here.

I think we're looking pretty good.

-Yeah?

-135 degrees, right on the nose.

Alright, now I am gonna transfer the racks carefully to this cutting board.

I'm gonna let these rest for about 15 minutes.

-Not covered.

-Not covered.

Putting foil on top would make it soggy.

Now, have you heard of mint jelly?

-Yes, I have.

I love it.

-But I wanted to make something different, so this is a mint sauce.

-Anything with mint.

-Yeah.

Mint and lamb goes together like you and I, you know?

-PB&J.

-PB&J.

I'm gonna need about 1/2 cup, chopped.

Alright, so, I have the chopped mint.

And here, I have 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley.

Adding a little bit more bulk and refreshing flavors to the sauce.

-Mm-hmm.

-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 1 clove of minced garlic, and here, we have 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

-That's it.

-That's it.

-Didn't have to make jelly.

-No jelly here.

Alright, I think it's about time to slice into our lamb.

-Good.

-So, a couple of notes here.

So, I'm gonna be using a boning knife, and that's because I've found that along this interior here, it's the rib cage.

-Mm-hmm.

-And sometimes, there are these little bones in there that like to hang out together.

But I've found that with a boning knife, if necessary, I can kind of just shimmy around it, and it makes for a really nice slice.

-Great.

-So, I'm gonna hold the two ribs, and then I'm using this as an anchor.

Ooh, that one went right through, no shimmying necessary.

Oh, man.

-Wow.

That is perfectly cooked.

-Oh, here's that little shimmying I was gonna tell you about.

All you had to do was just move the boning knife ever so slightly, just like that, and you get a perfect slice.

There we go.

I'm actually gonna leave the tongs down.

-Thank you.

-Some mint sauce on the side.

-That looked to be pretty potent, so I bet a little goes a long way.

-A little dab will do you.

-I'm just savoring its beauty.

Now it's time to rip it apart.

-Okay.

-Mmm!

So succulent, so juicy.

-Mmm!

-But it's so savory.

I mean, it's a powerhouse, that crumb coating.

-Exactly.

The garlic, the lemon zest, the parsley.

-The lemon and the fresh mint -- of course, the fresh parsley -- it's just really cutting through the lamb.

-Carpe diem.

-Mm-hmm, seize the lamb.

-[ Laughs ] -You know, I wouldn't want to wait for a special occasion to make this dish.

-All year.

-Every day is lamb day.

-Every day is lamb day.

-Especially with this recipe, and that starts with trimming two racks of lamb.

Mix panko with olive oil, herbs, and minced anchovies.

And then cook the crumb mixture until golden-brown.

Season and sear the lamb racks, brush with Dijon, and coat with the crumb mixture.

Roast to medium doneness.

Let rest, and then carve.

Serve with an easy mint-and-parsley sauce.

So, from "Cook's Country," a special-occasion dish that's suitable anytime -- it's crumb-crusted rack of lamb.

-Electric knives are trying to make a comeback, so Adam's here to tell us if we should let them.

-Well, Julia, these things kind of look a little more mid-20th-century than they do digital-age.

-It's true.

-But they have been useful in the past, and we were curious, so we have this lineup of four different electric knives.

The price range was $19.92 to $122.

-Ooh, that's pricey.

-And they all work basically the same way.

You have two blades that attach at the tip like so, and they get put into a handle that houses a motor... like so.

And then you turn it on, and the blades move in opposite directions.

That creates a sawing motion so that you can cut through things without a lot of downward pressure.

So it's great for baked goods that you don't want to squish or big roasts where you don't want to work too hard to get nice, neat, even slices.

Our testers tried them on three different kinds of bread of different textures -- whole loaves of Japanese milk bread, which you know is super tender, whole loaves of challah, which is a little firmer but still on the tender side, and then whole loaves of francese, which has a tough crust.

It's sort of an artisan bread.

They also used our favorite serrated knife just for reference alongside, to see what they thought.

They used them, also, on rotisserie chickens and on 20-pound roasted turkeys... -Ooh!

-...again, with a manually operated, just regular chef's knife alongside for a point of reference.

Now, all four of these knives actually had various problems with the bread.

Some of them squished that really tender Japanese milk bread.

Some of them slid off the crust of the francese.

By and large, testers really preferred just using a regular, manual, serrated knife.

But it was not the case for poultry.

-Interesting.

-Poultry was really good.

So, Julia, why don't you try that white one down there... -Okay.

-...on this turkey breast there, and just see what you think.

-Alright.

I kind of like it.

I was ready to make fun of this thing, but look how thin that goes.

-So, your experience is mirroring the testers' experience.

You know, one tester even said that carving a turkey with the electric knife made it feel effortless.

When's the last time you heard that about carving a turkey?

-I've never heard that.

Well, it is pretty maneuverable, so... -Yeah!

There are a couple of design features that came up in the testing.

The first one was the handle.

You can see that the bottom of this has these sort of hard edges, these creases.

Testers didn't like that.

They preferred a nice rounded handle that was more comfortable to grip, gave them a more secure grip.

And certainly, if you're gonna use it to carve a whole, big holiday roast, you're at it for awhile, so you want to have as comfortable a grip as you can.

-Makes sense.

-The position of the power button also came up.

Some of these have a power button on the bottom, so you pull it up almost like a trigger, using your index finger.

Some of them -- two of them -- have power buttons on top.

Why don't you try that one, which has the power button on top?

Cut a couple of slices with that.

-Oh, you got to press forward and down.

-Forward and down.

-Alright.

I got to say, this -- it feels like a power tool.

It feels like it should be in the garage.

-Yeah, okay, the truth comes out.

I slid a hedge trimmer into the test.

-Yeah, it kind of -- That's what I thought of, especially with this handle.

It's also kind of -- It's kind of loud!

-It is a little loud.

-Oh, wow.

I have no dexterity with this at all.

It is just -- It's like using a chainsaw to cut a turkey.

-So, testers really didn't like those top-mounted buttons, especially on this model.

You know, if you're carving a big roast and you have to press that button down... -Yeah.

Whoo!

-...for a long time, there were some thumb cramps in the crowd.

-Yeah, well, look, I already have a bump on my thumb from pressing so hard.

-Workman's Comp, Julia.

Now, you mentioned the noise.

This thing was also pretty loud, and testers measured the noise levels with a decibel meter.

And this one was the loudest.

It was 89 decibels.

-Woof!

-For a frame of reference, a lawnmower is 90 decibels.

And, you know, regular conversations like the one we're having now between two civilized people are about 60 decibels.

-Much less.

-Much less.

Also, some of these things vibrated a little more, a little less, and testers didn't want too much vibration.

They also came with certain features.

Some of them had special blades for cutting meat or bread, different storage systems.

Testers tried all of those but didn't really, you know, care for any of those features.

They wanted to keep it simple.

The one feature that made a big difference was having a safety lock.

-That makes sense.

-That's usually just a little toggle right on the power switch, right there.

You can lock it in position so you can't press it by accident.

One of these knives didn't have that.

-Ooh.

-It was this one.

And testers worried that they could grab it if they were working really quickly and turn it on by accident, or if you're at home and you have kids running through the kitchen... -Mm-hmm.

-...and they get curious and turn it on... -Oh, yeah.

-...that's an accident waiting to happen.

In the end, that white one there, which is this one, was the winning electric knife.

-Ah!

-This is the BLACK+DECKER ComfortGrip 9-inch electric knife.

It was the least expensive, at $19.92.

-I like that.

-It had great slicing ability.

It was the quietest.

It had the safety lock, the comfortable handle, and it's really good for, you know, a big holiday roast.

-Alright.

So there you have it.

Electric knives do have their place around a holiday table.

And our favorite is the BLACK+DECKER ComfortGrip 9-inch electric knife at $19.92.

In 2008, the Heinz corporation did a study and found that Brussels sprouts were the most hated vegetable in America.

But that is certainly not the case today, and since then, sales for the little sprout have increased tenfold.

And that's in part thanks to restaurant chefs, who began to really pair them with modern flavors and current techniques.

And today, Christie's gonna show us an awesome new way to cook them in the form of a gratin.

-Well, I don't know that a gratin is the most modern approach, but who doesn't like a vegetable that's tossed in a creamy cheese sauce and baked with a nice crust on top?

-Yes.

-The problem is the technique.

So it's figuring out how to cook the vegetables properly so that they can shine in a dish like a gratin.

-Mm-hmm.

-And we're gonna figure that out.

-Okay.

-First, we're starting with the right-size Brussels sprouts.

So, these are fairly small.

These are about the size of a golf ball.

The reason that we like to use this size is because they tend to be a lot more tender.

They are a lot sweeter than bigger Brussels sprouts because the bigger ones are older.

So, I'm just taking these and I'm gonna slice off the very tip.

We don't want to cut off the whole bottom, the whole core, because that's holding them all together.

And then we'll just cut these in half.

Now, if you did have the bigger Brussels sprouts, it's fine.

They're not bad, but you definitely want to quarter them instead of halve them to make sure that they cooked properly.

-Now, when you're buying Brussels sprouts, there's a few ways you can find them.

You can find them loose, usually in a bin or in a bag.

The second way, if you're lucky, is you can find them still on the stalk, which not only looks cool, but they're less expensive, and they'll last longer in the fridge.

-So, I have 2 1/2 pounds of Brussels sprouts that I've already prepped.

And I have a 13x9-inch gratin dish.

This has already been greased.

I'm also adding a tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

We'll just mix this all together.

Now, this is a broiler-safe casserole dish, and you want to make sure that you're using a broiler-safe dish because we're going to be roasting these at a high temperature.

Now, I've already heated my oven.

I have the rack in the middle position, and the oven is cranked to 450 degrees.

We're gonna roast these for 30 to 35 minutes, and we're looking for them to be a nice browned color, and the Brussels sprouts will be tender if we stick a fork or a knife into them.

-Ooh!

-Oh, yeah.

These are so hot.

Like I said, this was a 450-degree oven, so we're actually going to make the topping and the sauce while these cool down just a little bit.

So these can sit here anywhere between 5 minutes and 30 minutes.

They'll still be warm, but they won't be this hot.

-Okay.

-Now, we wanted to make sure that the topping was, in fact, toasted and crisp.

And so the best way to do that is to launch a preemptive strike and toast the topping before we put it on the casserole.

So, I have 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter that's melting over medium heat in a medium saucepan.

I have 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs that I'll pop in here, and we'll just toss these around in the butter until they're a nice light-golden color.

We've just been toasting these for about three minutes.

Now we'll put these into a bowl.

And these are not for snacking.

-It's tempting.

-And now we'll just season these.

So, I have 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper that I'll add to here and just toss them around.

So, we'll just use the same saucepan.

I'm just going to wipe it out.

So, now, again, over medium heat, I have 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter this time, and we are going to begin our sauce.

-I have to say, that's a modest amount of butter for a gratin.

Usually, gratins are a little on the heavy, rich side.

-Oh, wait.

Wait.

-Did I speak too soon?

-Yes.

We'll get plenty of richness in there very, very soon.

-Good.

I'm glad to hear that, actually.

-So, the butter's melted.

I have one shallot that I've minced.

Just gonna get some aromatics in there to bolster the flavor a bit and then one minced garlic clove.

And we really just want to let these cook for about a minute.

By the time we can smell them, they are going to be finished cooking.

We are not looking for browning here, and we certainly don't want to burn them.

Now we need to thicken the sauce, thicken the base, so we'll add the other component of the roux, and that's flour.

So this is 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour, and we'll mix it in.

We're just cooking this for about a minute.

We just want to cook off any of that raw-flour taste.

This looks good.

So, now it's time to add the liquid.

So here, so you're happy, I have 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream and then 3/4 cup of chicken stock.

So, this will give us enough liquid, first of all, but it's also cutting that richness a little bit with some savoriness.

-I like it.

-Now I am going to increase my heat to medium-high.

We want this to come to a boil.

We're boiling, Julia.

-Mmm!

Looks like it's gotten a little bit thicker.

-Mm-hmm.

And that's all we needed to do, so now I'm going to turn the heat off.

I'm actually gonna remove the pan from the heat.

-Mm-hmm.

-And now we add the cheese.

-Tell me more.

-So, we're actually using a combination of cheeses.

I have 2 ounces of shredded Gruyre, using half of it in the sauce right now.

And this is 1 ounce of Parmesan that's been grated, and that's 1/2 cup.

It looks and smells great.

It's already nice and silky.

But now we need to add a few flavorings -- nutmeg, of course.

This is a pinch of nutmeg, and that's so classic... -Mm-hmm.

-...in white sauces.

-And it really brings out that nutty flavor in the cheeses.

-Mm-hmm.

And then a pinch of cayenne.

This is 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and just 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

-It's a pretty simple recipe, all in all.

-It's not difficult.

It really isn't.

So, I think we're all whisked together, so let's head over to our Brussels sprouts.

They've been waiting so patiently.

We're in that window -- 5 minutes to 30 minutes.

I'm just going to pour this.

I'll be a little dramatic.

-Oh, goodness.

The Brussels sprouts looked good without that gorgeous sauce.

Now, that's just gilding the lily.

-Alright.

We move that aside.

So, now you might want to use your oven mitts or your towel.

So, we'll get this all mixed together.

We're sauced up.

Now we need to add the topping, so we have our nice, buttery, crispy panko.

We'll just sprinkle this all over the top.

You really want a single layer.

-Mm-hmm.

-If you have more than that, you're not getting any heat on it.

Now the cheese.

So, this is the other 1/4 cup of the Gruyre.

This is just going to give you that first bite of salty, nutty goodness.

And it's actually going to melt and kind of give us a nice cohesive topping.

So, now we're going back into the oven -- same temperature, same rack that we used before.

450 degrees just for about five to seven minutes.

What we're looking for is just reheating everything.

We're going to look for the sauce to start boiling around the edges, and we want the whole top to get a nice golden-brown color.

-You're gonna gratin it.

-I am.

-Oh-oh-oh!

That's a beautiful gratin.

-Oh, yeah.

You see the bubbles... -Mm-hmm.

-...all around the edge?

That's what we want.

Ooh, yes.

-Gorgeous.

-Yes, please.

-Looks good enough to eat, Christie.

It also looks as hot as a volcano.

-Yes.

So we have to let this wait for 10 minutes.

-Okay.

-That's not so bad.

-That's doable.

-Alright.

Thank you for being so patient for those 10 minutes.

-No need to skimp on my account.

-Okay.

I love that the sauce is thickened, but it's not thick.

-It's not stodgy.

-It's not too tight, yes.

-Right.

Which old-school gratins used to have a very stodgy sauce.

This is a more modern sauce.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

Mmm!

-Mmm!

-Mm-hmm.

It has that nutty flavor of the roasted Brussels sprouts mirrored in the Gruyre and the Parmesan and then that toasted top.

-Right.

And the Brussels sprouts are really perfectly cooked.

-Mm-hmm.

-They're tender, but they haven't gone to mush.

-Mmm!

That sauce -- just enough to accent the Brussels sprouts but doesn't take over.

This is delicious.

-I'm so happy right now.

[ Both laugh ] -Christie, thank you.

-My pleasure.

-If you want to make this killer Brussels sprout gratin, start by having 2 1/2 pounds of Brussels sprouts and roast them right in the dish.

After toasting some bread crumbs for the topping, make a simple sauce using a combination of heavy cream, chicken broth, Gruyre, and Parmesan.

To finish, bake the gratin for just a few minutes until hot and bubbling.

From "Cook's Country," an amazing recipe for Brussels sprout gratin.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season along with tastings, testings, and selected episodes at our website, CooksCountry.com.

This is delicious.

-Mm-hmm.

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for access to this season's recipes, taste tests, and equipment ratings.

Or to watch current-season episodes, log on to cookscountry.com.