Cook's Country

♪♪ -"Cook's Country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table.

We're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes.

We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook.

And we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.

We bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you.

This is "Cook's Country."

♪♪ -Today on "Cook's Country," Lawman shows Bridget an ingenious method for making short ribs.

Jack takes a deep cut on beef cuts.

I share the history of baked potatoes in America, and Ashley makes Julia twice-baked potatoes with bacon and cheddar cheese.

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

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills to suit every level, our mission is to ignite your passion to pursue the art of grilling.

Learn more at monumentgrills.com.

♪♪ -Short ribs are exactly what they sound like.

They're just the beefy short cuts from beef ribs, and they usually come from the plate or the chuck section of the cow.

Now, because of this, they've got lots of intramuscular fat and collagen.

They're perfect for braising, and that's how I usually cook them.

But Lawman's here, and he's gonna show me another thing to do with short ribs.

What are we gonna do today?

-That's right, Bridget.

What if I told you you could have tender short ribs without all the braising time?

-Yes, because it's really, really -- I mean, it can take hours and hours to break these down.

-Yes.

-Okay.

Yeah.

I'm sold.

-Okay, so here I have 2 pounds of English-cut boneless short rib, 4 1/2 inches long, 1 1/2 inches thick.

These have already been trimmed.

I'm gonna finish up with this one.

So I'm gonna pat it dry.

-Mm-hmm.

-They have a big, beefy, rich flavor.

Remove the fat and the silver skin.

-Alright.

-Once we do that, I'm gonna have about one and a half pounds left.

-Okay.

Yeah.

The silver skin is just the little bit of fascia, the tissue that's on the outside of some of the muscles of the cow and other animals, that really helps to keep it in shape.

But it doesn't break down, no matter how you cook it.

-Now I have one tablespoon of kosher salt, one tablespoon of black pepper.

Seasoning meat before you cook it -- it's nothing new, but we're gonna season the meat two hours in advance.

This is gonna do a couple of things.

It's gonna make sure that the seasoning gets right into the meat.

The salt mixture is gonna help tenderize the meat and it's gonna help it retain all its nice juices.

-Mm.

Okay.

-And then what we're gonna do is cover the meat.

Then we're gonna refrigerate it for at least two hours to make sure it's well seasoned, up to 24 hours.

-Okay.

-Bridget, the meat's been chilling for about five hours.

We're gonna put these in a 275-degree oven.

There's an enzyme in the meat that helps tenderize the muscle fibers and break down the collagen so that the meat is not chewy.

We want the meat to be at 135 to 140, because those enzymes are gonna be really active and they're gonna break down the meat so they're nice and tender.

-Okay, great.

-So again I'm gonna put it in the oven at 275 degrees, middle rack for about 50 minutes to an hour.

It's been 50 minutes.

It's time to temp our meat.

-Okay.

-Again, we're looking for a temperature between 135 and 140.

137.

-That'll do it.

-It's perfect.

-So, Lawman, these do not look, um, you know, that pretty right now.

-I knew you were gonna say that.

And I admit, they look a little blah, but we're not done with these yet.

-Okay.

-We're gonna do a reverse sear.

So the first part was that low and slow.

The next step is we're gonna sear them, get a nice crust on them.

Then they're gonna look gorgeous.

The ribs have rested for 10 minutes.

So now we're gonna sear them.

And what we're doing is we're gonna treat these ribs like little steaks.

I have one tablespoon of vegetable oil in the pan.

It's heating over medium-high heat.

And I can see it's just smoking.

You want to let it go for about 1 to 2 minutes per side.

-This is actually one of the advantages of that reverse sear, too.

When the meat's in the oven, the exterior gets a little bit dried out so it can get a really good sear.

Oh, look at that.

That looks like dinner.

-[ Laughs ] I'm gonna let the second side go for about 1 to 2 minutes.

-Okay.

-These look great.

Now it's time to get them on the cutting board.

-Mm.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah.

These ribs went from suspicious -- they didn't look so good over there -- to spectacular.

So this is gorgeous.

-You just have to trust me.

-Alright.

I do, I do.

-Okay.

So now we're gonna let them rest for about five minutes.

So, Bridget, while the meat's resting, I'm gonna make the sauce.

-Mm-hmm.

-Here I have 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter that I'm cooking over a medium heat.

I'm gonna cook it for 3 to 5 minutes, and we're looking to brown the butter.

-Oh, gorgeous.

-So I'm gonna whisk it continuously because it can go from brown to black really quickly.

-And any time you're making brown butter, it's a good idea to use a pan like this with a light-colored bottom on it.

If you try to do this in nonstick, it's really difficult to tell exactly how dark the butter's turned.

-I'd say another 30 seconds.

-Okay.

-Now we're gonna add 2 tablespoons of minced shallot.

-Okay.

-And one teaspoon of minced garlic.

We're gonna cook this till fragrant, about 30 seconds.

And then we want to take it off heat.

Now I'm gonna add 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce... ...2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar... ...tablespoon of soy sauce... ...tablespoon of packed brown sugar...

...a tablespoon of Dijon mustard... ...and 2 teaspoons of black pepper.

-This is sounding a lot like a really great steak sauce.

-It is a really great steak sauce.

-Mmm!

-Whisk it all together.

And that's it.

Smells great, right?

-Oh, my gosh.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

-Now we're just gonna put it into a gravy boat or in this case, sauce boat.

-A sauce boat.

-Last but not least, we're gonna cut our ribs.

So you want to cut these as thin as possible because that's gonna shorten the muscle fiber in there.

And it's gonna help with making these even more tender.

-Okay.

Oh, look at the color.

There's no gray band at all.

Look at that.

This is perfect as it could get.

And I got to say, when you braise short ribs, you don't get medium rare at all.

-No, you don't.

-Alright.

Oh, my goodness.

This is restaurant quality, Lawman.

-Thank you.

-They cut very easily.

Alright.

Mmm.

I mean, the meat itself -- really well seasoned, super beefy.

That's the thing about short ribs compared to even some steaks, they're just incredibly beefy.

-Exactly.

-But then that butter sauce.

Oh, my goodness.

-I like to think of this as beefier, more flavorful tenderloin.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I do love the flavors in that sauce.

That little bit of mustard at the end.

You just get enough of that.

But the Worcestershire with that...

This might be my to-go sauce for just about everything.

-So have I converted you?

-Yeah, you have.

I'm gonna trust you with everything now.

This is 5-star food.

-Thank you.

-10-star food.

-[ Laughs ] -Mmm!

Absolute perfection.

Thanks so much, Lawman.

-You're welcome.

-Well, if you want to make these delectable short ribs at home, start the ribs in a low-temperature oven, rest the ribs and then sear them quickly.

And then make a beautiful brown butter sauce to go over the top.

And I mean that sauce takes them over the top.

Fantastic.

So from "Cook's Country," slow-roasted, medium-rare beef short ribs.

Mmm.

-Buying a steak has gotten very expensive.

So you don't want to make a mistake.

I want you to keep four things in mind when you're shopping for steaks.

First of all, tenderness.

Well, that's really a function of where the cut comes from on the animal.

If it's a muscle that doesn't get a lot of exercise, like the tenderloin, which runs along the back, it will be a tender steak.

If it's a muscle that gets more exercise, let's say like the skirt steak, it's gonna be chewy.

So the second consideration is flavor.

And flavor is really all about fat.

Now, this steak here in the back is a prime steak.

And you see the marbling running through this steak.

It's going to be absolutely delicious.

The next grade down is choice, and that's fine, too.

In the front, though, we have a select steak.

You don't want a select steak.

There's almost no fat, means almost no flavor.

Next up is size.

So I prefer to buy a thicker steak because it's easier to cook.

It can stay on the grill or in the pan longer without overcooking, which means you get a better crust on it.

In fact, I often buy a 12- or 16-ounce steak for myself and my wife, and we slice it and serve it, one steak, two people.

Last consideration is price and nothing is cheap.

But I have organized here the choices into three categories.

And we're gonna start with the luxe category.

So these are, as you might have guessed, splurge steaks -- pretty expensive.

I've got a strip steak in the back here, also known as a top loin or a shell steak.

It's got a beefy flavor and a sort of pleasant chew.

Next up, this is the ribeye.

So this is basically prime rib without the bones.

It's a little juicier.

It's a little fattier than the strip steak.

It's a lovely steak for the grill.

In the front, the tenderloin or the filet mignon.

There's almost no fat in this.

Honestly, I don't quite get the point.

Yeah, it's really tender, but there's a reason why it needs butter, a sauce or pepper crust is because there's not a whole lot of flavor.

So as you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of the tenderloin.

The middle category here, party steaks.

So they're party steaks because these are steaks you're going to enjoy with a group of people.

I've got the T-bone closest to me and the porterhouse in front.

A couple things you need to know about these.

They're really two steaks in one.

So here in the front of this T-bone is actually a piece of tenderloin.

The back part is strip.

The difference between T-bone and porterhouse, porterhouse is cut further back on the animal.

So this piece of tenderloin is a little bit larger on the tenderloin.

Pro tip -- the tenderloin is going to cook faster than the strip, so put it on the side of the grill away from the coals if you're outside, which is probably the best way to cook these big, gigantic party steaks.

Last up, the moderately expensive category.

This used to be moderately inexpensive, but there is no such thing as an inexpensive steak.

Let's start with the flank steak here in the back.

You can see the longitudinal grain.

This is a very large steak.

They typically run 1 1/2, 2 pounds, sometimes even more.

Two things -- do not cook this past medium, or it's going to be tough and slice it thin against the grain.

Next up, we have the sirloin flap.

So this is perfect for steak tips.

Buy this whole.

Sometimes you'll see things in the supermarket labeled sirloin, flat meat or steak tips, but you don't really know where they're from.

They'll be cut into cubes or strips.

Buy the large steak and cut it yourself.

This is wonderful in stir-frys or in steak tips.

And finally, this is a skirt steak.

It's got a grain that runs this way.

It's really beefy.

It's got more fat than the flank steak, which it's often compared to.

It's sometimes called the fajita steak.

And I love its sort of narrow width, because when you slice this, it tucks in perfectly into a tortilla.

So there you have it, the favorite steaks here at "Cook's Country" and tips so that you don't make a mistake next time you go shopping in the supermarket.

Enjoy.

♪♪ -Back in the 19th century, baked potatoes were a popular street food in English cities.

A quick meal on the go that also served as a hand warmer in the colder months.

And in the United States, the baked potato was quite literally a meal on the go.

In the early 1900s, the Northern Pacific Railroad became known for serving baked potatoes in their dining cars.

The story goes that the superintendent of dining cars, Hazen J. Titus, overheard farmers in Washington complaining that they had these huge 5-pound potatoes that they couldn't sell.

For context, the average potato weighs about half a pound.

Titus was curious about these monstrous potatoes, so he bought some and found that they not only baked well, but tasted really good.

Northern Pacific ran with it, and the potatoes became a sort of mascot.

The railroad displayed potatoes in the ticket offices and sold potato-shaped merch.

The potatoes even inspired a song called "Great Big Baked Potato."

And here at "Cook's Country," we hop on the baked potato train for our version of twice-baked potatoes with bacon and cheddar cheese.

♪♪ -Twice-baked potatoes never taste as good as they look.

Sure, sometimes the filling looks fluffy and there's garnishes on top, but oftentimes, that filling is bland and the skin on the outside is leathery and dry.

But today, Ashley promises to change all that.

-You bet I will.

So, I mean, you really can't go wrong with a twice-baked potato.

Essentially, they're a super cheesy mashed potato on a plate.

But like you said, they can be leathery and tough.

So the version I'm gonna make today uses a really cool technique that fixes all of those problems.

-Ooh!

-Yeah.

So before we do anything at all, as you can see, I've got four russet potatoes here.

They're between 8 and 10 ounces each.

It's important for this recipe to buy potatoes that are even in size, just to ensure that everything cooks at the same rate.

-Makes sense.

-So I'm going to pierce both sides about three times each.

So six pierces total per potato.

-Okay.

That's very specific.

-It is because it's the perfect amount that's gonna allow the steam to release so that the potatoes don't get too tough and leathery as they're in the oven.

-That makes sense.

-Now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna combine some water and some salt.

This is 1/2 cup of water.

And I've got a tablespoon of salt.

-Alright.

That's a pretty strong brine.

-You're right.

And what I'm gonna do is I'm actually going to be putting the potatoes in here.

But this is actually gonna help to season the exterior of the potatoes, dry it out and also keep it nice and crisp so it doesn't get leathery in the oven.

It's not gonna hang out here for very long.

I'm just going to make sure that it's moistened on the exterior of the potato.

-So you're just coating them in saltwater.

-Mm-hmm.

A nice, potent saltwater.

Now all we have to do is put this into the oven.

I've got a nice, hot oven that's preheated to 450 degrees, oven rack's at the middle position.

And I'm gonna bake these until they register 205 degrees on the interior, which should take about 50 to 60 minutes.

And 205 degrees is really important, because that is gonna be the sweet spot for where we want to stop cooking the potatoes.

Alright.

Julia, do you mind closing the door for me and just reducing the temperature of the oven to 400?

-You got it.

-Let's just check the internal temperature.

Again, we're looking for that sweet spot of 205 degrees.

-Alright.

-204.

I will take that.

Alright, now I'm gonna let these cool for about 15 minutes.

While those cool, let's move on to some of our ingredients that are gonna jazz things up in the filling department.

Welcome to the filling department.

-I love it.

-I've got some bacon here.

It's four slices of bacon that I cut into half-inch pieces.

And I'm gonna cook that in this 12-inch nonstick skillet.

It is an oven-safe skillet, and that's important for a little bit later on in the recipe.

I'm gonna cook this bacon 5 to 7 minutes until it is nice and crispy over medium heat.

Alright, Julia.

So as you can see, our bacon is beautifully crisp.

Again, that cooked for about seven minutes.

and it's been 15 minutes and the potatoes have cooled off beautifully.

-Okay.

-So let's make our filling.

But before we make our filling, we need to take the tops of our potatoes off... -Mm-hmm.

-...so that we can get some of that potato flesh out of there.

-Yep.

-So again I promised you beautiful, lovely potatoes that are not dry and leathery.

And I think I delivered.

Not patting myself on the back, but I am.

I'm gonna take a quarter of an inch off of the top of each potato.

I've seen twice-baked potatoes where they, at this step, take about half of the potato off, and it feels like you're sort of wasting a lot of the potato.

That's another reason why I love this recipe, because we're using as much as we can.

-I love it.

Those are some big shells.

-Oh, yeah.

So I'm gonna carve out the interior.

I'm using a fork, a little bit of a rocking motion just to release that potato.

Now, before I make a huge mess, I'll make an intentional mess and just scrape the flesh of the potato like so.

-You can see how hot it is.

-Yeah, but it's not too hot, again, because we had that rest time.

And I'm gonna leave about a quarter of an inch of a border in the potato skin.

-For a little structure.

-Exactly.

Alright.

So now that I've got that potato empty, I'm just gonna put the shells just over here.

And again, repeat, just in a little bit of a rocking motion.

I've got all the potatoes scooped out.

So now let's make our filling.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I've got the usual suspects here.

I've got some melted unsalted butter.

This is 3 tablespoons.

And then I have some sour cream.

This is 1/4 cup... and then some salt and pepper.

1/4 teaspoon of each.

And 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

Alright.

Now I'm gonna mash everything together.

-Mmm!

That smells good.

-I know A lot of recipes we found added things like scallions and cheese over the potatoes.

But we actually preferred it stirred into the potato.

-Yeah, that makes sense.

-Yeah.

3/4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar.

I have four scallions that I sliced thin.

-That looks good.

-Alright.

Finally we've got our bacon.

I'm gonna add that, again, directly into the filling.

-Hello.

-Mm-hmm.

Alright.

And I'm just gonna mix everything together until just combined.

Now, this is clearly a standard for twice-baked potatoes.

But we do have a couple other variations, and those are on our website.

Now we're looking for about a scant 3/4 cup of filling per potato.

And you want to have a little mound on it.

-Mm-hmm.

Oh, that looks good.

-Mm-hmm.

Those look super stuffed.

-Super stuffed.

-Oh, I love it.

-One more step.

I just need to use the tines of this fork just to rough up the edges here, because I'm gonna be adding a little bit of melted butter, and we want to make sure it has some crevices.

-I love it.

You're making more nooks and crannies to hold more butter.

-Mm-hmm.

I'm going to... take one tablespoon more of some melted butter.

I've got this skillet that I used earlier.

Emptied out the bacon fat, wiped it clean with some paper towels.

And now I'm really taking this to the next level because I'm gonna brush the skillet with one tablespoon of unsalted melted butter.

This is gonna help to crisp the exterior even further and give it a little bit more of that butter flavor.

-Gotcha.

You're cooking the potatoes back in the skillet.

-Yep.

-That's why you said earlier it needed to be an oven-safe skillet because this is going back in the oven.

-Yes!

-Oh, I'm catching up now.

-Alright.

And then finally, one last step.

We've got one more tablespoon of melted butter.

-Ah, for the nooks and crannies.

-For the nooks and crannies.

You said it.

Again, we reduced the oven down to 400 degrees.

I'm just gonna cook these in the oven for 20 to 23 minutes.

I'm just looking for the filling to be warmed through, and it's gonna get a little golden brown on the top.- -Okay.

Oh-ho-ho.

-Ooh.

-Those are gorgeous.

-Thank you.

Oh, my gosh.

Alright.

So naturally these are quite hot.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna use this paring knife just to go on into the center.

And then let's test for doneness and warmness.

It's warm, but they need to cool down.

-Okay.

-So I'm gonna let these cool for 10 minutes.

And then it's gonna be time to eat.

-Can't wait.

-Ready to eat?

-Yes, I am.

-Okay.

-[ Both laughing ] -Bon appétit.

-Man, that looks good.

-Mm-hmm.

-The question isn't if it looks good, though.

It's how it tastes.

-Okay.

-I'm going right into the middle.

-Oh, okay.

-Oh, boy.

Mmm.

Right off the bat, I taste bacon and scallion and the potatoes, even though you added a lot of cheese and some sour cream, they're still really fluffy.

-Yeah.

So tender.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm gonna go for some skin.

-Mm-hmm.

I'm going right for the end piece.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm!

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

The outside is crisp not leathery.

-Mm-hmm.

-And it has good flavor.

-Yeah.

Nice and salty.

Not too salty, but it really balances the richness of the filling.

-Mm-hmm.

-And it got nice and crisp because of the butter and the skillet.

-Yeah.

This is awesome.

Now...Because this seems like something you'd want to do for company.

Can you fill them and hold them for a while and then bake them kind of to order?

-Um, yeah.

You can make these ahead of time.

-Mm-hmm.

-You would fill them, cover them with plastic wrap, and they're good for up to 24 hours.

But also if you have company, this is a great recipe to double.

-Oh, interesting.

-Yeah.

-Ashley, these are fantastic.

Thank you.

-You are welcome.

-Do you want to make the ultimate twice-baked potato?

Start by baking the potatoes until they register 205 degrees.

Trim off the very top of each potato to make a big, sturdy shell.

Finally, add sour cream, sharp cheddar and scallions to the filling.

From "Cook's Country," an impressive recipe for twice-baked potatoes with bacon and cheddar cheese.

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

This is a company's coming kind of dinner, you know what I mean?

-Absolutely.

-You don't have to serve much with this.

Maybe, like, a little steak and you're good to go.

-Visit our website, where you can sign up for the free "Cook's Country" e-mail newsletter, for even more of the recipes and stories you love from the magazine and the TV show.

CooksCountry.com/Cooks.

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-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills to suit every level, our mission is to ignite your passion to pursue the art of grilling.

Learn more at monumentgrills.com.

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