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," Morgan grills brined pork chops with garlic-herb oil for Julia, Hannah shows us the best ceramic skillets, and Ashley makes rhubarb shortcakes with buttermilk whipped cream.

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

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

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Monument brings people together.

Monument Grills -- the everybody everywhere grill.

-Teakhaus -- inspired by a passion for cooking and respect for our planet.

Each board is handcrafted from sustainably sourced wood designed for every step, from food prep to presentation.

Teakhaus.

-Brining is an easy way to add flavor and moisture to any number of cuts of meat, and today, Morgan's gonna show us how to brine thick-cut pork chops.

-Yeah, Julia, and you won't be surprised to know I'm grilling these chops.

-You are great at the grill.

-I do love grilling, and I feel very strongly about it, but pork chops are pretty lean and you don't want them to dry out on the grill, so the brine's a great way to prevent that.

-Yep.

-I'm also gonna use it to add some flavor to these, which we don't always do with brining.

-Yeah, that's true because not all flavors work well in a brine.

It has to be a certain type of flavor.

-Exactly.

And I have a few tricks up my sleeve for that.

So, I'm gonna start by toasting 2 tablespoons of fennel seeds.

-Okay.

-I always like to toast spices myself if I can, just 'cause it brings out so much flavor.

-Yeah, just a little toasting goes a long way.

-Yeah, it keeps them nice and fresh.

I'm just going over medium heat here, and I'm just gonna go till it's fragrant.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay.

These are looking good.

Do you smell them?

-I do smell them.

-Perfect.

Alright.

We're gonna pull them off heat, and I'm gonna go directly into my mortar and pestle.

When you buy whole seeds like this, they maintain their freshness.

If you buy ground fennel, it can taste really good, but it won't taste as vibrant.

-Yep.

That's right.

-It's looking good.

So now I'm gonna take 4 teaspoons of this and add it into the base of my brine.

Here I have 6 cups of cold water.

Pork and garlic go great together, so I've also got some garlic.

Here I've got 6 cloves, and I'm just gonna smash them.

So just using the side of my knife, getting in there and crushing them down.

-Mm-hmm.

-And into the brine these go.

Also going in here, I have 1/3 of a cup of light brown sugar.

So this is gonna do a couple things for me.

The sugar is gonna help the pork chops brown on the grill... -Yep.

-...and I'm gonna also add 1/4 of a cup of salt, and it's gonna help balance that out.

This is just table salt.

I actually like using table salt in my brine.

-Yep.

-It's gonna keep the pork chops nice and juicy and well seasoned.

-Yep.

-Alright.

4 teaspoons of fresh rosemary that I've minced, and then a tablespoon of black pepper.

I have a tablespoon of dried oregano here.

I have a tablespoon of red pepper flakes, a tablespoon of lemon zest.

I love these flavors.

-Yeah.

-They're very classic, but they're really good, the lemon, the rosemary, the garlic.

And then I have 1/4 of a cup of vodka.

-That's interesting.

-Yeah.

Some of these flavors are alcohol-soluble... -Yeah.

-...so the vodka is actually gonna help them translate into the pork.

Now, the vodka does help, but if you don't have vodka around or if you just don't like cooking with alcohol, you can leave it out... -Okay.

-...and it'll still be delicious pork.

So I'm just gonna whisk this all up, get everything nice and combined.

Okay, so let's talk about my favorite subject in the world -- pork.

So, you look for something that has a good amount of fat.

Like, this amount of fat on the exterior, it's gonna be a juicy pork chop.

When you actually have even a little bit of white marbling in the pork chop, that's, like, glorious.

-Oh, look at that.

-Yeah, that's the good stuff.

-Yeah.

-It's gonna keep it juicy.

It's gonna be really nice.

Here I have these four.

They're all 12 to 14 ounces each, but what's really, really important is that they're one inch thick.

-Gotcha.

-These are pork rib chops.

You can also use center-cut chops here.

Alright, so into the brine they go.

A little flavor bath.

So I'm gonna brine these for anywhere from 2 to 24 hours.

If you have the time, go 24 hours.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah, it definitely makes a difference.

It gives time for all those flavors to meld.

-Okay.

-I'll cover it, pop it in the fridge.

Alright, Julia, I'm gonna mirror the flavors of that brine in a really flavorful garlic oil.

-Oh.

Cool idea.

-Yeah.

So here I have 6 tablespoons of olive oil.

To that, I'm adding the rest of that fennel seed that we ground earlier.

And then I'm also gonna add 2 minced garlic cloves.

I have 2 teaspoons of minced fresh rosemary, so same sort of stuff that was in the brine.

I have a teaspoon of black pepper.

I have 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano... and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and then just a little bit of salt.

So here I have 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

So, I'm gonna heat this over medium heat until it's fragrant.

-Mm-hmm.

-Everything will be sizzling.

It only takes 1 to 2 minutes.

-Okay.

There's the sizzle.

-There's the sizzle.

So I'm gonna turn this off heat, and I'm gonna add a tablespoon of lemon juice.

It's just gonna add some freshness.

It's also gonna slow it down so nothing burns or anything like that.

I feel like once you get sizzling, it can go.

-Yep.

It can get carried away.

-That's our oil.

Now, I'm gonna pull off 2 tablespoons of this.

I'm gonna make sure to mix it well to make sure I'm getting all those delicious bits in there.

And these 2 tablespoons are gonna come out to the grill with us, and we can brush them on the chops as we're grilling.

And the rest of this I'm just gonna set aside and we can use it for serving.

-Okay.

-Let's go back to our pork.

So, this has been brining for 24 hours.

-Mm-hmm.

-It doesn't look all that different, but it's gonna make a huge difference on the grill.

So, wet brines are great because they help it stay extra moist on the grill.

Like, a dry brine, when you're just adding salt, can keep it really moist but doesn't actually add any moisture.

It's just helping the meat retain the moisture that's already in there.

A wet brine actually adds moisture.

But moisture is the enemy of char on a grill... -Sure is.

-...so I'm gonna do my best to pat these as dry as I can, just to make sure to get off any moisture.

-And that's why you put it on a rack.

-Exactly.

I want as much air circulation around these.

I want them particularly dry going on the grill.

Now, also, if there are any whole seeds in here, I want to try to pick those off while I'm patting them dry.

Now, one more thing before grilling.

I want to snip these pork chops.

So, pork chops have this layer of fat on the outside.

-Yep.

-And when they're over high heat, this tightens up first, so then you have the pork chops buckle and you often get this little cup so you can't get as good a browning.

If you make little slits, then it gives space for everything to tighten up without ruining your flat surface area where you get the good grill marks.

So I'm just gonna look for about every 2 inches and just cut right into the fat.

And not actually cut into the meat, but cut to the meat.

Like, I want to see the meat in there, but I don't want to actually cut into the meat.

-Perfect.

-Okay, so one more thing, just to make sure they're a little extra dry before we go out to grill, I'm gonna leave them on this rack and put them in the fridge for anywhere from 30 minutes up to 24 hours.

So it's just gonna dry out the exterior even more so we're more likely to get browning on the grill.

-I love it.

-Julia, these have been drying out in the fridge and it's time for us to grill.

I've had all the burners preheating for 15 minutes.

You can see, plenty hot.

-Oh, yeah.

Look at her.

-Yeah, but I'm gonna create a two-level fire.

So I'm gonna leave the primary burner on high and turn off the other burners.

I'm gonna clean all the grates, make sure there's no debris stuck on here.

And of course, I want to oil the grates too.

-Mm-hmm.

-Just keeps everything from sticking.

-Yeah, and it helps season the grill grates over time.

-Yeah.

So I have this hot side and the cool side.

I'm gonna put these all on the hot side to start.

This is gonna allow them to get a really nice char over the hot side, and then later I can move them to the cool side for a little more control.

But right now it's really all about getting a nice char.

-Okay.

-And... Alright, so I'm just gonna let these go until they're nice and charred on that first side.

That'll only take about 2 to 4 minutes.

And I'm gonna cook it covered just so it stays nice and hot.

Alright.

Let's check these out.

-Oh, gorgeous.

-Oh, yeah.

Yeah, that's nice.

Alright, now I want to do the second side, so it's the same deal -- 2 to 4 minutes covered, and then we'll check them.

-Okay.

-Alright.

Let's check out the second side.

-Oh, just as pretty as the first.

-Yeah.

So pretty.

So I'm gonna just move these over to the cooler side.

As we've talked about, pork can dry out.

-Mm-hmm.

-So this cooler side is just a little more gentle to finish cooking it.

So I have this oil we saved from earlier.

-Yep.

-And I'm just gonna brush this all over the chops.

Now I'm going to cover it, and I'm just gonna let them go until they hit 135 degrees, which is just gonna be a really nice juicy pork chop.

It'll take anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes.

-Not very long.

-Yeah.

Julia, let's check on our chops.

-Mmm!

-Alright.

-They smell good.

-They do smell good, right?

-Yeah.

-And they're already brown, so I'm not worried about that.

Now I'm just really looking for a temperature.

So I like to go in sideways or long ways alongside the pork.

And... -136 on the nose.

-On the nose.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

So we're almost ready to eat, which is very exciting 'cause they smell so good, but they do need to rest about 10 minutes.

So I'm gonna cover them with foil and we can head on inside.

-Okay.

-Our chops have rested 10 minutes, which means it's carving time.

-Mm-hmm.

-I like holding them up and then just using a boning knife and then going right along the bone.

Now I can kind of, like, just use the bone as my guide for each chop.

Then I'm gonna put it down, get a little more steadiness, and cut it off.

And then I'm just slicing them nice and thin.

And you can see how pink and rosy this pork chop is.

-And how juicy.

-How juicy!

-Nice.

-Alright.

-That is gorgeous.

-Yeah, well, I want it to feel fancy just 'cause, um, like, pork chops I feel like aren't often thought of as, like, very elegant, but they're so elegant.

-That's true.

-Especially when you drizzle them with this garlic-herb oil.

-Oh, hubba hubba.

-I know, and it's sinking into all those little slices.

We're getting every little piece smothered in garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, that fresh fennel.

-Toasted fennel.

-Exactly.

Okay.

-Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

There we go.

-Nice!

-Okay.

-I'm digging right in.

Mmm.

That's delicious.

-It's so good.

-Well, you have the marinade and the pork flavor, which is a bit mellowed, it's a -- it's a bit in the background, and then you have the repeat of those flavors over the top.

And you taste both of them -- you taste the mellow background and that punch at the top.

-Yeah.

I feel like the oil does something at the end.

Like, you get those flavors a little more pungently, but it doesn't overpower the pork.

-Mnh-mnh.

-And it's so juicy and moist.

-Because of the brine, you really can taste the grill flavor.

-Yeah, that's so true.

And we got that really nice char on there.

That's from that brown sugar.

It's from us taking that time to make sure everything was nice and dry.

-Yeah, and that can be hard to do on a gas grill.

-It can be.

-Morgan, these are fantastic.

Thank you.

-Thanks for grilling with me, Julia.

-If you want to brine and grill some fantastic pork chops, start by brining the chops in a flavorful brine made with water and vodka.

Make an infused rosemary garlic oil, then pull the chops from the grill when they register 135 degrees.

From "Cook's Country," a terrific recipe for grilled brined pork chops with garlic-herb oil.

-Nonstick skillets are incredibly popular, no doubt due to the fact that they're very easy and convenient to use, and they can be pretty inexpensive.

But they do come with a little bit of controversy, so to tell us more, Hannah's here, and she's gonna take us through a recent testing of skillets.

Tell us what you got.

-Yes.

So, traditional nonstick pans are made with an aluminum base and a coating of polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE.

-Okay.

-You might know it as Teflon.

-Definitely know it as Teflon.

-Super common.

PTFE is one of the forever chemicals.

Basically, it will never biodegrade and it also can off-gas toxic fumes above 500 degrees, which is possible to do on the stovetop.

So folks are concerned.

We understand why.

We went back and tested 14 ceramic skillets priced from $25 to $95 to see if there's a good alternative.

You know, historically, they have not had the same durability and release... -Right.

-...as the traditional nonstick skillets, so we had to get to the bottom of it.

Is that still true?

Is there a better alternative?

-Okay, great.

-So we rounded up a whole bunch of pans, and we put them through their paces.

You know, we do our 50-egg test, so we cook 50 eggs right in a row, one after another, until they start to stick, if they do.

Then we use the pans a bunch of different ways while we're in the kitchen, real-life testing -- frittatas, stir-fried vegetables, omelets, et cetera, that type of thing.

-Okay.

-Then at the end of testing, we put them through another 50-egg test to make sure they are really going with their great nonstick ability still at the end of testing.

Really, there was a huge difference in coatings, and some of them were actually great and on par with Teflon and traditional nonstick skillets.

-Great.

-Others like this little one for example from Copper Chef, this only made it through 28 eggs in the first egg test.

It's also not copper.

It's just a warm aesthetic thing.

You're not gonna get the performance of copper for $28.

But I have good news.

Some of them actually performed really well, and it came down to the quality of the coating.

-Okay.

-So the coatings are applied at the factory all different ways -- different thicknesses, sometimes they're rolled on, they're sprayed on, there's many different layers.

All of that is proprietary, but what we can tell is some manufacturers are actually getting it right.

And I mean getting it right equaling the performance of traditional.

-Really?

-Yeah.

So that was really exciting for us.

You can still cook with nonstick and not worry about the off-gassing.

-Alright.

Tell me more.

-Alright.

So under that nonstick coating we also want a great pan.

It's not just about the coating.

It's about the structure underneath.

We looked for three things in all of our skillets.

First of all, usable cooking space.

That is the flat space across the bottom that you can actually cook food on.

If you'll notice, skillets that are roughly the same size have a lot of difference in the amount of cooking space they have.

-Right.

So there's the same size on the outside, but it's the inside where the bottom meets the sides that really matters.

-Exactly.

Weight was another factor we examined.

Will you pick that one up over there?

-This one?

-Yeah.

-That is heavy, and that is empty.

Really heavy.

[ Pan thuds ] -We preferred those that were more around two and three pounds empty.

Talk to me about the handle.

-Yeah, well, I was gonna say something a second ago, but this handle is really uncomfortable.

Like, it just feels wide and straight and, I don't know, it does not feel like you want to be holding it, and you certainly won't be able to maneuver the pan a lot.

-No, you would have to be very, very strong.

So we preferred handles more akin to this one, which were smooth.

-Okay.

-It doesn't have huge ergonomic bumps.

This is actually our overall winner, by GreenPan.

This is the 12-inch version.

We love the 8-, 10-, and the 12-inch.

It has that light, beautiful shape, comfortable handle, and the nonstick coating is high quality.

This is the pan.

We did that five-recipe showdown at the end of testing against the traditional nonstick skillet.

This one kept pace.

-So if you want to check out the winning 12-inch ceramic skillet, it's the GreenPan Valencia Pro hard anodized nonstick fry pan, and it runs about $90.

For just a few weeks every spring, it's rhubarb season.

And I love that because I get to get my hands on the fresh stuff and incorporate it into as many fruit desserts as I possibly can.

I'm really happy today, because Ashley is here, and she's gonna show us a great recipe that focuses solely on rhubarb.

-You bet.

So we're gonna make rhubarb shortcakes based off of the classic recipe, strawberry shortcake.

But we are not gonna use any strawberries today.

We're only going to use rhubarb.

-Get those berries out of here.

-Berries shmerries.

-Pssh.

-So we're gonna start with the rhubarb today.

I have 2 1/4 pounds total here.

They've been cut into 3/4-inch pieces.

Now, you want to find stalks, if possible, that are about 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch thick, but if they are a little bit thicker like this one, you just want to cut lengthwise... ...just like so.

And again we're gonna cut into 3/4 inch pieces.

-Okay.

-Alright.

-Beautiful.

-Now, rhubarb can be quite tart and quite sour, so I'm gonna add a good amount of sugar just to balance that sourness.

-Okay.

-So this is 1 1/4 cup of sugar.

And I have some lemon juice, this is 2 teaspoons, which is gonna add some nice acidity, really brighten things up.

And then also just 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

But similar to the lemon juice, it's really going to balance everything out here.

It's just -- It's gonna be very, very delicious.

So we've got this baking dish here.

A 13x9 does the trick.

And really what's important here is that you get this mixture into an even layer at this stage.

-Okay.

Got it.

-And now I'm gonna cover this with some aluminum foil.

I'm gonna put the rhubarb into an oven that's been preheated at 325 degrees with the oven rack at the upper middle position.

-Okay.

-And I'm gonna cook that for about 20 minutes.

-Under cover.

-Under cover.

Alright, so now what we're gonna do... is check on our little rhubarb situation.

I'm gonna put this right back into the oven for about 30 more minutes, maybe 35 minutes.

And without the foil, it's really gonna allow for the rhubarb and all those juices to really concentrate their flavors.

The steam is just gonna evaporate in the oven.

Ooh.

-Rhubarb.

I smell rhubarb.

-I do too!

Bridget, big ask -- could you please close the door and increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees?

-You got it.

-Thank you.

Alright.

Now, let me just check with the paring knife.

I want to make sure that it meets just a little bit of resistance.

-Okay.

-Oh, yeah.

Perfect.

-And it's still intact.

That's fantastic.

-Mm-hmm.

Yes.

So now I'm gonna let this cool for about an hour, but you could make this ahead of time.

You can just put it in the refrigerator once it's cooled for up to a day.

-Oh, very handy.

-Well, let's make our shortcakes.

-Yeah.

-So, all-purpose flour, there's 2 cups.

I have 1/3 of a cup of sugar and I have a tablespoon of baking powder.

It's really gonna help with that oven spring, give it really nice texture.

And then finally I have 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

And now I'm just gonna process this for 5 seconds.

[ Food processor whirring ] Alright.

Now... I have 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter that I cut into 1/2-inch pieces, but it's really cold butter.

That's always important especially when making biscuits or short cakes.

-Definitely.

-So now I'm gonna pulse this for 10 pulses.

-Okay.

[ Food processor whirring ] -And finally I've got some chilled buttermilk.

This is 1/2 a cup plus 2 tablespoons.

Alright, and now I'm gonna pulse this 12 times until everything is nice and combined.

-Okay.

-Okay, Bridget, so as you can see, the butter is really nicely incorporated in there.

-Definitely.

-Gonna flour the counter just ever so slightly.

-Okay.

-And then I'm just gonna add our dough here right onto the counter.

Now, first before I do anything, I'm gonna knead this dough, and I'm gonna do three turns in total 'cause I don't want to work this dough too much.

-Okay.

-It would develop gluten, and then it would be a tough shortcake.

Alright, so that was three turns.

-Okay.

-Now using the bench scraper, I'm just gonna put a little bit of flour on both sides.

And notice my hands have a little bit of flour on them too.

I'm gonna form this into an 8x4-inch rectangle.

-Okay.

-Now, I'm gonna be cutting the shortcakes into squares.

We're not gonna do circles.

-Love that.

-Yeah.

So what I want to do first is just cut about an 1/8 of an inch of just the dough on the exterior off, just so that I can ensure that we have a perfect rectangle here.

-Okay.

-Now I'm gonna add just a little bit of flour on the knife, just to prevent any sticking.

-Got it.

-And again, we're going for 1/8 of an inch.

-Okay.

Just on the outside.

-Just on the outside.

Yeah.

Okay, and then finally, just on the top.

Alright.

I'm gonna flour this one more time.

So now what I'm gonna do is a little bit more geometry, which we all know is my strong suit.

I'm gonna cut this in half crosswise.

-Okay.

-And that's gonna give me two 4-inch squares.

Perfect.

So now what I'm gonna do is I'm going to cut each half in half lengthwise and crosswise.

-Awesome.

-Yes.

Center.

You'll notice I'm not dragging the knife.

That's because I want nice straight sides, if possible.

-Okay.

Yes.

-Alright.

So, if we walk on down here... I've got a rimmed baking sheet that I lined with some parchment.

And I'm just going to put two rows of four and just evenly space them on the sheet.

Alright, now finally, before we go into the oven, I've got some melted butter and I have some sugar.

-Okay.

-So I have 2 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter that I'm gonna just brush evenly over all of the shortcakes.

-Mm.

-I know.

And finally we have 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Again, just evenly top each shortcake with the sugar.

So I'm gonna pop these into the oven.

Again, it's been preheating for 425 degrees thanks to you.

And I'm gonna bake these for 10 to 14 minutes.

That's it.

And I'm just gonna go in there rotating the sheet halfway through baking, and I just want to look for a beautiful golden brown color on the top of the shortcakes.

-Okay.

-[ Chuckles ] Alright.

Thank you.

-Those are some nice shortcakes you got there, Ashley.

[ Gasps ] Aren't they pretty?

-They are!

You can see beautiful golden brown on the top.

We need to let these shortcakes cool for at least 10 minutes.

Let's make some rhubarb magic.

-Let's do it.

-Let's do it.

Slice these in half.

There we go.

-Mm!

-Alright, so, again, this has been nice and cooled for about an hour.

Yum.

Rhubarb is still intact.

It is not mushy at all.

-Not -- Not even a little bit.

-Mnh-mnh.

We're doing a tangy buttermilk whipped cream to pair with the tart rhubarb, and you can find that recipe on our website.

-It's pretty in pink, isn't it?

-[ Chuckles ] -Get a little bit of the shortcake here.

-Mm-hmm.

-Grab some of that cream.

That is the perfect bite right there.

-Oh, yeah.

-Mmm.

Mmm!

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

That rhubarb... -Yeah.

-...is tender, still has a little bit of texture to it, but it's almost custardy.

-Yeah, mm-hmm.

-Mmm!

That is super silky.

-It's creamy, but not mushy, as we mentioned.

-No.

-Not super soft, not falling apart.

It really maintained its integrity.

-It did.

-Yeah.

-That shortcake is perfectly cooked too.

It's got that lovely crumbly, buttery texture to it.

The whipped cream is super tangy.

I'm loving this.

-Yeah.

Not overly sweet.

Nothing here is overly sweet.

It's balanced so well.

-Since it's not too sweet, you can eat double.

-See, that's just the thing.

That is just the thing.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Thank you so much, Ashley.

-You're very welcome.

-This is beautiful.

Now, if you want to make these rhubarb shortcakes at home, bake sugared rhubarb to enhance its flavor and create a sweet sauce, cut the shortcake dough into squares to minimize waste, and then whip buttermilk into heavy cream for a tangy topping.

So from "Cook's Country," the ultimate spring dessert -- it's the pretty in pink rhubarb shortcakes with buttermilk whipped cream.

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

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for the newest seasons, rigorously tested recipes, full episodes, ingredient advice, and equipment reviews.

CooksCountry.com/TV.

-"The Complete Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook" brings together every recipe, tasting, and test from 18 seasons of the beloved TV show, with trusted equipment recommendations and insights from the entire cast.

This book is your guide to the very best in regional cooking.

The cost is $24.99 -- $15 off the cover price of $40.

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

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

-Monument Grills -- made for everyone from the backyard master to the weekend host and the beginner just starting out.

Monument brings people together.

Monument Grills -- the everybody everywhere grill.

-Teakhaus -- inspired by a passion for cooking and respect for our planet.

Each board is handcrafted from sustainably sourced wood designed for every step, from food prep to presentation.

Teakhaus.