♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen", Lan makes Julia roast chicken with couscous, roasted red peppers, and basil.

Jack talks all about grains.

Dan reveals the holographic potential of chocolate.

And Erin makes Bridget rhubarb upside down cake.

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

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

Plugrà European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers.

Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugrà -- from professional kitchens to your home.

Sailing with American Queen Voyages brings you to mighty rivers and unique expeditions, where passionate explorers can discover the continent of North America.

You can learn more about our voyages at AQVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

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Visit us at surlatable.com.

♪♪ -Whenever people ask about my favorite thing to cook at home, the answer is always the same -- roast chicken.

So I got very excited when I heard that Lan was developing a new roast chicken recipe.

-Julia, roast chicken is fantastic, and it's so easy, it's homey, it's comforting.

I do feel like people sometimes miss out on the best part of a roast chicken, and that's what we're going to focus on today.

-Ooh!

-I know you're curious.

-I'm really curious.

What have I been missing?

-Before we get to that, let's put together a seasoning mix.

I'm keeping it really simple here.

Just salt and pepper.

I've got 2 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper.

I just want to stir them together so there's no cross-contamination.

Now, I've got a 4-pound chicken here.

Before we start cooking, I want to do a little bit of trimming.

There's a lot of fat on this bird that we don't really need, so let's get rid of it.

The fat in the cavity, you can just kind of pull out with your hands.

Comes right off.

That's nice.

I also check the neck and make sure there isn't a ton of skin.

I have a friend who refers to this as "the turtleneck."

-[ Laughs ] -And this looks like a mock turtleneck, so we're going to leave it alone.

But if it's longer, you want to trim some of that off.

So that best part of the chicken that I was alluding to earlier -- the drippings.

-Oh, that makes sense.

-They often get left behind in the pan, but we're not going to do that today.

What I want is for the juices from the bird to not stay trapped under the skin, but for them to hit the hot pan in the oven.

There, they'll concentrate, reduce.

They undergo Maillard browning and pick up some beautiful color.

That's exactly what we want.

-So you're going to encourage extra drippings.

-Extra drippings.

And the way to do that is to put a couple of little slits in the skin so that the juices get to the pan instead of getting trapped beneath the skin.

So this little bit right here, you can almost think of it as like the back of the knee.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm just going to put a little 1/2 inch slit right here.

Any knife will do.

That's it.

Really simple.

-Really small.

-Quick poke.

That's all you need.

-Okay.

-I want to feel for the thigh.

And right up here, where the thigh hits the rib cage, I'm going to put a little poke.

And that's it.

-Huh.

-Nice and simple.

-Really clever.

-And I'm just going to repeat this on the other side.

Just going to tuck the wings.

It'll give the bird a little stability and protect them a little bit.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm going to use our seasoning mix.

A third of that salt and pepper mixture is going to go into the cavity.

Great.

And now I'm going to brush 1 tablespoon of melted unsalted butter on to the top and sides of the bird.

You often see oil instead of butter, but I think the milk solids and butter encourage browning, gets you a nice burnished color.

So that looks pretty good.

Nice and simple.

A little more seasoning.

-So you're not really doing it on the back side.

Just the front and the outside of the legs.

-Yeah, there's not much meat on the back.

I want to make sure the thighs are seasoned and the breasts and the wings and the drums.

Julia, I've got a 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet, and I'm heating it at medium high.

Just want this oil to shimmer.

I find that a 12-inch skillet is great for a 4-pound bird.

Oil is looking a little wavy.

We're ready.

Just going to pop this bird right in.

[ Sizzling ] -[ Laughs ] That's a hot pan.

-Sure is.

And it's hot for a good reason.

What's happening right now is we're jump starting the cook for the dark meat.

It's going to make sure that the thighs wrap up cooking at the same time as the breast.

So we're going to pop this into a 400 degree oven on the middle rack.

It'll roast until the breasts hit 150 to 155 degrees.

Takes about an hour, maybe an hour and 10 minutes.

And half way through, I'm going to go in and rotate that skillet.

-Okay, now, that's a little lower than the average, 160, that we usually roast chicken breasts to.

So what's the difference here?

-So what we've learned over time is that when you roast a chicken or any cut of meat in a hot oven, it tends to carry over a lot more.

And at 400 degrees, I can rely on carryover cooking to take that bird all the way up to 160, which is where I want to serve it at.

-Sounds good.

Oh!

-Right?

See that skin bubbling away?

-That is a looker.

-Sure is.

-Oh, Lan.

-How great does that look?

Check out the color on those juices.

-I've never seen that much juice come out of a single roast chicken before.

-Now I'm going to leave the towel over here since this is hot, and we're going to keep using this skillet to make our side with those juices.

But first, let's get this out of here so it doesn't overcook.

-Oh.

-We'll let this bird rest for 15 minutes, and in that time, carryover cooking will take it up to 160.

-All right.

-So let's get these drippings into a fat separator.

Let the fat rise to the top.

So this has separated nicely.

I'm going to measure out about 1/4 cup of our juices.

-There you go.

-Okay, great.

Spoon out 2 teaspoons of this lovely schmaltz.

-Mmm!

Adding the schmaltz back to the pan.

That's a good sign.

-Delicious.

So I'm going to add 4 cloves of thinly sliced garlic.

I'm going to set this to medium low.

I just want to gently toast out that garlic.

I'm not looking for a ton of color.

I just want to take that heat off.

This usually takes maybe 3 minutes.

I'm going to add 3/4 of a cup of couscous to this.

-Mm!

-I like to use couscous or maybe bulgur, or quinoa would also work.

They're all starches that cook quickly, and I wanted to make sure that this was a meal that we could get on the table fast.

Just a quick stir.

All I'm doing here is making sure that the grains are all coated in fat.

This will minimize clumping after we add the liquid.

Time for our drippings.

Now, these are actually so concentrated that we're going to dilute them with water.

So that was 3/4 of a cup of water.

Now, I'm going to season this with 5 teaspoons of red wine vinegar and a 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.

Just a quick stir.

Now, I just want this to come up to a simmer, and I want to make sure that everything is submerged.

Anything that isn't submerged is not going to cook.

Last ingredient, I've got 3/4 of a cup of jarred roasted red peppers.

I've just run a knife through them so they're chopped.

I'm going to scatter this right over the top.

It's a nice, quick way to get some color and flavor on top of here.

I'm just going to shut this off.

Would you mind handing me that lid?

-There you go.

-Thank you.

This couscous is going to take about 10 minutes to cook through.

Julia, this chicken has been resting for 15 minutes, and it gives me just enough time to carve this while the couscous finishes steaming.

-Okay.

-I am just going to take the legs off.

For now, I'm just going to run my knife down this keel bone.

Look at this cook.

So juicy.

-My goodness.

Mm, mm.

-The couscous has been steaming for 10 minutes, and you can see that all that beautiful liquid has been absorbed.

I'm just going to give it a quick toss, fluff it up.

This looks great.

We'll add 2 tablespoons of chopped basil just for a little color and some freshness.

-Oh, lovely.

-And we're done.

-Lan, that is a beautiful thing because that is dinner.

All out of one skillet.

-All right, Julia.

-Oh, good.

You gave me the wing.

-Right.

-Leaving the wing on and just cutting it in half.

I mean, it's perfect for a weeknight.

-Let's eat.

A little spoonful of couscous.

-That couscous is so pretty.

-Yeah, it's really quick and simple, but it looks great.

It looks like you spent more time on it than you did.

-It does, actually.

First off, I love how crisp the skin is.

That nice brown skin on top, that's hard to do.

I'm going right in.

-Great.

-Yeah.

-So inviting.

-Mm.

Mm-hmm.

That is perfectly cooked all the way through.

The breast is good and juicy.

-Mm!

-So much more flavorful than you'd think, considering how little work it is.

-Yeah, there's a depth of flavor thanks to all those juices that you added.

-It's nice and savory.

You get that hit of acidity.

-Oh, and I love the fresh hit of basil at the end.

Lan, this is a delicious dinner.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-If you want to make this inventive new recipe for roast chicken, start by making a few slits in the legs.

Get this skillet ripping hot before adding the chicken.

And use the drippings to make a flavorful couscous.

From "America's Test Kitchen", Lan's all new recipe for roast chicken with couscous, roasted red peppers, and basil.

You've updated my home chicken recipe.

♪♪ -My favorite food group -- easily carbohydrates.

I love my pasta, I love my pizza, and I love my grains.

And I've got some of my favorites here on the table.

I'm going to start here with millet.

Now, this is actually a seed, not a grain.

I'll explain in a minute.

It's got a sweet corn-like flavor.

It's used in both sweet applications, in puddings, and in savory recipes.

You want to cook this like rice in measured amount of water in a covered pot.

Next up, another seed.

This is quinoa.

Now I've got white quinoa here.

You'll see red and black in stores.

Nutritional powerhouse, packed with proteins.

Make sure to buy pre-washed quinoa.

There's a naturally bitter coating that comes on the seeds.

If you're not sure, wash it yourself in a strainer before you go ahead and cook it.

So now we can move on to the true grains, and that means they're edible fruits of a grass, and they're hard.

This first one is barley, and this is pearl barley, which means they polished off a little bit of the bran so it cooks faster.

It's going to take maybe 20 to 30 minutes to cook.

You want to cook it in abundant salted water like you would cook pasta.

It's got a lovely, chewy texture.

Next up, oat berries.

And this is a whole grain.

It's going to take a long time to cook.

It's a really great replacement in recipes that call for wheat berries for folks who are gluten free.

Buckwheat.

Now you're thinking, "Oh, it's in the wheat family."

Actually, no, it's in the rhubarb family.

This is often labeled buckwheat groats to distinguish the whole grain from the flour that's used in blini or soba noodles.

Now, you'll sometimes see kasha.

Now that has been roasted and is going to have a very intense flavor.

As is, regular buckwheat is earthy and muddy and can be a lot.

And so if you're skeptical about buckwheat, get buckwheat groats rather than kasha.

Now we finally get to the true wheat family.

These are wheat berries.

They can probably take an hour to cook.

If you want to reduce that cooking time, you can soak them overnight in water.

They've got a great chewy texture.

And this is the whole grain.

Here we have a heritage version of wheat.

So the farro family.

And this is an ancient variety of wheat.

It's popular in Italy.

There are actually three varieties.

I have farro medio, which is also known as emmer, here on the table.

You will see farro piccolo, also known as einkorn.

Or farro grande, known as spelt in stores.

We like the medio.

I love this in risotto.

You can sort of replace the rice with the farro, and it gets a little bit creamy and starchy.

Lovely, nutty flavor.

Next up, we have freekeh.

Now this comes from the Middle East, but it's enjoyed throughout the Mediterranean, especially North Africa.

It's roasted young durum wheat, so it's actually harvested when it's green.

You can see that.

And the roasting gives it a little bit of a smoky flavor.

Also want to cook this like pasta.

Last but definitely not least, we've got bulgur, so this is parcooked.

It's often steamed wheat that's also ground.

So you don't really even need to cook it yourself.

You just rehydrate it in water or the vinaigrette when you're making tabbouleh.

Absolutely love this.

It's got a nice wheaty flavor.

There's something for everyone on the table.

Make space for grains in your pantry.

♪♪ -Did you ever play with putty growing up?

You can press it on to any surface, and it picks up the texture.

It's pretty fun, but it's got nothing on chocolate.

Check this out.

This chocolate hasn't been painted or colored in any way.

It was just cooled on this diffraction grading plastic, where it picked up the textured surface, producing a hologram.

The cocoa butter and chocolate can form a mix of different crystals when it cools.

When it's properly tempered, it forms a majority of beta prime crystals, which fit together neatly to form a solid, snappy bar of chocolate.

And that rigid structure allows chocolate to take the imprint of whatever it contacts during cooling.

So if you want super shiny tempered chocolate, it's worth seeking out acetate sheets like this and setting the chocolate on that.

Or use a super shiny surface you already have around, like a plate or a brand new baking mat.

Better yet, grab one of these and turn your chocolate into a hologram.

♪♪ -During the very short rhubarb season.

I love to bake with it as much as I can.

I make pies and compotes and jams, but I'm really excited because Erin's here.

She's going to show me how to make a very special rhubarb cake.

-I certainly am, Bridget.

There are two rhubarb cakes that really stand out.

There's one Scandinavian cake that has rhubarb studded throughout the cake, and it has like a very thin kind of sugary almond crust.

And then the other one, which is like a rhubarb upside down cake that has a rhubarb compote on top.

And we're going to take the two and mash them together and come up, like, with a new version.

-Lots of rhubarb in our future.

-Absolutely.

-Okay.

-Okay, so let's start with the rhubarb.

So we have 1 pound of rhubarb here, and I'm just going to trim the ends off.

We're going to cut this into 1/2 inch pieces.

The color of rhubarb really varies, from red to green, and they both taste wonderful.

For this particular cake, we like the red ones because it's going to help give us, like, a really beautiful presentation.

-Lovely.

-That's very tart.

We need to sweeten it up.

-Very tart.

-So I have 3/4 of a cup of sugar, which is 5 1/4 ounces.

-Okay.

-I'm going to add 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.

So I'm just going to whisk this together.

The cornstarch is going to help gel the juices of the rhubarb as it bakes.

-Mm.

I can smell the lemon already.

-Mm-hmm.

-All right.

And we're going to transfer the rhubarb.

And I'm just going to toss it to coat.

You want to coat all the pieces with the sugar.

Now I'm going to drizzle this with 2 tablespoons of butter.

You just want to coat, coat, coat.

So now we are going to put our rhubarb into our cake pan.

So I'm using an 8-inch square baking pan.

I sprayed it lightly with oil, and I put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.

-Okay.

-And I sprayed it again.

-Okay.

-Okay?

So now I'm just going to transfer the rhubarb into the pan.

So now I'm just going to spread the rhubarb into the bottom of the pan and just evenly distribute it so that it's nice and even.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

You just don't want any, like, big gaping gaps.

-All right, so this is the bottom of the upside down cake, which will be the top.

-You got it.

All right.

Now moving over to the cake.

-Okay.

-Okay, so I am starting off with 1 cup of all purpose flour, which is 5 ounces.

-Okay.

-And I'm going to add 1 1/2 teaspoons of cardamom, and I'm going to add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and then 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.

I'm just going to whisk this together.

Okay, so now we have our dry ingredients, and we're going to move on to our wet ingredients.

I have 1 cup of sugar in this bowl, and I'm going to add 2 eggs to this.

And I'm just going to whisk this together until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes nice and thick.

Now 6 tablespoons of melted butter that has been cooled.

So you don't want to add scorching hot butter to this because there's eggs in here.

-Right.

-So I just cooled it slightly.

I'm just going to combine this.

And my next ingredient is 1/2 a cup of sour cream.

This is going to add tang and also richness to our cake.

And 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of lemon zest.

-I'm sensing a theme.

-Lemon zest and the cardamom together, they just really work well together.

And 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

This is going to add, like, a nice warmth to our cake.

All right?

-Perfect.

-Okay, so now let's just whisk this together.

We're going to add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and I'm just going to whisk it in until it's all combined.

All right.

I'm just going to pour this over our rhubarb.

This cake batter is the easiest cake batter you've probably ever made, right?

-Definitely.

-So now I'm just going to spread this evenly over the rhubarb, getting into the corners.

-It's a nice, thick batter, too.

-Yeah.

Okay, so now we're going on to our third component.

As I mentioned earlier, the Scandinavian cake has, like, a nice thin veneer of, like, sugar and almonds, but it really didn't stand up to the upside down rhubarb cake.

So... -Right, because what you're putting on top is going to be the bottom.

-Exactly.

It just kind of disappeared.

So I wanted that to be more substantial.

So we're going to make streusel.

-Mm.

-All right?

So I have 1/2 a cup of all purpose flour and 1/2 a cup of sliced almonds, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of table salt.

And 4 tablespoons of melted butter.

-Easy.

-Mm-hmm.

So all I'm going to do is just combine these ingredients really quickly.

All right, so here is our streusel.

Okay, so now I'm just going to sprinkle it on top of our cake and just kind of break it up into little crumbles.

So this is going to bake up into a nice crisp topping now, but we're going to flip it over, as you said earlier.

So we're going to flip it over, and it's going to be like a bottom crust.

And it's just like the textural difference from like the soft top and the cakey cake and then the crunchy bottom.

It really just elevates this cake into like its own category.

Okay, so speaking of baking, we're going to bake this in a 350 degree oven on the lower middle rack for about 45 to 50 minutes until the top is nice and golden brown.

-All right.

-All right.

-I'll get the door for you.

-Thank you very much.

-Oh!

-Oh, yeah.

This is one special cake, Bridget.

So as you can see, it's nice and lightly golden brown.

Now I'm just going to test it with a toothpick.

Make sure that it comes out clean.

Now we need to let this rest for 20 minutes.

So this is an upside down cake.

So we want it to kind of settle.

If we flipped it too early, the fruit might not set up enough and it might be a mess.

-Right, we'd have a flood of rhubarb, and nobody wants that.

-Okay, so it has been 20 minutes, and I know that the fruit has set, it's done its thing.

So I am going to run this knife around the edge.

And I'm just going to point out that this is a nonstick pan, and you should take care of your nonstick pan.

So try not to use a metal knife if you can help it.

This will prolong the life of your pan.

-All right.

-And that goes for any nonstick.

-Yeah, that's great for cutting brownies.

-Absolutely.

Yeah.

I just keep one of these in my drawer to have at all times every time I bake.

Now I'm going to take my platter.

So this is still warm.

And it's important that it stays warm.

If it cools, the fruit will not release.

So now I'm just going to flip this over.

And... -Okay, so now we're just gonna... -[ Gasps ] -Look at that.

Bridget, isn't that beautiful?

-It's like stained glass?

-It is.

It's like a mosaic, right?

-It's beautiful.

-Yeah.

We're going to let this cool for another 10 minutes.

-Mm.

-All right.

So this has cooled for about 10 minutes.

So we're going to add 2 tablespoons of red currant jelly here.

And I microwaved it for about 20 seconds just to soften it up.

What this is going to do is it's going to kind of like bring out the color of the rhubarb and just accentuate it a little bit more.

I have to say that red currant jelly can be tough to find, but it's worth seeking out... -Right.

-...because it's the best jelly for the job.

Okay?

-Stunning.

-Isn't it gorgeous?

-It's beautiful.

Looks good enough to eat.

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

-Mm.

-You can hear the crunch.

-Oh, yes, that's that streusel on the bottom.

-That is the streusel.

-Mm!

[ Gasps ] That is gorgeous.

-This is a fabulous cake to serve with just a chantilly or a soft peak whipped cream.

-Oh, yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

-Taking a moment here because this looks like something out of a high end bakery.

Mm!

I love the bits of crunchy almond in the bottom.

Oh.

Oh, rhubarb.

-Mm-hmm.

-You're so good.

-This just makes me happy because there's three different layers, like three different flavors, three different kind of textures, and they all just totally complement each other.

-I think there's a new rhubarb dessert in town.

-There is.

-Thanks, Erin.

This is spectacular.

-Absolutely.

-Well, if you want to make this delicious rhubarb cake, it starts from the bottom up.

Pack a mixture of fresh rhubarb, sugar, and cornstarch into the bottom of a pan, pour over a thick lemon and cardamom cake batter, and then top it all with an almond streusel.

And the best part is when you turn it out and look at the beautiful cake you made.

So from "America's Test Kitchen", rhubarb upside down cake.

You can get this amazing recipe and all the recipes from this season along with product reviews and select episodes, and those are all on our website.

That's americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Mm.

Mm.

-Almost ready for your second slice?

-Mm-hmm.

-Did you pick up more rhubarb?

Good.

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"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

Plugrà European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers.

Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugrà -- from professional kitchens to your home.

Sailing with American Queen Voyages brings you to mighty rivers and unique expeditions, where passionate explorers can discover the continent of North America.

You can learn more about our voyages at AQVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Sur la Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪