How to Make a Flavor-Packed Chicken Dinner

(energetic music) - Today on America's Test Kitchen... Julia

make

s Bridget roast

chicken

with gravy, Adam checks out toaster ovens, Lisa shares some of her favorite toaster oven gadgets, and Dan

make

s pan-roasted broccoli for Bridget. Julia. All of this will appear here on America's Test Kitchen. (energetic music) (upbeat music)-Expert Tip: If you want to hear Julia talk about her favorite recipe, ask her about roast

chicken

. (Julia laughs) - Hey. Do you like roast chicken? - TRUE. I could wax poetic about roast chicken for hours. In fact, you have witnessed this. So I'm not going to wax poetic today.

I will do it for you. - Alright. - And you know, I make roast chicken all the time. It's my number one favorite food. I have a handful of recipes that I review. It is currently in first place because the cooking method is brilliant. The skin becomes so crispy. And while the chicken is cooking, you can make sauce. - And salsa is our favorite drink. (Julia laughs) - Okay, let's get started. This is a 4 pound rotisserie. The only thing I love about this recipe is that you make sauce along with the roast chicken. You don't have to wait for it to drip. - Beautiful. - Part of that is because we'll use what's in this bag.

We will use the giblets and the neck piece. There's a lot of

flavor

in that. This recipe really makes good use of that. Alright. Put that aside. Now let's move on to the chicken. This method uses the broiler exclusively. For that to work, the broiler to get the skin crispy, you have to turn it into a single layer. You have to wake him up or butterfly him. So what I'm going to do is just cut off the spine with a good pair of poultry shears. Actually, if you do this often, you'll definitely want to invest in a good pair of scissors. - Accept. - Alright.

So now I'm going to take the spine. I'm going to cut it into pieces again using the scissors. That's more surface area for the sauce. You are going to use approximately one inch pieces. There is a point in the middle that has a large bone that you are not going to make too small. Alright. I'm going to leave that aside. Now the chicken. First, we want to fold the wings. We want to get them out of the way, because they'll burn (Bridget laughs) under the boiler. So you just put them back in the back like this.

Now to flatten it, I'll just press it (bone cracks). I'm going to put a little oil on it. This is half a teaspoon of vegetable oil. We'll just put this on the skin side. Rub it all over there. I pre-measured the salt and pepper because at this point I'm all chicken and I don't want it all over my pepper mill and salt mill. It is a teaspoon of table salt and half a teaspoon of pepper. One more trick: I'll grab a paring knife. You're simply going to poke holes in the skin about three-quarters of an inch apart.

That just helps the fat render and the skin nice and crispy. Sometimes there's a little extra flap down here. The skin? In fact, I'm going to cut it because it adds good

flavor

to the sauce. - Ah OK. - Alright. Now for the back. I'm just going to add a little salt. This is half a teaspoon of salt. Last but not least, we will simply attach the legs with butcher's twine. Here we go. That simply prevents them from spreading during roasting. So it looks a little neater when you carve it. Now here I have a frying pan with a teaspoon of vegetable oil.

If you could heat it on high heat that would be great. I'm going to go wash my hands. - Sounds good. - How's oil going? - It's smoking. - Perfect. It's time to add the chicken. We are using the pan because we want it to be very hot. You will start cooking the chicken from the bottom. (chicken sizzles) - Oh, good sound. - That's a good sound. Alright. Now let's put this in the oven. - Let me take that for you. - Thank you. Thank you. Now this oven is off at this point, which is good.

You're starting out in a cold oven. As I mentioned, we're going to roast the chicken. The oven will heat up very quickly. It gives the chicken time to acclimate, which is good. You want to put the pan in the center of the rack as best as you can. We will turn the handle halfway. That way, it browns evenly. But the most important thing to keep in mind is the distance between the grill and the rotisserie element. You want it to be between 12 and 13 inches. From 12 to 13 is the magic number. It looks good. It's time to turn on the oven.

I'm going to light the grill. If your grill has multiple settings, use the highest setting. (grill beeps) Alright, now we're off to the races. It will roast for 25 minutes before rotating. - Well. - So that the chicken stays curled up on the spit. It's time to make the sauce. So here are all those fragments I saved. The spine, the giblets, the neck. They are placed in a nice big pan. To start, we are going to create a fondant using these little pieces and a little bit of chicken broth. This is a cup of chicken broth. We'll bring this to a simmer.

We are going to control the heat so that it is always boiling. In fact, let's reduce this to au sec. We'll dry it and create a background with the fat and grease that comes off the bones. - Well. - That will be the base of our sauce. Now let's chop some vegetables for the sauce. No surprise here. Classic mirepoix, which generally consists of two parts onion to one part carrot and celery. I'm going to cut them quite small to make a lot of surface area. I want to get as much flavor out of these vegetables as possible during this short simmering time.

Whatever the vegetable is, a carrot or celery, cut them into long pieces like this and then line them all up. Cut them into small pieces. Alright. There we have the mirepoix. Here we have a peeled clove of garlic. I'm going to smash this. That will come in like this. Then we add a little parsley and a little thyme. (food sizzling) Okay. So about 12 minutes have passed. It smells amazing. - A paradise for roast chicken. - Yes. It's good. Then you can see that all the liquid has evaporated. That fat has come out and now we are going to brown it a little and form that dough at the bottom of the pot.

That's the key to making sauce with these little cut-out pieces. Oh, that's a very attractive sweetheart. - Gorgeous. - I don't want to let this go any further. Now it's time to add the vegetables. Here are four sprigs of parsley and a few sprigs of thyme. I'm going to turn this down to medium. I'm going to let this cook until the vegetables soften. This may take seven or eight minutes. While that's happening, I'll use all the moisture that comes out of the vegetables to help scrape out the honey. Alright. So... Wow. - Yes. Look at all that beautiful affection at the bottom of the pot. - Deep, dark and toasted flavor. - Now I'm going to add a little liquid.

This is a quarter cup of white wine. Scraping off those brown bits. Then we are going to add a little more broth. Now I add three cups of chicken broth. Now is when you want to take your time. Pour all that gold into the liquid and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. It will be reduced by approximately half. Now it's time to check the chicken. - Already beautiful. - It is not beautiful? Now I'm simply rotating the pan so that the handle is facing the other way, but the pan is still in the center. - Hit in the center. - Yes.

Close the oven door. Another 25 to 30 minutes. - Well. - Alright. Oh. - Gorgeous. - I know. She is a pretty bird. - Awesome. - I'm placing the towel over this handle. The handle is hot. Do not burn yourself. Again, we are looking for an internal temperature of 155 degrees. 156. Perfect. We usually cook chicken until the breast registers between 160 and 165. So 155 is low, but that's good here because the amount of leftover will be higher than usual because we use the boiler. The hotter the cooking environment, the more remains the meat will have. - Intense cooking, intense remnant. - That's all.

Alright. Taking this out of the pan. We will let it rest for 15 minutes without covering, allowing the skin to remain nice and crispy. Now I'm going to take all this fat. We will pour them into a bowl. - That's flavor. - Now we are going to let that fat rest for about five minutes. Let them separate and we will use the flavor of the sauce. Speaking of which, here's the broth we've been cooking. I'll strain it into a nice big bowl. Look at that broth. It's crazy. - Mm-hm. - Squeeze all the last bits of liquid gold out of this strainer.

Put that aside. We're going to make a quick roux with two tablespoons of unsalted butter. We're just going to melt this butter over medium heat. (stir pan) Okay. So that the butter melts. Now I'm going to add two and a half tablespoons of all-purpose flour. That's simply making a roux that will thicken the broth into a sauce. I'm going to let this roux cook for a good five minutes and let it brown well and toast, because that gives it a good flavor. Alright. You can see that the roux is a nice golden brown. - Hmm. - Mm-hm.

Now I'm going to add this broth back in. (The liquid sizzles.) I'm going to take all this fat. You can see that the fat has risen to the surface. I'm just going to use a spoon and skim the fat off the top. That looks pretty good. Incorporate that fat. Now we're going to simmer this for about five minutes, let it thicken, and then we can eat. Alright. Your waiting time is over. - Thank God. - I'm going to cut this chick. I'm going to do a kind of rustic family style carving. I'm not going to take it off the bone, but I am going to separate all the pieces.

Basically, the legs are attached to the chicken by the skin. So it's pretty easy to cut them. - Check it out! Gorgeous. - Yes that's fine. Cut that. Marks the skin. Beautiful! Oh God. I'm just going to breastfeed you. - Well. - I just am. - I must say that the chest is the proof, right? -A little sauce? - Yes please. - A lot of sauce? - Yes please. A little bit of meat. Hmm. Hmm! - Mm-hm. - Do you know the type of sauce you spend all day in the kitchen? This one has that developed flavor.

If I hadn't been right next to you and seen you doing this, I'd think you would have spent the whole day doing it. - Yes. It's a smart and intelligent recipe. - All of that is juicy, moist and not cooked at all. This was perfect. I wouldn't expect anything less from the queen of roast chicken herself. (Julia laughs) - Thank you, Julia. - Thank you. - Well, if you want to prepare this delicious and comforting chicken at home, give the chicken a special touch so that it cooks evenly. Start the chicken in a preheated skillet and then grill the chicken on a rack 12 inches from the broiler.

Meanwhile, make a broth with the chicken trimmings and finish the sauce with the roasted fat. So, from America's Test Kitchen, a foolproof and satisfying roast chicken with lots of sauce, and I mean lots of sauce. - Your plate looks a little dry there. Oh yeah. Right in the... - That's what friends are for. - That's a good friend. - Yes. Get a straw. (upbeat music) - "I have too much space on the kitchen counter," no one ever said. Therefore, a large appliance like a toaster oven is better off worth the space it takes up. Lucky for us, Adam is here.

He'll tell us which toaster oven came first. - We're doing a segment for the lucky few who have space, but you know what? If you have the space, we think it's really worth it to have a good toaster oven. - Well. - They can be very useful. We had a range of eight toaster ovens. Seven of them are here, in front of us and behind us. We were able to get them for a price range of $43 to $270. We were looking for versatility. So we chose a size that could accommodate six slices of toast or a 4-pound chicken. - Ah OK. - The toast tests were the first.

We used our favorite white sandwich bread. We made single slice, four slice, and six slice batches. We were looking for uniformity across all the slices, also a level of browning that was true to the setting we put it on. - Accuracy. - You know, some of them didn't work very well. For example, this one, on the high setting, lasted eight or nine minutes and turned our toast into charcoal. - I would say it is well done. - It's really done. It also only had three browning settings, and some of them had up to seven, which really helped us get the level of browning we wanted.

The other cooking tests consisted of baking potatoes and sugar cookies, roasting asparagus, melting cheese on tuna melt sandwiches, one of my personal favorites, and frozen pizzas. - Well. - There are never enough frozen pizzas. - Makes sense. - Some of these did not cook the recipes within the specified times. So we hook them up with thermocouples, set them at 350 degrees, and monitor the temperature for two hours. All ovens, whether it's a toaster oven, wall oven, or stovetop, work pretty much the same way. The elements turn on and off to maintain an average, which is the temperature you set there.

So some fluctuations will be normal, but some fluctuated more than others. The best ones were only one or two degrees away from that set of 350, and those are the ones who cooked recipes within the recipes' specified times. This type, which took up to 30% longer than the recipes said, varied up to 60 degrees below the set temperature. - That's enough to ruin a recipe. - Definitely. Now, one of the possible explanations for this is the type of heating element it uses. Many use nichrome, which is a mixture of nickel and chromium. TheBetter ones, which were closer to the set temperature, use quartz elements, and heat up and cool down faster.

Then they respond better and can maintain the temperature. Alright. more consistently. We also tried those 4 pound chickens. We wanted to roast a whole chicken here, which was an extreme test. That showed us that if there wasn't enough room on top of the chicken for air to circulate, the skin just wouldn't brown. In terms of capacity, testers also looked for these to be able to accommodate a 13x9 baking sheet and a quarter sheet pan. The controls varied among them. One of them, for example, instead of having clearly labeled buttons, like "bake" or "broil," had a bunch of scribbled lines.

A little difficult to understand what was happening. Some evaluators compared them to hieroglyphs. - You need a Rosetta Stone. - You need a Rosetta stone! Some of the toaster ovens had very clear labels, like this one, saying "bake", "broil". Intuitive, easy to configure. In fact, this is our winning toaster oven. It was won before and it is won again. This is the Breville smart oven. We got it for about 250 dollars. It has a quartz element, so it is responsive. It was a great meal. It is easy and intuitive to use. So, you know, if you're lucky enough to have counter space, we think it's really worth it to have a smart oven. - Alright.

Well, if you want to pick the winner, it's the Breville smart oven. We bought it for $250. (energetic music) - Cooking in the toaster oven is handy, but most full-size skillets won't fit. All the trays that come with the oven tend to be minimal and very flimsy. So we rounded up cookware that fits these compact ovens and put them to the test. First, we love these quarter-size rimmed baking sheets from Nordic Ware Naturals. They cost about $13. This stainless steel cooling rack from Checkered Chef fits perfectly inside and costs about $12. They are sturdy and perfect for grilling, baking, grilling, and reheating.

Next, the Le Creuset Heritage Petite au gratin plate measures approximately six inches long. It holds about six ounces. It is made of glazed stoneware and costs about $15. Not only does this heat evenly and grill safely, but it also looks great to serve. Finally, this Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch Pro Muffin Tin, about $26. Bake only six muffins or cupcakes. This gold-colored nonstick finish helps baked goods brown beautifully and release perfectly. The extended rims make it easier to handle, and unlike some models we tested, it had plenty of room between the cups. So not all the cupcakes came out together. With any of these bite-size cookware, you'll be ready to cook, grill, broil, and bake right in your toaster oven, without sacrificing sturdiness, convenient features, or reliable results. (energetic music) - I've never been a fan of broccoli, largely because it's difficult to cook properly.

Either the florets are overblown and soft or the stems are fibrous and tough. But today, Dan will not only show me a new method, but he also promised to show me how to add some flavor. - That's how it is. I was in the same field as you for a long time. I thought broccoli was always overcooked and not that good. Then I roasted broccoli for the first time and was a complete convert. So today we're going to make pan roasted broccoli, which is even easier. You don't need to turn on the oven and you'll get the same beautiful, crispy, tender browning on the inside. - Alright. - Now when we're looking to brown anything, we need a nice flat surface because that flat surface will make good contact, whether it's a frying pan or a roasting pan in the oven, and you'll get a beautiful brown. - Mm-hm. - This one doesn't have many flat sides. - Surely it is not like that. - Good?

So we have to make some nice flat sides. For smaller wreaths like this one, measuring up to four inches, we'll cut them into four pieces. If you have larger ones, measuring between four and five inches, you'll want to place them on six wedges. - Well. - So what I like to do is first make my cut here to break this up and get it out. You get less broccoli flying everywhere. - That's a good trick. - Yes. Then we'll just do that. We arrived. I have five tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. - Well. - That's really the key to whenever you're grilling, having enough oil to make good contact with the bottom.

So this technique of starting in a cold pan we now tend to call cold searing. It's something we do all the time with proteins and vegetables. The really nice thing about this is that it's obviously cold, it's very easy to organize everything here. I can add a couple of tablespoons of water. - AHA. - Without a big smoking mess, splashes and all that. That water is really important. It will help create a lot of steam in there and help tenderize the broccoli in this first step. I also have three-quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt here.

So I'm going to season them. Excellent. We'll put the lid on here and put it on high heat. We want to create a lot of steam there. We're going to turn on the browning and get a lot of steam out of that water. This stage here lasts about four minutes. - Well. - Now we are going to make a dressing. I mentioned that we'll get some really great broccoli, but also a tasty topping. In fact, we are going to make a very rich dry topping. - Oh. So you got out the mortar and pestle. - Mortar and pestle.

You can also use a spice grinder for this. I love the mortar and pestle. I always have it on the counter. It's fantastic to work here. We have two tablespoons of sunflower seeds that have been toasted. I have a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. - Nooch! - Nooch. So, is it something you use a lot in your kitchen? - I have it. I put it on popcorn because it makes the popcorn taste amazing. - It's something amazing. It's cheesy, umami. It is deactivated yeast. You can't leaven your bread with this. It adds a lot of flavor and is dry, so that's a good thing.

Half a teaspoon of lemon zest to give it a really nice shine and then a quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika and finally just a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Alright. So I'm going to put my mortar and pestle here. I like to go pretty gently first. - So that things don't fly away. - Exactly. Work my way, break some of those sunflower seeds into smaller pieces. Alright. So now that it's broken down, I can run my mortar this way and get it to a nice, uniform consistency. This is our dressing. We will take a third of this mixture and put it here at the bottom so that each piece is completely covered. - I like it. - We'll leave this aside.

Now we have about a minute left with the broccoli. - Well. Dan, it smells like broccoli. - Yeah! Oh, you're not happy about that. - It smells like steamed broccoli. - It's been smoking. It also browns a little. About four minutes have passed. Let's take off the cover. At this point, as you can see, some of it was reduced. - Yes. - So I can get those pieces that weren't touching to touch. Just use my spatula here and press them down. Alright. Excellent. Everything comes to the surface as best I can. We cover again and continue cooking.

We'll get a great sear on that underside and continue to steam it a little bit. It takes between four and six minutes. - Well. - Alright. About five minutes have passed. Let's take a look here. I think we have a beautiful gold on that side. - Oh! - So I'm going to take this out of the fire right now. Slide it up here. This makes it really easy to turn them all. So we want that second side cut. Remember, we made wedges. We want the second cut side to brown nicely as well. Just changing that. Alright.

I'm going to put this back on the heat and we'll get this second side nice and crispy like the first. This takes between three and five minutes. - Covered or uncovered? - I'm going to find out now. We have a lot of steam, so a lot of softening. From time to time, I will use my putty knife to make sure I get good contact. - Well. - That broccoli looks good. - That broccoli looks good. - Good? We have a beautiful golden color on both sides. I was just checking. Check it out? - Oh. Well. - Beautiful truth? - I'm in.

I'm in, so far. - Are you in so far? - Yes. - Now we will transfer it to our plate covered with the topping. - Well, the way you're placing it on the plate with the topping, I mean, it looks great. - Good? - It's elevating this humble brassica a bit. - Then we'll sprinkle it. That color is beautiful too, isn't it? - That looks very good. Oh, now I can smell the sunflower seeds and lemon zest hitting the hot broccoli. - And you also get that smoked paprika. - Yeah. - Let's get you some really nice pieces. - Mm-hm.

I appreciate you choosing the good ones. - There's a lot of flavor there. - Well, I must say that it is the most beautiful broccoli I have ever seen in my life. Okay, Dan, the real test. That's pretty good. I'll have to try it again. It's that dressing. I would put that on anything. - It's ok right? In fact, we also have other ingredients. You can find them on our website. - I mean, that cooking method is amazing. - Yes. - Because the florets are perfectly cooked. They are not soft, but not fibrous either. And the stem...

Mm-hm. - Nice and tender, like crispy and tender. - Mm-hm. Dan, I can honestly say this is the best broccoli I have ever eaten. Thank you. - You are welcome. So if you want to make what I think is the best broccoli, cut the broccoli crowns into wedges, put it in a cold pan with oil and a splash of water and serve with an aromatic topping. From America's Test Kitchen, a great new method for preparing pan-roasted broccoli. You can find this recipe and all of this season's recipes and product reviews, along with select episodes, on our website, AmericasTestKitchen.com/tv.

I'm going back for a third bite. - Yes. - Unheard of. - Unheard of with broccoli. - Thanks for watching America's Test Kitchen. That you thought? - Well, leave a comment and tell us what recipes you're excited to make, or you can just say hello. - You can find links to today's recipes and reviews in the video description. - And don't forget to subscribe to our channel. - See you later. - I will see you later.