(soft upbeat music) - Today, on Cook's Country. Ashley makes spaghetti carbonara. Jack shares his tips for buying eggs. I talk about ancient
potato-preserving techniques. And Julia and Bridget make instant mashed potato gnocchi al forno. That's all right here on Cook's Country. (soft upbeat music) - Pasta carbonara is an iconic Roman dish loved the world over, because it's delicious and easy. But it's also been
interpreted the world over, and every cook has put
their spin on the dish. So, today, Ashley's gonna show
us a more authentic version of pasta carbonara. - Yes. And it's super balanced in flavors, and it's a really
straightforward technique. And we came up with an ideal
ratio of eggs and cheese that's gonna make the
creamiest rich sauce. - Because there aren't a lot
of ingredients in this dish, so each ingredient really
has to hold its own weight. - Yep, absolutely. So, before we go any further, first I need to cook the spaghetti. So, I have one pound here, and I have four quarts of boiling water. - The sauce is so fast, you can make it while the pasta cooks. - That's right. Now, for this recipe, you
want everything to be ready to be assembled, 'cause it does move
pretty quickly at the end. - Okay. - So, I just added one tablespoon of salt. - [Julia] And that's our standard ratio, four quarts of water,
one tablespoon of salt. - Yep. All right. And I'm gonna cook that until the spaghetti is al dente. So, let's move on down here. Now, we have probably, I'd say, one of my favorite
ingredients to work with. This is guanciale, it's
Italian pork jowls, and they cure and season it over time. And it is just so delicious. I wanna cut this into
half-inch pieces, just like so. - Now, as you mentioned,
there's not a lot of ingredients in this dish, and guanciale
obviously is a key ingredient. What if you can't find it? Is there anything you can substitute? - Absolutely. Try and
seek out the pancetta. So, they do sell pancetta in thin slices. Try to find the four-ounce block, and then you can prepare
it just like I'm doing with the guanciale. - Gotcha. - And if you have extra, if
it's sold in a bigger chunk, you can just refrigerate
or freeze the rest. So, as you can see, I'm now cutting these into half-inch pieces. - [Julia] Really big chunks, actually.
- Yes. Well, you're gonna thank me. What I'm gonna do now is add the guanciale to our cool skillet, not heated yet, and I'm gonna cook over medium heat. (stove sparking) I'm gonna add two tablespoons
of extra virgin olive oil with the guanciale to the
12-inch non-stick skillet, and I'm gonna cook this until the fat from the guanciale is rendering, and the pork is just shy of crisp. It'll take about six minutes. - Okay. - Okay. Now, onto the sauce. We have three whole eggs in this bowl. And now I need to separate these eggs, 'cause I'm looking for two more yolks. - Okay, so that's the magic ratio. Three eggs and two yolks. Because I've seen a lot of conversations about how many eggs you
use in a proper carbonara. - You're right. We needed to find the
proper ratio of the eggs with the cheese to get that right texture. I mean, you want it to be nice and glossy, but you don't want it to be too stodgy. Now, we're gonna add some
pecorino romano cheese. Now, this is 100% sheep's milk. You can use Parmesan here, but if you can find the
pecorino, definitely use it, because it's tangy, so it's gonna cut through the
richness of the carbonara. - Yeah. It has a sharper
flavor than Parmesan. - Yes, exactly. All right. So, this is two
and a half ounces here. - I love how finely grated that is. You used a rasp-style greater, I can tell. And that's because the fine
shredS I'm imagining will melt more easily. - Just totally melt. Okay, now I have a
quarter teaspoon of salt, and then one whole teaspoon
of fresh cracked black pepper. All right. As you can see that cheese, it's already doing its thing in there. - It is. It's melting right into the eggs. And that's it for ingredients. - We just have to wait for
the guanciale and pasta to finish cooking. - [Julia] Okay. - This is looking great. As you can see, the fat
is nice and rendered, it's just shy of crisp. Okay. As well as the pasta,
that is done cooking too. Now, before I drain it, I'm gonna reserve some
pasta-cooking water, because, as you can imagine,
we're gonna use some of that starchy liquid in
our sauce to help thicken and combine everything together. - [Julia] Makes sense. - So I'm gonna just grab a half a cup. Now, I'm gonna go drain the pasta and we'll finish our sauce. - Okay. - [Ashley] Okay. The
pasta is done cooking. I returned it to the pot. - And it's still steaming. - And it is still steaming. So, now I'm gonna add the
rendered fat from the guanciale as well as the guanciale, and get everybody in there
'cause it's got a ton of that rich pork flavor. Give this a good toss, make
sure that guanciale fat is coating the pasta nicely. Now, move on down to
our eggs from earlier. Now, I did pour off a half a
cup of the pasta cooking water, I'm gonna use a quarter
cup of it right now. And, essentially, it's
gonna be tempering the eggs. (whisk beating) - [Julia] All right. - And you wanna work
quickly at this stage, as you can imagine. So, now I'm gonna pour all of
the egg mixture into the pot, get all that cheese in there. So, now I'm gonna stir this with the tongs for about one to two minutes, until the sauce is good and creamy. And there is a little bit more
of the pasta cooking water just to go in there and adjust
the consistency as needed. - Okay. - [Ashley] All right. - [Julia] Goodness, Ashley,
that looks delicious. - Oh, thank you. Okay. So, I have been
heating up some bowls in a low oven, 200 degrees or so. Do you mind grabbing 'em for me?
- Sure thing. - Thanks. Any kind of eggy sauce
or some kind of a sauce that has cheese in it, it's always a great idea, because you've gone gone
through all the work to make that sauce as smooth as possible, and with a cold bowl it could seize up, it can congeal. So, well, look at that. - [Julia] It lengthens the
serving time of the pasta too. Like you said, it won't cool
down the sauce too much. Get some of that guanciale
up on top of there. - Oh, don't you worry.
- Those looked delicious. - I know. All right, I'm gonna add
a little bit more pepper 'cause, as I mentioned earlier, it's an important flavor in this recipe. - [Julia] Now, I like
these portion sizes too. Not too big because I have
a feeling it's gonna be on the rich side. - [Ashley] Just a little bit. I'm gonna go in for a guanciale first. - I'm gonna go for the whole thing. Oh, this is delicious. - Oh, thank you. A little bit saltiness. Good amount of meat on there too. It's not too fatty. - You can taste the
pork and the cured pork, but it's not smokey at all. It's just nice cured pork. You can taste the cheese
and then the black pepper. And it's just that trio on
this perfectly-cooked pasta. Ashley, this carbonara is superb. - Thank you.
- The best I've ever had. Thank you.
- Grazie. (Ashley laughing) - To make the perfect pasta carbonara, start with guanciale, use the right ratio of eggs to pecorino, and, finally, work quickly at the end so that the heat from the
cooked pasta thickens the sauce. From Cook's Country, the ultimate recipe for
spaghetti carbonara. All those little pieces of
guanciale are everything. - I know. I feel like
I'm in Italy right now. (Julia laughing) (upbeat music) - There is nothing simpler than an egg. And there's nothing more complicated than trying to figure out what the words on an egg carton mean. So, I'm here to explain it all for you. Every egg in the supermarket
is a grade A egg, all farm fresh, and
they're all hormone free. Now, color, we all love pretty things, these seafoam eggs in particular, but, nutritionally and flavor-wise, all of these eggs are the same, and so, color is not an
indication of anything important other than what's pretty. So, let's talk about the
things that are important. Pasteurization. Now, pasteurized eggs are
great if you wanna use them in raw applications like
a Caesar salad dressing. I will tell you if you want
to use them in a souffle, the whites don't whip as well. So, you may not want pasteurized
eggs for that application. Next up, organic. Now, this is regulated by the USDA, and means that the birds
are eating an organic diet, and have access to the outdoors. Certified Humane is regulated
by third-party organization, and it will mean that
they're in warehouses with regulations about the
number of birds that are inside, and no practices like
debeaking are used on the farm. Next up, there's some
terms about location. First one is cage free, which
you see on this label here. And this does mean that
the birds are not raised inside of cages, but they're probably still
inside in a warehouse. Free range, which is a
term the USDA regulates, does mean the birds have
access, continuous access, usually through a little
door in the warehouse, to go outside. Doesn't mean they're actually
outside all that much, but if they wanna go get
some worms or some ants, they can go do that. So, that was a long lesson
about label reading. Now, I've got time to
answer some questions that you always send me. First off, should eggs be refrigerated? And the answer is, in
the United States, yes. That's because supermarket
eggs in the US are washed, and that removes the protective
cuticle on the shell. And bacteria can therefore
get inside the egg. Now, you may notice, if
you've ever been in Europe in friends' or family's
home that the eggs are on the counter. That's because supermarket
eggs in Europe aren't washed. It matters where they go in the fridge. I know you're thinking, oh, that cute little egg tray that comes in some refrigerators
with the indentations. You want to come home, take
them out of the carton, and put them on the door
of the refrigerator. That's a mistake. It's too warm. Also, this carton is protective. There's a lot of stinky
stuff in your refrigerator. Think cheese, think onions. And those odors can actually
penetrate the eggshell. It's gonna take a lot
longer if the eggs are kept inside of the cardboard
or plastic container. Last up, how long will my eggs keep? The USDA's gonna say three to five weeks. In the test kitchen, we've
tasted eggs at two months, three months, and even four months. And they're fine. Although, we'll tell you that the whites in the four-month eggs
didn't really whip well, and so, you can't make
a souffle with those. So, that's everything you
had ever wanted to know about the wonderful world of eggs. (soft upbeat music) - Today, we're gonna
make fried artichokes. Well, let's start with the sauce. Heat some oil and garlic
in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir frequently until
fragrant, but not browned. Add tomatoes and salt, and let simmer until slightly thickened. Next, stir in a little Parmesan and sugar. Remove the pan from the
heat and cover to keep warm. For the artichokes,
add flour, corn starch, granulated garlic, salt,
baking powder, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk. Add thawed, quartered artichoke
hearts to the flour mixture, and toss with your hands to coat evenly. Gently remove any excess flour
from half the artichokes, and add them to the hot oil. Immediately, break up
any clumps by stirring with a spider skimmer. Fry until the artichokes are golden brown. Transfer fried artichokes to a wire rack, set in a rimmed baking sheet and lined with triple
layer of paper towels. Repeat with the second batch. Transfer the fried artichokes to a platter and serve immediately with marinara. (soft upbeat music) - High in the Andes mountains, the Incas took advantage
of the harsh climate to preserve potatoes. They would leave potatoes
out overnight to freeze, then dry them under the sun. Later, the potatoes were squashed by foot to remove their skins and
any remaining moisture. These freeze-dried
potatoes are called chuño, and are still a popular traditional food. In the early 1950s, the R.T. French company
introduced instant mashed potatoes with the promise that it
would save time and effort. Today, instant mashed-potato flakes are a pantry secret weapon. By simply adding liquid, you create a paste that can be used to thicken soups and stews, coat fried chicken or bind meatballs. At Cook's Country, we put
instant mashed potatoes to use in our clever recipe for gnocchi. (soft upbeat music) - Think of all those
convenience food items that you have in your kitchen, like chicken stock or dried pasta. These are all things
that help us get dinner to the table faster. Well, one of my favorite meals is gnocchi, and Julia is here and she's
got a secret ingredient for faster gnocchi. - You know it. Because
traditional recipes for gnocchi are notoriously long and finicky. You start with a whole
potato, and you boil it whole, and then you peel it while it's hot, you rice it, you mix it with flour, and then you add a
variable amount of water, depending on the day and the potatoes. - Yes. And the mood. - Yes. To get the perfect dough. Because if it's a little wet,
the potato gnocchi are mushy. If it's a little dry,
they're lead sinkers. - Exactly. - So the answer is potato flakes. Now they taste like potatoes. They're dehydrated potatoes. You can add the same
amount of water every time, and you'll always get the perfect dough. - Great thing. I actually
keep these on hand for bread baking. - Yeah. And they're great
for thickening up stews, it's a good product to
have in your pantry. So, we're gonna start with
two cups of potato flakes. And you wanna make sure
you buy potato flakes that don't have any flavorings in them, because they're out there. There's a whole aisle of potato flakes. You want the plain ones. - Okay. - So, to that we're gonna add
a cup of all-purpose flour, and two teaspoons of table salt. Just gonna whisk this together. (whisk mixing) All right, for the liquid, we're gonna have a cup and
a half of water and one egg. (egg shell breaking) We're gonna whisk this together,
just break up that egg. (fork mixing) All right, there we go. We're just gonna add this liquid mixture right to the potato mixture, mix it together to make a dough. - You shaved an hour off
of this recipe, easy. - If not more.
- Yeah. - And a lot of the guesswork. - Yes. And the crying. (Julia laughing) - We're gonna let it hang out
here for about three minutes, really let those potato flakes and the flour absorb the moisture
before we knead the dough. - [Bridget] Okay. - [Julia] All right. You can see the dough has really absorbed that liquid. - Sure has. - Yeah, and that was just a few minutes. So, now the next trick is
we're gonna knead the dough for just a few minutes to help build up some of that gluten development. That'll just help give
the dough some structure. - [Bridget] Right, because
potatoes don't have gluten. - [Julia] That's right. - [Bridget] And a lot of
this dough is potatoes. So, the flour that's in there, you wanna activate that gluten. - That's right.
- Got it. - All right. This dough,
it's turned the corner, I can feel it. It's giving me just a little resistance. So, we're gonna sprinkle this
just with a little flour, let it rest for five minutes, and then we're gonna roll out the gnocchi. - Yes. - This dough is rested and
we're ready to shape gnocchi. So, I'm gonna cut this
dough into six equal pieces. Cut it in half, then cut
each half into thirds. - [Bridget] I like that you're
kind of scoring it first. - Yeah, it doesn't have to be perfect. Set those pieces aside, we're just gonna work with this one. Gonna roll this out into a rope. Rope's gonna be about 3/4
of an inch in diameter. - [Bridget] Okay. - It's almost like working with clay. It is just so perfectly malleable. You wanna feel it? You gotta feel that, it's a pleasure to work with this dough. - Very nice. - Yeah. All right. So, again, you're looking for about 3/4 of an inch in diameter, on the money. Now, I'm gonna use a bench scraper, and just make 3/4-inch pieces. First one, I like to measure,
get a sense of things. I'll just do one as my, all right, now I got it. (scraper hitting the counter) - [Bridget] Yeah. We
were gonna have words, if you were gonna measure each one. (both laughing) - Now is the fun part. - Well, they're raw. I
don't wanna eat them now. (Julia laughing) - Well, there's different ways that you can shape the gnocchi. You can just cook 'em
like this nice and fast. You can just put a dimple in
the center, that's super cute. I'm a real fan of the traditional look, which has the ridges on it. So, here you're gonna take
your fork, take the cut side, put it on the fork, and
then use your thumb. Just make those ridges. That's it. We're doing it right
onto this baking sheet that's well dusted with flour. So they can just sit
there until we cook 'em. - [Bridget] Lovely. Well, these are easy. - Yeah. All right. So, that first one's done. Now, we're just gonna repeat
it with the rest of the dough. - All right. - Our gnocchi look fabulous, and they're waiting for
some sauce and to be cooked, which is what we're gonna do. - All right. - Now, we're gonna make a quick sauce, made with tomato and garlic
and some fresh basil, is my personal favorite
way to eat gnocchi. Here we have two tablespoons of olive oil in this broiler-safe skillet. Gonna add two cloves of
garlic, using the press, right into the pan. All right. Gonna put
this over medium heat. Let it cook for about two minutes until that garlic just
starts to turn golden. - Okay. (spoon scraping) - [Julia] Oh, that
garlic, you can smell it. It's just starting to turn golden. Which is perfect. - A little toasty. - Yeah, that smells good. - [Bridget] It smells great. - So, now I'm gonna add a
15-ounce can of tomato sauce. (oil sizzling) Nice and easy. Now we're gonna add a teaspoon
of sugar, just a little bit. Quarter teaspoon of dried oregano, and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. (pan scraping) We just wanna heat this through, really bring it to a nice simmer. All right, I love this sauce 'cause you're just taking
canned tomato sauce and flavoring it with a few
things to bring it up a notch. - Julia told me that we
have other sauces available on our website. We've got a brown butter
and caper. Sounds delicious. And also a fontina cheese sauce. Those are all available,
as I said, on the website. - All right. That's come
up to a good simmer. Now, time to turn the heat
off and have some fun. We're gonna add basil. And we're just gonna
rip it with our hands. Nice and rustic. - [Bridget] Ha. Rustic. - I like the big pieces of basil in here. I like how they taste with the gnocchi. 'Cause the gnocchi, it's quite a mouthful. - Yes. - [Julia] So, this is half
a cup of basil leaves. - All right. - All right, just gonna
stir this basil in. Oh, that sauce is nice and warm. - Beautiful. - Yeah, just gonna put the lid on. Set this off heat, let
it stay nice and warm, and waiting for the gnocchi. - Great. - So, slide on down. Here we have our gnocchi
that is ready to cook. Now, you can cook these right away, but they also freeze like a dream. What you would do is
you'd put this whole tray right in the freezer, and then when they're firm, put 'em in a plastic
bag for up to a month. - Oh, wow. Okay, great. - So, here we have four
quarts of boiling water, to which I'm gonna add a
tablespoon of table salt. And now, we're gonna add half the gnocchi. And I found it's really
easy to transfer the gnocchi around using a bench scraper. 'Cause it's pretty delicate dough. So, we're just gonna add half
of it right to the water. - Very nice.
- Yeah. - Easy to portion out half that way too. - Let's see. Yeah, it looks like about half. We're just gonna cook these, boil them for about
one and a half minutes. They have the telltale
sign that they're done, because they float. So, we'll stir really gently. You don't wanna beat them up
too much until they've cooked. Oh, there's the gnocchi starting to float. That means it's cooked through. So now, what we're gonna do
is go right into the sauce. Using a wire skimmer, I'm just
gonna skim the gnocchi out, let them drain, add
them right to the sauce. And if a little pasta water
gets in that sauce, it's okay. It's seasoned, it loosens
up the sauce a bit. No harm, no foul. I think that's all of them. So, the water is back to
a boil, which is great. Now time to add the rest of the gnocchi. All right. That second
batch of gnocchi is done. Time to pull it out from my foamy pot. - Yes. - The second batch does
get a little foamy, 'cause there's a lot of
extra starch in that water. - [Bridget] It's all right,
it's like a treasure hunt. - It is, it makes it fun. Right into the sauce. So, you could just
serve this gnocchi as is with the fresh basil sauce. - Okay, let's do it.
- It's delicious, but I wanna just make it special for you, I'm gonna make it al forno, which means we're gonna
put a little cheese on it and put it in the oven. And this is my favorite
way to eat gnocchi. When I was first dating my
husband Ian, who you know, he would take me to this
little place in Brighton, he taught me how to order
the gnocchi al forno, 'cause it's not on the menu. And man, is it good? All right. So, we're gonna top this with a little ricotta and mozzarella. So, that's half a cup of ricotta. Just gonna dollop it here
and there over the top. Yeah. It's nice 'cause
it's not with every bite, but every few bites, you just
get this nice, creamy ricotta that mixes with the sauce. - [Bridget] Yes, please. - Now, we're gonna add one
and a half cups of mozzarella. And this is that whole-milk mozzarella that I shredded myself, so you know it's gonna melt really well. - Exactly. Some of the
part-skim mozzarellas, you can put them in the oven for years, and they keep their shape.
(Julia laughing) Not good.
- Especially, if they're pre-shredded, they're tossed with that
anti-caking agent, never melts. So, we're gonna put this in
the oven just for a little bit, right under the broiler, about eight inches from the broiler. Gonna get nice and brown,
let that cheese melt. Takes about three minutes. - Oh, it's pretty. - Oh, I'll get the door again. - Thank you. I love it when the cheese
gets a little brown and the mozzarella's all melted. We're gonna let it rest
for just five minutes because it is pretty hot. All right. This is cooled
nicely for five minutes. - [Bridget] Oh, look at that. - [Julia] I know. I got you
the perfect little round of ricotta there. I'm gonna make you a big ol'
bowl. I hope that's okay. Little ricotta on top. - [Bridget] All right. - [Julia] All right. Now,
a little Parmesan on top? - [Bridget] Yes, please. - [Julia] Just 'cause you can. - [Bridget] There's not
enough cheese on there, Julia. Fix that.
(Julia laughing) The proof of the gnocchi
is in the tasting. That's a really good texture. - [Julia] It is.
- Really good texture. - Yeah. It's the perfect pillowy texture. It has enough structure to
actually chew a little bit. So, it's not super fluffy,
which I don't like, but it's not a lead sinker. - No, absolutely. This is like perfect gnocchi, and the sauce very quick to
put together, but perfect. A little bit of tomato sauce,
a little bit of garlic. Just kept it nice and simple. - Yep. And those big pieces of basil. - And the big chunks of cheese too. (Julia laughing) There's some danger in this bowl. - [Julia] There is. - I might over-indulge again.
- I'm with you. - This might be some of the
best gnocchi I've ever had. - [Julia] Nice! - Instant mashed potato flakes? - Thanks, Bridget. - You're a genius. Well, if you'd love to
make this gnocchi at home, use instant potato flakes
to make a quick dough. Knead the dough until it
springs back just a little bit. And boil the gnocchi in
salted water until they float. So, from Cook's Country, a genius recipe for instant mashed
potato gnocchi al forno. And you can get this great recipe, and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews
and select episodes. And they're all on our website. That's cookscountry.com/tv. Oh, I'm getting a pocket of cheese. Look at that. Look at that. - I love running it under
the broiler before serving. - Thanks for watching Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen. So what'd you think? - Leave a comment and let us know which recipes you're excited to make. Or just say hi. - Now, 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. - Alligator. (both laughing)
