♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Keith makes Julia chicken pot pie with spring vegetables, Jack talks all about garlic powder, and Erin makes Bridget weeknight pasta Bolognese.

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

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♪♪ -Chicken pot pie is all about that crust on top.

And today Keith's gonna show us something new.

-Yeah.

So, traditional pot pies have that flaky pie crust, savory filling.

-Mm-hmm.

-They're wonderful, but it's kind of a chore to make.

So we're gonna make some changes, streamline the process, but it's still gonna be as good as that traditional pot pie.

So, our first shortcut, or streamlining, is to use puff pastry rather than that traditional pie crust.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's still flaky.

It's still buttery.

It's still delicious.

-Mm-hmm.

-But it doesn't need the two hours to make it.

We're also gonna make this and serve this in a Dutch oven, which is kind of cool, but we need to make sure that our topping fits into that Dutch oven.

-[ Laughs ] -So, I'm gonna start with a Dutch oven lid and do some arts and crafts.

-Ah!

-So, I'm just gonna take this and I'm gonna trace a circle.

And that will allow us to use this as a template for our topping that will fit on top of the filling.

-Very clever.

-Doesn't have to be perfect.

We're really -- -[ Laughs ] It looks pretty perfect, Keith.

-One last cut like that.

Set that over here.

Now for our puff pastry.

I have an all-butter puff pastry.

It will work with any type of puff pastry that's out there.

But I really like this all butter.

So, I'm just gonna make sure that our board is lightly floured.

One of the big secrets I find with working with puff pastry is make sure that it's cold.

It's much, much easier to work with this when it's cold.

So, if at any point you feel like it's getting warm and starting to kind of misshape itself, then put it back in the fridge or the freezer and let it kind of chill down for a minute.

Okay, so, we're gonna make a fancy lattice today.

So, what I want to do is I'm gonna roll this rectangle out to 11x15.

I'm gonna cut strips so we can make a lattice.

I just want to kind of measure before I get going here.

It's good that way, so what I'm looking to do is just to kind of elongate it this way.

So, with your rolling, kind of start in the middle.

Push out.

Progress check.

11... -You nailed it.

-...by 15.

That's good.

What I'm looking for is I'm gonna cut this into half-inch strips.

So, what I like to do is just put the ruler down there... -Mm-hmm.

-...take a paring knife, and mark off every 1/2 inches here.

So, 1 1/2", 3", 4 1/2", 6".

Now I'm gonna do the same thing up here... -Aha!

-...but backwards.

And then I can just connect the lines to make our strips.

Okay, so, now all I have to do is connect the top mark to the bottom mark and just cut.

Sometimes if I dip that tip in the flour I'll help it kind of slide through there.

Okay.

Strips.

Now to build our lattice.

We have our template here.

I'm just gonna put this on a rimmed baking sheet to make moving around a little easier.

Okay, so, I'm just gonna arrange five strips like this, parallel, going this way horizontally.

And now it's time to build our lattice.

So, I'm gonna take the first one and fold it back almost all the way here, like this.

The third one -- fold that back all the way, kind of holding that with my fingertip.

And the fifth one, same thing, folding that back almost all the way.

Now take one of these and place it perpendicular to this.

-Ah, a real lattice.

-Yep.

We're gonna build a real lattice.

Fold that over.

Okay.

Strip number one.

Now I'm gonna take strip number two.

Again, hold it with my finger.

-Right where you want it to be.

-Yep.

-Yep.

Right where you want it to bend.

-So, I want a little bit of a hole in there.

I'm gonna equally space that.

So I'll just hold it with my finger, pull that back, grab another strip.

Fold these back.

-Pretty amazing.

But it is square.

-It is square -- for now.

-[ Laughs ] Ah.

-So, I'm just gonna take a pizza cutter.

You can do this with a paring knife, too.

And now I have that parchment underneath there.

I'm gonna use that as my cutting guide.

So, I'm just gonna come along here.

Follow that along.

Same thing here, too... like that.

Just one more corner here.

-That's impressive.

-Voilà.

-Yeah.

-Okay, so, there's our perfectly circular lattice, and I'm just gonna let this chill in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, while we make our filling.

-Okay.

-For our filling, I'm gonna start with boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

-Mm.

-I have 2 pounds here.

Now, rather than poaching a chicken and straining that stalk off and thickening that, it's so much easier to start with chicken parts.

-Yep.

-And chicken thighs are great because they have a lot of collagen on the inside, a lot of fat, and that means a lot of flavor.

So, I'm just gonna take this and cut off any little bits of stray fat here.

And I'm gonna take that and just cut them into one-inch pieces.

-Mm-hmm.

-Put them over here on our plate.

-Okay.

That's our chicken.

So, we have 2 pounds of chicken there.

Now, can I ask you to turn that Dutch oven onto medium heat?

I have 4 tablespoons of butter in there, and that's gonna be the start of our aromatics.

The butter has melted, and now we can add our vegetables.

Traditionally, you would start with onions with most pot pies.

We're actually gonna have a spring vibe with our pot pie today.

So I'm gonna start with leeks rather than onions.

So, I have one pound of leeks that I've cut into half-inch pieces and washed thoroughly.

-Mm-hmm.

And you wash them after you cut them.

-Yeah.

Very important for leeks because they are one of those vegetables that always seems to have grit in them.

To the leeks I'm gonna add four carrots that have been cut into half-inch pieces beautifully.

-Mmm.

-Then one teaspoon of table salt.

That will season.

It'll also help to start that softening process.

So, I'm just gonna stir this, make sure that salt is incorporated in there.

Then we're gonna let this cook for about five minutes.

And what we're looking for -- the leeks will soften and the carrots will start to soften, as well.

It's been five minutes, and you can see that our leeks have softened up nicely.

The carrots are also starting to soften.

So now I'm gonna add 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour.

That's gonna mix with the butter that we have in there, create a roux, and that's what's gonna thicken the filling.

I'm also gonna add four cloves of minced garlic.

I'm also gonna add a teaspoon of tomato paste, just a small amount of tomato paste.

-Huh.

-We're not browning our chicken because we didn't like the brown- the skinless parts because they got leathery.

So, adding this tomato paste will give it a little bit more complexity and that kind of a little bit more umami savory notes.

So, I'm just gonna stir that in.

So, I'm just gonna cook this for a minute and allow that flour to cook off, allow the garlic to cook a little bit, make sure that tomato paste is worked in there.

It's been a minute, and you can smell that garlic.

You can also smell the tomato paste a little bit, too.

So, I have 3 cups of chicken stock here, and I'm just gonna slowly add this, little bit at a time.

You don't want to add this all at once because you'll end up with kind of a mass of flour.

So, I put about maybe 1/4 cup in, and you can start to see that stock work into the flour.

Make sure to scrape the edges.

So, now that it's worked in there fairly well, you can add more of this.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay, so, our 3 cups of chicken broth is worked into the roux.

-Mm-hmm.

-That will start cooking.

So, I have a couple more additions.

I have 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

-Just a little enrichment.

-Yeah.

Not much.

I'm also gonna add a teaspoon of soy sauce.

Again, complexity, savoriness.

The soy sauce hits both of those things.

And the last addition are a couple of bay leaves.

I like those herbal notes that you get from the bay leaf.

Okay.

So, we're just gonna bring that up to a simmer.

Then we can add the chicken.

So, this has come up to a simmer, and it's been cooking for three minutes.

So, I'm just gonna stir that chicken in there.

While that is coming up to a simmer, I'm gonna work with our topping.

Now, you can't take puff pastry and put it on top of a wet filling... -[ Laughs ] -...because you'll end up with a soggy mess.

So you need to bake it separately.

So, instead of baking it on another tray separately of the Dutch oven, we're actually gonna use the Dutch oven lid.

We're gonna flip it over, and that's gonna be our baking implement.

-That is incredibly clever.

-Take this.

-Look at that.

-Like that.

-That's brilliant.

-Now, before we put it on the top, I just want to take some egg wash.

Egg wash will give it a nice sheen, and it will also help it brown.

-This is pretty clever.

-This is pretty clever.

-Yeah.

-Make sure to get into the edges here, where those lattices come together.

That is nicely washed.

Now I have one final addition for this.

I just have some salt here.

I'm gonna sprinkle this over that, just a little bit of extra seasoning.

-Yes.

-It's a nice touch.

So, that's at a simmer.

-Sure is.

And so we'll cut the heat.

And I'll just slide this right on top of the Dutch oven like that.

Now it's time to bake our pot pie contraption here.

We're gonna go into a 400 degree oven -- so, a fairly high oven temperature because we want to make sure that that puff pastry have a nice spring right away.

And we're gonna be in there for 25 to 30 minutes on the lower middle rack.

Let's check on our pot pie.

-[ Laughing ] Ooh!

-Beautiful.

-That looks so fun.

-Golden brown.

So, it was in there for 25 minutes, and I rotated the pan halfway through to make sure that that puff pastry baked properly and evenly.

So now I'm just gonna take the lid off carefully.

I'm gonna set this over here.

-Mmm!

-Let that cool.

And now we can finish our filling.

So, I have 1 pound of asparagus that I've trimmed and cut on the bias into one-inch pieces.

So, I'm gonna let this cook over medium heat until the asparagus is crisp tender.

We want to keep it underdone a little bit because we're gonna continue to cook it a little bit more before we serve it.

Before I forget, I'm gonna take our bay leaves out of here.

So, we're gonna let that asparagus cook for three to five minutes, until it's crisp tender.

And I'm gonna go in there and make sure I'm stirring it fairly frequently because we don't want it to start to stick on the bottom.

It's been three minutes, and that asparagus is not quite finished yet, but it will be by the time we add our peas.

So, I have one cup of frozen peas here.

We like to use frozen peas because they're more consistent than fresh peas.

Now, I need the lid to let these steam.

So, if I can ask you to take that off.

It's cooled enough where we don't have to burn our fingers.

-Oh, yeah.

Easy.

-So, I'm just gonna take this.

Now I'm gonna shut this off.

We just want to let the residual heat bring those peas -- They're already cooked, so we don't need to cook them anymore.

So it will just thaw them.

And that will take about five minutes.

It's been five minutes.

The peas have thawed.

-Mmm!

-Okay, so, just some final flavor additions.

I have two tablespoons of chopped tarragon.

-Oh, that's gonna drive that spring flavor home.

-I also have a tablespoon of lemon zest -- bright flavor -- and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

And that's gonna pop those flavors.

Okay.

I think that is perfect.

-You know what I'm waiting for?

I'm waiting for the minute you drop that lattice on.

I got to see what this looks like.

-The assembly, right?

-Yeah!

-So, it's nice and cool, so it's easy to handle.

And we're just gonna pop that in.

And because we used that template, it will fit on there perfectly, like that.

-That is super cute.

-It's great, isn't it?

-I really love this.

-Now the best part -- we can try this out.

So, I actually find kitchen shears to be a really great tool here because it's hard to kind of saw through the lattice with a knife.

You can do it, but kitchen shears make it much, much easier.

-Oh!

-So, I'm just gonna sever a couple of these, like this.

And I'll cut here.

-[ Laughs ] -Yeah, try to make it even.

And you can just kind of scoop underneath there, kind of put that off to the side like that, and come back in and get all that good filling and gravy.

Okay.

-Ooh, I can smell the tarragon.

Mmm!

It is such a bright, clean flavor.

You get obviously the lemon right off the bat and the tarragon, the peas and the asparagus.

-I really love the tenderness of the chicken, too.

Those thighs... -Yeah!

-...are still juicy, tender, a lot of flavor.

Oh, that puff pastry is so buttery and rich and flaky, the perfect complement to that thickened gravy underneath.

-Keith, this is spectacular.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

So, if you want to make the most elegant chicken pot pie, start by making a lattice top using store-bought puff pastry.

Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the filling, and bake the lattice on top of the overturned pot lid while the filling cooks.

From "America's Test Kitchen," an elegant, lattice-topped chicken pot pie with spring vegetables.

Definitely gonna make this for a special occasion.

Like my parents -- they would love this.

-They would love it.

♪♪ -Now, you may think, "Jack Bishop -- he's all about the fresh garlic."

And of course I use this almost every day in the kitchen.

But I also use garlic powder maybe once a week.

So, let me explain.

First off, it won't burn like fresh garlic.

So, if I'm making a coating for fried chicken or a spice rub for a pork tenderloin, I use garlic powder and I get all of that sweet deliciousness with none of the acrid, bitter notes from burnt garlic.

Second, it's subtle.

Let's say I want a hint of garlic in mashed potatoes.

Garlic powder is the right garlic for the job.

Finally, it adds complexity.

You get a different layer of garlic.

And there are recipes that call for both fresh and powdered garlic.

The Test Kitchen's best recipe for garlic bread uses both of them.

And you bloom freshly minced garlic in butter, and then you combine it with garlic powder and butter to get even more flavor from it.

You get sweetness, intensity, all the notes of garlic in one recipe.

Now, we did a tasting of nine brands of garlic powder.

We liked all of them.

Our favorite was Morton & Bassett, but they're all recommended.

They're made pretty much the same way -- whole or sliced cloves.

They're dehydrated, and then they're ground to a fine powder.

If you're asking, "What about granulated garlic?"

it's the same process.

It's just ground a little bit more coarsely and can be used one for one in any recipe that calls for garlic powder.

Finally, I'm gonna leave you with a pro tip.

If you want to get the most from your garlic powder, mix it with an equal amount of water before adding it to your recipe.

That garlic bread recipe that I mentioned starts by mixing the powder and the water, then adding it to the butter.

And that's because the garlic powder is water-soluble and the enzymes that create allicin, the thing that gives garlic its oomph, are water-soluble.

And so you need a little water in that recipe to get the process going.

So don't be a snob.

Go out and get some garlic powder today and keep it in your pantry.

♪♪ -A hearty Bolognese sauce might be my idea of the perfect pasta sauce, and that's because it's got a rich, complex texture and the meat is almost impossibly tender.

Well, you get all that glory by stewing it on the stovetop for hours and hours and hours.

So, what happens on the weeknights?

Well, Erin's here, and she's gonna show us a version that might actually solve our dilemma.

-I certainly am, Bridget.

And I'm gonna show you a version that is very fast and easy to make and we're not gonna sacrifice flavor or that luscious texture.

-Great.

-So, we're gonna start with the meat.

So, I have one pound of 93% lean ground beef.

The trick to keeping it tender and moist is I'm gonna make an alkaline solution.

So, I'm gonna take 2 tablespoons of water and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

And I'm gonna add 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.

So, now I'm just gonna mix this together.

Okay, so, now I'm just gonna add my one pound of meat.

And I'm just gonna stir this up.

Super simple.

And the baking soda truly is our key to making this, like, very luscious, kind of very tender and moist meat sauce.

Okay, so, I'm just gonna put that aside.

-Okay.

-And onto the next meat.

So, now I have pancetta.

-Mm.

I have six ounces of pancetta here that I've roughly chopped.

And I'm gonna use a food processor.

So, this is a weeknight meal.

We have a lot of chopping to do for the sauce.

And the food processor is gonna make it a snap.

So, I'm gonna add my pancetta first.

Now we're gonna process this until it's finely chopped.

-Okay.

-And it's gonna take about 15 to 20 pulses.

-Great.

Alright.

So, our pancetta is now finely chopped.

-Okay.

-Starting to paste a little bit.

Okay, so now we're gonna move on to our vegetables.

So, we're adding one onion that I chopped coarsely, one carrot that I chopped coarsely, and one rib of celery that I also chopped.

And now we're just gonna pulse this until the vegetables are finely chopped and a paste starts to form.

It's gonna take about 12 to 15 pulses.

-Great.

-Here we have our vegetable paste.

The vegetables are really broken down.

-Yeah.

-And the fat of the pancetta has really turned it into a nice paste.

So now it's time to start cooking our sauce base.

-Okay.

-Okay, so, I'm gonna turn this onto medium high heat.

And I have one tablespoon of butter in there.

And I'm gonna add one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

We're just gonna let this heat up until the butter starts to sizzle.

-Okay.

-Alright.

Our butter is sizzling and shimmering and... -Doing all the right things.

-...looking ready.

Exactly.

So, now I'm just gonna add our pancetta and vegetable mixture.

And now I'm just gonna add 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, a little bit more pepper.

So, the pepper in the beef, and now we have the pepper in the vegetables.

Okay, so, we're just gonna let this cook for about eight minutes and what's gonna happen is the pancetta is gonna render off its fat and the vegetables are gonna start to soften and all that moisture is gonna evaporate.

-Okay.

-And then it's gonna start to build a fond, but we're not there yet.

So, this is gonna take about eight minutes.

I'm gonna stir it occasionally.

-Sounds great.

-Okay.

Alright, so, now it's sizzling, and we've driven off all that liquid.

Now we want this to start to become brown and flavorful.

And it's gonna be the flavor base for our sauce.

-Great.

-We want color.

-Yes.

-I'm gonna stir every couple of minutes for about eight minutes.

-Okay.

-Alright?

Check that out, Bridget.

That's what we want.

We want the dark fond on the bottom.

And we also want our vegetables and the pancetta to be dark, as well.

So, now I'm gonna add 3 tablespoons of tomato paste.

We're just gonna cook this until the tomato paste goes from that bright red to more of a rust color.

Okay, so this has been cooking for about two minutes or so.

That tomato paste has really gone from that bright red color to a more rusty color.

So now I'm just gonna turn the heat down to medium.

And now we're gonna add our ground beef.

I'm just gonna add this to the pan.

And another mistake that a lot of people make when they make Bolognese is that they like to brown the beef.

-Yes.

-But you're really toughening and drying out the beef.

-Right.

-I've cut this down to medium.

We're just gonna cook this gently.

I'm gonna break the meat up into very small pieces.

No piece should be any larger than about 1/4 inch.

Now I'm just gonna give that to you.

-Oh!

Okay.

-We're moving on to the wooden spoon.

-Gotcha.

-Alright.

So, we're just gonna let this cook.

I'm gonna stir it occasionally until that beef loses its raw red color.

And it's gonna take about 4 to 7 minutes.

-Okay.

-So, we are there.

The beef is cooked through.

It's starting to look like a meat sauce, right, Bridget?

-Sure does.

-Excellent.

Alright.

So now I'm gonna add one cup of red wine.

The red wine is basically deglazing our pan so any fond that's there I can scrape up.

And it's gonna incorporate and work into the sauce.

-Is it gonna take hours to do this?

-No.

It takes about five minutes.

-[ Clicks tongue ] -Weeknight, baby.

[ Both laugh ] Do you hear it?

It's gone from simmering to sizzling.

-Yes.

-Yes.

That means that our liquid has cooked off, our wine has reduced, and we're ready for the next ingredient.

-Great.

-Okay.

So now I'm gonna add 4 cups of beef broth.

And this is a meat sauce, so we're adding beef flavor.

And I'm gonna add 1 1/2 cups of water.

-Now, this just got really interesting -- beef broth and water.

-Stay tuned, Bridget.

-Okay.

-[ Chuckles ] So, now we're just adding one ounce of finely grated Parmesan cheese.

And this is gonna add a ton of umami flavor and richness to our sauce.

-Okay.

-So, now we're just gonna bring this up to a simmer.

And once it comes to a simmer, I'm gonna reduce it to low, put the lid on it, and let it slowly cook for about 20 minutes.

So, I simmered this for about 20 minutes, and then I brought it up to a boil.

-Okay.

-Alright.

We're ready for our next step.

-Great.

-We're moving on to our pasta.

And this is the cool thing.

We're gonna actually cook our pasta in the sauce.

-Very weeknight.

-Yes, very weeknight.

So, we wanted this to be very liquidy intentionally so it could cook the pasta.

-Right.

-We're using one pound of pappardelle pasta.

-Lovely.

-Love it.

And this is dried.

You do not want to use fresh, or else it'll break apart.

So, we're just gonna nestle this in here.

And a couple things are gonna happen.

Number one, we're cooking it in the liquid so that the pasta, as it cooks, it's gonna absorb that meaty sauce.

And at the same time, it's gonna slough off its starches and it's gonna add kind of body and thickness to the sauce.

-So, the sauce gives to the pasta, pasta gives to the sauce.

-It's one big happy family.

-Well, just even the practicality of not having to heat up another pot full of water.

It's a weeknight.

-Yeah.

-So any shortcuts are great.

-It's a one-pot deal.

So, now we're just gonna let this cook.

I'm gonna cover it, and we're gonna let it cook for about 10 to 12 minutes.

I'm gonna stir it occasionally, making sure that it keeps moving and doesn't stick... -Okay.

-...until that pasta is nice and tender, and you're gonna see the sauce has just transformed.

-Lovely.

Can't wait.

-Alright, Bridget, so this has been simmering for about 10 to 12 minutes or so.

Our pasta has just cooked.

-Just gorgeous, rich texture and lovely noodles.

-Absolutely, all in one pot.

So, as with everything you make, you want to make sure that it is seasoned properly.

Mmm.

-[ Laughs ] -It has plenty of salt.

-Okay.

-And I'm just gonna give it a little bit of fresh black pepper.

And I have some hot water here.

So, as this cools, it might tighten up a little bit.

I always have a little bit of hot water just to kind of adjust the consistency if it gets too tight on you.

-Okay.

Great.

-Alright?

Look at those noodles.

Ah.

-Mmm.

I'm looking.

I'm looking.

-Pappardelle.

Mmm.

-[ Gasps ] Beautiful.

-I'm gonna focus on the noodles first, and then I'm gonna go back and give us some more of that meat sauce.

-Alright.

I'm ready with the spoon.

That looks so good!

-They look heavenly.

Heavenly.

And check that out.

It's not tomatoey.

It's not like a marinara sauce.

This is like a true meat sauce.

-Beautiful Parmigiano-Reggiano here.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

That is gorgeous.

-Mm-hmm.

It's silky.

-Oh!

-The beef is tender.

Very meaty.

-Start to finish, what was this?

Just about an hour.

This tastes like it cooked all day.

-Mm-hmm.

-Just tons of flavor being added to that pot.

But I love the noodles.

I mean, the noodles taste like the sauce.

-They're so good, right?

And there's no extra pot to wash. -I'd put it up against an authentic slow-cooked Bolognese any day.

-Excellent.

-Thank you, Erin.

-You're welcome.

-Well, to make this beautiful weeknight Bolognese, start by tossing beef with baking soda and water, use the food processor to quickly prep pancetta and vegetables, and cook the pappardelle right in the sauce.

So, from "America's Test Kitchen," the "Can it be done?

Of course it can" weeknight pasta Bolognese.

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

Gorgeous.

-Let us help you with dinner tonight.

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