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Fish the French Way
9/21/2024 | 28m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
Saumon aux Lentilles, Halibut à La Nage; reading expiration dates; science of colored salt
Becky Hays makes host Bridget Lancaster Saumon aux Lentilles. Tasting expert Jack Bishop explains how to read expiration dates, and science expert Dan Souza reveals the science behind colored salts. Elle Simone Scott makes host Julia Collin Davison Halibut à La Nage with Parsnips and Tarragon.
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Fish the French Way
9/21/2024 | 28m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
Becky Hays makes host Bridget Lancaster Saumon aux Lentilles. Tasting expert Jack Bishop explains how to read expiration dates, and science expert Dan Souza reveals the science behind colored salts. Elle Simone Scott makes host Julia Collin Davison Halibut à La Nage with Parsnips and Tarragon.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Becky makes Bridget saumon aux lentilles... Jack explains how to read expiration dates... Dan exposes the science behind colorful salts... and Elle makes Julia halibut à la nage with parsnips and tarragon.
It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."
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♪♪ -When you look up side dishes for salmon, you might find buttery boiled potatoes, maybe rice pilaf.
But the French, oh, those French, they know how to level things up, and they pair salmon with lovely earthy green lentils in a dish called saumon aux lentilles.
Sounds very fancy, but Becky's here, and she's going to show us how we can make this spectacular dish at home.
I love salmon and lentils together.
-Oh, it has deeply comforting textures.
And those rich, savory flavors.
Delicious.
-Yes.
-It's also surprisingly easy to make.
-Even better.
-Let's do it.
-Okay.
-Alright.
I have 1 tablespoon of olive oil heating up over medium heat.
So we want to heat this up until it's shimmering.
Alright, I think our oil is looking pretty good here.
So let's start off with a mirepoix.
That's the classic mixture of onion, carrot and celery.
It's the basis for so many dishes.
Just that nice vegetal base.
-Exactly.
-So I have one onion that's chopped up fine and one celery rib also chopped fine.
And finally a carrot.
Those are some good-looking carrots.
We'll season this with 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
-And everything is really, really small.
Is that to match it towards the size of the lentil?
-Yeah, the lentils are tiny.
We want these veggies just to kind of fade away into the background.
We don't want big chunks.
So I'm going to put the lid on.
We don't want to get any color on the vegetables.
We just want them to soften.
And that'll take 8 to 10 minutes.
-Great.
-Alright.
It's been 8 minutes.
Let's take a peek here.
Oh, very nice.
Alright.
You'll see there's no color.
But everything has softened up a little bit.
So let's add even more flavorings here.
I have 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, tablespoon of tomato paste.
And that's really going to enhance that meaty flavor that the lentils have.
-Very savory.
-Yeah, tomato paste has tons of umami.
And then 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme.
So we want to cook this for about two minutes, stirring constantly just until it starts to smell really nice and fragrant.
Alright.
Doesn't that smell so good?
-It smells so great already.
-Ooh.
-And you were just really cooking that raw tomato flavor out of there, right?
The paste?
-That's right.
-Just enough.
-Yeah, just a little bit.
So now I'm going to add 2 1/2 cups of water to the pot.
And you can boil lentils like pasta and then drain them.
But that kind of washes out their flavor.
So we're adding just enough water so that by the time the lentils are tender, all that liquid will be absorbed.
Alright.
Now here's the star of the show.
These are lentille du Puy from the Auvergne region of France.
And these are gorgeous.
They hold their shape really nicely.
They have a beautiful earthy taste.
-Yes.
Almost.
Mineral.
Yes.
-Yeah, yeah.
That's it.
So they're really worth seeking out.
If you can't find them, you could use another small green lentil.
You don't want to use brown lentils or red lentils.
-Okay.
-Those will fall apart.
-Right.
-So I have 1 cup of these lentils going into the pot.
And now I'm going to bring this up to a boil.
And then we'll reduce it to a simmer.
They'll cook for about 40 minutes and all that liquid will be absorbed and they'll be nice and tender.
-Nice.
So you're really just braising the lentils in that beautiful liquid.
-Exactly.
-Okay.
-Alright.
The lentils have about 30 minutes left.
So we'll get started on our salmon because we're going to put it in a quick brine.
So I have a quart of water and 1/4 cup of salt.
-That's just regular table salt?
-Regular table salt.
Yep.
And this is going to season our salmon, of course.
And it'll help to keep it nice and moist during cooking.
We're just going to dissolve that.
-You know, a lot of people don't think to brine salmon.
They think that it is oily enough on its own.
But it can get dried out and a little too flaky.
-Yep.
This just gives you that little extra assurance that it's going to be perfect.
Alright.
So I have a center-cut salmon fillet here.
This is 1 1/2 pounds.
And I really like to cut the fillets myself so I can make sure that they're exactly the same size.
-Right.
That's beautiful.
-Isn't that gorgeous?
-Mm-hmm.
-Yeah.
Really nice piece.
So the best way to do it, of course, is to cut it in half first.
And this is skin-on salmon.
And we'll cut that in half again.
Now they go in for a little bath.
-[ Chuckles ] -So we want these to soak for 15 minutes.
Alright.
It's been 15 minutes.
Let's take the salmon out of their brine here.
-Very quick brine.
-Yeah, that's all that's needed.
So I'm putting them on some paper towels here.
I want them to be nice and dry.
Okay.
Nice and dry.
Alright.
You'll notice I don't have any oil out here.
-Right.
I see a skillet.
-That's right.
We're going to be using our cold-start technique for the salmon.
-Okay.
-We're going to put the salmon into a cold skillet.
Then we're going to turn the heat on.
-Right.
-And as it slowly heats up, the fat that's just beneath the skin is going to start to render out.
-Oh, yeah, I love this technique.
-Yeah.
So we're going to cook the salmon in its own fat.
-Right.
-It's pretty cool.
So I'm going to put some seasonings at the bottom of the skillet.
Have 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.
Put that in.
Just scatter that over the bottom.
This is so the skin side of the salmon will be seasoned.
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
-A very well-seasoned skillet.
-[ Laughs ] That's right.
-It's going to taste great.
-Alright.
And then in goes our salmon.
Alright.
Now I'll season the tops of the fish.
I have 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper on top as well.
-Okay, great.
-Just a little extra seasoning on top here.
Alright.
And now I just need to turn the heat to medium high.
-Okay.
-And as the fish slowly warms up, the fat just underneath the skin is going to start to render out.
And then the fish will cook in its own fat.
-Mmm, it's almost like bacon.
-Yeah.
-Cold skillet start.
Render it low slow.
So you get a nice crispy texture there.
-Yeah.
And you know what?
You don't get a lot of spattering with this technique.
You don't get a lot of that fishy smell.
So it's a really nice technique for that reason as well.
-Fantastic.
-So we'll come back in about 8 minutes.
-Great.
[ Sizzling ] -Alright.
It's been about 8 minutes.
You can hear that this is really sizzling away now, right?
-Yeah, absolutely.
But you're right.
There's not a lot of splatter at all.
-No, no, this is wonderful.
So the bottom of the skin is nice and brown now.
And you can kind of see that the bottom quarter inch is -- is turning opaque a little bit.
-Yeah.
-That's just what we want.
So I'm going to flip these over.
-Oh, my goodness.
-Oh, look at that.
Beautiful, right?
-Yes.
-That's just salmon fat that it's cooking in.
That's pretty cool.
-That's very cool.
-So we're going to flip these over and cook the second side.
This will take about 5 minutes.
Alright.
It's been 5 minutes.
-Mmm.
Smells so good.
-Yeah, I think they're perfect.
But let's just take temperature and see where we're at here.
We're looking for 125.
126.
That's perfect.
We want that to be just a little bit translucent in the center.
-Gotcha.
-Alright.
So I'll take these out.
Put them on a plate.
That's gorgeous.
-Lovely color.
Oh!
-Look at that.
I'm going to put it skin side up though.
We're going to serve this with the skin up because we want to keep it nice and crisp and we want to show it off.
-It's beautiful.
-It sure is.
-Alright.
And here's our lentils.
These are perfect.
These have the consistency of a thick risotto.
But the lentils themselves are still intact.
So let's just give them a little bit of a final seasoning.
I have 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar and that'll just brighten things up with a little -- It's kind of like an earthy brightness.
It's a little bit hard to describe.
-Yeah, it definitely has a savory taste to it.
-Yes.
Delicious.
And then 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard.
-Makes sense.
-Again, yeah, a little bit more brightness.
And just 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to give some nice grassy top notes to those lentils.
-Lovely.
-Stir that in.
Mm.
Smells so good.
-Yeah, you can really smell the sherry vinegar.
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-But that -- that mustard as soon as it hits the heat.
-Mm-hmm.
-It's a whole different aroma.
-Oh, I can almost taste it.
-Yes.
I've seen this sometimes finished with crème fraîche and I feel like that can really mute the flavors.
So I'm very interested to try the Dijon.
-Yes, it's really nice and clean.
You can still get all the earthiness.
It's delicious.
Alright, let's plate this up.
-Okay.
-So we'll put the lentils down first.
Like that.
We'll make a nice bed for the salmon.
And then I'm going to put the salmon right on top.
Like I said with the skin side up.
Show that off.
Beautiful, right?
-Very restaurant-y.
-Yes, but this was so easy.
-I can't wait to tuck into this.
-Hear that crispy skin?
-Oh!
-It's delicious.
Mm.
-Mmm!
-You can hear how crispy that skin is, right?
-100%.
Oh, my gosh.
It tastes like cracklin.
-Mm-hmm.
-Oh, my goodness.
And it's really well-seasoned too.
But the flesh inside the salmon is really nice and firm.
It's not flaking apart but, oh, it almost melts in your mouth there.
Alright.
So I'm going to get a little bit of the lentils and the salmon together.
-Oh!
The lentils, they're so -- The texture is so comforting.
They're earthy, but there's that little bit of brightness and it's so nice with the rich salmon.
-Comforting is the right word there because you could eat a whole lot of this.
Get that really bright notes from the tomato in there, the Dijon at the end, and the lentils?
Beautifully intact.
Not mushy at all.
-No, not at all.
Oh!
-I just love it.
This is so easy.
This is restaurant food, right?
-It really is.
-Yeah.
-This is a five-star restaurant.
-Whoo!
-And I'm glad to be dining at Chez Becky.
-[ Laughs ] You're welcome back anytime in my restaurant, Bridget.
-Oh, yeah?
Do I have to wash the dishes?
-[ Laughs ] My treat.
-This is absolutely dinner at its finest.
Thanks so much, Becky.
-You're welcome.
-Merci beaucoup.
Well, why don't you give this salmon dish a try?
It's so easy to make and oh, so elegant.
And it starts by braising French green lentils with aromatics and plenty of fresh thyme.
Start cooking salmon fillets on a bed of salt in a cold skillet and finish the lentils with bright sherry vinegar and a little bit of mustard.
So, from "America's Test Kitchen," the epitome of French elegance for dinner.
it's saumon aux lentilles.
Which is salmon and lentils.
-That's it.
-But it sounds a lot better.
-French surf and turf.
[ Both laugh ] ♪♪ -I have some relationship advice.
Find something trivial that you and your spouse can argue about.
See, in our house, it's the refrigerator.
Is that yogurt any good?
What about the milk?
And did we buy that ketchup before the pandemic?
And there's a reason that my wife and I are confused.
The labeling is all over the place.
There are no regulations here.
Let's start with sell-by.
Now, sell-by, these products down here at the end all have a sell-by date.
That's really meant for the supermarket to basically say, "Okay, time to move this product out and put fresh product in here."
Obviously, you don't want to really buy things that are past their sell-by date and always get the thing with the latest date.
So if something says October 15th, another product says October 1st, I'd rather get the one that says October 15th.
Next up, we have use by, basically saying this item is perishable and you probably want to use it by this date.
Now, again, it's not really about safety.
They're talking about quality, but with perishable items, obviously quality and safety go hand in hand and you really do want to follow those directions pretty carefully.
If you see also "use buy or freeze buy," that means you don't have to use it, but it needs to go in the freezer rather than the fridge if you're coming up on that date.
Lastly, at this end, we have "best if used by" or "best by."
This is probably the most confusing category.
You know, you get something like tortilla chips, and what they're really talking about is at some point or other, they're going to be less crisp than they were when they were first leaving the plant.
You know, they put all kinds of things in that package, so they stay nice and crisp.
They're not ever really going to go bad.
They're just going to go soggy.
Now, that's different than something like this, this yogurt, which has a date on the bottom or olive oil.
It's not necessarily a food issue, but it's going to taste rancid at some point or other, and it's not going to be very delicious.
So you really want to pay attention to these labels.
So where does this leave the confused consumer?
These dates are approximations at best.
You need to use your senses.
Smell it.
Look at it.
Does it look slimy?
Is there some weird color in it?
In which case your wife is right and it probably needs to be thrown out.
Better safe than sorry.
♪♪ -The world of colored salts is vast and beautiful, from this Persian blue salt to Himalayan pink salt and Hawaiian black and red salts.
Ever wonder what's responsible for the color?
Well, the answer depends on the salt.
Some have a tint because their unique mineral makeup refracts light differently than sodium chloride, but others are mixed with a colorful ingredient that may bring its own flavor or texture to the table.
If you're curious how your salt was made, you can do this easy test.
Just stir a spoon of salt into a cup of water until the salt is fully dissolved.
Then let the solution settle.
If a colorful ingredient was added to the salt, you'll find a layer of sediment at the bottom like this.
You can see activated charcoal at the bottom of this black lava salt.
If it was caused by minerals, as with the Persian blue and Himalayan pink salts, there won't be any sediment.
Now, all of these salts are for finishing dishes at the last minute, but it's particularly important for salts that have an added ingredient, as they can stain dishes if allowed to dissolve.
So it's great for finishing a piece of fish like this.
Just don't use it for your mashed potatoes.
♪♪ -I was first introduced to the fish cooking method known as à la nage back in culinary school.
Now, à la nage is French for "in the swim" and it's essentially a simple poaching method, but you serve the fish with that fragrant poaching liquid, and today Elle is going to show us how easy it is to do at home.
-That's right.
And as posh as this recipe sounds, it comes together pretty quickly.
And so what we need to have is our colorful, high-flavor garnishes ready in advance.
And it starts with tarragon.
-Okay.
-So what we have here is 6 cups of boiling water.
Right?
We're going to make a tarragon oil.
To this water I'm going to add 2 teaspoons of salts.
Give that a whisk so the salt dissolves.
Alright, I have 1/3 cup of fresh parsley.
Right?
It's tightly packed when you measure it.
Just the leaves.
The key to the vibrant color of this tarragon oil is going to be the blanching and the shocking of the herbs.
Right?
So this parsley only needs 30 seconds.
-Okay.
-Which is about where we are now.
-Yep.
-I'm going to add 1 tablespoon of fresh tarragon.
It only needs a quick blanch, right?
So already they're ready to go.
And I'm going to use a fine-mesh strainer to get it out.
This is going to make the shocking part a lot easier, right?
-Mm-hmm.
-I'll just make sure they're all in there.
Turn this off.
And a quick shock under cold water.
There we go.
-So that just stops the cooking method and sets that green chlorophyll color.
-That's right, that's right.
Alright, so I have some paper towel here.
And what we're going to do is just squeeze the moisture out of these herbs, because we're making an oil and water and oil... -Do not mix.
-They're not friends.
-Mnh-mnh.
Oh, you're really squeezing all that water out.
-Oh, yeah.
As much moisture out as possible.
Okay.
That's good and dry.
I'm going to add our herbs, nice and dried, into this.
And I'm going to add 1/3 cup of vegetable oil.
So I'm just going to blend this for 2 minutes.
So it's going to make sure that the herbs get finely chopped.
We're going to get that nice bright green color we're looking for.
-Look at that color!
-I know.
It's beautiful.
It's so, so nice.
It smells so good.
-Oh, yeah.
-Yeah.
That's going to be great.
Alright.
That looks amazing.
-It does.
-Now we can start working on our fish du jour.
-Ooh!
Which is?
-Halibut.
-Oh, gorgeous.
-Yes.
It's really beautiful white flaky fish.
This recipe can be done with any other white flaky fish.
Cod works well here as well.
-Mm.
-So they really just need a simple seasoning.
And this is 1 teaspoon of salt.
Each of these fillets are about 5 to 6 ounces.
-Nice portion.
-Yep.
-That looks like kosher salt.
-Yes, it is.
-Right.
And kosher salt and table salt, they don't measure the same, so if you're using table salt, you'd use half the amount.
I also like how you pre-measured the salt so you're not getting an entire box of salt dirty with your fish hands.
-That's right.
Alright.
Our fish is ready to go.
Now we can start working on our nage.
So one of the high points of fish à la nage is that it is really centered around the poaching technique, not so much the flavor profile because you could approach this with lemon, leeks, bay leaves.
-Mm-hmm.
-Or you can use it as a template for anything.
You can add any seasonings that you want, but the fish du jour, the à la nage du jour is going to start with parsnips.
-Interesting.
-Yes.
-I don't think I've ever had an à la nage with parsnips.
So right off the bat you're doing something new.
-Yeah, you're in for quite a treat.
It adds a beautiful, fragrant flavor to the nage.
Yeah.
-Yeah.
Sweet little earthy.
-Mm-hmm.
So I'm just going to peel this one parsnip and then slice it thin.
-Now, these pieces aren't going to wind up in the finished dish.
So there's no reason to be precise here, right?
-No, not at all.
We're not only building the poaching liquid right now, we're actually making the broth for the à la nage.
-Mm-hmm.
-So everything we're using today to create our poaching liquid is really simply just for building flavor.
-Okay.
-Okay?
So we're going to start with 2 cups of water.
-Mm-hmm.
-Alright.
We're going to add our parsnips.
I have one thinly sliced shallot.
I have a Parm rind.
This is my favorite ingredient.
-Very cool.
-Oh, it's so good.
And it's -- this is a 2 1/2 by 1-inch piece.
So you really only need a little bit.
-Okay.
-We have 2 strips of lemon peel, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
Right?
Getting a nice little bit of acid in there.
1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorn.
-Okay.
-1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.
-What?!
-Secret ingredient.
-Wow!
-Yep.
And 1 teaspoon of salt.
-Okay.
I did not see that vanilla coming.
-Yeah, you will taste it in a very subtle way.
It's so, so delicate and wonderful.
This is really where the foundational work happens, right?
So this poaching liquid is super, super important.
We're going to put this on high heat and bring it to a boil.
Alright.
So this has come to a boil.
I'm just going to cover it and then turn it down to a simmer and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
-Alright.
Just infusing that water essentially making a broth.
-Basically.
Okay.
So it's been 25 minutes.
-Mm!
-Smells amazing.
-It smells incredible.
-It's been simmering.
But what we're going to do now is bring it back to a boil.
So kick the heat up a little bit.
It doesn't take much.
It's pretty warm already.
-Mm-hmm.
-Right?
And now we're going to add the fish skin side down.
-So presentation side up.
-That's right.
And finally some fresh tarragon.
-Mmm!
-Yeah.
-I like the repeating flavor of the tarragon oil that you made earlier.
-Me too.
-A little tarragon in the cooking liquid.
-Yeah.
Keeps it consistent.
-Mm-hmm.
-So I'm going to just start spooning some of this poaching liquid on top of the fish.
-Okay.
-This helps the cooking process.
And also this poaching liquid is pretty hot.
It's holding a lot of heat.
And it's going to transfer to the fish really quickly.
It only is going to take about 4 to 7 minutes to reach about 110 degrees.
So now I'm going to reduce the heat to low and cover and let this go for about 7 minutes.
-Okay.
-Okay.
So it's been 7 minutes.
I'm just going to check this fish.
And remember we're looking for 110 degrees, right?
Because it's really easy to overshoot the mark when cooking flaky white fish.
-Sure is.
-So we got it.
-Nice.
-We're at 110 degrees.
What we're going to do is remove this from the heat.
-Okay.
-And we're going to let the broth do the carryover cooking.
Right?
That will keep us in the safe zone.
-Oh, I love it.
-Of 135 degrees.
-No overcooked fish here.
-No overcooked fish here.
This will take maybe another 3 to 7 minutes.
-Gotcha.
-Okay.
So it's been about 5 minutes.
And I think our fish is ready.
But we're going to temp it just to make sure.
It's 136 degrees.
So we're going to have one for you.
-Mm-hmm.
-Alright.
And one for me.
-Mm!
-Okay.
Alright.
And now is my favorite part of making this dish.
This is the final step -- making our nage.
-Alright.
-Right?
So what we're going to do is just simply strain out all of these herbs and vegetables.
-Mm-hmm.
-And we're left with this really beautiful broth for serving.
It smells good, but let's -- -It does.
-I'm going to give it a little taste and just make sure.
Oh, my gosh, you're gonna love it.
I am going to add just a little splash of lemon juice.
could just use a little citrus.
-Okay.
-Maybe a little pinch of salt.
I have another spoon here just to mix that in well.
-Oh, man.
You are in for a treat.
-I'm excited to try this.
-Me too.
So what we're going to do is just pour our broth in.
Have you ever seen a nage like this one?
-[ Laughs ] I have never smelled a nage like this one.
This smells incredible.
-And so we have our garnishes.
This is going to enhance the flavors we've already imparted into the broth and the fish.
-Well, a little wholegrain mustard?
-Yes.
This is my favorite part, the beautification of the food.
-[ Laughs ] -And we have some fresh tarragon.
I think this would have gotten me an "A" in culinary school.
-Totally.
-Yeah.
Alright.
And a little of our tarragon oil that we made earlier.
-So cool.
-I kind of like to just do some little drizzles in the nage.
Right?
-Mm-hmm.
Oh, gorgeous!
-Looks so fancy.
-It does.
This is fine dining right here.
-I know.
I love it.
-This is restaurant fare.
I'm excited to try this.
Alright, I'm just going to break right into the fish.
Oh, look at that.
Perfectly cooked.
-Yeah.
And it's so simple.
I love a dish that looks fancy but really is not super complex.
You know?
-The flavor of the nage, though, of the poaching liquid isn't -- is complex.
-Mm-hmm.
-You don't taste parsnip right off the bat.
It's really sort of a nuanced backbone of sweetness, a little earthiness.
-Yeah.
-The vanilla, it adds a fragrance to the poaching liquid that you can't pick out but it's lovely with the fish.
It tastes so fresh and clean.
-So many layers of flavor.
-Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
And that hit of tarragon.
-Yeah.
-Oh, that tarragon oil is so good, you can put that on anything.
-Anything, anything at all.
-Mm-hmm.
-And halibut is a flavorful fish but it's mild.
So it's really prepared to handle this sort of application.
-Yeah.
-Right?
-I just got a little bit of the mustard.
Wholegrain mustard -- That really does tie it all together.
-Yes, it does.
-Goodness, Elle, this is way more delicious than anything I've ever cooked in culinary school.
And so much more beautiful.
-Thank you.
-Thank you for showing me how to do this.
-My pleasure.
-If you'd love to make this elegant fish dish à la nage, salt the fish and let it sit while making the poaching liquid.
Make a flavorful broth using parsnips or Parmesan rind and vanilla extract, and finish cooking the fish off the heat.
From "America's Test Kitchen," a very French recipe for halibut à la nage.
You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with select episodes and our product reviews at our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.
A la nage à la Elle.
-You got it.
-[ Chuckles ] This is delicious.
-Visit our website to sign up for our free e-mail newsletter with more revolutionary recipes and the stories behind 25 years of test-kitchen discoveries, americastestkitchen.com/tv25.
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