The Chicken or The Egg?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Julia and Bridget reveal the secrets to making perfect barbecued chicken kebabs, Jack challenges Julia to a taste test of sparkling water, and Elle makes Julia foolproof curry deviled eggs.

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

♪♪ -When I think of kebabs on the grill, I think of juicy beef or rich lamb, but I don't think of chicken.

And that's because chicken is relatively tasteless, compared to the other two cuts of meat, and it really can get tough on the grill.

But Julia's here, and she's gonna convince me -- and I think you -- that chicken can be great in kebab form.

-Absolutely.

And my one goal today is to have you say, "I'd make these at home."

-Really?

-Mm-hmm.

-High bar.

-It is a high bar.

-We're down here.

-[ Laughs ] No pressure.

Alright, so let's start with the chicken.

Now, first off, we wanted a recipe that worked with both light and dark chicken.

And you could actually use them together.

You can't skewer them together, 'cause, obviously, they cook at different times.

-Okay.

-But, today, I'm just using thigh meat because it has a little bit more flavor.

-Right.

-Alright, so this is 2 pounds of chicken, total.

And when I'm using thighs, you're going to buy them boneless and skinless 'cause half the work's done for you.

You just want to trim away any of the big pieces of fat.

Usually, they're pretty obvious on the end.

And, sometimes, there's just a little bit right in the center that you just want to cut out.

A little bit of fat on the edges and around is okay.

Just the big clumps need to come off.

Now, to cut it up in a size that's good for kebabs, we're just gonna cut it into 1-inch pieces.

-And you do the same thing with boneless, skinless breasts?

Just trim them, cut them into 1-inch pieces, right?

-That's it.

Alright.

So, again, this is 2 pounds of chicken.

We're just gonna add a little bit of salt.

So, this is 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.

And, again, if you're using table salt, you'd only use 1 teaspoon because the crystal sizes are smaller and they pack slightly denser into the measuring teaspoons.

And I'm just using my hands here.

Toss that all together.

And this chicken doesn't need to sit with the salt for too long -- just 30 minutes or up to an hour.

-Okay.

-And if you wouldn't mind, please, covering that with plastic wrap... -You got it.

-...putting it in the fridge.

I'm gonna go wash my hands.

-I can do that.

-Alright.

So while that chicken is in the refrigerator with the salt, we're gonna make a quick barbecue sauce.

Step one -- put a box grater in a saucepan.

Looks a little weird, I know.

-It's gonna taste metallic.

-[ Laughs ] But we're just gonna grate a little bit of onion right into the saucepan.

Grated onion releases more of its flavor, and it creates smaller pieces, so you don't have to strain it out of the sauce.

You just need about 2 tablespoons.

Yup, there you go.

And to this, we're gonna add some ketchup.

This is 1/2 cup of ketchup.

We're also gonna add some molasses.

Now, it's 1/4 cup of light or mild molasses.

Next, we're gonna add 2 tablespoons of the ingredient that I shudder every time I have to say it because I always say it wrong -- Worcestershire sauce.

-You don't say "Wor-chester-shire"?

-[ Laughs ] I de-- I used to.

-That's how I know how to spell it.

-Exactly.

Next, we're gonna add 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, little bit of acid.

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard.

And last, we're gonna add a tablespoon of light brown sugar.

So, I'm just gonna stir this together, and I'm gonna put this over medium heat.

We're just gonna let it simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until it thickens and measures about a cup.

Alright, so the chicken has been salted, and it's time to assemble our skewers.

Now, the first thing you want to do is make sure you pat the chicken dry because dry chicken will hold onto that sauce better.

A lot of moisture has come out.

And I'm just gonna leave this paper towel on this chicken for now and set it aside.

And we're gonna add just a few seasonings -- nothing crazy, but just a little something to ramp up the flavor.

So, this is 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika.

We're gonna add [sniffs] mmm, 2 teaspoons... -Smoked.

-...of smoked paprika, which, of course, will add a little bit of a smoky, hearty flavor.

Last but not least, 4 teaspoons of sugar, which will, of course, add some flavor but also help that chicken brown when it's on the grill.

And I have one more flavoring, and this really was kind of my ace in the hole, thinking about you wanting to make chicken kebabs, because I'm adding bacon -- straight up adding bacon.

[ Chuckling ] And we were inspired to do this by some old Turkish kebab recipes we found, where they actually took chunks of meat -- it was usually lamb and chunks of lamb fat -- and they skewered them together, so that the fat helped keep the meat moist and helped drip on the flames so you got some good smoke.

So, bacon -- much easier for us to find.

-Ah, yeah.

-We tried a few different things -- skewering the bacon between the pieces of meat, wrapping the bacon around, but what we found worked best was making a bacon paste and coating the chicken completely.

So you get a light bacon flavor throughout, but there's no distinct pieces that will burn.

This is two slices of bacon, and I've cut them up into smaller pieces.

We're just gonna process this until it's a nice, fine paste.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] Alright.

-You know, not only is bacon genius because it's got the fat that chicken so sorely needs, but that smoky flavor in bacon's gonna be perfect with the barbecue.

-Mm-hmm.

Alright, so now it's time to combine all this together.

There we have the chicken.

Now we're gonna add the spice rub.

Now, the spice rub adds flavor, but it also, again, dries out the exterior of that chicken so that the sauce will stick.

And last but definitely not least, le bacon paste.

-Mm-hmm!

-You can see it's just a nice, finely ground mixture that will coat the chicken really well.

Just gonna make sure all this is nicely combined with the chicken so it's all evenly coated.

We really want to mush that bacon paste all around.

And I also learned a very valuable lesson while testing this recipe.

If you go in there with your hands, it's really easy to get everything well-coated, but that spice mixture will taint your fingernails for about a week.

So that's why I'm using a spatula.

-Love it.

-And it's also why I'm gonna use gloves when I make the skewers.

-Right, I'm just letting you know this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me.

-[ Laughs ] Pick a skewer, any skewer.

-Alright.

-There's only four to choose from.

-Gotcha.

-They're nice metal skewers.

And now we're just gonna skewer the chicken right onto it.

And, of course, these are thighs, so they're not perfect cubes.

If you get a thin piece, just fold it over.

-Alright.

-And make it have a little bit more volume.

And these skewers are gonna be all filled with chicken by the time we're done.

-Now, you pack them in close together?

-Pretty close together.

-Okay.

-Not shawarma close.

-Got you.

A little breathing room is okay.

-Little bit of breathing room.

You do want the heat to get in there and actually cook the chicken.

-Yes.

How far up should we skewer these?

-You need to go pretty much like that.

-Okay.

-All the way up to the top.

-Alright.

-Space it out a little bit.

-Alright.

-So that's about good.

And, again, we only have four of these to do.

And, also, here's that sauce that I cooked earlier.

Now, I divided it into two bowls -- one for serving and one for cooking.

That way, we're not putting sauce on raw chicken and then serving it later.

-Very smart.

-Safety first.

-Alright.

-Alright, so when we're done with these skewers, we're gonna take them and one of these bowls of sauce out to the grill.

-Sounds good.

Skewer me.

En garde.

-Alright, Bridget, so I heated up the coals.

Now, this wasn't a full chimney -- it was 3/4 of a chimney, which is 4 1/2 quarts.

-Okay.

-And I put them over half the grill.

So I've got a really hot fire on half the grill.

-Alright.

-So, now that this grill grate is good and hot, it's the perfect time to clean it.

So I'm just gonna scrape it down, get rid of anything that's stuck on, glued on from the last time I grilled.

-Remove the rubbish.

-That's it.

And I'm also gonna oil the grill grates.

And, again, this is something you want to do every time you grill because it helps keep the grill grates seasoned, and it helps keep them nonstick.

Also, I think the oil helps clean off a lot of the schmutz.

-What the brush doesn't get, that little paper towel and oil really does get, yeah.

-Yeah, that's right.

That grill is good and hot.

Time to put the kebabs on the grill.

Now, we're gonna cook these without the sauce.

Remember, we have that sauce sitting aside.

-Sure.

-We're gonna use that at the end, 'cause if we added it now, it will just burn.

So we're gonna put these on the grill without the sauce.

We're gonna cook them for about 10 minutes, and I'm gonna turn them every couple of minutes till they're nice and golden on all sides.

-Now, you're right over the coals now.

-Yeah, right over the coals the whole time.

Alright, so these are gonna be on the grill for about 10 minutes.

We're not gonna cook through -- we're just getting them nice and golden on all sides.

So, every couple minutes, I go in and turn them a little bit.

-Sounds good.

-Alright.

Let's see how that first side looks.

Ooh!

-Ooh!

-That's nice.

Just a little bit of char.

-That was a unanimous "Ooh!"

-[ Laughs ] It looks good, right?

So, in theory there's about four sides to this kebab.

We're gonna try to brown all four sides.

-As best one can.

-Yeah.

I mean, it's a kebab -- it's kind of round, but, you know.

Again, this takes about 10 minutes, 2, 2 1/2 minutes per side.

-Okay.

-Ooh, these are looking good.

-They're looking gorgeous.

-Yeah, nice and brown on all sides.

Now it is time to add the sauce.

-Okay.

-So, remember, we put about half a cup of sauce in here.

I'm gonna put half of it on this top side.

[ Chuckling ] Oh-oh-oh-oh!

And, again, saving this sauce... -Mmm!

-...for the end -- just means it won't char and burn so much.

It'll sort of glaze and caramelize right onto the chicken.

Alright, we're gonna save the rest of that sauce for the other side, and now I'm gonna flip it sauce-side down.

-Ooh!

-Yeah, just caramelize that sauce right onto the chicken.

[ Chuckling ] Oh, yeah.

That's the smell of a party right there.

We're only gonna let that cook for about a minute.

-Okay.

-Meanwhile, I'm gonna brush the top with the rest of this sauce.

It's nice to get a little browning on that chicken, especially, again, 'cause it's coated in that bacon paste.

Render that bacon paste before you put on the sauce.

Right, let's take a look here.

-Ooh, beautiful.

-Oh, yeah.

You can see that sauce got a little charred.

[ Chuckling ] Oh.

-Wow.

-Yes!

-That looks like barbecue chicken.

-Doesn't it?

Oh, yum!

Alright, one last minute on this side, and then we're gonna start to temp it.

Again, these are chicken thighs, so we're gonna go for a little bit of a higher temperature.

We're looking for 175.

Let's take the temperature here -- again, 175 or thereabouts.

176 -- on the nose.

So we're gonna take them off the grill.

Of course, these need to rest, but just for about five minutes, and then we can dig in.

-Sounds good.

-Well, it is test time for me to see if I have convinced you.

-Well, they smelled great outside.

They look great outside.

They look great inside.

-We're gonna split a skewer to start.

-Okay.

They look nice and juicy.

-Mmm.

I just love how, when you skewer this meat, it gets crisp on so many different sides, just gets that lovely browning.

-Mmm.

-Alright, now I'm gonna put a little sauce -- I'm gonna put it on the side.

-Okay.

-You can dip as you like.

-See, this is the true test 'cause it's a thin piece of chicken on the grill, right?

-Oh, it's good.

-If you hadn't told me there was chicken in there... -[ Laughs ] -I swear, you found a way to make chunks of bacon go on the grill.

-There's no bones.

There's no sloppy skin in the way.

-Mm-hmm.

Mmm!

-It's just thigh meat lightly seasoned with a good sauce on a hot grill.

-I love that char that it got on the grill, too... -Mm-hmm.

-...from the molasses, little bit of sugar in the sauce, as well -- really a good balance between the molasses, the ketchup, that cider vinegar -- it all comes together.

And you're right -- the onions have melted away.

-And it's just so much better than anything you can buy at the store.

And it's pantry ingredients.

-Best chicken off the grill I've ever had.

-Thank you.

-So if you want to make the ultimate barbecue chicken kebabs, start by prepping chicken thighs, then season and let them sit for an hour.

Meanwhile, make a barbecue sauce by grating onion and then cook with ketchup and molasses and cider vinegar.

Create a rub with sugar and smoked paprika, and then process bacon until it's smooth as a paste.

Rub the chicken with the spice rub and bacon and then thread onto skewers.

Grill until the meat starts to char and then start to brush with the sauce and flip twice.

Bring inside and eat.

So, from "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, the ultimate barbecue chicken kebabs.

It can be done.

-Mmm, little more for you.

-And they can be eaten.

-[ Chuckles ] -They will be gone.

-[ Chuckles ] -I'm glad you like them.

♪♪ Sparkling water sales are hot, and sales of it have nearly tripled over the past 10 years.

So the question for Jack today is, does brand really make a difference, especially if you're dealing with the unflavored stuff?

-Yeah, I was a little skeptical about this.

-Yeah.

-I was like, "It's water.

Are we gonna taste the difference?"

We did.

The experts really felt like there were differences not only in the level of carbonation, but you will see in some of them sweet notes, salty notes, eggy notes.

-Really?

-Well, we'll see.

-[ Laughs ] -So, these are all chilled 'cause I think they will taste better that way.

-[ Smacking lips lightly ] -This is hard to taste.

So, there are basically two different types of products that you are tasting here.

There are sparkling mineral waters... -Mm-hmm.

-...and seltzers.

So, sparkling mineral waters contain minerals 'cause they come from underneath the ground and from a natural spring.

They may have carbonation added to them.

So, they come to the surface with some carbonation, but some manufacturers will supplement that with additional carbonation.

They do not add additional minerals.

So whatever flavor is in that water -- and that can be really sulfur compounds, which are giving you those eggy notes, or it could be sodium compounds, which are giving you salty notes.

-Mm-hmm.

-I think the eggy notes were more controversial and less liked by the tasting panel.

They really felt like they don't want to taste old eggs... -[ Laughs ] Oh, wow.

Okay.

-...in their water.

So, how you doing there?

-Well, this is a -- this is a very hard tasting.

The differences are nuanced, to say the least.

Bubbles -- I'm noticing.

The bubbles in this one are very effervescent, very strong, whereas the bubbles in this one are very delicate, and I like delicate bubbles.

-You want delicate bubbles?

-I do.

I do.

I like tiny bubbles.

But this one was a little stinky.

And this one was salty.

And these two, I -- you know, I don't know that I could even tell a difference in flavor.

They were very clean.

But this one was definitely salty.

This one had a little stinkiness to it.

That's about all I got.

-You know, if you've ever tasted flat seltzer water, it doesn't taste like tap water.

-No.

-Because the carbonation creates something called "carbonic acid," which makes it a little tart.

And so that was another flavor characteristic is some of these seemed more tart, and, in general, if it's got more carbonation, it's going to be a little bit more tart -- I mean, not really sour or acidic, but, again, not like plain water.

-Right.

-So, you've gone back for thirds, maybe fourths on all of these.

-I'm well-hydrated.

-You're well-hydrated.

-[ Laughs ] -You're glowing, okay?

-I definitely have a favorite -- was this one.

The bubbles are very fine.

It's on the edge of being flat, but I actually like that.

And the flavor was just very clean.

-Okay.

-And this one -- the bubbles were the strongest, and this one tasted salty.

-Okay, so you truly are a tiny-bubble person.

-Yes, I am a tiny bubble -- Shall we start over here with which one I liked the best?

-So you like the Sanpellegrino.

-Sanpellegrino.

-Which was the bottom of the rankings... -[ Laughs ] Of course it was.

...because our tasters want big bubbles... -Ah, there you go.

-...and lots of bubbles.

-When we sent all of these out to the lab to analyze, that has the least carbonation.

-It does.

-And so, if you want tiny bubbles, that's your choice.

Most people do not want tiny bubbles.

-Good to know.

Alright, now, can we go to this one, out of order?

'Cause this one had a pronounced salty flavor.

-So, this is our winner.

This is a seltzer, rather than a sparkling mineral water, made down the road from our test kitchen here in Boston -- it's made out of Worcester.

And it's also the least expensive.

Our tasters thought it was bubbly... -Mm-hmm.

-...and they liked the flavor.

-Yeah, I can see why -- it has flavor.

Alright, now next one, this one, which has the biggest bubbles I've ever seen.

-This is from Mexico.

-Ah.

-Topo Chico.

And, again, this has significantly more carbonation per PSI measurements.

And our tasters -- it was number two overall because they liked a lot of bubbles.

-Alright.

Last but not least, this one.

-Well, that's carbonated tap water.

-[ Laughs ] That's Boston's finest right there.

-Yeah, so we carbonated that ourselves.

I was hoping you were gonna choose that.

-Oh, well.

-You know, oh, so that seemed to be your least favorite, so maybe it is worth buying mineral water or seltzer water.

-Well, it was a very interesting tasting.

Thank you, Jack.

So there you have it -- when it comes to sparkling water, brand does make a difference.

And our favorite is Polar Original Seltzer at 42 cents a can.

♪♪ Back in the 13th century, stuffed eggs first became popular in Andalusia, which is now Spain, and then they spread by the 15th century to most of Europe.

Fast-forward a few centuries, and stuffed or deviled eggs are still wildly popular today, yet one basic hard-cooking egg problem remains, and that is peeling them.

And today, Elle's gonna solve that problem once and for all.

-Exactly.

-[ Laughs ] Nice.

-Now, in the test kitchen, we've developed quite a few surefire ways to achieve the perfect hard-cooked eggs, but we never took peeling into account until now.

-Alright.

-Yeah.

Okay, so we found that the surefire way to go is just steaming.

And to do that, we have one inch of water at a rolling boil in a medium saucepan.

-And an inch of water's important because it'll maintain the proper heat throughout the cooking time.

-That's right.

So, we have here a steamer basket.

This basket is gonna keep the eggs from touching the water and decreasing the temperature of the water.

That means they're gonna cook evenly.

-And it makes them easy to get in and out of the pot all at the same time.

-Yep.

Okay, so now that we have our eggs in, I'm just going to put a lid on it, reduce the heat to medium-low, and set my timer for 13 minutes.

Okay, so, it's been 13 minutes.

Let's get these eggs off of the fire and into an ice bath.

And the ice bath is equal parts water and ice until it covers the egg.

-Okay.

-Okay?

And this is gonna stop the cooking process.

Okay, it's been 15 minutes.

The eggs have been in the ice bath, and it has stopped the cooking process, so that means we're ready to peel the eggs.

-Okay.

-The lid is on tightly, and I'm just gonna give these eggs a shake and use this ice to help us crack the shells.

-You're not holding back -- you are shaking the heck out of that thing.

-Well, that's how you get it done.

I like to just give it a little turn.

-Mm-hmm.

-You know?

-[ Laughs ] -Okay, so, after giving these eggs a really good shake, they are ready to peel.

-[ Chuckling ] Look at that!

-Oh, yeah.

-The peel's already starting to come off.

-All the hard work is done.

Will you help me out?

-Of course.

-Okay, great.

-I'm gonna grab this guy.

-Alright.

-Oh, look at that.

-So much easier.

-Oh, the peel just slides right off.

-It's almost one motion -- look at that.

-Oh!

-So, we were able to achieve this by making sure that the cooking temp was steady.

-That's right -- they're easy to peel because we gave those eggs a hot cooking start, which means the egg whites cook instantly and pull away from that sticky membrane, which is why they're often hard to peel.

For example, I have here a bad egg.

Now, this egg was started in cold water.

We brought that water to a boil, which is a common method.

But you can see this is not gonna be as easy to peel, even if I'm delicate.

That membrane is sticking to the egg white, and that's how you get divots, and that's how it can take a long time to peel an egg.

And then your deviled eggs don't look so pretty.

And it's a little aggravating to sit here and peel a whole bunch of these.

Look at that -- six perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs.

-Oh, yeah.

-Not one divot in that white.

-Now it's time for the fun part.

-Alright.

-The deviling of the eggs.

-Mm-hmm.

-Take a paring knife, and you're gonna cut it along the side, but after you cut each one, you have to make sure to clean your knife, okay?

We don't want any egg drag.

-Take a look at this hard-boiled egg.

You can see it's perfectly cooked.

That yolk is the same color and texture from edge to edge.

There's no ring of green, which is the sign of an overcooked yolk.

And look at that yolk -- just pops right out.

The white's on the platter.

-Yeah.

And we just keep repeating this step until all the eggs are done.

Okay, so we're getting ready to devil these perfect yolks.

So, I'm just gonna get all the lumps out, which is not hard, because these are perfectly cooked eggs.

It actually... -Makes it easier.

-Quite easy, yeah.

Alright, that looks good.

I'm gonna add 3 tablespoons of mayo into the yolk to create a nice, uniform paste.

Alright.

That looks really good.

So, I'm gonna add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

This is a staple in every deviled egg.

It's time to add the rest of our ingredients, and I'm making your favorite.

-Curried?

-Yes.

Yes.

-I love curried deviled eggs.

It is the best balance of flavor -- the yolk to the mayonnaise and that little bit of curry.

-But at the end of the day, the world is your oyster, and you can really do any type of deviled egg you like.

-That's right.

And you can find more flavor variations for deviled eggs on our website.

-Okay.

This is 1 tablespoon of fresh, minced parsley... 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice... 1 teaspoon of curry powder, and a pinch of cayenne.

I'm just gonna mix this together.

Alright.

I'm gonna get this into a piping bag.

I'm using a star tip.

-Well, having a star tip is pretty easy to do, especially if you have these disposable piping bags.

If you don't have one, of course, you can use a zipper-lock bag, squeeze it into the corner, and just snip off the corner and use that.

-Okay, so now that I have the filling down to the end of the piping bag, I've kind of twisted the top, which applies a little bit of pressure.

When you hold it over the egg, you just squeeze a little.

-Squeeze from the top?

-That's right.

-Elle, these eggs are gorgeous.

They look good enough to eat.

-Well, that's the plan.

-[ Chuckling ] Good.

-We're gonna finish them off with a beautiful garnish of parsley.

-Oh, that's always nice.

-Okay, I'm gonna give you two eggs.

-Oh, thank you.

Ah, mmm!

That is beautiful.

Look at that.

Absolutely smooth white.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.

-Oh, man.

-The filling is so smooth -- there are no yolky bits in there at all.

And the curried flavor is spot on -- little bit of lemon juice, that little bit of Dijon helping to bring it out.

-Yeah.

-These are perfection, Elle.

Well done.

-Thank you.

-So, if you want to make these heavenly deviled eggs, steam six large eggs for exactly 13 minutes, then submerge in ice water before removing the shells.

For the filling, mash the yolks with mayonnaise until smooth, then stir in the seasonings and pipe it into the whites.

So, there you have it.

From "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, a great new recipe for curry deviled eggs.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from the season, along with our tastings, testings, and select episodes at our website, americastestkitchen.com.

-We just ate a platter.

-[ Laughs ] -A whole platter of deviled eggs.

-And I'm not sorry.

-Mnh-mnh.

-Let us help you with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for free access to the newest season's recipes, taste tests, and equipment ratings or to watch current season episodes.

Log on to americastestkitchen.com/tv.

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