Breakfast of Champions

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen"... Lan and Julia make perfect omelets with cheddar and chives.

Jack challenges Julia and Bridget to a head-to-head tasting of bottled cold brew.

And Erin makes Bridget breakfast sausage patties.

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

-"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

-"America's Test Kitchen" is proudly sponsored by Kohler, celebrating 150 years of design and innovation in the kitchen, made for creators like you.

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Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and less moisture for flaky crusts.

Plugrà, from professional kitchens to your home.

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♪ -There's one simple recipe that strikes fear into the heart of most chefs, and that's the simple omelet, 'cause they're incredibly hard to do perfectly, which is what Lan is going to show us how to do today.

-I think you're going to have fun with this.

I learned how to make these on the fly, working an omelet station, and it was touch and go for the first three months, but once you master it, it's a lot of fun to do.

We used to have a scoring system.

Only the nines and higher got out of the kitchen.

-Oh, goodness.

-We're going to get you to a perfect ten omelet today.

-On the first try?

-First try.

-Oh, I'm in.

I'm actually really excited to see your method.

-So I think 3 large eggs is a perfect size for an omelet.

If you have too much egg in there, it's hard to fold, and if there's not enough egg in there, it's too thin and it'll tear, so... -Okay.

Three eggs.

-Three eggs.

Going to add a pinch of salt and just beat them really well.

The only thing you really need to know here is that if your eggs are streaky here, your omelet is going to be streaky.

I like to use a fork rather than a whisk.

-Why is that?

-I just think the fork fits better in this bowl.

Like, the head of the whisk is too large.

You can't really make use of it in a small bowl.

-You're beating the heck out of it.

-Yeah.

-That's more than I usually do.

So right off the bat, I learned something.

-Beat the heck out of your eggs?

-Yes.

-Alright, next, I'm using 1 oz of extra sharp cheddar.

As long as it's a good melter, it'll be nice here.

I'm actually going to pre-melt this cheese.

You want your filling to be at serving temp.

Once it's in place, the eggs are going to insulate it from the heat of the pan, so if it's not hot, it's not going to be hot when you serve it.

-Pre-melting the cheese?

-I know, it sounds a little fussy, but I swear it's worth it.

-This is next level.

Alright.

-We're going to melt this cheese in the microwave at 50% power for 30 to 60 seconds.

[ Microwave beeps ] -Is that good?

-Yes.

So, melted cheese ready to go.

-Mm, smells good.

-We're going to start cooking.

This is going to go fast.

Butter in the skillet.

1 1/2 teaspoons of butter.

I'm going to heat this pan at medium heat.

Really want to make sure I get that heat right.

When there's even bubbling across the bottom of the skillet, the whole thing's hot and it's ready to go.

So, eggs go in.

-Mm-hmm.

-And at this point, we're not trying to shape the eggs or do anything fancy.

We're just cooking them.

-Okay.

-I want to stir constantly as I cook, because that makes small curds, helps the eggs cook evenly, and that's how you get a nice, smooth surface to your omelet.

Now that we're 80% cooked... -Yeah.

-...I don't want to see a ton of liquid egg left.

This looks good.

I'll shut this off.

Now, the eggs are about 90% cooked, and I'm going to scrape the sides of the pan so that they're nice and clean.

-You can sort of mold them into your omelet shape?

-Yeah, that 10% of not-quite-cooked egg, it's the glue that holds the curds together, so you definitely need some of it to not be cooked.

-Okay.

-I'm just making a nice, flat, round shape.

So I've got my cheese here, and what I'm going to do is make a 2-inch or so wide strip.

Whatever you're filling your omelet with, we want it to cover the center of the omelet, and you want to place it so that the filling is perpendicular to the handle of the pan.

So we'll cover this now.

There's a little bit of residual heat in there.

It's going to set that raw egg that is holding the curds together.

We'll just give it 1 minute to hang out.

-Okay.

Using a nonstick skillet is key if you want to make a good omelet, which made me wonder, how does that nonstick surface really work?

When eggs cook in a traditional stainless steel skillet, the heat causes the protein in the eggs to bond to the iron atoms in the metal.

As the eggs cook, the more proteins uncoil, exposing more of their surface, making them stick even more.

A nonstick pan, however, has a coating on top of the metal made of polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE, commonly known as Teflon.

It's an incredibly slippery polymer made of long chains of carbon atoms tightly bound to fluorine atoms.

The bond between carbon and fluorine is so strong that the atoms can't bond to anything else, like eggs.

And that's why eggs will slide right out of a nonstick skillet.

-So this last part is my favorite part of omelet making.

I refer to it as the dismount.

-Ready?

-I am ready.

-Here we go.

First, I'm going to loosen these eggs just to make sure they're not stuck anywhere.

Then I'll scoot them down.

And I'm looking for the edge of the omelet to hit the edge of the skillet.

Now, I'm going to fold this top third over the filling.

I'm going to switch my grip.

I want an underhand grip.

And what we're going to do is kind of -- Have you ever pulled a beer?

-[ Chuckles ] Yes.

-That's the motion we're going for.

We're just going to roll it right out of the pan onto a plate.

-Oh, gorgeous.

You stuck the landing.

-I feel like I could have gotten it a little bit smoother over here, but I'm not going to stress it.

-Whoa.

-Alright.

I'm going to get this into a low oven so it stays warm, and you can hold this for about 10 minutes.

Alright, Julia, show me what you got.

-Yes, chef.

3 eggs.

Pinch of salt.

Whisking the heck out of it.

See, at home, this is where I'd stop.

No, I want a 10.

-This will make the folding so much easier.

It's worth it.

-Okay.

I think that looks pretty good.

What do you think?

-Yeah.

-Alright.

Next, we're going to melt the cheese.

It took about 40 or so seconds at 50% power.

-You're eagle-eyed.

-I was really paying attention.

-You really were.

-The cheese is melted, except for that little bit.

That's okay?

-That's okay.

That plate is warm.

It's going to keep doing its thing while you're cooking.

-If that gets me less than a ten, I'll be mad.

1 1/2 teaspoons of unsalted butter.

Medium heat, evenly hot pan.

The bubbles all the way around.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

In go the eggs.

And now cook and stir.

We want little curds.

-Stir harder.

Keep going.

-Oh, ahh!

No story time.

No story time.

-Keep going.

Otherwise, your liquid egg sits on top and it's not cooking.

-Gotcha.

-Yeah, there you go.

-So that's the crucial moment right there.

-Yeah, you just gotta keep going.

-Okay.

-I would shut off the heat.

-Shut off the heat now.

-Alright.

-Smooth it out.

You just want to smooth it into an even layer.

Smooth, smooth, smooth.

-Ahh!

-[ Chuckles ] Don't worry, the heat's off at this point.

-Okay, should I take it off the hot burner?

-On electric, I would definitely move.

Since we're on gas and it's so responsive, I think this is fine.

-Okay.

Next, the cheese.

-We're looking for about a 2-inch wide strip.

-Perpendicular to the handle.

-Lid on.

-Lid on 1 minute.

-Take a deep breath.

-[ Inhales, exhales deeply ] -You made it.

-I made it here, but I haven't done the dismount.

-Here we go.

-It's been a minute.

Tidy up the edges.

-Make sure it's not sticking.

-Make sure it's not sticking.

And then... -Push and shimmy it down towards the edge.

There you go.

-Okay.

-You got to do it with confidence.

Just go.

Just hold your breath and just... Oh, you almost had it.

-I almost had it.

-That's actually not bad, Julia.

-For my first omelet?

-Yeah.

-Edible?

-Absolutely.

Not a 10?

Oh, that's like, maybe 5?

-No, I think you've got great shape.

That cook looks perfect.

It's not going to be runny.

Well, Julia Child always said, "Just put some parsley on it."

In this case, maybe some chives.

-Little bit of chive.

-I'm excited to eat this.

I'm going right for the center.

-Yeah?

-Mm-hmm.

'Cause that's how you tell good omelet.

The cheese is melted and the eggs aren't runny.

Oh, look at that.

[ Laughs ] Yes.

Yes, cheese.

Mm!

-Mm.

-A good cheese omelet really is more than the sum of its parts.

-I actually do this for breakfast pretty often.

It's so fast.

You can get this done in, what, 6 minutes?

-Not even.

-Yeah.

-Lan, thank you for teaching.

That was fun.

-That was fun.

-So if you want to get a 10 from Lan when making an omelet, use 3 eggs and whisk them good, pre-melt the cheese filling and let the omelet finish cooking off the heat.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a foolproof recipe for an omelet with cheddar and chives.

♪ ♪ -Cold brew coffee is all the rage in trendy shops.

You can make it yourself if you have 24 hours or you can go to the supermarket and buy it.

That's what I've got here for both of you, cold brew.

Hope you're ready to be caffeinated.

[ Both laugh ] So dig in.

I've got four samples here.

Three different styles -- from concentrate, where you then reconstitute it yourself with more water, ready-to-drink, and then New Orleans style with chicory.

-Mm!

-Okay.

-So cold brew, and the reason why it's gotten so popular is because of the way it's made, it's less acidic, less harsh.

So traditionally, you guys know, you brew coffee, 8 minutes, 195 to 205 degree water to quickly extract all of the compounds.

Cold brew uses room temperature water, and it takes time -- at least 10 hours, often 24 hours, and you don't get a lot of those harsh notes.

And so for people who really like coffee but not the acidity, cold brew is their friend.

So as you guys are sampling, we did this two ways.

-Blech.

-We did this black, the way you're going to taste them.

I'm going to give you an option later after you've fessed up about your favorites.

-[ Groans ] Wow.

She's a strong one.

Mm.

-I'm going to give you a chance to have some milk later, but I want -- -I do put milk in these usually.

-Alright, well, I want you to taste them plain, because it really will change your perception when you put the milk in.

-Right, I bet.

-But I want you to be on a level playing field, because I know you're in the no-milk camp.

-Well, I drink hot coffee, and I like -- I'm more of a quantity girl than a quality girl.

I like hot conference room coffee by the urn.

Just wake me up.

That's all I ask.

-So the New Orleans style, they're made with chicory, which is a way to sort of reduce acidity already, but they also have other flavorings in them.

So spices, a little bit of citrus, notes of cinnamon and some of the New Orleans style, and that was really -- some tasters liked it and some were like, "Don't put cinnamon in my coffee."

-Right.

-So... any initial impressions?

Who wants to jump in first?

-I like A and B.

They're very smooth.

There's no strong flavors.

They're on the watery side and I love watery coffee.

It is my jam.

I know there's very few people, like, who likes weak coffee?

That's me.

These two, too strong for me.

One of these must have chicory in it, because it was a really strong, woodsy flavor that I didn't like.

-Okay, and anything that you like to comment on?

-Yeah, I mean, similar.

These -- I prefer A over the rest of them.

A and B are my favorite.

This one is quite tannic.

I think there's some sourness going on there.

This one seems to have some sort of warm spice thing going on.

-So it sounds like A and B, you guys are pretty much in agreement and C and D, not so much.

-Not so much.

-I will tell you that D is the New Orleans style.

So you both were picking up the spice notes.

It's from a company named Grady's.

And again, people who liked those spice notes or citrus notes, great.

Other people, not so much.

The Grady's was our favorite of the New Orleans style.

-Okay.

-We only brought winners.

For letter C, Chameleon was our favorite from concentrate.

B is Starbucks.

A was from La Colombe.

And one was our favorite with milk and one was our favorite plain.

Maybe since you're Ms.

Milk... -Yep.

-I don't know, you're just going to keep on sipping, 'cause I know you don't really love milk, but we felt like the flavor really changed when we tried all of them with milk, but things that seemed too strong, like C, which you guys thought was awfully intense and tannic, is going to be much better with milk.

And so that was really a big factor in the large tasting, where we offered folks both the ability to taste it the plain and with milk.

So La Colombe was our favorite when it was plain, because it was kind of rounded and felt nice.

The Starbucks gets better with the milk, because it was kind of intense and the milk kind of softens the rough edges.

-Yeah, brings out the chocolatiness.

-Yeah.

No, this is ultimately very drinkable.

B.

-[ Laughs ] -It's potable.

-Yeah, yeah, very drinkable.

-Alright, so you both like A, the La Colombe, the tasters' favorite choice when it was plain.

You both liked B.

This is the tasters' favorite choice with milk, from Starbucks.

You weren't that wild about C, the Chameleon, which was our favorite concentrate.

And you weren't that wild about D, the Grady's, which was our favorite with chicory.

You decided milk isn't so bad.

You confirmed that you have to drink cold brew coffee with milk.

There you have it.

Cold brew coffee.

Something for everyone.

♪ -Now I'm paraphrasing here, but there's an old saying that goes, "Anyone who loves the law or sausages should never see either being made."

And I would agree a little bit.

I think that's only half true.

You should definitely know how sausage is made, because you can control what goes into it.

And who better to teach us the fundamentals than Erin?

-Yes, Bridget, I'm going to teach you how to make breakfast sausage patties, but more importantly, I'm going to teach you the fundamentals of making sausage and what the perfect formula is, and so then, you can make any type of sausage you want once you have that formula down.

-It's the sausage house rules.

-Yeah.

Absolutely.

We're making breakfast sausage patties.

So let's start with our seasoning mix.

1 tablespoon of light brown sugar.

2 teaspoons of rubbed sage.

-That is essential to breakfast.

-Absolutely.

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper.

And a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne.

-Oh, little spicy.

-A little kick.

So all you have to do is just kind of mix this together.

Alright.

And now on to the pork.

We are using a 2 pound piece of pork butt.

Pork butt is very important, because it has a perfect ratio of meat and fat, and fat is very important in your sausage.

-Okay.

-So typical sausage has about 20% to 30% fat and pork butt typically has about 20% fat.

-Oh, okay.

-Which includes the fat cap and also marbling.

So when you choose your pork butt, you want to make sure that you choose one that has a full fat cap and that also has really nice marbling.

So I have 1 pound of pork butt for you and 1 pound of pork butt for me.

In total, 2 pounds.

We're going to cut this into 3/4-inch pieces.

And as we go, we're going to trim out any connective tissue or sinew that we come across.

But don't trim out the fat, because the fat's important.

-You know who you're talking to?

Am I ever gonna throw away the fat?

-Absolutely not.

I trust you.

-Okay.

This is gorgeous pork.

I really did not need to trim away much at all.

-So this is a star ingredient, but there is another ingredient that is very important, is critical, and that is salt.

Typically, sausage has between 1.5% to 2% of the weight of the pork in salt.

-Okay.

-Alright?

And so we actually tried using 1.5%, 1.75%, and 2%, and we tasted them side by side, and we really landed on going with 1.5% as being the best.

So in order to figure that out, we need to weigh our pork.

We're not going to use oz.

We're going to use grams here.

So here we have 962 grams.

So I'm going to take that and I'm going to multiply that by 0.015.

14.43.

So we're going to round to 14.

-Okay.

-We need 14 grams of salt.

Because we're using the weight and not the volume, we can use table or kosher salt.

And I have table salt here, so we want 14 grams of table salt.

-We've got all of these formulas, all of the ratios on our website, so -- [Clicks tongue] -I'm just going to add the salt to the pork and I'm going to take our breakfast seasoning mix from earlier, and I'm just going to toss it all.

In order for the salt to be effective, we're just going to cover this, let it sit with the salt mixture on it for at least 8 hours and up to two days.

Alright, Bridget, our pork has been refrigerated for 8 hours.

I'm going to take our pork and transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet.

Evenly space out the pieces.

You can see how it's already firmed up.

That 8 hours is very important, and you can tell that the salt is like, has already started working on this.

The salt seasons the meat, it wards off harmful microbes, it restructures the proteins, which is going to allow it to hold on to its juices when it's cooking.

It's going to dissolve the myosin, which is a protein in pork that is going to give it that glue that binds the sausage together and gives it that nice snap.

-Gotcha.

It's the sticky stuff.

-Yes.

Now when you grind the meat, it creates friction, and the heat is going to soften our fat and also our meat.

So we're going to freeze the tray of meat for about 35 to 55 minutes, until it's very stiff on the outside and very pliable on the inside.

-Alright.

-And we're also going to freeze our grinding attachments.

Bridget, our pork has been in the freezer for 45 minutes.

The edges are nice and firm, but it's also very pliable.

And we also froze our grinder attachment for about an hour.

Everything is cold, including our bowls that we're going to catch the ground pork.

So I have a large bowl filled with ice, and I have a medium bowl inserted in it.

So as I grind it, it's going to fall into this chilled bowl and it's going to stay cold.

-Everything is cold.

-Everything's cold.

So we're going to make a coarse ground sausage.

So I'm using a die that is 3/16 inch to 1/4 inch.

That's very important.

Alright.

We're ready to grind.

I'm going to turn this to medium.

[ Grinder whirs ] Then I'm going to start feeding the pork in.

If you don't have a meat grinder, you can use a food processor.

So you just want to go to our website for the instructions.

-Great.

-Can you see the distinct meat, the fat?

-I sure can.

-Yeah.

It's so satisfying.

-It really is.

-It's a very simple step that really makes a difference.

This stuff looks great.

There's really no gristle in this, Bridget.

And it's firm, I can feel it, and it's just very, very cold.

So the next step is I'm going to need this bowl, Bridget, so can you dump the ice out and dry for me, please?

-Okay.

Alright, here you go.

It's still really cold.

-Which is good.

-Okay.

-Right?

Following the theme, temperature.

Alright, so the next step is, I'm going to just transfer this to the larger bowl.

I'm going to knead it for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

-Okay.

-I really want it to encourage that myosin to kind of continue to break down.

And you're going to see that the sides of the bowl is going to be nice and tacky.

You're going to see this kind of transform.

And what that's going to do is give our sausage that snap that we're looking for.

-Alright.

-Alright?

And what I'm doing here is very similar to what you do when making bread, where you need the dough to develop the gluten, which is going to give the texture that you're looking for.

And what we're doing here is we're kneading the meat to bring out the myosin.

-Right.

To give us that nice, snappy texture.

-Yes.

I am pretty darn happy with this, Bridget.

The myosin has been worked out and you can see it on the sides of the bowl.

-Yes.

-The meat itself is still very, very, very chilled, and I think we're ready for the next step.

As I weigh into proportions, I want you to shape it into a 2 1/2 inch wide, 1/2 thick patty.

This is going to make about 16 sausage patties between 1 1/2 to 2 oz each.

Sausage number one.

-Alright.

-How cold is that?

-It's pretty chill.

-Yeah.

How's that look?

-That's beautiful.

That's gorgeous.

Alright, Bridget, so we're just going to finish forming these, and then we're going to get cooking.

Okay, so, Bridget, I have a 12-inch nonstick skillet heating up here over medium heat.

I have 2 teaspoons of oil in there.

-Okay.

-It's hot.

I can see it starting to shimmer.

So we're going to cook half of the patties at once.

I like to start at the handle and then go in a circular motion so that I can keep track of which one I fired first.

Don't look at me like that.

-No, no.

Us being more like you would be a very good thing.

-Oh, that's funny.

So we're going to cook these for about 3 to 5 minutes.

I want it to be nice and brown.

-So it's going to allow some of that fat to render, but it's not going to get too browned on the outside before the interior is cooked.

-Exactly.

Yep.

Alright, to prove my point, you can see that this is the first one I put in.

You can see that that one's further along than the others.

-Exactly.

Starting to change color around the edges.

-Absolutely, yes.

Okay, so now I'm just going to check the bottom, and check that out -- nice and gorgeous golden brown.

I'm just going to note that I have two spatulas here.

The first one, I picked up the raw sausage with, put them in there.

This is for the cooked part.

So I'm just getting under the sausage and flipping it over, alright?

-Mm!

-You don't want cross-contamination, so you always want to cook safely.

So we're going to cook these for another 3 to 5 minutes on the second side until it's nice and golden brown.

And again, we're cooking this to an internal temperature of 145 to 150.

-Okay.

-Alright?

-Okay, so I'm just going to start taking temperatures, again, starting with the one that I put in the pan first.

And we have nailed it.

146, Bridget.

If any of them are not done, then we'll just kind of like, pull them out of the pan last.

-Okay.

-Alright.

And you know what?

They're all done.

-Perfect.

-So using my spatula... -Mm!

Mm.

[ Sausage sizzling in background ] -Alright.

We're going to cover these with foil, keep them hot, and we're going to cook the second batch, and then we can eat.

Bridget, it is time to eat.

It's breakfast time.

You ready?

-I'm so ready.

-Okay.

-The whole kitchen is filled with the beautiful aroma of pork and spice.

-So would you like one?

-I would like multiples of one.

-Multiples of one?

-Yes.

-Alright, Bridget.

-Very tender.

-Mm-hmm.

-But it does have that a little bit of snap there.

-And it has that that glue, the myosin that has bound all the meat.

-Mm.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm!

-It's like a burst of flavor and juices.

-Oh, so juicy.

I mean, look at how little fat is on the plate.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's because it's still in here.

-Mm-hmm.

-All those meat juices.

-They're perfectly seasoned.

-Absolutely.

Not too salty at all.

-Mm-hmm.

-Beautifully balanced spices.

Now, is the breakfast sausage the only kind that we have?

Now that you have the formula, you can make any type of sausage that you want -- pork, lamb, beef.

We have a couple more recipes, and you can find those on our website.

-Great.

Erin, you proved that precision is the path to perfect patties.

-Ooh, I love that.

-Did you see how simple it was to make gorgeous breakfast sausage patties?

Well, you can make them at home, too.

And it starts with Erin's sausage house rules.

First, use the right amount of salt to pork and weigh out both ingredients.

Number two, keep everything cold.

Par freeze the pork and freeze the attachments for your grinder.

And finally, you need that mixture to give the sausages a snappy texture, and a few minutes in the pan is all that stands between you and sausage Nirvana.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," the ultimate, the easy breakfast sausage patties.

And you can get this great recipe and all the recipes from this season along with product reviews and select episodes -- that's all on our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

-Let us help you with dinner tonight.

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