1. When Buying Beef Tenderloin, Let the Butcher Do the Work: You could save yourself a few bucks and buy an untrimmed beef tenderloin, but then you’ve got a lot of extra work to do removing the extra fat and silver skin. We recommend you opt for a chateaubriand. It’s a bit more expensive, but all the dirty work has been done for you in advance. It’s well worth the higher price tag.
2. The Key to a Flavorful No-Cook Sauce? Let It Sit: Because there’s no heat involved, no-cook sauces—like the chermoula we make for our grill-roasted beef tenderloin—need time to develop flavor. Also, when making a no-cook sauce, make sure not to add the olive oil while you’re processing the other ingredients. The violent spinning of the food processor’s blade can corrupt the oil, leaving you with a bitter sauce.
3. What To Look For When Buying a Gas Grill: A good gas grill should be many things: it should evenly distribute heat inside the cookbox; its grates should be heavy-duty; it should have a large grease tray to make cleanup easier; its lid should be angled to keep smoke out of your face; and you should be able to move it without struggle. If it doesn’t check these boxes, it’s not worth your money.
4. The Best Pear to Use in Upside-Down Cake: We tried a number of different pears when developing our recipe for pear-walnut upside-down cake—Anjou, Bartlett, Comice—but found that Bosc were our favorite. Even when underripe, these pears are nice and sweet. And when they’re ripe, they’re perfect.
5. You Might Not Think You Need a Flat Whisk or a Spoonula, But…: It turns out you might! With their shoe horn shape, flat whisks make it easy to get into the corners of pans when scraping and stirring a sauce or gravy. And with a good spoonula, you’ll be able to not on scrape the fond off the bottom of pan while making a sauce, you’ll also be able to use it to scoop that sauce onto your plate.
Quote of the Week: “In the world of upside-down cakes, pineapples reign supreme. But lately, all kinds of other fruit—like apples, plums, and peaches—are getting in on the action. But one fruit that has yet to make it to the party is the poor little pear. But Erin has figured it all out for us.” —Bridget Lancaster on upside-down fruit cakes
Can't wait for next week's episode? Get your fill with our past episode recaps:
- Season 17, Episode 23 Recap: How to Make the Best Grilled Pizza
- Season 17, Episode 22 Recap: How to Make the Best Paella
- Season 17, Episode 21 Recap: How to Make the Best Shrimp and Vegetable Skewers
- Season 17, Episode 20 Recap: How to Make the Best Pan-Seared Flank Steak
- Season 17, Episode 19 Recap: How to Make the Best Strawberry Jam
- Season 17, Episode 18 Recap: How to Make the Best Pork Roast
- Season 17, Episode 17 Recap: How to Make Sensational Beef Stir-Fry
- Season 17, Episode 16 Recap: How to Make Better Oatmeal Cookies
- Season 17, Episode 15 Recap: How to Make Better Chicken Marsala
- Season 17, Episode 14 Recap: How to Make Baked Alaska
- Season 17, Episode 13 Recap: How to Make the Best Frozen Yogurt
- Season 17, Episode 12 Recap: How to Make the Best Pantry Pasta Dishes
- Season 17, Episode 11 Recap: Taking on the Best of the Big Easy
- Season 17, Episode 10 Recap: How to Make the Best Korean Rice Bowls (Dolsot Bibimbap)
- Season 17, Episode 9 Recap: How to Roast Turkey and Boil Corn
- Season 17, Episode 8 Recap: How to Make the Best Ground Beef Chili
- Season 17, Episode 7 Recap: How to Make the Ultimate Sticky Buns
- Season 17, Episode 6 Recap: How to Make the Best Shrimp Scampi
- Season 17, Episode 5 Recap: How to Make the Best Cheese and Tomato Lasagna
- Season 17, Episode 4 Recap: Home-Corned Beef and Cabbage—and Shots of Sherry (Vinegar)
- Season 17, Episode 3 Recap: Crispy Chicken Breasts and Creamy Baked Potatoes
- Season 17, Episode 2 Recap: "Two Stews for Yous"
- Season 17, Episode 1 Recap: Cast Iron is Back!
What was your favorite part of this episode of America’s Test Kitchen? Let us know in the comments!