Easy Summer Dinner: Grilled Short Ribs and Vegetable Casserole

Today on America's Test Kitchen, Lon makes Bridgette grilled boneless beef short ribs with preserved lemon and almond sauce. Jack challenges Bridgette to a tasting of goat cheese. Dan reveals the science behind Thai jelly beer. And Becky makes Julia briole. It's all coming up right here on America's Test Kitchen. I get a lot of questions about different beef cuts. Y'all just come right up to me on the street and say, hey Bridgette, what's the deal with short ribs and are they different from boneless short ribs? Let's discuss. Well, beef ribs, this is the rib section, big beef ribs that are used for barbecue, these are the back ribs. They're not short ribs. Short ribs come from usually the plate section. Of course, they're short, they're three to five inches. They're cut either with the bone, that's called an English cut, or across many bones, that's called flanken style. Now, boneless short ribs are not from either of these sections. It's actually part of the chuck muscle. Right about there, the intersection of chuck, rib, and plate. Now, they are a boneless cut, big beefy flavor because they're from the chuck section and they're often used for braising or stewing. But Lon's here and she's gonna show us another great way to enjoy boneless short ribs. Bridgette, have you ever had grilled short ribs? I have never had grilled short ribs. You're gonna love them. They have all the flavor of a ribeye and the texture of a skirt steak or a flank steak. It's delicious. It's that plate, rib, chuck section. It's kind of the trifecta. It is, it is. I've got two pounds of boneless short ribs here and just one quick bit of prep. Because it comes from one giant muscle, you'll see this sold in kind of different sizes. I think the easiest thing to do when you're grilling them is to cut them into three to four inch lengths. It just makes them more manageable and it makes serving them easier. So I'm just gonna trim off any extra fat. A little bit is great. It helps with grill flavor because the fat drips off onto the grill and you get little flare-ups and really great grill flavor. But we don't want giant fires, so a little bit of fat, good. It's got all that intramuscular fat to that marbling. It's just spectacular. You just know it's gonna taste delicious. So that looks like four inches, right? Sure. So that looks great. And I'll have this. So I've got two and a half teaspoons of kosher salt and I'm just gonna get this all over these pieces. There's no technique here, just- Just coat it. Yeah. This is one teaspoon of pepper. I am sprinkling very slowly all over these shorties. This can hang out at room temperature. It doesn't need to go in the fridge because we'll be cooking it shortly. I'm gonna give these one hour for the salt to kind of penetrate and do its work. It's gonna season the meat, help the exterior not dry out. I'm gonna go wash my hands, but then we'll get back and get to a sauce. Okay. Now these grilled short ribs are really great with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of salt, but I'm gonna make something a little bit more special for you. Lovely. Right? So this sauce starts out really simply with a quarter cup of sliced almonds. And you can use blanched or unblanched. It doesn't really matter too much. It's up to you, but they have to be sliced. Just gonna run a knife across this. I'm not looking for a fine chop or anything. I want them to add some texture, but they don't quite need to be that big. And that's it. I'll throw this into that skillet over there. It's an eight inch skillet, and it's got a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in there. Before we start cooking, let's get to the preserved lemons. I wanna get all of my prep out of the way. I'm looking for two tablespoons of finely chopped preserved lemon. And you can use the pith and the interior. All of it is edible except the seeds. And you can check out recipes for the preserved lemons on our website. I'm just gonna run a knife through this. Just gonna chop. So let's measure out two tablespoons right into the bowl. So I've got a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in here, and I'm just gonna crank the heat up to medium high. And we're gonna toast these nuts, stirring constantly until they become kind of golden brown. It goes pretty fast. It's just a minute or two. And really the only key is to stir constantly. I like doing this with oil in the pan. I think it toasts more evenly. So I don't know if you can hear this, but once you get that sizzle going, you're pretty close. That's just like the last of the water and those nuts leaving, popping its way out of there. As that water leaves, the nuts are gonna start to pick up color. I can smell it. Oh, lovely. Yeah. Nice toast. That actually looks perfect. Woo, still sizzling. I know, right? So to finish this off, I've got a half a cup of minced parsley, quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil, two tablespoons of lemon juice, two tablespoons of the brine from the preserved lemons. And just to round out the flavors, a quarter teaspoon of sugar. Give that a quick stir. So we'll let that hang out for 15 minutes and those flavors will continue to meld and seep into the oil. It'll taste fantastic. And you can even make this a day in advance, pop it in the fridge and you just pull it out 15 minutes before serving to let it warm up. So we're gonna give that beef its one hour rest and then head on outside to the grill. Bridget, let me show you what I've done. I had seven quarts of charcoal and that's a mounded large chimney starter. Lit them up, let those coals get partially ashed over. And I went ahead and filled just half of this grill. This kind of concentrates the fire to one side instead of having kind of a dispersed heat. So two levels of heat. Yeah. So I'm gonna give this a quick scrape. I wanna oil this grate lightly and I don't need a ton of oil on here. This just helps prevent sticking. And that's just a water paper towel. Yeah, really simple. This is one of my favorite cooking methods because it's so easy. We're just gonna take these ribs and pop them over the hot side. That's a good sound. Right, it's a great sound. I'm gonna rotate them every minute as they cook. As I keep rotating them, they're gonna cook really evenly then they're gonna pick up more and more browning. Now, if I were doing this on gas, I would actually pop the lid on because that traps the heat and it kind of helps the ribs brown a little bit better. On charcoal, you're getting so much radiant heat from those coals, like the little bits of orange glow coming up in there. That's actually helping the ribs cook and brown so we don't have to pop a lid on. One thing I'm seeing right now is like we're getting little bits of flare up in there and small flare ups are great. Bigger flare ups like that one, not so great. I'm just gonna move these ribs around as necessary to keep them out of that flame. Those big flames, they're gonna leave like this charcoal-y, ashy residue and we don't want that. Not good. So I'm gonna take these ribs to 130 degrees and the reason I'm doing that, short ribs have a good amount of collagen and fat in there and that extra cook kind of helps them eat a little bit more tender and it's just, it's really nice. You don't have to. If you want a more rare cook, totally fine. And just expect it to have a little bit more bite. The thickness of the short ribs will really determine the cook time. If you have thinner ones, they go fast. Thicker ones take a long time. I find that depending on what you're using, it'll take anywhere between eight to 14 minutes. Okay. And you're gonna fiddle with it the whole time. I get to fiddle the entire time. I just wanna rotate every minute. You were not kidding when you talked about the browning. Right? Don't they look great? So these are looking pretty close to me, especially these smaller ones. I'm gonna move them over here just kind of as a holding area so they don't overcook as I fiddle with my thermometer. Bridget, 129. This looks good to me. So let's pop this on that board. We're almost there. I just wanna tent this with foil, let them rest for 10 minutes, and then we can dig in. Sounds good. Let's head inside. Bridget, you've been very patient. It's been 10 minutes. Let's eat. Reward. The only other thing you need to know is that you wanna slice these really thinly when you're slicing them. You'll see that I am slicing these across the grain. When you look at this cross section, you're not seeing lines across. That's what happens when you slice with the grain. And slicing across the grain helps the seed that much more tender. How beautiful does that look? Stunning. Lovely. Yes. You ready? I am so ready. I always give this a nice stir. The lemon juice and brine kind of settles to the bottom. So if you're skimming from the top, all you're getting is olive oil and you won't get as much of that lemon flavor and that acidity. Spectacular. Cuts so easily. That's as beefy as it gets. All those little flare-ups we saw outside give it that great grill flavor. It's nice and rich and fatty. The lemon cuts through it really nicely. It's perfect. That little ring of crust on the outside is just absolutely beautiful. And I'm loving the sauce. Yeah. That brightness cuts through the meat. Gorgeous. Lawn, this is, well, this is the best steak I think I've ever had. The best not steak you've ever had? Not steak and not short rib. What is it? It's dinner. So if you want to make these beautiful short ribs, rub the ribs with salt and then let them sit for an hour. Grill them over high heat and flip them often and serve with a bright, fresh sauce. So from America's Test Kitchen, the bold, the beautiful, the beefy, grilled boneless beef short ribs. You got to try them. Hey there, fellow fans of cooking. Want to stay in the know? Visit americastestkitchen.com and sign up for our free Notes from the Test Kitchen email newsletter. Get exclusive tips, seasonal recipes, product reviews, and more delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free at americastestkitchen.com. The 1980s brought such trends as giant shoulder pads, big hair, and goat cheese on every menu of every fancy restaurant nearby. And here to celebrate the world of goat cheeses, because that trend stuck, is Jack Bishop. Yeah, I didn't bring my big hair and I didn't bring my big shoulder pads, but I brought the goat cheese. All right, all right. You know, we think of goat cheese as, you know, this, but all of these things are goat cheese and it is a wide, wonderful world and you get to travel with me. I'm very excited. I love goat cheese. So first up, this is a Laura Chanel fresh goat cheese. This is an American cheese, probably Laura Chanel's the most famous of the American cheese makers in the goat field. It's bright, lemony, delicate, a little bit crumbly, a little bit creamy, absolutely delicious. It's gorgeous. It's smooth, it's bright, nice and salty. Love it. Yeah, a lot of goat cheese can then be aged and as it's aged, it gets more nuanced. You get more caramelly notes, nutty notes. The next cheese is from France. This is the Valencille here. Gorgeous. It's got ash and this is vegetable ash, which actually has a function. It doesn't have much flavor, but it has a drying out. So it helps the exterior of the cheese in this case, sort of allows a relatively young cheese to hold its shape. It can also be the ash in the middle, which gives you a sort of contrasting texture. The middle of this cheese with the ash running through it is a little bit drier than the parts that are further away from the ash. The other thing about this is of course, this was once a pyramid, or at least that is the legend. And because of Napoleon's losses in Egypt, they removed the top of the pyramid so he wouldn't be reminded of Egypt every time he saw this cheese. I do not doubt that story at all. That makes total sense, you know, knowing Napoleon. Yeah, so what did you think of that cheese? I mean, it's obviously quite different from the fresh goat cheese. It is, it still has some salty notes, but it's got a lovely kind of lemony flavor to it. So next up for the Boucheron, also from France. Now this has got a bloomy rind like a camembert or a brie. I really think of this as two cheeses in one. You get the best of brie and goat cheese. It's got two textures, double the deliciousness. It's two, two, two cheeses in one. It's two cheeses in one. I mean, this is just a glorious, yeah. That's buttery and tangy. Oh, that's gonna wake you up, but I love the texture. You get a little bit of that crumbly texture, and this is almost like a sauce. Last but not least, we're going to Southern Spain. This is the drunken goat. This is aged close to two months. It's got a much firmer texture. You can actually slice it. The rind is from being dunked into red wine, which gives it that unique color. I wouldn't say it adds a lot of flavor, but it's quite distinctive. So you've got to pick one favorite goat cheese, which is the one that you're gonna want to take home tonight. This one. Not even hesitating. Yeah, I was about to say. It's absolutely beautiful, the boucheron. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's got that creaminess. It's got that little bit of a crumbly center. Beautiful rind. Not kidding around with that. Well, thank you, Bridget. Well, if you want to learn more about goat cheese, you can go to our website where we have all of this information and so much more. Are you ready to take your cooking to the next level? Introducing the complete America's Test Kitchen TV show cookbook. Featuring every recipe from every episode of America's Test Kitchen. That's thousands of recipes. That texture's unbelievable. Reviews. Gadgets you didn't know you needed. And tips. Yes, there's some terrible choices, but there are also some amazing choices. We've spilled all of our secrets and included our insider notes alongside each recipe. Plus, there's a handy shopping guide so you know exactly what to grab when you're at the store. And of course, it makes an excellent gift. Get your copy today at americastestkitchen.com. There's nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than a cold beer straight from the fridge, right? Wrong. The most refreshing beer is a super chilled one like this. Super chilled beer is popular in Thailand where it's called biawan or jelly beer. It's made by chilling bottles in an agitated bath of water, salt, and ice. The pressure inside the bottle keeps the beer from freezing solid at temperatures as low as 14 degrees. When you open the bottle, a bubble of carbon dioxide forms. And that provides a nucleation site for ice crystals. That triggers ice to form throughout the liquid very quickly. It works great with a lager like this, but you don't have to stop there. Here is an amber ale. You can also trigger the reaction in different ways, like dropping in a straw. So to make biawan at home, place bottles of beer in your freezer. Chilled beer usually reaches its target temperature in about 40 minutes. Check one bottle by opening it and pouring it into a glass. If it freezes when you pour it, it's time to round up your friends and pass the slushies. At Cooks Illustrated, we're food nerds. That's why every recipe we develop involves research, cooking science, and rigorous testing by our team of expert test cooks before being tested by our dedicated community of 40,000 home cooks. Only the highest rated recipes earn a place in our award-winning magazine. Every issue features our latest recipes and discoveries, cooking tips, and equipment and ingredient reviews. Our step-by-step photos and hand-drawn illustrations show you exactly how to succeed. What you won't see, even a single page of advertising. We've worked for home cooks like you for over 30 years. So are you ready to become the best cook you know? Subscribe to Cooks Illustrated Magazine at cooksillustrated.com today. Brion is a simple Greek dish that celebrates the wide variety of summer produce. And today, Becky's gonna show us how it's made. This is such a great dish. Vegetables as a main course. I love it. They get soft and tender. They soak up lots of olive oil. Their flavor gets concentrated. It's really a lovely dish. I'm looking forward to showing it to you. We're gonna start with some veggie prep. I have a pound of Yukon Gold potatoes. I'm gonna cut them quarter-inch thick. All right, so a pound of potatoes. Then I have one onion. I'm gonna cut it in half. And then I'll slice it through the root end. All right, so we'll put our onions here. All right, next up is a bell pepper, a green one. They have a little bit of bitterness, which is really nice with the olive oil and the sweetness of the tomatoes. That bitterness kind of has a grassy overtones that I find really appealing. I'm into them. So I cut my pepper in half. I'm gonna pull out the ribs and seeds here. So I'll just cut them like this. For the peppers, I want about two-inch matchsticks. Next up, we have zucchini, and we want a total of 12 ounces of zucchini. We want these little small ones for this recipe. The smaller ones have fewer seeds, so you get more of that yummy flesh. And again, quarter-inch. All right, and lastly, we want a pound and a half of tomatoes. That's about three nice, round tomatoes here. And this is best with really good farmer's market tomatoes, but I've made it with supermarket tomatoes, and honestly, it turns out really well with supermarket tomatoes too. You just don't wanna use plum tomatoes for this recipe. They're a little bit too dry. And now we're ready to assemble the dish. So we have our pound of Yukon Golds. And there's really no particular way that the veggies should be sliced or layered, but this is just how we decided to do it. We're gonna make a nice, sturdy base with the potatoes. So a third of a cup of olive oil, and this is the time to get out the good stuff. So use really nice olive oil here. You wanna taste that fruitiness, the grassiness. It's one of the primary flavorings in the dish. Three garlic cloves minced up, and half-teaspoon salt. Okay, and now we'll add half of our onions. There's half of the onions, and now I'm going to add half-teaspoon of dried oregano, and a half-teaspoon of black pepper. All right, now we'll add our bell pepper. And I like building all these beautiful layers, all the different colors. Yeah. Okay, now the rest of our onion. Okay, now I have three sliced garlic cloves. A little different type of garlic essence there. We had the minced ones that were mixed in with potatoes. Mm-hmm, the potatoes and the olive oil in the base. Yep. It's almost treating the garlic like its own little vegetable. Yeah, exactly. All right, so there's our garlic. More oregano, this is a half-teaspoon. Every piece of veggie is gonna be just perfect. Okay, and then a quarter-teaspoon of salt. I love how you season each layer of vegetable with sort of a repeating flavor so that the whole thing will come together in the end. Yeah, that's it. Every little piece is gonna be just right. That was a quarter-teaspoon of pepper that I just put on. All right, here goes our zucchini. That was 12 ounces. And let's add our tomatoes. Oh, so everything gets basted in that glorious tomato juice. Mm, all right. Kind of layer these on top, sort of shingle them a little bit. All right, that looks pretty good to me. That looks great. Yeah, all right, so now I'm gonna hit it with another third of a cup of olive oil. And I know it's a lot of olive oil, but that's what this dish is all about. We want the veggies to soak up all that delicious flavor. Okay, and then half-teaspoon of salt because we want these tomatoes to be beautifully seasoned, of course. And a quarter-teaspoon of pepper. And that's all it takes. I mean, for the amount of work that's required for this dish, you get a huge payoff. Oh, I love it. Yeah, I'm a really big fan of this dish. Okay, so I'm going to cover this with a sheet of foil. When we didn't do that, the tomatoes dried out a little bit on top, and we don't want that to happen. We want to preserve all their beautiful juices. Seal the sides, but I'm gonna leave the ends open. All right, so this is going into a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes. Then I'll take off the foil, and then I'll let it go for another 40 to 50 minutes until everything is really nice and tender. Ooh, sounds delicious. Yeah. All right, it's been 80 minutes. Let's see. Oh! Ooh! I like what I see. Me too. All right, everything's bubbling in that amazing olive oil. Oh, I know. Look at that. It is scorching hot, huh? Yeah, so, so good. The tomatoes have collapsed. They've started to brown a little bit at the edges. I'm just gonna poke in with my paring knife here. I want to make sure the potatoes are tender, and they are. They're meltingly soft. Ooh. Ooh, I'm excited to taste this. Me too. We're gonna let it cool for 20 minutes. You could also serve this at complete room temperature. You could serve it chilled even. It's kind of anything goes. I like that. Yeah, so we'll come back in 20 minutes, and we'll give it a try. Okay. All right, it's been cooling for 20 minutes. This looks amazing, Becky. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to digging in here. I'm gonna add a quarter cup of parsley on top. Oh, a nice fresh hit of something green. Yeah. All right, can I serve you? Yes. Oh, look at that. Ooh. The veggies soaked up all the beautiful olive oil. It's like a self-made sauce. Yes, exactly. All right, I got us some really nice bread to go with it, because we have to soak up all that olive oil. Yum. And then a great feta cheese is also traditional to serve with this. Oh. I'm also gonna give you a little more of this olive oil. Oh, hello. There you go. All right. Mm. The potatoes soaked up all those various flavors that they were basted with, but it still tastes pretty clean and fresh. Yeah. You taste the oregano, you taste the garlic. Nothing's overpowering. No. It's just a nice melding of flavors. Yeah. Everything's meltingly tender. Mm. Oh. Oh, and the bread, a little bread and feta mixed in. Oh my gosh, this is my perfect meal, Julia. I can agree with you. Yeah. Oh, hello. Mm. With the feta, it just changed everything. It's magical. I like the added potatoes. I like the onions going in there raw with the green peppers. And it's a bit more rustic. Yeah, and it's so simple. And it's just taking advantage of all this beautiful summer produce and making something, a gorgeous meal out of it. This is fantastic. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. You wanna make this lovely, simple Greek dish? Start by slicing all of the vegetables a quarter inch thick. Season the layers with salt, dried oregano, and good olive oil. And cook it for 80 minutes, removing the foil partway through. From America's Test Kitchen, a simple but stunning recipe for briome. 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 slash tv. This is killer. 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