♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," we're heading to France.

Bridget makes Julia the ultimate fougasse bread, Adam reveals his top pick for automatic soap dispensers, and Becky makes Bridget a classic Provençal vegetable soup.

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

♪♪ -In ancient Rome, panis focus was a simple flatbread that was baked in the ashes on the hearth, the hearth translating, in Latin, to focus.

Now, over the years, this simple bread spread and diversified all over Europe, into loaves like the Italian focaccia; the Catalonian fogassa; and, last but not least, the French fougasse, which is what Bridget's gonna show us how to make today.

-Julia, do you like crust?

-Yep!

-Yeah.

Well this is for you.

This bread is really about the ratio of interior crumb to crust.

And what it is, is it's basically a flattish bread and it's manipulated and shaped so it has all this interior lacing that allows for more crust development.

-I'm in.

-We're not using all whole wheat flour, but we want enough just to give a little bit of that nuttiness, that wheaty flavor.

But we need to sift it through a fine mesh sifter, and that's to get rid of the outer bran, any little bits of that, because that really impedes gluten development.

So, this is a 1/4 cup, or 1 1/3 ounces, of whole wheat flour.

Just gonna quickly sift it in there.

Now the rest of the ingredients go in.

This is 3 cups, or 15 ounces, of all-purpose flour.

1 1/2 teaspoons of table salt.

And 1 teaspoon of instant or rapid-rise yeast.

Now, this is 1 1/2 cups, or 12 ounces, of water, so, about 75% hydration level is just right.

So, now, this is going to go on low speed, just for about 5 to 7 minutes.

And what I'm looking for is the dough should come together in a cohesive mass.

We shouldn't see any dry pockets.

So, 5, maybe 7 minutes.

-Alright.

-Alright!

It's been about 5 minutes.

And the dough's looking good.

You can see it cleared the sides of the bowl.

No little dry pockets of flour.

And, now, I'm going to move this to a bowl.

I've gone ahead and oiled this with extra virgin olive oil.

We are going use that later on in the recipe, too, so why not here?

It's gonna prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl.

Alright, so that looks good.

Now, I've got a piece of plastic wrap down here and we are gonna let this rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes before we move on to the next step.

-Okay.

So, whole wheat flour adds a nutty, complex flavor to the fougasse, but we're careful not to add more than 1/4 cup.

Here's why.

White flour is made with just the endosperm of the wheat grain, which contains starch and proteins, and it's these proteins that form gluten, when mixed with water, and gives the bread it's structure.

Whole wheat flour is made from the whole grain -- the germ, the bran, and the endosperm.

Now, the germ adds flavor and a minuscule amount of fat, while the bran adds flavor and bulk.

But too much bran is a bad thing because it gets in the way of gluten development.

The two main ingredients in most bread doughs are water and flour.

The proteins in the flour need the water, in order to find each other inside the dough and to link up into the strong network that we call gluten.

Here's now the particles of bran in the whole wheat flour get in the way of that process.

Bran absorbs lots of water, essentially stealing it away from the gluten.

So, with less water available to it, the gluten isn't able to move around freely in the dough and therefore forms fewer links, making a weaker network.

The bran particles also physically get in the way and prevent the small gluten links from forming longer chains.

Without these longer chains, you can't form a strong gluten network.

Alright.

It's been a half an hour the dough has sat here.

So, now, we're going to start manipulating it a little bit and start forming gluten.

Now, we want a specific interior texture, or crumb, inside this bread.

We want it to be nice and lacy, with small holes and larger holes, and you do that by developing the gluten slowly.

So, in order to do that, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take a little corner of the dough and push it towards the middle.

Then, rotate the bowl 45 degrees and do it again.

So I'm gonna go around here a total of eight times.

Just like that.

I am gonna put the plastic back on.

We're gonna let this rest for 30 minutes.

We're gonna repeat this cycle three more times.

Now, after the last fold, we're gonna put the plastic on and this is going to go into the fridge for at least 16 hours, up to 2 days, or 48 hours, in advance.

-Okay.

-Alright.

So we went through the four stages of dough -- Resting and then folding, four times.

So fougasse is known for taking on many different shapes.

Some people will do beautiful sand dollars.

Some people will turn it into a ladder.

We're gonna do probably the most traditional shape, which is a leaf.

It's beautiful.

It's simple.

Lots of opportunities for crust development.

Alright.

So, before I turn this out on my board, I wanna flour it.

And this is a well-hydrated dough, so we don't have to worry too much about it being over-floured.

Let me get this out of the bowl.

I'm gonna be gentle here.

I really don't want to disturb too many of those air bubbles that we've taken the time to develop.

Now, I am going to get rid of any of these larger bubbles on the outside.

That's fine.

But what I wanna do is kinda pat and pull this out, roughly an 8-inch circle.

It looks spot-on.

Now, I'm going to put a little bit of flour on my bench scraper here because I'm going to use it to cut it right in half.

We're gonna make two loaves.

-Mmm!

-And, later on, you and I are gonna have some fun.

This is how we're going to start getting that triangle shape.

So I like to think of this as being in three parts.

See the three triangles if I do that?

-Mm-hmm.

-Yeah.

So that's what we are gonna do.

We're going to bring this towards the center.

Just like that.

Get it so it's attached and then, bring this one up.

I'm gonna pop that bubble just like that.

Just get it into a rough triangle.

Alright.

So that looks good.

Now, I am going to move this over to a rimmed baking sheet.

I wanna flour it so it doesn't stick to the sheet.

And this is going to go right over there.

-Mm!

-Now, this is going to relax and slump a little bit.

Alright.

So, now, these are going to go under a sheet of plastic.

I went ahead and sprayed this with vegetable oil spray.

Cover it loosely.

And, now, we want these to warm up, so we can continue to shape them and turn them into the beautiful leaves.

So these are gonna sit here at room temperature for about 30 minutes or up to an hour, or, really, until the dough no longer feels cold.

-Okay.

-Alright.

So it's been about 30 minutes.

The chill is off.

-Okay.

And they've relaxed quite a bit.

-They sure have, as promised.

So, we're done here with this plastic wrap.

Now, I'm gonna have you shape one and me shape one, so I do need to flour our bench here.

There you go.

-Thank you.

-And one for me.

So we are gonna use a rolling pin to gently coax this out into the right shape.

So what we are looking for at the start is this end towards us is 8 inches and then, the 2 longer sides of the triangle are about 10 inches long.

So, gentle is the game.

There we go.

8x10.

Alright!

You've got a piece of parchment on an overturned baking sheet.

This is our makeshift baking peel.

-Ooh!

I like it.

-Alright.

So I'm just gonna put this up here.

Now, I wanna take some cornmeal and dust the surface here.

Add some nice texture to the bottom of the bread.

We're going to move this bread onto our baking sheet.

So, now, we're going to cut little slits into the bread, and this is where we get a lot more crust, because, now, we have more edge.

So we're gonna start about an inch and a half from one of the edges.

I'll just cut right down the middle, up to about an inch and a half from the other side.

Now, we chose a pizza wheel or a pizza cutter because it was just so much easier than using a knife or a pair of scissors.

So, now, we're going to make a series of veins off of the center vein.

So I'm going to use this.

Now, you don't want to cut into the center vein again, You don't wanna cut on the outside.

-Ah!

-It just looks like a torn leaf.

-Ah.

-I'm gonna start about a third way down from this middle vein here and I'm going to make my first cut pretty close to parallel.

-Okay.

-It's not quite perpendicular to that first cut.

And on the other side.

Alright, so about another third of the way down, we are going to make another cut and, now, I'm just angling it a little bit more.

And then on the other side.

And then, at the bottom, you're gonna open it up just a little bit more.

This is really where it starts to take shape.

We're going to stretch and pull this until the leaf shape really starts to open.

We wanna see some space in between these slits.

Alright.

So, now, we're gonna leave these alone.

We want them to sit for another 30 to 45 minutes, let them prove, get nice and bubbly, and start to rise.

They should be about doubled in size.

But we do need to put a piece of plastic -- we've gone ahead and sprayed it with vegetable oil spray -- and then, we can start to bake.

Alright.

It's been about 45 minutes.

-That is a fun-shaped bread.

-Gorgeous bread isn't it?

Alright.

So it's about ready for the oven.

We need to do one more thing, and that is coat this with some seasonings.

But, first, extra virgin olive oil.

You have 2 tablespoons.

-Hm!

-I have 2 tablespoons.

You wanna get it on the top, the sides, into those little fissures, everywhere.

-Okay.

Every inch is coated.

-It's true.

Alright.

So, now, we're going to add some seasonings.

Rosemary is perfect here.

This is 1 tablespoon of minced rosemary.

So I'm gonna sprinkle about half on each one of 'em, so about 1 1/2 teaspoons per loaf.

-And you definitely wanna use fresh rosemary here, not dried.

-And, now, sea salt.

Now, this is a coarse salt.

These are sea salt flakes.

We love the texture of this.

It's going to add some nice crunch on top of the bread.

So this is 2 teaspoons, total, so 1 teaspoon per loaf.

Alright.

So these are going to go into the oven.

These are actually going to go into two ovens.

-Yep.

-I've set up two identical ovens for each of us.

So these are going to go into the oven, set to 450 degrees, till they are nice and golden-brown.

That's gonna take about 18, maybe 22 minutes and, halfway through, we will rotate each of these.

-Okay!

-Now, we are gonna keep these on the parchment and just slide it right on.

A pizza stone is essential for a nice bottom crust.

Alright.

Ooh!

-Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Thank you.

-Beautiful.

-They're gorgeous.

-Now, these have got to rest for 15 minutes, cool down just a little bit, then we'll eat.

-Okay.

-15 minutes.

-[ Laughs ] These look terrible.

-They do.

They're awful.

No one should eat them but us, right?

-Exactly.

-Alright.

So this is the one that you made.

I'm gonna put it here between these other two shapes.

We're gonna save this for a little later on.

Isn't that gorgeous?

-And look at these other shapes.

This is that sand dollar that you talked about and that's the ladder.

-The ladder, yeah.

I'd like to climb that ladder.

-[ Chuckle ] So, in addition to other shapes, there's a few other flavor variations, in addition to the rosemary-and-salt we have here.

You can find those on our website.

-No knife.

This is all about the crust with that chewy interior.

You don't wanna slice it.

-No!

-You wanna tear it open.

-I do.

[ Laughs ] -Then you go first.

-Oh!

I'm gonna go on this end.

-Nice.

-Oh.

Ohhh!

-Oh, yeah.

Look at that nice, uneven texture in the crumb.

-Mm-hmm.

-[ Crunching ] [ Laughing ] -Mmm!

-It is like the best crust of a pizza I've ever had.

It's crunchy on the outside, but the inside has flavor and it's chewy and you get a little of that olive oil and the rosemary and the salt.

-Yeah.

There's some good tug in there, a nice texture inside here, and what I like about it is it's still moist inside.

I love this little bit of cornmeal on the bottom, too.

Just even more crunch.

-Bridget, this is amazing.

Thank you!

-Thank you.

-So if you wanna make this classic French bread, start by sifting whole wheat flour before combining it with all-purpose flour.

Knead the dough on low speed for just 5 minutes, then let it rest on the counter for 2 hours, stopping to fold it every half hour.

Let the dough rise slowly in the refrigerator, then shape and slash into that iconic-looking loaf.

Before baking, top with olive oil, rosemary, and coarse salt.

From "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, an authentic recipe for fougasse.

Delicious!

-Mm-hmm.

[ Crunching ] Mmm.

-Mmm!

♪♪ -Here's a riddle for you.

You've got dirty hands from working in the kitchen.

But how do you get to the soap without contaminating the soap dispenser?

Well, enter the automatic soap dispenser and enter Adam Ried, who's gonna tell us which one was the winner of our testing.

-Sort of like culinary catch-22, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

-Your hands are dirty.

You don't wanna contaminate the soap dispenser, but you need soap.

We have four different models of automatic soap dispensers -- hands-free, battery operated, use it with a motion sensor, so it knows you are there.

The price range was $25 to $60.

I use one of these at home and I have to tell you, it's a game-changer.

I have always been careful about washing my hands before I cook and during cooking and, now, I have to say, I wash my hands every time I pass through the kitchen.

-Really?

-It's great.

And more hand washing can't be a bad thing.

The tests were far and wide.

Testers first got their hands greasy with olive oil.

They also got their hands contaminated with raw poultry and then used each dispenser five times.

-Wow.

-They tested the activation distance, the responsiveness of the sensor, by holding their hands at varying heights and distances away.

-Okay.

-They used each dispenser 20 times on a wet surface, to see whether it would shift while it was being used.

They used each dispenser about 15 times, to calculate the volume of soap dispensed in each instance.

And, in the last test, they timed how long it took from activating the sensor to getting your soap.

Now, before getting soap out of these, you have to put soap into them.

-Right.

-Liquid soap for all of them.

Some of them were easier to fill than other ones.

This one, for instance, had a very small opening at the top of the soap reservoir, so you had to be a little careful, pouring the liquid soap in there.

Also, the soap reservoir was opaque.

There was a tiny, little window here... -[ Chuckle ] -...that's supposed to give you a sense of how much soap is in there, but it was hard for testers to see and, in fact, some of them even overflowed this guy by accident.

-Sure.

-So it's much better if your soap reservoir is like the one right in front of you.

If it's clear, you can see how much soap is in there, and if you have a much wider opening.

Getting soap out of one of these dispensers should be kind of an instant- gratification thing.

-Sure.

-And these two took about 4 seconds to dispense the soap.

Doesn't sound like a long time, 4 seconds.

-Right.

-But it felt like a long time.

-You need it [ Snaps fingers ] now!

-You want it right now!

There was a second problem with these, in that the soap was dispensed in this sort of web of wispy, sloppy threads because the nozzles of the dispensers were open and circular and they just didn't cut off the flow of soap very neatly.

-Gotcha.

-These two in front of you did a much better, much faster, job.

They dispensed soap in less than a second.

And they're made by the same company and they feature what the company calls a no-drip valve, which actually turned out to be a no-drip valve!

-Works as advertised.

-It's a little silicone valve.

It's shaped like an upside-down triangle and it really cut off the flow of soap very neatly.

Testers also tried the different distances and they found that all of the sensors were pretty responsive.

They could hold their hands anywhere from 1 inch to 2 1/2 inches in front of the machines and get the soap out.

So, these two were the top performers.

They're both made by the same company, simplehuman, and this is the winner.

This is the simplehuman sensor pump.

It's about $40.

-Okay.

-And testers gave it the edge for a couple of reasons.

It's got this transparent soap reservoir.

It's got a nice, big opening, so it's easy to fill and it's also got the smallest footprint of all of these, so it's gonna take up less space by the sink.

-There you go.

If you wanna keep your hands nice and clean, then pick up the winning automatic soap dispenser.

It's the simplehuman sensor pump and it retails for about $40.

♪♪ Today we're making soupe au pistou, which hails from the French region of Provence.

Now, it's very similar to a minestrone -- it's chock full of lots of good vegetables -- but before soupe au pistou is served, a dollop of pistou, which is similar to a pesto, is stirred in at the last minute.

Becky's here and she's gonna show us an amazing version that is actually really easy to make.

-It is.

And you know what?

Let's be real -- vegetable soups can be kind of bland sometimes.

-Snoresville.

-Yeah.

Bo-ring!

But not this is one, and that's because of that pistou.

It really, really adds a lot of personality to this soup.

-Okay.

-We're starting with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil that I have over medium heat.

-Okay.

-And that'll be ready to go when it's shimmering.

We'll start by adding one leek.

This has been cut into 1/2-inch pieces and then washed really, really well 'cause you know leeks get really gritty and sandy inside.

-Definitely.

-Then, we have one celery rib that's cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

One carrot, cut in 1/4-inch pieces.

[ Sizzling ] And 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

So this is our base, here, for the soup and we're going to let this cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables get nice and soft.

-Okay.

-Okay, so it's been about 10 minutes and things are starting to smell good in the kitchen.

-It's always a good start, smelling aromatics... -Can't go wrong.

-...at the beginning of a soup recipe, yes!

-That's right.

Okay.

And now we are going to add 2 cloves of garlic, minced up.

And we'll just let that go for about 30 seconds.

We'll know it's time to move on when we start to smell it.

Okay.

So, now, let's add 3 cups of water.

We're not adding all broth here.

That'd just sort of overwhelm the vegetables, so we're adding half water, half vegetable broth.

And we like to use our homemade vegetable base, that calls for just a handful of veggies and some pantry seasonings.

-And our vegetable broth base is available on our website.

It's a really good recipe.

-Alright.

So, bring this up to a simmer and then, we'll continue.

-Sounds good.

-Okay.

So, our broth and water came to a simmer here and, now, we're gonna add 1/2 cup of pasta.

We're using orecchiette, but you could use any little, short pasta.

-Gotcha.

-So we'll put those in and we'll let these go for 5 minutes.

Okay.

It's been 5 minutes and, now, we'll add our green beans.

I have 8 ounces here, cut into 1/2-inch lengths.

-Gotcha.

-Or if you wanted to be français, you could add haricot vert.

-Oh.

Very nice.

Yes.

-[ Laughs ] Those are just thinner, a little bit more delicate.

-Yeah.

Actually, green beans and haricot vert are two different varieties.

The haricot vert are nice and long and slender and the green beans, well, they're a little bit thicker and sturdier, but you can use them interchangeably.

-So, we're going to cook the green beans for 3 to 5 minutes.

We want them to still maintain that nice, green color and just a tiny bit of, not crunch, but tender crisp, let's say.

-Gotcha.

-Okay.

So it's been 3 minutes and you can see the beans are still nice and bright green there.

So, now, we'll add those delicate veggies that just need a tiny bit of cooking at the end.

So, I have one zucchini.

We took the seeds out and cut this into 1/4-inch pieces.

We also took the seeds outta this.

One tomate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces.

I have one can of cannellini beans.

And I'm going to add all this packing liquid, too.

It's actually got a lot of flavor.

It's full of salt and it has a little bit of body to it.

We found that these beans have a comparable flavor and texture to cooking dried beans.

You could also use navy beans, if you want to.

So, really, this just needs to warm through.

The vegetables we just added need to tenderize a little bit and that takes about 3 minutes.

-Okay.

-Alright.

-It smells so good.

It's beautiful, too.

-Yeah.

It's gorgeous.

Alright.

So, we'll turn that off.

It's ready to go.

It can hang out for a couple of minutes, -Okay.

-while we get to that pistou, which is the very best part.

-It's literally the soup, right?

-Yeah.

This makes it.

-The soupe au pistou.

Without it, it would just be soup.

-Wah wah wah!

-Right.

[ Laughter ] -So, starting with 3/4 cup of fresh basil and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.

And one clove of garlic, that's minced up.

And we're just gonna buzz this in the food processor for about 15 seconds, till it becomes smooth.

Alright.

Ooh!

-[ Sniffing ] Ah!

Hit of basil.

Mmm!

-You just know that's gonna be good, right?

-Oh yeah.

-So, put this into a little serving dish.

Let me just give it a little taste.

I'll make sure if it needs salt and pepper.

Ooh!

I'll just add a little bit of pepper.

-Okay.

-Alright.

Can I dish you up?

-Yes, please.

-Wow!

So pretty.

-That is so beautiful.

-Now, help yourself to some pistou.

You wanna put a nice, big dollop on there.

-Big dollop.

-Yes.

-Alright.

-When you stir it into the soup a little bit, immediately, you get the smell when it hits the heat of the broth.

-Mmm!

Every bite is a bonanza.

-[ Laughs ] -I've got pasta in there, zucchini, green beans, carrots, leeks -- everything.

Mmm!

-So fresh-tasting.

-Mmm.

-You get the basil, the garlic.

That pistou totally makes it.

This is not boring, at all.

-It's brothy.

It's not muddy.

A lot of vegetable soups can get really muddy or be too tomato-heavy.

-Mm-hmm.

I like that this just has a little bit of tomato in it.

It's just adding a little bit of brightness, but it's not taking over the whole thing and making it taste like a pasta sauce.

-Yeah.

I agree.

-It's gorgeous.

-I think it's just right, if I do say so myself.

-I think it's just right.

I think you're just right.

-Oh, you flatter me.

[ Laughter ] -C'est bon.

-Oh!

Merci.

[ Laughter ] -Well if you'd like to be French, like mon ami Becky, and make soupe au pistou, start by sautéing leeks with carrot and celery, add vegetable broth and water, and then bring it all to a simmer.

Add orecchiette and then green beans.

Stir in cannellini beans, zucchini, and tomato; and then, make a pistou.

Process basil, Parmesan, and olive oil all together, until it forms a beautiful paste.

Serve the soup with a generous spoonful of the pistou and eat it all up.

So, from "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, a beautiful, vibrant, and bright Provençal vegetable soup.

And you can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, including testings, tastings, and select episodes on our website, americastestkitchen.com.

♪♪ So good.

-Yeah.

I love soup.

-Mmm.

[ Laughing ] "I love soup."

#ILoveSoup.

-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.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪