♪♪ -"Cook's Country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table.

We're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes.

We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook.

And we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.

We bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you.

This is "Cook's Country."

♪♪ -Today on "Cook's Country," Lawman makes pickle-brined fried chicken sandwiches.

Jack talks all about cucumbers.

I tell the story behind an iconic Tennessee cookie, Moon Pies.

And Morgan makes Bridget our version.

That's all right here on "Cook's Country."

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills designed with durability in mind, including the Eminence 605, with LED touch panels and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at MonumentGrills.com.

♪♪ -Brining chicken in pickle juice is an age-old method.

In fact, there's a recipe for pickled chicken in the original White House cookbook that was published in 1887.

And today, Lawman's going to take pickle-brined chicken and turn it into a fried chicken sandwich.

-Julia, I love a good sandwich.

My absolute favorite is a fried chicken sandwich.

-Yeah, they're everywhere these days.

-They are everywhere.

And we're going to add more flavor to the chicken sandwich by infusing it with pickle juice.

-Okay.

-The epiphany is adding the pickle juice in three stages.

-Okay.

-Here I have a 24-ounce jar of kosher dill pickles.

We're going to start by draining them.

We're going to take out a couple.

Now for the purpose of this recipe, this is liquid gold.

-Okay.

-Again, we're going to use this three different stages of the recipe.

-Wow.

-So for our sauce, we're going to take some of the pickles, and I'm just going to chop them.

You're looking for about 1/4 cup.

So now we're going to make the sauce.

We're going to add 1/4 cup of mayonnaise.

We have half of a red onion that's been chopped fine, two minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of fresh minced dill, a pinch of cayenne, and -- secret ingredient -- a tablespoon of that pickle brine.

So I'm just going to mix this together.

So if you're keeping count, this is the first time that we're adding the pickle brine to the recipe.

But it's not going to be our last.

And then we're going to cover this.

Now we're just going to put this aside.

Now we're going to make our marinade.

We're going to take 1 cup of the pickle brine.

-All right.

Pickle juice number two.

-Exactly.

And add that.

We're going to add eight sprigs of fresh dill.

-Mmm.

-Six smashed garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of dry mustard.

-Oh, interesting.

That's going to add a little heat.

-Yes.

1 tablespoon of kosher salt.

-Adding salt to the pickle juice to make it a brine.

-And 1 tablespoon of black pepper.

-Oh, gesundheit.

-I'm just going to give it a mix.

Now, basically these ingredients you would find in pickle brine.

We're just using these to enhance the flavor so we can marinate the chicken.

-Makes sense.

-And speaking of chicken, I have four boneless skinless chicken thighs.

We like thighs over breasts because they have more flavor.

And when you're cooking them, there's less chance for them to dry out.

-Yeah, that's right.

-Now, we want to brine this for a minimum of six hours, up to 12 hours.

-Okay.

-But we want to stop at 12 hours, because if you go over that amount, the chicken starts to get rubbery.

Now, it has great flavor, but the texture suffers.

-That's because of the vinegar.

-Exactly.

So we want both.

-Okay.

-So minimum 6 hours, maximum 12 hours.

-Okay.

-Julia, it's been about eight hours.

We're in that sweet spot of infusing flavor.

Now it's time to add some coating to the chicken.

-Okay.

-Here I have 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour.

I'm going to add 1/2 cup of cornstarch.

-Yeah, that's always the key when you're frying something, to add a little cornstarch to the flour because it just makes fried things taste a bit more crisp.

-1 teaspoon of baking powder.

-Oh, a little lift.

-Yes.

2 teaspoons of granulated garlic, 2 teaspoons of dried mustard, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, 2 teaspoons of black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of fresh minced dill.

And we just want to mix everything together, make sure everything's incorporated.

Now, I said that there's going to be pickle brine in different stages.

This is the third stage.

I'm going to add 1/4 cup to the mixture.

And what we're going to do here is we're going to make some craggly bits, some shaggy bits.

Think nooks and crannies.

So I'm just taking my fingers and I'm pressing everything together.

And this is going to give the exterior of the chicken, as I said, those nooks and crannies and just extra areas for it to fry up and crisp up.

Now we're going to add our chicken.

Now, normally when we fry something, we have an egg wash or buttermilk.

But in this case, we're going to use the brine.

-Okay.

-We're not going to use the egg or buttermilk because it could mask the pickle flavors that we're trying to develop.

So I'm just going to press the coating onto the chicken.

-Gorgeous.

-And this is the last one right here.

Now I'm going to wash up my hands and we're going to pop this in the fridge for about 30 minutes minimum, up to 2 hours.

We're going to do that so that the coating can set on the chicken.

Julia, now it's time to fry.

I have 3 cups of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.

And we're looking for a temperature of 350 degrees.

-Okay.

-And we're right there.

You're going to notice the chicken is a little darker.

That's because some of the brine has absorbed into the flour mixture.

So we know that the coating is going to stick to the chicken.

-Okay.

So that's a good sign.

-Yes.

We're going to fry the chicken all at the same time.

And we want to fry this for 8 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.

We're looking for an internal temperature of 175 degrees.

We want to keep the oil temperature between 325 to 350 degrees.

-Okay.

-Julia, it's been about five minutes.

Now it's time to flip the chicken.

-That bubbling sound is music to my ears, Lawman.

-You notice that it's nice and golden brown on the other side.

-It's gorgeous.

-I would say they have about five more minutes.

-Okay.

-So the chicken looks gorgeous.

Now let's take the temp.

See if it's ready.

-It smells good.

It smells like pickles.

I shouldn't be surprised, but... -And we're perfect at 175, 176 degrees.

It's going to add them to a paper towel-lined sheet pan and let some of the excess oil drain off.

It's going to allow them to cool a little bit.

Then we can make our sandwiches.

-Okay.

-Now it's time to make some sandwiches.

-Yes, it is.

-Now, the recipe makes four sandwiches, but because it's just you and me, we're only going to make two sandwiches right now.

-We're only going to eat one sandwich on camera.

-So I have nicely toasted brioche buns.

First we're going to add a tablespoon of mayonnaise.

That's setting the foundation for our sandwich.

Add our chicken.

-Goodness.

-And then I'm going to add a quarter of the slaw sauce on top of the chicken.

And last but not least, some shredded iceberg lettuce.

I have a cup here.

We're each going to get 1/2 cup.

-Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm.

I have to say, I order a lot of fried chicken sandwiches.

I've never seen one that looks this good.

This looks kind of epic.

All right.

Ready?

Mmm.

And what you get is pickle.

And then you get the crunch and then the chicken.

There's so much pickle flavor in here.

You really got it all in there.

-You can taste the pickle.

You can smell the pickle.

-Mm-hmm.

-You can feel the pickle.

[ Both laugh ] -The chicken is so tender.

Oh, and the coating.

I mean, it's staying crunchy even on the sandwich.

-Those are those nooks and crannies.

-Mm-hmm.

It's your dream sandwich achieved.

-I'm in my happy place right now.

-[ Laughs ] Thank you, Lawman.

This is awesome.

-You're welcome.

-If you want to make a spectacular fried chicken sandwich, use the pickle juice three times -- in the marinade, the coating, and the sauce.

Use chicken thighs and make a cragle coating and fry them until they register 175 degrees.

From "Cook's Country," Lawman's own pickle-brined fried chicken sandwich.

This really is spectacular.

-Thank you.

-You should sell these.

♪♪ -There is nothing more refreshing than a crisp cucumber on a hot summer day.

And the reason why cucumbers are so great in the summertime is they're 96% water.

Nothing more water than that when it comes to the vegetable world.

So there are some choices at the supermarket.

We're going to start with the most common, which is the American or the slicing cucumber.

There are two things to note here.

One is there are a lot of seeds.

You're going to need to get rid of those, so you're going to have a lot of waste.

More importantly, these are almost always waxed.

That increases their shelf life, but it means you've got to peel that skin.

You do not want to be eating that wax.

Next up, we have the English or the European or the hothouse cucumber.

Now, the big thing here is they're called seedless, but they're actually kind of immature seeds.

But you don't need to remove these because they don't really distract from the eating pleasure of the cucumber.

Now, these are almost always shrink-wrapped.

That shrink-wrapping is doing the same thing as the wax coating.

It's protecting them, but it allows you, once you remove the shrink wrapping, you don't need to peel these cucumbers.

And I kind of like the peel of the cucumber in addition to the fact that I don't like wasting so much, so really kind of prefer the English cucumbers.

But maybe my favorite here on the table are these little Persian cucumbers.

They're sometimes called mini cucumbers.

These are my favorite for crudité.

I love them with hummus.

They have a, like, delicate melony flavor.

And again, these seeds I think are so small you don't need to get rid of them.

And then last up, if you're a gardener like me, you want to do a lot of pickling in the summer, and the Kirby cucumber is the best choice for this.

Now, you can also slice this up.

It's great in salads, but if you really want a cucumber that's going to have that snap when you make a pickle, look for Kirby.

So next time you've got a hot summer day, remember cucumber.

They're our friends.

♪♪ -Moon Pies are a s'mores-like cookie that have been popular for over a century, but it might surprise you to learn that coal miners played a role in their creation.

In 1917, while visiting a shop in Kentucky, a salesman for Chattanooga Bakery heard from local coal miners that they wanted a treat that would give them enough energy to stay satisfied throughout the day.

Legend has it that they asked for this snack to be as big as the moon.

With that, the Moon Pie was created and they quickly flew off the shelves.

At the time, Chattanooga Bakery sold over 100 different products, but with runaway demand for their newest cookie, they shifted all their production efforts to just Moon Pies.

Today, Moon Pies are iconic.

They cost a bit more than they did in 1917, but they've maintained their recognizable size -- a whopping 4 inches in diameter.

And here at "Cook's Country," we put our own spin on this Tennessee classic.

♪♪ -If you grew up eating Moon Pies like I did, then you know that they're the stuff of legends, especially when paired with a certain cola.

Now, speaking of legend, Morgan's here, and she's going to shoot for the moon because we're making our own type of Moon Pies.

-Thank you, Bridget.

I appreciate that.

So, yeah, these are the best of, like, a s'more, except in package form.

It's a graham cookie with marshmallow filling, enrobed in chocolate.

I mean, what's not to love?

-Goosebumps.

-Exactly.

So you do start by making the cookie.

So here I have 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour.

And to that I'm going to add a cup and 2 tablespoons of graham flour.

So this is also sometimes called stone-ground whole-wheat flour.

It's a little more coarse than a regular whole-wheat flour.

But it's got that really nice graham flavor.

It adds a nice texture here and a nice flavor here as well.

To that, I'm also going to add 3/4 cup of sugar, a teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of baking soda.

I've got 3/4 teaspoon of salt and then 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

It's just going to drive home that graham flavor.

It's like a little kiss of cinnamon.

So I'm going to whisk these together, get everything nice and combined.

I always like to whisk up all the dry ingredients so the baking powder and baking soda get evenly incorporated before you start messing with any liquids.

Now on to the liquid ingredients.

So here I have 12 tablespoons of melted and cooled butter.

I'm just going to add in 5 tablespoons of water.

So this water is actually just going to make them really nice and soft.

It's not like a crunchy graham cracker.

It's a nice soft graham cracker.

-Yes.

-And this water is going to do that.

I've got 2 tablespoons of molasses, which is going to add a nice toasty, rich dark flavor, but in a really nice way.

And a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

-Okay.

-I'm just going to turn the mixer on low and let it go about 20 seconds.

-I'll stand back.

-Stand back.

Yeah.

-All right.

That smells great, right?

-That smells amazing.

Like a molasses cookie.

-I'm just going to cut this in half.

Work with half of it at a time.

You don't have to be too precious about this.

And then cover that with plastic so it doesn't dry out.

I always like to start when I'm going to roll it into a ball, start with sort of a disc to give myself a nice starting circle so I don't have to turn a square into a circle.

So I'm going to place this between parchment so that I don't have to chill the dough, so.

-Very smart.

-Yes.

Let's see.

Here we go.

And this just allows it to not get too sticky.

I don't have to work with a ton of flour, which will dry the cookie out a little bit.

It's just actually like the parchment is kind of working in the same way bench flour would.

-Okay.

-And I'm going to roll this out into a 12-inch circle.

I'm looking for something about 1/8-inch thick.

I think we're probably close to 12 inches.

-I think you're nailing it.

-Yeah.

Okay, so reveal our beautiful round.

I'm using a 3-inch cookie cutter here.

I'm gonna stamp out eight cookies.

-So they are super soft.

-They are soft.

So you want to use a little care when you're transferring them.

They will bake up and puff a little bit.

So -- And I'm trying to space them about 1/2 inch apart.

They don't puff up a ton in the oven, but they do grow a little bit.

So I don't want them to bake into each other.

-Okay.

-So about 1/2 inch apart.

Last guy.

I am aiming for 12 out of each half, so I'm going to reroll this.

Gather it up.

All right, so I'm going for an 8-inch circle this time.

Okay.

So about an 8-inch circle now.

And I'm just going to stamp out four more.

So I've got my 12 cookies about 1/2 inch apart.

So I'm gonna bake these in a 350-degree oven.

I'll let them go about 10 minutes until the edges are just set, and I'm going to get in there and turn it once halfway through.

Okay.

-And while those bake, I'm going to roll out the rest of these cookies and we'll get 12 more going.

-Lovely.

-Ooh, they smell great.

-They smell so good.

-Yeah, and you can see how they're just a little set around the edges.

-Oh, yeah.

-They smell so good.

-They smell heavenly.

-Let's talk about the filling.

-Yes.

-We're gonna make our own marshmallow.

So it starts pretty simply.

So here I've got 2 teaspoons of gelatin.

I'm going to add this in with 3 tablespoons of water.

So gelatin is going to help it keep its nice texture at the end.

It's going to give us that exact proper set texture.

The 2 teaspoons of gelatin, 3 tablespoons of water, they're just going to sit, hang out for five minutes.

It's gonna get nice and firm.

-Okay.

-So while that sits, we're going to make a sugar syrup.

So here I've got 1/4 cup of corn syrup.

So this is going to keep it really nice and soft.

I'm adding 3 tablespoons of water.

And I'm also going to add 2/3 cup of sugar.

So I'm going to pour this right in the center of the pan and try not to hit the edges.

If you get a little sugar on the edge, it just can make it crystallize.

So we're going to try to avoid that.

And, you know, we've got a nice little moat now of water and corn syrup to protect it.

And then just a little 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

Just gonna enhance the flavor.

-Okay.

-So I'm not actually even gonna stir that.

I'm just going to turn it on medium-high heat.

And I'm gonna let this go until it hits 240 degrees, which will take about five minutes.

I'm not gonna get in there and stir, but I am just going to gently swirl it just to make sure everything's getting nice and evenly dissolved.

-Okay.

-Okay, so it's been five minutes.

Let's check it out.

Oh, it's right there.

Okay, I'm gonna pull this off.

Now, this does require a little finesse.

You want to work relatively quickly.

So I'm going to get this.

Get myself a little landing zone.

-Yes.

-And I'm going to put this on low.

So I'm going to slowly add this in.

I'm going to actually try to avoid hitting that whisk part.

I just don't want it to start splattering all over.

-Right.

-So just a little care and going on a low speed.

All right, now I'm going to crank this.

I'm going to go up to a high speed and let it go 7 minutes.

It is going to transform into something beautiful and pillowy and marshmallowy during that time.

-Gorgeous.

-Okay.

Now you can see how this is transformed.

-Yes.

-And while that was going, I got these cookies all set up for us.

I do have one more thing for this marshmallow.

I have a teaspoon of vanilla and I'm just going to whisk this in.

I'm just gonna do this until it's combined.

Okay.

Yeah, we've got beautiful marshmallow, delightful cookies.

Okay, so I am going to flip about half of these over.

I really like working with this flat side.

It gives you a little more control.

-Yes.

-And yeah, we'll do six at a time.

So I'm just going to flip over half of these.

And then those will be my topper cookies.

So I have a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop.

You could just use a 1-tablespoon measure and just do two of them.

So it does go a little fast at this point.

That gelatin is doing work, so it can set relatively quickly.

I'm going to do one at a time because it does set so fast.

I'm just going to use this back of a spoon to spread it mostly to the edges.

And then I'm going to go in with a top cookie, and I'm going to do a little press and twist motion here.

So I'm going to go in and press down a little bit and just do a little twist until that marshmallow is just peeking out the sides.

-Ohh.

-Or about to.

-How precious.

-I know.

Bridget, can I have you on swirling and smooshing duty?

-Yes.

-Okay, so I'll scoop.

And then will you do the little swirl and smoosh?

-I'm on it.

You're going to load up the next one?

-Yep.

I'm gonna keep loading.

-Oh, yeah.

-So I'm going to go through and I'm going to finish these.

And then I'm going to let them set.

They're going to need to set about 15 minutes.

And in that time, that marshmallow is just going to get nice and firm so that we can work with it.

And we got to get some chocolate on these, so we want it nice and workable.

We of course need chocolate.

-Yes.

-So here I have 9 ounces of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate.

Now, working with chocolate takes a little care.

So I'm going to do something that's almost like a faux tempering.

It's sort of like a quicker temper, an easier way to temper chocolate.

And that'll just give me a really nice snap on these cookies.

It'll give it a really nice sheen to it.

And I'm going to microwave this at 50% power for about anywhere between 2 to 4 minutes.

What I'm really looking for is for about 2/3 of it to be melted.

-Okay.

-Let's check this out and see how we're doing.

All right.

I still got a little ways to go.

Let's see.

Okay.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, I think we're good.

This is about 2/3.

So you can still see some little chunks in here.

That's a good thing.

You want that.

-Okay.

-It shouldn't be fully melted.

We're actually going to add a little bit more chocolate to it.

So here I have 3 ounces of grated chocolate.

So I did this on a rasp-style grater.

And I'm just going to mix this in too with a tablespoon of coconut oil.

So the coconut oil is going to add a nice little sheen.

It's also going to just help it set up really nice and give a little extra insurance.

I'm going to stir this in too.

So I can pop this back in the microwave if I need, but that chocolate is so fine and this bowl is really nice and warm still, so I think the residual heat will melt all this grated chocolate.

Okay, so it's looking pretty smooth.

I think I see just the tiniest little flecks.

I think I can just stir this out.

If I needed to, I could pop it back in the microwave for just about 5 seconds at a time just to get it fully melted.

But honestly, that's pretty smooth.

-That's gorgeous.

-Yeah, I think we're there.

-I think you are there.

-And now dunking time.

So we've got our cookies.

A little technique here.

You do a little edge dunk first.

So you start and you just make sure the edges are nice and coated.

We don't want to miss any of this cookie getting a nice chocolate cloak.

And if you don't do this, you might have a little rogue marshmallow peeking out.

-Cannot have that, Morgan.

-I know, it would be tragic.

I've got the edges nice and covered, and then I'm going to do one side down.

I'm going to take my forks, I have two forks, and I'm going to give it a nice little flip.

Make sure both sides are beautifully covered and enrobed in this chocolate.

The original cookie does have a good chocolate shell on it, but it's pretty thin, so I don't want a ton, ton of chocolate on this.

So I'm gonna scrape off the bottom just by rolling it against the edge of the bowl and then taking an offset spatula.

And again, just a nice little -- nice little swoop on top.

So you get this beautiful... -Veneer of chocolate.

-Veneer of chocolate.

-[ Gasps ] -And then down it goes.

I'm going to continue dunking these.

They need to sit at least 20 minutes.

I'm going to pop them in the fridge so that they can set up quickly.

They need to set at least 20 minutes, but honestly, you can store these at room temperature for up to two days.

So if you wanted to make them in advance, you could.

Okay, Bridget, the moment of truth.

Time to eat some cookies.

-Those are a masterpiece.

-I'm so proud.

I'm so proud of what we've done.

-I'm so proud of what you've done.

-What we've accomplished here today.

-I was just here for support.

-Do you have a preference on which cookie?

-No.

-Okay.

I feel like this one looks worthy of you.

-I think you're right.

-I got us the signature cola for it.

-Yes, RC.

-Yes, exactly.

So there's actually a festival in Tennessee every year devoted to this cola and this cookie.

They crown a king and queen, so I feel like if you want to be the queen of cookies, today is your day.

-This is the full experience.

All right.

-Should we break in?

-Oh, you're breaking, I'm breaking.

-I'm breaking.

Ooh!

-Oh, my gosh.

That is really good marshmallow.

-It is.

It's set really nicely.

-Yeah.

If you used a marshmallow cream, it'd be oozing all over the place.

-Yeah, it'd be a mess.

I'm sure it'd still taste good, but wouldn't taste this good.

-The graham cookie is beautiful.

It's nice and tender.

It's holding together.

It's not snappy and crisp like you might expect.

It's got that really beautiful softness, but that graham flour, it's got that granular feeling to it.

It's gorgeous.

And then the marshmallow -- beautifully held together.

-The cookie is so nice and soft, but it's got that graham flavor going on.

I feel like they're so delicious.

Like, you get -- To me, it's like the best of a s'more, but in a, you know, to-go form.

-These are whimsical.

They're -- They're just lovely.

They're magical little cookies that you put together.

Thank you so much for bringing them to us.

-Oh, my pleasure.

-Well, if you want to make these magical cookies, it starts with stamping out rounds of cookie dough made with graham flour and cinnamon.

Pour hot sugar syrup into gelatin and whip for a fluffy marshmallow filling.

Finally, enrobe the sandwich cookies with quick-tempered chocolate and refrigerate until set.

So from "Cook's Country," the out-of-this-world chocolate marshmallow sandwich cookies.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes.

And those are all on our website, CooksCountry.com/TV.

-Mine's now a half moon.

-Half moon.

To the moon!

-To the moon!

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for the newest season's rigorously tested recipes, full episodes, ingredient advice, and equipment reviews.

CooksCountry.com/tv.

-"The Complete Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook" brings together every recipe, tasting, and test from 18 seasons of the beloved TV show, with trusted equipment recommendations and insights from the entire cast.

This book is your guide to the very best in regional cooking.

The cost is $24.99, $15 off the cover price of $40.

To order, head to our online shop at CooksCountry.com/book.

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills designed with durability in mind, including the Eminence 605, with LED touch panels and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at MonumentGrills.com.

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