♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "Cook's Country," Christie and Julia make a show-stopping slow-roasted fresh ham.

Adam reveals his top pick for inexpensive stand mixers.

And Bryan makes Bridget a regional specialty -- gooey butter cake bars.

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

-Pigs were not native to the New World.

In fact, they were brought to America in the 16th century.

-And by the end of the 17th century, a typical farmer owned four or five pigs, which supplied food for the table and an income.

That surplus was sold as barreled pork.

-Now, at the end of the 18th century, pioneers took their pigs out West, and they created big pork farms specifically in the Midwest.

-Pigs were first commercially slaughtered in Cincinnati, which became known as Porkopolis.

Then in 1887, refrigerated railroad cars were first introduced.

-And this is what revolutionized pig farming, because meat now could be shipped instead of live hogs.

Now, eventually, the pork industry migrated North, closer to where grain was being grown, and the Corn Belt became the Hog Belt.

-And today we're celebrating one of the best cuts of pork.

So let's head into the kitchen with Christie, who's going to show us how to cook an old-fashioned fresh ham.

♪♪ The hardest part about this recipe is the shopping, because fresh hams aren't usually available outside of the holidays, so we found it best to call the store ahead of time and place an order.

Also, know that there are two cuts of fresh ham.

You have the sirloin, which is up higher on the leg of the pig, more towards the hip, and the shank end, which is on the lower part of the leg.

And we're going to use the shank today.

Christie's going to show us how to do it.

-We are using this big, old shank.

This is 8 to 10 pounds.

-Mm.

-One of the reasons we're using this is because it's just a lot easier to carve.

And when it comes to dealing with a big cut of meat like this, we'll take shortcuts anywhere we can.

We found that in order to get this whole big roast to cook the way we wanted it to without drying out, we got to get rid of the skin.

As we take off the skin, we'll also trim the fat.

We want to leave some on, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

It's going to help insulate the meat.

So, I find that using a boning knife and a chef's knife, I can get into the nooks and crannies a little bit better as I go.

I'm just going to make an incision to sort of open this up.

So, I'm just kind of skimming it off the fat.

And using a good, sharp knife is essential.

I don't want to cut too much into the meat.

I just really want to skim the skin off of the fat.

I'm going to be moving this around as I go, too, 'cause you just want to get the best angle, and that's going to change as you go.

Now, here, you can see I'm coming upon the fat cap, so there's a lot more fat here.

And we do want to leave some of that on.

Now, that looks pretty good.

As I mentioned, we wanted to have about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of fat left on the ham.

And I think this looks great.

Now I can cut my crosshatch, so I'm going to cut down through the fat, but I don't want to cut into the meat.

Cutting a crosshatch into the fat is just going to help the fat render by breaking it up.

And it's also going to give any salt or flavorings a place to penetrate.

So I'll make the crosshatch about 1 inch wide, and we're going to go all the way around the ham.

-But just through the fat.

-Just through the fat.

We don't want to cut through the meat.

Okay, I think we're back to the beginning.

-Looks great.

-The problem is this is a huge roast.

-Mm-hmm.

-Anything we put on the outside will only penetrate so far, right?

So we're going to flip this over, and now I'm going to cut a slit in the bottom part of the ham, so, about 4 inches wide, and I want to go about 2 inches deep.

That's going to give us a little pocket where we can hide some seasonings.

I think that looks about right.

Now, of course, we're going to start with salt.

So, I have 1/3 cup of kosher salt.

I also have 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar.

So we've got a little salt, little sugar.

And we wanted to add some kind of a fresh flavor.

This is a pretty mild-flavored meat.

So this is 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, minced, and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, also minced.

I'll just give this a stir.

Now we're going to take half of that rub, and we're going to put it in our little secret spice cabinet.

Alright.

I think that looks good.

Now I'm going to tie it just to kind of keep all of the muscles together, because as this cooks, it definitely gets even looser than it is now.

We want it to stand at attention, and we want it to stay together so it's easy to move into the oven, out of the oven, onto a rack.

-Makes sense.

-So I'm just going to tie this around the widest part.

You don't have to tie it really tightly.

You just want to give it a little support.

Alright.

Now I'll take the rest of the rub, and we'll put it all over the outside.

Alright.

This is a well-loved ham right now.

I think we've hit every piece and nook and cranny.

Now it's time to wrap this up in some plastic wrap, and we're going to give it time in the refrigerator for that seasoning to do its work, so, at least 12 hours, even better if it's up to 24 hours.

♪♪ Julia, it's been 24 hours, but we're not ready to go in the oven just yet.

This roast is made up of so many different muscles and so much fat that it's really hard for it to cook evenly.

So our solution to that was to use an oven bag.

-Oh, clever.

-So, I'm just going to pull this up over the ham, and it's going to create a nice, moist environment that's going to conduct heat a lot more evenly and efficiently than the dry heat of an oven would.

-Makes sense.

Worth noting that you can't just use any kind of plastic bag here.

You need one designed specifically for the oven called an oven bag, and you can find them at any supermarket right in the same aisle as the plastic wrap and the aluminum foil.

-Now I'm going to put this in my "V" rack So, I don't want it sitting right down on the bottom of the roasting pan.

The "V" rack is elevating it and allowing air to circulate underneath it, and that's also going to help with more even cooking.

-Okay.

-One little thing.

I'm going to cut a little slit.

-Right, 'cause if you didn't, that bag would really blow up and almost be a little ham bomb.

-We don't want a "hamplosion."

[ Both laugh ] About 1/2 inch will do it.

So now we're all ready to go.

The oven rack is set at the bottom position, and it's set to 325 degrees.

-Okay, nice and low.

-We're going to cook this for 3 1/2 to 5 hours.

The long time, the low temperature, and this moist environment are all going to work together to give us rendered fat, break down the connective tissue into gelatin, which is going to keep the meat super tender and moist.

-Sounds good.

-We're looking for a final temperature of 160 degrees.

♪♪ -Ooh, that smells good.

-Mmm.

It's amazing what about 4 1/2 hours in the oven will do.

Ugh.

This smells so good.

-It does.

-Remember, we were talking about getting a temperature of 160 degrees, so I want to go in close to the bone but not touching the bone.

Alright, so I'm going to go over on this side where it's nice and thick, and we got 161.

-Nicely done.

-So that looks good.

Now we have to leave it here.

This ham thrives on neglect, so we're going to let it sit here for an hour.

So it's going to carry over cook.

So see you in an hour.

♪♪ Julia, the best part of any ham, as far as I'm concerned, is the glaze.

-Ooh, yeah, 'cause it gets all sticky on that nice, roasted fat cap.

-Yeah, so we are not going to forego the glaze on this ham.

I have 2 tablespoons of molasses, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.

-Mmm.

-I'm also adding 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

Give us a little tang, balance out the sweet.

and then just a little bit of heat with some pepper.

This is 1 teaspoon.

I'll just whisk this together.

I don't think a glaze could get much easier.

Now it is time to free our pork from its oven-bag prison.

-[ Laughs ] -Now we can finally cut it open.

-Well, look how much the meat has shrunk and those bones really have exposed.

-Mm-hmm.

Looks very different.

And I'm just going to use my tongs to kind of get this out.

Now, be careful, because all that ham juice is still in the bag.

They're going to be part of our sauce.

So, I'll take my glaze, and I'm only going to brush half of it on the ham right now.

All over the place.

And it's a pretty loose glaze, so it goes on really easily.

Julia, I've turned up the heat of the oven to 450, and we'll put it in the oven for 10 minutes.

Then I'll take it out and put the rest of the glaze on it, pop it back in for another 10 minutes, so 20 minutes total.

♪♪ Ohh.

-Goodness, Christie.

-Wow.

-That is a looker.

-It really is.

[ Chuckles ] Now, that's a ham.

-That, my friend, is a ham.

-[ Laughs ] Well, first, we got to move this baby.

I think the easiest way is to use that bone as a handle.

-Oh.

-So I'm going to use my towel so that I don't burn myself.

-Good idea.

-Get a grip on the bone, and I'm going to use my carving fork to kind of get a grip on the other side.

Okay.

Now we do need to let this sit for about 20 minutes to let all of those juices go where they're supposed to so they're not out on the carving board.

In the meantime, remember, I told you that all of those juices are going to make up the sauce.

But there's a good amount of fat in there, and we want to separate that.

So I have my fat separator all ready to go.

And in the amount of time it takes for the pork to rest, the sauce will separate, and we'll be ready to carve it and plate it up.

♪♪ It's slicing time.

-Alright.

-[ Chuckles ] But as much as I know you were excited to eat the piece of twine... -[ Chuckles ] -...I'm going to remove it.

We're going to cut this about 1/4 inch thick and just starting with the end and that delicious fat cap.

Oh.

-Goodness.

-This smells so delicious.

Look how moist and juicy that is.

-Mmm.

-And there's our spice pocket, our hidden treasure trove of flavor.

Look at that.

I think we can probably start plating this.

-Ohh.

Those little bits.

Mmm.

-Don't forget.

-Right!

-We have those juices that we separated the fat from, and we're just going to add some of that.

Look at that.

-Ooh.

Just a little moisten.

-Yes.

-You added nothing else to those juices.

You just defatted them and put them in this gravy boat.

-Mm-hmm, just the great flavors from the pork itself and the glaze.

-Oh, goodness.

That is like the best little bite of something bacony I've ever had.

-And the rosemary and the thyme are so nice with the milder flavor of the pork.

And that sweetness in there just works with the herbs.

It's totally a ham, but it's just not at all what you're expecting.

But it's even better.

-It's better.

-Mm-hmm.

-Christie, this is delicious.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-So, if you want to make this impressive fresh ham, start by removing the skin.

Then cut a crosshatch pattern into the fat.

Tie the base, rub with an herbed brown sugar and salt mixture, place the ham in an oven bag, and roast in a low oven for several hours.

Let the ham rest on the counter.

Then, before serving, brush with a maple molasses glaze and finish in a hot oven.

From "Cook's Country," an amazing recipe for slow-roasted fresh ham.

This is really killer.

-Mm-hmm.

♪♪ -A high-end stand mixer can cost well over $500.

So today, Adam's going to show us some less expensive options.

-You are already in luck, Julia.

We have a recommendation for a best buy stand mixer.

It's this white one here.

It's the KitchenAid Classic Plus series.

But it's got competition on the market.

We decided to test them out and see if anything could outdo the KitchenAid.

We have seven different models here.

We set a price cap of about $210.

So some of them were a lot less expensive.

None were more expensive.

And we focused the testing on three key areas -- whipping, creaming, and kneading.

-The basics of baking.

-The basics of baking, and the basics of any stand mixer.

We used the whisk, the paddle, and the dough hook attachments in a series of tests.

Now, the whipping test, which was 1 cup of heavy cream or two egg whites, and the creaming test, which was to cream butter and sugar together for cookie dough, as well as flour and butter together, reverse creaming, for a cake batter -- Those revealed some important design considerations.

The testers observed that some of these were more efficient at whipping those two egg whites than others.

And I'll tell you why.

What they observed is that the whisk attachment didn't reach down far enough into the egg whites... -I hate it when that happens.

-...to do a good job.

Now, some of them actually did do a good job.

So that led them to measure the distance between the tip of the whisk and the bottom of the bowl.

And they found a pretty wide variation.

It ranged from 2 1/2 millimeters to 10 millimeters.

-Oh, that can make a difference.

-And of course, those that had the smaller tolerance were much more efficient at whipping the egg whites.

They also noticed the paddle, in relationship to the sides of the bowl, if the paddle was too far away from the sides, the mixers were less efficient in terms of creaming.

-Makes sense.

-Now, there were also kneading tests.

Those were 10 minutes of kneading very heavy bagel dough and very sticky ciabatta dough.

And that spoke to the machine's strength, the potential durability, and the stability.

Two of these machines, these guys here, actually began to smell like they were burning.

-Oh, that's not a good sign.

[ Both chuckle ] -Not a good sign.

Kind of a bad sign for potential durability.

And some of them took so long to incorporate the ingredients into a dough, that it ended up kneading it for less than the recipe specified.

Testers also found that some of these wobbled on the work surface, whereas some of them stayed nice and planted.

And that related to the weight of the mixer, which ranged from a high of almost 22 pounds -- That's this guy here at 21.8 pounds -- to a low of about 6 pounds.

That's this guy here.

-Oh, so it would kind of wobble towards the edge of the counter when you're kneading a heavy dough.

-Not what you want to have happen.

-And this has a handy lid, I noticed.

-Well, that's called a splash guard.

A couple of them had them, and testers did not like them, especially this one, which has to be in place for the mixer to operate.

-Ooh.

-And this one, number one, it's tinted blue, so it sort of obscured the view into the bowl.

-It's like sunglasses.

-Yeah.

And then, this opening is tiny, so you end up splashing your dry ingredients around anyway.

When all was said and done, none of these other mixers could outperform Old Faithful, our KitchenAid best buy, and it remains our recommendation for an inexpensive stand mixer.

This is the KitchenAid Classic Plus series 4 1/2 quart tilt-head stand mixer.

It's about $210, and it's great.

It whips.

It creams.

It kneads.

It's all efficient.

It's heavy and stable.

-Also comes in a rainbow of colors, which I like.

-I should have known you would pick that up.

-So there you have it.

The winner of our inexpensive stand mixer testing is the KitchenAid Classic Plus series 4 1/2 quart tilt-head stand mixer, about $210.

♪♪ -Gooey butter cake is a St. Louis specialty.

It can be found in bakeries all over the city.

Now, the cake, it's a cake layer at the very bottom, sometimes yeasted.

On top of that is the goo -- pudding, creamy filling.

It's gorgeous, but it's hard to carry around in your hand.

Enter Bryan, who's going to tell us all about a bar version that you tried.

-That's right.

I had to try this for myself, so I went to St. Louis, and I ended up at a place called Russell's on Macklind, where they do a bar cookie version of it.

It's got a buttery shortbread crust, a nice layer of goo right in the middle, and a crisp, meringue-like topping.

-A little different, but I can't wait to try it.

-Yeah.

Why don't we start with the shortbread crust?

-Sounds good.

-I have 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, and to that, I'm going to add 3/4 cup of confectioners' sugar and 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and we're just going to mix that together.

So to that, we're going to add 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and we're just going to mix that until all the flour's moistened.

Okay.

Now we can just dump that right into our 13x9-inch baking pan.

I've lined this pan with a foil sling and greased it with vegetable oil spray.

-Okay, yeah.

-So, we'll just push this into an even layer and gently pack it down.

And once the crust is in a nice, even layer, I'll use a dry measuring cup to kind of force it down a little bit tighter.

So then we're just going to dock it with a fork about 20 times.

This will just keep it from puffing up in the oven.

Okay, so, we'll just throw this into a 350-degree oven on the upper middle rack and let it go for about 20 minutes until it's light golden brown and very fragrant.

After that, we'll let it cool on a wire rack until it comes to room temperature, which takes about 30 minutes.

Alright, we're ready to make the goo layer.

-The goo.

-Yes.

So, we have 8 ounces of cream cheese and 4 ounces or one stick of butter.

Make sure that the butter in the cream cheese are room temperature and soft.

-Okay.

-So, we're going to start this off on low speed.

And while it's mixing, we're going to add 1 pound of confectioners' sugar a little bit at the time and let it go until the sugar is all moistened.

-Okay.

-Okay, all the sugar is moistened.

I just want to scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

So, we're going to let this go now on medium-high speed for about two minutes so we can whip air into it.

Adding air to this batter is going to give it a nice, little lift in the oven and create that crispy meringue topping that we want.

-Okay, great.

-Alright, Bridget, you can see that we've whipped a fair amount of air into this.

-That's gorgeous.

[ Laughs ] -And again, I want to go ahead and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle to make sure everything is getting mixed in.

Then we're going to return the mixer to low speed.

And while it's mixing, we're going to add two whole eggs and two egg yolks.

And you want to add the eggs one at a time and make sure each is incorporated before adding the next.

-Okay.

-In addition to that, we're going to add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of table salt.

-Alright.

-Okay, so, the eggs and yolks and vanilla and salt are all fully incorporated.

I just want to scrape down the bowl one more time.

90% of the recipe is scraping down the bowl, so... -But it does look very custardy.

-Right.

-Like a pudding.

-So, again, we're going to turn this thing to medium-high and let it go for two minutes to whip more air into it.

-Okay.

-Okay.

Okay.

You can see that we've incorporated even more air into it.

-It looks like ice cream.

-It looks like frosting, doesn't it?

-Mm-hmm.

-And now we're ready to add our filling to our fully cooled crust.

-Wow.

-Can smell that vanilla, right?

-[ Sniffs ] I smell the vanilla.

[ Chuckles ] -I'm going to switch to an offset spatula... -Okay.

-...which will help me get it into the corners a little bit easier.

And then we're just going to smooth out the top a little bit.

-Alright.

I keep saying "wow" 'cause I really can't believe it.

-We're just going to knock it on the counter a couple times to get any air bubbles out.

And then we're ready to bake it off.

-Okay.

-We're going to go back into the 350-degree oven, still on the upper middle rack.

We're going to let this go for about 30 minutes until it's golden-brown on top and the center is still a little bit jiggly, but the edges have set.

-Sounds good.

♪♪ Oh.

[ Chuckling ] Oh, yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

-Looks nice, doesn't it?

-It's so puffy.

-Right, souffléd, like we said it would.

-Mm-hmm.

-Or promised that it would -I have to touch.

Oh!

-It's nice and crispy on top.

-It is.

It's like a meringue.

-So, we'll let it sit for about three hours until it comes down to room temperature, and it'll fall a little bit during that time.

But once it's cool, we'll pull it out, cut it, and eat.

♪♪ Alright, it's been three hours.

We're ready to remove the gooey butter cake bars from the pan.

-It has sunk a wee bit.

-Yes, a little bit.

And lift very nicely out of the pan thanks to the foil sling.

And then, just to remove the foil from the bottom of the bars, I like to slide an offset spatula just between the foil and the bar.

-That's why it was so important to spray it with vegetable oil spray.

-Yes, yes.

Absolutely.

There's a ton of sugar in here.

I don't know if you noticed.

-[ Laughs ] No.

-And then, you want to pull away the foil?

-You got it.

Yes.

-1, 2, 3, go!

-[ Grunts ] There we go.

-So, we're going to cut this into 12 pieces, so that'll be once down the middle.

-[ Whistles ] 12 pieces.

-[ Chuckles ] Six for you.

-Look at that gorgeous crust.

I love that crack.

It's like -- It's like ice.

We're going to fall through into gooey butter cake.

-[ Chuckles ] -Nice.

-Okay.

Then, what does this cake need?

A little bit of powdered sugar on top.

We bought a 2-pound bag.

We might as well use it, you know?

We'll just give it a couple of taps here.

-Well, that is traditional for gooey butter cake, though.

-Who are we to break tradition, right?

-No, don't want to break tradition.

-Okay.

You interested in a piece?

-[ Chuckles ] Yeah.

-Alright.

-Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

-Alright.

Oh, I want to fall into this gooey butter cake.

-Oh, look at this.

Nice and sweet.

-This cake is sweet, on purpose.

-Mmm.

-It's like cake and a little bit like candy with that meringue on top.

Oh, pure vanilla.

I like that you used cream cheese, too, because cream cheese has some salt in it... -Yeah.

-...and also a little bit tangy, so it's going to offset some of the sweetness.

Oh, my gosh.

The crust is beautiful, that crisp bottom, that crust, beautiful and buttery, little toffee.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then, I love that cream cheese in the center.

-Yeah, so do I.

-And anything that produces a meringue topping is perfect.

-Yeah, I'm all in.

-Thank you, Bryan.

Well, our take on a gooey butter cake, it starts with a crust.

Press into a baking pan and bake until browned.

Make a filling, beat it all till fluffy, spread into the crust, and bake.

Let cool, slice into bars, and serve.

From "Cook's Country," St. Louis gooey butter cake bars.

Whew!

Maybe only eat two or three pieces.