♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Bridget makes Julia a show-stopping crusted boneless leg of lamb, Adam reviews traditional 12-inch skillets, and Erin makes Bridget the perfect lemon, olive oil tart.

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

♪♪ -If you're like me, you only make a leg of lamb once a year or maybe every other year.

But every time, I use this one recipe because it's foolproof, it goes with everything, and it's holiday-worthy.

And I remember, Bridget, when you developed this recipe, what, 15, 20 years ago?

-Yeah, I'd just gotten my driver's license, and I was hanging out at the mall, and I thought, "I could really use some lamb."

-[ Laughs ] -No, it's been a while.

-Yeah, but this recipe has stood the test of time, for sure.

-I wanted to get people to eat more lamb.

-That's right.

-People don't eat enough lamb.

And the one lamb dish that they do like to eat often is rack of lamb with that crumb coating on the exterior.

So this is kind of an ode to the rack with a lot more lamb inside.

We are going to coat this with a crumb coating, very easy to make.

And this just dresses it up a little bit.

So, I've got here a piece of a sandwich bread -- Just one, that's all we need.

I'll tear it into small pieces.

And we're using fresh breadcrumbs just because they're nice and fluffy even after they're baked later on.

We're just looking for breadcrumbs here, not too fine.

We want them to be a little coarse, so around 10 pulses should do it.

Alright.

So that looks good, not too broken down.

I'm going to transfer this back into that bowl that we had earlier.

Alright, we want lots of herbs in this.

This is 1/4 cup of finely chopped, fresh parsley, and 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, which sounds like a lot, but it really isn't.

-And rosemary and lamb is such a classic combination.

-Exactly.

This is 2 tablespoons of finely chopped thyme, 3 peeled garlic cloves, and a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil.

You're going to see a lot of this ingredient all throughout.

Alright, so the lid goes back on, and I'm going to let this process for about a minute until it's really broken down and finely chopped.

That's looking pretty darn good.

Now I want 1 1/2 tablespoon, and we're going to use that to season the interior of the lamb, and then the rest of this is going in with those breadcrumbs.

Now before I mix this together, I have a couple more additions.

This is an ounce, or 1/2 cup, of grated Parmesan cheese.

-Mm-hmm.

-Good seasoning, great flavor, and also it's going to help the crust become cohesive, and I've got a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

-Well, and this crumb coating, I have to say, I use on a lot of different meats because it's really versatile and tastes good on everything.

-Alright.

So that looks good.

Enough of that.

Let's move over to the star of the show.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's the lamb.

-This is going to serve about six to eight, so we like to use the half, boneless leg of lamb.

It's around 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, and there's a reason that it's in this elasticated netting.

It's because in order to make a boneless leg of lamb, they had to take out the bone, and that is a messy job if you've ever tried doing it yourself.

That's a lot of different muscles attached to that bone.

Now that is not bad at all.

-That's beautifully done.

-Now before we do anything here, I do want to start to trim away any excess fat.

Lamb fat is one of the reasons that lamb tastes gamy to a lot of people.

It has a very low smoke-point, so it'll start to smoke before something like pork or beef fat would.

Get a little bit of that fat off of the exterior on the top side, as well.

We do want to leave a little bit of the fat on the outside, though.

So you can see, I'm just really leaving on this thin veneer of fat.

And I think that's all I really want to take off at this point.

-Looks good.

-This was the exterior of the lamb.

I'm going to put it with the interior side up.

Now we want this to cook evenly, and we want it to roll up easily.

We're going to try to even this out.

I've got a piece of plastic wrap.

It goes right on here.

And I've got a meat pounder here.

Sometimes at home, I'll use a rubber mallet for this job... -Mm-hmm.

-...or a rolling pin.

So I'm gonna pound this lamb to about an even thickness, around 3/4 inch.

But I do want to season the meat directly, so I've got 2 teaspoons more of the extra virgin olive oil right all over everything.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.

And 1 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

Alright, let's just even that out a little bit.

Alright, so now let's bring up that herb paste.

Again, that was 1 1/2 tablespoon of that.

I'm going to spread it out pretty evenly.

I do want to keep a little bit of a border.

About 1 inch away from the edge is a good goal to aim for.

So we're going to roll this up and tuck any pieces under, and then just start to roll this way up, too.

The fat is all exposed... -Oh.

-...like that.

Alright, now we're going to tie it.

I've got six pieces of twine.

We're going to space them about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Don't want to squeeze it too tight but enough to be secure.

The idea is that we're training it to stay in a compact form.

So I want to cut off any excess twine here, just leave a little bit.

Now you can actually let this sit in the fridge for a few hours, but we're going to cook it right away.

But I do want to do some last-minute seasoning.

So I've got another 1 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, roll it over, and another 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper -- same thing, all over -- and then finally a tablespoon more of the extra virgin olive oil.

Coat it all over.

I'm going to do a quick cleanup, and then we'll move on.

Alright, so we are going to cook this.

We're going to get a little bit of color on the roast itself before we add the crust.

And we're gonna use the skillet to do that.

So I have 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in this 12-inch skillet, heating it over medium-high heat until it just starts to smoke.

I'm going to brown it on all sides.

Squish it into the pan, there.

It's about 2 minutes per side, 10 minutes total.

-That's a beautiful piece of lamb, Bridget.

-Alright, so I'm going to turn this on its side.

You just want to get a little color on both ends, just about 30 seconds per side.

Alright, so now moving this over to a rack over a rimmed baking sheet, and we're going to put this into a 375-degree oven, and that is lower than a lot of leg of lamb.

Sometimes you put leg of lamb into a 400, 450-degree oven, and what that causes is, any fat to start to render, and it hits the pan, and it smokes in the oven.

We engineered this to get people to eat lamb, so no gaminess.

So 375 for about 30 minutes, and we're looking for an internal temperature between 105 to 110.

Alright.

Now I think we're ready to put on our breadcrumb coating, but I do want to take a temp.

108.

-Nicely done.

-Alright.

Now I do want to get it off of this rack.

That rack and the sheet pan are pretty hot, so we move over to our carving board here, and now I'm going to gently release -- Release the hounds.

I'm going to release the twine, just cut it, because the basic structure here is set.

Alright.

I'm being gentle.

I'm trying not to disturb the structure here too much.

It can start to unravel a little bit.

And the great thing about crumb coating -- it's kind of like buttercream on a cake.

It hides all sins.

In order to get this crumb coating to stick, we need a glue.

We're going with Dijon mustard... -Yep.

-...as they do with a rack of lamb, so this is a tablespoon of Dijon.

You don't need to be too neat about it, or you don't need to be neat at all, but I am going to move this closer because I want to start to pack these crumbs on the outside, and really, I want to get into all the sides and use my hands to really adhere it.

This is such a forgiving recipe, too.

If the meat starts to unravel a little bit, hey, that's just a space for more crumbs.

-That's it.

-Alright.

How's that looking?

-Looks pretty good.

-Is it messy enough for you?

-Yes.

-So this is going to go back onto our rack.

This is going to go back into that 375 oven, and this time, it only needs to be in there for about 10, 15 minutes.

We're going to get that top nice and brown and the breadcrumbs all crispy.

-Oh, gorgeous.

-Mmm.

Well, thanks.

Oh, you mean the lamb.

Got it, okay.

I always fall for that.

We're looking for 125 now.

There we go, so we're hitting right around 128, and that is perfect because we want medium-rare.

Now transfer this up to... -Nice and gentle.

-Nice and gentle -- a carving board, and we're going to let this rest before we cut into it.

Alright, 20 minutes, the lamb has rested.

Well, this is the best part -- the serving.

No bone, beautiful crumbs on top.

-Gorgeous color of the meat.

-Oh, yeah.

So we're cutting it into about 1/2-inch slices.

You don't want to go too thin here.

You want to make sure people get a good amount of crumbs.

-Mmm.

-Just that little bit of herb, right, going through the center.

-As with any long, narrow piece of meat, when you roast it, the ends are slightly more done than the middle, which is perfect for a crowd, because some people like a little more done, and some people like it a little rare.

Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.

-Look at how tender that is.

-Mm-hmm.

-The lamb is so perfectly cooked, and I love the breadcrumbs.

And that little bit of rosemary -- not overpowering.

-And, you know, that more moderate oven, too, there's not that funky gaminess that a lot of people associate with leg of lamb... -Right.

-...because there wasn't all the smoke coming out of the oven.

-Yeah, oh, and right in the middle where you get that herb paste.

-Mm-hmm, that's the payoff.

-Mm-hmm.

Oh, Bridget, I love this recipe.

Thank you.

-You bet.

-So there you have it.

If you want to make this time-tested recipe for boneless leg of lamb, buy a boneless half-leg, and after trimming and pounding the roast, rub the inside with a paste made of fresh herbs, then tie it back up into a tidy package.

Sear it quickly on the stove top, then roast for 1/2 hour before removing the ties and adding the crumbs.

Roast for 10 to 15 minutes longer, and be sure to let rest before serving.

From "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, the ultimate recipe for roast boneless leg of lamb.

Seriously, it's the only recipe you need for lamb.

♪♪ -It's hard to beat the functionality of a 12-inch skillet.

They're like the secret weapon of chefs.

And the secret weapon of the test kitchen is here.

Adam is going to tell us all about traditional 12-inch skillets.

-You know, 12-inch stainless-steel skillets -- essential kitchen equipment.

-Yes.

-Stainless steel is great because it develops a really nice fond for good browning.

It doesn't react with acidic foods.

It's oven-safe, so it can go in and out of the oven.

So our favorite from All-Clad is fully clad, and that means there are different layers of metal that are bonded together.

The center is aluminum, which conducts heat really well.

-Very conductive.

-The inside and the outside are stainless steel, which conduct heat a little more slowly.

But together, they make a pan that cooks really moderately, conducts heat evenly.

And it's three layers of metal, this pan.

-Okay.

-What we've seen in the marketplace is there are more and more models out there with more and more layers of metal.

-Is more better?

-"Is more better?"

is the central question here.

You hit the nail on the head, so we have this lineup of seven pans.

Some of them have three layers.

Some of them have five layers.

-Hmm.

-None of them have, like, a disc bottom or an encapsulated base, which is when just the bottom has an extra layer of metal and not the side walls.

-Got you.

-So these are all fully clad.

The price range is about $100 to $400, which is a lot of money for a skillet.

-Sure is.

-And there was a gauntlet of cooking tests that these things went through.

They sauteed diced onions.

They seared strip steaks and then built a pan sauce out of the fond.

-Hmm.

-They pan-roasted green beans and asparagus.

They cooked chicken parts that started on the stove top and then went into a really hot oven, because as I said, these are oven-safe, and then they built a pan sauce out of those drippings, as well.

All of these things got washed both in the dishwasher and by hand a number of times, and there was some abuse testing, which we love to do here in the test kitchen.

-Oh, yes.

-Some thermal shocks -- So the pans were heated up to 500 degrees and then plunged into a big bucket of ice water to see whether they warped or came apart, and also they were struck against a concrete block three times, just to simulate a lot of use.

You know, I'm actually going to cut to the chase here.

In our tests, more layers did not necessarily mean better performance.

Some of the testers noticed that a few of the pans with extra layers cooked a little bit more slowly and moderately than the ones with fewer layers.

But they didn't feel like that was a huge difference in terms of the performance.

There were other design factors that mattered more to them.

I want you to lift up, say, this one.

-Alright.

Oh, well, I see why they have the handle here.

This is really heavy.

-That one is 4 1/4 pounds, and that's empty.

Once you get, you know, a couple of pounds of chicken parts in there, and you're pulling it out of a ripping hot oven... -Right?

-Exactly.

Whereas our favorite -- try this one.

-Yeah, it's nice and balanced, too.

-2.8 pounds.

-It's still sturdy.

It's still, you know, a little meaty, but it's not overly heavy.

-Absolutely, and testers really favored that for the balance, the maneuverability -- both empty and full.

The handle was important, obviously, when these things get really hot.

Testers wanted a handle with a little bit of angle to it and sort of a moderate breadth.

If the handles were too thick or too thin -- why don't you try that one?

That's pretty thick.

-Yeah, and I have small hands, so this is not ideal.

-Yeah, if they were really thick, they created some hand strain.

Also, that one is supersmooth.

-It's very s-- -So when it got a little greasy, it tended to rotate in the testers' hands.

You definitely don't want that.

-Bacon grease in there, no, no, no.

-Big problem.

So, you know, in the end, our old favorite is still our favorite.

-Really?

-Yeah.

This is the All-Clad 12-inch fry pan with lid.

It's totally solid.

It was about $120, so it was one of the less expensive pans in our lineup, and it retains its reign.

-Love it.

It still reigns supreme.

It's the All-Clad D3 stainless-steel 12-inch fry pan, and it retails for about $120.

♪♪ A few seasons ago, we showed you our olive oil cake, and it was a huge hit.

And one of the best parts was the combination of olive oil and lemon flavor.

The olive oil really highlighted that lemon from the little zest that we added to the mix.

Now here to present more of that olive oil-lemon combo is a tart -- and Erin.

No, you're not the tart.

The dessert is the tart.

-Thanks for clarifying.

[ Both laugh ] Yeah, we're going to make a lemon olive oil tart because the lemon and olive oil go so well together, but you can't just swap in olive oil for butter.

-Right.

-And I'm going to show you why.

-Okay.

-So we're going to start with our crust.

We are going to start 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and add 5 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.

-Okay.

-Anytime you bake, you always want to add a little bit of salt.

That really brings out all the flavors of the other ingredients.

I'm just going to whisk this together until it's combined.

Now it's time for the fat.

We're going to use 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, and you really want to use a high-quality olive oil -- really fruity in flavor and a little grassy.

So early on in the testing, I tried this one recipe that called for 10 tablespoons of butter, and it yielded a beautiful crust, so I used that recipe, and I swapped in 10 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and what I wound up with was dough that was really greasy.

And when I actually baked it, it had no structure whatsoever.

-Okay.

-So after thinking about it a little bit more, I realized butter is not 100% fat like olive oil is.

-Right.

-Butter is 80% fat and 20% water, and that water is actually really important here.

That water is going to mix with the flour and create just enough gluten to give our crust structure, and so I actually dialed back, and I'm going to use 8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of water.

and this water, again, is really important because it's going to add just enough structure to our crust.

and this is the easiest crust you are ever going to make in your life, and I can already smell the olive oil.

Can you smell it?

-I can.

Absolutely.

-Alright.

Yeah.

-Don't forget.

Olives are a fruit.

-Mm-hmm.

-So putting it in a desert is not that crazy.

-Okay, so we have our dough, and I'm basically just going to visually kind of divide this into quarters.

So now I'm just going to crumble 3/4 of the dough into our tart pan.

What we're doing here is, we're going to make a pat-in-the-pan crust.

There's no rolling involved.

There's no chilling of the dough.

You just make the dough.

You put it in the pan, and press it in -- Super simple.

Anytime I make a pat-in-the-pan crust, after you kind of get it in place, you can use the flat side of a measuring cup or a glass.

I like to be one with my dough, and I like to feel it and make sure that it's all very even, and no better way of doing that than just kind of feeling it with your fingers.

That is looking pretty darn good to me.

And now I'm going to take the remaining quarter.

I'm just going to sprinkle this.

I'm going to break it up, and scatter it around the edge of the pan.

And I'm just gonna push them into the sides of the pan, so I'm pressing in, and I'm pushing up.

My thumb stops it at the top.

It makes a nice, clean edge, and my finger is really kind of making sure that it's not too thick.

Alright, so now I'm just going to go over it one last time and make it all even.

-Beautiful.

-We're going to put it on a rimmed baking sheet, and we're going to bake it at 350 degrees on the middle rack for about 30 to 35 minutes.

I'm going to rotate it halfway through, so it bakes evenly, and we're going to bake it until it's deep golden-brown and firm to the touch.

Okay, Bridget, so our crust has 5 more minutes in the oven, so that means that it's time to make the filling.

-Alright.

-Alright.

Okay, so we are making a lemon curd, and we wanted it really nice bright and balanced -- sweet and tart at the same time.

Not too tart, not too sweet, we want it perfectly balanced.

-Not lemonade.

-Exactly.

So we're going to add 1 cup of sugar.

This is our sweet.

And we're gonna add 2 tablespoons of flour.

The flour is going to help to temper the acidity of the lemon juice.

-Mm-hmm.

-And it prevents curdling.

-Got you.

It interrupts that process.

-It does, yes.

And we're going to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Again, you want a little bit of salt.

So now I'm just going to whisk these together, and we're going to move on to our eggs.

So I started this recipe off using six eggs, six whole eggs, and it gave us a beautiful curd, and it was just, like, the best consistency.

but it had a very eggy flavor.

The sulfur compounds are found in the egg whites, and so we're just going to use three whole eggs and three egg yolks.

And that flour that I added, it's really kind of supplementing the structure that we're losing by losing those three egg whites.

-I got you.

-Okay, now I'm just going to whisk this all together.

I'm going to get into the corners, and I want it to be fully incorporated.

Alright.

So often lemon tarts just have lemon juice.

We wanted a complex lemon flavor, and so we're actually going to a tablespoon of lemon zest, and we're also going to add 1/2 cup of a lemon juice.

This is actually something that we had to dial back because when you make a curd with butter, that butter really kind of tempers the lemon flavor, and I like acid, but this was really acidic.

Now we're just going to whisk this until it's combined.

And we'll get this over medium-low heat for about 5 to 8 minutes until it is starting to thicken and also until it reaches 160 degrees.

-So we knew from the very beginning that we wanted to make our lemon tart with olive oil, but what really surprised us is that when we used the olive oil, we could use less lemon juice and zest and yet still get more lemon flavor, and here is why that works.

The perception of lemon flavor happens when the lemon's acidity hits your tongue, while, at the same time, the lemon's aromatic compounds rise into your nasal cavity.

The brain then combines these two sensations into a single perception of lemon flavor.

Butter and olive oil affect this process differently, and it's the proteins in the butter that play a big part.

If we look inside a tart made with butter, we can see that the protein binds with the acid and traps the aroma compounds.

So when you eat that tart, you can't taste as much of the acidity, and fewer aromatic flavor compounds rise into your nasal cavity.

This mutes the perception of lemon flavor.

Olive oil on the other hand, doesn't contain protein, so more of the acid and aromatic compounds are available to provide flavor.

And that's why olive oil allows lemon flavor to shine through better than butter.

Here you go, mmm.

-That looks beautiful.

Thank you, Bridget.

-I'm going to put a little towel here, just to remind you that it's hot.

-To remind me.

Thank you.

Very smart tip.

Okay, so I have been whisking constantly for the last about 7 or 8 minutes.

We're going to cook this to 160 degrees, and there we are.

-Yeah, you don't want to go much more than that because you're going to end up with lemon scrambled eggs.

-We don't want that.

-No.

-We've come this far.

Okay, so let's get this off heat, and now we're gonna add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil.

-Ooh.

-Again, it's very high-quality, and I'm just going to whisk this in.

Again, ah, it smells so good.

-Mmm.

-Now I'm going to strain this.

I'm basically straining it to remove the zest... -Okay.

-...that was in here.

A fine-mesh strainer will capture every little bit of zest.

We'll get every last bit.

So now, like, the key to this recipe is having a hot crust and a hot curd, both of which are already cooked.

So now we're going to put this back in the oven for about 8 to 12 minutes, until the center is just set and jiggles just slightly.

-Alright.

Let's take a look.

-Alright.

Ready, look, see that jiggle... -Oh, a little jiggle.

-...in the center?

Yeah.

-Yes.

-It is ready.

-It's good?

-Yep.

-Alright.

Mmm.

-So we're going to let this cool for about 2 hours.

-Okay.

-Bridget, it is that time.

-It's cooled 2 hours.

-Isn't it beautiful?

-It's like sunshine.

It might be the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

-It just makes me happy.

-It does.

-Okay, so now we're going to remove it from the tart pan.

Release it from the bottom, I'm just sliding a thin metal spatula, just going around and around.

Alright, now I like to get really clean slices.

We've come this far.

I just want to make sure.

So I'm just going to wipe my knife in between slicing.

So now I'm just going to cut some wedges.

Look how beautifully that sliced.

-That is stunning.

-Isn't that heaven?

-It slices like buttah.

-It does.

-[ Chuckles ] -Alright.

Wow.

Beautiful, isn't it?

-This is gorgeous because it's just pure lemon.

-It's so fresh and so bright.

-It really is fresh.

-Yeah.

-You're right.

-And it's not too sweet.

I feel like there's often lemon bars or lemon tarts can be way too sweet.

And that subtle flavor of the olive oil?

I don't miss the butter.

-I don't miss the butter either, and this is me you're talking to.

And look how beautifully it sliced.

-Beautiful.

And how easy was that to make?

Was that not the easiest tart you've ever made?

-Yeah, the hardest part was the 2 hours of waiting time.

-I know.

-Well, to make this lemon tart, it starts with an olive oil press-in-the-pan crust that's baked until brown.

For the filling, whisk eggs and yolks into a sugar-and-flour mixture, and then add lemon juice and zest.

Cook until thickened, whisk in the olive oil.

strain, then pour into a hot shell.

Bake until set.

Cool, slice and serve.

So from "America's Test Kitchen" to your kitchen, the easiest, simplest and sunshiniest lemon olive oil tart.

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

That's americastestkitchen.com.

Alright, So what's up with the olive oil-lemon combo next?

-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.

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