In the Test Kitchen

Pancakes can be a canvas for all kinds of flavors and textures. Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey taste their way through three ATK recipes: blueberry pancakes, katayef asafiri, and crepes, to explore what makes a pancake a pancake, and how this humble dish takes on a different character around the world.

Recipes Mentioned:

Blueberry Pancakes

Qatayef Asafiri [kuh-TAH-yef] (Little Birds)

Crepes with Berries and Apricot Beurre Monte

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

South Asian cooks were masterfully blending spices long before the Europeans arrived in India, and when Portuguese traders brought chiles from the Americas in 1498, it permanently changed the trajectory of the country’s dishes, including what we now refer to as curry. Over the next 400 years, curry took on a new form in nearly every culture it touched; in Japan, America, and beyond. Nik, Lan, Bryan, and Lidey discuss the evolution of the dish as it crossed the globe.

Recipes Mentioned:

Butter chicken

Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice with Chicken)

Country Captain

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Store-bought snacks offer satisfaction and convenience. But what happens when you pit quick bites against their homemade counterparts? Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey explore which snacks are worth the bit of extra effort!

Recipes Mentioned:

Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips

Beef jerky

Lime pate de fruit

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Red sauce pastas can be built dozens of ways: rich and meaty, silky and tomato-forward, or deliberately burnt and charred. Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey taste their way through three ATK recipes, ragù alla bolognese, pasta alla vodka, and spaghetti all’assassina, to hash out what actually makes a red sauce irresistible.

Recipes Mentioned:

Ragu alla Bolognese

Pasta alla Vodka

Spaghetti All'Assassina

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dumplings are made across the world and come in different shapes, sizes, forms and flavors. Despite their differences, they somehow sooth and delight in equal measure. The juicy filling of a xiao long bao. The warm center of a pierogi. The chewy exterior of a gnudi. How do dumplings achieve that comfort? Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey investigate.

Recipes Mentioned:

Shanghai Soup Dumplings

Potato Cheddar Pierogi

Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi with Tomato-Butter Sauce

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cast combats the dog days of summer by diving into some of their favorite cold treats while reminiscing about their favorite summer memories. Plus, Nik shares his ideas for a high-end ice cream shop and the cast workshops potential flavors to serve.

Recipes Mentioned:

Ice cream sandwiches

Mango Paletas

Philadelphia-Style Cherry Water Ice

Nik Sharma’s Black Forest Ice Cream

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hotdogs are a reliable and convenient option at cookouts. But adding an extra ingredient or two can really level them up. So, how do you do it at home? Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey break down the components that can elevate the beloved cookout go-to.

Recipes Mentioned:

Chicago-Style Hot Dog

Sonoran Dog

Homemade Corn Dogs

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tacos take all kinds of shapes and forms; crispy shelled tacos, tacos dipped in consommé, there’s even taco ingredients eaten over rice. It’s not just the shapes they take; what kind of meat is used, what ingredients you add to the taco have endless variations. Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey come together to discuss the qualities that make a good taco a great taco.

Recipes Mentioned:

Crispy Tacos (Tacos Dorados)

Quesabirria Tacos

Okinawan Taco Rice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lots of cultures and countries love steak, but it has this almost iconic status in American culture. There are so many different cuts and so many different ways to cook them. Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey dive into three recipes and discuss the cooking techniques that go into making them seamlessly at home.

Recipes Mentioned:

Pan Seared Strip Steak

Shio Koji-Marinated Flank Steak

Slow-Roasted Medium-Rare Short Ribs

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every couple of months at America’s Test Kitchen, an informal poll emerges among test cooks about which starch–bread, pasta, or rice–reigns supreme. It’s always a tight race, but it’s no surprise why rice is often a top contender: it’s a beloved staple across the world. In this episode, Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey eat their way through 3 rice dishes and ask: What makes rice the world’s most popular dish?

Recipes Mentioned:

Hoppin’ John

Simple Fried Rice

Arroz con Pollo

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meatballs span cultures and come in all shapes, sizes, and sauces. Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey try three recipes from around the world and ask: What makes the perfect meatball?

Recipes eaten in episode:

Meatballs and Marinara

Lion’s Head Meatballs

Albóndigas (Spanish-Style Meatballs in Almond Sauce)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people say a sandwich is filling stuffed between two layers of bread. But what about hotdogs, or a loaded pocket of pita bread? Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey get into a heated debate about what exactly defines a sandwich on this week’s episode of In the Test Kitchen.

Recipes Eaten in episode:

Italian Sub

Diner-Style Sheet-Pan Tuna Melts

Ultimate Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Salads often get a bad wrap as the thing you have to eat before the rest of the meal. In today’s episode of In the Test Kitchen: Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey finally give salads their due, and reveal how to make them the star of the show.

Recipes Mentioned:

Ultimate Wedge Salad

Horiatiki Salata

Neorm Sach Moan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making muffins used to be a rite of passage for test cooks and applicants who applied to work at America’s Test Kitchen. So we’ve eaten a lot of them; sweet, savory, and everything in between. In this episode, Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey take on the debate: What is a muffin, and what makes it great?

Recipes and reviews mentioned:

Best Blueberry Muffins

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Sausage-Herb Stuffing Muffin

Achieving generously sized bakery-style muffins

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask 10 people what their favorite kind of pizza is, and you’ll get 10 different answers. This week on In the Test Kitchen: Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey dive into the regional differences, Italian vs. American preferences, and the elements that go into making a great pie.

Recipes Mentioned:

Neapolitan pizza

Thin-Crust Pizza

Detroit-Style Pizza

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you make a good fried chicken recipe at home? Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey say yes as they deconstruct 3 different recipes that represent three different styles of fried chicken. Plus, the quad reveals some fun KFC history, and discuss the difference between crunchy and crispy fried chicken.

Recipes Mentioned: One-Batch Fried Chicken, Super Crunchy Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Chile Fried Chicken

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is your ideal burger? In this episode, Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey debate which burger type–smash, pub, or meatloaf burger–reins supreme. Plus, what are the best burger fixings? Is it better to use high-end meats? Find out on this week’s In the Test Kitchen.

ATK Recipes Mentioned in today's episode: Smashed Burgers, Juicy Pub-Style Burgers with Crispy Shallots and Blue Cheese with Pub-Style Burger Sauce,Meatloaf Burgers

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Test Kitchen is back with new hosts and a new show!

In this premiere episode, hosts Lan Lam, Bryan Roof, Nik Sharma, and Lidey Heuck, dive into all things chocolate chip cookies. They chat about texture, size, and cookie thickness and ask: What makes the best chocolate chip cookie? Along the way, the quad taste tests 3 separate chocolate chip cookie recipes while dissecting the history, science, and nerdy aspects of recipe development.

ATK Recipes Mentioned in today's episode: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies,Levain-Style Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Test Kitchen will be back on Thursday, February 26 with new hosts and a new concept!

Follow Lan Lam, Bryan Roof, Nik Sharma, and Lidey Heuck, as they take you behind the scenes into the meaty, nerdy, and zeitgeist-y conversations that happen at America's Test Kitchen. Each episode revolves around a dish as the quad debate about ingredients, dig into the science, and learn about the history behind the dish. And of course, there are taste tests along the way as the cast dissect what went into the 3 recipes that appear throughout the show.

The first episode of In the Test Kitchen will be on February 26 on Netflix and wherever you find podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some new podcasts from America’s Test Kitchen are on the horizon! Here's a special preview of The Side Dish, hosted by Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison. Off-duty and unfiltered, they swap kitchen hacks, play games, and answer listener questions.

Today’s episode is all about romance, because love (and great food) is always in the air.

Subscribe to The Side Dish on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch The Side Dish on Netflix. Please consider leaving a commend and rating -- it helps other people find the show!

And stay tuned... there’s a big announcement coming next week on the feed.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices