>> from the editors of cooks illustrated magazine, it's america's test kitchen with your host christopher kimball, featuring test kitchen chefs julia collin-davon, bridget lancaster, becky hays, with adam ried in the equipment corner and jack bishop in the tasting lab. discover the secrets of america's foremost food testers and tasters today on america's test kitchen. today, on america's test kitchen, we're making crispy breaded pork chops and applesauce. first, julia shows chris the keys to achieving juicy, flavorful chops with a crisp, substantial crust. then jack has chris tasting dijon and reveals why freshness is the key to choosing the best mustard. next, julia uncovers the test kitchen secrets to perfecting applesauce with a pure, deep apple flavor. finally, adam takes chris on a

tour of the equipment corner to find the best, inexpensive nonstick skillet. america's test kitchen is brought to you by dcs by fischer & paykel. america's cooks rely on innovation and culinary precision. dcs by fischer & paykel, offering premium indoor and outdoor kitchen appliances. >> and by kohler, inspiring home chefs to create a professional- level kitchen with innovative sinks, faucets, and cook centers. kohler. >> robert mondavi understood that sharing good food and wine with family and friends is one of life's true pleasures. woodbridge by robert mondavi, because he believed every table deserves the joy of great wine. by cooking.com, an online retailer for the kitchen enthusiast. if it's not in your kitchen, try ours. and by viva.

>> store-bought bread-and-bake- them-up pork chops were supposed to solve two problems: convenience on the one hand and flavor on the other. well, they got it about half right. they're certainly convenient, but they often end up looking like this, a pasty, bready, dry coating-- not very tasty at all. now, if you do it yourself at home from scratch, sometimes the coating is patchy and comes off like this. or even worse, you bake up a pork chop with a coating, and it's dry, tough, and leathery. so let's go into the kitchen with julia to figure out how to make an excellent crispy breaded pork chop. well, before we get started on our crisp breaded pork chops, we have a great letter from lisa. she writes, "growing up in the south, the only way i really ate pork chops was floured and fried in a skillet." doesn't sound bad. "my fair share of food cooked in oil and fat, but i'd like to revisit those recipes without all the caloric consequences."

>> i know what she's talking about. >> this is not just about calories. this is about quality. but we have an old add from shake 'n bake. that's actually the answer. the answer is shake and bake, which is having a nice coating and putting it in the oven and not in the skillet. >> that's right. >> so it's not just a question of calories. it's a question of getting the right crispy exterior and controlling the juiciness of the pork. >> that's right, and the grease. >> shake and bake. >> that's right. >> so how are we going to do shake and bake from scratch? >> well, we'll start, obviously, with the pork. and we tried lots of different types of pork chops-- bone in, boneless, center cut, shoulder cut. what we found, boneless works best, obviously, because it's easiest when it's fully breaded. and also the thickness makes a bit of a difference. if it's much thicker than an inch, it's really kind of monstrous and there's not enough coating. and if it's thinner than 3/4 of an inch, it feels a little bit skimpy. so anywhere between 3/4 to an inch. and these are four chops, and they weigh about six to eight ounces each. and of course we're going to give them a quick brine, as we brine most of our pork, to help keep it juicy. but this brine is only going to take about 30 minutes, which is plenty of time for us to get set up for the baking part of it.

so it's just a quart of water with a quarter cup of table salt. so it's a pretty strong brine. and of course you don't want to do this to chops if they're enhanced. >> we have a label. and if you look closely, it says, "with up to 10% of a solution of water, salt and sodium phosphate." so it doesn't scream out enhanced. >> uh-uh. >> you have to look at the fine print. >> and get out a magnifying glass sometimes. >> and this is obviously blown up, so yes. so with up to 10% of a solution-- once you see "of a solution," you know it's enhanced, and you don't want to brine something that's already been brined. >> basically, prebrined. all right, so you really want to make sure that salt is dissolved, because this is a high concentration of salt to water. and then we're just going to dip the pork right into the brine, cover them, and of course we will refrigerate them for about 30 minutes, again, while we prep the topping. and i have a refrigerator right down here i can slide these guys into. okay, so pork's out of the way. now it's time to talk about the topping, where we did a lot of testing. and i know you have some bowls

over there, ready to discuss things we tried. >> well, store-bought bread crumbs... >> oh, yeah. >> ...we actually never, ever pick. >> yeah, they're a sandy texture. they have a really stale flavor. it just tastes like old cardboard. >> panko bread crumbs, the japanese bread crumbs, tend to be a little dry and sandy too, too small. >> uh-huh, a little too delicate for this application. >> okay. >> we want something hardier. >> melba toast we've actually used, back in the '90s. we've used melba toast. we found these to be a little too crunchy. i find them a little crunchy. >> yeah, they're a little hard. >> yeah. >> we really like them in our oven-fried chicken because it gives that crunch. >> right. >> but you know, just a little too sturdy for this application. >> so we're going to go with this, which is what we use most of the time, which are just white sandwich bread, make our own bread crumbs. >> uh-huh. all right, so i have four slices of high-quality sandwich bread, and we're just going to break them up into one-inch pieces. and then i'm going to have you process it in a food processor till they're nice, coarse crumbs, and that takes about eight pulses. and here in the test kitchen, we time our pulses. they're one-second pulses. so if your pulse is shorter or

longer, it'll be more or less. we're nerds. >> is this... you know, if you want a job here, do you have to time your pulses so you get it right? >> we time everything. one one thousand. two one thousand. you got short pulses. >> that's the least of my retrial. outside, there was deep disappointment. >> what they are doing is helping the criminals. today they are giving freedom to those responsible for the massacre. today i bring clear proof of what happens. this pain that we suffered. >> the massacre, which took place at the time of an indigenous rebellion, ruptured this

if the three men go back, there is a risk of renewed violence. bbc news, mexico city. >> you can get plenty more on that story and all the rest of the day's news on our website, bbc.com/news. this is "world news today" from bbc world news. the main headlines -- he showed no mercy. relatives reaction to reports that the libyan man jailed for the lockerbie bombing may be released on compassionate grounds. two of europe's biggest economies, germany and france, are growing again but the recession continues across the bureau's own as a whole. -- across the bureau's own as a will. i am joined by international lawyer never presented the

libyan government in the lockerbie case and also involved in al-megrahi's quest. " we have not had confirmation yet. can you shed light on the store? >> the situation of al-megrahi is so bad, worsening by the minute, no reason why he should not be the least of a prison for it -- either a prisoner transfer or compassionate grounds. >> that is key, isn't it? because when you are talking about compassionate grounds at least under scottish law, he has to be in imminent danger of death. >> it would serve no purpose to keep them in prison because that would have-or very serious repercussions of libyan-british relations if he died in prison because the same compassion used for other criminals -- he

delivers -- deserves released immediately. >> i can imagine. i don't want to put words in people's mouths. but i can imagine that some of the american relatives we heard from who are very angry about even the possibility he might be released, when they hear you say this could affect relations with libya, it will sound to them, i sing, like a threat. >> i can assure you the scottish -- they did not take note of that all. looking at the reports and compiled -- compiled by the scottish doctors, medical specialists,. and therefore now have to look at the facts. of course i agree with anchors of the relatives, i would never criticize them. but i think there was a justice that he was unduly put in prison

and found guilty and gross injustice to keep men prison when perhaps be a good release for compaq said it -- compassionate grounds. >> there we say, here it goes the down. it sounds like you want to reopen it when you say he is guilty of a gross injustice. imagine how that sounds for all of those people, relatives of the family is that the dead. >> in a case of the have been behind the bombing -- >> you are reopening the case objectively when you make these kinds of comments. >> i am not. the facts of the case of there for compassionate grounds. the great train robbery in england -- they don't do it on an emotional basis. >> thank you very much for being with us. it is now 40 years since clashes

broke out in northern ireland, leading to the sectarian violence that became known as the troubles. this summer of 1969 saw the first british troops deployed on the street. in londonderry, the strived to restore order. the battle is remembered as a key confrontation in the years of violence that were to follow. our correspondent spent more than 20 years covering the troubles and the peace process from start to finish. earlier he told me about his memories of when the violence broke out. >> being part of the post-world war ii generation, i knew what gunfire sounded like. i have walked up the middle of the night and heard this pop noise and thought, that is gunfire. so the next morning there was an the news, police station attacked by gunfire. so i heard the first shot fired in the troubles. then later that day, bombay street was being burned and there were bits of ash,

barricades at the end of the street, and people moving their belongings on flatbed trucks. refugees. it was an extraordinary period to live through. when i was 18 i never knew i was going to be a journalist who would have the privilege of covering the end of the conflict and the peace process. >> one of the peace process was going to happen, the americans have to be a key part. you were there when president clinton made his visit. listen to it -- let us listen to your report. >> this visit has been a success probably beyond even clinton's highest hopes. belfast is a divided city but coming to the city hall, protestant and catholic, to welcome clinton. cementing peace, and in his phrase, making northern ireland and inspiration to the rest of the world.

>> how important was america and all of this? >> vital. when you read the memoirs, they both agree that one of the best things in their presidency was that -- but it surprised everybody because up until now american woman -- america has been distant or regarded by unionists as interfering. bill clinton's contribution was to persuade unionists that an american influence could be benign and that in fact if you read the memoirs of tony blair's chief of staff, he said he was amazed that bill clinton was available 24/7, any hour, day and night, to help out. you would not have had the process without people like john major and albert reynolds who kicked the whole thing off

with the downing street declaration, where everything became possible after that. but there is no doubt that bill clinton -- not intervention, but the influence was absolutely vital for the whole thing. >> you have that peace process, the good friday agreement in april 1998. then it all went horribly wrong or seem to with -- >> it did beard that really got -- it did. that got to me. no disrespect to all the other families still bore the troubles. there is still a lot of hurt out there even now. and people find great difficulty dealing with the past. but the unah bombing -- we thought the worst was over. not that was about to happen. but it was so pointless. what for? even if i look at the amateur video footage of that even now, i find it a bit upsetting, which is really not my business because i am supposed to the report appeared but it was just

a horrific thing to happen. none of us could even believe it had happened. but hopefully, that is the last we will see of that. >> the veteran broadcaster dennis murray. the latest sports news. >> thank you very much. in around 90 minutes, the international olympic committee will announce which two new sports will be recommended for the talent -- for the 2016 games. seven sports on the short list as members prepare to vote in berlin. baseball, golf, crotty, a roller sports, rugby, softball, and swash, but only two will be recommended. the decision will have to date ratified in copenhagen did baseball and softball or on the schedule in beijing last year but they have been dropped for the london 2012 games. speaking on behalf of this board, the world's number one tiger woods said goals possible inclusion was long overdue. >> golf is a truly global sport

and not think it should've been in the olympics awhile ago. i think that of gadahn, it will be great for golf and especially some of the other smaller countries that are not emerging in golf, i'd think it is a great way for them to compete and play and get the exposure met some of these come -- countries are getting. >> austrian doubles pair pulled out of the world badminton championships in india due to concerns about security. they withdrew from but torment following the lead of the eight- strong england team that flew home after citing a specific terrorist threat. tennis, nadal's returned to the court lasted only 36 minutes -- it was curtailed not to an injury to him but his opponent. he had not played competitively since is french open defeat. his says his knees felt okay during the time spent on the court. but is opponent had to retire.

next match against germany's philip -- that is all the sport for now. >> thank you did a summary of the top story -- the libyan man convicted of the lockerbie bombing is likely to be freed on compassionate grounds next week. the bbc understands. al-magrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer is serving life for killing 270 people when pan am flight 13 exploded. the scottish minister said developments were complete speculation. >> funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> i'm julia stiles. >> i'm kevin bacon. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken burns. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis gates jr., and public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for election coverage you can count on. >> for conversations beyond the sound bites. >> a commitment to journalism. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> i'm kerri washington, and public broadcasting is my source for intelligent connections to my community. >> bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles.