- Why you always want people to sign creepy documents?
- Well, Frank, once something's in writing,
that means it's set in stone
that no one can do anything to stop me.
- When do you want me to serve the squash and the beef?
- So we're literally serving squash and beef?
- You said we're squashing beef.
I thought it would be part of the ceremony
to have squash and beef.
- Yeah. It's all about the ceremony.
That's why I got this bucket of dirt and a hatchet
so we can have a ceremonial burying of the hatchet.
- Hey, what's up guys.
Welcome back to "Binging with Babish"
where this week we're taking a look at the squash and beef
from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".
We have here the titular ingredients, a squash,
in this case, a butternut,
and the absolute cheapest piece of beef
that I could find at my local grocer.
Because of Charlie's cooking, we're about to ruin both.
First up, I sawed some scooped squash skins.
First we're slicing up the squash,
which kind of looks like a cantaloupe,
but does not taste like one.
And then, because Charlie
has a propensity for boiling things,
why don't we just boil our squash, and our steak too?
Why not?
We're gonna simmer these guys together for about 20 minutes
or until the steak is boiled over hard
and the squash is tender and can be easily pierced
and parted by a paring knife.
Now we just got to dig all the goods out of the hot tub
and set them aside to cool completely.
It didn't look like these were served
with much heat or care.
Then we're scooping all the squash flesh out into a bowl.
Then it looks like they were just cursorily mashed together
so that's what I'm gonna do with a potato masher.
And then the beef was thinly sliced
from what looked like a larger roast.
So I'm gonna slice up this nice, boiled,
room-temperature unseasoned beef.
Plate it up next to my squash
that I can't seem to color correct properly.
And let's give this a try.
And the beef tastes like, well, not quite beef,
as beef without seasoning
or maillard reaction tends to taste.
And the squash tastes like some plain old mashed-up squash.
As is so often the case with "It's Always Sunny",
I think we can do a whole lot better.
Let's start by sauteing one roughly chopped onion
in a shallow Dutch oven for about three minutes
or until lightly caramelized.
Grate in a small knob of ginger.
One clove of garlic.
Add one teaspoon fermented chili paste,
one tablespoon five spice powder,
preferably toasted, hand ground, and sifted
because sometimes extra fussy tastes extra good.
Saute those together
for about 30 seconds or until fragrant,
and then deglaze with one and a half cups of dry red wine.
Scrape up all that good stuff off the bottom of the pot.
Add one and a half cups of homemade chicken stock.
Then we're adding two tablespoons of brown sugar,
1/3 cup each soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
Mix together and then bring this guy up to a simmer.
Once bubbling, we're finally adding our beef.
In this case, four nice, meaty, short ribs
that we've salted and let rest at room temperature
for half an hour before adding.
Add enough water so that the liquid comes most of the way
up the sides of the short ribs
and drop this guy into a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven
for two and a half to three hours,
flipping the short ribs halfway through.
Plenty of time to contend with our squash,
which we're gonna cut in half and scoop out the seeds.
Score, if desired.
I don't know if this does anything,
but it feels like the professional thing to do.
Then rub these guys down with a little bit of vegetable oil,
some kosher salt, and some freshly ground black pepper,
making sure to rub it into all the crevices.
Then we're placing these guys cut down
on a preheated baking sheet.
This is gonna give us a headstart on the maillard reaction
and help us earn some extra browning points.
Into a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven it goes
for about half an hour before flipping,
returning to the oven,
and allowing to cook for another 15, 20 minutes
until nicely browned
and the flesh shows no resistance when stabbed.
Now, while this guy is still nice and hot,
we're gonna scoop it out and turn it into a puree
by virtue of a food processor.
To the squash,
I'm going to add a little splash of brown butter,
I've got two sticks worth here.
And a little splash of heavy cream
to help stabilize the emulsion.
Then with the food processor running,
I'm gonna slowly stream the rest of the brown butter
in through the feed tube
so all we're left with is a smooth, rich creamy emulsion
that's just about as much brown butter
as it is butternut squash.
So as you can imagine,
it is lick the spoon and pound the table good.
Now all we need is beef and sauce that are flavorful enough
that they can contend with all this richness.
And as if on cue, here come our tender, super flavorful,
super tender, five spice short ribs, fresh out the oven.
We're pulling the meat
and their accompanying bones out of the sauce,
straining the sauce through a fine mesh sieve.
And then we're gonna de-fat it.
Carefully skimming the fat off the top
and removing it into a small bowl.
Then we're gonna use the sauce and its accompanying fat
to make a jus gras,
which is basically just a fat four to five gravy.
Got about a cup and a half of the sauce
to which I'm going to add a half teaspoon of xanthan gum
which is gonna both thicken and stabilize our sauce.
Then with the blender running on medium speed,
I'm gonna slowly stream the fat in through the feed tube
for the second time today.
And as you can imagine, this is the lick the spoon
and allow your knees to buckle kind of tasty.
Thank you to ChefSteps
for recently highlighting this method.
So now as is tradition with Charlie dishes,
I'm gonna attempt a chef-y plating.
And as is tradition, I'm gonna not do such a great job.
Drop our meaty short rib down into the middle
of our ethereal butternut squash puree,
drizzle with the jus gras.
And this needs some color.
How about some pea shoot microgreens,
just for the hell of it?
Then let's dig in and see how it tastes.
Is this one of my prettiest dishes? No.
Is this one I really wish
you could reach through the screen and try?
Yes.
(upbeat music)