- Thank you to Lionsgate for sponsoring this episode.
I was excited about John Wick Chapter 4
coming out this month
and that's why I wanted to make this dish from Chapter 2,
steak and fries cooked in duck fat,
a fitting final meal for villains and henchman alike.
You can see John Wick Chapter 4 in theaters now.
To find showtimes near you,
head to the link in the video description.
- Duck fat, makes all the difference.
- [Winston] Jonathan.
- Have you seen the menu here?
Lot of options.
- Jonathan, listen to me.
- A man can stay here a long time
and never eat the same meal twice.
- Hey, what's up, guys?
Welcome back to Binging with Babish
where this week we're taking a look
at the steak and duck fat fries from John Wick 2.
Now, you might notice that I have one of the gold coins
used as currency in the John Wickaverse
but look a little bit closer and you'll notice
that it is emblazoned with the Peter Luger Steakhouse logo.
That's because this is in fact a chocolate coin
from a quintessential New York City steakhouse.
So I think we can all agree this is a funny joke
and/or observation of some kind,
one that I definitely didn't just film
thinking that I would come up with something
when recording the voiceover.
So now that we've established
that that's definitely not what happened,
we can get down to cooking.
First up, I wanna test the best potatoes
from which to make duck fat fries.
The classic and ubiquitous Idaho russet potato,
the less starchy and more waxy Yukon Gold,
my personal favorite for virtually every potato application,
a golden potato from which the Yukon Gold is derived,
a red potato whose only red quality is its skin
and an Eastern potato, potato I've never heard of before.
These guys are all getting the same treatment.
I'm peeling them, cutting them into uniform fries
and parboiling them in salted and vinegar spiked water
to help them keep their shape for 15 to 20 minutes
or until they're very nearly falling apart.
I'm then allowing them to cool completely
on a wire rack set in a rim baking sheet
before engaging in a two-step deep frying process
in duck fat, a frankly unfortunate amount
of which needs to be used in order to deep fry.
First, we're heating it to 275 degrees Fahrenheit
for a low and slow initial fry.
If you wanna see more
about the three-step gourmet french fry making process,
click the link in the upper right hand corner right now
but we're basically confiting the potatoes
at this temperature until they've turned just golden blonde,
no browning whatsoever.
These guys are then drained on paper towels
and allowed to cool the room temperature once more.
We're then raising the temperature of the duck fat
just shy of its smoke point,
360 some odd degrees Fahrenheit,
frying the potatoes one last time until golden brown,
about five minutes and draining once again on paper towels.
After rinsing and repeating
with all the varietals of potatoes,
we can determine which one makes for the best fries.
The eastern, red and golden potatoes were a bust
turning floppy after only a few minutes out of the oil.
The russets were decent
but the real winners were the Yukon Golds
retaining a shatteringly crisp exterior
and devastatingly creamy interior
many minutes after cooking.
So those are gonna be our fries of choice
for our baseline first crack at this dish.
Next up, it looked like the steak
was definitely a filet mignon which when they're this thick,
your best bet for cooking at home is gonna be sous vide.
I'm pre-mixing together kosher salt
and freshly ground black pepper
so that I do not cross-contaminate my salt pinch bowl
generously seasoning them on all sides
and preparing their bath bag
which I'm front-loading with a couple cloves
of crushed garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme,
our steaks and several pats of butter,
all of which I'm placing to the sides of the steak
so that when we vac seal things down,
the herbs and garlic don't leave a permanent impression
on the surface of the steaks.
Next up, we're dropping our pretty little parcel
into a preheated 130 degree Fahrenheit water bath
where it's gonna hang out for two hours.
Any longer than that, you better call Kenny Loggins
'cause you're gonna have spent too much time
in the danger zone.
Then we're removing the steaks
and thoroughly patting them dry on some paper towels
before heading over to the stove top
where we've got a preheated cast iron pan
generously lubricated with high smoke point oil
like vegetable or canola at the ready.
Because the steaks are already cooked through
to our desired doneness,
we wanna sear them as quickly as possible
but because they're so thick,
we can also engage in the selfless act of butter basting
adding four tablespoons of fresh butter
plus the garlic and herbs from the sous vide bag,
reducing the heat to medium and spooning it over the steaks
until the butter is lightly browned
and the steaks are burnished and glistening.
Pour the brown butter over the steaks
to keep them warm and because it's awesome
and then I'm gonna simply saute the asparagus spears
for three to five minutes in the remaining fat in the pan.
Once those guys are tender crisp, it's time to plate up.
It looked like a pretty simple presentation
of steak, asparagus spears and symmetrical fries.
So there you have it, steak with duck fat fries.
Now, this is normally the part where I say it's good
but can we do better?
And it's definitely good
but I feel like I kind of half-assed this
so the question is, can I do better?
Let's start with the steak.
It's very, very difficult to dry age meat at home
but an interesting substitute is the use of koji rice,
a malted sweet rice used for making miso.
I'm processing a handful of it
and passing it through a fine mesh sieve
to make some koji rice dust
which I'm going to use to thoroughly coat
all sides of my steak.
The enzymes in this rice powder
are basically gonna fast ferment our steaks
creating what some say is an equivalent
to a 45 day dry age and flavor and tenderness
after only 48 hours uncovered in the fridge.
First, we're gonna rinse off all the koji
and pat the steaks dry.
As you can see, they've even darkened in color
just like they would've if they were dry aged
and from here they can be vac sealed and sous vided
for two hours before searing, same as last time.
Next up, the potatoes
and this time, I wanted to try a method
that much more efficiently utilizes duck fat,
the so-called potato pavé.
So I've got two and a half pounds of Yukon Golds
that I'm peeling and slicing thinly on a mandoline
then I'm melting about a cup of duck fat,
adding a pinch of kosher salt,
a half teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder,
tiny whisking to combine
and pouring over the potatoes in a large bowl
then I'm gently tossing everything together
to make sure that each slice of potato
is generously coated in duck fat.
Then I'm rubbing down a small loaf pan
with the excess fat on my gloves
and lining the loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper
pressing down in the sides and corners
to make sure that it's flush
and then beginning to shingle the potatoes
layer by layer into the loaf pan
until it just can't support any more potatoes,
pressing them down to make sure
that they're as tightly packed as possible.
Greasing down the parchment paper overhang
and folding that overtop
then this guy's headed into a preheated
225 degree Fahrenheit oven for three hours
effectively confiting the potatoes
and creating a loaf of delicate layers.
As soon as it comes out of the oven,
to ensure loaf cohesion, we gotta weigh it down.
Place it on on a rimmed baking sheet
to catch any errant overflow.
Place the same size loaf pan overtop
and fill that guy with the heaviest stuff
you can get your hands on, rice, fermentation weights, both
then we're letting this guy cool at room temperature
for at least an hour before fridging overnight.
The next day we can retrieve our potato fat log thing
and begin slicing it up in preparation for frying.
Use the parchment to pull out the potato parcel
and once you've trimmed off any rough edges,
we can start cutting this thing into quote unquote fries.
Make sure this thing is extremely cold when you slice it
otherwise it might fall apart.
Take a moment to admire the lovingly layered cross-section.
Trim off the rough edges
and break down into rectangular prisms
which we're going to arrange
on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
and place in the freezer for at least two hours
up to a few days.
We want them totally solidified
so they don't fall apart in the oil.
Next up, there appeared to be a viscous sauce in the plate
so I'm going to assume it's a Bordelaise,
a classic French mother sauce
achieved by combining six ounces of dry red wine,
one small finely diced shallot, two springs of fresh thyme
and one bay leaf in a medium saucepan
bringing to a simmer and cooking down to a syrup consistency
about six to eight minutes
at which point we're gonna add a cup of demi-glace
cooking for about another five minutes
until syrupy enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Now, Bordelaise is a pretty harsh acrid sauce
so after straining and setting aside,
I'm probably gonna end up mounting it with butter
when we serve.
Speaking of butter,
that's gonna be my one upgrade for the asparagus,
combining one softened stick of the stuff
with two finely minced anchovies.
Set that aside
because it's time to bring everything together.
Over on the stove top, I've got some vegetable oil
heated to 375 decrees Fahrenheit
into which I'm going to gently lower my confited
frozen duck fat potato logs.
Now, these are pretty delicate
and they love sticking to the bottom of the pan
and to each other but the rewards are great.
Just look at this thing when it comes out of the fryer.
So I'm gonna continue cooking these guys,
draining them on paper towels
and keeping them warm while searing steaks
and sauteing asparagus.
A couple tablespoons of high smoke point oil
in the cast iron and olive oil in the saute pan,
adding the asparagus over medium high heat,
tossing things around and adding two tablespoons of water,
covering and allowing to steam
for about two minutes in the pan
in this method inspired by America's Test Kitchen.
Meanwhile, the steaks are getting simply seared
and sprinkled with salt.
One great side effect of the koji
is that it causes the steaks to brown more quickly
which is great when you're dealing with sous vided steaks
and you're trying to put as much color on them
as quickly as possible.
Once our fries are done,
I'm gently heating up our Bordelaise in a small pan,
reducing the heat under the asparagus,
uncovering and allowing the rest of the water to evaporate
so that it can saute.
Once cooked through and lightly browned,
I'm killing the heat and adding the anchovy butter
tossing around quickly to emulsify into a glossy sauce.
Likewise, into the warm Bordelaise,
I am rigorously tiny whisking
two to four tablespoons of butter, lightning its color
and making it richer and much more deliciouser.
I'm hitting the potato pavés
with big flakes of finishing salt
and plating things up just like before
albeit with a rich red wine sauce.
And there you have it, steak, asparagus and duck fat fries
worthy of The Continental Hotel
but do the potatoes taste as amazing as they look?
And the answer is a big time hardcore yes.
They're ultra crispy and taste distinctly of duck fat
despite using a fraction of the amount.
It's fussy and labor intensive
but no more so than our gourmet French fry method.
Next up, the steak is fantastic.
It doesn't taste exactly like dry aged
but it's got the same funky, nutty, sweet complexity
and for a fraction of the time and cost.
The basic iteration is certainly good
but this one's really and truly clean plate club worthy
and for a last meal, you could certainly do worse.
Maybe just as a general rule of thumb,
don't put out a $7 million contract
on John Wick's head before eating.
Thanks again to Lionsgate for sponsoring this episode.
I love the John Wick movies for their world building
and the way each film introduces something new
to the John Wick universe.
The practical effects
and stunt coordination is unbelievable,
not to mention there's usually a dish or two
that I can take a stab at recreating.
Go see John Wick Chapter 4 in theaters now.
For more info, head to the link in the video description.
(calm music)