- [Babish] Thanks to Geico for sponsoring today's episode,
where we are bundling a taco with a hot dog.
With Geico, you can save even more
when your bundle your home and car insurance.
- I wish Mr. Fischoeder gave us footlong taco dogs.
- Yup. This thing's filling a footlong hole in my heart.
- Even though these are the 10-inch-long rejects.
- Ugh, I blew it.
No 3/4 Wonka.
Not even a Wee Wonk.
- Louise, in your sort of selfish, sort of thoughtful,
mostly selfish way, you did a really good thing today.
- [Babish] Hey, what's up, guys?
Welcome back to "Binging with Babish," where this week,
we're taking a look at the footlong taco dog
with cheese chunk dipping sauce from "Bob's Burgers."
Now, for the Babish version,
I wanted to make an actual footlong taco,
so I needed some foot-wide tortillas,
which are harder to come by than you think.
As such, I sourced these
from America's most popular burrito chain,
which, as usual, was an awkward transaction.
More on that later, because first,
we can have to make our Wonder Wharf-accurate version,
which, if the quality of the rest
of its attractions are any indication,
it's likely little more than a steam-table dog
loaded up with industrial-grade shelf-stable chili sauce
and an upsettingly named cheese chunk dipping sauce,
both likely pumped from 50-gallon drums.
And since it's just a junk food mishmash, it's not,
like, terrible, but it's definitely not good.
For a sugar-addled preteen, it's just about right.
But as per this show's prime directive,
I think we can do a whole lot better.
We're gonna start, of course, by making our very hot dogs.
I've done this before, so I'm kinda breeze through it.
I'm cubing up one kilogram of brisket and chuck
into about 1/2-inch or meat-grinder-friendly cubes.
On top of that, we're doing the same
with 150 grams of beef fat, placing all thems out
on a parchment-lined baking sheet
and popping in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes
or until starting to turn hard around the edges.
Press through a thoroughly chilled meat grinder
with its largest plate, producing a pebbly,
fatty ground beef that would work great for a burger.
However, we're gonna resist the temptation
to turn these into a burger and pass them once again
through the meat grinder, this time with the smallest plate,
turning our beautiful ground beef
into a sort of ground beef paste.
Go ahead and set that aside
while we prepare our spice mixture:
23 grams of fine sea salt, 10 grams of paprika,
five grams garlic powder, four grams white pepper,
four grams onion powder, and 1.5 grams pink curing salt.
Tiny whisk until homogenous
and add it to the double-ground beef.
Agitate this mixture around every which way
until it's evenly combined, and if you thought
that we couldn't grind this meat any further,
well, buckle up, because in two even batches,
we're placing this beef into a food processor
and streaming in 230 grams of ice water,
that's 115 grams per batch, while the machine runs.
The ice water's going to emulsify together
with the meat mixture to create a really pasty paste
called a farce, which I think is needlessly deprecating.
But once all our meat has been converted
into a thick, pasty, sloppy farce,
we're gonna let it cure overnight in the fridge
in an airtight container with a layer of plastic wrap
pressed directly down against the farce.
We wanna prevent oxidation because sadly enough,
nobody likes a gray hot dog.
The next day, we are stuffing our hot dogs
into hot dog casings, a process
for which I both have known disdain
and very little knowledge.
So if you wanna see how to stuff hot dogs, go ahead
and check out a YouTuber that knows what they're doing.
My best efforts yielded four gargantuan dogs
and one mini dog, which I'm going to prick repeatedly,
preventing air bubbles from forming
and preventing the casings from splitting
during their 45 minutes on a smoker
held at 175 degrees Fahrenheit
until the dogs register 150 degrees at their thickest point.
Now you can keep these guys in the fridge
until you're ready to steam, grill, or griddle.
Now, as cute as the footlong hot dog looks
sticking out of a little tiny taco shell, I want
a slightly more practical footlong taco dog experience.
So I got these 12-inch tortillas that I'm cutting down
to a mouth-sized height, which I'm going to perch
atop some aluminum foil craftwork,
making sort of hills and valleys
so I can form the tortillas into shells.
Now, first, these guys need to dry out,
so I'm placing them in a 225-degree-Fahrenheit oven
for about 30 to 45 minutes until they are dry and rigid.
Once dry, they're ready to be deep-fried
to crispy completion.
A 12-inch tortilla will obviously be a tight fit
for a 12-inch pan, so into a roasting pan they go,
along with a few inches of corn oil
heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit,
frying 30 seconds per side for one to two minutes total
until golden brown and crisp.
And this is, after all, a YouTube show,
and I do, after all, need a thumbnail,
so I got one full-size tortilla,
which I'm gonna make into a full-size 12-inch taco shell.
Last but not least, the toppings.
I'm sauteing one pound of ground beef
in two tablespoons of oil until it's lightly browned,
setting it aside to drain on some paper towels,
and pouring off all but about two tablespoons of the fat,
in which I'm gonna sweat half a chopped onion
for about two minutes before adding a couple cloves
of crushed garlic, along with a tablespoon each
taco seasoning and ancho chili powder,
sauteing those together for about 30 seconds
or until aromatic, adding one cup of tomato sauce
and 1/4 cup of chili sauce.
Add the ground beef back in the mix
and one cup of water.
Simmer these guys together for about 45 minutes
over medium-low heat until the flavors have melded.
Season to taste with kosher salt
and freshly ground black pepper.
And there you have it: a very easy taco chili sauce.
Last up, the cheese chunk dipping sauce,
for which I'm making some good ol' fashioned Velveeta
and Rotel from-the-can queso,
to which I'm gonna add some unmelted blocks of cheddar
to make it a proper cheese chunk sauce.
First up, the ridiculous one
with my longest available hot dog,
piled high with our concession-stand toppings.
This is the kind of reward you deserve
for cleaning up a beach.
Is it physically larger than the Belcher children's heads?
Yes. Would they have loved that fact about it?
Also yes.
Should you griddle or steam your dog
and not eat it straight off the smoker, also yes.
Otherwise, the case gets rather chewy
and you look something of a fool on camera.
Let's try this with a properly griddled dog
and our sort of convertible taco shell.
And the result is somehow just as gross
as the first iteration but tastes much better.
And that's the kind of improvement
I've learned to become proud of.
Thanks again to Geico for sponsoring today's episode
and making this hot dog taco possible.
Geico has been helping people save money
on their car insurance for over 85 years.
So if you'd like to see how much Geico could save you today,
head to the link in the video description below.
(upbeat music)