Let's Dish March 2024 - Academy Awards Month 🎬

If you've talked to me in the library, you know that I am a huge fan of movies and TV. Something else I'm very passionate about (and need to make an excuse to do more) is cooking & baking. I love trying new foods and recipes and sharing that with loved ones. With this blog series, you get to come along for the ride. So, let's dish!

March is Academy Awards month, so I figured why not combine two things I love: movies and cooking. The obvious decision with this was to make something from one of Andrew Rea's books. If you're not familiar, Andrew Rea is a cook and Youtuber with a BA in Film Studies. He rose to prominence on the video platform with his series Binging with Babish where he'd recreate recipes from beloved TV shows and movies. That channel has expanded to include "Basics with Babish" where viewers can learn about The Basics of cooking and is now known as the Babish Culinary Universe, where chefs and other cooking content creators are featured in their own series on Rea's channel. One chef is Sohla El-Waylly, formerly of Bon Appétit.

I love watching the Binging with Babish videos. A favorite is his two-part Lord of the Rings special. There's a wide range of recipes from simple to complicated and from common dishes (like the ones I'll talk about in a bit) and special (like the tortilla chip sombrero from Despicable Me 2). If there's a dish from a movie or TV show that you remember, Andrew likely has a video on it. He also takes some liberties to highlight some favorite pieces of media. In the book, he includes New York-Style Pizza inspired by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret of the Ooze. Aside from the Turtles being well-known for loving pizza, it isn't a specific recipe. But Andrew put in the research to provide a solid pizza recipe to recreate the beloved New York slice at home.

Getting into the book: Binging with Babish is his second book. The first is a similar format, TV and movie inspired recipes. His third book, Basics with Babish, was released last year. In Binging with Babish, I learned the origins of the channel name: Oliver Platt's character from The West Wing. I've never watched The West Wing, but I do love Oliver Platt, so I appreciate the origins.

Each recipe includes an introduction of the inspiration and a bit about his experience cooking it for his channel. The first recipe of the book was his first recipe in the Binging with Babish series: Traeger Turkey Burger from Parks and Rec. Throughout, he also includes "Fun Facts" with some behind-the-scenes about filming.

Overall, I think the book has a little something for all skill levels. The two recipes I decided on are fairly simple. But there are definitely more complex recipes throughout. One thing to keep in mind is cost and usefulness of ingredients. Because of the nature of the recipes, there will be some specialty ingredients. These may be costly and things like spices might not be something that regularly fit in your kitchen. Part of my decision making in choosing was cost. For example, I was deciding between the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches and the Cubanos. While we all probably know the cost of steak isn't exactly cheap right now, overall the recipe required less ingredients than the Cubano.

As previously stated, I went with the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches. Andrew does acknowledge the recipe isn't a truly authentic, but I will say they are delicious (and easy!). The first step is to season your steak then freeze it for 30 minutes. This helps to firm up the steak, which makes it easier to cut into thin strips. You cook the steak for a few minutes in a cast iron skillet, shape two piles of meat for the sandwiches and top with the cheese to melt, then assemble. The sandwiches in the movie were dressed with mayo and ketchup, which I did for the full experience. They are also topped with sweet and hot peppers. I used sweet cherry peppers cut into slices. It's definitely something I can see myself making again. Although I might "cheat" and get the pre-shaved beef to cut some cost. Slicing the rib eye wasn't really that difficult or time consuming, though.

Next, I tried the Crème Brûlée. This is the one I was somewhat worried about. It seemed like it'd be more difficult than it was. Mainly, this is just time consuming. Be prepared to spend several hours off and on. For the vanilla beans, I bought them online, which was cheaper than in-store. The main part I was worried about was making the custard. As Andrew says in his introduction to the recipe I just had to set aside fears of curdled custard. Luckily, I didn't have any curdling. To be safe, I started with the lowest baking time for baking the custard and increased a little bit at a time until it came up to temperature. After this, there's a lot of waiting. First an hour to let it chill on a wire rack, then another for to let them completely chill and set. Then, my next worry: torching the sugar. First, I unfortunately had a torch but no butane. No need to panic, I have a candle lighter! While there was still no need to panic, please note that candle lighters are NOT the way to go unless you want to spend a ton of time holding the lighter to the sugar. Time for plan C: the broiler! If you want to try crème brûlée but don't have a torch, you can use the broiler of your oven. I put two of the ramekins on a baking sheet and directly under the broiler (go lengthwise instead of the usual widthwise). I didn't time it, just kept an eye. After that let the sugar cool a minute or so to fully harden. Your ramekins will probably be hot on top from the direct flames, I just put mine on a plate and enjoyed. While this also might be a recipe I'd make again, it'd definitely be more for an occasion just because of the time spent on it.

I highly recommend Andrew's books, and Youtube Channel. Especially if you're also a movie lover. Like I said, if there's a famous TV or movie recipe, Andrew has probably made it. You can look through his channel to find something you love. Many of the popular recipes are in one of the books. Have you watched any of the Babish videos before? Tried making any of them? Stop by the library and let me know!