Binging with Babish: Duck Fat Fries from John Wick: Chapter 2

- Thanks to Lionsgate for sponsoring this episode. I was excited about the release of John Wick Chapter 4 this month and that's why I wanted to make this Chapter 2 dish, steak and

fries

cooked in

duck

fat, a final meal fit for villains and henchmen alike. You can watch John Wick Chapter 4 in theaters now. To find times near you, head to the link in the video description. - Duck fat makes a difference. - Jonathan. - Have you seen the menu here? Many options. - Jonathan, listen to me. - A man can stay here a long time and never eat the same food twice. - Hey, what's up, guys?

Welcome back to Binging with Babish, where this week we're taking a look at Beef and Duck 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. If you get a little closer, you'll notice it's adorned 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 that this is a funny joke and/or observation of some sort, one that I definitely didn't film thinking I'd come up with something when recording the voiceover.

So now that we've established that that's definitely not what happened, we can start cooking. First, I want to try the best potatoes for making

duck

fat

fries

. The classic and ubiquitous Idaho russet potato, the less starchy and waxier Yukon Gold, my personal favorite for virtually all potato applications, a golden potato from which the Yukon Gold is derived, a red potato whose only red quality It is its skin and an oriental potato. Potato, potato I had never heard of. All of these guys are treated the same. I peel them, cut them into uniform chips, and parboil them in salt and vinegar water to help them hold their shape for 15 to 20 minutes or until almost falling apart.

I then let them cool completely on a rack set on a rimmed baking sheet before engaging in a two-step frying process in duck fat, of which a frankly unfortunate amount must be used for frying. First, we heat it to 275 degrees Fahrenheit for a low and slow initial fry. If you want to see more about the three-step gourmet french fry making process, click the link in the top right corner right now, but we're basically candiing the potatoes at this temperature until they turn golden blonde, without browning at all . . These guys are then drained on paper towels and allowed to cool to room temperature once again.

We then raised the temperature of the duck fat to just below its smoke point, 360 degrees Fahrenheit, fried the potatoes one last time until golden brown, about five minutes, and drained them once again on paper towels. After rinsing and repeating with all the potato varieties, we can determine which makes the best fries. The oriental, russet and gold potatoes were a failure and became mushy after just a few minutes out of the oil. The russets were decent, but the real winners were the Yukon Golds which retained an incredibly crisp exterior and a devastatingly creamy interior many minutes after cooking.

So those will be our go-to fries for our first basic test of this dish. Next, it looked like the steak was definitely a filet mignon which, when it's that thick, the best option for cooking at home will be sous vide. I'm pre-mixing kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper so as not to contaminate my salt bowl, seasoning them generously on all sides, and preparing their dip bag, which I'm front-loading with a couple cloves of garlic, fresh rosemary, and thyme, our fillets and several pats of butter, all of which I place on the sides of the steak so that when we vacuum seal everything, the herbs and garlic don't leave a permanent impression on the surface of the steaks.

Next, we'll drop our pretty package into a water bath preheated to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, where it will stay for two hours. Any longer than that, you better call Kenny Loggins because you'll have spent too much time in the danger zone. Then we remove the fillets and dry them well with paper towels before heading to the stove, where we have a preheated cast iron skillet ready and generously lubricated with high smoke point oil, such as vegetable or canola. Because the steaks are already cooked to the desired doneness, we want to sear them as quickly as possible, but because they are so thick, we can also do the selfless act of buttering them by adding four tablespoons of fresh butter plus the garlic and the herbs. from the sous vide bag, reduce the heat to medium and place over the fillets until the butter is lightly browned and the fillets are burnished and glistening.

Pour the browned butter over the steaks to keep them warm and because it's amazing and then I'll just sauté the asparagus for three to five minutes in the remaining fat in the pan. Once those guys are crisp-tender, it's time to plate. It seemed like a fairly simple presentation of steak, asparagus and symmetrical fries. There you have it, steak and duck fat fries. Now this is usually the part where I say it's good, but can we do better? And it's definitely good, but I feel like I did it halfway, so the question is: can I do better?

Let's start with the steak. It is very, very difficult to dry aged meat at home, but an interesting substitute is to use koji rice, a sweet malted rice used to make miso. I'm processing a handful and putting it through a fine mesh strainer to make some koji rice powder that I'll use to coat all sides of my steak well. The enzymes in this rice powder will basically rapidly ferment our steaks creating what some say is the equivalent of a 45 day dry age, flavor and tenderness after just 48 hours uncovered in the refrigerator. First, we will rinse all the koji and dry the fillets.

As you can see, they have even darkened in color as they would have if they had been dry aged and from here they can be vacuum sealed and vacuum sealed for two hours before browning, just like last time. Next, the potatoes and this time I wanted to try a method that uses duck fat much more efficiently, called potato pavé. So I have two and a half pounds of Yukon Golds that I peel and cut into thin slices with a mandoline, then I melt about a cup of duck fat, add a pinch of kosher salt, half a teaspoon of garlic powder and onion powder, whisk lightly to combine and pour over the potatoes in a large bowl, then gently toss everything to make sure each slice of potato is coated generously with duck fat.

Then I rub a small loaf pan with the excess grease from my gloves and line the loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper pressing down on the sides and corners to make sure it's flush and then I start placing the potatoes layer by layer. Place a layer in the loaf pan until it can't hold any more potatoes, pressing them down to make sure they fit as tightly as possible. Greasing the overhanging parchment paper and folding the top, this type heads into a preheated 225-degree Fahrenheit oven for three hours, effectively candiing the potatoes and creating a delicately layered loaf.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, to ensure the cohesion of the bread, we must give it weight. Place on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any errant overflow. Place a loaf pan of the same size on top and fill it with the heaviest things you can get, rice, fermentation weights, both, then we'll let this guy cool at room temperature for at least an hour before refrigerating it overnight. The next day we can retrieve our potato fat log and begin slicing it in preparation for frying. Use the parchment to take out the potato package and once you've trimmed the rough edges, we can start cutting it into quote unquote fries.

Make sure it is extremely cold when you cut it, otherwise it may fall apart. Take a moment to admire the carefully layered cross section. Trim the rough edges and divide them into rectangular prisms that we will place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for at least two hours to a few days. We want them completely solidified so that they don't fall apart in the oil. Next, there seemed to be a slimy sauce on the plate, so I'm going to assume it's a Bordelaise, a classic French mother sauce made by combining six ounces of dry red wine, one small, finely chopped shallot, and two sprigs of fresh thyme. and a bay leaf in a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook until syrupy consistency for six to eight minutes, at which point we will add a cup of demi-glace and cook for about five more minutes until it is syrupy enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Now, Bordelaise is a pretty harsh pungent sauce, so after straining it and setting it aside, I'll probably end up whipping it with butter when we serve it. Speaking of butter, that will be my only upgrade for the asparagus, combining a softened stick with two finely chopped anchovies. Put that aside because it's time to put everything together. On the stove, I have some vegetable oil heated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit that I'm going to gently lower my frozen duck fat candied potato logs into. These are quite delicate and love to stick to the bottom of the pan and to each other, but the rewards are great.

Just look at this when it comes out of the fryer. So I'll continue cooking these guys, draining them on paper towels and keeping them warm while I sear the steaks and sauté the asparagus. A couple of tablespoons of high smoke point oil in the cast iron and olive oil in the skillet, adding the asparagus over medium high heat, stirring things up and adding two tablespoons of water, covering and letting it steam for about two minutes in the pan. in this method inspired by America's Test Kitchen. Meanwhile, the fillets are simply seared and sprinkled with salt. A great side effect of koji is that it causes the steaks to brown more quickly, which is great when you are sous vide steaks and trying to get as much color on them as quickly as possible.

Once our fries are ready, I'm gently heating our Bordelaise in a small skillet, reducing the heat under the asparagus, uncovering and letting the rest of the water evaporate so it can be sautéed. Once cooked through and lightly browned, I turn off the heat and add the anchovy butter, stirring quickly to emulsify into a glossy sauce. Likewise, into warm Bordeaux, carefully whisk two to four tablespoons of butter, brightening its color and making it richer and more delicious. I'm hitting the potato pavé with large flakes of final salt and laying things out as 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 good as they look? And the answer is a big yes. They are ultra crispy and taste distinctly like duck fat despite using a fraction of the amount. It's messy and labor-intensive, but no more so than our gourmet French fry method. Next, the steak is fantastic. It doesn't taste exactly like dry aged, but it has the same sweet, nutty complexity for a fraction of the time and cost. The basic iteration is certainly good, but this one is truly worthy of a clean plates club and, for a last meal, you could certainly do worse.

Maybe, as a rule of thumb, don't put a $7 million contract on John Wick's head before eating it. Thanks again to Lionsgate for sponsoring this episode. I love the John Wick movies because of their world building and the way each movie introduces something new to the John Wick universe. The practical effects and stunt timing are incredible, not to mention there are usually one or two dishes I can try to recreate. Go see John Wick Chapter 4 in theaters now. For more information, head to the link in the video description. (quiet music)