[0:04] Philly cheese steak. As chalk full of
[0:07] beef, cheese, and grease as the city
[0:10] that bears its name. I love Philly.
[0:12] Okay. I'm a huge Everybody knows I'm a
[0:14] huge Flyers fan. Hockey, right? Is that
[0:17] hockey? They're known for so many great
[0:19] things. They got the Philly cheese
[0:21] steak. They got Rocky. They got the
[0:23] Liberty Bell. I guess it's broken. Ben
[0:26] Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin. Ah, if you
[0:29] think that I've insulted Philadelphia,
[0:31] you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm sorry
[0:33] ahead of time, but this is 10 levels of
[0:35] Philly cheese steak.
[0:56] A big thank you to Cook Unity for
[0:57] sponsoring this episode. Cook Unity
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[1:29] out.
[1:30] >> Is Flavortown a place you'd like to
[1:31] visit?
[1:32] >> I would not travel to Flavor Town right
[1:35] now. According to the US travel advisory
[1:37] website, you should proceed with caution
[1:39] as there is civil unrest. There is a
[1:42] lack of indoor plumbing. The water
[1:44] itself is diarrhea. And on top of that,
[1:47] the food scene is just not what it used
[1:48] to be. Level one cheese steak. Where
[1:51] exactly is the bottom of the barrel in
[1:54] terms of a cheese steak experience?
[1:55] Well, I can tell you firsthand. It's
[1:57] this right here. Guy Fury's Flavor Town
[2:01] Super Melty Philly Cheese Steak Tots
[2:03] Bowl. I recently tried this as part of a
[2:05] frozen dinner ranking over on the Beyond
[2:07] Babage channel. Uh, and I awarded it a
[2:09] commensurate score with its quality,
[2:11] that being a one. It only got a one, not
[2:14] a zero, because the cheese sauce wasn't
[2:16] that bad. But everything else was, I
[2:19] won't say a crime, but a misdemeanor at
[2:21] least. There are no oven directions. If
[2:23] you want crispy tater tots, suck my ass.
[2:26] There's only microwave directions. Right
[2:28] away, I can tell you the tater tots
[2:30] might as well be mashed potato. Look at
[2:33] the way that's come apart. If you look
[2:35] at this package, it features pieces of
[2:39] actual beef. And if you look closely at
[2:41] this, you'll see that the steak bits are
[2:46] pressed and formed like stums. The
[2:48] flavor really all you taste is the
[2:50] cheese sauce and it's not bad. It tastes
[2:52] like a Vita Rotel queso. The textures
[2:55] are unforgivable. The tater tots are
[2:58] ridiculous. They I don't know whose idea
[3:00] it was to put tater tots in an enclosed
[3:03] bowl to be microwaved. It is an absolute
[3:05] crime against Philly, against cheese,
[3:07] and against steaks. There you are. Level
[3:10] one Philly cheese steak. About as low as
[3:13] it goes.
[3:14] >> Now, I know the whole thing's wrapped up
[3:15] in nostalgia, but if you had to pick a
[3:17] favorite part of the Hot Pocket, what
[3:19] would it be?
[3:20] >> It's a weird question, but if I had to
[3:22] pick my favorite part, it is the thing
[3:23] that is literally wrapped up in, which
[3:25] is the crisping sleeve. It's a
[3:26] technological marble and I hope they
[3:29] never get rid of it. Level two, Philly
[3:32] cheese steak, specifically hot pockets.
[3:34] We're taking a step out of the
[3:36] completely inedible and into borderline
[3:38] enjoyment. I'm going to get to feel like
[3:40] I'm back in high school.
[3:43] This doesn't come with a crisping
[3:44] sleeve.
[3:48] This not come with crisping sleeves.
[3:51] Where's the the crisping sleeve?
[3:54] Where's the crisping sleeve? There's no
[3:56] crisping sleeve. What am I to do? They
[3:58] sure do look different from when I was a
[4:00] boy. There's this browning and kind of a
[4:03] sheen to them. It says to do it in an
[4:05] air fryer, but come on. It's a hot
[4:06] pocket. It's going in the microwave.
[4:08] Okay, it's out of the microwave and
[4:10] we've experienced a small blowout on the
[4:12] side. That is to be expected. You know
[4:13] what you have to do with hot pockets?
[4:14] You need to let them rest. Otherwise,
[4:16] you will die an untimely death. It will
[4:18] burn you alive from the inside out. So,
[4:19] I'm going to spend this time
[4:20] constructively by examining the not
[4:22] brief website for why they got rid of
[4:25] the sleeve. More good stuff. 30% more
[4:28] pepperoni because they got rid of the
[4:30] sleeve. We're talking about pepperoni
[4:31] versus cardboard. This is not a one:one
[4:34] swap. Less waste. It's legit.
[4:36] Apparently, 3,300 tons of waste saved
[4:39] every year from all those Hot Pocket
[4:41] sleeves you specifically have been
[4:42] eating. The way our world works is truly
[4:44] terrifying. So, I'm not going to dig too
[4:46] deep into it. I'm going to eat this Hot
[4:47] Pocket. very little in terms of stuff
[4:49] that isn't cheese. Not a complaint
[4:52] really. The beef cannot be any better
[4:54] than what's going on in Guy Fury's tater
[4:57] tots bowl, but it's chopped into little
[4:59] itty bitty pieces. So, if it is a little
[5:02] chewy or whatever, it's basically pre-
[5:03] chewed for you. As far as level twos go,
[5:06] big step up and a pretty high four and
[5:08] how bad things can get. Would I
[5:10] recommend this as a Philly cheese steak
[5:12] analog? Absolutely not. This is kind of
[5:14] its own thing. It's an appropriate level
[5:16] two.
[5:17] >> Steak M communicates deliciousness.
[5:21] >> Steak um communicates
[5:24] >> steak um communicates what steakums
[5:26] communicate, which is is this steak um
[5:29] level three, the hilariously named
[5:32] steakums. It sounds pensive. It sounds
[5:35] unsure of itself. It sounds like it's
[5:37] got a secret. And that secret is that
[5:38] it's also chopped and formed and sliced
[5:41] beef. It is not steak. These aren't
[5:43] pieces of actual steak. That's how it's
[5:45] so darn cheap. This is probably your
[5:47] cheapest option. Oh, how do you even get
[5:49] them apart? Wow. It's been a long time,
[5:52] I guess. Oh, man. That is a bummer. Just
[5:55] a slice of lunch meat. Look at that.
[5:57] Then for bread, we got some of these
[6:00] kind of grocery store little hogies.
[6:02] Little little little sub rolls. And for
[6:05] cheese, of course, we're going to use
[6:06] unmelted craft singles. Let's put in our
[6:11] steak. Wow, there's a lot of fat in
[6:13] that.
[6:15] Oh, what a horrible thing. I'm going to
[6:17] drop these in one at a time and then
[6:18] kind of keep them warm.
[6:21] So much fat. O, this might need to be
[6:25] downgraded below hot buckets. I don't
[6:27] know. I'm going to throw this in the
[6:28] microwave for just a sec. So, at least
[6:29] we have melted cheese. But there you
[6:31] have it. A Stakums Philly cheese steak,
[6:34] quote unquote. Whoa. A serving size of
[6:38] Stacums is one piece. That means that
[6:44] this sandwich is 1,170 calories before
[6:47] the bread and cheese, which comes out to
[6:49] 99
[6:51] g of fat. That is 126% of your daily
[6:56] value just in that beef. I'm sure a lot
[6:59] of it rendered out and is in the bottom
[7:00] of that pan right now, but I'm just
[7:02] looking at the nutrition facts, brother.
[7:04] That's awful. I I'm inclined to make
[7:07] this the level two. I don't know. I've
[7:09] changed ranks rankings in a ranking
[7:11] episode before in post-prouction, but I
[7:13] don't know how we're going to do that. I
[7:15] think I'll just say it. This is the real
[7:17] level two. This is I'd rather have the
[7:19] hot pocket than this thing. Downgrade
[7:21] level two. We'd rather have this than
[7:23] Guy Fiery's bowl of nightmares, but
[7:25] there's no way it's better than a Hot
[7:26] Pocket.
[7:27] >> What kind of trauma did the person who
[7:29] invented frozen cheesestake sandwiches
[7:31] have?
[7:32] >> Well, they're a human being on Earth, so
[7:33] I assume that they've experienced a
[7:35] great deal of trauma. Trauma is not only
[7:38] common place, it's kind of essential to
[7:39] the human experience. And it's yielded
[7:41] some incredible things. Great art,
[7:43] music, film, and frozen cheese steaks.
[7:49] Next up, a complete Philly cheese steak
[7:51] kit in a bag. The hell you say? But
[7:54] that's what this is. This is the JTM
[7:57] beef Philly cheese steak kit. Four beef
[8:00] steaks, sliced and shaped. Four cheese
[8:02] steak sandwich rolls, diced onions, and
[8:04] mozzarella cheese. mozzarella cheese. I
[8:06] bet I'm going to do a lot of things that
[8:07] will piss off Philadelphiaians in this
[8:09] episode. None of them will be mozzarella
[8:10] cheese. This beef is not chopped,
[8:13] processed. This is sliced steak shaped.
[8:17] So, I think what we're going to end up
[8:18] with here is actual strips of actual
[8:20] beef. It took us four levels to get
[8:22] there, but I think that's where we are.
[8:24] There's the rolls. They are pitiful.
[8:27] There's a big old bag of onions. And
[8:30] this is a bad sign when there's more
[8:32] onions than cheese in the Philly cheese
[8:34] steak. The idea that this is enough
[8:37] cheese for four cheese steaks does bum
[8:39] me out. Also, I'm not sure. You either
[8:43] don't have an expiration date or your
[8:45] expiration date is wildly confusing or
[8:48] this is massively expected cuz it says
[8:50] 26 and it is 2026. So, that gives me
[8:53] some hope. This looks a lot more like a
[8:55] date to me because it's a month and a
[8:56] year, but that is 3 years ago.
[9:00] There we go. Nice
[9:03] frozen onions.
[9:05] A little bit of fat coming out of this
[9:07] steak. Not nearly as much as that horror
[9:09] show. Okay, there's our little beef
[9:12] pieces. Let's see if those look real.
[9:15] They're so small it's kind of hard to
[9:16] tell, but I see real marbling. And add a
[9:19] quarter of the final logic uh mozzarella
[9:22] cheese. I'm going kill the heat. Just
[9:24] going to throw a lid over the whole
[9:25] thing to just let it kind of steam. Let
[9:27] that cheese melt. And our bread. Ah,
[9:30] it's hot out of the oven. Maybe this is
[9:33] going to be an appropriate amount of
[9:34] meat and cheese for this tiny little
[9:36] roll. Yeah, actually looks like it is
[9:38] going to be maybe just right. There you
[9:41] have it. Our level four cheese steak.
[9:43] The first one to feature whole pieces of
[9:46] meat supposedly.
[9:49] Definitely better than the steakums, but
[9:50] like the meat has a off quality to it.
[9:55] There's some flavor happening there that
[9:57] really ought to be. And this was
[9:59] thoroughly cooked and nicely brown. Like
[10:01] I got good caramelization on this flavor
[10:03] is just a little weird. I can't put my
[10:05] finger on upon what exactly. Just a
[10:08] weird flavor and some unpleasant
[10:10] textures. So, not great, but still going
[10:14] to be our level four. Level five, an
[10:16] earnest attempt to make a basic Philly
[10:18] cheese steak at home. We have some nice
[10:21] large sub rolls. This is more akin to
[10:23] the size of an actual Philly cheese
[10:25] steak, which tends to be quite large. We
[10:27] have some thinly shaved beef here. A lot
[10:29] of grocery stores are starting to do
[10:31] this. Green pepper, onion, and cheese
[10:34] whiz. I'm not a big cheese whiz guy. Um,
[10:37] this is one of the two options that
[10:39] you're given when you go to the place,
[10:41] and I'm not super into it. much prefer
[10:44] uh white American deli slices. Now, I
[10:47] should point out that as far as I know,
[10:48] authentic Philly cheese steaks have no
[10:51] peppers. Sometimes they have onions, but
[10:52] that's about it. I think that green
[10:54] peppers are considered a little more
[10:56] touristy, but this what I'm going to do.
[10:57] It feels like the at home thing to do,
[11:00] and I like peppers on a cheese steak. It
[11:02] like in my mind, it's it's almost become
[11:04] part of the flavor profile. Next up, an
[11:07] extremely important step after these
[11:09] commercial messages.
[11:24] Babish cookware. Checkmate. Atheists.
[11:29] We're back with an extremely important
[11:30] step. This is an essential part of the
[11:33] cheese steak. You need the bread to
[11:36] basically be almost round to hold all
[11:39] that meat in place. There we go. There's
[11:42] some scooped bread. You can see it makes
[11:45] a cavity, a cavern if you will, that
[11:48] allows us to get more in there, but also
[11:50] prevents any from squishing out the
[11:52] sides of the back. Now, for a cooking
[11:54] surface, the old reliable cast iron
[11:57] griddle. Just a little bit of vegetable
[11:58] oil. Get things started. Crank up that
[12:00] heat. I want to cook the vegetables
[12:02] pretty immediately, get maybe a little
[12:03] bit of color on them, and then move on
[12:04] to the meat. Grab our steak. Plop it
[12:08] down. Now, it's going to be in big
[12:10] chunks. That's one of the unavoidable
[12:12] things about buying shaved steak like
[12:14] this. But the solution is that we're
[12:16] going to chop it. This is one of the
[12:18] many, many reasons why you don't want to
[12:19] make a cheese steak in a non-stick pan.
[12:21] All right, let's mix the peppers and
[12:22] onions in there at the Hot Stone
[12:24] Crearyy.
[12:26] You can't tell. I've never worked at
[12:27] Cold Stone Crearyy.
[12:30] I think that they just put this on after
[12:33] they've assembled the sandwich, but I
[12:34] can't tell. So, I'm just going to do
[12:36] just to maximize our goo factor and make
[12:38] sure that it's not like a freaking
[12:40] disaster. I'm going to hit the bread
[12:42] with a little bit of whiz. And of
[12:43] course, more whiz over top. Don't worry,
[12:46] my soul's not dead yet. One of the more
[12:48] important elements of sandwich craft is
[12:50] wrapping. Uh, something that I didn't do
[12:53] for way too long, and I see way too many
[12:55] people not wrapping their sandwiches
[12:57] before serving.
[13:00] This compresses the sandwich, puts
[13:02] everything together, makes sure that we
[13:05] don't have any big stupid awkward gaps
[13:07] or anything like that. Don't slice the
[13:09] aluminum. You sometimes you end up with
[13:11] little shreds of aluminum in there. I'm
[13:12] just doing it for for looks.
[13:16] Yeah. Lots of little shreds of aluminum.
[13:18] Okay. Don't do that. Don't do what I
[13:21] just did. Yeah. Only do that with
[13:23] sandwich wraps, not with freaking
[13:24] aluminum foil. That was stupid. Let's
[13:26] take a look at that cross-section.
[13:29] Oh yeah, I tried a little bit of the
[13:30] beef here.
[13:32] It's very dry. We'll see what happens
[13:34] while I whiz. The crazy badass places in
[13:37] Philly, they're shaving whole ribeye and
[13:41] they're frying that up. So, there's a
[13:42] ton of fat, ton of flavor. This is very
[13:44] lean. So, it's pretty dry. It's tasty,
[13:48] but it's dry. Yeah. That's the thing
[13:50] you're unfortunately going to run into
[13:51] whenever you buy things like shaved beef
[13:53] or stir fry beef, any of those really
[13:56] pre-prepared pieces of beef. You're
[14:00] generally going to end up with lower
[14:02] quality beef, less fat, and it's going
[14:04] to be tough. It's saving you prep, but
[14:06] it's going to be tough. So, it is most
[14:08] assuredly a cheese steak. Like, this is
[14:10] the first one that actually resembles
[14:12] and tastes like a real cheese steak. But
[14:15] by getting the pre-prepared stuff,
[14:17] you're getting the right texture, which
[14:19] is very hard to achieve at home. And,
[14:23] you know, drown it in cheese whiz
[14:25] because
[14:27] kind of makes the illusion that the beef
[14:29] is perfectly juicy. At the end of the
[14:32] day, it's a decent cheese steak.
[14:34] Level six, the level that begs the
[14:37] question, is this a cheese steak? I'm
[14:39] speaking, of course, of the chicken
[14:41] cheese steak, which I think should be
[14:42] called the cheese chicken or the
[14:44] cheesecake, but I'm not in charge of
[14:46] Philadelphia. So, chicken cheese steak
[14:48] isn't just plain chicken usually.
[14:50] Usually, it's seasoned with like a a
[14:52] very simple slight marinade. Sometimes
[14:54] they can be very saucy. I don't really
[14:56] like that. So, I'm just going to do like
[14:58] a tablespoon each soy sauce, wishes,
[15:01] sure, and maybe like a/ teaspoon each
[15:04] garlic and onion powder. Tiny whisk that
[15:06] together. I'm notorious for forgetting
[15:08] to salt my food and luckily this soy
[15:10] sauce is salty as all get out so it's
[15:12] probably going to do the job. Always a
[15:14] generally good idea to dry brine your
[15:17] chicken. Just hit it with a little bit
[15:19] of salt and let it sit at room temp for
[15:22] you know 20 30 minutes before we sear.
[15:25] Great sear on our chicken thighs. They
[15:27] might not even be completely cooked all
[15:29] the way through. Doesn't matter. We're
[15:30] going to let these cool for 5 10 minutes
[15:33] just so we don't experience too much
[15:35] moisture loss when we slice them up. I
[15:36] don't want huge slices here. So, I might
[15:38] cut these guys in half and then slice
[15:40] them this way. There we go. It's not
[15:43] quite shredded, but it's not quite
[15:45] chunks either. That's looks just about
[15:47] right. Let's dump in our peppers and
[15:48] onions.
[15:50] Drop in our chicken.
[15:53] And we're just trying to heat this up,
[15:54] get a little color on it, and of course,
[15:56] drop in our flavor concoction,
[16:00] which is just going to give the chicken
[16:02] a little bit of color and a lot of bit
[16:04] of flavor. Going with white American
[16:06] cheese here. It seems to be what they
[16:08] use in Philly, and it is also my
[16:10] preferred topping. And cover it up.
[16:13] Heat's off. This is just to melt the
[16:14] cheese and make sure everybody's super
[16:17] nice and hot and warm and wonderful.
[16:19] Let's take a look. Beautiful. cheese is
[16:22] nicely melted. There we go. Got a decent
[16:25] amount of it there. Once again, I'm
[16:27] calling upon Americans to do the pro
[16:29] thing and wrap this sandwich up. It is a
[16:32] big and it needs to be glued together. I
[16:35] am going to let it sit for 5 minutes or
[16:37] so to make sure that we get the ultimate
[16:39] sandwich experience. I'm not going to
[16:41] cut the foil again because I'm okay with
[16:43] microlastics, but micro metals, I don't
[16:45] think so. So, let's just take this off
[16:47] unceremoniously. It's juicy. I can see.
[16:50] I like how moist it is inside. Let's see
[16:51] if we can get a cool cheese stretch
[16:53] here. H. Not really. But ooh, that looks
[16:56] good, though. That looks like a chicken
[16:57] cheese steak, I'll tell you. Looks like
[16:59] the cheese did not protect the bread
[17:01] whatsoever. So, you know, do that at
[17:03] your own peril.
[17:05] There's a reason this is level six. Does
[17:07] not taste of soy sauce or worashisher.
[17:10] Just like a really nice savory chicken
[17:12] flavor. Righteous level six. Worthy
[17:15] level six. Not quite a cheese steak, but
[17:20] damn close. Like if you didn't eat beef,
[17:22] this is satisfying in a way that chicken
[17:26] isn't normally. That's all there is to
[17:28] it. It's fantastic. Worthy level six.
[17:30] >> If this cheese steak is upgraded, does
[17:32] that mean you were sandbagging on the
[17:34] first two?
[17:34] >> I guess that depends. What does
[17:36] sandbagging mean again?
[17:38] >> Like you were intentionally making them
[17:41] worse, like being worse so that you
[17:43] could then come back and be better
[17:45] later. Yes. Yes. Yes. Level seven, an
[17:49] upgraded homemade Philly cheese steak
[17:51] that at least starts to resemble the
[17:52] ones from the shop. The biggest barrier
[17:54] to entry for Philly cheese steaks at
[17:56] home is shaving the steak really thin.
[17:59] And when you get it from the grocery
[18:00] store, it can be tough. It can be dry.
[18:03] So, how do we get steak really thin
[18:05] without, you know, going out and buying
[18:06] a deli slicer? The answer, I think, lies
[18:08] in the mandolin. You can get these for
[18:10] not very much. That leads us to the
[18:12] other question. What kind of beef to
[18:13] use? We need something not only widely
[18:15] available and inexpensive, but something
[18:18] that'll fit on a very narrow mandolin. I
[18:21] think there's only one answer. I have
[18:22] here some beautiful skirt steak, but it
[18:24] is very, very, very tough if it isn't
[18:27] eaten or sliced correctly. You've got a
[18:30] extremely strong grain structure here.
[18:32] And if you try to slice it with the
[18:35] grain, it's going to be the equivalent
[18:36] of eating a meaty rope. But if you slice
[18:39] across the grain, you're basically pre-
[18:40] chewing the meat for yourself. And isn't
[18:42] that delicious? Isn't that what we want
[18:44] to do? So, I'm going to wrap this up in
[18:45] plastic wrap and wrap it really, really
[18:47] tight. I want to compress these together
[18:50] as much as possible. And I'm going to
[18:51] put this in the freezer, not until it's
[18:53] completely frozen, cuz then it'll be
[18:55] very hard to slice, but until it's quite
[18:57] firm, uh, probably at least an hour.
[19:02] Oh yeah, that's doing it. Moral of the
[19:04] story being, lightly freeze your meat.
[19:06] Don't get it completely solid. If you
[19:08] do, let it thaw for a couple hours in
[19:10] the fridge so it's really really firm
[19:12] but not totally frozen. And uh run it
[19:15] through a mandolin. Beautifully shaved
[19:17] steak. Perfect for our cheese steak. If
[19:20] you've never been to Philly, this is why
[19:22] you haven't tried Philly cheese steak
[19:24] cuz it's so hard to get the beef. Right.
[19:27] Now for the bread. And if you want to go
[19:28] super authentic, you got to go to the
[19:30] source. What we have here is Amaros's
[19:33] bread and rolls. These guys are a Philly
[19:36] based bakery that makes the
[19:38] quintessential Philly cheese steak roll.
[19:40] I got these from a restaurant supply
[19:42] store. I'm going to let this guy defrost
[19:43] completely. Slice them open, scoop them,
[19:45] toast them, fill them, eat them. So, I'm
[19:48] going to use green and red bell peppers.
[19:50] I know it's not super authentic of me,
[19:52] but there's two very important reasons
[19:53] why I'm using them. I like them, and you
[19:56] can't stop me. But, I'm also busting out
[19:59] the new hotness. This is a prototype I
[20:01] had the boys upstairs dream up. This is
[20:03] a cast iron griddle. As you can see,
[20:05] there's a very, very thin rim. This is
[20:07] perfect for searing burgers, uh, cheese
[20:09] steaks, and the like. But also, if you
[20:11] flip it over, it is completely flat and
[20:13] it becomes a pizza steel. It is so big
[20:16] that you need to use it over a very
[20:18] large burner or you need to preheat it
[20:20] in the oven. So, I'm going to throw this
[20:21] in a 500° Fahrenheit oven for 10, 20
[20:24] minutes. Got our peppers and onions.
[20:30] Here comes our beef.
[20:35] Flip it over. Make sure everybody's
[20:37] getting a good sear on it. I'm doing
[20:40] white American on the meats because I
[20:42] think it's the best choice for a cheese
[20:44] steak topping in terms of texture and
[20:47] minimal flavor. But I also do want to
[20:50] acknowledge the value of proolone on the
[20:52] inside of the bread. Hopefully insulate
[20:54] it from some of the juices.
[20:58] Oh, nice. This is a restaurant style
[21:02] sandwich wrapper. You can get these
[21:03] online. Basically, you've got a uh layer
[21:06] of parchment paper and a layer of
[21:08] aluminum foil to keep things toasty. All
[21:10] right, it's been 5 minutes. Let's see
[21:11] how our Philly style Philly cheese steak
[21:13] has fared.
[21:17] That's a juicy cheese steak. It's almost
[21:19] like a Chicago beef.
[21:28] >> It's so juicy. It's dripping because
[21:31] it's such fatty, rich meat. There's no
[21:34] way this is going to come out dry. Even
[21:36] if you overcook it, it's still going to
[21:38] be pretty juicy. I don't even think we
[21:39] can get much higher, but we have to try.
[21:42] So, on to level eight.
[21:44] >> Bradley Cooper has Oscar nominations.
[21:47] Why does he also get to have a legendary
[21:49] cheese steak spot?
[21:49] >> Well, I think because life is
[21:51] foundationally unfair. Uh, it's
[21:54] something you discover as you get older
[21:55] and it grows more and more true with
[21:56] each passing year. And you look at a guy
[21:58] like Bradley Cooper and you're like,
[22:00] that's unfair that he hasn't actually
[22:01] won any Oscars. Level eight, how do you
[22:04] improve an already upgraded really,
[22:06] really good homemade cheese steak?
[22:10] You go to the shop and you get one.
[22:11] Specifically in New York City, the best
[22:13] cheese steak you're going to get is from
[22:14] Danny and Coops. This, of course, is the
[22:16] famous collaboration between Bradley
[22:18] Cooper and D'Angelos. Largely considered
[22:21] to be the best Philly cheese steak in
[22:22] Philly, even though I like Dalisandre's
[22:24] a little better. Here's the thing. I
[22:25] just went out and got this. I drove an
[22:27] hour and a half to get it from Alphabet
[22:30] City in Manhattan. Brought it back here.
[22:31] It was a little cooled off from the
[22:32] drive. So, I threw it in a low oven and
[22:34] I forgot about it for a while. So, it's
[22:38] going to be a little over toasted. The
[22:39] bread's probably going to be crustier
[22:41] than it's meant to be. I haven't even
[22:42] looked at this thing yet. Didn't even
[22:44] blink when I almost ruined it in the
[22:46] oven. It's like, nope, I'm made by
[22:48] Bradley Cooper. It is properly gooed
[22:51] out. The roll feels great. It's like
[22:53] nice and crusty and firm, but you can
[22:54] tell that it's going to give.
[22:58] Oh boy. Perfectly seasoned. The bread is
[23:01] just right. Like it's nice and soft and
[23:04] yielding, but has a great crusty
[23:05] exterior. Probably even greater because
[23:07] of its stent in the oven. A symphony of
[23:10] meat and a very worthy level eight.
[23:12] Because the fact is, unless you put a
[23:14] lot of time and effort into it and
[23:16] money, you're not going to be able to
[23:18] make a Philly cheese steak as good as
[23:20] this at home. Does making a Korean style
[23:23] cheese steak make the people of Philly
[23:24] more or less angry?
[23:25] >> I'm guessing more, but also it's not my
[23:28] problem because I have a very special
[23:30] guest to help me with this next cheese
[23:31] steak. All right, so for this level, not
[23:33] only do I want some inventiveness on the
[23:35] Philly cheese steak format, I want some
[23:38] professional help. Something I think we
[23:39] can all agree I desperately need. So,
[23:42] here to help me is the chef and owner of
[23:44] the one and only Mission Sandwich
[23:45] Social, Chef Brian Sa.
[23:47] >> What an intro. My goodness. Thank you.
[23:50] >> One try. You're not giving you're not
[23:51] seeing cut scape. None of those little
[23:53] stupid bumps like pushins that are
[23:55] clearly covering up for YouTubers
[23:57] problems.
[23:58] >> I was not standing there for half an
[23:59] hour. Not at all.
[24:00] >> So your restaurant is Mission Sandwich
[24:02] Social.
[24:02] >> Yes.
[24:02] >> Tell me a little bit about it.
[24:03] >> Restaurant, Sandwich Shop, Potato
[24:05] Potato. Mission Sandwich Social has now
[24:08] been open for proudly say 4 years now.
[24:11] It is a place where I can really spread
[24:14] my wings as a chef because I can do
[24:16] pretty much any type of cuisine I want.
[24:18] Put it in between two slices of bread.
[24:20] And guess what? I'm home for dinner
[24:22] every night. So,
[24:24] >> what are you going to do today to a
[24:25] Philly cheese steak?
[24:27] >> We're going to make some Philly people
[24:28] real mad.
[24:30] >> How many people you're going to film?
[24:31] Let's go.
[24:32] >> You know what? The more the better.
[24:33] We're making a Koreanstyle
[24:36] Philly cheese steak. And we're going to
[24:38] use a very special bulgogi recipe
[24:41] because not only is this the bulgogi
[24:43] recipe that you can taste at my place,
[24:45] Mission Sandwich Social, but it's also
[24:47] the one I used to beat Bobby Fle. All
[24:51] right, that's right.
[24:52] >> Well, if there's one group of people
[24:54] that you want mad at you, it is
[24:55] Philadelphiaians.
[24:57] I'm going to be here as your Sue if you
[24:59] need anything. Otherwise, I'm going to
[25:01] be behind the camera talking to you the
[25:03] whole time and u distracting you from
[25:05] the very important work that you're
[25:06] doing. Thank you so much for coming.
[25:07] >> All right, I'm going to show you guys
[25:09] the amazing art of cutting gou. And if
[25:13] you guys didn't know, gochu is the word
[25:15] in Korean for chili, but it's also the
[25:19] word in Korean for business. And when I
[25:22] say business, I mean I I guess in
[25:26] Korea that's what they look like. I'm
[25:28] only half Korean, so mine only looks
[25:30] half like this.
[25:33] Uh this is Korean brown rice vinegar.
[25:37] This is unremarkable brown sugar along
[25:40] with unremarkable kosher salt. Uh we do
[25:44] not want to bring this to a boil. We
[25:46] want to heat it up until the sugar and
[25:50] salt is uh dissolved. It's a quick
[25:53] pickle. You put in the pickling liquid
[25:55] hot, it's going to pickle much faster.
[25:57] Marinade time. my famous vulgi marinade
[26:00] that I learned from my mom. Same recipe
[26:03] I used to beat Bobby Fle. Same recipe
[26:05] that you can try at Mission Sandwich
[26:07] Social. And it starts with unremarkable
[26:10] brown sugar. Uh soy sauce.
[26:13] Oh no, red wine. I confused this red
[26:15] wine for soy sauce, but guess what?
[26:18] There is soy sauce in this recipe. And
[26:20] we're going to put that in there. I know
[26:22] in my reaction videos I say all the time
[26:26] water is the enemy of flavor, but in
[26:28] this case there's so much flavor. You
[26:31] need to add the water in there. So we're
[26:33] going to put some water into this
[26:35] marinade. Sesame oil, I think, is one of
[26:37] the signature flavor profiles of Korean
[26:40] cuisine. Garlic, very important. Some
[26:43] onion. My mom's secret ingredient is
[26:45] pineapple juice. And I think my mom
[26:48] didn't really know what she was doing
[26:50] other than she knew pineapples are
[26:52] fruity and tropical and sweet, but
[26:55] pineapples contain something called
[26:57] bromelain, which is an amazing
[27:00] tenderizer. So, uh, that actually
[27:03] contributes to your beef turning out a
[27:05] lot more tender. We're just going to
[27:07] whisk this. And guess what? We're done.
[27:09] And, uh, now we move on to slice in some
[27:12] beef. Don't break eye contact.
[27:16] Then get your hands in there. This will
[27:20] go into the fridge. We're going to make
[27:23] comfy. So, we're going to fancy up this
[27:25] scallion. We only want to use the white
[27:28] segment because if you try to comy this
[27:32] green segment here, it will singe and
[27:34] burn and be very bitter. We don't want
[27:36] that. We also don't want to cut it too
[27:39] small. I'm kind of like quartering it.
[27:41] This is going to shrink down a lot. We
[27:45] are going to use dryaged beef tallow.
[27:48] We're going to melt this down. Turned
[27:50] off the heat. Letting the residual heat
[27:53] take it the Oh, man.
[27:58] White segments of scallion. It's going
[27:59] to go in the oven.
[28:00] >> Oh, your oven cuff.
[28:01] >> Uh oven. Uh pot.
[28:03] >> Oh,
[28:04] >> you can see it's already wilting down.
[28:06] So, it's pretty warm. And just kind of
[28:09] let it sit.
[28:10] >> Wow. Those really did shrink.
[28:12] >> Yep.
[28:14] Wow. Let's prep the uh pear salad. Don't
[28:18] waste this. This is good stuff. Now, we
[28:20] submerge this in ice water. It's going
[28:22] to remove some of the intense alkalinity
[28:26] that is the signature uh bite that some
[28:29] people don't like from onions. Got some
[28:32] cold water. We're going to squeeze some
[28:33] lemon into there.
[28:35] So, the reason I came over here on
[28:37] camera is to ask you what role Asian
[28:39] pear plays in marinades and and bulgogi
[28:42] cuz when I've eaten them on their own,
[28:44] they're extremely plain taste.
[28:45] >> Mhm. Well, then uh you've had really
[28:48] Asian pair.
[28:49] >> That answer my question. Thank you.
[28:51] >> But now I'm worried about this Asian
[28:53] pair. Scallions nice and curly. Now,
[28:55] this is how you get on to Top Chef.
[28:59] >> So, uh
[29:01] >> sorry, what is that?
[29:02] >> Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Kosugaro. Uh, dried
[29:04] Korean chili flake. Touch of salt.
[29:07] >> Go is quite mild.
[29:09] >> Yes, it is mild. A little more lemon
[29:11] juice. Okay. Just a touch of sesame oil.
[29:14] >> All right. Salad done.
[29:16] >> That looks fantabulous. Tell me a little
[29:18] bit about what went into developing this
[29:21] Dutch crunch.
[29:21] >> Well, I started planning Mission
[29:25] Sandwich Social during the pandemic
[29:27] after I was let go from my job. And
[29:31] while everybody was trying to make
[29:33] sourdough for the first time, I decided
[29:37] to make Dutch crunch. Now, I can't tell
[29:40] you what the secret is or I'll go to
[29:43] your house and end you,
[29:46] but uh there is a paste that it it's
[29:49] rice flour. Rice flour paste. You brush
[29:51] it on top. It is a soft sweet roll.
[29:56] Despite the name, it's actually on the
[29:58] softer side. But when it toasts, it
[30:00] toasts magnificently.
[30:10] Scallion comfi. Going to get brushed
[30:13] onto this Dutch crunch.
[30:19] Sharp provolone for flavor.
[30:22] Regular proolone for texture. Melty
[30:26] gooiness.
[30:29] >> Wow. There we go. Deserves trousers.
[30:31] There we go.
[30:32] >> Look at that.
[30:33] >> This isn't very pretty. This is their
[30:34] comfy
[30:35] >> back to differ.
[30:36] >> But we're going to stuff that in there
[30:38] at least.
[30:40] >> Put that in there. Some of our Asian
[30:43] pear salad.
[30:45] Pickled dick.
[30:46] >> Pickled penis.
[30:48] >> Okay. Put that. Tuck it in a little bit.
[30:52] Bring that in. That's going to compact
[30:54] the sandwich.
[30:58] >> Look at that. Cheers.
[30:59] >> Cheers.
[31:00] >> Thank you.
[31:03] >> This is not a cheese steak. It's my
[31:05] version of a cheese steak, but it's a
[31:07] great sandwich,
[31:08] >> dude. I was going to say that it's
[31:10] immediately recognizable as a cheese
[31:12] steak. Obviously, there's new flavors.
[31:13] Yeah, but you're hitting all the notes
[31:15] to make it a cheese steak. I don't care
[31:17] what Philadelphia says. such a huge
[31:19] punch in flavor. I think it's also from
[31:22] your pickled uh chilies. It has an
[31:25] element that I think cheese steaks are
[31:26] missing, which is acid. Like
[31:29] >> having that that little hit of of of
[31:32] acid in there. It just it rounds it out,
[31:35] wakes it up. It makes it not so ungodly
[31:37] savory.
[31:38] >> Savory. Yes. I 100% agree. You know why
[31:40] I said it's not a cheese stick?
[31:42] >> What?
[31:42] >> There's no cheese whiz on it. I love
[31:44] cheese whiz. That was an absolutely
[31:47] extraordinary sandwich.
[31:49] I feel bad calling it level nine and
[31:53] mine level 10. So, let's just call it a
[31:55] draw. I haven't made mine yet, so I
[31:56] don't know. But
[31:58] >> let's let's call it let's call it a draw
[32:00] for 10 cuz I there's no way I can out
[32:02] sandwich that. I can just go in a
[32:04] different direction. Uh guys, go check
[32:06] out Chef Brian S on YouTube. Go check
[32:08] out Mission Sandwich Social in
[32:09] Williamsburg in Brooklyn. And thank you
[32:11] so much for coming through, man. Oh,
[32:13] pleasure.
[32:14] >> Now, I'm going to see if I can not outdo
[32:16] that, but just do that.
[32:18] >> Chicken cheese steak, Korean Philly, and
[32:21] now Chicago Philly. Do words not mean
[32:24] anything to you?
[32:25] >> Words mean plenty to me. Those words
[32:27] mean exactly what they are. Korean
[32:29] Philly, Chicago style Philly. But as I'm
[32:32] saying them, I'm realizing I'm wrong.
[32:35] Anyway, sorry. Here's the Chicago
[32:37] Philly. One of the ways in which I'm
[32:39] going to do what I'm calling a bit of
[32:41] white fusion with this cheese steak is
[32:43] by incorporating some elements of
[32:45] Chicago style beef. Recently I did
[32:47] Chicago style beef from bear. It's a
[32:49] really fantastic sandwich. I think the
[32:50] only thing missing from it is cheese.
[32:52] The thing that a Philly cheese steak is
[32:54] missing is pickled peppers, some acid,
[32:57] some heat. So what I'm going to do is
[32:59] make a gardinireish
[33:02] because it's not quite a jardinire.
[33:03] There's going to be no cauliflower, no
[33:05] carrots. I'm going to instead do some
[33:07] finely diced red and green pepper and
[33:10] some big old chunks of sranos. I'm also
[33:12] going to add half a scallion and a
[33:14] couple cloves of minced garlic for
[33:15] additional flavor. Coriander seed,
[33:18] crushed red pepper. There's going to be
[33:19] plenty of heat in here, but there's
[33:20] going to be a different profile of heat.
[33:22] Dried dill weed, celery seed, fennel
[33:26] seed, and 1/4 teaspoons worth of ground
[33:28] allspice. Also going to add 3
[33:30] tablespoons of kosher salt. Just enough
[33:33] vinegar to almost cover them. enough
[33:34] vegetable oil to cover them the rest of
[33:36] the way. Give that a little mixie poo.
[33:38] Let it hang out in the fridge for at
[33:40] least three days and up to I'd say two
[33:44] weeks unless you uh jar or can them. All
[33:48] right. Now for the beef. It's an all
[33:50] caps beef with an exclamation point
[33:52] because this is a prime bonein ribeye.
[33:56] Bone in. You say I don't remember there
[33:58] being any bones in a Philly cheese
[34:00] steak. You're absolutely right. which is
[34:03] why we're going to remove the bone, but
[34:05] still put it to wonderfully good use. If
[34:07] you start here, you can run into trouble
[34:09] with these bones. They get wider as you
[34:11] go. So, you'll start slicing bones. So,
[34:12] I like to start with these guys. Get
[34:15] around them. Voila. We're hanging on to
[34:18] these cuz we're going to be using this
[34:21] to make some broth. Now, for the ribeye,
[34:25] we are just doing a dry brine. Pretty
[34:27] generous sprinkling of salt on every
[34:29] facet. Not every day that you get prime
[34:32] beef and a cheese steak outside of Las
[34:33] Vegas. That is God, I hate Vegas. This
[34:36] guy's headed into the fridge uncovered
[34:38] for up to three, four days. I'm going to
[34:41] do two. All right, here's our roast. It
[34:43] has spent 2 days in the fridge
[34:45] uncovered. You can see it's dried out on
[34:47] the outside. It's going to give us a
[34:48] better crust. This guy's headed into a
[34:50] 275 300°ree Fahrenheit oven until it
[34:53] reaches an internal temp of 105 110.
[34:56] Probably going to come up at least 15
[34:57] degrees uh in post. So, it's still going
[34:59] to be nice and medium rare. Even if it
[35:02] were undercooked, that's fine because
[35:03] we're going to give it a secondary cook.
[35:05] So, I'm going to let this cool uh at
[35:07] room temperature for an hour or two. And
[35:09] then I'm going to fridge it until it's
[35:10] completely cooled before slicing it.
[35:12] Nicely rare, very tender. Pulls right
[35:16] apart. That's going to be perfect. There
[35:17] you have it. An absolute mountain of
[35:20] unbelievably high quality, beautifully
[35:23] cooked, and ultra tender beef. So tender
[35:26] in fact that I can just All right. So we
[35:29] are of course going to make our own
[35:30] cheese. Obviously I am going to use
[35:33] sodium citrate to stabilize a cheese
[35:36] product. In other words, make a fancy
[35:38] homemade American cheese. So I have here
[35:40] 3/4 of an ounce of sodium citrate. This
[35:42] is going to be enough to treat 6 ounces
[35:44] of milk against 18 ounces of cheese. For
[35:47] cheese, I'm going to use mostly Monterey
[35:49] Jack cuz it's an excellent melter. has a
[35:50] nice neutral flavor. As a nod to the
[35:53] provolone so often used in the Philly
[35:54] cheese steak diaspora, I'm going to add
[35:57] a little bit of extra sharp provolone.
[35:59] Just enough to give it a nice punch. And
[36:02] then to make up the rest of the weight
[36:03] up to 18 ounces, I have some mild
[36:06] proolone here. It is deli sliced, which
[36:08] is absolutely fine. I'm going to mix it
[36:10] up and give it a taste because that
[36:12] sharp provolone is so strong. No, it's
[36:15] perfect. I feel like this is going to be
[36:16] a white American cheese that h pays
[36:18] tribute to proolone in the same way that
[36:20] normal American cheese pays tribute to
[36:21] cheddar. All right, let's add our sodium
[36:23] citrate to the milk. And then while it's
[36:25] just bare simmering, I'm going to add
[36:27] all the cheese.
[36:30] It start looking pretty chunky, but
[36:31] that's cuz the cheese just isn't melted
[36:33] yet. We just got to keep heating it.
[36:35] Yeah, the stuff on the bottom, you can
[36:36] see it's super smooth and creamy. And
[36:39] we're just going to pour it right onto
[36:41] the sheet. And we don't want it too
[36:43] thick, uh, because it's going to have a
[36:45] harder time melting. Multiple thin
[36:46] slices, uh, are going to do much better.
[36:50] All right, that's the best I'm going to
[36:51] do because it's starting to seize up.
[36:52] It's a little thick, but that's cool.
[36:54] We're going to be subjecting it to
[36:55] plenty of heat, so it's going to have
[36:56] ample opportunity to melt. It's super
[36:58] mild, but it's got that proolone tang to
[37:01] it. It's got the proolone funk, but very
[37:03] background. Perfect. Cuz I'm not super
[37:05] crazy about just straight up proolone on
[37:07] my on my cheese steak. Sometimes I'll do
[37:09] a mix of American and provolone. That's
[37:11] pretty much what this is. So, it is my
[37:13] perfect fantasy. All right. To make our
[37:16] hogi bread, we need to first start with
[37:18] a pre- ferment. We need 250 g bread
[37:21] flour, a teaspoon and a half of yeast, 1
[37:24] and 1/2 cups or about 350 ml of water.
[37:29] Wrap this guy tightly with plastic wrap.
[37:32] And ideally, you want to let this go at
[37:33] room temperature overnight. I'm going to
[37:35] do 4 hours just because, well, it's
[37:38] Friday. I have tomorrow to finish this.
[37:40] And then I'm going to Atlanta to shoot
[37:42] with Alton Brown.
[37:46] >> More blood, please.
[37:47] >> Following you. Here we go. Hang up.
[37:49] >> Not to name drop, but I'm running low on
[37:51] time. I have here 644 g of semolina
[37:55] flour married to 188 g of bread flour.
[37:58] One tablespoon of salt. Half teaspoon of
[38:01] instant yeast. Whisk them together.
[38:03] Getting make sure that they're nice and
[38:05] homogeneous. One lightly beaten egg,
[38:07] room temperature. 1/4 cup of
[38:08] extra-virgin olive oil and one and 1/2
[38:10] cups of room temperature water. And of
[38:13] course, our big bubbly beautiful pre-
[38:15] ferment. Look at that. It's definitely
[38:17] going to have some nice flavor
[38:19] development even after 4 hours. And
[38:20] we're going to knead this guy until it
[38:22] passes the window pane test. All right,
[38:24] about 10 minutes later, the dough is
[38:26] looking very smooth and elastic and
[38:28] bouncy cuz it's quite sticky. You just
[38:32] keep it moving and stretch it into a
[38:35] nice taut ball. Well, that's another way
[38:37] of knowing whether or not it's ready.
[38:38] I'm able to stretch it like this without
[38:40] it tearing. This is going to take about
[38:42] an hour. We want to give it a solid
[38:44] proof and we want it to pretty much
[38:45] double in size. All right, dough has
[38:47] doubled in size at least. Let's turn it
[38:50] out. Punch it down a little bit. We got
[38:52] to get these air bubbles out of here.
[38:54] So, this will be into four pieces. 225.
[38:58] What I want to do today is shape it by
[39:01] stretching it. I have some sheet trays
[39:04] prepped with semolina flour. Gently
[39:08] draping this over top this oiled plastic
[39:11] wrap. All right, those will be a little
[39:14] experimental because I'm not sure how
[39:15] well that's going to work. All right,
[39:17] this one I'm going to try the roll out
[39:19] method. And now I'll roll it up very,
[39:21] very tight. All right, so we get a
[39:23] smoother exterior from that and a pretty
[39:26] well closed seam. Place that seamside
[39:29] down. I guess I kind of liked that
[39:31] actually. It ends up giving a much
[39:33] smoother exterior. Once again, under
[39:35] oily plastic wrap, not tucking anything
[39:38] underneath. Now, these suckers are going
[39:40] to rise at room temperature for probably
[39:43] an hour. Um 45 minutes to an hour.
[39:48] Wow. They they didn't pop up as much as
[39:50] I anticipated. Um but they spring back,
[39:55] but uh not all the way when poked. So,
[39:57] that means they're ready to go. You
[39:58] really want it as smooth as possible so
[40:00] you don't end up with streaks of egg
[40:02] whites on your loaf while they're still
[40:05] wet. You don't want these to dry before
[40:09] absolutely attacking them with sesame
[40:11] seeds. I really liked sesame seeds on
[40:14] the bread from Danny and Cooks. Those
[40:16] are headed into a 450° Fahrenheit oven
[40:18] for 15 to 20 minutes or until they're
[40:21] gorgeous. Well, for all their apparent
[40:23] flaws, these came out looking pretty
[40:25] good. Oh man, those look great. namely
[40:27] this guy and this guy. I've got two
[40:29] really strong possibilities. So, one of
[40:32] the things I'm doing with this sandwich
[40:33] is par cooking my beef and then
[40:35] finishing cooking it in a brazing liquid
[40:37] just like a Chicago style beef. This is
[40:39] going to make for a really juicy, really
[40:41] flavorful beefy cheese steak. And for
[40:43] that, I need a really flavorful brazing
[40:45] liquid. So, I'm going to make a quick
[40:47] pressure cooker stock out of those ribs
[40:49] that we saved from the roast. And I've
[40:51] got a couple onions. Plus, I have a
[40:53] little bit of our leftover shaved skirt
[40:55] steak. That's just going to bolster
[40:57] things up a little bit more. Not going
[40:58] to need much. So, I'm only going to fill
[41:01] this so that all the stuff is covered. 2
[41:04] hours even. Let's get All right, moment
[41:08] of truth. Time to put together our level
[41:10] 10 Philly cheese steak. Earlier, I
[41:12] simmeed the stock with a bunch of
[41:13] aromatics and root vegetables. It came
[41:15] out really, really bony, like bone
[41:19] brothy, which can be a little
[41:20] off-putting, but it was a beautiful beef
[41:22] flavor. So, adding all these vegetables
[41:24] is going to add some sweetness and some
[41:26] balance to the whole situation. I
[41:28] simmered it for hour and a half or so
[41:30] until it was reduced by about a third.
[41:33] That's going to make for a much more
[41:34] flavorful liquid. And of course, I
[41:36] sliced up my Americanstyle proolone
[41:39] cheese. It's a little thick and the
[41:41] slices are a little undized, but that's
[41:43] going to be just fine. All right, it is
[41:44] time also to see how our bread came out.
[41:47] I left it out uncovered overnight, which
[41:49] so long as you don't slice into the
[41:51] bread is a pretty good way to store it,
[41:52] at least for one night. Yeah, nice
[41:55] fluffy open crumb. Uh-oh, it's
[41:57] splitting. Oh, there's a hole in this
[41:59] one. Okay, well, this is our practice
[42:01] loaf. Can almost get it open, but it's
[42:03] it's torn in the back. So, okay. I think
[42:05] by leaving it out and letting it kind of
[42:07] stale like that, I think that's what
[42:08] screwed me. I feel a little less legit
[42:11] making a a sandwich that you don't close
[42:13] like a book, but it sure is going to
[42:15] make my life easier. So, I'm also going
[42:17] to toast with a bit of Chef Brian's
[42:20] dry-aged scallion infused beef tallow.
[42:24] Is it immoral for me to use another
[42:26] chef's creation in my level 10 sandwich?
[42:29] Yes. Is it borderline cowardly? Yes. Is
[42:32] it shameful?
[42:34] Yes. I'm going to throw these guys in a
[42:36] 375° Fahrenheit oven until they're
[42:38] lightly brown. Just lightly brown. We
[42:40] don't want this to get too toasty, too
[42:42] rigid. Meanwhile, I have some oil
[42:45] preheating.
[42:48] I want to get it smoking. Right next to
[42:50] it, I have the brazing liquid that is
[42:53] just sub boiling. 180° is a gentle
[42:56] simmer or a poaching temperature. Uh,
[42:58] and that's where right where we want to
[43:00] live so we don't overcook anything. Now,
[43:02] this is pretty rare, so I'm just going
[43:04] to give it a quick sear. I'm not going
[43:06] to cook it all the way through. Not by a
[43:07] long shot, and then put it straight in
[43:09] the liquid, drench it a little bit, and
[43:11] it's going to cook so gently, it's not
[43:13] going to dry out or get tough or
[43:15] anything. I'm going to start by front
[43:17] loading it with cheese. This is going to
[43:19] be a lot of cheese. You know what? I'm
[43:21] going to frontload the jardiner, too. I
[43:24] think it'll be a little difficult to to
[43:26] keep on top once I have a pile gone.
[43:28] There we go.
[43:30] Let's see if I can pile this stuff on
[43:33] here. All right, that's a lot of beef,
[43:35] but I do want a little bit in there to
[43:37] help melt the cheese, all that good
[43:39] stuff. Oh, it's holding up really
[43:41] nicely. You know, actually, I kind of
[43:42] want to cut it in half now. All right,
[43:45] that's going to be hard to wrap now that
[43:46] it's in half. But come on, work with me.
[43:50] This is what we've been training for.
[43:52] Okay, boyo. Stop saying boyo. You're not
[43:55] Irish. Okay, that looks pretty awesome.
[44:00] Let's see if I can't get a decent
[44:02] cross-section of this sucker. Here we
[44:04] go. Come on. Give me a good one.
[44:07] Oh, no cheese stretch. How's that
[44:09] possible? Look at that. The bread is not
[44:11] soggy at all. You can see it has held up
[44:14] remarkably well considering what a wet
[44:16] sandwich this is.
[44:19] Oh god, that was good. The cheese is
[44:21] just right. It's got just that little
[44:23] hints of proolone flavor without being
[44:25] too overbearing. God, that jardinire is
[44:27] so good. It brings so much heat and
[44:30] flavor, but more importantly brings
[44:31] acid. The beef is so tender, so juicy,
[44:34] so flavorful. It is, after all, prime
[44:36] slow roasted, seared, and beeftock
[44:38] braced. It's not going to not taste
[44:40] good. Man, I've had a lot of cheese
[44:42] steaks over the past 4 days, and this is
[44:45] exemplary. It's singularly delicious.
[44:49] Like this is such a fantastic mashup of
[44:52] a Philly cheese steak and a Chicago
[44:54] beef. But at the end of the day, it's
[44:56] not really a Philly cheese steak. It's
[44:58] more of a Chicago beef with cheese on
[44:59] it, which is a Philly cheese steak with
[45:02] jardinara.
[45:03] It's a little it's it it's not true
[45:06] enough to its roots. There's almost too
[45:08] much flavor. It's It's not beefy
[45:10] flavored enough. It's balanced. It's
[45:12] beautiful. It's wonderful as a sandwich.
[45:14] So, is this a cheese steak? I leave that
[45:16] up to you. But it is a fantastic
[45:18] sandwich. I don't know if I can call it
[45:19] a level 10 cheese steak just cuz it's
[45:21] straight a little bit far from Philly,
[45:23] but it's my level 10 cheese steak and
[45:26] that's really what matters at the end of
[45:28] the day. So, what did we learn today? It
[45:30] can be fun and even healthy to stretch
[45:32] concepts, but if you push them too far,
[45:35] you'll end up snapping something in your
[45:37] groin and being on bed rest for 9
[45:40] months. because that's what happened
[45:42] with level 10, a perfectly serviceable
[45:45] sandwich that had no rights being called
[45:47] a Philly cheese steak. But I hope you
[45:49] picked up some new tips and tricks,
[45:50] especially that one with the mandolin
[45:52] and the frozen beef, cuz that made the
[45:54] closest at home equivalent to a cheese
[45:56] steak, a real Philly cheese steak that
[45:58] I've ever had. So, I hope you try that
[45:59] out. More than anything, I hope you make
[46:01] yourself a Philly cheese steak. Unless
[46:02] you live in Philly, in which case, just
[46:04] go to Dallas, tell them Babish sent you
[46:06] it. They'll have no idea what you're
[46:07] talking about.
[46:09] Thanks again to Cook Unity for
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