10 Levels of Philly Cheesesteak — Full Breakdown & Transcrip

[00:04] Philly cheese steak. As chalk full of

[00:07] beef, cheese, and grease as the city

[00:10] that bears its name. I love Philly.

[00:12] Okay. I'm a huge Everybody knows I'm a

[00:14] huge Flyers fan. Hockey, right? Is that

[00:17] hockey? They're known for so many great

[00:19] things. They got the Philly cheese

[00:21] steak. They got Rocky. They got the

[00:23] Liberty Bell. I guess it's broken. Ben

[00:26] Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin. Ah, if you

[00:29] think that I've insulted Philadelphia,

[00:31] you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm sorry

[00:33] ahead of time, but this is 10 levels of

[00:35] Philly cheese steak.

[00:56] A big thank you to Cook Unity for

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[01:29] out.

[01:30] >> Is Flavortown a place you'd like to

[01:31] visit?

[01:32] >> I would not travel to Flavor Town right

[01:35] now. According to the US travel advisory

[01:37] website, you should proceed with caution

[01:39] as there is civil unrest. There is a

[01:42] lack of indoor plumbing. The water

[01:44] itself is diarrhea. And on top of that,

[01:47] the food scene is just not what it used

[01:48] to be. Level one cheese steak. Where

[01:51] exactly is the bottom of the barrel in

[01:54] terms of a cheese steak experience?

[01:55] Well, I can tell you firsthand. It's

[01:57] this right here. Guy Fury's Flavor Town

[02:01] Super Melty Philly Cheese Steak Tots

[02:03] Bowl. I recently tried this as part of a

[02:05] frozen dinner ranking over on the Beyond

[02:07] Babage channel. Uh, and I awarded it a

[02:09] commensurate score with its quality,

[02:11] that being a one. It only got a one, not

[02:14] a zero, because the cheese sauce wasn't

[02:16] that bad. But everything else was, I

[02:19] won't say a crime, but a misdemeanor at

[02:21] least. There are no oven directions. If

[02:23] you want crispy tater tots, suck my ass.

[02:26] There's only microwave directions. Right

[02:28] away, I can tell you the tater tots

[02:30] might as well be mashed potato. Look at

[02:33] the way that's come apart. If you look

[02:35] at this package, it features pieces of

[02:39] actual beef. And if you look closely at

[02:41] this, you'll see that the steak bits are

[02:46] pressed and formed like stums. The

[02:48] flavor really all you taste is the

[02:50] cheese sauce and it's not bad. It tastes

[02:52] like a Vita Rotel queso. The textures

[02:55] are unforgivable. The tater tots are

[02:58] ridiculous. They I don't know whose idea

[03:00] it was to put tater tots in an enclosed

[03:03] bowl to be microwaved. It is an absolute

[03:05] crime against Philly, against cheese,

[03:07] and against steaks. There you are. Level

[03:10] one Philly cheese steak. About as low as

[03:13] it goes.

[03:14] >> Now, I know the whole thing's wrapped up

[03:15] in nostalgia, but if you had to pick a

[03:17] favorite part of the Hot Pocket, what

[03:19] would it be?

[03:20] >> It's a weird question, but if I had to

[03:22] pick my favorite part, it is the thing

[03:23] that is literally wrapped up in, which

[03:25] is the crisping sleeve. It's a

[03:26] technological marble and I hope they

[03:29] never get rid of it. Level two, Philly

[03:32] cheese steak, specifically hot pockets.

[03:34] We're taking a step out of the

[03:36] completely inedible and into borderline

[03:38] enjoyment. I'm going to get to feel like

[03:40] I'm back in high school.

[03:43] This doesn't come with a crisping

[03:44] sleeve.

[03:48] This not come with crisping sleeves.

[03:51] Where's the the crisping sleeve?

[03:54] Where's the crisping sleeve? There's no

[03:56] crisping sleeve. What am I to do? They

[03:58] sure do look different from when I was a

[04:00] boy. There's this browning and kind of a

[04:03] sheen to them. It says to do it in an

[04:05] air fryer, but come on. It's a hot

[04:06] pocket. It's going in the microwave.

[04:08] Okay, it's out of the microwave and

[04:10] we've experienced a small blowout on the

[04:12] side. That is to be expected. You know

[04:13] what you have to do with hot pockets?

[04:14] You need to let them rest. Otherwise,

[04:16] you will die an untimely death. It will

[04:18] burn you alive from the inside out. So,

[04:19] I'm going to spend this time

[04:20] constructively by examining the not

[04:22] brief website for why they got rid of

[04:25] the sleeve. More good stuff. 30% more

[04:28] pepperoni because they got rid of the

[04:30] sleeve. We're talking about pepperoni

[04:31] versus cardboard. This is not a one:one

[04:34] swap. Less waste. It's legit.

[04:36] Apparently, 3,300 tons of waste saved

[04:39] every year from all those Hot Pocket

[04:41] sleeves you specifically have been

[04:42] eating. The way our world works is truly

[04:44] terrifying. So, I'm not going to dig too

[04:46] deep into it. I'm going to eat this Hot

[04:47] Pocket. very little in terms of stuff

[04:49] that isn't cheese. Not a complaint

[04:52] really. The beef cannot be any better

[04:54] than what's going on in Guy Fury's tater

[04:57] tots bowl, but it's chopped into little

[04:59] itty bitty pieces. So, if it is a little

[05:02] chewy or whatever, it's basically pre-

[05:03] chewed for you. As far as level twos go,

[05:06] big step up and a pretty high four and

[05:08] how bad things can get. Would I

[05:10] recommend this as a Philly cheese steak

[05:12] analog? Absolutely not. This is kind of

[05:14] its own thing. It's an appropriate level

[05:16] two.

[05:17] >> Steak M communicates deliciousness.

[05:21] >> Steak um communicates

[05:24] >> steak um communicates what steakums

[05:26] communicate, which is is this steak um

[05:29] level three, the hilariously named

[05:32] steakums. It sounds pensive. It sounds

[05:35] unsure of itself. It sounds like it's

[05:37] got a secret. And that secret is that

[05:38] it's also chopped and formed and sliced

[05:41] beef. It is not steak. These aren't

[05:43] pieces of actual steak. That's how it's

[05:45] so darn cheap. This is probably your

[05:47] cheapest option. Oh, how do you even get

[05:49] them apart? Wow. It's been a long time,

[05:52] I guess. Oh, man. That is a bummer. Just

[05:55] a slice of lunch meat. Look at that.

[05:57] Then for bread, we got some of these

[06:00] kind of grocery store little hogies.

[06:02] Little little little sub rolls. And for

[06:05] cheese, of course, we're going to use

[06:06] unmelted craft singles. Let's put in our

[06:11] steak. Wow, there's a lot of fat in

[06:13] that.

[06:15] Oh, what a horrible thing. I'm going to

[06:17] drop these in one at a time and then

[06:18] kind of keep them warm.

[06:21] So much fat. O, this might need to be

[06:25] downgraded below hot buckets. I don't

[06:27] know. I'm going to throw this in the

[06:28] microwave for just a sec. So, at least

[06:29] we have melted cheese. But there you

[06:31] have it. A Stakums Philly cheese steak,

[06:34] quote unquote. Whoa. A serving size of

[06:38] Stacums is one piece. That means that

[06:44] this sandwich is 1,170 calories before

[06:47] the bread and cheese, which comes out to

[06:49] 99

[06:51] g of fat. That is 126% of your daily

[06:56] value just in that beef. I'm sure a lot

[06:59] of it rendered out and is in the bottom

[07:00] of that pan right now, but I'm just

[07:02] looking at the nutrition facts, brother.

[07:04] That's awful. I I'm inclined to make

[07:07] this the level two. I don't know. I've

[07:09] changed ranks rankings in a ranking

[07:11] episode before in post-prouction, but I

[07:13] don't know how we're going to do that. I

[07:15] think I'll just say it. This is the real

[07:17] level two. This is I'd rather have the

[07:19] hot pocket than this thing. Downgrade

[07:21] level two. We'd rather have this than

[07:23] Guy Fiery's bowl of nightmares, but

[07:25] there's no way it's better than a Hot

[07:26] Pocket.

[07:27] >> What kind of trauma did the person who

[07:29] invented frozen cheesestake sandwiches

[07:31] have?

[07:32] >> Well, they're a human being on Earth, so

[07:33] I assume that they've experienced a

[07:35] great deal of trauma. Trauma is not only

[07:38] common place, it's kind of essential to

[07:39] the human experience. And it's yielded

[07:41] some incredible things. Great art,

[07:43] music, film, and frozen cheese steaks.

[07:49] Next up, a complete Philly cheese steak

[07:51] kit in a bag. The hell you say? But

[07:54] that's what this is. This is the JTM

[07:57] beef Philly cheese steak kit. Four beef

[08:00] steaks, sliced and shaped. Four cheese

[08:02] steak sandwich rolls, diced onions, and

[08:04] mozzarella cheese. mozzarella cheese. I

[08:06] bet I'm going to do a lot of things that

[08:07] will piss off Philadelphiaians in this

[08:09] episode. None of them will be mozzarella

[08:10] cheese. This beef is not chopped,

[08:13] processed. This is sliced steak shaped.

[08:17] So, I think what we're going to end up

[08:18] with here is actual strips of actual

[08:20] beef. It took us four levels to get

[08:22] there, but I think that's where we are.

[08:24] There's the rolls. They are pitiful.

[08:27] There's a big old bag of onions. And

[08:30] this is a bad sign when there's more

[08:32] onions than cheese in the Philly cheese

[08:34] steak. The idea that this is enough

[08:37] cheese for four cheese steaks does bum

[08:39] me out. Also, I'm not sure. You either

[08:43] don't have an expiration date or your

[08:45] expiration date is wildly confusing or

[08:48] this is massively expected cuz it says

[08:50] 26 and it is 2026. So, that gives me

[08:53] some hope. This looks a lot more like a

[08:55] date to me because it's a month and a

[08:56] year, but that is 3 years ago.

[09:00] There we go. Nice

[09:03] frozen onions.

[09:05] A little bit of fat coming out of this

[09:07] steak. Not nearly as much as that horror

[09:09] show. Okay, there's our little beef

[09:12] pieces. Let's see if those look real.

[09:15] They're so small it's kind of hard to

[09:16] tell, but I see real marbling. And add a

[09:19] quarter of the final logic uh mozzarella

[09:22] cheese. I'm going kill the heat. Just

[09:24] going to throw a lid over the whole

[09:25] thing to just let it kind of steam. Let

[09:27] that cheese melt. And our bread. Ah,

[09:30] it's hot out of the oven. Maybe this is

[09:33] going to be an appropriate amount of

[09:34] meat and cheese for this tiny little

[09:36] roll. Yeah, actually looks like it is

[09:38] going to be maybe just right. There you

[09:41] have it. Our level four cheese steak.

[09:43] The first one to feature whole pieces of

[09:46] meat supposedly.

[09:49] Definitely better than the steakums, but

[09:50] like the meat has a off quality to it.

[09:55] There's some flavor happening there that

[09:57] really ought to be. And this was

[09:59] 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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