- [Babish] This episode
is sponsored by Cash App. When your personal finance
connects you to your funds and the stuff that matters, that's money and that's Cash App. You know what else is money? Post-apocalyptic plating,
unexpectedly cooking with fire, and mushrooms that aren't
trying to kill you. That's money, and that's Cash App. Download Cash App from the App Store or Google Play Store
today to add your $Cashtag to the 80 million and counting. (Frank groans) - What the (beep)? - Everything tastes good
when you're starving. - A man who knows to pair
rabbit with a Beaujolais. - I know I don't seem like the type. - No, you do. - [Babish] Hey, what's up guys? Welcome back to Binging with Babish, where this week we're taking
a look at Bill's rabbit from "The Last of Us," maybe the best looking plating in all of zombie media history. Now I realize that cooking
with fungus in this context might be borderline upsetting, but one of Bill's three
preparations did look like it was stuffed with a
duxelles or mushroom pâté. Speaking of upsetting, first
we have to butcher a rabbit. So if you have any affinity for one of God's more cuddly edibles, you might wanna skip to the 2:30 mark. First we have to remove the legs and arms so we're sneaking a
knife between the joints, breaking them open and cutting
between them to separate. This tougher, stringier meat is gonna get the confit treatment, method of slow cooking in fat that tenderizes,
flavorizes, and preserves. So once we've got all four
limbs graphically removed, we need to separate the
loins from the rack, which means breaking
and separating the spine at the end of the ribs,
separating the thin flat meat from the rib section, making
sure to keep it intact 'cause we're gonna need a little bit of it for our stuffed loin. Flipping the saddle over meat-side up, removing any excess connective tissue, and then beginning the arduous and delicate process of deboning. Probably something you didn't come here to learn how to do, so I'm just gonna breeze through it. But basically we're making
very careful, shallow cuts around the spine to
remove it from the roast. Then perhaps the most delicate process is frenching the ribs. First we have to snip them
off the end of the spine, cut the tops of the
ribs to an even height, slice across the bottom of and cut little holes between each rib, scraping the sinew off the bottom of each toothpick-sized bone so that each one can be popped out and freed down to the cut
point that we made earlier. All the connective tissue
that held the ribs together can then be cut away, revealing the world's most adorable free-standing French rib roast. And so concludes our ambiguous
coarse on miniature butchery. Now we can start preparing
these various cuts for further preparation. The ribs appear to be plainly roasted, so I'm just gonna hit them with a little bit of salt and pepper and let them sit in fridge uncovered for at least an hour and up to overnight. Everybody else is getting
the same S and P treatment, but as I mentioned before, the legs and hindquarters
are gonna get confit, so into a heavy dutch oven they go along with a couple sprigs of rosemary and a couple sprigs of thyme, or the survivalist-grown
herbs of your choice. Three whole peeled garlic cloves, a tablespoon of whole peppercorns, and two bay leaves. Now, normally you would want to confit in some kind of animal fat like duck fat, and while I'm sure Bill
renders his own venison fat or whatever, that's a
bridge too far from me. So I'm going with extra virgin olive oil, making sure the rabbit
parts are entirely submerged and placing this in a 225
degree Fahrenheit oven for anywhere from two to four hours until the rabbit is completely tender. Now, so long as it's completely
covered in olive oil, it should last in the
fridge for a few weeks. Just let it cool to room
temperature before refrigerating. Next up, we're taking revenge
on that aforementioned fungi, finely chopping about half a pound of hen-of-the-woods until
it's almost a paste. Also, finally, chopping two
smashed cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of picked fresh thyme leaves, and half a small shallot. Then over on the stove top, we're gonna turn this into the stuffing for our rabbit saddle. First, sauteing the shallot
for two to three minutes. Normally I would saute the mushrooms first but there's not much moisture
that needs to cook out of hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. So once the shallots are softened, we're gonna add the mushrooms and cook for an additional
two to three minutes until everybody's nicely browned. Add the garlic and thyme, and cook for an additional
30 seconds or until fragrant. And since Bill clearly
knows how to properly raid a liquor store, we're gonna deglaze with two tablespoons of dry sherry, cooking for another minute or so until all the liquid is evaporated. Set aside and allow to cool completely before stuffing our saddle. First, we're gonna pack the space between the two loins
with our duxelles mixture, gently fold it closed like a meaty cigar. Cut off all but about 1/2
inch of the flat meat, which we're gonna fold over on itself to secure the log shut. Then using toothpicks or butcher's twine, we're gonna seal the seam shut, placing ties at half-inch intervals. Now likewise, this guy can hang
out in the fridge uncovered while we mise our last bit of place. There was what looked like a carrot puree smeared around the outside of the plate. So for that, I'm gonna
roast a whole head of garlic that I've cut the top off
of, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, wrapped up tightly in aluminum foil, and roasted at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes, at which point your
kitchen will smell awesome and the garlic cloves
will look roasty toasty. Set that aside. Rip the tops off of four large carrots, retaining the greens for stock or compost. Peel and chop into chunk-sized shapes. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with neutral flavored oil
like vegetable or canola. Sprinkle with kosher salt
and retrieve a baking sheet from a preheated 400
degree Fahrenheit oven, dropping the carrots
directly onto the hot pan to get a head start on
caramelization and browning. Go ahead and roast these
guys for 20-25 minutes, giving them a shake halfway, until they're nicely browned
and tender throughout. Then dump them into an awaiting blender, along with a teaspoon of white vinegar and one tablespoon of brown sugar before pureeing on high speed. Then while the blender's running, we're gonna slowly drizzle in two tablespoons of olive oil and anywhere from 1/2 to a
full cup of chicken stock, just enough so the carrots can blend to a state of spreadable smoothness. Just make sure it doesn't end up too thin. I almost forgot our whole
head of roasted garlic, which can squeeze directly in there. And upon tasting, I decided it needed a little bit more sweetness, this time in the form of a
tablespoon of maple syrup. Once completely smooth, we
have our conceptually cruel but thematically perfect
carrot puree for our rabbit. There also appeared to be
a light salad on the plate so I'm making a simple French vinegarette, half a small minced shallot,
two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon red wine vinegar,
one teaspoon Dijon mustard, a pinch of kosher salt, a few twists of freshly
ground black pepper aggressively tiny whisk
to a state of emulsion. Now it's time to finally
start cooking stuff. So I'm gonna remove
the confit rabbit legs. Then over on the stove
top, I'm par-boiling a big handful of green beans
for about three minutes. Just enough time to cook them crisp and brighten their color. Then I'm gonna scoop them out and cool them off completely
under running water. Now in stages, depending
on their thickness, I'm gonna sear the confit rabbit legs, the stuffed saddle and
the miniature rib roasts, super high heat so they just
get a little bit of color so that we can finish
them off in the oven. It's a bit of a balancing act, 'cause you want all these tiny pieces to reach but not exceed
160 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the rabbit pieces
have some good browning and you're finishing them
off in the oven in stages, we can generously re-oil our pan and add the par-cooked green beans, and what look like some
tri-colored cherry tomatoes for a quick char, hopefully with a little bit
of fire for added coolness. This shouldn't take more
than one to two minutes. We just want to get some
nice dark char marks on the vegetables. Set those aside, and with that, it's time to plate. First, we're lightly dressing
our salad of field greens. Make sure you always dress last, right before serving, otherwise, the greens will wilt. Retrieve the rabbit
pieces from the hot box. And then on a large plate, we're laying down a big chefy
smear of our carrot puree. Just 'cause the world's ended doesn't mean that we have to lose our
sense of showmanship. Flank that with our light salad, which is gonna go very nicely
with our confit rabbit leg. Then next to that, we're gonna lean our teeny
tiny little rabbit rib roast. If you can't tell, I find
it extremely charming. And then cutting a medallion of our duxelles stuffed rabbit saddle, leaning that precariously
against the roast, and flank with our seared green beans and tricolored tomatoes. Finishing with extra salt, pepper, and olive oil if you
can spare the resources. And there you have it, Bill's post-apocalyptic rabbit three ways. But how's it taste? And the answer was surprising. Rabbit can have an
extremely funky, gamey smell when it's raw, but once cooked up, it's almost more akin
to dark meat chicken. So the rib roast was
cute, if a little bland. The stuffed saddle, especially when dipped in the carrot puree was really delicious, as you can see by my surprised
little fork movement. But the clear winner here was the confit. It was tender, moist, crisp, and imbued the flavor from
the garlicy, herby oil which, just like duck confit, paired excellently with the bitter salad, and the green beans and tomatoes were green beans and tomatoes. But speaking of pairings, I almost forgot the discerning choice for rabbit Beaujolais. This is the same bottle
as depicted in the scene, which is perfectly good, especially at its price point. And considering wine
had stopped being made four years prior, I was only a little disappointed because in a previous scene, we saw my man lifting in case of Caymus. But overall, this is a light, elegant, romantic little lunch, especially given the world
in which it takes place. I'm normally not even
that big a fan of rabbit but I decided to induct this guy into the Clean Plate Club
by making it my dinner. Thanks again to Cash App. That's money, that's Cash App. Download Cash App from the App Store or Google Play Store today to add your $Cashtag to the
80 million and counting. (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues)
