Binging with Babish - Season 5

1. Egg Tarts from Avatar The Last Airbender

Aired: 1/7/2020

Avatar: The Last Airbender is rife with delicious-sounding foods that y'all have requested - puffin-seal sausages, fire flakes, sizzle crisps, smoked sea slug - but none sound quite so accomplishable as Aang's favorite food, egg custard tarts. Today we're taking a crack at both the show-accurate version, as well as its origin, the Portuguese pasteis de nata!

2. Dessert Dogs from The Simpsons

Aired: 1/14/2020

This week, we're returning to Springfield for a fan favorite tasty-fake: Marge Simpson's Oven Fresh Bake Off-winning dessert dogs. Deep fried cookie dough in a meringue bun, drizzled with cherry syrup and caramel? I can't think of a better way to torpedo those New Year's resolutions!

3. Marmalade from Paddington

Aired: 1/21/2020

4. Braciole from Everybody Loves Raymond

Aired: 1/28/2020

This week on Binging with Babish, I set out to make braciole from Everybody Loves Raymond.

5. Mac & Cheese from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Aired: 2/4/2020

In Quentin Tarantino's latest drug-laced, blood-soaked, profanity-peppered revisionist history masterpiece, food once again takes center stage alongside our singular protagonists. In a departure from his penchant for fictional brand names, a familiar box emblazoned in blue is shown as the preferred dinner of stuntman Cliff Booth. Can we improve on this childhood classic? Is there even a need to? Well, I decided to anyway. Sort of.

6. The Perfect Bite from YOU (Netflix)

Aired: 2/11/2020

Do yourself a favor: don't start "You" if you don't have a full day in which to binge the entire series. This trashy-fun Netflix series is, at its core, about dating...albeit in a frightening and murderous way. And dating, at its core, is about food - so it was inevitable that there end up being some delectable food porn in this stalker-rom-com. Today, we explore not only the passionately-prepared roast chicken, but the idea of the perfect bite itself!

7. Ram-Don from Parasite

Aired: 2/18/2020

Rarely does a dish serve as such a central metaphor for a film's primary conflict: in Parasite, boujee beef sits oppressively atop bargain noodles in the Park family's version of Ram-Don, the way they sit so literally atop others. It was tricky doing this one without spoilers, but I think I managed!

8. Egg Sandwich from Birds of Prey

Aired: 2/25/2020

Margot Robbie continues her streak as Americaustralia's national treasure in her second turn as the delightfully unhinged Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, a movie I have admittedly not yet seen. From what I hear though, she sheds bitter tears as her lover falls to the pavement in a fateful chase through the Gotham City streets. No, I'm not talking about the the tatted-up, purring, emo-glam Joker - I'm talking about the perfect egg sandwich.

9. Chocolate Pudding from Rugrats

Aired: 3/3/2020

About a month ago, I basically brought this episode on myself: declaring, in a popular Reddit thread, that I was working on the meme'd-out chocolate pudding from the incomparable Rugrats. Turns out there's only so much you can do with chocolate pudding - so I tried my best to do a little bit of each! Recipes inspired by America's Test Kitchen: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/

10. Turf N' Turf from Parks & Recreation

Aired: 3/10/2020

In wishing to celebrate the big 6M, Ron's favorite order at Charles Mulligan's Steakhouse seemed fitting: prime, dry-aged beef with a side of prime, dry-aged beef. Forgive me, for I have sinned. Thank you all SO MUCH for helping me reach 6 million subscribers!!

11. Bunnicorn Pizza from Star Trek: Picard

Aired: 3/17/2020

A tearful reunion of two of my favorite characters AND a dish described vividly and depicted in detail? It’s not my birthday, but it sure feels like it. Follow along this week as we recreate the hilariously Trek-appropriate “bunnicorn” pizza!

12. Cold Cure from Kenan & Kel

Aired: 3/24/2020

This week, I'm sick n' self-quarantined. Can the golden era of Nickelodeon kids sitcoms help cure what ails me? Recipe: https://web.archive.org/web/20200326004931/https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/recipes/cold-cure

13. Imaginary Pie from Hook

Aired: 4/1/2020

The Neverland feast from Hook holds a special place in all our hearts, memories, and "You're a 90s Kid If..." lists on Buzzfeed. I've been resisting making the neon-colored pies, despite their being hotly requested, for some time - namely because I think they're just pie shells filled with whipped cream. But this week, more than most weeks, we're using our imaginations! Recipe: https://web.archive.org/web/20200401185809/https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/recipes/imaginary-pie-hook

14. Brisket from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Aired: 4/7/2020

Passover approaches, and thanks to the magnificent meal made by Midge Maisel, we've got a great excuse to whip up some Jewish BBQ on the show. Slowly braised to tender perfection in a delicate balance of sweet, sour, and savory flavors, this brisket outshines even charoset at the Seder table. And that shit is delicious.

15. Ben Wyatt's Calzones from Parks & Rec

Aired: 4/14/2020

Ben Wyatt: mayor of Ice Town, occasional Batman impersonator, and unwavering disciple of the calzone. Today we celebrate Ben's fandom with a trio of his most notorious pizza pocket projects: calzone-shaped apple pie, (poisonous) mini calzones, and the low-cal-calzone-zone. Pizza is better as a sandwich, isn't it? Recipe: https://web.archive.org/web/20200418225938/https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/recipes/ben-wyatt-calzones

16. Caprese Salad from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Aired: 4/21/2020

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is a great many things: it's an adventure, it's bizarre, and it's essentially one long, uninterrupted Jojo reference. It's also, fleetingly, an enthusiastic examination of Italian food. Follow along this week as we unravel the mysteries of one of my greatest cooking fears: fresh, homemade mozzarella!

17. Margaritas from Archer

Aired: 5/5/2020

This week, H Jon Benjamin, the voice of Sterling Archer himself, joins us to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We're appropriately recreating one of Archer's many cocktails of choice: the classic margarita. A seemingly simple drink until you try to make one without doing your research in front of an audience of millions, the margarita can be taken to soaring highs or devastating lows with five simple ingredients and a cocktail shaker. Come hang out and let's celebrate together/apart!

18. Lil' Bits from Rick and Morty

Aired: 5/12/2020

Rick and Morty is back and it's Ricker and Mortier than ever - to celebrate, we're making some normal foods but all tiny and small so they don't get stuck in your lips. Take a sneak peek at my new house, chop up some kalaxian crystals, and settle in for an unusually long Binging with Babish!

19. Troy's Casserole from Community

Aired: 5/19/2020

Well, I've been terrified to tackle Troy's titular traybake for years, and in about 12 minutes you'll see why. But, Community returned yesterday with a table read from the full original cast, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate. Srap in folks, this one's gonna get weird.

20. Buttered Noodles from Community

Aired: 5/26/2020

This week, we're double-dipping in the world of Dan Harmon's lovable, irreverent collegiate caricature: Community. I'm here to defend the "weird" favorite food of Abed Nadir: buttered noodles. Yes, that impossibly plain side dish/cafeteria filler/thing you eat when you're sick. With a few simple tricks, we can upgrade this ubiquitous underdog into something worth making all on its own.