You CAN try this at home: Cookbook serves up TV, movie foods

Andrew Rea’s Binging with Babish, is a recipe book that is made up of meal and desserts recipes from various movies and TV shows.

“Binging with Babish” started as a YouTube series in 2016, when Andrew Rea’s recreated the “fussy little burger” in an episode of “Parks and Recreation.”

There are a few recipes you'll marvel at but probably never want to make, like Buddy the Elf's candy-laden pasta dish from the movie "Elf" or Jake the Dog's bizarre "perfect sandwich" from the cartoon "Adventure Time," which includes human tears as an ingredient. But even with these, Rea lays out the steps to recreate them in actual, edible form.

Though he points out in the book's surprisingly moving introduction that he's not a professional chef, Rea brings a remarkable professionalism to the authenticity of his recipes. His luscious strudel, inspired by the film "Inglourious Basterds," includes dough painstakingly made from scratch.

The recipes are laid out with detailed instructions amid gorgeous photography, and Rea explains how he chose the ingredients and created the dishes. Each recipe includes his personal "verdict" on how good it really tastes.

Some dishes, it seems, are better left on the screen, including Liz Lemon's Cheesy Blasters (an artery-clogging mix of hot dogs stuffed with Monterey jack cheese, wrapped in a frozen pizza, from "30 Rock").

In this much longer follow up to his 2017 cookbook "Eat What You Watch: A Cookbook for Movie Lovers," Rea has included nods to just about every genre of film and TV. You'll find Lake Trout and Pit Beef from "The Wire," followed on the next page by Principal Skinner's favorite coconut-based seafood stew from "The Simpsons."

Whatever your TV or movie preferences may be, Rea's appealing voice and creative recipes might just inspire you to start cooking.

Associated Press.