Will It Sous VIde

Pork Tenderloin

2008-06-08T17:31:00.001-07:00

Background: Pork from Trader Joe's. Hoping this recipe could be cooked in volume (~10 people with 4 tenderloins)

Recipe: Trim the pork of all fat and silver skin. Truffle Salt generously/pepper/paprika.

Temperature: 140degrees

Time: 2.5 hours

Finishing: Pan seared in pan coated with olive oil. Tenderloins are trimmed and sliced and finished searing. Served with moros (black beans and rice cooked), and spinach.

Results: Excellent, pork takes a little longer to finish than most meats. Pork was fork tender and very moist. Have already cooked this again.

Lamb Chops

2008-06-01T13:04:00.001-07:00

Background: Lamb chops from Pike Place market. Going to try fresh garlic, even though public opinion says to beware of it.

Recipe: Lamb chops, salted and pepper, rosemary, paprika, aleppo. Sliced garlic on top, carefully sealed so garlic remains on top.

Temperature: 131 degrees

Time: 4 hours

Finishing: Pan seared in small amount of butter for 2 minutes each side. Pan deglazed with red wine decreased to a thick sauce with butter. Sauce placed on top. Served with twice baked potatoes, green beans, and fresh corn (first of the season).

Result: We will call this the first successful meal sous vide. The lamb was cooked perfectly and the flavor was intense. The garlic was not overpowering as feared. Will definitely add this for doing again.

Sous Vide Halibut

2008-05-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

Background: Trying halibut based on common recipes. The halibut is fresh and from Pike Place Market

Recipe: Halibut cut into ~60z each piece. salt, pepper, onion powder to taste, topped with green onion.

Temperature: 131 degrees

Time: 35mins

Finishing: Pan seared in light butter. Deglazed pan with cream, white wine, and chives. Most of the sauce set aside, remainder of sauce used to saute fresh ramps. Halibut served on fresh arugula, topped with pan sauce.

Results: Halibut soft, but almost undercooked. Flavorful, but almost poached tasting. Sauce made the dish. Next time, increase time by 15-20mins.

Short Ribs

2008-05-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

Background: This is the first long cook experiment. The short ribs came from the University Farmer's Market from the Vashon Island meat guy.

Recipe: Salt, Pepper, Aleppo Pepper, Garlic Powder sprinkled over meat. Vacuum sealed.

Temperature: 139degrees

Time: 30 hours

Finishing: Pan seared until browned, finished with a morel mushroom red wine sauce. Served with western style baked beans.

Result: Good not great. 30 hours was a bit too short for cookign time. Needed probably closer to 48hours. Will definitely try again though.

Sous Vide Cooking

2008-05-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

I can not recollect where I first heard of sous vide cooking. I think it might be from the TV show "Top Chef", or maybe from Wired magazine. It is definitely one of those new techniques that immediately draws in someone like me since it is the combination of cooking and science and requires the purchase of new equipment. But somehow I have been drawn to it and have just begun the experimentation required. This blog is the documentation of this exploration.

A good definition of "under vacuum" cooking is here. Although there is a book on Amazon for over $200, the best resource is the forum on eGullet with over 62 pages of discussion, technique, recipes, and resources. A few other really great web resources such as this link are a great start to understand the technique, safety requirements, and equipment necessary.

There are three essential pieces of equipment needed for sous vide cooking. The first piece is the vacuum sealer. Although there are restaurant grade sealers that are quite pricey, the consumer food saver product works just fine. The second piece of equipment is something that regulates the water temperature. This is sometimes combined with the third piece of equipment which is a heating vessel for the water bath. The more expensive restraunt solution is in the thousands of dollars, but for home use to start, a cheap crock pot or rice cooker as the vessel, and this solution does a great job for the temperature regulation. Pictured above is my setup. I went for the 30cup rice cooker and the PID control linked here. I am really happy with this equipment and the ability to hold the temperature constant and ease of use. So far we have tried salmon, beef and fruit. But you quickly realize this is a long term experiment to find the perfect technique.

The taste is like no other; a buttery custard like texture. This blog will document the meet, temperature, time and results. So there is really only one question. Will it Sous Vide?