I've been pretty crummy about posting lately but that's because I've been pretty busy cooking. Our friends bought us a Sous Vide Supreme as a late wedding gift (which I talked about here) and it's inspired me to want to cook every night.
Check out some of the things I've made recently:
Sous Vide Belly of Pork with Soy Bean and Udon Stir Fry with Momokawa Diamond Sake
We sous vide the pork belly Tuesday night, chilled it, then seared it Thursday night. Stir fry of shitaki mushrooms, udon noodles, Swiss Chard (from the backyard), and shelled edamame. Reduction of soy sauce, red wine, garlic, and bay leaves. Based of a recipe I found here.
It wasn't perfect (but oh so close). But it was pretty damn good and we learned a ton. It was also pretty quick (besides the 12 hour sous vide and 2 day rest), less than an hour of work total. We'll definitely be making this again.
Sesame-Crusted Tuna with Ponzu Sauce over a fennel-frond, grapefruit, avocado, and cucumber salad.
I'm proud of the way this dish came together because it was totally unplanned and just thrown together with stuff we had in the fridge. All the flavors matched beautifully. But the tuna was originally for Wednesday's dinner so it wasn't the freshest and dragged the meal down.
Sous Vide Seared Scallops and Oyster Mushrooms over a Soy-Ginger Butter Sauce.
At $25 a plate for a homemade meal (not counting the wine), the most expensive thing I've ever cooked. Delicious. Wine: 2010 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from Kim Crawford, New Zealand. Recipe from Bon Appetit.
The scallops were beautiful, but $3 a piece. Didn't want to take any chances over cooking them so we washed and dried them, and sprinkled with salt and pepper, then vacuum packed them with olive oil and sous vide them. We dropped the bag in ice water to quickly cool them before searing them (again, to avoid over cooking). The Soy-Ginger Butter sauce was ridiculous. This was also my first time dealing with Oyster Mushrooms.
Sous Vide and Skillet-Roasted Chicken over Barley Risotto with Acorn Squash and Spinach topped with a pan gravy.
Recipe: from Bon Appetit (adapted, I didn't have farro so I used Barley, I made a pan gravy instead of the herb Pistou the recipe makes. I had leftover spinach so I didn't buy kale.)
This is one of the best meals I have ever made in my life. You start by splitting a whole chicken in half and then vacuum packing it in olive oil and a ton of herbs and letting it marinate over night. The next day, you throw it in the sous vide for a few hours (I did 4 but I'm sure it's fully cooked in 2). Then you crisp the skin in a skillet and throw the whole pan in the oven. In the meantime, you make a risotto type dish with Barley and roasted acorn squash. The flavors are incredible, the meat is so moist and tender... Make this!!!!
Greens, Dates, Walnut, and Bacon Lardon salad (from a friends' homemade bacon), Porterhouse steak done sous vide at 133 for 6 hours and then pan seared in the rendered bacon fat. Regular 'ole baked potato.
Our friend makes his own bacon and always brings us in a slab. I cut it into lardons to crisp, I then made a warm vinagarette using the bacon fat in place of oil. Awesomesauce! 6 hours sounds like a long time but remember, the meat is just sitting in the water bath, you are doing no work. It's like a crock pot, you can go to work and leave it and it'll be fine when you get home. No overcooking is possible because it can't ever get above the temperature you have the bath set of (so 133 degrees for a medium rare steak).
Rib-Eye, Truffled Broccoli, Garlic Rosemary Potatoes.
All cooked sous-vide over 2 days, topped with a red-wine sauce. Man, would you look at that edge to edge red meat! The only way you can achieve that kind of perfect consistency is by cooking it sous-vide. I undercooked the potatoes.. they weren't so good. I have yet to perfect my sous-vide veggies.
Homemade Pasta, Spinach Pesto, Garden Tomatoes, and Herbs with Garlic Bread
I made the bread and pasta from scratch. I mixed the pasta dough before work and left it in the fridge to relax until I got home. I then used my kitchenaid attachment to roll it out. I always keep bread dough in the fridge (using the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day recipe) The tomatoes and herbs are from my backyard. The pesto was made and frozen when my basil was in its prime a few months ago. This dish is divine.
Rabbit Two Ways over Celery Root puree w/poached apples. Served with Lagunitas Bavarian Styled Doppelweizen. The most perfect pairing in existence.
The two ways: The loins were cooked sous vide, then bacon wrapped and seared. The hindquarters were braised in apple cider. Based on this recipe. This was my first time making celery root puree. I'm in love!!!!!! (Also my first time cooking rabbit)The apples were poached in the braising liquid. The greens are watercress.
Mussels and Frites w/homemade garlic aioli and Goose Island Matilda
I had just learned to make my own aioli from scratch (who knew it only took 5 minutes from start to clean up!) so was looking for ways to use it. This is an awesome 20 minute meal.
Sous Vide Short Ribs over Celery Root Puree & Peas.
I told you I loved that celery root puree. Also, these short ribs were f'ing ridiculous. Cooked to perfection over 72 hours to 134 degrees in my Sous Vide Supreme . Believe it or not, this dish took about 30 minutes to put together. I bought a bunch of short ribs when they were on sale a few weeks ago. As soon as I got them home I seasoned them with salt and pepper, vacuum packed them in groups of 4 and threw them in the freezer. So when I want to cook them, all I have to do is throw them in the water bath and walk away for 3 days. Obviously the peas steam in about 5 minutes and the celery root puree takes about 20. A quick sear of the short ribs takes 2 minutes as well. See, you can have an amazing dinner in less than 30 minutes and it can be completely from scratch!
This last one I made at a friends house so they are crappy camera phone photos but this is also the very best thing I've ever made so I'm posting them anyway. Here I am making them:
And cracking them open.
Ricotta and Egg Yolk Ravioli
Get the recipe right here, and make this immediately. Everyone you serve it to will love you forever. You only need one per person as an appetizer. 2 is good for a main course.
So, that's what I've been up to. Has anyone else been making anything amazing? Does anyone have a sous vide machine yet? I'm always looking for blog recommendations, especially those cooking sous vide, I always need more ideas for my new toy!