Tag Archives: sous vide

Short Ribs Experiment!

15 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Dinner, Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Per usual, I bought an unfamiliar ingredient and picked out the perfect recipe without reading it through. Short ribs were on sale and they were going to happen, whether the fam wanted them or not.

The recipe I wanted to try was Tom Colicchio’s lovely wine-marinated, slow-braised short ribs (which required marinating overnight in a bath of red wine, herbs and aromatics). Next thought…why not use the sous vide?? Welp, that short ribs recipe instructed a 48(!) hour cook in 180 degree water.

Aha moment! I can cook the ribs sous vide all day in the marinade and then do 1.5 hour braise just in time for dinner. Right? (Here goes nothing.)


First, I seared the ribs at high heat, took them out of the pan, and added the veggies and garlic in the pan. Second, I added a bottle (do it big) of Pinot noir to reduce with the veggies and with added sprigs of thyme.

(In the meantime, I set up the sous vide to preheat to 180 degrees – this takes a good bit of time so I heated up water in the tea kettle – to add to the water bath and speed up the water-heating process.)

I retrieved some chicken stock from the freezer and added it to the wine reduction (now cooling). Then added the ribs to the plastic bag with the wine marinade/cooking liquid, and vacuum-sealed the bag. Once the sous vide was preheated, I added the bag of yumminess and left it in there to cook for 6 hours.

After that, I poured all of the contents in a Dutch oven and put it into a 350 degree oven with the lid ajar for an hour and a half. I grilled the ribs before serving, and reduced the liquid, simmering in the pot, while the ribs were getting roasty and charred on the edges.

The ribs were not “fall apart” tender but were seriously delicious. The leftovers were kept in the liquid for dinner on Monday, and I just poured them in a pan to heat up and further reduce for dinner time.

Oh my.

(WARNING: DO NOT CLICK TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF THE ABOVE PHOTO. MAY CAUSE DROOLING AND LOSS OF BREATH.)

The combo of Chef Colicchio’s marinade and the combo sous vide/braising cooking technique really paid off. I essentially took a three-day process between the two recipes and shrunk it down to eight hours, with a quality reheat the next day.

I served them over rice, but mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles would be divine.

Sous Vide or How I Leveled-Up My Meat Cooking

19 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by in Dinner, Lunch, Miscellaneous

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

There is a saying that “Perfect is the enemy of good.” Which is also my not-so-excusable reason for the delay on posting. (Whoops!🙃)

BUT I have been having so much fun with my new cooking toy and can’t wait to share my adventures so far. 

So here she is, my Anova Precision Cooker. In brief terms, “sous vide” is the process of cooking food sealed in plastic (vacuum-sealed or just freezer bags with the air squeezed out). 

And just FYI, I have a cool little vacuum sealer (Waring Pro Pistol Vac), which I love. Completely not necessary. (It’s so fun though!)

​​
My first attempt was cooking 1 1/2 inch thick ribeye steaks heavily seasoned with salt/pepper and rosemary sprigs. Because I had to run around town that evening, I cooked them that morning at 129 degrees for 2 hours. (Here are some lovely charts from The Food Lab on the effect of different temps and times on steak.) That night I was able to pull them from the fridge, pat dry, and sear them quickly in a very hot pan, and have them on the table in minutes. The color was gorgeous and the texture was much more tender than when cooked with mostly high heat. 

Note: because they absorbed so much of the seasoning in the bag, there is no need to season again before searing.

After that first use, I realized that there are some serious advantages to the sous vide process.

  • Can pre-cook meats to exact desired doneness, refrigerate, and sear/serve whenever you want with 2-3 days.
  • No clean up. Just dump the water out of the plastic bin. (Nice!)
  • Easy to cook (gorgeous) chicken breasts for the week’s lunches.
  • Can put the bin and cooker on the porch or in the garage, so it doesn’t necessarily take up kitchen space.
  • Is operated via app, so you are alerted at every step (can’t overcook.)
  • No need to “rest” after searing.
  • Can completely skip defrosting, just add 30 minutes to 1 hour to the cook time (depending on six of meat).

(For cons, the only real drawback is the cost, but at about $150 it still costs less than a good blender or mixer and would potentially see much more use.)

Next up, I put frozen pork tenderloins (sealed with Greek seasoning, oregano, garlic) in the water – a few minutes before the water was fully preheated to defrost the pork a bit. (Cooked for 2 hours at 135 degrees – halfway between medium-rare and medium.) Then seared in hot skillet on all sides. Here is an article detailing the temps and any food safety considerations. Even the food safety cautious Hubs was good with the final product. This was really nice, great texture and it was easy to get a nice crust.


For an extensive look at sous vide recipes and techniques, The Food Lab over at Serious Eats has all of the information you need to get started.

I can honestly say that this has completely replaced the slow cooker for me, and has quickly become essential in my weekly meal planning, both for quick dinners and easy lunches. Let me know if you have any questions, and will keep you updated as I try new recipes.