Beef Sirloin with Onions and Finger Potatoes

Sous Vide Details: 131F for 3-6 hrs for the steaks and 183F for the potatoes  (1 hr) and onions (45 min)

Ingredients - Serves 2:

• 2 sirloin steaks (as big or small as you prefer)
• 4 sprigs of thyme and rosemary
• Salt and Pepper
• Onion wine sauce:
• 1 t honey
• 1 t orange or lemon zest
• 1 t sugar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• Salt to taste
• Fingerling potatoes:
• 1 lb fingerling potatoes or any other small potato
• 1 T chopped thyme
• 2 T minced shallots
• 3T unsalted butter
• 2 T EVO
• Salt and pepper to taste

I had to virtually eliminate meat from my diet, doctor's orders :-(.  But every once in a while, I can't resist some "red meat"!  Luckily my wife enjoys a good steak too!  So enjoy this recipe as you won't see many beef ones on this site!

One of the many benefits of sous vide is that it can take less tender, lower quality meats and turn them into mouth watering buttery pieces of "heaven"!  Really. For instance, sirloin steak is not considered in the "fillet Minion" class, but when cooked sous vide....  delectable!  And at $4/lb, it's even more delicious!

So here's the deal, if you want to do everything sous vide, this recipe really works best if you have TWO sous vide devices (luckily I have two).  Other wise, you have to do the potatoes and onion sauce FIRST and then do the steaks.  That elongates the cooking time by 1 hour.  Alternatively, if you only have one sous vide device, I recommend you simply do the potatoes and onion sauce using your favorite method (stove top or oven).  That way you can do them while the steaks are cooking.

If you DON'T have two sous vide devices, the timing is a little longer.  You need to actually do the potatoes and onions first, then keep them warm (in aluminum foil).  Lower the water bath to 131F using ice cubes then do the steaks.

So the beef prep is a snap.  Just salt and pepper the steaks and pop them into separate bags.  Add thyme and rosemary sprigs to each bag and seal.  Again, remember not to over due it on the aromatics as sous vide magnifies the flavors.  Put them in the water bath at 131F (for medium rare) and cook for at least 3 hours and as much as 8 hours.

Now for the potatoes, cut them into bite size pieces (I halved them) and put them in a bowel.  Add the EVO, chopped thyme, minced shallots and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well and pop into a bag and seal.  Set aside.

For the onion sauce, heat a sauce pan to medium.  Add the honey, vinegar, orange zest, and sugar.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Add the red wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir to mix.  Slice the onions thinly (cut thin slices and half the slices) and put into a bowl.  Pour the sauce into the bowl and mix with the onions.  Pour everything int a bag and seal.  This is where the chamber sealer comes in handy.  If you don't have a chamber sealer, you can use a zip lock freezer bag and lower the bag (with the onions and sauce) into some water slowly, which will press all the air out of the bag.  Then slowly zip the bag shut as you go.  This is using "Archimedes principle" for cooking!  While this is cool, I prefer a chamber vacuum sealer!  It's a lot easier.

If you DO HAVE a second sous vide device, you can cook the potatoes and onions together in the second water bath (at 183F) and have them finish at the same time as the steaks.  The potatoes will take about 1 hour while the onion sauce will take about 45 minutes.  So time their entry into a water bath accordingly to end at the same time as when the steaks are done.  Again, you can be off several minutes with sous vide, so don't sweat it!  That's another benefit!

Once the steak is done, fire up a grill as hot as it gets.  Pull the steaks out and pat them dry.  Sear them on the grill (30 -45 sec per side) quickly then plate them. 

Pull the potatoes and onion sauce out.  Mix some of the steak juices into the onion sauce and plate onto the steak.  Lastly, plate the potatoes, drop some herbs of your choice (rosemary or thyme) and bon apetit! 

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