Pork Tenderloin with Risotto

Sous Vide Details: Cook Pork Tenderloin at 135F for 3 hours

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 2 lbs of pork tenderloin
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
• Risotto:
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 medium diced shallot
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms of your choice (I like Shitake)
• 1 tablespoon Cognac
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Special tool: optional 3" food ring

I have to admit I haven't eaten a lot of pork, mainly because I thought "pork = fat"!  Well, I have to admit I was wrong.  Of course, there are parts of a pig where that equation is essentially true, but pork tenderloin is very lean.  I picked up some the other weekend and decided to cook it sous vide with risotto and a haricot vert green bean and Chinese five spice tofu side dish (Click here for that recipe).  The result was AMAZING.  The pork was so tender and buttery I could cut it with a fork!  

For the pork, salt and pepper to taste and place into a bag.  Add the rosemary and seal.  Pre-heat the water bath to 135F and place the pork into the water bath and cook for 3 hours.

For the risotto, wait until there is 1 hour left on the pork before starting.  Heat up the chicken broth in a large pot until it's almost boiling and then set to simmer.  Heat up the EVO in the large pot under medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook until shallots are translucent, about 2 minutes.  Add the rice and stir to coat the rice.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until rice is translucent. Reduce the heat to medium low.  Slowly add 1 cup of the chicken broth to the rice, stirring while pouring in the broth.  Cook at a simmer until most of the broth is absorbed.  Slowly add another cup of the broth (again stirring the whole time).  Again, cook on simmer until broth is almost gone.  Add another cup and repeat.  Once that cup is almost gone, add the mushrooms and cognac and the last cup of broth.  Simmer again until almost gone.  Make sure you keep the rice from burning at the bottom of the pan.  Finally, add the parmasan cheese and cream and stir to incorporate.

When the pork is done, heat the grape seed oil in an iron skillet on medium high heat.  Remove the pork from the water bath and bag and pat dry.  Sear the pork on all sides.  Should only take 30 sec to 1 minute per side.  Remove the pork to a cutting board and slice into thick slices.

For plating, I used a food ring to plate the risotto into a perfect circle.  Place three pieces of pork on top of the risotto.  Add your favorite side dish and serve with love!

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Lobster with Seaweed

Sous Vide Details: Cook Lobster at 143F for 45 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 lb fresh main lobster
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 oz seaweed salad (can be purchased at an asian market)
• Lobster sauce:
• 1/2 cup diced shallots
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter

On those rare occasions when I indulge my craving for lobster (actually I crave lobster a lot!  Just don't cook it that often), I have found that sous vide lobster is the absolute BEST way to cook it consistently where it comes out tender and juicy every time.  Also, when you de-shell the beast before serving, it makes for a much more pleasant eating experience for my wife, so that's a big plus too!

So start out by bringing a large pot of water and the white vinegar to a brisk boil.  Add the lobster and cook for only 2 minutes.  All you are doing is making it easier to de-shell the lobster.  Take the lobster out and place it in an ice water bath to quickly cool it.

Now the hard part, de-shell the critter and extract all the lobster meat.  Remember, don't throw out the shell pieces!  Put all the shell pieces in a large pot to make the lobster sauce.  I de-shell using the following method:

1. Break off the tail at the base of the lobster body with a sideways twisting motion.  Remove all the entrails out of the tail if there are any.
2. Using kitchen shears, snip straight down the middle of the bottom of the tail from the base to the end, cutting through only the exoskeleton.  Pry open the tail and remove the tail meat through the slit you just cut.
3. Snap off each claw at the base joint connected to the body, then snap off the main claws from the arm pieces.  Using either the back of a heavy knife or some lobster crackers, crack the base of each claw all the way to the joint of the pinchers.  Break open the claw enough to be able to get the claw meat out.  Carefully pry the smaller pincher free from the joint and slowly remove the claw meat with the smaller claw intact.  Then carefully remove the smaller pincher shell and internal membrane leaving the claw meat intact.
4. Crack each arm in several places and then use the kitchen shears to cut the shell from one end to the other.  Break open the arms to expose the meat and remove.
5. Now here's the fun part.  Break off each of the crawler legs (yes, you can get meat out of those little arms easily!).  Using a rolling pin, start at the claw end of each leg and apply pressure and roll up towards the body joint end.  The meat should extrude out of the top!  Voila, more lobster meat!  Do this for each leg.
6. Put all the shell pieces (including the head) into a large pot to make the sauce.

Salt and pepper the lobster meat to taste and place into a bag along with the butter and seal.  Pre-heat the water bath to 143F and place the bag in. Cook for 45 minutes.

To make the sauce, add 1/2 cup of water or food stock to the pan with all the lobster parts.  Heat on medium high heat until it starts to steam, approximately 3-5 minutes.  Stir to get all the flavor out of the shells.  Take the pan and strain all the pieces from the liquid.  Clean the pan and return the liquid to the pan.  Heat on medium heat and add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add the white wine and cook on medium low heat until reduced in half.  Strain the sauce into another pan and add the tomato paste and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add the heavy cream and bring the sauce just to a slow boil.  Once reached, reduce to a simmer.  Add the cold butter one tablespoon at a time, whisking each tablespoon into the sauce.  In the end, the sauce should be rich and thick.  This is called mounting the sauce.

When the lobster is done, take it out of the water bath and bag.  You can plate the lobster on top of the sauce or you can drizzle the sauce on top of the lobster.  Add the seaweed and  you have a fantastic meal ready to go!

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Haricot Vert Green Beans and Chinese Five Spice Tofu

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 1 lb french green beans (haricot vert)
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 1/2 lb Chinese five spice tofu cut into strips(can be purchased at your local asian market)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVO)

I love french green beans (haricot vert)!  They are more delicate than normal green beans and when fresh, they "crunch" in your mouth after blanching!  And Chinese five spice tofu is also delicious.  Together they make a super healthy and easy to make side for any meal!

If your beans are not already trimmed, trim both ends.  Boil a large pot of water and blanch the green beans for 3 minutes.  Strain and place in ice water bath to cool them quickly.

In another large pan, heat the EVO on medium high heat until hot.  Add the tofu and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the green beans and sesame seed oil and stir for 2 more minutes until everything is hot.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Plate and serve! Yummie!

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Octopus in Butternut Squash Soup with Artichoke Hearts and Pearl Onions

Sous Vide Details: Cook Octopus at 185F for 5 hours

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 1/2 lb octopus legs (sushi grade if possible)
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 cup pearl onions
• 3 artichoke hearts cut in half
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
• Butternut squash soup:
• 1 butternut squash, skin removed and cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Special tool: hand blender

I've always loved seafood and especially the Molluscs family, including oysters, clams, snails, squid and octopus!  Usually you can see me at a Japanese restaurant with some or all of these in sushi form at my table.  I especially like sushi octopus!  But I decided to try sous vide octopus after seeing a recipe from Jen at TinyUrbanKitchen.com, a great foodie blog!  I decided to use artichoke hearts, which my wife loves instead of hearts of palm and since I didn't have cippolini onions handy at the time, I opted for pearl onions.

In order to eliminate the "rubbery" texture of sushi octopus, you need to cook the octopus for at least 5 hours at 185F.  Lightly salt and peppered the octopus and put it into a bag.  Add the sesame seed oil and soy sauce and vacuum seal the bag.  Pre-heat the water bath to 185F and drop the octopus in and cook for 5 hours.

Heat a pot of water until boiling and add the pearl onions.  Cook for 1 minute and remove and strain.  Place the onions in an ice bath to cool them.  Cut off the root top and peel the out skin off so you are left with the inner onion cores.  Set aside.

An hour before the octopus is done, start the butternut squash soup.  Heat the EVO in a large pot on medium high heat.  Add onions and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash and chicken broth and cook for 20-30 minutes until the squash is soft.  Using the hand blender, puree into a soup. Add the maple syrup and salt and pepper to taste.  Keep warm.

When the octopus is done, heat the grape seed oil in a cast iron skillet on medium high heat until hot.  Remove the octopus from the water bath and bag and remove the red skin which should come right off.  Sear the octopus, artichoke halves and pearl onions in the skillet until each has a nice sear to them.

For plating, add the squash soup to a wide and shallow soup bowl.  Place the octopus in the center and place the pearl  onions in the center of the octopus.  Add three artichoke halves around the perimeter.  You can add some herb greens on top if you like (chives or cilantro or parsley).  Serve it up!

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Wahoo (Ono) Steaks with Lemon Pepper Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook Wahoo (Ono)  at 132F for 45 min- 2 hours

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Wahoo (Ono) fish steaks
• 1 tablespoon tarragon
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced scallions
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
• Lemon Pepper Sauce:
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon dill
• 1 tablespoon lemon pepper or white pepper
• Salt to taste
• Click here for Diced Vegetable Salad recipe

Was at Trader Joe's the other day and ran across Wahoo steaks.  Wahoo is a speedy white fish that has a firm texture, much like tuna.  In Hawaii, they call the fish Ono.  I typically don't buy flash frozen fish since I have a great fish monger in the Ranch 99 grocer in my neighborhood which provides a plethora of fresh whole and filleted fish every day.  But they don't have Wahoo and it looked really good so I bought some to sous vide.


I first put them in the refrigerator to thaw out.  Actually with sous vide, I didn't really have to do this step!  You can actually take frozen food and sous vide directly!  Just add 30 minutes to the cook time.  Sous vide's low temperature water bath de-thaws the food delicately and then cooks it right up.  I decided to thaw them since I wasn't going to eat them until the next day and I like "feeling" the freshness of the fish before cooking it.


So season the fish on both sides with the tarragon, salt and pepper, then drop them into a bag.  Add the soy sauce and sesame seed oil and seal.  Sealing a bag that has liquid in it can be a challenge.  A chamber vacuum sealer works best here since the liquid will have a tendency to be sucked out of a bar sealer.  You can optionally put the bag in the freezer for 30 minutes and the liquid will solidify enough to bar seal it.  Once sealed, pre-heat your water bath to 132F (this is for medium doneness) and drop it in and cook for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours.

You can make the diced vegetable salad from the link to the recipe above.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium heat.  Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, dill and pepper and stir to mix.  Salt to taste.

Once the Wahoo is done, heat a cast iron skillet with the grape seed oil on high heat until hot.  Remove the Wahoo from the water bath and bag and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place in the skillet and sear for 30 sec to 1 minute until you have a nice brown sear on one side.

To plate, mound some of the diced vegetable salad to the side of the plate.  Dribble some sauce on the other side of the plate in a nice design.  Lay the Wahoo (sear side up) on the sauce.  Add some scallions to the top of the Wahoo, serve and enjoy!

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Diced Vegetable Salad

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced yellow pepper
• 1 cup diced red pepper
• 1 cup diced English cucumber
• 1/2 cup diced red onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced basil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

I love fresh vegetables and so does my wife.  So I decided to do a diced veggie salad the other night.  It's super simple and you can really use whatever veggies you have to make it.  Feel free to substitute!  Also you can dice small or large, your choice!  I did a smaller dice cut.

Mix the veggies and basil together in a bowl and salt to taste.  Then mix the vinegar, EVO, mustard, pepper together and pour over the veggies.  Toss and serve!  Pretty simple, but fantastic result!

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Shirataki Noodles with Vegetables

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 - 7oz bags of Shirataki noodles (can be tofu or regular)
• 3 stalks of baby bok choi, sliced in quarters vertically
• 2 cups sliced napa cabbage
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shimeji mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli tops (optional)
• 1/3 cup sliced scallions
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1 - 7oz can of chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• Optional 1 tablespoon Husein sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

My wife has been on some kind of new fangled diet lately (don't know why, she doesn't need too!) and she raves about Shirataki noodles.  After some research on the web, I too have become a fan of these noodles.  They are made from the yam root and literally have 0 cabs, 0 calories and 0 fat!  So while they have virtually no nutritional value, they can "fill you up" without the calories!  You don't have to feel guilty about consuming large quantities of Shirataki!

There are some down sides to the noodles though.  First, they have no taste by themselves.  The good news is that they will take on the taste of whatever you cook them in.  In addition, they are stored in a liquid that has a strong fishy odor.  Don't fret, you just have to wash them very very thoroughly!  I recommend the following method to remove the fishy odor:

• Take them out of the package and put them in a strainer.  Toss and rinse for at least 1 minute under cold water.
• Then transfer them to a bowl of cold water and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
• Transfer them back to the strainer and rinse again for 30 seconds.  Press excess water out at the end.

While the noodles are soaking, you can start the broth.  Heat the chicken broth and soy sauce on medium high in a pot until it starts to boil.  Add the broccoli heads first and cook for 1 minute.  Then add the napa cabbage and carrots and stir until it the cabbage softens and wilts, about 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and baby bok choi and again stir until the bok choi is wilted, about 1 minute.  Add the sesame seed oil, bean sprouts and scallions (and optional Husein sauce) last and stir for 30 seconds.  Add the Shirataki noodles and salt and pepper to taste.  You're ready to serve a delicious healthy meal!

You can also mix and match this recipe with meats (chicken, beef, pork), other veggies (oniom, baby corn, bamboo, leeks, fennel) and even eggs (pre-boiled).  There's an endless combination with Shirataki!

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Food Warmer for the Home

The other day, my lovely wife commented before one of our sous vide meals "Sometimes the food is not as warm as I'm used to."  That was her nice way of saying "The food is cold by the time you do all your plating technique stuff!"  Typically, I make two plates and use mine to photograph while hers is sitting on the counter getting cold.  OK, note to self, "Need to fix cold food problem."

So I thought, well, I could nuke it....  No, that defeats the whole purpose of sous vide and the tender texture transformation thing!  Then I thought... I could crank the oven up to 200F and put her plate in there.  While that could do the trick, I would have to wait for the oven to heat up and it seems like adding even more timing elements to the cooking process.  So then I took to the web to research food warmers and low and behold, there are a number of them out there that do just that... keep your food warm, just like the restaurants use.  The trick was finding one that could be easily used at home since most of them were either very large or meant to be permanently installed in a restaurant.  I didn't want a permanent warmer taking up counter space all the time.

I finally found exactly what I was looking for in the Nemco portable infrared food warmer.  The model number is Nemco 6152-24.  Click here to see it at Webstaurant.com.  This food warmer is 24" long and portable so it makes a perfect station on the counter top, but can be removed and stored when not in use.  I paid $169.00 for it.  When it arrived, I plugged it in and a little bit of white smoke came out!  But it dissipated quickly and the area under the heating element became nice and warm.

I tried it out the other night, putting my wife's dish under the warmer as I plated my dish and photographed it.  She said "Lovely!" so I guess it works!  So if you have gotten some comments like "I love the presentation but the food was a little cold", check out the infrared food warmers at WEBstuarant.com!

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Fillet of Trout on Bed of Kale with Shirataki Noodles, Artichoke and Mushroom Vinaigrette Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook trout at 135F for 30 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 1 whole trout (1-2 lbs)
• 1 teaspoon chopped dill
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Kale:
• 1 large bag of chopped Kale 
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• Shirataki Noodles:
• 1 - 7 oz package of Shirataki noodles (can be tofu, also can be thin or thick)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup Japanese noodle base (can use Pad Tai noodle base too)
• Mushroom Vinaigrette Sauce:
• 2 cups chopped Shimeji mushrooms (or your favorite variety)
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
• 2 large artichokes plus your favorite dipping sauce

Trout is a wonderfully light and healthy fish.  To butterfly fillet a trout takes some knife skills, but the end result is a beautiful presentation.  Butterfly fillet your trout. You can also fillet each side separately if you want.  Click here to see a youtube video on how to butterfly fillet a trout.

Since the Artichoke takes the longest, start with preparing it.  Heat a large pot of slightly salted water (2" in depth) until rapid boil.  Cut the tips of the Artichoke leaves off as well as 3/4 of the base stalk.  Drop the Artichokes in the boiling water and cook for 40 minutes.

Season the fillets with salt, pepper, dill and lemon juice and place in bag(s) and seal.  Pre-heat water bath to 135F and drop the fillets in.  Cook for 30 minutes.

While the trout is cooking, you can prepare the mushroom vinaigrette.  Heat the chicken stock on medium heat in a sauce pan.  Add the champagne vinegar and cook on simmer till reduced slightly, approximately 10 minutes.  Add the tarragon and whisk in the butter and flour.  Add the mushrooms and simmer for another 10 minutes until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Shirataki noodles are considered a "miracle" noodle because they essentially have zero carbs, zero calories and zero fat!  Other than that, they're the same as other Asian noodles!  Some people think they have a fishy smell, but that's just the water that they are packaged in.  If rinsed well, they take the flavor of whatever broth they are cooked in, making them very flexible.  To prepare the Shirataki noodles, first, thoroughly rinse them in cold water for at least 2 minutes to remove the fishy smell.  Press the water out.  Heat the chicken broth on medium heat and add the noodle base.  You can use any noodle base or flavor sauce you want at this point, for example oyster sauce would work too.  Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the cilantro.

To prepare the Kale, heat the chicken broth in a large wok or deep pan on high heat until boiling.  Add the chopped Kale and cover for 2 minutes.  Using tongs, rotate the Kale occasionally.  Add the sesame seed oil and mix.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add sesame seeds last.

To plate, once the trout fillets are done, heat a case iron skillet on high and add butter.  When butter is melted, gently remove the trout from the sealed bag and place skin side down in the skillet.  Sear the trout skin for 1 minute only.  Plate the Kale into a nice bed for the trout.  Place a clump of Shirataki noodles on the plate along with the Artichoke.  Please the trout fillet on top of the Kale bed.  Spoon some of the mushroom vinaigrette sauce on top of the fillets, add your favorite Artichoke dipping sauce (I like melted butter but my wife loves mayonnaise) and serve with a loving smile!

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Chinese Chicken Salad

Sous Vide Details: Cook Chicken at 142F for 1 1/2 - 2 hours

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 head napa cabbage sliced cross-wise into thin slivers
• 2 romaine lettuce hearts sliced cross-wise into thin slivers
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded almonds
• 1 1/2 cups sliced scallions (green onions)
• 1 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
• Chinese Rick sticks
• Vegetable oil for cooking rice sticks (~4-8 cups)
• Dressing:
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup EVO
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

One of San Francisco (and probably California in general) signature dishes is Chinese Chicken Salad (CCS)!  In my humble opinion, it is also one of the most widely "interpreted" salad I've ever seen.  You can go pretty much all over the US and if you ask for a Caesar salad, you know what to expect.  Same with a Cob salad or a Spinach salad.  But order a Chinese (or Asian) chicken salad, and sit back in anticipation because you really don't know what is coming out!  In general, what does come out is very good, but I've seen (and tasted) pretty bad CCS!  The variety is its strength and weakness.  Here, I give you my interpretation of the famous CCS, sous vide style!

Salt and pepper the chicken breast to taste and place in food bag along with the thyme sprigs.  Heat the water bath to 142F.  Seal the chicken and place in the water bath and cook for 1-2 hours.  When the chicken is done, take out of water bath and bag, pat dry and either shred by hand into small pieces or cut into small pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, pour vegetable oil into a deep pan until there is roughly 2" of oil in the pan.  Heat the vegetable oil on medium high heat.  When the oil is hot enough to sizzle when you drop a VERY SMALL drop of water in it (be careful here!), carefully place the rice sticks (little bit at a time) into the oil.  The rice sticks will puff up immediately.  Using a metal strainer, remove the rice sticks quickly before they brown and place on paper towel.  Do this with as much rice sticks as you want for the salad.

For the salad, add the shredded chicken, cabbage, romaine, almonds, scallions, carrots, cilantro and
mushrooms into a large bowl and mix well.

For the dressing, add all the dressing ingredients into a shake-able container and shake well.  Toss the salad with a portion of the dress just to coat.  Remember, a little goes a long way!  If you're not going to use all of the salad immediately, only toss that portion you are going to use.  Keep the rest of the salad in an air tight container in the refrigerator separate from the dressing to keep fresh.

To present, place some rice sticks on the plate.   Add some salad on top of the rice sticks.  Place some chopped cilantro or thinly sliced scallions on top and present!

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Cooking Sous Vide for the "Medium to Well" Crowd

Last night I had some friend over from the midwest.  The only reason I say midwest is that I'm originally from the midwest as well (Cincinnati), so I know the stereotype!  We midwest men like our steak "medium to well" thank you very much!  It took years of California living to transform me to the "Medium Rare" man that I am today (HAHA).

Enough digression, so I was going to make steaks for everyone, but we like them medium rare and he likes his medium well.  Luckily I have two water baths so I could have cooked mine at 132-135F and his at 150F and be done.  However, we were actually having surf and turf which means I was also cooking lobster which I do at 145F.  So I was faced with the similar problem of having more food to cook sous vide than I had water baths.  Of course the simply answer would be to cook the steak first and then the lobster sequentially in one of the water baths after the steak was done.  While simple, this would have extended the overall cooking time by 1 hour.  This dilemma is equivalent to having one water bath and the two steaks to cook (at different temperatures).

So I decided on another approach that I wanted to share with everyone.  I cooked the medium rare steaks in one water bath at 135F for 1 1/2 hours.  I heated up the other water bath to 145F and dropped the medium well steak in for 1 1/2 hours.  After 45 minutes, I dropped the lobster into the same water bath for 45 minutes.

The above approach yielded a perfect medium rare steak out of the first water bath and a perfectly cooked (I don't like the mi cuit version of lobster) lobster out of the second water bath.  I felt that the medium well steak out of the second water bath was probably a little underdone.  I turned the oven broiler on and set the oven rack to its second highest level (not the typical broiler level, but one down from there).  I put the steak in and set the timer for 3 minutes.  After 3 minutes I turned the steak and set the timer for 3 more minutes.  After that I took the steak out and let it rest.  I cut into it and it was a perfect medium well yet still very tender and juicy!

The moral of this story is that there are many ways to achieve the desired level of doneness for your dinner guests using sous vide without resorting to sequential cooking which can elongate the cooking process beyond what is acceptable.  Using a combination of sous vide and standard cooking methods (broiler, oven, searing), you can achieve wonderful results!  Cheers!

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Living with Sous Vide - The 6 Month Mark

So it's been a wonderful 6 months with my sous vide equipment and I can definitely say it's been incredible! While I don't sous vide every day, I would say I do sous vide on average 2 to 3 times a week. In fact, one of the big advantages is bulk cooking once and re-heating later. I have been known to go to Costco and get bulk chicken breasts and cook them all at once. Then quick chilling them and using them throughout the month. Another great benefit of sous vide is the flexibility of time. I have been focusing on wonderful sauces, which provides variety for the chicken breasts. I love mushrooms, so I've been doing a lot of mushroom sauces. At my Ranch 99 store (Asian store), they have wonderful Shimeji mushrooms which are LOVELY!

After 6 months, I have made a number of dishes and I can say that chicken remains the most transformative texture with sous vide. Duck breast is a close second. Turkey and beef are also much more consistent, moist and tender. As for fish, since I used to do fish in parchment paper in the oven (a kind of steam poaching method), I've found the sous vide version to be just as moist and tender. The main advantage is consistency with fish. If I overcooked the parchment paper version, it came out "mushy" and unattractive.

As for which sous vide water bath do I prefer? I like them both, but I find myself using the Sous Vide Supreme water bath more regularly, mainly because it's quiet! Since they are both in my kitchen, quiet is good. It takes a little longer to heat up, but I've incorporated that into my routine. Thanksgiving is coming up and I can't wait to serve thanksgiving turkey sous vide style!
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Stacked Halibut, Beet Wafers and Edamame with Persian Cucumber Base

Sous Vide Details: Cook Halibut at 135F for 40 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Small Halibut Steaks (or one cut in half)
• 2-4 Twigs of fresh dill
• 1 Large Red beet (should be at least 3 1/2" in diameter)
• 1 T Unsalted butter
• 1/4 C Water
• 1 1/2 C Shelled Edamame (you can get them at an asian market, use regular soybeans if necessary)
• 1 Persian Cucumber (you can use America or English too)
• Salt and Pepper
• Special tool: 3" mold ring

This is another variation of the sea food stack.  Here we stack Halibut on top of some red beet wafers and  edamame soybeans on a base of Persian cucumber coins.  Yummie!

First, cut your halibut steaks so that they will fit nicely on top of the stack.  You don't want them hanging over the edge!  Season them with the dill, salt and pepper on both sides and put them both in a single bag and seal.  Pre-heat the water bath to 135F and put the steaks in.  Cook for 40-45 minutes.

Slice the beets into thin (1/4") wafers.  Take the largest slices and using your ring mold, cut out 6 perfect circular beet wafers.  Melt the better into a sauce pan under medium heat.  Put beet wafers in, stir to coat and reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook on one side for 1 minute and then flip and cook on other side for 1 minute.  Add the water and simmer until reduced to a glaze (about 5 minutes).  Set aside.

Boil a pot of water and blanch the edamame beans for 3-4 minutes.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Set aside.

Using a mandoline set at the thinnest setting, make cucumber coins.  Be very careful not to slice your fingers!  Lightly salt the coins.

When the steaks are done, remove them from the water bath and bag.

To assemble the plate, arrange the cucumber coins on the plate in a circular spiral, overlaying the previous one until you have built a 5" diameter base.  Build it as high as you like, but I wouldn't go more than 3-4 high.  Put the ring mold in the center and add a beet wafer.  Add some edamame and then another beet wafer.  Add another layer of edamame and then a final beet wafer.  Carefully remove the ring mold and carefully place the halibut steak on the top.  Present and enjoy!
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