Beef Round Roast

Sous Vide Details: Cook beef round roast at 132ºF for 8-10 hours

Ingredients, Serves 4-6:

• 5-7 lb beef round roast
• Sprigs of rosemary and thyme
• 2 tablespoons powdered garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
• Crust paste:
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons thyme, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon tarragon, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

I was in the grocery store the other day and decided to try a round roast sous vide style with a longer cook time at a lower temperature to see if it would come out more tender than if cooked the conventional way.  I've cooked round roast in the oven and on the stove top and both times, it comes out a little dry and tough.  So I thought I'd give it a try!

First, pre-heat the water bath to 132ºF.  Sprinkle the garlic powder over the roast and salt and pepper to taste.  Put the roast in a bag and add sprigs of thyme and rosemary.  Seal the bag and drop in water bath.  Cook for 8-10 hours.  This works well when you prep in the morning for dinner that night.

When the roast is almost done, you can make the crust paste.  Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Heat an iron skillet with the grape seed oil on high until very hot.  When the roast is done, take it out of the water bath and bag and pat dry with a towel.  Rub the crust paste all over the roast.  Add the roast to the skillet and sear on all sides, roughly 30 sec to 1 minute per side or until a golden brown crust forms on each side.

When ready to plate, slice roast to display the beautiful "edge to edge" medium  rare results!!  Enjoy.

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Tilapia Fillet on Arugula with Mustard Grain and Mushroom Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook Tilapia at 132ºF for 30 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Tilapia fillets
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bunch of arugula leaves
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
• Mustard Grain and Mushroom Sauce:
• 1 tablespoon mustard grain
• 1 cup of your favorite mushrooms (I love Shimeji, but you can use shitake, oyster, etc...), rough chopped
• 1 tablespoon EVO
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth

Tilapia is a great light fish, but sometimes it seems to lack some taste (at least to me).  So I decided to make a nice tangy mustard grain mushroom sauce to give it some kick.

Pre-heat water bath to 132ºF.  Lightly season the fillets with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the fresh dill.  Place the fillets in a lag and add the lemon juice.  Seal the bag and place in the water bath.  Cook for 30 minutes.

While the fillets are cooking you can make the sauce.  Add the EVO to a sauce pan and heat on medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and stir.  Cook for 3 minutes or until mushrooms soften.  Add the mustard grain and lemon juice and stir to mix.  Reduce to low simmer and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Set aside or put on very low simmer to keep warm.

When the Tilapia is almost done, heat a case iron skillet with some grape seed oil on high heat.  Get the serving plates ready with some Arugula.  Sprinkle with some EVO.

Take the fillets out of the water bath and carefully remove the fillets and blot them dry with a paper towel.  Place them in the skillet to sear one side.  Cook for only 30 seconds.  Remove and place on top of the Arugula.  Pour the mustard grain mushroom sauce on top and serve immediately!

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Japanese Eggplant

Sous Vide Details: Cook eggplant at 185ºF for 45 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 3 Japanese eggplants
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup shaved Gruyere cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Japanese eggplant makes a great side dish and cooked sous vide makes it tender and juicy.

Pre-heat water bath to 185ºF.  Cut the eggplant into 3" lengths and then slice into 1/4" slices.  Discard the first and last slices.  Arrange the slices flat and next to each other on a cutting board.  Using either a food brush or an oil spray bottle, coat both sides of the eggplant slices.  Lightly sprinkle with garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.

Place each slice in a food bag as a single layer.  Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and seal.  Drop in water bath and cook for 45 minutes.

When done, remove from the water bath and place on serving tray in overlapping fashion.  Sprinkle the cheese shavings on top and serve!  Enjoy!

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Crostini with Prosciutto, Cheese and Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients, Serves 6-8:

• 12 slices of a french baguette slices on a diagonal, approximately 3/4" thick
• 6 oz prosciutto
• 12 slices of your favorite soft cheese.  I like Jarlsberg or Gruyere.
• 6 plum tomatoes cut in half length-wise
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/3 cup of fresh basil, slices thinly
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVO)

This is a great party hors d'oeuvre. It's rich and yet light and has a great presentation visual.

First you need to oven roast the plum tomatoes.  Pre-heat the oven to 250ºF.  Lay the tomatoes halves, cut side up) on a baking sheet, evenly spaced.  Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast them for 2 hours.  They should shrivel up and soften.  Take them out and let them cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF.  Lay out the slices of baguette on a cutting board and brush or spray some EVO on both sides.  If you have a oil spraying, that works the best.  If not, just use a food brush.  Evenly sprinkle the slices with the garlic powder.  Place the slices directly on the oven rack and bake for only 3-4 minutes.  Be careful and watch them so that they don't burn!  They should just turn golden.  When they do, take them out.

To assemble, put a slice of cheese on each baguette, followed but some prosciutto and then a roasted tomato.  Place on a serving plate and sprinkle the fresh basil over the slices.  Serve them up!

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Prime Rib Roast

Sous Vide Details: Cook roast prime rib at 135ºF for 5 hours

Ingredients, Serves 6-8:

• 6-8 lb prime rib roast
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• Several twigs of rosemary and thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Mushroom sauce:
• 1/2 cup of your favorite mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/3 cup good red wine
• 1 tablespoon EVO
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 cup beef broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Prime rib roast is a wonderful holiday main dish and when cooked sous vide, it makes a spectacular centerpiece too!  Every bit of the roast is perfectly medium rare and ready to be gobbled up!

Pre-heat water bath to 135ºF.  In a small bowl, mix chopped rosemary, thyme, garlic, EVO and paprika together to make the roast rub.  Rub it generously all over the roast.  Place roast in plastic bag and add a few twigs of rosemary and thyme.  Seal and drop in water bath and cook for 5 hours.

To make the sauce, heat EVO on medium high heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft, approximately 4-5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, again, roughly 3-4 minutes.  Reduce to simmer and add the red wine and rosemary and simmer until wine is reduced.  Add the beef broth and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Turn off heat and whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time.  Sauce should coat the back of a spoon.

When the roast is done, turn the oven on broil setting.  Take the roast out of the water bath and bag and pat dry.  Place on baling sheet and put in oven and broil until surface is seared brown.  Again, you are not trying to cook the roast as it is already cooked.  You are just trying to get a nice sear on the surface.  Once done, remove and place on cutting board and slice.  Add slices to serving plate and serve it up with sauce on the side!  Yummmmmm!

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Pork Tenderloin Roulade Stuffed with Apple and Porcini Mushrooms

Sous Vide Details: Cook pork roulade at 138ºF for 8 hours

Ingredients, Serves 8 - 10:

• 2 medium sized pork tenderloins (3 lbs)
• 2 cups of your favorite mushrooms (porcini, shitake, shimeji, mixed, etc..)
• 8 oz spinach (1 large bag)
• 1 cup apples (your favorite type), skinned, cored and diced into small pieces
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1/ cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
• 8 oz prosciutto slices
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon truffle oil
• 2 tablespoons brandy or whiskey
• Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVO)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Believe it or not, I was just recently introduced to pork!  Was always a beef guy until my diet!  Then I tried a pork tenderloin sous vide!  Wow.  So now I wanted to try a stuffed tenderloin and what better stuffing than mushrooms and apples!

You can make the stuffing beforehand, even a day before.  First heat 2 tablespoons of EVO in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add the diced onions and minced garlic and saute until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the diced apples and mushrooms and cook until soft, again about 5 minutes.  Add the thyme, rosemary, brandy and truffle oil and stir to mix for 2 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Then turn off heat and let cool to room temperature.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and blanche the spinach for 30 seconds.  Remove spinach and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

To prepare the pork, make a long horizontal cut on one side of the tenderloin parallel to the cutting board surface and slice the tenderloin until you almost get though but don't cut all the way through!  You are making a butterfly cut, like you are cutting a baguette to make a sandwich.  Do this for both tenderloins.  Open them up and place a large sheet of saran wrap underneath both of them large enough to accommodate the tenderloin twice their size.  Leave enough room between each tenderloin for twice their size as well.  Place another sheet of saran on top and using a meat mallet, pound the tenderloins, starting from the middle and working your way outward.  Pound them until they are roughly 1/2" thick and fairly rectangular in shape.

Now the tricky part comes in.  Carefully flip the tenderloins (still covered with the saran wrap) over and remove the top saran wrap.  Pick up one of the tenderloins and slide it over so that it slightly overlaps the other tenderloin about 1 1/2".  Take the slices of prosciutto and layer them on top of the tenderloins horizontally.  Carefully place a new sheet of saran wrap on top of the prosciutto and flip the tenderloins over again so the prosciutto side is down.  If you got here you're doing great!

Now remove the top saran sheet and take your spinach and make a layer of spinach leaving roughly 1" clear around all the sides.  Then take your mushroom and apple stuffing and make a layer on top of the spinach, again, leaving 1 around all the sides.  Finally make a layer of cheese with the Gruyere cheese.  Now, using the bottom saran wrap as an assist, carefully roll the tenderloin, starting from a long side into a "log" or roulade.  Use the saran wrap to keep it tight and cylindrical in shape.  Adjust it so the seam is up and carefully remove the saran just enough to place additional prosciutto slices over the seam.  Then place the saran back to again make a tight cylinder.  Twist the ends of the saran wrap as well to close off the roulade.  Put the whole thing into a plastic bag and seal.

Pre-heat water bath to 138ºF.  Put the roulade in and cook for 8-10 hours.  When it's done, turn the oven on broiler.  Take the roulade out of the water bath and remove from the plastic bag and carefully unwrap the saran wrap.  Using paper towels, dry off the roulade and place it on a baking pan.  Put it under the broiler and bake until prosciutto begins to crust.  Remove from oven, plate and serve up the best pork tenderloin you've ever had!  Enjoy!

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Pecan Pie

Ingredients, Serves 4-6:

• Pie Crust:
• 1 cup flour plus some for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• Filling
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

My early memories of childhood are of my father loving pecan pie.  It was his absolute favorite thing to eat!  I too became a big fan of pecan pie.  So I had to do a blog on making this wonderfully rich and tasty dessert.  Making the pie crust from scratch is easy and definitely makes the pie worth waiting for!

To make the crust, in medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening until granules are formed that are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl.

Roll the pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable.

Heat oven to 375°F.  Roll pastry using flour dusted rolling pin into a round shape 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch pie plate. Place pastry into pie plate, pressing up against sides and bottom.  Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate; press with the end of a fork to get pie edge look.

In another medium bowl, beat all filling ingredients except pecans with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in pecans. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.

Cover edge of pastry with 2- to 3-inch-wide strip of foil to prevent excessive browning. Put in oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until center is set, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Let rest on counter until at room temperature and serve!

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French Onion Soup

Ingredients, Serves 8:

• 5 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced cross grain thinly
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1/2 bay leaf
• 56 oz of beef broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Gruyere or Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
• 8 slices French baguette

I love French onion soup!  There's something about the savory onions and the melted cheese over the French baguette.  It's irresistible!  Making it from scratch just makes it all the more enjoyable!

To start, peel onions and slice 1/8 inch thick, cross grain. Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onions, lower heat and cook, covered, over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.  This gently caramelizes the onions and gives them their sweet, lovely texture.

Stir in the pepper, thyme, paprika, salt and bay leaf and saute over low heat 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the beef broth and wine and increase heat until boiling.  Add the flour and stir to integrate.  Reduce heat and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Turn broiler on to pre-heat.  Set up oven proof ramekins on a baking sheet and spoon in the onion soup until about 3/4 full.  Add the French baguette slice and top with generous amount of shredded Swiss and Gruyere cheese.  Put baking sheet into oven and cook until cheese is golden brown on top, about 3-4 minutes.

Remove and using oven mitts, place hot ramekins on a plate and serve!

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Grand Marnier Dessert Souffle

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 3 large eggs, whites separated from yolks
• 3 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur
• 1/2 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• cooking spray (can use any cooking oil)
• 4 ramekin dishes (3")

I love dessert souffles, although I can't eat them often (or I won't fit into my jeans!).  I went out and got some Grand Marnier liqueur, wow not cheap!  You can actually make souffles with any flavored liqueur.  Grand Marnier has an orange flavor.  You don't even have to use liqueur if you don't want to.  Orange juice or other juices can work as well.

Pre-heat oven to 400ºF and place a baking sheet on a center positioned rack.  Coat the 4 ramekins with the cooking spray and then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar to coat the bottom and sides of the dishes.

Using a mixer, beat the egg yolks in a large bowl on medium-high for 5 minutes.  Slowly add 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla extract and Grand Marnier and mix for another 2 minutes.

In a separate large bowl, beat egg whites with mixer on high for 1 minute or until foamy peaks form.  Add cream of tartar and salt and beat another 30 sec.  Gradually add remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in one quarter of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture until just mixed.  Gently fold in the rest of the egg white mixture.  Divide the mixture into the 4 ramekins.

Bake the souffles for 10 minutes or until golden brown on top and top has risen above sides of ramekins.  Gently take out of oven and dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately!  The Grand Marnier flavor goes well with raspberries or strawberries.

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