Herb Infused Stuffed Cornish Hen

Sous Vide Details: Cook Cornish Hen at 155ºF for 4-8 hours

Ingredients, Serves 1-2:

• 1 cornish hen (thawed)
• 3 tablespoons small diced celery
• 2 tablespoons small diced carrots
• 2 tablespoons small diced onions
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped thyme
• Few sprigs of rosemary and Thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cornish hen is an interesting dichotomy for my friend.  She loves chicken, but small whole chicken?  Not so much.  Something about the movie "The Birds" early in her life causes her to have the hibijibis when it comes to small whole birds!  Well, I think cornish hens are "cute"!  So I decided to see if sous vide might change her opinion.

Pre-heat water bath to 155ºF. Typically cornish hens are purchased frozen solid, so you'll need to leave it in the refrigerator until it thaws out completely (maybe 1-2 days).  Once thawed, remove the wrapper and wash thoroughly.  Remove any parts from the cavity and pat dry with a towel.

Now, to make the stuffing, mix the celery, carrots, onions, EVO, and chopped rosemary and thyme.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Use a spoon and fill the hen cavity with the stuffing mixture.  Sprinkle hen with salt and pepper.  Place the hen in a bag and add the sprigs of rosemary and thyme.  Seal the bag and place in the water bath.  Cook for between 4 and 8 hours.

When done, remove from the water bath and pat dry.  I used a kitchen torch to sear the skin.  If you don't have a torch, place the hen on a baking sheet into the oven on broil and broil until the skin is browned.  Once browned, you're ready to plate and serve!

I presented to my friend and while she loved the taste, she still had the hibijibis on the "whole" presentation!  Oh well, at least it tasted wonderful!  Cheers.

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Irish Shepherd's Pie (with Turkey)

Ingredients, Serves 8-10:

For the mashed potatoes topping:

• 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup half-and-half cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg yolk

For the meat filling:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 celery stocks, chopped
• 3 pounds ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons tomato paste
• 2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon paptrika
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup fresh or frozen English peas

Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.  Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in a pot and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the half-and-half and butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the pot. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the EVO oil into a large deep walled pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, celery and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the turkey, salt and pepper and cook until browned, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn and peas to the turkey mixture and spread evenly into an 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle on the paprika.   Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Irish Lamb Stew with Guiness Beer

Ingredients, Serves 8-10:

• 3 pounds lamb shoulder/neck (used for stew)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 6 stalks celery, cut into 1/2" slices
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped into medium pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh rosemary
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 2 quarts beef stock
• 12 ounces Guinness stout
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• Salt and pepper to taste

In keeping with the St. Patrick's day tradition I decided to make authentic Irish Stew.  Of course, not being from Ireland, I'm not sure how authentic it is!  Well, using pearl barley and Guinness beer should hopefully make up for not being Irish!

First we need to prepare the pearl barley.  Bring 3 cups of beef stock to boil and add the pearl barley.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Then remove from heat.

Now take some Thyme, Parsley and Rosemary stems and tie them together with cooking twine.  Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a deep sided pan and brown the lamb meat.  Salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle some flour over the meat.

Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery to the pan you cooked the meat in and saute, tossing to evenly cook the vegetables.  Add the herb bundle, pearl barley, guinness, potatoes and beef stock so that it just covers everything.  Heat until just boiling and then reduce heat to low simmer and cook for 3 hours.  Stir stew occasionally.

After 3 hours, add salt and pepper to taste and add the corn starch (mix in some cold water first) and chopped parsley.  Mix and stir for a couple minutes until slightly thickened.  Pour into a nice presentation dish and serve it up!

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Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage

Sous Vide Details: Cook Corned Beef at 180ºF for 10-12 hours

Ingredients, Serves 6-8:

• Corned Beef:
• 3-4 lb beef brisket
• 4 tablespoon curing salt (I got some at William and Sonoma)
• 4 tablespoon pickling spices
• 4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar

So I decided to make corned beef from a regular beef brisket.  Be for warned, it takes 7 days to pickle the brisket into corned beef!

First, take your brisket and trim off most of the fat.  Mix the curing salt, brown sugar and garlic powder in a bowl.  Using a fork, punch holes in both sides of the brisket and rub the salt mixture into both sides of the brisket.  Now take the pickling spices and rub them into the brisket on both sides.  Once fully covered, take the brisket and seal it in a vacuum bag and place it into the refrigerator for 7 days.  Flip the brisket once every day.  If it's a thick brisket (more than 2 inches), you should let it pickle for 7 more days!  Once it's done, remove it from the bag and wash all the spices off the brisket and pat dry.  You now have corned beef!

Pre-heat water bath to 180ºF.  Lightly salt and pepper the corned beef and seam in plastic bag and drop in water bath for 10-12 hours.  The higher temperature and long cook time will worked to break down the connective collagen while maintaining a reasonably high level of water retention so that the corned beef is tender and moist.

About 15 minutes before removing the corned beef, you can start the cabbage.  Cut the cabbage into 1/8 wedges.  Add the chicken stock and vinegar to a large pot or deep walled pan.  Heat on medium high until just boiling and then add the cabbage.  Cook for about 15 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.  YOu can flip the wedges once or twice.

Remove the cabbage and diagonally slice the wedges into 1" stripes.  Layer a bed of the cabbage on a serving plate.  Remove the corned beef from the water bath and bag and thinly slice across the grain.  Place the corned beef slices on top of the cabbage and garnish with parsley or you favorite green herb.  Enjoy!

You can serve this dish with this sauce to!

Horseradish Sauce:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, zest, and salt. Season generously with pepper to taste. Refrigerate the horseradish sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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Turkey Breast Roulade with Wild Rice and Mushrooms

Sous Vide Details: Cook Turkey Roulade at 138ºF for 3 hours

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 1 large Turkey breast with skin on
• 1 cup cooked wild rice (I used a basmati herbed rice mix)
• 1 cup of your favorite mushrooms (I used mix of shitake and oyster)
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup small toasted bread crumbs (slightly smaller than 1/2" x 1/2")
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sauce:
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
• 1/4 cup thinly chopped scallions
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

I love Turkey breast sous vide, but it seams that I'm always waiting until Thanksgiving to have it.  Well, it's party because seeing the slices whole breast of white meat brings Thanksgiving visions to me every time.  So I decided to do a Turkey breast roulade as a change up.

Pre-heat water bath to 138ºF.  First we need to make the roulade stuffing.  Heat a medium skillet on medium high heat.  Add garlic and shallots and cook until shallots are transparent and there is a nice aroma.  Add the celery, mushrooms and thyme and cook until mushrooms are tender and soft.  When done, transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the cooked rice, parsley, pecans and toasted bread crumbs.  Stir to combine, salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Now, we need to "flatten" our Turkey breast.  Take the breast, skin side up, and make a horizontal slice in one side, stopping about 1" before getting to the other side.  Open the breast up like a book.  Place a large sheet of saran wrap on the counter and place the opened Turkey breast on the saran wrap. Place another large sheet of saran wrap over the top of the breast.  Using a meat mallet, flatten the Turkey breast until it is roughly 1/2" thick.  You can use a slightly diagonal striking motion to move the meat away from the center.

Once you have flattened the breast, remove the top saran wrap and place the spinach leaves over the breast.  Add the stuffing mixture over the spinach in a uniform layer.  Now, using the front of the saran wrap as a guide, carefully roll the Turkey breast into a log, wrapping the bottom saran wrap around to tighten the log form.  Pinch and twist the two sides to create a tight "log".  Place the whole Turkey breast log into a plastic bag and seal.  Place in the water bath and cook for 3 hours.

About a half an hour before the Turkey roulade is done, preheat the oven to 450ºF.  You can also start on the sauce.  In a medium sauce pan, heat the shallots and garlic over medium heat until shallots are transparent.  Add the white wine and reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until wine reduces to a thick liquid (almost completely reduced). Add the heavy cream, parsley, thyme and scallions and simmer until reduced to a thick consistency.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the butter, one cube at a time and whisk to combine.  Keep sauce warm, but not boiling until ready to serve.

When the Turkey is done, take it out of the water bath and plastic bag and carefully pat it dry.  Place it on an oven tray and place it in the oven.  Cook until skin is golden brown (about 5-8 minutes).  Remove from oven and place on cutting board.  Take a new sheet of saran and place it over the Turkey roulade and using a large knife, cut the roulade into slices.  Remove the saran and place the slices on a serving tray.  Serve with sauce on the side and enjoy!

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Turkey Bacon Wrapped Chicken Roulade

Sous Vide Details: Cook chicken roulade at 142ºF for 2 hours

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 5 slices of turkey bacon
• 1 1/2 cup of spinach
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil

Chicken by itself, even cooked sous vide can be a little "boring" at times.  I've found that an easy way to spice it up both flavor-wise and visually is to make chicken roulade, or a chicken breast roll.  It turns a boring breast into a fancy main entree!  For this particular roulade I thought I'd spice it up even more by wrapping it with turkey bacon, a little healthier than normal bacon.

Pre-heat water bath to 142ºF.  Lay out a large sheet of saran wrap on your counter top.  Place the chicken breast bottom side up in the middle and place a second large saran wrap on top.  Using a meat mallet or the bottom of a skillet, pound the breast till it is roughly 1/2" thick.  Holding both saran wrap sheets, flip the breast over and remove the top sheet.  Place the slices of bacon, perpendicular to the counter top edge, slightly overlapping over the chicken breast then place a new large sheet of saran wrap on top of the bacon.  Again, flip the sheets and breast over again so the bacon side is on the bottom.  Remove the top saran sheet and distribute the spinach over the chicken breast.  Then sprinkle the cheese over the spinach.

Now slowly roll the chicken breast into a log, using the bottom saran wrap to help form the log.  Pinch and twist the ends to compress the log at each end.  Place the chicken roulade (including the saran wrap) into a plastic bag and seal.  Place in the water bath and cook for 2 hours.

When the roulade is done, heat the grape seed oil in an iron skillet on medium high heat.  Remove the roulade from the water bath and open the plastic bag.  Remove the roulade and cut open and remove the saran wrap.  Pat the roulade dry with a paper towel.  Place in skillet and sear the bacon on all sides, roughly 30 seconds per side.  To slice it cleanly, you can place the roulade on a cutting board and place a new piece of saran wrap over it and then use a sharp knife to slice it into clean pieces.  Remove the saran after slicing.  Plate it up and server!  Enjoy...

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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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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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Soy Sauce Chicken

Sous Vide Details: Cook Chicken at 148ºF for 5 hours

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 1 whole chicken (remove organs)
• 3 slices of fresh ginger, julienned
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 stalks of scallions, cut into 2" pieces
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Shao Xing wine
• 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 cups water
• Special tools: Chamber vacuum, heavy meat clever

This is a dish my mother made and everyone loved.  I decided to try to make it using the sous vide method!  A new twist on an old recipe.  Hopefully my mother will be proud.

Pre-heat the water bath to 148ºF.  Mix all ingredients except the chicken in a large bowl making sure the sugar dissolved into the mixture.  You will need a large plastic cooking bag that is large enough to hold the whole chicken and all the liquid.  Also since we are going to cook the chicken in the soy sauce liquid mixture, it works best if you have a chamber vacuum sealer.  If you only have a bar sealer, use a bag with about 12" of extra length after you put the chicken in.  Also, you might have to seal it twice to get a good seal since some of the liquid will probably get caught in the seal area.  Drape the bag over the counter edge when you're sealing (for a bar sealer).  Once the vacuum starts watch the liquid.  When all the air is out and the liquid starts to move up the bag, press the "seal" button.

Place the whole chicken in the bag neck first so the cavity hole is exposed.  Pour the soy sauce mixture into the bag, making sure you fill the cavity.  Carefully place the bag in the chamber vacuum and seal the bag.  Set the vacuum seal pressure to a low setting.  Some of the liquid may come out as the bag is sealed.  Just wipe the bag off around the seal area and re-seal a second time if necessary to get a complete seal.  The chicken should be immersed in the soy sauce mixture within the bag.  Place the bag in the water bath.  Cook for 5 hours.  This ensures the whole chicken gets cooked.

Once the chicken is done, remove from the water bath and let stand in the bag for 10 minutes.  Get out a large cutting board and a heavy meat clever.  This will be used to cut the chicken up into small pieces with the bone in, a traditional method of presenting soy sauce chicken.  Also this dish is normally served at room temperature or even cold.  Take the chicken out of the bag.  Reserve some of the liquid for sauce.  Separate the legs and wings from the body at the joints.  Using your clever, CAREFULLY chop the legs and wings into small pieces, chopping right through the bones.  BE CAREFUL!  Now separate the breasts from the backbone part of the chicken by slicing horizontally from the bottom of the chicken to the neck area.  You can then separate the breasts by cutting down through the breast bone.  Again, carefully use your clever to cut the breasts into small pieces.

For plating, place the dark meat on a large plate and then place the breast meat on top.  Take some of the reserved sauce and strain out the ginger, garlic and scallions.  Pour some over the chicken and pour the rest into a serving boat.  Garnish with scallions and server!

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Whole Turkey (Deconstructed)

Sous Vide Details: Cook turkey dark meat at 176F for 8-10 hours, cook turkey white meat at 145F for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours

Ingredients, Serves 4 - 6:

• 15 lb whole turkey (organic or natural works best)
• Your favorite poultry herbs (I love rosemary, thyme and sage)
• 16 oz duck fat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Brine (needs to be done the day before cooking):
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon peppercorns
• 1 gallon iced water
• 1 clean 5 gallon bucket with two bag liners

I LOVE Thanksgiving!  To me, giving thanks for my family through a wonderfully cooked meal is a perfect way to celebrate.  I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for as long as I can remember and have tried many recipes, although they all have involved cooking the turkey whole in the oven and doing all sorts of gyrations during the day to keep the breast moist and not over-done.  This usually meant opening up the oven many times to "baste" and "tent" and "re-read" the always foggy meat thermometer, which actually also prolonged the cooking time!  I thought of this "dance" as my badge of honor as a chef!

Well, this is my first Thanksgiving as a Sous Vide chef so I wanted to "change it up".  One of the important aspects of turkey is that the bird is actually made up of two types of meats: white meat and dark meat.  In the ideal world, the two types of meats should be cooked at different temperatures and for different amounts of time because they are completely different in fat and muscle composition.

With Sous Vide, cooking the white meat and dark meat separately at different temperatures and times is a snap!  The only difference is the "whole turkey" concept has to be "deconstructed" before cooking, not after.  That was fine with me since you do it the day before cooking the turkey, which is a "less stressful day" so you can take your time.

One note from the "Planning Department":  Remember that a frozen turkey takes a "LONG TIME" to thaw in the refrigerator, which is the safest way to thaw the bird!  DO NOT THAW ON THE COUNTER TOP!  You will be creating a perfect breeding ground for bacteria like Salmonella!  So the most important timing aspect of Thanksgiving turkey is buy it early so you have time to thaw it.  For a 15 lbs turkey, mine took 4 full days in the refrigerator (could have actually taking a 5th day) to thaw it out.  Add to that the preparation need the day before Thanksgiving and you really need to be thinking of purchasing your turkey 5-6 days before Thanksgiving!  That would be Nov 18th.  Put it on your calendar!

The day before Thanksgiving is the start of your sous vide turkey experience!  First, you want to prepare the turkey brine.  Brining is a method that uses osmosis to infuse the turkey meat with salt which causes it to retain more moisture during the cooking process.  Start by combining the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, and peppercorns in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Then remove from heat and cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

When the brine goes into the refrigerator, you can start on "deconstructing" the turkey.  There are several videos on youtube that show you how to separate a chicken into pieces (click here for one example) and that is the same basic process for your turkey.  Here are the steps:

1. Place the turkey on its back (breast up) with one leg nearest to you.  Taking a sharp knife, slice the skin between the leg and the body exposing the thigh.  Stay as close to the leg as possible leaving most of the breast covered with skin.  Keep cutting the skin and eventually the meat while prying the leg and thigh away from the body.  Holding the thigh firmly, pry it down until you hear the "joint" pop. You should see the joint.  Work your knife to separate the thigh from the body at the joint.  Do the same for the other leg and thigh.  
2. Now we want to separate the legs from the thighs, If you place the thigh on the cutting board, skin side down, you will see a fat line across the leg/thigh joint area.  This is your "cut line".  Slice the fat line with your sharp knife and it should split the leg from the thigh right at the joint!  Taking a sharp knife, slice the meat away from both sides of the main thigh bone until you can get your knife "under" the bone.  Insert the knife end from one side of the bone to the other and slice the meat away from the bone, removing the bone from the thigh.  Do the same with the other thigh.  Place the legs and thighs in a large pan.
3. Next are the wings.  grab the wing near the body and pull it away from the body exposing the skin.  Slice through the skin near the body.  Again, hold the wing firmly near the body and pry it down, popping the joint.  Use your knife and carefully cut around the joint until you separate the wing from the body.  Do the same with the other wing.  Place them both in the pan with the legs and thighs.
4. Now, we separate the body.  On both sides of the body where the legs connected to the body, there are "sideways Vs" which you use as a guide to cut from the bottom of the "V" towards the neck of the turkey.  You are "splitting" the body in half, separating the back of the turkey from the breasts.  When you have cut both sides to the backbone, you should be able to take grab the breasts in one hand and the backbone in the other and pry them "open", like you're "splitting a wishbone"!  This exposes the joints near the neck.  Take your knife and working carefully, separate the joints and meat and cut through both sides of the backbone.  The back should separate from the breasts at this point!  Place the back in the same pan with the legs and wings.
5. Now we separate the breasts.  Place the breasts, skin side down, on your cutting board.  Using a meat clever make a small chop cut right in the middle of the collar bone between each breast.  This should allow you to pry both breast downward, cracking the breastbone right in the middle.  There is a heavy breast bone that you want to remove before actually splitting  the two breasts.  Using your knife, slice the membrane on each side of the breastbone, exposing it and then using your fingers, pry the breastbone out.  It will look like a "mini dagger"!  This is somewhat tough, but stick with it, you can do it!  Now you can take your clever or sharp knife and split the breasts in half, separating them.  Place them into a separate pan.  You did it!!!!

Now, line your 5 gallon bucket with two plastic bags and take your brine solution out of the refrigerator and pour it into the bucket along with a gallon of cold water.  Place all the turkey parts into the brining solution along with some ice.  The solution needs to be below 40F.  Place the bucket somewhere cool/cold (I placed mine outside).  You need to brine the turkey for roughly 7-10 hours.  When done, take the turkey meat out and thoroughly wash the meat under cold water.  Pat dry.

Now you're ready for seasoning and bagging the turkey.  Liberally salt and pepper all the meat to taste.  Place the dark meat in separate bags from the breast meat.  Depending on your bag size, you can either place all the separate pieces of meat into separate bags or place multiple pieces in single bag.  I have large bags so I places both legs into a single bag, both thighs in a single bag and both wings into a single bag.  Everything else went into separate bags.  Add your favorite herbs into each bag.  I used rosemary, thyme and sage.  Be careful not to over do the herbs, remember, with sous vide, the herbs concentrate in the bag.  I used only a few twigs of each herb in each bag.  Then place equal amount of the duck fat in each bag.  Duck fat gives the turkey a nice "depth" in taste. Vacuum seal each bag.  Make sure the sealing area of the bag is "clean and dry".  Use a paper towel if you have to.  This will allow the bag to seal properly.  When done, your turkey should look like this:

Turkey dark meat all bagged up and ready to go!

Turkey breasts all bagged up and ready to go!

Now here's where your first major decision point comes in.  Are you a morning person or not???  Do you have two water baths?  Since the dark meat takes 8-10 hours to cook, you have to decide whether you're going to cooking it starting Thanksgiving morning (really early) or start it the day before Thanksgiving at night and then re-therm it right before searing and serving.  Well... what are you???  I'm a morning person!  So I decided to get up at 5AM (which I normally do) and start the dark meet on Thanksgiving day so I didn't have to re-therm it.  If you're not a morning person or if you only have a single water bath, you need to start cooking the dark meat the day before Thanksgiving.  I would figure out when you're going to wake up on Thanksgiving day and subtract 10 hours and that is your start time for the dark meat!  So if you get up at 8AM, then start the dark meat at 10PM the night before.  Pre-heat the water bath to 176F and drop all the dark meat into the water bath.  Make sure you have a large enough water bath so that the meat will cook evenly.  Also since you are cooking at a high temperature, you might need to place a plate on top of the bags so that they don't float out of the water since some air (through steam) might accumulate inside the bags.  If you started the night before, you will need to pull the dark meat out on the morning of Thanksgiving and quick chill them in an ice bath for 45 minutes and then place the bags in the refrigerator.  You will re-therm them later.  Here is my dark meat cooking away:

About 4 hours before dinner time, you can start the white meat.  Pre-heat the water bath to 145F and drop the white meat in.  Here's my turkey breasts cooking away:

If you need to re-therm the dark meat, about an hour before the white meet is done, heat up a large pot of water to 145F, using a thermometer to track the temperature.  Drop the dark meat in the pot for 45 minutes to re-therm it to temperature.

When the white meat is done, remove all the bags, one by one, and open and using paper towels, pat the meat dry.  Pre-heat your broiler.  Place all the turkey meat that has skin on a broiling pan, skin side up.  Sear the turkey for approximately 3-5 minutes.  Be careful since you don't want to over cook the meat, since it is already cooked!  Don't sear any meat that doesn't have skin since all you're going to do is over cook the turkey meat!

When searing done, slice the breast, plate the turkey and enjoy!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving was a wonderful feast again this year, only better!  The white meat was so tender and moist, it was almost unbelievable!  I actually think I liked the white meat better than the dark meat and I'm a dark meat lover!  Once again, Sous Vide brought a truly transformative culinary experience to our home!  Can you say "Turkey for Christmas??"

Check my other blog entries for the other dishes in this picture!

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Whole Trout Asian Style on Bed of Broccolini and Mushrooms

Sous Vide Details: Cook whole trout at 132F for 1 hours

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 1 whole fresh trout (2 lbs)
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions 
• 1 cup thinly sliced ginger
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce (I use light soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
• For the broccolini and mushroom bed:
• 2 bunches broccolini
• 2 cups shimeji mushrooms
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 2 tablespoons your favorite vinegar (I used champagne vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

There's something about cooking a whole fish that is very satisfying as a chef.  Of course, maybe it's my Asian heritage that sparks that satisfaction since Asians typically cook fish whole.  It is a spiritual representation of live, the head being the beginning of life, the body the middle of life and the tail the end of life.  I used to cook whole fish using my handy fish steamer pot, a long and thin high walled pot with a perforated platform inside.  Nothing wrong with that method of cooking as it produced very tender and moist fish every time.  However, now that I'm a sous vide home chef, I decided to try whole sous vide trout!  First off to the market (Ranch 99) to get a nice fresh whole trout.  I found a nice 2 pounder that would fit inside a bag and inside my vacuum chamber, two key requirements.

Have the trout de-gutted and de-scaled.  In a bowl, mix the thinly sliced (Julienned) ginger, shredded carrots, julienned scallions and chopped cilantro and minced garlic.  Fill the trout cavity with the mixture.  Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the skin and place in a bag.  Add 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce and the sesame seed oil and seal.  Pre-heat the water bath to 132F and drop the trout in and cook for 1 hour.

To prepare the broccolini and mushroom bedding, bring water to a brisk boil in a large pot.  Blanch the broccolini for 2-3 minutes and then place them in an ice water bath to quickly cool them.  This helps retain their color.  Set aside for now.

When the fish has roughly 10 minutes to go, heat a large pan over medium heat and add the EVO and minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, soy sauce and vinegar and stir until hot.  Add the broccolini and cook for 3 - 5 minutes allowing the liquid to reduce.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Take what's left of the ginger-carrot-scallion-cilantro mixture and add the EVO and the other 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix well.  Place in microwave and heat for 30 - 45 seconds until hot.

When the trout is ready, heat an iron skillet on medium high heat with the EVO.  Take the trout out of the water bath and bag and place in the skillet and sear both sides of the trout, roughly 30 seconds per side.  Use a wide spatula to turn the fish and be careful as it is fully cooked and can potentially separate.

For plating, arrange the broccolini/mushroom mix on a large plate as a bed for the trout.  Add the trout on top in the center of the bedding.  Take the heated ginger-carrot-scallion-cilantro mixture and spread it on top of the trout.  Serve it up!

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Fennel Crusted Ahi Tuna Steak

Sous Vide Details: Cook Ahi Tuna at 110F for 15 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Ahi Tuna steaks (fresh!)
• 1/3 cup fennel seeds (ground if you don't have a spice grinder)
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds (ground if you don't have a spice grinder)
• 1 tablespoon white peppercorns (again, ground if you don't have a spice grinder)
• 2 tablespoons grade seed oil
• Click here for the diced vegetable salad

I love sashimi tuna so I decided to make an Ahi tuna dinner the other night for variety.  It was also the first time doing Ahi Tuna sous vide.  I checked a couple sous vide websites and got various temperature suggestions, but the important information I gleaned was "not to over cook the tuna".  Taking that to heart, I decided to use a low temperature and time (even for sous vide standards!).  Also, it's important to use fresh Ahi tuna!

Start with creating the fennel crust. If you have a spice grinder, you can get the seed version of the spices.  If not, just get the ground versions.  Mix the fennel, coriander and white peppercorns together and spread in a pan.  Coat the Ahi Tuna steaks liberally on all sides and place in bag and seal.  Pre-heat water bath to 110F and drop in the tuna.  Cook for only 15 minutes.

When the tuna is done, heat the grade seed oil in a iron skillet on medium high heat.  Remove the Tuna from the water bath and bag and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place in skillet and sear for only 30 sec per side until you have a golden brown crust.  Remove from the skillet and carefully slice with a sharp knife into thick slices.

To plate, I made a diced vegetable salad with a vinaigrette dressing and placed the ahi tuna slices on top.  Serve it up!

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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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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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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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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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Opah Steak with Cabbage Stir Fry and Miso, Honey, Lemon Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook Opah at 135F for 45 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Opah steaks (also known as moonfish, sunfish and kingfish)
• 1 t Sesame seed oil
• 1 t Dillweed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Cabbage Stir Fry:
• 2 Tablespoons Peanut oil
• 3 Cups Thinly sliced Napa Cabbage
• 1 Cup Shredded carrots
• 1 Cup thinly sliced sweet Maui onion
• 4 Scallions, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Miso, Honey and Lemon Sauce:
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 Tablespoons White Miso paste
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1 Tablespoon Heavy cream
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
• Pepper to taste

I ran across Opah the other day at costco.  I've never had Opah, but a quick scan of the internet revealed it is a wonderful meaty/firm whitefish so I thought I'd give it a try.  I didn't find any recipes on the web so I decided to cook it like Mahi Mahi.

Cut the steaks to a nice individual size portion.  Season with salt and pepper and dill.  Drizzle sesame seed oil on and seal them in individual bags.  Preheat the bath water to 135F and drop them in for 45 minutes.

For the miso, honey, lemon sauce, heat the butter in a sauce pan on medium until melted.  Added miso, lemon juice, honey and 1/4 cup of water and whisk to incorporate. Reduce heat to low simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  Add cream and cilantro and pepper to taste.

To make the cabbage stir fry, heat the peanut oil in a large pan/wok then add onions.  Cook till softened and then add carrots, again cooking until softened.  Finally add cabbage, cilantro, scallions and 1/4 cup of water and toss until cabbage just wilts, about 2 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the fish is done, take it out of the water bath and open the bag.

Now you are ready for plating.  Spoon some  of the cabbage stir fry on the plate.  Place the Opah steak on top of the stir fry.  Spoon the Miso sauce over the fish and stir fry. Add your favorite side dish and your ready to serve!

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