Sous Vide – shady morels

Porcini Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Reduction and Celeriac Puree

Returning to the Pacific Northwest yesterday from a three week surfing and fish taco eating getaway to sunny Sayulita, Mexico; I’m back with a post containing some very wintery food.

The eating experiences I enjoyed in Sayulita will definitely inspire some future posts once ingredients become available.

This was actually course number three of the previously mentioned epic dinner. I will continue to write about each course of that amazing meal over time, and in no particularly logical order whatsoever.

This was a knockout dish, and one of the favourites of the night. It deserves to be accompanied by a big red, and should be the last served of the savoury dishes for obvious reasons.

I must admit, I did deviate from my typical approach to steak for this dish by cooking in a temperature controlled water bath. The results are astounding in terms of the consistency of cook; it ensures a perfect result for a very expensive steak, which can be nerve racking when using conventional heating methods.

Ingredients:

For the beef:

Four 6 oz. beef tenderloin steaks

10g dried porcini mushrooms, pulverized to a powder in a spice grinder

Clove of garlic

Sprig of fresh thyme

Pinch of salt

For celeriac puree:

1 Whole celeriac (aka celery root), peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

1 clove of garlic

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the red wine reduction:

1 cup medium bodied red wine

A few black peppercorns

2 tbsp butter

Directions:

Mix the salt and porcini powder, reserve half of the mixture. Coat the top and bottom of the steaks with the other half of the porcini-salt rub. Vacuum seal with the garlic clove and thyme, then cook in the sous vide bath at 56 degrees C for 3 hours for medium rare.
Meanwhile, boil the celeriac in salted water until it can be easily pierced by a fork. Transfer to food processor and combine with the remaining ingredients. Blitz to a puree.
Reduce red wine to a third over medium heat. Remove from heat and add peppercorns. Five minutes prior to servicing, re-heat, then add butter and swirl to incorporate. Now the sauce is ready to serve.
Heat a cast iron pan to high and add a glug of olive oil to the pan. Remove the steaks from the sous vide bath and dry any moisture off with a paper towel. Re-coat with the porcini-salt rub, then sear steaks for 30 seconds to one minute per side. Careful not to sear too long, as the steaks are already cooked at this stage. We are just looking to caramelize and achieve a nice crust.
To plate, place a dollop of the celeriac puree on one side of a plate. Using a spoon, spread the celeriac puree to form a tear drop shape. Pour the red wine reduction around the celeriac puree, and top with the steak. Garnish with a roasted wild mushroom, freshly picked chanterelles were used for this dish.

Enjoy!

Serve with an Okanagan Cabernet Franc, Cassini Cellars 2012 vintage would be a great choice!

Sous Vide Lamb Belly with Mint and Pea Puree

This dish epitomizes spring on a plate. This was the intention prior to making lamb belly for the first time; I knew the flavour combinations I wanted to incorporate, I just didn’t know how to execute it. To see the ingredients come together so harmoniously after the creative process of getting there from a relatively vague initial concept, is what makes me really love cooking.

Sourcing the lamb belly may be a bit difficult at the run of the mill grocery stores, but if you go to any good butcher they will be able to help you out. If you go to an exceptionally good butcher, like Windsor Quality Meats, they will pull out a hanging lamb from the back and cut off the belly in front of your eyes.

Ingredients:

For the lamb, start the prep 48 hours ahead:

1 side of lamb belly, about 2-3 pounds

4 tbsp kosher salt

2 tbsp sugar

Zest of two lemons

A couple sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

Game plan for the lamb, start 36-24 hours in advance. 48 hours lines up nicely for timing if you start the cure in the evening.

Directions:

1. Mix the salt, sugar, rosemary, and lemon zest in a bowl. Sprinkle a layer in a baking dish, then set the lamb on top, then cover with the rest of the mixture. Firmly press the curing mixture into the lamb. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

2. Thoroughly rinse the curing mixture off the lamb, then set on a cutting board and cut it in half into two broad strips. Do not season the lamb with any more salt, it will be perfectly seasoned at this point already.

3. Roll up each strip of lamb belly like a jelly roll, press down to ensure it is packed tightly together, then tie with kitchen twine. You want the rolls to be as tight as possible with no air gaps.

4. Place each roll of lamb into a ziplock bag. Add a glug of olive oil to each, just to take the space of any small air pockets. Remove the air with the water pressure method, or vacuum seal if you have one.

5. Cook the lamb in a 70 degree water bath for 12 hours.

6. Remove the lamb and transfer to an ice bath the cease cooking. It is now ready for finishing, or you could hold it in the refrigerator until use. To finish, cut off 3/4 inch slices of the lamb belly, and sear in a very hot pan with a bit of oil until some nice colour and texture develops, about 3 minutes. Flip and repeat for the other side, then serve.

For the mint and pea puree:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup freshly shelled peas

3-4 sprigs of fresh mint leaves

Juice of 1 lemon

1 clove of garlic

1 tbsp good olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 cup of water, to bring puree to the desired consistency

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients except for the water in a food processor. Pulse until it turns into a fine puree.

2. Slowly add water and continue to puree until the mixture is about the same consistency as cream.

To plate, pour the mint and pea puree onto a white plate to make a pancake size circle. Top with a garnish of fresh spring vegetables. I chose simple parboiled potatoes and carrots, finished with a quick pan sear. As a finishing touch, I sprinkled with fresh peas and fava beans in order to really get the feel of spring on the plate. Top the vegetables of your choosing with the beautiful seared lamb belly and serve right away.

Enjoy!

Simple Sous Vide Beef Shank

Originally, I imagined that any cheap cut of meat cooked with the sous vide method would emerge tender and juicy after many hours. This is simply not true. I have learned that sous vide cooked meat can emerge tender, flavourful, and even medium rare but bizarrely enough also dry. For this reason, the beef was somewhat underwhelming directly out of the sous vide bath.

I sought to improve the dish by changing the sauce, which worked, but I also think this method for beef may simply benefit a different style of dish. It would work very well for a ravioli or other stuffed pasta, where the lack of moisture would actually be a benefit. I am intending on trying this in a future post, so stay tuned. I am also planning on documenting several different iterations of temperatures and cooking times to see if the moisture level can be improved by changing these variables.

I compared this dish with two sauces, first was a simply sherry pan sauce (pictured above) and the second was a red wine reduction sauce. The red wine reduction was a far superior accompaniment to the beef, and also filled the gap that I felt was missing due to the slight dryness of the beef.

Ingredients:

500g beef shank, bone removed

1 sprig thyme

1 garlic clove, halved lengthwise

8 whole peppercorns

1 tbsp olive oil

For the red wine reduction:

1/2 cup red wine

1 tbsp minced shallot

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp butter

1. Set sous vide bath to 75 degrees C and timer to 12 hours.

2. Lightly season the beef shank with salt, and place in the zip lock bag with the olive oil, thyme sprigs, and garlic clove. Remove air with the water bath method, seal tightly, and place in the sous vide bath for 12 hours.

3. Once the beef is done, remove from the sous vide bath and ziplock bag. Heat a pan to medium-high heat, add a glug of olive oil. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the beef and sear for 90 seconds a side, or until a nice caramelization develops. This will happen a lot faster than with raw beef, so monitor the beef closely when it is searing. Set the beef aside, and reduce the heat to medium.

4. Add the red wine and shallots to the hot pan and reduce by a half. Add the mustard and whisk to incorporate for about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from heat and add the butter while whisking continuously. Serve with the beef.

Enjoy!

Sous Vide Five Spice Pork Belly with Lime Emulsion

This dish was the result of an entire night dedicated to sous vide pork belly. Three variations were conceived based on the original base recipe, and this one emerged the unanimous favourite among the testers. It was an unforgettable experience, and I’m also grateful that I didn’t inadvertently put anyone into cardiac arrest by serving three courses of pork belly.

There were some amazing contrasts happening in this dish which prevented it from being too heavy. The richness of the pork belly was cut by the tart lime emulsion, and complimented by the exotic five spice. The crisp sear on the pork belly created a pleasing texture contrast to the melt-in-your-mouth delicateness of the sous vide pork. It really was an explosion of flavours and textures so this would best serve as a starter or tapas style dish, and would be overpowering as a main.

The basic method involved a five spice brine for 12 hours, followed by a 10 hour sous vide at 80 degrees C. The pork belly was exceptionally flavourful, tender, and juicy right out of the bath. Searing and serving with a complimentary sauce took it to a whole other level, and really showed the capabilities of the sous vide method.

For the brine:

1 L water

1 cup salt

1/8 cup Chinese five spice powder and 1 Tsp peppercorns in a cheesecloth satchel

2 Star Anise

For the pork belly:

500g good quality fresh pork belly, cut into 1 inch wide strips

1 Tbsp Chinese five spice powder

For the lime emulsion sauce:

3 Limes juiced, zest of 1 lime set aside

1 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Bring 1 L of water to a boil, remove from heat and add the salt, spice satchel, and the star anise. Let cool to room temperature.

2. Pierce pork belly with a knife all over. Place in brine and refrigerate for 12 hours.

3. Set sous vide to 80 degrees C. Rinse pork belly after the brine is complete to remove excess salt. Pat dry with a paper towel and season with the remaining five spice powder. Place the pork belly in a Zip-Loc bag and remove air with the water bath method. Ensure the Zip-Loc bag has a good seal, and place in the 80 degree C water bath for 10 hours.

4. Just before the sous vide bath is finished, combine the lime juice, sugar, and lime zest. Pour mixture into a small saucepan and simmer until reduced to a third. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter to emulsify. The sauce can be held tepid, and re-heated carefully when the pork is finished. Ensure the sauce is whisked while being re-heated.

5. After 10 hours in the sous vide bath, remove pork belly from Zip-Loc bag with some tongs and set aside. Place a small saucepan on high heat, wait for pan to be piping hot then sear pork belly for 90 seconds a side, or until a beautiful golden brown colour and crispy exterior has been achieved. The caramelization will actually happen quicker than you think at this point, so you will need to watch it to ensure the pork belly doesn’t burn.

6. Pour the lime emulsion into a shallow pasta dish, then top with the crispy pork belly. Garnish with julienned green onions, cilantro, or thai basil.

Enjoy!