Hi! I’m new to performing sous vide though I’ve known about it for a long time. I have recently bought this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UET2UI2 . I’m almost fifty and have been cooking since a single digit age. No training, just what I’ve learned from tv, books, magazines, internet, and trial and error. I’ve been watching cooking shows since the Galloping Gourmet (original airings, then later the reruns).
So with my new Anova I made chicken breasts. Added to the meat was a little seasoning, some pats of butter and sliced fresh crimini (or baby portobello, whichever you want to call them.) mushrooms. This was THE (pronounced ‘thee’) juiciest chicken that I’ve ever eaten.
Here’s the thing. In the bag was this awesome watery liquid. I haven’t got a clue what to do with it. I know that in the hands of a cook more skilled than I it would be turned into an amazing sauce, but I’m clueless as to how to get it there.
Thoughts?
By the time it reduces down there is so little left I found it was not worth the effort. However, if you reduce it to thicken and maybe add a splash of white wine and then season to taste would be all I would do,
The liquid you are ending up with is basically chicken broth.
Take things just a tad further, and maybe add some diced onion, carrot and celery (mirepoix) and throw in a sprig of fresh thyme and a tad of fresh rosemary or whatever. You get the picture, literally.
Now while you rest the CHIX at the end, prepare equal parts flour and butter (or your fat of choice). Bring together in a pan to make a blond roux, add juices and veggies from bag(s) and stir.
For proportions I would use 1 TBLSP. Flour, 1 TBLSP. Fat and the liquid from bag(s) plus enough additional liquid (water, wine, whatever) to equal a total liquid amount of 1 quart.
Now you got a gravy.
Thanks for the reply. With four full size breasts, over two pounds, there was a least a cup of liquid, with some of it coming from mushrooms as well. We don’t cook with wine because we don’t like the flavor.
Something else that I thought about was the chicken itself.
Depending on what you buy, you may get more liquid from the chicken alone if you are using a non organic chicken that has had "moisture added" in the form of broth. Sometimes they add up to 15% in weight (Perdue)!!
By definition, organic chicken cannot have this added moisture, and may therefore render less liquid.
You can freeze a quarter cup of chicken stock in a ziploc bag and then vacuum seal that with the chicken breast. Then, post-cook, add thickened cream (and minced garlic, herbs, whatever) and reduce in a small saucepan to make a lovely goopy sauce 