Recently I found an article – Modernist Cuisine – about Sous Vide cooking. It talks about the pros and cons of sealing the ingredients in a plastic bag (you can also use canning jar) and place them in a water bath or any other cooker that can set and hold a target temperature to within a degree or two. You simply set the temperature/time (based on whatever you are cooking) and the food would turn out perfect. For example: a piece of one pound New York steak at 134F/40 minutes can assure a medium rare throughout and the delicate, custard-like texture of an egg poached at precisely 149 °F is amazing.
After searching for an affordable and yet useful Sous Vide tool, I ended up buying the Anova Precision Cooker with WiFi feature.
I have been testing several recipes in the past two weeks and I find it
is most useful cooking meat and fish. At present my challenge is to
learn how to crossover my Chinese recipes using this unique technique.
I made a perfectly done rack of lamb tonight for dinner and the following recipe is how I did it.
Note:
-Trim off the surface layer of fat and the Frenched – remove the tough meat between the two bones.
-Add extra flavour using Morel mushroom.
-Use a sprig of fresh Rosemary
Ingredients:
Rack of lamb 1 1/2 lbs (about 8 bones)
Fresh rosemary 1 sprig
Morel mushroom
8 pieces (fresh or dry), Re-hydrate mushroom with 1/8 cup of water
Garlic butter 2 teaspoons
Meat rub 1/2 teaspoon
Red wine 1/4 cup
Port wine 1/4 cup
Freezer Zip Lock bag 1 large
Method:
Sprinkle meat rub on both side of the rack. Set your Sous Vide cooker to 135F and 90 minutes for medium rare. Place the lamb rack inside the Zip Lock bag, add rosemary, morel mushroom (keep the mushroom re-hydration water in the bag as well), red/port wine, and garlic butter.
Use a straw to suck the air out from the Zip Lock bag and seal the bag.
Once the water has reached the desired temperature, place bag in the
water and start cooking. Use a clip to secure the bag to avoid moving.
After 90 minutes, take bag out from the water and remove lamb rack from
the bag. Pour the liquid from the bag to a small sauce pan. Heat up a
cast iron griddle pan to high and sear both side of the meat for extra
flavor.
At the same time reduce the liquid from the bag on a stove by 2/3. You
can put the rosemary and morel mushroom in the pan as well.
Cut the lamb rack to portion and drizzle sauce on top between serving.
I haven’t been brave enough to try my lamb shanks in the bath yet - I’m sure one day soon!