Sous Vide Super Bowl

I, Me, and Myself, Stuff I Cook

Contrary to popular belief, Patriot fans are not spoiled. We are insecure, traumatized individuals, deathly afraid of losing. I still can’t listen to Lady Gaga singing “Bad Romance” without recalling my stunned disbelief at the prospect of my team, not only losing, but being blown out,  at the biggest stage in my hometown of Houston.

I had a Super Bowl 51 party and invited some friends. As I recall, food was fantastic. We had crawfish boil, I made gumbo, an assortment of baos, and my superb-owls cupcakes. At half-time, it was starting look like an inevitable L and my mood got so bad that I gave a new meaning to “bad hostess”. I recall doing the same thing when Peyton lost to the Seahawks and the 4th quarter of Broncos-Seahawks game.

By the time Brady mounted the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, my friends have left.   I was already cleaning up in the kitchen, unable to watch, until my husband called me back to the living room because the Patriots have won. I looked at my phone and the friends I drove away have texted me the good news, trying to cheer me up.  I am so blessed in having the most wonderful friends. They don’t deserve me…

So with Super Bowl 52, no more parties. I will be home, surrounded by people and puppies who love me unconditionally, warts, scars, neuroses and all…

I will be doing a sous vide theme this year because I have found my new favorite kitchen gadget. Sous vide, French for “under vacuum” is a method of cooking whereby food is vacuum sealed, placed in a water bath for a prolonged period under accurately regulated temperature. It results in food that is evenly cooked, never overcooked, retaining its moisture. It pretty much sums up what you need for a perfect steak. So I kitchen- tested my favorite meats as “warm-up” for my Super Bowl party of three.

This is chicken breast marinated in pesto.
This is how it looks like. Submerge the gadget in water, set the temp and timer. It has bluetooth, allowing you to control it through your phone. Hip and cool!

The app is very helpful in determining what temperature to use and the amount of time it needs to cook. This chicken was for 140F for two hours.

It turned out soft and juicy, but my unbiased and unpaid tester, D, thought it needed a bit of crispness to it.
Iron skillet to the rescue! Cooked it a minute for each side.
Perfect! Surface has some crisp, insides are still moist

The second meat is D’s beloved filet mignon. He prefers medium for his steaks. Quick perusal of the app shows to cook for 131.5F for 45 minutes. I chose a NY strip for me, also medium,  and it should cook for 139.5F for an hour. I chose to season it before cooking. Some books also suggest seasoning it just before you sear.

Right off the bag, I already knew it was going to turn out good, just with the way the meat feels to the touch. Nice and firm, just a teeny bit jiggly.
Sear in hot iron skillet (as hot as it could get) about 2.5 minutes for each side until crusty.
This is the NY steak. It tastes as awesome as it looks.
D’s filet mignon
He likes his steaks on a bed of salad, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette

And now for my favorite meat — Lamb!!! As usual, I seasoned it prior to putting in a vacuum. Cooked it for 140F for an hour for medium.

Sear in iron skillet, about a minute per side
You might want to hold it to allow it to sear evenly.
Beautiful!!!

I bet Mary never had a lamb like this…haha.

I am going to make Beef Wellington this Sunday. That is my holy grail for this sous-vide cooking. I’ll also do lamb chops because I can’t seem to get enough of it. I am really hoping that meat-sweats would only be the reason to sweat during this game…

Go Pats!!!

 

 

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