Technique Sous Vide, cooking with precision!

My first exposure to Sous Vide was some 30 years ago when I was just a young chef eager to learn as much as possible from as many top chefs as possible one of which opened my eyes to the wonders of Sous Vide Technique. We did not have a fancy machine such as the one pictured that simplifies the technique but we did have perfectly prepared Foie Gras, cooked at precisely 180 degrees for exactly 1 hour  that became a well known item on our menu, folks would come from far just to share on a Sundays drive with a perfectly poured Cabernet or Pinot. Some hear Sous Vide and think "Boil in a bag" which this technique is far from, allow me to explain. Sous Vide translates to under vacuum so one of the principles is just that, by placing an ingredient into a bag and vacuum sealing it, then into a precisely heated water bath where it will cook to the precise temperature of the water, no less, no more. One could leave a piece of salmon that has been seasoned and sealed in a water bath of 140 degrees for 2 hours and the salmon would not go beyond the temperature of 140 degrees, there is no direct heat or steam to continue the cooking process beyond the 140 degrees. Take a Filet Mignon for example, set the water bath at 120 degrees and place the vacuum sealed fillet in the bath and leave it for 2 hours, remove the fillet and what you have is a perfectly rare piece of meat, flash it on the grill to carmelize the  and get ready for something that will take you beyond. Try leaving a fillet or piece of salmon on a grill for 2 hours, you would have a very disappointing experience to say the very least.

The Pork Belly shown above is prepared Sous Vide as well,

As is the Beef, notice the red consistency though out, yum.

OK, so what now? The purpose of this post was to share a technique that many do not know about let alone have heard about. You do not need a fancy expensive machine to use the Sous Vide technique, I will return to share more little known techniques and recipes soon. 

It was asked why I have not been posting much as of late, the answer is simple, Life is good. I will return so until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile"