Sous Vide? Supreme!

If you saw my last post about Sous Vide, I was experimenting with the home jury rigged version. It worked, after a fashion, but it was labor intensive and required constant babysitting to ensure that I was maintaining a relatively consistent temperature. The problem with sous vide is that temperature and time are critical since piercing the vacuum seal to stick a thermometer in there kinda buggers up the whole works.

So, I got in touch with Cedarlane Culinary (@clculinary on twitter) to chat about some options. And within a few days I had this amazing new piece of equipment: The Sous Vide Supreme!






































My sous vide days have changed forever! This baby, allows you to set a temp and a timer, it has a large capacity (you should have seen me trying to sous vide a turkey leg in a roasting pan - comical!), it has racks on the inside that ensure the food stays submerged and cooks perfectly evenly every time!

I really wanted to give this a good test run so I did a few items to get my feet wet (pardon the pun). I did a coffee encrusted steak, some chicken and some pork. Now I think I’ve got a good handle on things - like any new appliance or technique, it takes a little bit of practice to get comfortable with.
So this week I made a chicken ballotine with lots of fun stuffings. Normally I process the chicken so it’s ground but this time, I just pounded it thin since I like the texture so much better that way.






























Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
4 slices prosciutto
4 ounces pate (you can use chicken or foie gras - I used a cognac infused chicken liver pate)
1 cup spinach
1 chopped shallot
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup dry white wine.
Equipment: vacuum sealer, Sous Vide Supreme

Method:
Carefully remove the skin from the chicken so that you don’t tear it - it will become our ‘casing’. Then debone the thighs  - I like to use thighs for this since the meat is dark and richer with flavor and deboning is a snap. reserve the bones for the sauce.
Saute the shallots and garlic until they start to turn golden, then add chopped spinach. Adjust seasoning and set aside to cool.

Pound the chicken out into thin layers - you can also use a combination of butterflying the meat to accomplish this. I only used the meat from 2 of the thighs but did use all four skins. reserve the other two chicken thighs for another use (may I recommend steamed dumplings?)

Lay out two strips of plastic wrap on the counter and overlap 2 chicken skins on each piece of plastic wrap, making a rough rectangle.

Lay out two strips of prosciutto on each of the skins to cover completely. This will help the skin adhere to the chicken as well as adding a nice depth of flavor. lay the pounded chicken atop. Spread half of the pate on top of each chicken layer. Finally top with the spinach, spreading half evenly on each ballotine.

Using the plastic wrap as an aid, roll each chicken up into a sausage shape, ensuring that the outer skin completely covers the roll. This will give you an even layer of crispy goodness when you’re finished. roll tightly in the plastic and twist the ends firmly to help hold the shape.
Then vacuum seal the plastic wrapped ballotines separately.






























Fill the Sous Vide Supreme with water to the fill line and set the temp at 154. When up to temp, place the ballotines in the machine, put the top on and go have a glass of wine!

I sous vide for about 90 minutes. While the chicken is in the water bath, brown the bones in a hot pan with olive oil. Add shallot, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary and allow to simmer until thick and of sauce consistency.

After 90 minutes, remove the chicken from the water bath, carefully unwrap, reserving the juices to add to the pan sauce. Blot the chicken dry with paper towels and place on a baking sheet lined with Silpat in a hot 475 degree oven (I use convection roast setting) turning frequently until evenly browned.































Allow to rest thoroughly before slicing.































Pour sauce atop and enjoy!

I really love the Sous Vide Machine. It’s convenient and very easy to do meals that are nearly set and forget! Plus, it’s an easier cleanup than most other methods and the tender succulence of food is astounding. Get one. it beats the heck out of a roasting pan on the stove with some binder clips and a digital thermometer!