Modernist Cooking Made Easy (16 page)

Pre-Bath Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 8 to 12 Hours

Finishing Time: 15 Minutes

Temperature: 135°F / 57.2°C

Serves: 2 to 4

Pre-Bath Ingredients

For the Ribs

2 pounds St. Louis style ribs, trimmed of excess fat and silverskin

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 dried bay leaves

1 tablespoon dried lemon peel (optional)

Pepper

Finishing Ingredients

½ cup your favorite BBQ sauce

Ribs are a great meal to cook during the week. After 10 to 12 hours in the water bath they become very tender and they are very quick to finish cooking. It’s also very satisfying to dig into a big plate of them after a hard day of work.

I use St. Louis style ribs but baby back ribs will also work well. You can also cook them under the broiler if you don’t want to grill them.

Pre-Bath

Mix together all the spices except the bay leaf in a bowl. Cut the ribs into pieces that will easily fit into your sous vide bags. Pepper the ribs and then coat them with the spice mix.

Place the ribs into the sous vide pouches, add the bay leaves, then seal. Be sure you don’t seal the ribs too tightly or the bones may pierce the bag.

At this point you can store the pouch in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, freeze it for up to 6 months, or cook it right away.

Cooking

On the morning of the day you want to eat, preheat your sous vide water bath to 135°F / 57.2°C. Place the pouch in the water bath for 8 to 12 hours.

Finishing

Preheat a grill to high heat.

Remove the sous vide pouches from the water bath and take the ribs out of the pouches. Pat them dry and then coat with the BBQ sauce.

Quickly grill the ribs just until the BBQ sauce begins to caramelize, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Take off the grill and serve.

C
HICKEN
P
ARMIGIANA

Pre-Bath Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 2 to 12 Hours

Finishing Time: 45 Minutes

Temperature: 141°F / 60.5°C

Serves: 4

Pre-Bath Ingredients

For the Chicken

4 chicken breasts

½ teaspoon garlic powder

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

Pepper

Finishing Ingredients

For the Coating

¾ cup flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 eggs

¾ cup dried Italian bread crumbs

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

For the Topping

½ cup chopped basil

8-10 ¼” slices of fresh mozzarella, or 1 cup shredded

4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Chicken Parmigiana is one of my favorite dishes and I get it at almost every Italian restaurant I go to. Here’s a simple version that you can make at home. The sous vide process ensures the chicken is cooked through and you can just focus on getting the coating nice and crispy. I love to serve this with spaghetti and marinara sauce on the side. You can also serve this in a toasted hoagie roll with marinara sauce for a chicken parm grinder, a staple on most New England menus. You can leave the chicken breasts whole or cut them in half width-wise for a higher “crust to chicken” ratio.

Note: Chicken is best when cooked for 2 to 4 hours but during the week you can get away with cooking it for up to 12 hours with just a minimal loss in moisture.

Pre-Bath

Pepper the chicken then sprinkle with the garlic powder. Place in sous vide pouches with the thyme and rosemary and seal.

At this point you can store the pouch in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, freeze it for up to 6 months, or cook it right away.

Cooking

On the morning of the day you want to eat, preheat your sous vide water bath to 141°F / 60.5°C. Place the pouch in the water bath for 2 to 12 hours.

Finishing

Preheat a pan to medium-high heat. Preheat the broiler on the oven.

First you will want to set up three stations for the breading. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a plate. Beat the eggs into a wide mouth bowl. Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and parsley on another plate.

Remove the chicken from the pouches and pat dry. Dredge the chicken in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.

Add about ½” of oil to the pan and heat to about 350ºF to 375ºF (176ºC - 190ºC). Sear the dredged chicken breasts until the crust becomes golden brown, flip and repeat on the other side. Remove from the heat and set on a sheet pan.

Top each one with the basil and cover with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Broil in the oven until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Remove and serve.

S
HRIMP
P
OMODORO OVER
L
INGUINE

Pre-Bath Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 to 35 Minutes

Finishing Time: 30 Minutes

Temperature: 122°F / 50°C for sushi quality or 132°F / 55.6°C otherwise

Serves: 4

Pre-Bath Ingredients

For the Shrimp

20-25 medium sized shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 tablespoon butter

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or chile powder of your choice

Salt and pepper

Finishing Ingredients

12 ounces linguine pasta, or pasta of your choice

For the Pomodoro Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ yellow onion, diced

1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Salt and pepper

For the Garnish

Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon chopped basil

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Pomodoro sauce is a very fast tomato sauce to make. It really highlights the flavor of the tomatoes and herbs in it. I like to serve this with some fresh bread to really soak up all the sauce.

Here I call for using canned, diced tomatoes which work well but if you have some extra time there’s nothing like fresh tomatoes in the middle of summer. Just dice them and cook them for an extra 5 minutes when you add them to the dish to break them down.

Pre-Bath

Salt and pepper the shrimp, sprinkle with the cayenne pepper, then add to the sous vide pouch in a single layer. Add the butter and seal.

At this point you can store the pouch in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, freeze it for up to 6 months or cook it right away. If you freeze the pouch be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days before cooking or increase the cooking time to compensate.

Cooking

Preheat the water bath to 122°F / 50°C for sushi quality or 132°F / 55.6°C otherwise.

Place the sous vide pouch in the water bath and cook for 15 to 35 minutes.

Finishing

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Heat a pan over medium to medium-high heat.

Add the linguine to the water and cook until tender.

Meanwhile, make the pomodoro sauce. Add the olive oil to the pan and heat. Cook the garlic for 1 minute then add the onion and cook until it begins to soften and turn translucent. Add the tomatoes and some of their juices to the pan and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in the butter, add the basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste, then mix well.

Spoon the pasta into bowls and top with the pomodoro sauce. Take the shrimp out of the pouches and place on top of the pasta. Grate the parmesan cheese on top and sprinkle with the basil and lemon zest.

F
ISH
T
ACOS WITH
C
ORN
S
ALSA

Pre-Bath Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10 to 30 Minutes

Finishing Time: 25 Minutes

Temperature: 122°F / 50°C for sushi quality or 132°F / 55.6°C otherwise

Serves: 4

Pre-Bath Ingredients

For the Fish

1 pound mahi mahi

2 teaspoons garlic powder

½ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon chipotle powder, or chile powder of your choice

Salt and pepper

Finishing Ingredients

For the Corn Salsa

1 cup corn kernels, cooked

2 tomatoes, diced

1 avocado, diced

½ cup black beans, either canned or cooked

2 tablespoons chopped red onion

¼ cup fresh cilantro

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lime juice

For the Tacos

4-6 soft corn tortillas

These fish tacos are inspired by some that my friend made when I was out visiting them in Denver. Avocado and corn always go great together and they form the base for this flavorful salsa. If you can’t find mahi mahi you can use any flaky, white fish.

Pre-Bath

Mix the spices together in a bowl. Salt and pepper the mahi mahi then sprinkle with the spices. Place in the sous vide pouches and seal.

At this point you can store the pouch in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, freeze it for up to 6 months or cook it right away. If you freeze the pouch be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days before cooking or increase the cooking time to compensate.

Cooking

Preheat the water bath to 122°F / 50°C for sushi quality or 132°F / 55.6°C otherwise.

Place the sous vide pouch in the water bath and cook for 10 to 30 minutes.

Finishing

To make the salsa combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Remove the mahi mahi from the water bath and pat dry. Serve it with the salsa and the corn tortillas.

S
PHERIFICATION

For more tips and tricks you can visit our modernist cooking forums. There are a lot of questions answered and information exchanged there.

You can find them on our website here:

www.modernistcookingmadeeasy.com/modernist-cooking-forums

Spherification is one of the hallmarks of modernist cooking. It is used to refer to spheres 6 mm to 30 mm / ¼” to 1” wide with a still liquid center. The smaller spheres burst like caviar when bitten and the larger ones release their liquid similar to an over easy egg yolk. When done right, if you serve these to guests who have never had them before they will be the most talked about part of the meal.

H
OW
S
PHERIFICATION
W
ORKS

At it’s most basic, spherification is controlled gelling. Some ingredients gel in any liquid, such as agar, so if it is hydrated it will set right away. However, some ingredients only gel in the presence of certain ions, such as calcium or potassium. These gelling agents are used in spherification.

You can mix the gelling agent in a flavored, neutral liquid, one lacking the ions required to gel, called a “base”. If you drip this base into a “setting bath” that contains the ions, the outside of the base will begin to gel as the gelling agent interacts with the ions. If you remove it before it solidifies you will have a gel sphere, called a membrane, with a liquid center.