The Hawaiian kitchen is influenced by the Asian, American and European cuisine, with much flavour and fresh ingredients. These duck tacos boast those influences that come together in a delicious dish. Cooking duck leg sous vide creates essentially a confit duck, while using less fat. The meat is cooked in the bag with its own fat without adding extra fat that the confit method requires. The result is a fall-of-the-bone juicy texture, bursting with flavour. Combine the rich meat flavours with a fruity salsa and you’re in for a treat.
Sous Vide Duck Tacos
Ingredients:
For serving:
Salsa:
Sous Vide |
Directions:
Cooking tips: Pepperito peppers are sweet and juicy and can be replaced with half a red pepper. Mango can be replaced with pineapple or peach. The 5 Spice Mix used in this recipe contained salt. If using a mix without salt, add to taste separately. |
The Duck Father
The Duck Father focuses on quality over quantity to supply the best duck meat. The ducks are free range, grain-fed and free from anti-biotics and growth hormones. This means you can enjoy the healthiest duck meat. Available from selected butchers and retail stores. Visit the website for all information.
]]>Beef Tongue must be pickled for 12 hours. Salt generously and leave in the fridge overnight. Expect 8-10 portions on average per tongue…there is some wastage as we don’t want the sinew bits.
Put the picked beef tongue in an airtight bag and sous vide for 35 hours at 75 °C.
After those 35 hours, remove from sous vide water bath and let it cool off. You can easily peel off the skin. Then cut into triangles and set aside for service.
Serving suggestions:
You can serve the cubes of beef tongue with horseradish potato crème, deep-fried capes, crispy carrots and fresh green cabbage.
Sous Vide Beef Tongue
Ingredients: Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
This recipe was developed as part of Nederburg's I'll bring the wine series in which South African chefs showcase traditional South African dishes.
]]>
Christmas Pudding
Ingredients: Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
]]>
For the perfect recipe Toby turned to celebrity chef Arnold Tanzer, and followed his recommendation on the time and temperature. To cook the turkey to perfection, cook it for 6 hours at 55.5°C. Toby cooked the turkey with the SousChef sous vide immersion circulator in the 22lt sous vide bath.
Listen to the interview and tips and tricks here:
]]>To cook the perfect duck breast, simply trim off excess fat from the sides and score the fat. This is an important step for the perfect sear later. Season with salt and pepper and vacuum pack the meat to cook sous vide. This type of meat can easily be prepared ahead if you’re hosting a dinner party. When the meat is cooked and then kept in the fridge until you’re close to dinner time, it’s cooled well which makes searing easier. The lower temperature of the meat means that you can now sear on high heat to crisp the fat without increasing the internal temperature too far. The sous vide temperature of 55°C degrees creates a perfect medium rare juicy texture.
Duck meat has a rich flavour that goes beautifully with fresh and slightly sweet berry flavours. This duck breast is cooked simply with salt & pepper, and then served with a delicious blueberry sauce (scroll down for the recipe) and strawberry salad. The sweet potato mash brings it all together, for an elegant dish that is surprisingly simple to put together. The duck breast reaches ultimate tenderness keeping all the juices through the sous vide cooking process, and a sear finishes the meat and crisps the skin.
Sous Vide Duck Breast
Ingredients: Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients:
|
Directions: Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer over very low heat without lid until it starts to thicken, about 30 minutes. Stir regularly allowing the berries to break down. Store in a jar and keep aside. For serving, warm it up if necessary. Tip: Instead of chopping the onion and apple, save yourself time by blending the peeled and quartered onion and apple with the red wine vinegar in a high performance blender. Puree until just smooth, and add to the sauce pan following the instructions above.
|
The Duck Father
The Duck Father focuses on quality over quantity to supply the best duck meat. The ducks are free range, grain-fed and free from anti-biotics and growth hormones. This means you can enjoy the healthiest duck meat. Available from selected butchers and retail stores. Visit the website for all information.
]]>Pork pairs really well with apple flavours, and with a few simple ingredients you’re creating a fantastic dish.
Ingredients (serves 2):
Braised Cabbage: Cooked apples: Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
Lowerland
Lowerland is a regenerative family farm on the banks of the Orange River, between Prieska and Niekerkshoop in the expansive Northern Cape Province of South Africa. On the premise of farming soil to soul, Lowerland produces high quality, healthy food. All meat is from pasture raised livestock, and free from antibiotics and growth hormones. Monthly meat boxes offer very good value for money high quality meat. A wide selection of cuts from beef, lamb and pork offers a variety to choose from. Contact to order for delivery.
]]>As orange and chocolate pair beautifully, it works fantastic for the pot de crème. This Cara Cara Chocolate Pot de Crème recipe makes it a beautiful dessert for autumn or winter, when Cara Cara oranges are in season.
A panna cotta requires a wide mouth jar as it is cooked, and then served on a plate. As this dessert is served in the jar, you can use any serving size jar with lid to cook it in the sous vide water bath.
Ingredients (serves 4): For serving: Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
Serve with a small dollop of whipped cream and chopped toasted walnuts.
]]> Ingredients: (4-5cm thick) Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
The Wagyu Experience
Wagyu meat with high quality marbling is directly available from The Wagyu Experience. Set against the backdrop of the Klein Drakenstein mountain range in Paarl South, the farm’s mission is to create a space where you can experience Wagyu and enjoy it in all its glory.
]]> Ingredients (serves 2): Sous Vide |
Directions:
|
The Wagyu Experience
Wagyu meat with high quality marbling is directly available from The Wagyu Experience. Set against the backdrop of the Klein Drakenstein mountain range in Paarl South, the farm’s mission is to create a space where you can experience Wagyu and enjoy it in all its glory.
]]>The traditional picanha recipe is also super easy!
It ONLY requires coarse salt - and you can be generous with it!
Cook it at 55°C degrees for a medium rare, and extremely juicy result. Apart from the ingredients - you need a sous vide circulator and perhaps a larger container, but a big pot will work as well.
SV time: 1-2 hours depending on the thickness and weight
SV temperature: 55°C
]]>
Will breaks down some different cooking techniques having a little fun in the kitchen, pay attention as he does not really follow a recipe!!
]]>
Ottolenghi’s recipes are known for fantastic flavour and we’ve used his shawarma spice mix recipe to cook this amazing juicy fall off the bone lamb shoulder. Many recipes are developed specifically for sous vide cooking, and provide the time and temperature of the sous vide process. Other recipes can work equally well for sous vide cooking. Changing a traditional oven roast to sous vide preparation often make it easier, with fool proof results. Oven roasting requires you to check regularly to make sure it’s cooked, but not dried out. It can make you worry whether it will it have the...
To use a recipe that isn’t specifically developed for sous vide cooking, you take the spice mix recipe and often reduce the liquid/oil as you cook it in the bag. Try it out, it’s worth experimenting opening up so many opportunities for amazing meals!
Cook it at 70C degrees for a juicy fall-off-the-bone result. You can cook it at a higher temperature for a more fall apart/braised texture. Amazing Food Made Easy provides a useful sous vide time & temperature guide.
SV time: 14 hours
SV temperature: 70C
Ingredients:
1 Lamb shoulder
Marinade spice mix (based on Ottolenghi’s Shawarma):
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
5 cloves
½ tsp cardamom pods
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 star anise
½ cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon grated nutmeg, about half a pod
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp dried sumac
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
¼ C canola oil
6 slices fresh ginger (R5 coin size)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Method:
Toast peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, fenugreek, fennel, cumin, star anise and cinnamon in a cast iron pan on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes until the spices begin to pop and release their aromas. Take care not to burn them. Add the nutmeg, ground ginger and paprika, and toss for a few more seconds, just to heat them.
Grind the spices in a high speed blender like the OmniBlend
Add the ground spices to a bowl, add the other spices and oil, then mix
Prepare sous vide water bath, and set temperature to 70C degrees
Score the fat of the lamb shoulder
Heat oil in a cast iron skillet, and sear the lamb shoulder on all sides
Take a vacuum bag, add the lamb shoulder (wait till it’s cooled to handle) to the bag, and rub the spice mix over all sides. Add the garlic cloves and ginger slices, make sure they’re not all together but nicely distributed over the meat.
Vacuum seal the bag.
Place bag in the sous vide bath, and cook for 14 hours.
Remove from the bath and either sear immediately, or place in ice bath to cool down and store in the fridge to finish just before serving.
To sear: preheat oven to 200-220C grill
Remove meat from the bag and place on a baking tray (discard garlic and ginger), reserve the marinade for a sauce.
Place the tray in the oven (place rack in the centre of the oven), just long enough to create a beautiful colour and crust.
Here served with an easy stir-fry of onion, red & green bell pepper, sprouts, chickpeas and broccoli, using some the liquid from the sous vide bag for the sauce.
]]>Leg of Lamb, a treat to serve and feast to cook! Even more so when you know that you can’t get it wrong, in case you’d fear letting roasting it too dry or just underdone. This lamb was cooked sous vide at 55C for 24 hours, and it turned out juicy and full of flavour, medium rare from the outside to the bone.
This cut deserves a labour of love, and the nice thing about it is that it’s mostly hands-off. The marinade is quick to prepare, and you then leave the meat to rest marinated in the fridge before vacuum packing. Cook sous vide, and then finish right before serving over high heat & flames on the braai. While the meat is getting a nice sear, the meat juices from the bag are cooked over medium heat to thicken, and make for a sublime sauce.
Serve it with Yotam Ottolenghi’s Bulgur with tomato, aubergine and preserved lemon yoghurt, which complements the flavours of the lamb really well, and is also easy to prepare ahead.
This all pairs beautifully with the Lowerland Tolbos Tannat that has made fame over the past few years and has put Prieska on the viticultural map. It’s incredible what Lowerland has been able to establish, growing their grapes in an area that would until recently be considered not suited for producing (quality) wine grapes. Lowerland has managed to produce high quality grapes whilst upholding the strictest regenerative farming methods. Available to order online, on their website.
Ingredients:
2-2.5kg free-range Leg of Lamb (bone in)
2 tbsp Mother in Law spice mix
1 tbsp Za’atar blend
1 tsp Smoked Spanish Paprika powder
1 tsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
½ C Avocado Oil
4 Cloves Garlic (crushed)
6 slices Ginger root
Salt (good grinds, to taste)
Method:
Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl, and score the fat of the lamb.
Place the lamb in the bowl with marinade, and give it a good rub with the marinade. Cover, and place in the fridge overnight (or about 8 hours).
Prepare a water bath with your sous vide circulator, and set the temperature at 55C
Place the meat in a vacuum bag, with the marinade, and vacuum seal (or use immersion method to let air escape, and seal)
Place bag in the bath, and leave to cook for 24 hours.
Light the fire for good coals and heat, and flames
Remove the meat from the bag, and sear over high heat & flames
Cook the meat juices from the bag over medium heat on the stove to thicken.
]]>At SousChef we’re just as concerned about our health as you are. Our lifestyle is designed around living the healthiest lifestyle possible as we’re mindful about risks of developing obesity, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. That’s why we’re conscious about what to do to avoid these risks: we cook from scratch as much as possible to avoid hidden ingredients and processed foods, and we keep moving throughout the day as our office is equipped with a treadmill desk. Sitting is the new smoking, so we want to avoid long sedentary hours that have proven to be a major risk factor of developing chronic diseases.
So while we love cooking from scratch with the best ingredients, and sous vide cooking ticks all the boxes with regards to respecting the quality of the meat and vegetables you prepare, bringing out the best flavour and texture, while retaining all nutrients, it comes with the downside of plastic.
The drawback of use of plastic is two-fold:
Many plastics around us are found to release low levels of plasticizer [ https://citizensustainable.com/plastic-health-risk/ ], from the plastic bottles and straws that we drink from, the toys our kids play with, the sunscreen that we apply to our skin. Important to consider, is the heat in combination with duration of exposure: a study showed that it took 38 days for a bottle of water heated up to 55C started to leach harmful levels of plasticides. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/exposed-to-extreme-heat-plastic-bottles-may-become-unsafe-over-time/
As sous vide cooking is done at low temperatures (never in boiling water), and for up to 48 hours this means that concentrations aren’t harmful. We wouldn’t suggest to boil your food in plastic, and with sous vide cooking this is never done.
Aside from duration, the actual plastic that is used is important, as not all plastics are the same. For sous vide cooking, we recommend using food grade bags (either polyethylene or polypropylene) as these are safe for preparing food in a warm water bath [ https://nomnompaleo.com/post/12463202060/cooking-sous-vide-plastic-safety ].
Considering the effects on the environment, the aim is always to reduce plastic where possible in your day to day life, especially where it doesn’t add any value as opposed to another solution.
For sous vide, the value add of plastic is significant as no other method provides the same flavour and texture, and retains all nutrients of the food. To keep the use of plastic to a minimum we recommend the following: buy bulk, and freeze and sous vide in the same bag. Prepare your cut adding spices, olive oil, and garlic, and vacuum seal for freezing and use the same bag for sous vide. This is a perfect way for meal prepping too, saving you time on the day you want to serve it for dinner. Alternatively, you can also opt for a reusable solution: using a silicon bag. These can be washed and reused, saving on plastic in general.
So before you decide to shelve the idea of introducing sous vide in your kitchen, consider options where you can reduce unnecessary plastics, to reap the rewards from (safe) plastic where it is beneficial.
]]>