Jason Logsdon does for slow cooking what Julia Child did for
French cooking; he makes it simpler for the intimidated American, and for the
American skeptic, he makes it practical. Like Julia Child he’s not looking to
train chefs, but to give the average home cook a greater variety of cuisine.
In Beginning Sous Vide he stresses prep work, such as
preheating the oven, proper marinades, seasonings, and temperatures. For
example, in the corned beef and cabbage recipe he uses a sous vide pouch for
slow-cooking the meat over 24-48 hours. The cabbage is simply boiled in the
stock, because cabbage cooks fast. As with most sous vide recipes the meat
takes a long time to cook, but the benefit is that it won’t dry out.
In Help For The Busy Cook, Logsdon extends his instruction
to other cuts of meat like steaks and lamb. There’s a lot you can get away with
in these recipes, because sous vide allows you to use dry store-bought spices rather
than fresh ones. Since the meats are cooked slow, there are fewer last-minute
troubles to be expected. Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish family, I remember my
mother throwing brisket cubes, hard boiled eggs, barley, beans, and potatoes
into the Crock Pot and letting is turn to mush overnight. The stew was called “cholent”
and it was a cheap way to feed the massive number of guests we often had on
Saturdays. If we had to serve good cuts of meat, the meal would’ve cost us
hundreds of dollars and necessitated a massive load of cooking.
As for the salads, you make those at the last minute. And
don’t add dressing until you’re ready to bring it out. Otherwise it gets
greasy.
No comments:
Post a Comment