Saturday, September 17, 2016

I love my immersion circulator

One of my friends is a real steak-head.  I love throwing elaborate dinner parties with very complicated recipes, but one of my friends just wants steak.

So, if I'm gonna be making steak, I'm not gonna source just any steak; it's gonna be Wagyu.  And while I can get my hands on Snake River Farms wagyu -- still the record holder since 2010 for the best thing I've ever put in my mouth -- that's going on my dinner plate.

Unfortunately, when each steak costs $45 (and that's way cheap compared to what you'd pay for it in a restaurant), I don't want to screw these up.  So I throw them in a hot water bath with an immersion circulator and sous vide them until they're perfectly at temperature.

This picture makes me weep.  Be sure to click it to see the really big version.

Just look at the picture, here:  An ordinary cooking, either on a cast iron or a professional flat top  or salamander would carve a brown layer deep into the steak, leaving a much smaller area of medium-rare pink.  Here, it's a simple, thin layer followed by the delicate Wagyu ribeye.  I love my immersion circulator.

Late summer salad.
Apple pie, pumpkin martini.
Anyway, the point of this post was to put in a good word for my immersion circulator, but since you asked, here's the menu I served, and some pictures.  The turnip purée made it underneath the steak, so it was camera shy, today.


LATE SUMMER SALAD
Mesclun, mission fig, persimmon, endive, feta, cranberry, walnut, honey-shallot vinaigrette

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Molasses, sage, whipped crème fraîche

WAGYU BEEF
Steak, bitch

POTATO-TURNIP PURÉE
For Dave
[Teditor's note:  This was on a previous dinner party menu.  I don't usually like making the same thing twice, but it was requested.  Should've done the same for the steak, but I like its current line.]

APPLE PIE
Homemade vanilla ice cream, pumpkin martini