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Food Thread: Sous Vide, Or Not Sous Vide, That Is The Question

[Not my photo, but I think my lamb looked even better!]

And last evening's boneless legs of lamb (leg of lambs? Legs of lambs?) answered the question rather forcefully! I made a simple herb dressing of garlic, fresh Rosemary (dried is nasty), S&P, Dijon mustard and some olive oil. I then trimmed the fat and silver skin from the boneless legs, smeared them liberally with the herb mixture, then sealed them in vacuum bags and refrigerated for an hour or so to let the flavors permeate the meat. Yeah, that is probably nonsense...I imagine it takes longer than that, and besides, I was going to cook them in a bag for four hours; that should do far more to get that luscious herb rub into the meat than some time in the refrigerator.

But I digress! Four hours at 138 degrees, then into an ice bath to chill down as fast as possible. Into the refrigerator for a day to firm up, and then about three hours before serving I put them back into 125 degree water, which is a good serving temperature. My plan was to sear them on the grill, and there was no way they would warm up enough in the 8-10 minutes they needed to get some gorgeous crispiness and grill marks.

And the plan was good; and I worked the plan; and the plan worked! Well...almost. It was threatening some nasty weather and the last thing I wanted to do was stand outside halfway through the Passover Seder, holding an umbrella while I finished the lamb. So I did it a couple of hours before, and simply covered the meat with foil to retain some heat. I think lamb is better warm rather than hot anyway...

I popped them into a warm oven before slicing and serving, and they came out perfectly medium, edge to edge without any overdone or underdone areas. Exactly what I wanted!

I also saved the jus from the Sous Vide bags, which was delicious and rich and just perfect for making leftovers!

Yup...that's what's for dinner this evening.

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Federal intrusion into land and water use is one of the left's favorite tools for controlling the people. And it isn't just cancelling drilling licenses and banning grazing on federal land or a host of other ways they restrict our freedom to act as we see fit on our land. Here is typical overreach: Hidden on Page 9 of Biden's 'Conservation Plan' Is a Land Grab, Governors Warn. Oooh! Conservation! everyone must be for conservation! Except...it is code for restricting the amount of land available for commerce and natural resource use and extraction. And it doesn't just effect the big oil companies (ecveryone's favorite industry to hate). It will take agricultural land out of production and restrict expansion of agriculture, all while demand for food is increasing. But they are also happy to subsidize land use for the monumentally stupid ethanol-as-fuel boondoggle.

Although I guess with out-of-control inflation, many of us will be eating less, so maybe it won't be a big deal!

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There is one problem with this photo...it wasn't accompanied by a large package containing some of this bounty!

It is once again Paella time. We made some tweaks this year and deemed this years Paella, Paella Squared. We added some delicious Linguisa sausage we found at our local Butcher shop. We added double the clams and extra shrimp. We cubed the Linguisa a bit small so we would be sure to get some in every bite. It was the best one yet.

WeeKreekFarmGirl

Paella is a marvelous dish, but I am often left with too much rice at the end. That's not a bad thing because it has cooked in the essence of the other ingredients, and is damned delicious. But...it would be nice to have everything together from start to finish, and WeeCreekFarmGirl clearly understands this!
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The sheer volume of fantastic cooking knowledge among you lunatics never ceases to amaze me. I will often get emails from readers that reveal a depth of experience and skill that is just fantastic.

Here's a good example from commenter "ERF."

Hey, I saw your post tonight about the ribs. I went to a BBQ school (twice) put on by Quito McKenna, who is one of the owners of Lillie's Q in Destin and Chicago. Quito is a retired USAF Colonel and always loves talking about conservative politics in his classes. Quito and his son Charlie (who runs the Chicago restaurants), have won Memphis in May twice, and finished in the top 10 for 11 years in a row. Quito is never afraid to teach tricks of the trade and has always seemed happy to share ideas to help make your cooking better.

I'd like to pass on his tips on getting tender ribs that I have successfully replicated on numerous occasions. After putting on your base adhesive (usually mustard) and rub, wrap the ribs and let them marinate overnight. If there is vinegar in the base (like in mustard), it will help to break down and soften the meat, which helps the seasons in the rub permeate the meat. The next day, add some more rub and put them on the rack bone side down at 225 degrees for 2-2 ½ hours. The ribs will turn a deep reddish color.

Next, you need an aluminum or metal pan with a wire rack on the bottom that allows separation from the floor of the pan. Put the ribs on the wire rack and pour apple juice onto the bottom of the pan so it is below the wire rack. Cover and seal the pan with foil and cook for 2 hours more at 225 degrees. Once the ribs had turned color, the second part could be done in an oven or a roaster because the smoking process won't add anything more at that point. After the 2 hours have passed, start to test by twisting one of the middle ribs. When it is ideally tender, the bone will spin in place in the rack of ribs. An alternative test is lift the end of the rack of ribs...if it is tender, they will break at one of the seams.

At that point, mop on the glaze that suits your tastes and caramelize it while uncovered.

Sounds like a pretty straightforward and easy technique, and one that I will try soon.

Oh, I forgot to add... One of the best tips he gave was to keep a journal or log when you are BBQ'ing to keep track of what you did, what worked, what didn't, as well as recipes or revisions to recipes you try. That way it makes it easier to go back and replicate a good discovery or helps avoid making the same mistake twice. I use a loose leaf notebook and have it sorted based on ribs, pork butt, chicken, turkey, ham, etc.

Excellent point. Sometimes my best cooking is spur-of-the-moment chnages or just winging something completely new. But if I don't annotate the recipe or just jot down notes, my 29-year-old brain will promptly and effortlessly forget! ****** Speaking of mutton, I got a nice email from commenter "Eric," that pointed out that since I am in North Jersey I am relatively close to a halal butcher. That's a butcher that observes Islam's rules about slaughter and handling of meat.

And while I am tempted to throw caution to the wind and scoot down to Paterson or some other third-world shithole in my neck of the woods, I think I will remain cautious about the halal system and buy my mutton elsewhere.

Yes; I am a snob and a racist and a supporter of evil Western society, and I'm good with that!

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You thought you could get away without looking at another photo of a fine cask ale from England?

Hah!

This one was across the street from The Imperial War Museum in London, which is an excellent place to visit. The ale should be enjoyed before...or after...or both!

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From commenter "Iris." I am amazed that the BATF allowed the names!

Sharon (Willow's Apprentice) and I were driving in Virginia when we saw a sign for "Well Hung Vineyard" which struck us as a moron-perfect name. I purchased "Wishful Thinking" and "Red Tryst". Passed up the Happy Ending varietal.

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Romaine lettuce that is green, instead of the white crap they sell that has never seen a photon, pork rib roasts from the front end of the pig where all the good and fatty meat lives, carrots that don't taste like stalky chalk, spare bottles of Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year Old Bourbon, an herb garden that actually produces herbs (but no basil!), well-marbled NY strip steaks and elk backstrap to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

And don't think that you are off the hook with maple syrup and French Toast: I'm watching you...all of you! And I am watching you perverts who shake Manhattans and keeping a list for the Burning Times.