Some of you that follow me on Twitter have probably already cottoned on to the fact that the newest weapon in my arsenal is a Sous Vide machine. For those of you that don't know what that is, have a look here.
I'm fully aware that this is not the most common piece of kit, yet, but I will still be posting some recipes for it every now and then. I believe that there's always a bit of inspiration to be gained from a recipe, even if you don't have the specialist kit associated with it. For example, this recipe can very easily be adapted to oven roast the tenderloin instead of cooking it sous vide.
The tenderloin came out beautifully, but the real star in this recipe is the chutney sauce. It is to this recipe what Slash's guitar was to Axl's voice. Them two together made it rock, hard. This sauce is probably going to be one of the best studio guitarists in my toolbox. It is very simple to make but it adds quite a lot to a dish. I can't wait to try it on some BBQ'd food as well.
To finish off before I head over to the recipe I just want to say that this Sous Vide machine is probably the most exciting piece of kit I've had to play with in a long time. It has really forced me to think in new ways about how to cook, and sauce, my food. I'm really looking forward to playing with it as time progresses. Hopefully you won't become too tired of my recipes for it. If you do - please post a comment, send me an email or Tweet me and I'll try and adjust what I post. Deal?
Oh, and if you wonder what Mrs H.S. Ball's Chutney is, it is a South African chutney that I personally think tastes ace. If you can't find it - replace with mango chutney instead.
Enough chatting, time to look at the recipe.
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 Pork tenderloin, about 600g
2 sage leafs
2 tbsp butter
Salt
Pepper
Rapeseed oil
Mrs H.S. Ball's Creamy Sauce
100 ml Mrs H.S. Ball's Chutney
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
100 ml olive oil
50 ml cream
1/2 red onion , finely diced
100 ml flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Method
Pre-heat the Sous Vide to 60c/140F.
Cut the tenderloin in two, make a pocket in each and put a sage leaf into the pocket. Season the tenderloins. Pop each tenderloin together with a tablespoon of butter into their own vacuum bag and seal. Cook the tenderloins in the Sous Vide for 2 hours.
To make the sauce mix the chutney with the white wine vinegar in a bowl. Slowly pour in the olive oil as you are whisking (KitchenAid or electric whisk is a bonus here). As you are doing this the mixture should thicken up. Add the cream, parsley and onion. Season to taste.
When the tenderloin has finished cooking remove it from the sous vide and cut open the vacuum pouches. Wipe dry with kitchen towel and remove the sage leafs. Heat the rapeseed oil in a frying pan on a very high heat until the oil starts smoking. Quickly fry the tenderloins on all sides (beware splatter) until nicely browned, but not for too long so they start drying out.
Remove from the pan, slice into the thickness you want. Serve with the sauce and rice, potato wedges or whatever takes your fancy.
Enjoy!
Hey. Not fair, you've got a new toy!
ReplyDeleteI think these things have got their place, but give me something low n slow with a wisp of woodsmoke. There's something a little soulless for me in this sort of cooking. Never tried it to be fair, but just my opinion.
Cheers
Marcus
Marcus,
DeleteLife is never fair. ;)
I fully know what you mean, on its own this could get very soulless. What it has made me do though is to think about the other parts of the meal much more. Get the sauce right, how to work with texture and so on. I keep telling how this one have made me start thinking in completely new ways, it has been really inspiring so far.
Another thing I'm planning on doing is to combine it with other methods. For example I'm thinking of cold smoking some raw lobster tails and then finish them off to perfection in the Sous Vide. Hopefully perfectly cooked but with that wisp of woodsmoke still.
I've always been a geek and love to play with new toys and gadgets but I can fully see your point in this as well. I just like to learn more and find ways of cooking differently as well as combining several methods at the same time.
// Mike
Sounds great to me, and look forward to seeing what comes out of your kitchen.
DeleteI'm the same, love my kitchen gadgets, think the wife wouldn't be too impressed with another one though.
Like I said, it definately has got a place in the armoury.
I can't see what the big difference with using one of these is, when you use a digi thermometer, you can take the food up to exactly what temperature you need anyway. Which is just what these do? I think the element of control is what would be best?
Looking forward to those tails!
Cheers
Marcus
Marcus,
DeleteThanks for that vote of confidence ;)
After what I understand it's not just about bringing the food up to a certain temperature. I think one of the main benefits is that you are cooking at a very steady, and quite low, temperature. This allows the meat for example to tenderise whilst not drying it out the same way as you might do when cooking at a higher temperature in a conventional way.
I'm no scientist but that's what I've understood from what I've read so far.
There's of course some downsides as well, you won't be getting the awesome gravy/sauce you'd get from braising it for example.
I think I'll try and pop some more facts and science around the process in future posts as I learn more myself. Hopefully that could be interesting for people following the blog who wants to learn more about different cooking processes.
Having said that - that also means that I will have to understand what the heck I'm doing. ;)
// Mike
Look forward to those facts, and some more cooking with it, as you know i'm not really one for conventional cooking either, loving the whole low n slow thing, and getting loads of taste into cheaper cuts, just don't think this way of cooking would excite me personally.
DeleteThere's some great info out there. I'm sure you'll pick it up pretty quickly :)
Cheers
Marcus
I'll try and get the info in there and at the same time try to get to to feel excited about cooking Sous Vide. Sounds like that could be a bit of a challenge. :)
DeleteI hope so, it also gives me the chance to buy some new specialised cookbooks. ;-)
// Mike
Nice! Love the new kitchen gadget. Sally at My Custard Pie made some salmon sous vide in her sink!!! @sally2hats
ReplyDeleteYour tenderloin looks yummmm!
Ren,
DeleteMany thanks for the kind words. It turned extremely tender and was really moist, definitely something to do again. The base recipe will be the same, then I'll just have to play with sauces and sides.
Also, many thanks for the heads-up regarding Sally. I'm at the stage where I absorb information like a sponge when it comes to Sous Vide cooking so any resources are really appreciated.
// Mike
The food looks great, will have to give the recipe a try.
ReplyDeleteThat creamy sauce sounds divine! I won't be able to sous vide the pork though but that's ok! Still keen to read about what else you're planning on doing with the machine.
ReplyDelete