Wednesday 31 December 2014

Pasta Carbonara with Sous Vide Egg

Ingredients: 
50g crispy bacon -- or 75-80g uncooked
8g bacon fat
3 egg -- according to the box, an average of 58g (use Large)
100g grated parmesan  -- plus more to taste
170g dried egg noodles -- fettucine
Fresh black pepper
Salt

If the bacon is uncooked, crisp it up in the oven. You want it shatteringly crisp so it crumbles better.

Crumble the bacon in a bowl, and set aside. Pour the bacon fat into a medium mixing bowl, and once cool, grate the parmesan into the same bowl. Add a couple grinds of black pepper.

(Save the extra fat. People who don't should burn in hell probably.)

Sous vide the eggs at 60C for 40 minutes. 

30 minutes later, throw the pasta into a pot of salted boiling water, and cook as per package instructions. 

Drain the pasta and pour it into the mixing bowl. Crack the eggs into the bowl and mix well.

Serve with more parmesan and black pepper, as needed. 

Tasting Notes:
This recipe is for 2 hungry people. The leftovers can be crisped the next day, or thrown into an omelette.
If you like a looser sauce, I'd recommend saving a cup or so of the pasta water, and add it in if necessary.

Sous Vide Egg 
I settled on 60C for 40 minutes based on this Serious Eats article.
The eggs are just right at 60C for 40 minutes -- though, as always with sous vide, you probably have some margin of error on that.
For a looser sauce, you can probably try a little less time, or a lower temp.
In the past, using raw eggs, I was always careful to use the freshest eggs I can find (rather difficult to find here), but since the egg is cooked to temp before mixing, that is not really a concern here. 

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Christmas Apples + Apple Syrup

Ingredient: 
350g cubed apples -- I used Pink Lady
Salt -- 3 fingered pinch
1/2 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
1 whole nutmeg
330ml apple cider -- 1 bottle
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
50g water
50g sugar - raw

Put everything into a 500ml mason jar. If the liquid does not cover the apples, add a bit more water.

Sous vide at 65C for 2 hours. Strain out the liquid and store separately.

Tasting Notes: 
The apples are still fairly firm. Would actually be ideal for apple pie, in my opinion, with a bit more sugar.
I plan to try this with apple molasses when I find it.
Pink Lady apples are on the sweeter side, so if you use something more tart (I do not recommend this because I think it would not taste good), add more sugar.
Might benefit from a hit of ginger if I wasn't using it for Fairytale of New York.

Other comments: 
I made the syrup for: Fairytale of New York
I was going to toss the apples, but the texture is still pretty good, hence I am munching on them.

Saturday 27 December 2014

Sous Vide Oatmeal

150g cereal blend with oatmeal and other things
10g quinoa
1/2 tsp cinnamon -- can omit
600g milk

Put everything into a 500ml canning jar, and into the sous vide machine overnight at 65C.

Notes:
I am making this thicker because that is how the Programmer Bear prefers it. I figure that if it's too thick, I can just thin it out stove top.
I estimate this makes about 2 portions. I am only making this much because I don't have smaller jars, and leaving the jar half full will cause to float and maybe turn upside down

Tasting Notes:
Creamy, but a little thick.
Might benefit from using a mixture of cream and milk.
Makes 3-4 portions as is.

Sous Vide Chicken Porridge

Ingredients: 
75g rice
600g chicken stock -- it should be thick enough to gel solid when cold
2g salt
2 spring onion stalks -- the white bit minus the roots plus a bit of the green part
small knob of ginger
sesame oil -- about a teaspoon or so
soya sauce -- just a few drops

Put all of the ingredients into a 500ml mason jar and sous vide for 4 hours at 65C, then another 8 hours at 75C.

Notes:
The stock was cold when it went in.
This is under salted, but you're meant to serve this with soy sauce and white pepper at the table anyway.

Tasting Notes:
The rice to stock ratio needs to go up, unless you are after a more Teochew style gruel. I will try 100g rice to 600g stock the next time.
Temperature needs to increase as well. When I checked it at 4 hours at 65C, the rice was still solid little grains. I will try 75C or 80C the next time for 8 hours.
(The only recipe I found online for Sous Vide congee suggested 90C for 1.5 hours, but I am aiming for an overnight recipe, at least until I get a sous vide machine with a timer.)
If you want to serve it piping hot, you will need to bring it to boil on a stove top.
I might reduce the salt the next time -- it was salty enough to not need extra flavorings.