Inspired in part from a conversation between  a group of us in one of the MS food forums, and partly from Michele Richard's demonstration at the Gourmet Institute event two weeks ago, I decided to start experimenting with the Sous Vide method of cooking.

According to Wikipedia: Sous-vide (IPA pronunciation: [su? vi?d]), French for "under vacuum", is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (Usually around 60°C = 140°F).>>

The method was developed by Georges Pralus in the mid-1970s for the Restaurant Troisgros (of Pierre and Michel Troigros) in Roanne, France. He discovered that when cooking foie gras in this manner it kept its original appearance, did not lose excess amounts of fat and had better texture. The method is used in several top-end restaurants under Thomas Keller, Paul Bocuse, Joel Robuchon, Charlie Trotter, and other chefs. Non-professional cooks are also beginning to use vacuum cooking. Botulinum bacteria can grow in food in the absence of oxygen and produce deadly toxin: sous vide cooking must be performed under carefully controlled conditions to avoid botulism poisoning. To help with food safety and taste, relatively expensive water-bath machines (thermal immersion circulator) are used to circulate precisely heated water; differences of even one degree can affect the finished product.>>

One of my first experiments will be the re-vamp of a traditional holiday recipe that I make.

Chicken Wreaths

Traditional recipe...
— Butterfly brined chicken breast and (gently) pound to even thickness
— Stuff with dried cranberries, chopped parsley, minced garlic, chopped pine nuts
— Roll and tie
— Sear in a hot skillet
— Finish in oven
— Slice and serve with mango chutney



Sous Vide Conversion....
— Butterfly brined chicken breast and (gently) pound to even thickness
— Stuff with dried cranberries, chopped parsley, minced garlic, chopped pine nuts
— Roll in plastic wrap and tie the ends
— poach
— remove from plastic
— sear in hot skillet
— slice and serve

I'll test it this weekend and take pics... Stay tuned