Category Archives: Food

What’s the story with sous vide cooking?

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Thank you, Erika Engle.

Engle’s Facebook post yesterday morning announced her departure from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after taking a buy-out, ending a 38-year career in journalism.

Erika Engle photoThe post also described her next professional adventure with The Harris Agency. And she ended the entry with this photo of “my 1st attempt at sous vide steak!”

Can I confess having absolutely no idea what this “sous vide” thing was? A different cut of meat? What the heck!

I’m just an old fashioned cook, armed with my old, rescued cast iron cookware and my mother’s basic instructions (She said, “If you can read, you can cook!”).

So of course I just went online to find out about sous vide. Very interesting!

I’m wondering whether there are others out there who use this technique? It seems somewhat akin to using a slow cooker. Is that an apt comparison?

What’s your experience? Is it something for special occasions? Certain types of foods? What does it do best?

And what equipment do you use? Looking at Amazon, there are certainly a lot of choices. Any advice on what to look for, or attributes to avoid?

And, Erika–I’m guessing you had to briefly grill that steak to get it browned like that?

A quick salmon meal

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It was a pretty simple meal. I baked a piece of salmon after doctoring it with garlic, a little melted butter, olive oil, a few pinches of thyme, and some red pepper flakes. Wrapped in foil and baked. Also in the oven, a few mini sweet peppers. Meda put together a plate of sliced tomatoes and avocado, and a leftover artichoke heart from earlier in the week. Accompanied by a bowl of penne pasta with garlic and anchovies. And a glass or two of pinot noir. It tasted as good as it looks.

Thursday night salmon

A simple lamb curry

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I grabbed this quick photo as we sat down to dinner last night.

Late in the afternoon, I decided to pull a small package of lamb bones out of the freezer. I spotted them recently in Safeway (yes, it’s still on our grocery circuit) and thought they would make a good curry.

So yesterday was the day for curry. I chopped an onion and threw it into a frying pan with a little olive oil, and let the onion brown for a while. Then I added some garlic, a small handful of raisins, and then the lamb, browning it on all sides. After a bit, I added a couple of tablespoons of Penzy’s Vindaloo curry powder. At one time, I mixed my own, but eventually decided it wasn’t really economical to keep all the ingredients on hand.

In any case, I browned the vindaloo seasoning, then some water, covered, and let the mixture simmer for an hour or so until the lamb was cooked and the flavors developed. Towards the end, I added a pile of kale, then covered and let it cook down into the lamb mix. Just a few minutes before serving, I added a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped.

Served over brown rice with a side salad with tomatoes and olives. Red wine. Hot pepper jelly.

It turned out pretty well.

from the freezer