Sous Vide Asparagus Butter Poached Food

HOW TO COOK ASPARAGUS SOUS VIDE

Steps:

• Heat the water: Fill a pot with water and place your immersion circulator inside. Set your immersion circulator to 180°F and let the water come up to temperature.
• Serve: Remove from the water, turn off the circulator and serve immediately. Sprinkle some lemon juice and zest over the top of the asparagus, along with some of the cooking oil or butter (if desired) and some flaky sea salt, such as Maldon. Leftover asparagus will keep refrigerated for about 5 days.

BUTTER-BRAISED ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Snap off and discard the tough bottoms of the asparagus spears. If using large, thick asparagus, peel the lower ends with a vegetable peeler.
• Put butter in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus in one layer and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the asparagus is firm-tender, about 3 minutes. Take care not to overcook them; they should still be bright green. (They will continue to cook a bit once the heat is off.) Remove the asparagus from the pan and place on a serving platter.
• Turn heat to high and simmer briskly until most of the liquid has evaporated, a minute or so. Add lemon juice and zest to the buttery juices. Turn off heat and stir in chives, parsley, tarragon and dill, if using. Check seasoning. Spoon the sauce over the asparagus, garnish with a few herb leaves, and serve.

SOUS VIDE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with warm water, leaving 3 inches of head room. Attach the sous vide to the pot and set the temperature to 175 F degrees (80 degrees C) and timer to 1 hour.
• Peel pear and halve lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds using a small spoon. Place pear halves into a resealable or silicone bag and add butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Remove all air from the bag and immerse the bag into the water, making sure that the top does not go below water. Leave in the water for 1 hour.
• Remove the bag when time is up and place pears on dessert plates. Drizzle with cooking liquid.

SOUS VIDE ASPARAGUS (BUTTER POACHED)

Steps:

• Heat a sous vide water bath to 182F degrees.
• Trim the woody ends off the bottom of the asparagus (depends on the thickness of the asparagus but about 1 - 1 ½ inches).
• Place the asparagus in a vacuum sealable or ziplock bag, add the salt and place 1 tablespoon of butter in each corner of the bag.
• Use a vacuum sealer to seal the bag, or use the water displacement method (see above).
• Cook 9 minutes for thin, 11 minutes for medium and 13 minutes for thick asparagus.
• Remove the asparagus from the bag, mix with the Parmesan cheese and serve on a platter drizzled with the butter from the bag and a squeeze of lemon juice (optional).

BUTTER-POACHED ASPARAGUS WITH THYME

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 bunch trimmed asparagus and 1/4 cup water. Cook, turning the asparagus, until crisp-tender and glazed, 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme.

FEARLESS SOUS VIDE POACHED EGGS

Steps:

• Clip (or stand) sous vide machine to a tall large pot. Fill pot with warm water. Turn on machine and heat water to 153°F. Not 155°F-not 150°F. 153°F.
• Gently lower eggs into water. (We like to put each one in a spoon and lower it in just to make sure it doesn't crack.) Cook 25 minutes.
• Transfer eggs to an ice bath and let cool. Transfer to an airtight container and chill; they'll keep in the fridge for about a week.
• When you want to eat one warm (though there is nothing wrong with eating a cold, poached egg), use sous vide machine set to 150°F or a small pot of hot water to heat it up for a few minutes. Then crack it into a bowl or small container so that you can drain off any water or floating albumin before you plate your pretty egg.