INTRODUCTION:
This week is an exciting week in lab! We have a few American Favorites! Sous Vide Steak, Stir Fry Asparagus, Bear Battered Onion Rings, AND Steak Fries! I am very glad I will be in attendance for this lab. Though these are a few personal favorites, I have never made onion rings or steak fries homemade. I have cooked Steak before, but never sous vide! This week is going to be great for learning all about this new technique. Who knows, after this lab I may ask my parents for a vacuum sealer and sous vide equipment depending if I like the taste better than in the oven!
RESEARCH:
The term "sous vide" comes from a French word meaning "Under vacuum". The 2 chefs who are given credit for creating this method of cooking are Bruno Goussault and George Pralus. They were looking for a way to improve"tenderness" on a roast beef. I am curious to see if this method actually works! I have never tried frying either so to learn how to fry fries and onion rings will be a great learning opportunity! Though you'd think Onion Rings were originated in America, they were actually invented in 1469 when Louis XI (the king of France at the time) requested that his servants invent a new food snack. The funny part of the story was that the king was not pleased with the onion ring and ended up having the inventor executed.
BACKGROUND INFO:
As I mentioned above, I have never fried any dishes myself. I was not in attendance to the Fried Chicken lab, so I did not get to have hands on for frying. After reading the recipes there will be many other techniques I have learned about that will benefit me. For the steak fries, using my cutting skills to form the appropriate shape for the fry. For the asparagus, I have never made a stir fry, but I have used af frying pan before in class when we had a similar recipe. All in all, I am very excited for this weeks lab.
SOUS VIDE STEAK:
Yield: 4 Portions
4 Beef filet medallions (2 inches thick)
4 tablespoons butter (kerrygold)
1 Shallots cut in half
Directions:
1. Season beef and place the steaks in 2 vacuum bags with 1 tablespoon butter, shallot and a sprig of thyme in each bag.
2. Seal the bags at 95% vacuum.
3. Place in water bath at 57oC (135oF) for 1 hour until internal temperature is 57oC (medium rare).
4. Remove the beef from the bag and pat dry.
5. Take 4 of the steaks: season and sear the steaks on a hot grill or griddle until brown on all sides.
6. Rest for 60 seconds.
7. For the other 4 steaks: place them in liquid nitrogen for 30 seconds.
8. Place the steaks in a deep fat fryer at 150oC until browned all over.
STIR FRY ASPARAGUS:
Yield: 4 servings, 4 oz. each
1 lb Asparagus
6 oz. Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp. Chopped Garlic
4 fl. oz. Oyster Sauce
T Crushed Red Chiles
Directions
Wash the asparagus, trim the ends and slice on the bias into 1- to 2-inch (2.5- to 5-centimeter) pieces.
Wash the mushrooms, trim off the stems and slice the caps into ½-inch- (1.2-centimeter-) thick slices.
Heat the oils in a wok over high heat.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds.
Add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the oyster sauce and crushed red chiles, if using, and continue to stir-fry until the asparagus is nearly tender, approximately 3 minutes.
BEAR BATTERED ONION RINGS:
Yield: 1 qt. batter for 4 lb. rings
Batter:
10 oz. Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. White Pepper
1 Egg
1 pt. beer
4 lb. Whole Onions
Flour as needed
Directions:
Sift together the dry ingredients.
Beat the egg in a separate bowl. Add the beer to the beaten egg.
Add the egg-and-beer mixture to the dry ingredients; mix until smooth.
Peel the onions and cut in ½-inch- (1.2-centimeter-) thick slices.
Break the slices into rings and dredge in flour.
Dip the rings in the batter a few at a time. Using the swimming method, deep-fry at 375°F (191°C) until done. Drain on absorbent paper, season with additional salt and white pepper and serve hot.
STEAK FRIES:
Yield: Varies
Mealy potatoes (as needed)
Corn or Soybean oil, hot (as needed)
TT Salt & Pepper
Chopped Parsley (as needed for garnish)
Directions:
Peel if necessary, then cut each potato into the desired shape; for example:
Cottage fries—Circles ¼ inch (6 millimeters) thick
Shoestring potatoes—Long juliennes (allumettes)
French fries—Sticks ⅜ inch 3 ⅜ inch 3 3 inches (1 centimeter 3 1 centimeter 3 7 centimeters)
Steak fries—Cut each potato into four large wedges
Using the basket method, deep-fry the potatoes in 300–325°F (150–170°C) fat until blanched and lightly browned, approximately 3–4 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Remove and drain. Hold the partially cooked potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet or in a hotel pan.
For service, deep-fry the partially cooked potatoes in 350–375°F (180–191°C) fat until golden in color and done. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Garnish with parsley if desired.
COOKING OUTCOME:
Talk about a fun lab! Instead of every person making their each and own individual dish, we worked together as a group and divided up the jobs. I found this idea to be much less stressful, and it gave me a chance to talk with a few of my classmates I had not yet met before. I was in charge of the meat, which entailed cutting the venison into equal parts, vacuum sealing the meat with the appropriate seasonings, and placing them into the sous vide water buckets. I was also in charge of prepping the vegetables for our stir fry. With the other groups (potatoes, and onion rings), students had to cut, peel, and cut to shape for the desired item while either double cooking or triple cooking them with the frier. The lab went very smoothly, and overall it was my most fun lab yet.
RESULTS:
Pictured below are the results of our lab.
On the left: The Stir Fry consisted of mushrooms and asparagus! The cooking method used was to fast cook the vegetables, and we added Worcestershire sauce to give the taste a kick!
In the middle: Our final product! Looked & tasted amazing!
On the right: My assigned task with the meat. The process of vacuum sealing and sous vide in general was very interesting to me!
CONCLUSION:
Anyone who attended the lab would tell you it was a total success. In addition to my newfound skill of sous vide, I also had the opportunity to taste Venison. Not knowing what to expect, I honestly think I liked it better than I do regular steak! It will be tricky trying to get my mother to cook deer, but after I show her the photos of how beautiful the meat turned out, I think she might not mind. We were running behind towards the end of class, but everything was planned out accordingly. For instance, the meat needed to be dealt with first since it was going tone cooking the longest. The onion rings were not needed to cook until the very last minute do to its quick cooking. As I have mentioned countless times, this lab was very educational and very fun. I really enjoyed my last lab in class and I was very happy I was able to attend.
WORKS CITED:
Labensky, S. R., Hause, A. M., & Martel, P. (2019).On cooking: a textbook of culinary fundamentals. Pearson.
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