Vegetable stew

YIELD:

TIME ESTIMATE:

STORAGE NOTES:

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

four servings (435 g/2 cups)

20 minutes of preparation serve immediately easy

Pressure-Cooked Barley (see above), Pressure-Cooked Vegetables (see the previous page), Pressure- Cooked Vegetable Jus (see the previous page), Pressure-Cooked Garlic Confit oil (seepage 44)

and the plate-up are straightforward, and offer a good example of how home cooks can produce restaurant-quality food with confidence and relative ease.

You can compose pressure-cooked barley, vegetables, and vegetable jus from the three preceding recipes in this chapter to make an impressively elegant vegetable stew. Both the individual preparations

INGREDIENT	WEIGHT	VOLUME		PROCEDURE
Pressure-Cooked Barley, warm see the previous page Pressure-Cooked Vegetables, warm see the previous page	100 g all pieces	V4 cup		© Distribute the barley, turnips, carrots, onions, and radishes evenly among four bowls. Tweezers area handy tool for this step.
Seasonal greens and herbs	afew small leaves of each			© Garnish. Use your imagination, and experiment with a variety of colors and arrangements (see variations below).
Pressure-Cooked Vegetable Jus, warm see the previous page	250 g	250 mL/1 cup		© Divide equally among the four bowls.
Pressure-Cooked Garlic Confit oil 40 g see page 44			45 mL/3Tbsp	© Drizzle into the prepared bowls of soup.
Salt	to taste			© Sprinkle overthe bowls, and serve the stew immediately.

VARIATIONS: Seasonal Herb Garnishes

Many combinations of fresh herbs work as garnishes. Here are some seasonal possibilities.

Winter: amaranth, baby beet greens, and rosemary

Spring: baby chard, chervil, basil, and chive blossoms Summer: purslane, nasturtiums, and tarragon Autumn: baby mustard greens, watercress, and thyme

SOUS VIDE STEAK

YIELD:

TIME ESTIMATE:

STORAGE NOTES:

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

four servings (l kg/2 steaks)

1 hour overall, including 50 minutes unattended

serve immediately

moderate

sous vide setup, blowtorch or deep-frying setup

Cook steaks sous vide to perfection, and then quickly sear the out­side to a crisp, savory brown. Our two favorite searing methods are deep-frying in very hot oil and searing with a blowtorch. Alterna­tively, sear the steaks for 30 seconds per side in a large, oiled skillet

over very high heat. The temperatures we give here cook strip steaks just the way we like them; see the table on the next page for recom­mended cooking temperatures for other kinds of tender steaks or chops.

Beef strip steaks, at Ieast2.5 cm/1 in thick Neutral-tasting oil	1 kg/2.2 lb 2 large as needed	100%	© Preheat a water bath to 55 °C/131”F. © Place each steak in a separate zip-top bag with a small amount of oil. Remove as much air as possible from the bags, and seal them. ® Cook sous vide to a core temperature of54°C/129°F, about 50 minutes.
Neutral frying oil see page viii	as needed		© Preheat to 225 °C/437°F in a large, deep pot no more than half full. © Remove the cooked steaks from the bags, and pat them dry. © Deep-fry the steaks until they turn dark brown and crispy, about 30 seconds, and then drain them on a wire rack.
Unsalted butter, melted (optional)	as needed		© Brush over the steaks.
Flaky salt (Maldon brand)	to taste		© Season generously. Slice and serve immediately.