Pineapple and Cream Ice Cream

Although I love my pineapple sorbet, sometimes I want something creamier and this ice cream delivers.

Cinnamon Apple Sorbet

Our first stab at this recipe, we used Chinese 5 Spice. The flavor was amazing, but my body apparently does not like that particular spices; I had nasty burps for hours afterward probably because it's derived from seeds. When we did this again, we used cinnamon which sweetened up the flavor and made for an awesome sorbet. Cinnamon works great for me because it is derived from the bark of a tree and not seeds.

When I searched for apple sorbet recipes on the web, I either got AI-generated recipes--which I don' trust--or I got recipes which use pre-made apple pie filling, which is super sugary. This recipe allows us to control the ingredients as desired.

Note, that this recipe is derived from my Tart Apple Sorbet.

Tart Apple Sorbet

I wanted to make an apple sorbet with my Ninja CREAMi, and so I searched the web for recipes. I found several recipes but as I read them I quickly determined they were each generated by AI. The automation clearly did not understand how to differentiate between standard freezer ice cream and a Ninja CREAMi recipe, and so it generated an unholy union of the two. Ugh.

So, this recipe is my own creation with input from Pineapple. This recipe works and is delicious. According to Pineapple, the front-end texture has a hint of mushy apple, but overall the texture is super smooth; as though it has some sort of cream in it. 

Sous Vide Pineapple

Pineapple is an amazing fruit. I love the flavor, tartness, and sweetness.

The first recipe I tried when making a sorbet was with canned pineapple. I loved the final texture of the sorbet, but unfortunately a tinny flavor permeates the canned pineapple and thus the sorbet.

My wife, Pineapple, and I wanted something similar to the canned pineapple result, but without the tininess. This means we wanted to preserve the texture, keep the pineapple flavor high, make the fibrous texture low, and eliminate the tin.

For our next attempt we chose to go with raw pineapple; we filled a pint with raw pineapple, froze it, and processed the pint on "sorbet" but found that the flavor wasn't sweet enough and the pineapple flavor was dull. Also, my mouth and my gut do not like it when I eat more than about a scoop of raw pineapple.

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream

One of the experimental ideas Pineapple had was to create a sweet potato pie-style ice cream. So we experimented a bit. She gave me a basic idea of what she wanted (sweet potato and cinnamon with the ice cream base) and I tried it out. The first iteration needed cinnamon. The next, needed something crunchy. Finally, it needed some salt and now we have a winner!

The cinnamon and sweet potato really shine in this ice cream. The salt helps keep the sweet potato lively. The texture of the ice cream is amazingly smooth and the mix-in helps you get the crunch that would normally come from the crust of an actual pie. The oat milk is also necessary to help bring in the pie crust flavor.

You will need to cook the sweet potato beforehand. The Ninja CREAMi is not intended to blend anything; a frozen, raw sweet potato will probably damage the machine and would likely give you a fibrous, stringy texture. Cooking the sweet potato in the sous vide will preserve the sweet potato flavor while softening the sweet potato and breaking down the fibers. You could try baking or boiling the sweet potato, but I cannot guarantee the results.

Sweet Potatoes

 Since I read the book "The Starch Solution" I have been looking for good starches to incorporate into my diet. I had been consuming a lot of rice but I find that I get a little achy if I eat rice daily. Potatoes and bread are out for me, so that basically leaves sweet potatoes.

Since incorporating these into my diet I often eat an entire medium-sized sweet potato at each meal. I have also found that I have a lot more energy during the day. Pineapple calls me the Energizer Bunny.

Finally, by switching to a very-low-meat, high starch diet, I passed a bunch of kidney stones (about 1 every 4 days). They passed relatively early in my high-starch diet and I haven't had any since, so my suspicion is that my diet was much more alkaline than a high-meat diet and as a consequence of being alkaline those stones started to shrink. When they got small enough they dislodged from my kidney and passed. Thankfully these were small stones and were the easiest for me to pass (I've had several other larger, very painful stones in the past).

Beets

I mostly use my sous vide to cook meats. But on occasion I have cooked vegetables. Lately I have been cooking beets sous vide which results in tender, juicy, flavorful beets.

Tools

• Sous vide cooker: this is essential, my cooker looks like a crock pot, but any kind will work
• Zip-top bags: name-brand will be better; off-brand may leak which results in less-flavorful beets
• Large bowl: for driving out the air from the zip-top bags

Ingredients

• Beets (red, yellow, or otherwise)
• Water
• Mild-flavored oil (optional): I use a refined coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature

Simple Pulled Pork

I've been continuing to experiment with different cuts of meat. I've regularly been buying pork tenderloin as well as pork chops. But those are fairly expensive cuts of meat, especially since I only buy pastured pork.

One of the cuts of pork available is the pork roast, which is a similar size to the beef chuck roast, but significantly less expensive. So one week I decided to just pick one up and see if I could cook it.

I searched the web for sous vide pork roast recipes and I found one for which had a complicated set of instructions. I'm a bit impatient so I decided to drastically simplify the recipe, but it still takes 24 hours to cook.

Hard cooked eggs

On my anti-inflammatory diet, I am not supposed to eat eggs. But periodically Pineapple gets a craving for them.

Before I started this diet, I loved cooking eggs. Alton Brown has a good recipe which produces consistent awesome results. Unfortunately, his approach also leaves little marks on the whites of the hard-cooked eggs wherever the egg touched the baking pan.

Now that I have some skills with a sous vide, I wondered if there was a way I could cook eggs instead of boiling them. That way I don't need to use precise timing to get the quality of egg that I want.

Beef Chuck Roast

Although I love the tri-tip cuts of beef because of its excellent cost/flavor ratio, I also experiment with other cuts from time to time. One of my current favorites is to get a chuck roast. It's a tough cut of meat, but it has a lot of great flavor. Because the chuck roast is a tough cut, cooking it to the right texture takes a lot more time.

The chuck roast is often a much less expensive cut of meat. in the Seattle area I can get it for $10-$11 a pound, and it usually comes in a 3-4 pound chunk. In Utah, I saw it for $7.50 per pound for the same size. That's generally a 20-30% savings on the tri-tip.

The chuck roast also has a large seam of fat in it. Although I believe in eating the fat directly, sometimes I can't quite handle the amount of fat I get when cutting off a portion of the beef. Pineapple, on the other hand, doesn't like the fat so I try and make sure to give her leaner portions.

Tools

• Sous vide cooker: this is essential, my cooker looks like a crock pot, but any kind will work
• Zip-top bags: name-brand will be better; off-brand may leak which results in less-flavorful meat
• Meat tongs
• Skillet or Pan: A thick one (e.g. cast iron) will work more effectively
• Spatter Guard: This is optional, but helps reduce the mess

Note: I do not measure the temperature in this recipe. The cook time is such that I am certain the meat will be at the correct temperature when done.

Ingredients

• Grass-fed chuck roast
• Salt: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is easy to apply via pinching
• Mild-flavored oil: I use a refined coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature
• Butter or cooking oil: for my steak I employ virgin coconut oil (solid at room temperature) and for Pineapple's I use butter from grass-fed cows (which you can probably pick up at Costco)

Directions

When I cook this steak I follow a basic process. The process comes from more-detailed instructions.

Quick Reference

1. Cook the meat sous vide to 133 degrees
2. Pan-sear the meat for 30 seconds per side at about 60% heat
3. Salt the meat generously

Full instructions

1. Start heating the sous vide to 135 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Place each piece of meat in its own zip-top bag. You will need a large bag for this. You might even cut the meat in half so it will fit better, or so you can cook the remainder later.
3. Add a couple of tablespoons of the mild-flavored oil to the bag.
4. Submerge most of the zip-top bag in water to drive out the air.
1. The oil is there to fill in the gaps instead of leaving bubbles next to the meat.
5. Zip seal the zip-top bag.
6. Place the bag in the sous vide (you can put the meat in before the device is at temperature)
7. After the sous vide is at the correct temperature, let it cook for 72 hours.
1. You read that right: 3 days. This amount of time allows the meat to relax and start breaking down so that it isn't tough anymore.
8. After the 3-day waiting period, start heating the skillet/pan on the stove stop with 2 tablespoons of either cooking oil or butter
1. For a gas range, I recommend a smaller heating element to avoid potential flames
2. I recommend setting the temperature to about 60% of maximum; where butter will bubble quite a bit when initially put in the pan but won't cook away for a few minutes
3. You may want to use the spatter guard to reduce the mess and subsequent cleanup
9. Remove the beef from the zip-top bag
10. Slice the meat into portions
11. Sear the beef in the skillet for 30 seconds per side
1. You should get nice caramelization on each side. Butter or olive oil will give you a darker color than coconut oil, so if you use coconut oil you might cook it for 45 seconds per side.
2. Make sure that there is plenty of oil/butter between the pan and the beef and that you cook over the center of the heat. You will get uneven cooking if the meat is toward the side of the pan or the pan is significantly larger than the heating element.
12. Place the steak on a serving plate
13. Salt the steak generously on the top, flip the steak and salt the bottom (which is now the top)
1. Grab a large pinch of salt
1. As much as you can reasonably grab between your thumb and forefinger
2. Sprinkle the salt from about 6-10 inches above the steak
1. Sprinkle by moving your thumb and finger back and forth in opposite directions
2. But also move your arm up and down the steak to get an even coating everywhere
3. I usually salt enough that the salt is still white for about a half second before it turns translucent
4. If you seared using salted butter you should use about half as much salt
5. Adjust the salt to your taste
14. Serve/Enjoy immediately

Because Pineapple and I are the only people in our house, such a slab will last us several days. This particular roast also works well for large gatherings. Just get it cooking several days early and you will have an awesome, flavorful, tender cut of meat everyone will be raving about.

Juices

After cooking, the zip-top bag will have a lot of juices left in it. You could discard them, but I prefer to eat it like a soup. The juices are flavorful, which indicates good nutrition, so as long as you enjoy the flavor you won't be wasting that portion of the beef.

In a single sitting I:

1. take a portion of the juice proportionate to the amount of meat I will be consuming
2. generously salt it (a couple of pinches of salt)
3. stir
4. eat it like a soup

You could also use the juices to make a beef stew (add some good veggies), or a stock (reduce it for days on a low burner), or even au ju for dipping some sort of bread (which I, of course, won't eat). However, I do not have any specific recipes for those options because I love eating straight juices.

Sous Vide Salmon

Fish can be difficult to get right. Cook it too long and it gets dried or rubbery. Cook it too little and it could make you sick. Getting perfect fish at a restaurant is hit-or-miss; in my experience it's typically overcooked.

With this recipe you can get perfect salmon every time.

Note: for convenience, the temperatures in this recipe are already set 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) above the desired internal temperature of the salmon. Also, this recipe is tuned for salmon. Different kinds of fish need different temperatures to cook properly.

Tools

• Sous vide cooker: this is essential, my cooker looks like a crock pot, but any kind will work
• Zip-top bags: name-brand will be better; off-brand may leak which results in lost flavor
• Spatula
• Frying pan
• Spatter guard (optional)
• Spoon

Ingredients

• Salmon: I prefer the farmed Atlantic Salmon from Costco
• Salt
• Mild-flavored oil: I use a refined coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature
• Cooking Oil: I use extra virgin olive oil for my salmon and butter for Pineapple's

Directions

1. Start heating the sous vide to 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius)
2. Cut salmon into portions
3. Place salmon portions in separate zip-top bags
1. If you have too many portions, just seal the excess bags and place them in the freezer
2. For the frozen portions, you can resume on the next step whenever you are ready to cook them
4. Add some of the mild-flavored oil to each bag
5. Drive out the air from the salmon-and-oil-filled zip-top bags by submerging all but the zipper in water 
1. The oil is there to fill in the gaps instead of leaving bubbles next to the fish
6. Seal the zip-top bag
7. Submerge the sealed bag in the sous vide
8. Once the sous vide is up to temperature, set a timer for 25 minutes (45 minutes if the salmon is frozen)
9. When the timer is finished, remove the zip-top bag from the cooker
10. Add 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil/butter to the frying pan 
11. Heat the pan to medium
12. Using the spatula, transfer the fish to the pan
13. Sear for 30-45 seconds (30 for butter, 45 for olive oil)
14. Flip and sear the flip side for 30-45 seconds
1. Spoon the oil/butter on top of the salmon for the rest of this sear
15. Transfer the fish to a plate
16. Salt to taste
17. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe is adapted from "Modernist Cuisine at Home". The original recipe calls for soaking the salmon in a salty brine for 3-4 hours which helps firm up the salmon. However, I often do not have the flexibility to soak the salmon before cooking it.

Regardless, this recipe will produce a moist, flavorful, firm salmon with a crunchy crust every time.

Butter

Although I cannot consume butter as part of my diet, pineapple can, and so can many other people I cook for. I like the texture of the fish when I cook it with olive oil, but I do enjoy the aroma as I cook with butter.

I've found that the quality of the butter matters a lot. Some butter generated complaints (I don't know what brand, but I think it may have started to turn), others gather no responses, while still others elicit compliments.

The best butter I've found so far is Kerrygold salted butter. It's from grass-fed cows and I can tell just from the smells during cooking that it has more flavor (and thus more nutrients). Even my most-sensitive eaters enjoy salmon seared in this butter.

Perfect Pork

Now that I perfected my cooking and grilling techniques for this recipe (mostly by figuring out the correct cooking temperature), Pineapple regularly requests this dish.

This recipe is adapted from "Modernist Cuisine at Home" and consistently produces succulent pork tenderloin or pork chops. I will give you the recipe for pork tenderloin. Cooking pork chops is the same recipe, just 2 degrees hotter.

Tools

• Sous vide cooker: this is essential, my cooker looks like a crock pot, but any kind will work
• Zip-top bags: name-brand will be better; off-brand may leak which results in less-flavorful meat
• Meat tongs
• Meat thermometer
• Skillet or Pan: A thick one (e.g. cast iron) will work more effectively
• Spatter Guard: This is optional, but helps reduce the mess

Ingredients

• Pork Tenderloin: I prefer pasture raised pork, but this should work with any 
• Salt: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is easy to apply via pinching
• Mild-flavored oil: I use a refined coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature
• Butter or cooking oil: for my cut of pork I employ extra virgin olive oil; it produces a better grill color than virgin coconut oil. I use butter for Pineapple's cut.

Directions

When I cook this pork I follow a basic process. The process comes from more-detailed instructions.

Quick Reference

1. Cook the meat sous vide to 138 degrees for pink (142 degrees for medium)
2. Pan-sear the meat for 30 seconds per side at about 50% heat
3. Salt the meat generously

Full instructions

1. Start heating the sous vide to 140 degrees Fahrenheit for medium rare.
1. 144 degrees for medium.
2. Place each piece of meat in its own zip-top bag.
3. Add a couple of tablespoons of the mild-flavored oil to the bag.
4. Submerge most of the zip-top bag in water to drive out the air.
1. The oil is there to fill in the gaps instead of leaving bubbles next to the meat.
5. Zip seal the zip-top bag.
6. Place the bag in the sous vide (you can put the meat in before the device is at temperature)
7. After the sous vide is at the correct temperature, set a timer for 50 minutes.
1. It's difficult to overook at this point; If you left the meat in for an extra hour it might start tasting like cardboard as the nutrients and flavors break down.
8. When the timer is finished, check the temperature of the meat using a meat thermometer. 
1. Insert the thermometer in the thickest portion of the meat.
2. Ensure the center temperature is at least 138 degrees Fahrenheit (142 if you are targeting a medium cook).
3. If the meat isn't to temperature, adjust the cooking duration as necessary; i.e. leave the pork in for another 5-10 minutes and measure again.
9. When the meat is at temperature, start heating the skillet/pan on the stove stop with 2 tablespoons of either cooking oil or butter
1. For a gas range, I recommend a smaller heating element to avoid potential flames
2. I recommend setting the temperature to about 50% of maximum; where butter will bubble quite a bit when initially put in the pan but won't cook away for a few minutes
3. You may want to use the spatter guard to reduce the mess and subsequent cleanup
10. Remove the pork from the zip-top bag
1. The pork will be a dull gray color
11. Sear the pork in the skillet for 30 seconds per side
1. I also will sear the ends of the pork by holding the pork with tongs and dipping the ends into the cooking oil/butter for ~15 seconds.
2. You should get nice caramelization on each side. Butter will give you a darker color than olive oil or coconut oil. To get better color with coconut oil you might cook it for 45 seconds per side.
3. Make sure that there is plenty of oil/butter between the pan and the pork and that you cook over the center of the heat. You will get uneven cooking if the meat is toward the side of the pan or the pan is significantly larger than the heating element.
12. Place the pork on a serving plate
13. Salt the pork generously on the top, flip the pork and salt the bottom (which is now the top)
1. Grab a large pinch of salt
1. As much as you can reasonably grab between your thumb and forefinger
2. Sprinkle the salt from about 6-10 inches above the plate
1. Sprinkle by moving your thumb and finger back and forth in opposite directions
2. But also move your arm up and down the meat to get an even coating everywhere
3. I usually salt enough that the salt is still white for about a half second before it turns translucent
4. If you seared using salted butter you should use about half as much salt
5. Adjust the salt to your taste
14. Serve/Enjoy immediately

Sous Vide Shrimp

Shrimp is notoriously difficult to cook; cooking shrimp in a wok, in a pan, or on the grill takes a strong sense of timing to get it right. Not enough time and the shrimp will end up under-cooked and could make you sick. Too much time and the shrimp will end up overcooked and rubbery. Getting perfect shrimp at a restaurant is hit-or-miss, and in my experience it typically misses on the side of overcooked.

With this recipe you can get perfect shrimp time after time. Your first attempt might be just barely under-cooked so you should add a minute. If you remember that adjustment then you should have a precise recipe for fantastic shrimp.

Note: for convenience, the temperatures in this recipe are already set 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) above the desired internal temperature of the shrimp.

Tools

• Sous vide cooker: this is essential, my cooker looks like a crock pot, but any kind will work
• Zip-top bags: name-brand will be better; off-brand may leak which results in lost flavor

Ingredients

• Uncooked shrimp: thawed or frozen
• Garlic Salt
• Mild-flavored oil or melted butter: I use a refined coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature

Directions

1. Start heating the sous vide to 142 degrees Fahrenheit (61 degrees Celsius)
2. Place shrimp in a single layer in a zip-top bag
3. Add some of the mild-flavored oil or butter to the bag
4. Add garlic salt to taste
5. Drive out the air from the shrimp-and-oil-filled zip-top bag by submerging all but the zipper in warm water 
1. The oil/butter is there to fill in the gaps instead of leaving bubbles next to the shrimp
2. Warm water should help keep the butter melted because it will congeal against cold or frozen shrimp
3. It's important to get as much air out of the bag as possible (see "Notes" below)
6. Seal the zip-top bag
7. Submerge the sealed bag in the sous vide
8. Once the sous vide is up to temperature, set a timer for 8 minutes (12 minutes if the shrimp is frozen)
9. When the timer is finished, remove the zip-top bag from the cooker
10. Enjoy!

Notes

Getting air out of the bag

Shrimp has a lot of crevices and it can be difficult to get all the bubbles out. Not only can bubbles prevent sections of the shrimp from cooking thoroughly, but bubbles can make the bag float which will cause the shrimp too cook from one side instead of two. Cooking on one side will make it take longer to cook the shrimp, and if only part of the bag is floating then you will likely end up with inconsistently-cooked shrimp.

To prevent bubbles I would recommend using more oil/butter than you might be comfortable with. You should use quite a bit more oil/butter than the minimum amount necessary to coat the shrimp. When filled, the zip-top bag should not be thicker than the shrimp; You should not need to use more oil/butter than what would make the bag that thickness. I personally use about 2/3 of the oil needed to get to an even thickness.

Sometimes I will use a spoon to weight the bag down, but you should only do this if water can still circulate around the bag (e.g. there is a rack under the bag).

Barely Cooked Shrimp

I like my shrimp to be just tender, but you might have a preference for barely-cooked shrimp. If you want that, then set your sous vide to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) and cook the shrimp however long it takes to get the center of the shrimp to 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius). You'll need a meat thermometer to measure this.

Firm shrimp

On the other hand, if you want firm shrimp, then set your sous vide to 178 degrees Fahrenheit (81 degrees Celsius) and cook it for 4-5 minutes (6-8 minutes if frozen).

Best. Steak. Ever.

This recipe is adapted from "Modernist Cuisine at Home" and is, hands down, the best steak I have ever had.

The second day I served this to Pineapple she delightedly exclaimed "We are never eating out again!"

Tools

• Sous vide cooker: this is essential, my cooker looks like a crock pot, but any kind will work
• Zip-top bags: name-brand will be better; off-brand may leak which results in less-flavorful meat
• Meat tongs
• Meat thermometer
• Skillet or Pan: A thick one (e.g. cast iron) will work more effectively
• Spatter Guard: This is optional, but helps reduce the mess

Ingredients

• Grass-fed beef: my preference is the tri-tip cut
• Salt: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is easy to apply via pinching
• Mild-flavored oil: I use a refined coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature
• Butter or cooking oil: for my steak I employ virgin coconut oil (solid at room temperature) and for Pineapple's I use butter

Directions

When I cook this steak I follow a basic process. The process comes from more-detailed instructions.

Quick Reference

1. Cook the meat sous vide to 133 degrees for medium rare, 136 degrees for medium
2. Pan-sear the meat for 30 seconds per side at about 60% heat
3. Salt the meat generously

Full instructions

1. Start heating the sous vide to 135 degrees Fahrenheit for medium rare.
1. 138 degrees for medium.
2. Place each piece of meat in its own zip-top bag.
3. Add a couple of tablespoons of the mild-flavored oil to the bag.
4. Submerge most of the zip-top bag in water to drive out the air.
1. The oil is there to fill in the gaps instead of leaving bubbles next to the meat.
5. Zip seal the zip-top bag.
6. Place the bag in the sous vide (you can put the meat in before the device is at temperature)
7. After the sous vide is at the correct temperature, set a timer for 35 minutes.
1. The original recipe calls for 50 minutes. 35 minutes is what I use for the meat I buy. This duration is dependent on the sous vide and the thickness of the meat. You will need to adjust your cooking time accordingly.
2. It's difficult to overook at this point; If you left the meat in for an extra hour it might start tasting like cardboard as the nutrients and flavors break down.
8. When the timer is finished, check the temperature of the meat using a meat thermometer. 
1. Insert the thermometer in the thickest portion of the meat.
2. Ensure the center temperature is at least 133 degrees Fahrenheit (136 if you are targeting a medium cook).
3. If the meat isn't to temperature, adjust the cooking duration as necessary; i.e. leave the steak in for another 5-10 minutes and measure again.
9. When the meat is at temperature, start heating the skillet/pan on the stove stop with 2 tablespoons of either cooking oil or butter
1. For a gas range, I recommend a smaller heating element to avoid potential flames
2. I recommend setting the temperature to about 60% of maximum; where butter will bubble quite a bit when initially put in the pan but won't cook away for a few minutes
3. You may want to use the spatter guard to reduce the mess and subsequent cleanup
10. Remove the beef from the zip-top bag
1. The beef will be a dull gray color
11. Sear the beef in the skillet for 30 seconds per side
1. You should get nice caramelization on each side (The tri-tip I buy comes in strips so I cook all 4 sides). Butter will give you a darker color than coconut oil, so if you use coconut oil you might cook it for 45 seconds per side.
2. Make sure that there is plenty of oil/butter between the pan and the beef and that you cook over the center of the heat. You will get uneven cooking if the meat is toward the side of the pan or the pan is significantly larger than the heating element.
12. Place the steak on a serving plate
13. Salt the steak generously on the top, flip the steak and salt the bottom (which is now the top)
1. Grab a large pinch of salt
1. As much as you can reasonably grab between your thumb and forefinger
2. Sprinkle the salt from about 6-10 inches above the steak
1. Sprinkle by moving your thumb and finger back and forth in opposite directions
2. But also move your arm up and down the steak to get an even coating everywhere
3. I usually salt enough that the salt is still white for about a half second before it turns translucent
4. If you seared using salted butter you should use about half as much salt
5. Adjust the salt to your taste
14. Serve/Enjoy immediately

Awesomeness Deconstructed

Great steak has 2 major attributes which make it amazing: flavor and texture. Traditional steaks will have a sauce/marinade to give it flavor while the texture comes from the cut; the more expensive cuts being softer.

With this recipe the salt brings out the awesome flavor of grass-fed beef; without the salt the steak will definitely taste flat. Just make sure the beef has enough fat in it. In addition, the sous vide will ensure that the steak is always tender, regardless of the cut.

Cooking with Purpose

Meat sweetens when you cooking it which makes the steak more appealing and easier to digest. Humans also want tender meat so that we do not have to work our jaws as much to consume the meat. Moist meat is also more tender. In addition, we cook for sanitary reasons; meat needs to be cooked all the way through to kill any potential bacteria.

Cooking sous vide and pan searing for a short time will get us consistently tender, moist meat, with relatively little failure. There is no more need to guess how a steak is progressing while on the grill or to constantly prod the meat to measure its temperature. In addition, you get a steak which is a mouthwatering medium rare all the way through (or medium, depending on your preference).

Tender Meat

Meat is muscle and muscles are full of cells. Although the cow is long dead, the cells in the cow's muscles are still alive and will respond to their environment. This is similar to a high school biology experiment reanimating frog legs via electric shocks.

When muscles are burned they contract, but when they are warmed up slowly they relax. Think about how your own muscles responds to the environment. If you injure one of your muscles you'll get a cramp. Alternatively, if you are in a sauna or hot tub then your muscles relax.

Grilling/searing damages the muscle so it contracts and starts to squeeze juices out of itself. To get heat all the way into the center of the meat quickly chefs tend to grill at high temperatures. The high heat caramelizes the exterior while the center slowly comes to temperature. But the combination of tensing up and high temperatures means a lot of juice is squeezed out of the meat, and to end up with tender meat it must be tender before cooking begins.

Cooking sous vide, on the other hand, acts more like a hot tub; heat up the meat slowly so that it is relaxed. Searing the meat afterward adds some great caramelization, and sweetens the meat a little. Searing damages the meat, but only about a few millimeters deep because of the short duration. The meat is already at a safe, delicious medium-rare so there is no potential for disease. Consequently the meat is tender even though it may have started as tougher meat, it is sweet and flavorful from the searing, and the salt just makes it sing.

Bonus Benefits

One other benefit of sous vide is that you can cook a frozen steak perfectly without needing to thaw it. Just add 50% to your cooking time to compensate for the sous vide thawing your meat for you.

Even though I have this steak almost every night, I haven't gotten bored of it. Just writing this post has my mouth watering for more. I hope your mouth is watering, too.

Bon appetit!