If you are cooking sous vide at home, chances are that you are using a Foodsaver or similar device to vacuum pack your foods. One of the downsides of using a Foodsaver that you can't include liquid in the bag easily. The usual outcome is a messy Foodsaver, and over time a ruined gasket. The simple way to get around this limitation is to freeze your liquid and then toss it in the bag with the food before vacuuming. During the cooking process, the ice will melt and bathe your food in the cooking liquid of your choice. Freezing liquids was a simple tip I picked up while kicking around on the web and it seemed worth sharing, but it doesn't really merit a full blog post....unless I include a useful and simple recipe for a stock that goes extremely well with seafood.
Court Bouillon is a really flavorful and quick stock to make. The photo above depicts everything required (and a little extra - those chives snuck in there by mistake).
Court Bouillon Ingredients
1 or 2 large yellow onions, 1 lemon, 3 cloves garlic, 1 bulb fennel, 2 leeks (white and light green parts only), 3 carrots, one half cup vinegar, one cup white wine, a few sprigs thyme, 2 quarts water.
The great part about making a quick stock like this is that precision knife cuts are not required with your vegetables. Just grab your knife and go all choppy-socky. The only throw aways in this recipe are the onion and garlic skins, the fennel top, the leek top, and the carrot peel. Everything else goes in the pot.
Add two quarts of water to your stock pot and bring to a boil. Measure out your other liquids while your stock is coming to temperature.
Once the stock is boiling, add the wine and the vinegar. Squeeze the lemon halves to add the lemon juice to the stock before dropping the fruit in. Reduce the heat and bring the stock to a simmer. I prefer to let the vegetables and liquid cook for a half hour, but you can go more or less to your preference.
Once the stock has finished simmering, simply set up a straining station and pour the stock through to remove the vegetable product. Set the stock aside to cool. If you want to accelerate the cooling, leave your stock sitting in the sink and surround the container with ice.
Here's a nifty little trick I picked up when I went through my veal stock phase. Since making stock typically yields a couple quarts minimum, it pays to freeze and save. I used to freeze by the quart, then the pint, and then I read an article in Cook's Illustrated that recommended using ice cube trays. Genius.
So, how should you put these little flavor bombs to use when cooking sous vide? Let's say you have a beautiful halibut filet to cook. Salt the filet, add a pinch of fresh thyme, toss the filet in the bag. Add a tablespoon of butter to the bag or perhaps a little olive oil. Take a court bouillon cube and give it a little chop on the cutting board so it doesn't stick up so high in the bag. Then vacuum seal the bag and cook at the appropriate temperature for whatever you are cooking. This ice cube stock process can be duplicated for almost any cooking liquid for sous vide. My mind immediately jumps to veal stock (of course), but you really are only limited by your imagination.
Consider making court bouillon. As stocks go, it is unique. It has a really nice acidic punch. To my taste, it resembles a buerre blanc sauce minus the buerre (butter). It goes incredibly well with seafood, and I would guess chicken would taste very nice in it also. The traditional use for court bouillon is to poach delicate fish filets. With sous vide and frozen court bouillon, you are doing roughly the same thing but no flavor and no nutrients are lost. Too cool. Try it out for yourself.
Recent Comments