If you have ever tasted anything cooked sous-vide (I know, it's LIKE boil in the bag but actually quite a bit better), you’ll know it’s special: fantastic texture, unreal evenness of cookedness (wow! I made up this phrase) and juiciness as there’s no loss of moisture. If you haven’t, imagine the tastiest steak on earth, juicy but tender; imagine fish which is a flaking sublime and aubergine cooked to perfection.
For that you need the kit and it’s pricey. I don’t have one. But I have found that cooking at very low temperatures gives results comparable to sous-vide. And that’s my new obsession. You need a reasonably good electric oven that keeps steady temperature – and I think most of them do that these days.
If you’re tempted and have a bit of time this week – undeniably it takes longer – have a try with a bunch of recipes. Pork loin with blueberry sauce is amazing; roast sirloin of beef a marvel and the roasted salmon with dill sauce can be eaten hot or cold. Even better – try experimenting! A thermometer is handy to check internal temperature but that’s about it.
For everyone else who can’t be bothered to wait for dinner for an hour, you could make pork steaks with sage butter. They would go well with quick red cabbage which is certainly not just for Christmas. Or chicken saltimbocca, one of the best things you can do with a boring chicken fillet; with winter rainbow salad on the side.
Thai cinnamon noodles are a good veggie meal; or you could bake feta saganaki with figs. Spiced monkfish is my seafood suggestion, or a Thai tom yum soup with clams. Or you can just browse the content pages and see what takes your fancy. Or subscribe to the newsletter. Or both.
A simple lemon drizzle pound cake might be good to bake this week; it can double up as breakfast. Alternatively you could check out the gooey maple bars with raisins and almonds; they are a huge hit with everyone who tries them.