Cooking Sous Vide with Anova Couldn’t be easier!
I’m so excited about this latest meal prep recipe! I was fortunate enough to get an Anova immersion circulator so I could sous vide everything all the time! If you haven’t done any sous vide cooking I am here to tell you it is one of the easiest ways to cook, and strangely enough it’s been around longer than you think! Way before Anova or other circulator companies came along, Low temperature long time cooking was used as far back as the late 1700’s!
More traditionally sous vide was more widely developed by French chefs in the 1970’s. They would use tougher cuts of meat, and even Fois gras and cook using this gentle method and really bring about a ton of flavor and better texture in the products!
How Sous Vide Cooking with Anova Works
Anova Immersion circulators use heat and a motor to move the water around constantly while maintaining a consistent temperature. This has immense advantages over using a slow cooker as you are able to produce a higher yield in your product while developing just as much flavor! There’s more control over the cooking and it is especially good for less tender cuts of steaks like the round, or flat iron.
Healthy Steak Frites with Garlic Thyme Mushrooms
Steak frites is a classic dish supposedly invented in Belgium and was traditionally served in brasseries all over Europe. Usually it would be a pan fried steak (more traditional in Europe than grilling) and accompanied by good old French fries!
My version is quite a bit healthier and uses the Anova circulator to add a ton of flavor and create some amazing texture in the meat.
Instead of deep fried french fries, my version uses fresh cut sweet potato fries tossed with a bit of garlic powder and just a touch of chipotle powder to give them a bit of a kick. Good quality olive oil is used lightly, just to coat and brown the sweet potatoes.
Finally the meat is accompanied by a crap ton (official measurement!!) of garlic and thyme mushrooms with just a touch of butter for flavor (a little bit of butter never hurt anyone!
Get Perfectly Cooked Beef with Anova
What was so perfect about this dish is how easy it is to get perfectly done beef. Using the Anova circulator, you pick the temperature you want the water to sit at and just let the marinade and slow cooking do the work. Finish the steak in the pan to get some caramelization and your left with a full flavored piece of meat.
Where did I get my meat from you ask? I was very fortunate enough to get some tasty samples from my new friends at Gemstone Beef.
They operate a farm about 150 KM east of Calgary and take very good care of their cows. Their beef is grass fed and you can really tell by the flavor. The owners gave me some flat iron steaks to try and these were the ones I did the sous vide on. I highly recommend you check them out and you can order some beef directly from their website! Onto the recipe!
- 1 lb sirlion steaks
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup sliced onions
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb yams peeled and cut into fries
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
- 2 cups cremini mushrooms sliced
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 tsp fresh thyme sprigs
- Salt and pepper to taste
-
Add the steaks and all liquid ingredients with the cloves of garlic and onions into a large ziploc bag.
-
Mix together well and add into a large pot of water with the immersion circulator.
-
Set the temperature to 130 degrees and cook for 3-4 hours.
-
Take the steaks out and dry off.
-
Sear in a hot pan with olive oil for 1-2 minutes per side to get nice caramelization. Let rest.
-
For the yams, toss with olive oil, garlic powder and salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until nice and roasted.
-
For the mushrooms add them with garlic and thyme to a pan with olive oil and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until nicely caramelized.
-
Serve everything together.
