Random Thursday Night Dinner

Well, I think my very first run with the Souvide Supreme was a great success. I present my thought process for the night….

I wanted to test it out hardcore- so that means meat + eggs.  I have some pork chops from my trip up to Swingle Meats chillin’ in my freezer, ready for some action. An added bonus- they are a perfect pairing w/ poached eggs because the porkchops themselves don’t have a whole lot of fat (so that runny lovely cholesterol laden yolk is going to add the main fatty component to the dish). I then thought, “Well, this is kind of boring, how do I complete the dish???…

1.       I needed a textural component … and  ZOMG I find the Korean style pickled cabbage that I made last week awaiting use in my fridge! BAAAAaaaammm! Emril Style (but of course- you can’t have pickled cabbage with out toasted sesame seeds).

2.       Then I am like- hmmmm pallid pink pork chop, green pickled cabbage, egg whites, yolk … needs some red (and I forgot to salt the pork chops before going into the bag (but they were presumably seasoned by the stock cubes I added). This sundried tomato spread I randomly picked up at the store is red and delicious.

So right now I am doing some sort of weird Korean style pork chop thing with a dollop of red Mediterranean flare- so I am like “Screw it” I’ll infuse the pork chops with sort of Tuscan- American flavors (that… and I had a left over bag of some fresh herbs).  

So, In a bag I vacuum sealed the pork chops + sprigs fresh rosmary + fresh oregano + two cloves of garlic and 4 ice cubes of a combination pork and chicken stock I had frozen in the fridge. Vacuum sealed and into the water oven.

I set the temperature at 156F (because for some reason I remember reading some blog about a great chef saying that was the perfect temperature for a poached egg).  I know that was going to bring the pork just a hair below well done, but  I figured since the bones were on the chops and I was going to be checking constantly- it wouldn’t be too bad. And I made sure to pasteurize the packet at 130 for about 40 minutes.

Then I kicked the temperature up to 156F and dropped in 2 eggs directly into the water on top of the bags. After about another 30 minutes, I took everything out, and this was the final product….

*I poured the liquid that was in the bag into a small pot and tried boiling and skimming out the impurities. I didn't have cheese cloth so I ran it through a mesh strainer we have and poured it directly onto the pork chops... and I made sure to wash the impurities and herbs off before plating*

And this is what it looked like after I cut into it. The egg yolks were just a hair over cooked so they weren't as runny as I would have liked. Not quite the effect I wanted- next time will cook longer at a lower temperature.  

Final verdict: Pretty delicious. Pork was perfectly moist and everything seemed to meld well together. It sort of evolved in my mouth, where certain bites were punctuated by the toasted nuttiness of the sesame seeds and the tangy crunch of the cabbage or a bright flash of tomato. I could only eat one of the pork chops- the remaining one and his 2 other friends that were still lounging in the original cooking bag were promptly vacuum sealed and stuck into the freezer.