I have been meaning to try eggs "sous vide," although they aren't technically true sous vide because you are not placing in a vacuum sealed
bag. You are using your heating equipment and utilizing the constant temperature cooking method. Eggs are often the first thing a lot of people
try to cook when they begin using sous vide, but it just seemed too boring to me when I started.
However if you think about it, eggs are pretty temperamental if you are attempting to poach or hard-boil and this takes a lot of the
guess work out of it once you find your ideal temperature for the desired doneness.
I usually consult Serious Eats for a lot of new
sous vide techniques that I try because I can count on J. Kenji Lopez-Alt to have fully investigated all angles of the process.
I do my own experimenting as I find a different kitchen yields different results, but his site is a solid starting place.
Anyway, I wanted to try poaching eggs sous vide because that is usually the hardest style of egg for me to cook consistently.
I tried J. Kenji's go-to process after his investigations: stick eggs in boiling water for 3 minutes, then plunge in an ice bath for 1 minute and then
put in the sous vide water bath at 143F for 45 minutes. My result was the same as his, pretty much perfectly poached. I did have a hard time
getting the shell off, which the steps before the sous vide bath were supposed to help with. I found that if I dunked it again in an ice bath
it helped, but the egg is then cold, but it seems like it's a roll of the dice.
The advantage with using sous vide, is once you find that temperature that works for you, your eggs will always be done
technically the same. Also, 40 minutes is the time it takes for the temperature to reach the center. I used our poached egg
in a spin on eggs Benedict using chive crepes filled with green onion Mascarpone - recipe below!
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Moments (Week in Review)
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In Trends...
Hygge, it is going to be the theme of winter and probably featured on Portlandia (hehe). I am not hesitant to jump
on this bandwagon though. If you are not yet familiar with this phrase, it is a Danish concept and way of life that focus on appreciating
the little things -
celebrates relaxing and getting cozy or more
specifically -
"a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.
Pronounced 'hoo-guh,' the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though 'cozy' comes close."
The Danish are often thought of as the happiest community in the world (how you measure this I don't know)
and some attribute this to Hygge.
Although
I'm sure that other parts of their culture contribute - see: socialist leaning government, space cakes, etc. (okay, I kid on the space cakes).
They have a pretty rough winter and seem to embrace and cherish slowing down, grabbing a warm beverage and some thick socks and lounging
about. As a person that finds it hard to relax in recent years and is seasonally affected, I really NEED to embrace this. I often feel guilty for loafing
around, so as a way to trick myself into it, I'm going to carve out time for 21 days (the time to form a habit) and proclaim
it "Hygge time". See, I am accomplishing a goal AND relaxing - my mind is a truly twisted place (cry face). I am going to try and
keep my self accountable via my instagram account - so stay tuned!
Further Resources
Sous vide has been around for a little while in the professional cooking sector, but it is just starting to gain traction with home cooks thanks to cheaper equipment.
There are a lot of great resources out there, but here are a few of my favorites:
- ChefSteps
- Serious Eats
- Anova or your device's website should have a lot of recipes and resources
For more on this technique from Mary's Making:
- Follow our Pinterest Sous Vide Board
- Check out our sous vide recipes
- Peruse our Amazon Store (where I selected many useful sous vide products)
*Disclaimer - All products I use for sous vide, I purchased myself. However, if you end up buying any products from our Amazon shop, I get a small percentage commission.
And for the official disclosure: Mary's Making is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising
fees by advertising and linking to my Amazon store
