Sous Vide, Donald Russell and a gourmet competition

I have been eyeing a SousVide machine for ages, but apart for being a bit big for my tiny kitchen, if it would be cost effective as I wasn’t sure how much I would be using it. I had seen countless recipes and reviews but never took the plunge. So needless to say that I was thrilled when just before last Christmas I was approached by the SousVide people to take part on a bloggers competition in conjunction with the lovely people of Donald Russell, who will be providing delicious cuts of meat for the bloggers to test and try the SousVide Supreme at home. You can read more about Donald Russell here

The ‘Sous Vide’ is a French term that means “under vacuum“.  It consists in the art of vacuum packing the food and place it to cook in a water bath at a controlled and consistent temperature. The technique has recently been popularised with the advent of the molecular gastronomy, but is already being used by the food industry since the second half of the twentieth century. In fact, it is believed that the method has been described by Sir Benjamin Thompson in 1799! In the 70s, Chef Georges Pralus, the French restaurant Troisgros (Pierre and Michel Troisgros) applied the method to cook foie gras. This method is generally used in high-end restaurants kitchen which utilise lower temperatures to cook  for prolonged periods. The food retain it’s texture, juiciness, intensify flavors and minimising costly shrinkage of expensive ingredients. One of the many advantages for cooking Sous Vide is that the food will never overcook and it never losses it’s nutritional value. 
It’s a gentle way of cooking,  the constant low temperature of the hot water bath heats the vacuum-sealed pouches that contain the ingredient and allows the slowly, precisely and steadily cooking of the food.  It saves money, buying a cheaper cut of meat and cooking it SousVide will make them so tender you would think it’s a prime cut.  

Donald Russell : Pork Osso Buco, Ox Cheeks and Lamb Foreshank/shanks, well packed in dry-ice, if the box  remains unopened, the items should stay frozen for up to 72 hours from dispatch, so should be fine until the end of the today of delivery and  possibly till next morning. Clever!

SousVide supreme was created for the domestic kitchen – a tabletop size. Therefore, we can now achieve professional chef results at home. It inspires the home cook to produce nutritious and gourmet food for family and friends with ease with impressive and perfect results every time. 
It also helps with meals planning, you can cook various pouches at the same time, chock freeze and use them at a later date.  It also makes the logistics of entertainment effortless. 

Season – Seal – Simmer – Serve! 

The product:
Water Oven
Sous Vide Pro Vacuum Sealer
Sous Vide food pouches 
Sous Vide for the Home Cook Book and a Temperature and Cooking Time Reference Guide by Food Type.  
It’s
very useful to read the material, book and manual that accompany the
whole package. It has lots of tips about timings and some nice recipes
too.

I am looking forward to start cooking with this device. Keep voting for a change to win, competition details as follow:  

1) the competition will be hosted on the Sousvide Supreme web site and Facebook page.  Facebook fans of Sous Vide from Europe, US and Canada can participate in voting, where Sous Vide operates. There’s also a prize for one lucky voter.
2) For complete info and rules: sousvide vote rules

3) Public vote timings:

End: March 31st, 2014. 6pm GMT.

4) Winners announced on Facebook: 31st March 2014, 6pm GMT

disclosure: I, Rosana McPhee, am not responsible for the delivery of the prize, or from any loss or damages relating to the prize. Once the winner is announced, any issues relating to the prize is a matter entirely between the winner and SousVide. I am not responsible for any loss, damages, injuries (financial or otherwise)  or inconvenience related to the winner not receiving the prize or that result in any way from acceptance of the prize. By participating in this competition, the winner authorises SousVide to publicly announce their name on social media, including their twitter and facebook handle.