Fajitas are easy to make, so why bother with extra steps? Any night can turn into a fiesta when you pull a bag of fajita meat and veggies from the freezer. Prepare ahead and eat within 4 days, or freeze and reheat within 6 months!

Serves 4

Prep time, 10 minutes
Cook time: 65 minutes

Ingredients:
3 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-or-
1 Skirt Steak, outside cut

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon Fajita Rub
1 Green Bell Pepper, cored, sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper, cored, sliced
1 Large, Red Onion, sliced
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper, to taste.

8 Flour Tortillas
Sour Cream
Shredded Chihuahua Cheese
2 Limes, quartered

Step 1:
Set the Sous Vide Professional™ to 165°F/74°C for Chicken (140°F/60°C for Steak) with the Rear Flow Adjustment Slide closed and Front Flow Adjustment Slide fully open. (Flow Adjustment Slide available on CHEF Series only.)*

* Even though the temperatures for Chicken and Beef are different, the par-cooked vegetables will be fully cooked after sautéing in Step 7.

Step 2:
Keeping meats and vegetables separate, season with Williams-Sonoma Fajita Rub, salt and pepper.

Step 3:
In separate pouches, vacuum seal vegetables in one pouch. Vacuum seal beef or chicken in the other.

Step 4:
Place sealed bag in circulating water bath and cook for 60 minutes.

Step 5:
If serving immediately, remove beef or chicken from bag and slice. For later use, remove bag from water bath, quickly shock in ice water bath.**

Step 6:
Preheat a large non-stick pan over high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Step 7:
Sauté chicken/beef and vegetables until nicely browned.

Step 8:
Serve with warmed tortillas, sour cream, cheese and limes.

DUCK LEGS

Cure Time: 16 hours
Cook Time: 10-12 hours
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
2 Duck Legs, Frenched
1C / 240 ml Coarse Kosher Salt
1T Dried Thyme
3 Dried Bay Leaves
6T Duck Fat, reserve 2T for searing

Step One:

Set the Sous Vide Professional™ to the desired temperature, with rear pump flow switch closed and front flow switch set to full open. For duck confit, 167°F/75°C is found to be the best temperature.

Step Two:
Crush the dried thyme and bay leaves in the salt until it is evenly mixed. Distribute the salt mixture over the duck legs. Place in the refrigerator and let cure for 36 hours. Thoroughly rinse.

Step Three:
In a medium vacuum bag, place seasoned, trimmed portion of duck leg along with 4T duck fat.

Step Four:
Seal portion to desired vacuum. For duck, a vacuum of 90-95% is optimal.

Step Five:
Once target temperature is reached, place sealed duck confit portion in circulating water bath.

Step Six:
Cook to desired doneness for 10-12 hours.

Step Seven:
Remove duck from vacuum bag. Sear in a hot pan with remaining duck fat until skin is crisp.

DUCK BREAST

Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
2 Duck Breasts (1 inch / 25mm)
3 T / 40g duck fat
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

For more information on food safety, please click here.

Step One:
Set the temperature on your Sous Vide Professional™ to 57°C / 135°F, with rear pump flow switch closed and front flow switch set to full open.

Step Two:
Season the duck breast with salt and pepper, place in a bag with duck fat and vacuum seal. Make sure that all ingredients are cold. If necessary, place the bag with the duck breast and fat in an ice bath.

Step Three:
Seal portion to desired vacuum. For duck, a vacuum of 90-95% is optimal.

After it is sealed, place the bag on the counter with skin side down. Shape the duck breast so the skin side is flat and the duck breast looks plump. This will ensure that you will get even color on the skin side when you render the fat.

Step Four:
Once target temperature is reached, place duck into circulating water bath set to 57°C/135°F and cook for 45 minutes.

Step Five:
Remove the bag from the water bath and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes.

Step Six:
Remove the duck from the bag and place it skin side down in a pan on medium heat and render out as much of the fat as you desire. Flip and sear the meat side for no more than 60 seconds. Slice and serve.

Brines are an easy way to ensure your turkey is never dry. Try the straightforward salt brine or our apple cider marinade for a sweet Autumn flavor.

Brine Time: 16 hours
Cook Time: 3 hours

Serves: 8

Ingredients:
2 Turkey Breasts, boneless
2 Turkey Thighs, boned out
2 Cups (approx.) of Sous Vide Stuffing – Reserve for thighs in Step 7
4T Duck Fat

For the Salt Brine:
1 Gallon Water
265g Kosher Salt
115g Sugar
5 Sprigs of Thyme
3 Sprigs of Rosemary
3 Bay Leaves
3 Shallots, halved, peeled
5 Garlic Cloves, peeled, smashed
20 Black Peppercorns, whole

For the Cider Marinade:
1 Gallon Apple Cider
5 Pieces of Star Anise
3 Cinnamon Sticks
3 Bay Leaves
20 Black Peppercorns, whole

For more information on food safety, please click here.

Step 1:
Prepare either brine or cider marinade recipes by combining all in ingredients in an 8 quart sauce pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat safe container and place in the refrigerator until completely cool (40°F/4°C).

Step 2:
Using individual vacuum bags for each item, roll the vacuum pouch back at the top, turning it out 1-2 inches. This will help prevent possible cross-contamination.

Step 3:
Place one turkey breast in vacuum bag, along with enough brine to cover. Vacuum seal. Repeat for each additional breast and thigh.

Step 4:
Place sealed bag in refrigerator for 16 hours.

Step 5:
After brining is complete, remove and rinse each piece of turkey under cold water.

Left: Cider Marinade Right: Salt Brine

Step 6:

Set the Sous Vide Professional™ to 147°F/64°C, with the Rear Flow Adjustment Slide closed and Front Flow Adjustment Slide fully open. (Flow Adjustment Slide available on CHEF Series only.)

Step 7:
For the thighs, lay thigh skin-side down on cutting board. Place approximately 1 cup of stuffing in center and roll thigh to completely seal in stuffing. Secure with butchers twine.

Step 8:
Again, using individual vacuum bags for each item, roll the vacuum pouch back at the top, turning it out 1-2 inches. Place one turkey breast in vacuum bag, along with 1 tablespoon of duck fat. Vacuum seal. Repeat for each additional breast and thigh.

Step 9:
Place sealed bags in circulating water bath and cook for 2 hours, or until core temperature reaches 147°F/64°C.

For advanced users:
If serving immediately, lower temperature of circulating bath to 122°F/50°C and hold turkey for 30 minutes. Do not exceed 30 minutes. You can speed the process by dropping several ice cubes into the bath until bath temperature reaches 122°F/50°C.

Step 10:
Remove bags from water bath.

If saving for later: quickly shock in ice water bath until temperature has reached 40°F/4°C. Cooling must occur in under one hour. Store in refrigerator and reheat to 140°F/60°C before serving.

Step 11:
Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C. Remove turkey breasts and thighs from vacuum bag. Place turkey in roasting pan, preferably on a wire rack. Roast turkey breasts and thighs until skin is golden brown. Remove butcher twine from thighs.

Step 12:
If serving immediately: carve turkey and transfer to serving vessel.

This easy to make turkey breast is great hot or cold. Slice it thin and you’ve got cold cuts at a fraction of the cost from the deli. This can be done at the same temperature with boneless, skinless chicken breasts in just 35 minutes! Substitute an eye round roast and homemade roast beef can save you six dollars a pound. Simply add your favorite spice rub and never make a boring sandwich again!

Makes: 8-10 Sandwiches

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 90 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Boneless, Skinless Turkey Breast
1 Tbs Olive Oil
½ C Apple Cider
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper, to taste.
Spice Rub of your choosing (Optional)

For Sandwiches:
Bread of your choosing
Crisp Romaine Lettuce
Condiments of your choosing
Fresh Tomato Slices

Step 1:

Set the Sous Vide Professional™ to 147°F/64°C, with the Rear Flow Adjustment Slide closed and Front Flow Adjustment Slide fully open. (Flow Adjustment Slide available on CHEF Series only.)

Step 2:
Browning (Optional Step)
Preheat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat with 1 Tbs olive oil. Season turkey breast with salt and pepper and sear in oil until lightly browned. Remove from pan, drain and cool.

Step 3:
Pat turkey breast dry with paper towel.

Step 4:
Vacuum seal turkey breast with apple cider.

Step 5:
Place sealed bag in circulating water bath and cook for 90 minutes or to an internal temperature of 147°F/64°C.

Step 6:
Remove bag, quickly shock in ice water bath.

Step 7:
When completely cold, turkey is easiest to slice. Slice thinly on a bias and layer slices on plastic wrap or in reusable container. Sliced turkey will keep up to 7 days.**

Step 8:
Assemble sandwiches and garnish to your preference.

With over 7000 known varieties, nothing makes me happier than apple season. It brings me back to my childhood, lugging a bushel basket and beat up wood ladder around the apple orchards with my Dad. Red and Golden Delicious, Jonah Golds, Braeburns, even the petite Lady Apple would make their way home. Sunday apple pies, my grandfather’s apple stuffing at Thanksgiving, even my grandmother’s get-em-while-they’re-hot cider donuts showcased the harvest. Those first signs of autumn – the crisp air, the falling leaves, that first bite into a Honey Crisp bring it all back. Still, no apple makes me giddy like the Mountain Rose from Oregon. The first round of these delicate beauties made their way to my doorstep two weeks ago.

Having a tinted flesh that varies from faintly rose colored to a shocking hot pink, the Mountain Rose has a tart, crisp flavor with notes of strawberries and cotton candy. Having such beautifully rare natural qualities, I set out to treat the Mountain Rose very differently.

First, there were some flavor combinations to consider. Toast, nuts, tea, strawberry and celery came to mind. I wanted delicate profiles to compliment the apple and not drive away the candy-like aromatics. Chamomile. Almond. Leaves of celery heart. Time to go shopping.

A few weeks prior, I had experimented with creating dairy free milks using our Sonicprep ultrasonic homogenizer. Tests yielded stable, semi-milklike results at normal milk fat ratios. Unimpressive. For the apples, I wanted to infuse them under vacuum with almond oil and chamomile tea. To achieve a satisfactory homogenization, I stuck to the vinaigrette ratio. The chamomile flower steeped for four minutes and was passed and cooled. Three parts tea combined with one part roasted almond oil were homogenized until the two came together completely. The homogenization was then placed in a blender, where .5% Xanthan Gum was sheered in to create a heat stable emulsion.

The apples were then cut in sixths to reveal their hot pink flesh (my favorite part). They were then vacuum sealed with two fluid ounces of the emulsion. They sat under compression for one hour. The apples were then poached for 5 minutes at 82°C (179.6°F). This yielded a just-tender, evenly cooked apple that unloaded with the previously tame sweetness, almond fat and finished with the subtlety of chamomile a few bites in. What wasn’t expected was how much the fatty mouth feel of the emulsion permeated the porous flesh. It brought a level of umami to the apple that was completely surprising.

For a melt in your mouth confit approach, the apples can be cooked for up to thirty minutes. I kept the time down for this batch to preserve the vibrant pink color.

I created an almond soil that started out as blanched, whole almonds. They were toasted in a 210°C (410°F) oven and allowed to cool. The almonds were pulverized with a few quick pulses and scrapes in the food processor, being careful not to take it too far into the butter phase. The chopped almonds were then spread out in the dehydrator, set to 57°C (135°F) for 24 hours. Almonds, at harvest, contain roughly 61% oil and ≤7% water. The dehydrator took care of the water, enough for a few more pulses in the processor. The ground almonds were then toasted further at 175°C (350°F). A few more pulses and we started making progress. The fat content had to be absorbed and that was handled by adding tapioca maltodextrin to the mix. Some fried panko was ground down slightly and folded throughout. The end result was light and fluffy, with a bit of dry crunch. It looked, well, like sand.

The plate was garnished with the almond soil, raw apple, freeze dried strawberry powder, celery heart leaves, “almond milk” and a turbinado reduction.

Article and photos by Joe Strybel