A great side dish or a meal in itself. Use this recipe as a jumping off point to many exciting flavors. Dice up some root vegetables, mushrooms or chicken and place them in the bag with the rest of the ingredients. Top with sautéed mushrooms and some grated cheese and you have an easy to reheat (and repeat!) hit that can be made up to 4 days ahead of time.

Makes 2 Cups of Polenta
Serves: 2

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 90-120 minutes

Ingredients:
½ C Polenta, Coarse Ground
1½ C Chicken Stock or Vegetable/Mushroom Stock
1 C Half and Half
2 Tbs Butter
½ C Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

For Sautéed Mushrooms:
8 oz Wild Mushrooms, fresh, cleaned
2 Tbs Shallots, minced
2 Garlic Clove, minced
¼ C White Wine
½ C Chicken Stock or Vegetable/Mushroom Stock
2 Tbs Fresh Tarragon, chopped
2 Tbs Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Step 1:

Set the Sous Vide Professional™ to 185°F/85°C, with the Rear Flow Adjustment Slide closed and Front Flow Adjustment Slide fully open. (Flow Adjustment Slide available on CHEF Series only.)

Cover bath to maximize efficiency at this high temperature.

Step 2:
Vacuum seal the polenta, 1½ C of stock (Reserve ½ C for mushrooms in Step 6), half and half, and butter in a large sous vide bag.
Step 3:
Cook polenta 1½ to 2 hours, until liquids have fully absorbed.
Step 4:
In a sauté pan over high heat, caramelize mushrooms. Avoid stirring during the first 30 seconds.
Step 5:
When mushrooms have browned evenly, add shallot and garlic. Sweat, but take care not to brown shallot and garlic.
Step 6:
Deglaze the pan by adding white wine. Reduce by wine by half. Add ½ C stock. Again, reduce by half.
Step 7:
Season mushrooms and add fresh tarragon. Remove from heat.
Step 8:
Remove the bag of polenta from the water bath. Open the bag and pour the polenta into a serving bowl. Gently stir in half of the cheese and reserve the rest for garnish. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 9:
Garnish polenta with sautéed mushrooms and parmesan cheese.

Cooking time: 12-20 minutes
Serves: 4

Recipe based on work by Dave Arnold and Nils Norén.

Ingredients:
4 portions of halibut (6 oz / 170g – 1½ inch / 40mm thick)
1/2 C / 120ml milk
3 sprigs rosemary
4 Kaffir Lime leaves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt, to taste

Step One:

Set the temperature on your Sous Vide Professional™ to 51.7°C / 125°F with rear pump flow switch closed and front flow switch set to full open.

Step Two:
Season the halibut with salt. Place the halibut in a bag; add milk, rosemary and lime leaves and vacuum seal. Make sure that the fish is not overlapping in the bag.

Step Three:
Drop bag into the 51.7°C/125°F water bath and make sure that it is completely submerged.  If necessary, place a small weight on the bag to weigh down the fish. After 11 minutes, remove the bag from the water and feel the fish for doneness. If the fish is not done, return the bag back to the water bath. Check every 2 minutes until the fish has reached desired doneness.

Step Four:
Remove bag, take halibut out of the bag and serve.

Step Five:
Gently remove halibut from vacuum bag. If a sear is desired, gently dry off the portion with paper or kitchen towel. Season as desired and sear in a hot pan with olive oil or butter. The halibut may also be grilled, if desired.

Side Note:
A 20% salt solution is effective in inhibiting the secretion of albumen and gives the halibut a pure white color when cooked. The brine will eliminate the need for additional salt in the recipe when brined for 20 minutes.  Brine must be applied when ice cold, hence the crushed ice in the recipe. Rinse the halibut prior to vacuum sealing.

Brine:
1 1/2 C / 330g Kosher Salt
1 Qt /.95L water
2 lbs /.9kg ice, crushed

Cooking Time: 12-20 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
8 Large Diver Scallops – dry packed, 10/30 U/8-U/10
2T Shallots, chopped
3-4 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
Zest of ½ Lemon
Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, to taste
Grape Seed Oil, 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 diver scallops, 125°F / 52°C is found to be the best temperature.

Step Two
Season scallops with salt and pepper. In a small vacuum bag, place seasoned scallops along with thyme, lemon zest and chopped shallot.

Step Three:
Seal scallops to desired vacuum. For delicate items like shellfish, the best vacuum percentage is 80-90%. This will ensure the scallop is not compressed under vacuum, compromising the integrity of the delicate muscle fibers.

Step Four:
Once target temperature is reached, place scallops in circulating water bath.

Step Five:
Cook scallops to desired doneness for 12-20 minutes.

Step Six:
Gently remove scallops from vacuum bag. Dry the scallops with paper towel. Season scallops with salt and pepper. Sear in a very hot pan with grape seed oil until golden crust forms on both ends.

Optional:
For a touch of smoke, lightly smoke the finished scallop with applewood smoke, using The Smoking Gun™ by PolyScience.

Cooking Time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Beef Tenderloin or Chateaubriand 2-6 lbs
2-4 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
Black Truffle Oil, to taste
Kosher Salt and Coarse Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Step 1:
Set the rear pump flow switch to fully closed and the front flow switch to the maximum flow to ensure proper circulation. Set the temperature of the Sous Vide Professional™ to desired temperature.

Beef Temperature Guidelines
Rare: 120°F / 49°C
Medium Rare: 134°F / 56.5°C
Medium: 140°F / 60°C
Medium Well: 150°F / 65.5°C
Well Done: 160°F / 71°C

For more information on food safety, please click here.

Step 2:
Season the beef with kosher salt and black pepper.

Step 3:
Roll edges of vacuum pouch back an inch or two to prevent cross-contamination. Place beef into the bag, along with sprig of thyme and black truffle olive oil.

Do NOT use dairy products, such as butter, in cook times exceeding 4 hours.

Step 4:
Vacuum seal beef to 95% vacuum or greater. Place in circulating water bath and cook for 60-90 minutes, or until target core temperature is reached.

Step 5:
Remove cooked beef from bath and carefully open pouch. Remove beef, gently dry on paper towel to absorb excess moisture and sear evenly in hot pan or grill.

Step 6:
Remove seared beef from pan, rest 60 seconds and slice. Sous vide beef does not require but a few moments to rest.

Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 18 hours
Cook time: 3 hours

Ingredients:
Boneless Pork Loin
Peels of One Lemon and One Orange
Brine (according to recipe below)

Brine:
5 tablespoons pickling spice
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 cup kosher salt
4 cups water
1 bunch fresh thyme leaves

For more information on food safety, please click here.

Preparation: Brined Pork Loin
Step 1:
Combine all brine ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil.
Cool completely, refrigerate until ready for use.
Place pork loin in brine and let sit, refrigerated, 12-18 hours.*
*The longer the pork sits in the brine, the stronger the salt flavor will be, after cooking.

Step 2:
Rinse brine from pork loin and vacuum seal with enough olive oil to coat liberally.

Step 3:
Set the rear pump flow switch of the Sous Vide Professional™ to fully closed. Set the front flow switch to the maximum flow. Set the temperature of the Sous Vide Professional™ to 60°C / 140°F.

Step 4:
Once target temperature is reached, place vacuum sealed pork loin in circulating water bath.

Step 5:
Cook sous vide for about 2-3 hours.

Step 6:
Drain all liquids from bag, dry surface of pork loin with clean kitchen towel. In a hot, large sauté or roasting pan, brown entire surface of pork loin. Season with salt and pepper to taste.