Monday, May 13, 2013

Sous Vide Recipes: Whole Beetroot with Ginger, Pumpkin Seeds & Sesame Oil

Last Friday's conversation with a colleague:

"Hey, do you want some beetroot?" There was loads of beetroot.
Me: "OK, what will I do with all of it?"
"Sous Vide it." I'll think about that, chef.

My adventures with beetroot were limited up to now. Just an addition to salad, sometimes grated to make a dip. So the suggestion to sous vide it by @itsachefslife sent my imagination sailing. I had made a quiet decision that I preferred sous vide-ing food items which don't have their own oils or fats such as fish, lean meat, vegetables and fruit. The controlled slow poaching seals in the little juices they have and concentrates them. With conventional cooking things like duck legs or pork bellies hold their own, they have enough jelly to keep self-basting. But with our beets, sous vide turns their deep fuchsia flesh into some kind of wonderful.