Sous Vide Chicken Breast

Ahhhh the chicken breast, so simple, yet so easy to completely ruin. You might be looking at this chicken breast and be asking "What's the big deal? It's just a chicken breast with some salt and pepper." Yet, you'd be looking at the most perfectly cooked, juicy, and unadulterated chicken breast ever. How? You may be asking...sous vide my friends...sous vide! "But, Eric, doesn't sous vide require expensive, specialty equipment?" Well that question is partially correct, buying an immersion circulator or water bath does make this cooking process a lot less hands on. But, really, you can cook sous vide with a pot of water, a heat source (preferably one you can control), and a thermometer. 

A few years ago, cooking sous vide at home was unheard of. Your statement before was absolutely true, buying an immersion circulator cost thousands of dollars. But, luckily for us, sous vide has become increasingly more popular and lots of home applications have been created that are by far more economical. Some of the best on the market are by Polyscience, Anova, and Sous Vide Supreme, all of these are fantastic and I highly recommend all of them. Now, go out and pick up one of these awesome devices and then get your butt back here to try out some of my awesome sous vide recipes!

Sous Vide Chicken Breast Recipe:

1. In a medium bowl whisk together 2 quarts of cold water, 1/3 cup kosher salt, and 1/4 cup sugar. Pound the chicken breasts thin and add them to the brine. Place in refrigerator and let brine for 30 min.
2. Heat your immersion circulator or water oven to 65°C or 149°F
3. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry. Place chicken in a bag with a few pads of butter and either vacuum seal or remove the air using the water displacement method (How-to video below). 
4. Place in water bath and let cook for at least 1 hour but no more than 2 hours. 
5. Remove from bag and pat completely dry with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and pepper. 
6. Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and add in some fat (Butter, canola oil, vegetable oil, etc). Saute chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides. Slice and serve immediately. 

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Sous Vide Steak w/ Roasted Garlic-Rosemary Butter

This is how I feel right now!

WHOOP-DEE-DOO!!!! I'm Done...I'm Done...I'm Doonnneeeee!!! I just finished my last final and I graduate on Saturday! *Huge sigh of relief* I'm so excited cause now I can move on to the next chapter of my life...start my career and hopefully keep growing my little interweb site here. Which means, getting back to my former self and post here on a more regular basis, as well as, network with all you fine people that visit! So what do we have going on this week?

I love compound butters, especially for steak. It is a butter that has been flavored by blending together various ingredients such as fresh herbs, shallots, minced garlic, chili powder, pepper flakes, grated citrus zest, or any array of spices. The butter is typically softened, cut in half lengthwise, each half is then rolled into a mixture of selected flavorings, and each half is then left in a cylinder or log shape. Each log is then chilled or frozen to harden, so it can be sliced easily and served for a spreading or topping on foods. It is commonly used as a condiment, as an addition to sauces, to baste meats and vegetables as they are grilled or broiled, and as a flavored topping for chops, steaks or seafood.

In my case I added roasted garlic, rosemary, some Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. I love just slicing a round of it and placing it on top of a cooked steak. I usually hit it with a blow torch just to get it to start melting. You can also add it to a pan to baste a piece of meat. Either way you use it, it adds a very unique and flavorful component to any dish. So why not experiment for the holidays and make some sweet compound butters!

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