Since its invention by French chef George Pralus in the 1970s to its adoption by star chefs, sous vide has been a secret weapon of the finest restaurants in the world for decades. It’s only been within the past ten years that we’ve seen it find its way into home kitchens. It serves as a foolproof and convenient way to make perfectly slow-cooked food every time with minimal cleanup.
Sous vide machines heat water baths to an exact temperature and maintain that temperature for hours, allowing one to submerge ingredients and cook them to a precise internal temperature. This means no more overcooked steak or stringy chicken!
While some newfangled cooking techniques may seem intimidating, sous vide couldn’t be easier. While it requires a specific machine—running anywhere from $74-$300—the process simply requires vacuum sealing your ingredients in a plastic bag and letting them bob in the water for a couple of hours while you lounge about the house. While vacuum sealing might sound difficult, it’s as easy as the water displacement method—force air out of the bag by submerging a bag with ingredients in water while keeping the lip of the bag exposed to the air and sealing it by hand. Freezer, not sandwich, ziplock bags are ideal due to the water temperature, but if you get serious about sous vide, consider purchasing a vacuum sealer machine.
One downside of cooking in a water bath is that without a hot pan, meats lack that charred look we’ve come to expect. This can be remedied by tossing the cooked ingredients in a ripping hot pan for a couple of minutes, placing them under a broiler, or blasting with a blowtorch until the desired aesthetic is achieved.
Sous Vide Recipe
Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, Garlic Asparagus, and White Wine Pan Sauce Two Ways
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
- 1 cup chicken stock (stove-top method only)
- 1 bunch fresh rosemary
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Potatoes:
- 3-4 russet potatoes
- 1 cup whole milk or cream
- unsalted butter
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Asparagus:
- 1 asparagus bunch
- 3-5 garlic cloves
- unsalted butter
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Pan Sauce:
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Instructions (Sous Vide)
- Attach your immersion circulator to a sizable water bath (a stock pot works nicely, but a 5-gallon bucket will do in a pinch), filled within a couple of inches of the brim. Set to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and allow the water to come to temperature.
- While the water heats up, prepare your chicken. Dry chicken breasts with a paper towel and season generously with salt and pepper. Place each chicken breast in their own ziplock freezer bag, placing a slice of lemon and a sprig of rosemary artfully across the breast. Seal the bag with a vacuum sealer or use the transform ziplock bags, seal it, and set aside.
- When the Sous Vide reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit, submerge the chicken in the bath, and pin the bag to the side of the pot with a binder clip to stabilize the bag. Allow it to soak in the bath for 1½-2 hours. Remove and Set aside.
- While the chicken cooks, peel and slice the potatoes ½ inch thick and place in a bowl of cold water to remove excess starch and prevent discoloration. One to two potatoes should make one serving (depending on the size of the potato), so I use a separate bag for each serving.
- Place potato slices in a ziplock bag side by side, being careful not to stack them more than two slices deep. Add salt & pepper, a generous pat of butter for each potato, and ¼ cup of milk/cream for each potato. Seal the bag with a vacuum sealer or using the water displacement method. Set aside.
- Prepare the asparagus by cutting off the tough ends. Place in a bag and season with salt and pepper. Add a pad of butter and a clove or two of smashed and pressed garlic. Seal the bag with a sealer or using the water-displacement method. Set aside.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove and set aside. Change the temperature of the water bath to 195 degrees.
- Once the water reaches 195°, submerge the potatoes and pin to the side of the pot, cooking for 1½ hours. Add the asparagus to the bath for the final 12 minutes of that cooking time.
- Remove the potatoes from the bath, wrap the bag with a towel, and mash it thoroughly with your hands until all of the clumps have been mashed out. Slice the corner of the bag with scissors and pipe each serving onto a plate by squeezing the bag like a pastry bag. Plate the asparagus.
There are two recommended ways to finish the sous vide chicken:
Blowtorch Method:
- Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a baking sheet or skillet, skin side up.
- After igniting the blowtorch and allowing the fuel to burn off for a few seconds, pass the torch back and forth across the chicken breast until the skin browns to your desired coloration.
- Cut the breast away from the breastbone, carve, and serve drizzled with the pan sauce below.
Stovetop Method:
- Using a cast iron skillet or thick-based frying pan, heat the pan on high heat for 5 minutes.
- Dash in a scant amount of cooking oil and lay the cooked chicken in the pan skin side down and reduce heat to medium high, pressing the chicken to the pan with a spatula.
- When the skin is nicely browned (after no more than 2 minutes), remove from the pan, cut the breast away from the breastbone, carve, and serve drizzled with the pan sauce below.
For the Pan Sauce:
Blowtorch Method:
- In a pot bring one cup of white wine to a boil.
- Add 1 cup chicken stock and reduce to a simmer, whisking in the dijon mustard. Allow to reduce for 5 minutes and thicken with a slurry of corn starch and water over medium heat for a full bodied sauce.
Stove top method:
- Once the chicken is removed from the pan, deglaze the pan with a cup of white wine over high heat, scraping any fond stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Add 1 cup chicken stock and reduce to a simmer, whisking in the dijon mustard. Allow to reduce for 5 minutes and thicken with a slurry of corn starch and water over medium heat for a full bodied sauce.
Instructions (Stovetop)
- Prepare the chicken. Pat dry with a paper towel and generously season with salt and pepper.
- Prepare the asparagus by cutting off the hard ends in uniform length.
- Peel and slice the potatoes, placing them in a bowl full of cold water to rinse away excess starch and prevent discoloration.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add potatoes. Boil for 15- 20 minutes or until the potatoes pierce easily with a fork.
- On high heat, bring a skillet or frying pan up to temp. Add oil and a pad of butter and once the butter has melted, reduce to medium heat, add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 5-7 minutes (depending on the thickness of the breast). When the skin is nicely browned, flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Pour in a little chicken stock, the juice of ½ a lemon (enough liquid to halfway cover the chicken), and a bundle of rosemary. Cover the pan and let steam for 5-10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160°. Remove from the pan and let stand while you finish the potatoes and prepare the asparagus and prepare the pan sauce.
- Using the pan in which the chicken was cooked, deglaze with a cup of white wine over high heat, scraping any fond stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add 1 cup chicken stock and reduce to a simmer, whisking in the Dijon mustard. Allow to reduce for 5 minutes and thicken with a slurry of cornstarch and water—beginning with a one-to-two ratio of cornstarch to water—over medium heat for a full-bodied sauce.
- Heat a frying pan over high heat, adding a pad of butter. When the butter melts and begins to sizzle, reduce heat to medium and add sliced garlic. Add asparagus and saute for 5-7 minutes, until cooked through but not limp. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- When the potatoes have finished cooking, strain water and return the cooked potatoes to the pot. Add a generous portion of butter, black pepper, milk, and mash with a potato masher. Taste and adjust seasoning of butter, milk, salt, and pepper as desired. Mash until all lumps have been sufficiently smashed.
- Cut the chicken breast away from the breast bone, carve, and serve over the mashed potatoes and asparagus, drizzling the entire plate with the pan sauce.
