The Almost Perfect Sous-Vide Brisket

Photo Via http://www.newyorkjets.com

The Almost Perfect Sous-Vide Brisket

Not quite the final say on sous-vide brisket, but definitely a step in the right direction for all technological foodies out there!

Okay, what do I mean by this statement? A quick search of sous vide brisket on your preferred search engine will yield a ton of results from foodie blogs, magazine articles, and sous-vide forums all asking the same question: how do I cook my brisket sous-vide? What's frustrating for a home chef trying their hand at sous-vide cooking is the sheer number of different responses to this question all claiming to have the correct answer and most of which are dead wrong. A little background:

Sous-vide cooking, for those of you who don't know, is a style of cooking where the product is cooked using an immersion circulator, which is a piece of equipment that regulates liquid to a very specific temperature, so that the product is cooked thoroughly to the same consistent temperature. This means a piece of meat, for example, a strip steak, would be poached in this circulating water bath at an exact temperature, let's say 135 degrees f, or perfect medium rare, so the entire piece of meat is exactly medium rare. This may sound gross to a lot of people... why would I want a poached piece of meat? Well, the goal here is to have perfect medium rare all the way through instead of just a small sweet-spot in the middle which is what usually happens during conventional cooking methods. The outside of the meat would then be seared or grilled super hot to replicate how a normal piece of meat would look, and the finished product is just amazing. If you ever look to try your hand at sous-vide cooking and don't want to break the bank, go pre-order the Sansaire for $199 and I'll recommend a really easy recipe at the end of this post. 

The SousVide cooker from PolyScience is the professional version and runs a very steep price.

Brisket is a tough piece of meat with a lot of connective tissue. It's best cooked either brined and baked like corned beef, cooked low and slow on a smoker or BBQ rig for days, or braised for a couple of hours. The goal with a piece of meat like brisket is to let the collagen, elastin, and other connective tissues holding the protein together turn into gelatin so the meat stays juicy and tender. This can either be done above 180 degrees f  when collagen and elastin break down with heat, or by pounding the shit out of the meat. Beating your meat is always an option, but won't yield a traditional looking brisket, and heating the meat to 180 f is also an issue because the meat dries out. It's all about temperature and time to yield a juicy piece of meat with all of the connective tissue broken into gelatin... it's not so easy. I personally have failed at brisket every time I've ever cooked it, until now. Here's how I did it, and what I would do differently next time:

Tipped Tailgate

Tipped Tailgate

For those of you who may not know or don't follow Tipped on Twitter... which you should, I am a big football fan. Huge. I used to play football until a career ending injury in High School, and was one play away from continuing to play into college. Instead, I managed Ithaca College to two back-to-back playoff appearances--the IC Bombers are still looking to get back to their winning ways since I left, and I'm not trying to be cocky by saying that. 

When it comes to football, I look at the game from many different eyes: the eyes of a player foremost, but also the eyes of a manager, trainer, administrator, coach, and fan. I've done it all in some way, shape, or form. I'm back in my comfort zone now that football is starting back up again... the NFL starts tonight in fact! While I will be watching the game, my real season doesn't begin until Sunday when the New York Jets, who I am a season ticket holder with, take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Patrick and I will be there representing Tipped Mixology with a two-man tailgate. A post will follow shortly afterwards about the joys of tailgating and what goes into preparing for game day. Let's go Jets!

-Adam from Tipped Mixology

Housewarming

I had a little get together with friends and family this past weekend... here are the ups, and the downs. 

Up: About 4 dozen great chicken lollipops baked off in the oven like fried chicken. 

Down: Tried to make a balsamic gastrique to drizzle over some roasted figs, but forgot about it and walked back inside my apartment to a lovely plume of black smoke and a crusty All Clad. 

Up: Pickled beets with ginger and cinnamon.

Down: I had to clean up some vomit... I'll spare you all.

Up: Friend's, family, and great company.

Down: Trek was barking at everyone, but finally seemed to simmer down towards the end of the party... he is still a puppy after all, just a very big one. 

Up: House plants as gifts including a brand new money tree.

Up: Finally started watching Breaking Bad... wish me luck.

Up: Learning how to saber a champagne bottle. 

All-in-all, a wonderful party and a great weekend. More to come soon!

- Adam from Tipped Mixology

Chicken Galantine and Ballotine

Chicken Galantine and Ballotine

Classic as classic can get

Chicken Galantine or Ballotine are classic French dishes which I believe are so classic they're almost dead. I graduated with a diploma in classic culinary arts from the French Culinary Institute, and the only two people I ever saw attempt something like this were Master Chefs; I'm talking Jacques Pépin, Alain Sailhac, André Soltner, and the like. These are the heavy hitters, the old and the knowledgeable, the last remaining greats. I held the bathroom door open for Jacques Pépin once during my time at the FCI... that's a cherished memory. These guys paved the way for current star chefs, Michelin star winners, James Beard award winners, and all chefs alike in one way, shape, or form. If quartering a duck in under 15 seconds is something that gives you butterflies, then these are your guys. 

I've always wanted to learn how to properly debone poultry or fowl--it was never taught to me. When I stumbled across an old demo starring a much younger Jacques Pépin, I knew it was time to try my hand at a lost art. Here's the video, and my results.

If you want to do this as badly as I did and need a recipe, here's what I did, and it was amazing!

Start off by sauteing a container of spinach and drain off the excess liquid. Make two servings of mushroom duxelles, as mention in my en papillote review, and combine together. This is the stuffing for the chicken. Once the chicken is deboned and trussed back together, rub it with olive oil or butter, and salt all the way around. Bake on 415 F for around an hour depending on the size of the chicken... you want to pull it once the internal temperature hits 155 F. Grab some really nice vine-ripe or grape tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and salt, and put them in the oven once the chicken is out. Just turn off the oven, and let the residual heat cook them for 10-15 minutes while the chicken sits. They'll crack slightly, but stay whole leaving the inside full of flavor and juice. 

If you want to make a sauce, make a white roux with 1 tbs of melted butter and flour, and add a splash of red or white wine. Cook until thick and add chicken stock until the right consistency is reached. Add some chopped parsley, salt, and pepper, mount with a pad of cold butter, and there's your sauce!

The hardest part about this recipe is deboning the chicken... I had to disinfect my laptop because I kept hitting the space bar to pause the video so many times. I'll tell you now, it's worth it to learn. If it's something you feel up to, good luck!

- Adam from Tipped Mixology

Restaurant Review: Mesa Coyoacán

Restaurant Review: Mesa Mesa Coyoacán

A new neighborhood gem

New is a subjective term of course, as I did just moved to this awesome little triangle of Williamsburg that I never knew existed until a few months ago. I have to say, other than one run-in with a truly terrible laundromat, this neighborhood is wonderful, quiet, and thriving. It definitely got a transplant of young blood when the rest of Williamsburg did, but it still holds a lot of the charm that I’m sure has been there for many years. This charm is what drew me to Brooklyn in the first place, and what was slowly shriveling away near the Williamsburg waterfront—I’m once again proud to say I live in Brooklyn and not some Soho-wannabee subsection of Williamsburg, now full of pretension and just an overall boushiness that left a major sour taste in my mouth when I moved…no offense to anyone that lives over there.

The French Paradox

Photo Via http://www.Goodtaste.tv

The French Paradox

A happy eater is a healthy eater

To start, I’d like to comment on a previous post: Eat whatever you want. I’m not trying to get on a milk crate and shout my diet opinions across the world, I’m just stating my opinion, which I feel is increasingly becoming a minority. If you want to eat nothing but white rice, white bread, chips, and candy all day, go for it if that makes you happy. The same goes if you want to sprinkle flax seed on your amaranth cereal floating in ice cold almond milk in the morning—this is your choice and I can’t stop you from making it. What I can do is have a commentary on the whole diet subject and throw my two cents in. If through reading these posts your decide to change your diet, that’s great! This, however, was never my goal.

The French paradox in a nutshell was an observation that while the French people as a whole ate an exorbitant amount of saturated fats (ie, butter, milk, cheese, etc) they had very low rates of cardiovascular disease compared to other nationalities. Let’s sum this up by saying that the French ate a lot of fat, drank a lot of wine, and were fit and healthy for doing so. What gives? If I started eating nothing but cheese and drank nothing but red wine all day long, I’d be in an early grave, but this isn’t all that goes into this paradox.

Photo Via http://www.likecool.com

Very Sad News

I received some very sad news today about a Williamsburg restaurant pioneer. Colin Devlin, chef and owner of such restaurants as Dumont, Dumont Burger, and the since closed Dressler, was found dead in Pennsylvania. Please read an article by Lauren Evans in Gothamist here.

Colin Devlin fostered an amazing atmosphere in his restaurants and was a pioneer in Williamsburg when it came to amazing farm fresh food. I have many great memories of his restaurants, Dumont in particular, and will always appreciate what he has done for Williamsburg and for me personally, even though we never met. From burgers with my best friend sitting in Dumont Burger to my first date with my girlfriend, very special memories were made while in your restaurants, and I will never forget that they were because of you. 

Colin, it's sad to hear that you are gone. I hope you read my review of Dumont before your passing and I hope it gave you great pride. You were a visionary, a mentor, and you will always have a very special place in my heart. I can only hope that someone treats your restaurants as well as you did and shares in your drive, passion, and creativity. We will miss you. Rest in peace. 

Please read my past review on Dumont here. 

-Adam from Tipped Mixology

Gluten Alternatives

Photo via http://www.nuts.com

Gluten Alternatives

Whether it's a fad or not, the sheer number of these gluten substitutes is staggering

I wanted to get a quick post out commenting on rice and grain alternatives. I could go crazy focusing on how many are out there and how many seem to wiggle their way into popularity overnight. White bread is now a pariah and carries the penalty of death by gluten if used in your kid's peanut butter and jelly sandwich... but don't use peanut butter, because some people may be allergic. Try almond butter, or better yet Hemp seed spread. If I was speaking this last sentence, my voice would be dripping with contempt because I think this has all gone too far. You may ask, 

"But Adam, you handsome devil, people can't help if they or their kids have allergies or celiac disease." 

Yes, I understand allergies are a huge issue and shouldn't be joked about. I work with a woman who had an episode because someone made noddles with peanut oil as an ingredient--it's serious stuff. I actually think food labels should more clearly state which food allergens they contain for ease of the consumer. I constantly have to check my snacks for peanut material now, and sometimes they sneak up on me in the oddest products. But enough about peanuts, let's get to celiac disease. I'm sure I wont be making any friends when I say gluten-free dieters are the new vegans. Celiac disease itself, while i'm sure is not fun, is not life threatening. A wheat allergy, on the other hand, is. There's a huge difference; a wheat allergy will cause all the normal allergic reactions from hives to anaphylaxis, while celiac disease will cause gas, bloating, and diarrhea... In other words, a normal night after cheap Mexican food. Celiac sufferers just can't process gluten the way that other people can, and I feel for them when I bite into my fresh-baked baguette and sip my malty beer. 

Gluten free beers do actually exist, though I haven't tried one. Via http://www.seriouseats.com/

A Word on Figs

A Word on Figs

The quest to become a figgin' genius

As I may have alluded to in previous posts, I have outdoor space now. Along with a nice patio and large patches of dirt, I am the proud owner of five gigantic fig trees... needless to say, I'm up to my eyes in figs. This will lead to my endless supply of fig preserves, pickled figs, dehydrated figs, fig syrup, fig jam, bacon wrapped figs, sticky figgy pudding, broiled figs, baked figs, poached figs, fig newtons, balsamic fig vinegar, fig mustard, and just fresh figs. It was such a shame that when I tasted my first ripe, but raw fig, I didn't quite care for it. I think this is because of the varietal of fig that I'm dealing with here--pretty sure it's a Brown Turkey fig, which is a little less sweet and more grassy than other figs. Actually, I can't be sure at all what varietal of fig I have behind my apartment, because there are almost 1000 different fig varietals. I'm now in the process of joining up on fig forums (yes, there are forums for everything on the internet) to ask a fig expert for help in identifying my sweet jewels. 

I hope my readers like figs, because I can only assume I'll be posting many-a-fig recipe on the blog once I get a chance to test them. I will become on with my figs and learn to love them like they are my own. I'll be my own fig expert, fig genius, fig freak. Stay tuned for more fig-themed fun!

-Adam from Tipped Mixology

Update - July 16th, 2013 and Vermont

Update - July 16th, 2013 and Vermont 

An update on the blog as well as a short recap of my trip to Vermont this July 4th.

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to write an update saying the move was successful, but I'm still very much in the process of getting acclimated to my new apartment and my new neighborhood. In the mean time, I'll be posting quick little posts like this one until I get some more time to write proper ones. Expect everything to get back to normal when I get back from Kentucky in early August--yes, I need a major vacation! In the meantime, enjoy this small summary of my July 4th trip to Weathersfield, VT with all my high school friends.