The sous vide adventure Continues! Last night I did filet mignon with cauliflower parsnip potato puree and rainbow Swiss chard. It tasted even better than it looks, and I think it looks pretty damn good. We're supposed to get our first big snow of the season, so tonight I'm keeping it simple with turkey chili and cornbread.
That margherita steak thing I had planned for tonight didn't go over so well. The marinade was supposed to tenderize the meat real well, but that didn't happen. The flavor was good, it just wasn't as tender as it was supposed to be.
That looks so good I just added filet mignon to my grocery order! I already had riced cauliflower in the freezer, so I'm cheating a bit there, but it's only me, myself and I for dinner, and they're not picky. Asparagus for the veg. White chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream with cacao nibs for dessert. ETA: Tonight was Lean Cuisine meatloaf *hangs head in shame* The steak is tomorrow night.
Ah, that was slightly before my time, but people would still bring in buns and we'd ring them up as beef burritos. I still make Bell Beefers at home from time to time
So for the meat, you're cooking it sous vide and then browning it in a skillet, or the oven, or...? What's the process, there? ('cause it looks DELICIOUS)
Hey! Stop trying to drain away people's joy! There's a reason they've chosen not to do this for a living... it's so they can have FUN!
I cooked them in the water bath for 90 minutes at 131 degrees (they were a little bigger than average fillets), then seared on all sides in a screaming hot cast iron pan with a little avocado oil.
Short answer: color, dimension, and asymmetry. That's essentially what garnishes are for. Scallions and black and white sesame seeds are the latest craze. And watermelon radishes. Nobody seems to eat them, but they make the plate look pretty. And sauces tend to be dotted out like crop circles instead of drenched over the plate. All depends on how much space you have on the plate... better to pile things in the center than to spread them out. Space is supposed to be pushed to the margins rather than leak between things that are edible. Mostly though, you want the food to look three dimensional instead of flat. As a famous Italian chef I once worked with used to say: "It's supposed to look like a mountain! Not a lake!" Personally, though, as an Ops manager (and not a chef) I wish they could just get the food on the plate, in the window, and out the door before we drown in tickets. Plating is the reason why people (mainly Boomers and the elderly) complain about food not being hot anymore. It's an extra step that, while crucial, slows the line down because chefs think they're Picasso.
What he said. I mostly duplicate what I've seen on cooking shows and in restaurants. I used what I call the "plop and drag" technique with the puree; it's actually a surprisingly easy way to make a dish look fancy-pants.
Me: hey, chef, we need another case of plastic spoons. Chef: what happened to the case I just ordered? Me: you burned them making swooshes. Chef: I hate you, homer. Me: i know, but you can't tie your shoes without me. Chef: I know. I love you, Homer.
Thank you! Scallions have been added to the grocery list. LOL-- Part of why my entree plating skills suck is it takes me so long, I'd rather just serve it hot. But I know there's a happy medium there somewhere. Thank you! I think I can do that! I'm good at plating desserts (sauce hearts are fun), but entrees always stump me...Which makes sense, because I'm that person who asks to hear the dessert menu before even ordering drinks.
I'm of the school where if I'm paying for a meal I want the plate covered with food, or ideally covered with meat with the green stuff on a side dish ( I once ate at a pub called the Moody cow near Hereford where the roast pork came in plate filling big thick slices with a cornucopia of crackling and roast potatoes - the boring green stuff was on another plate I think, but I was too busy eating like a wolf on its prey to care.) If a restaurant serves me two slices of radish, three peas and some jus painted on the plaint accompanying a piece of meat smaller than a playing card, I don't care how many Michelin stars they have, I'm sending that sucker back with an enquiry as to where the rest of my food is
"Breakfast shovel, please. Hold the mushrooms, add a couple of pancakes. Coffee, black, spiked with a shot of rum. Or vodka - who cares, so long as you can run your truck on it. Garnish with a watermelon. Oh, and give me a place to sleep when I'm done."
