I have a freezer full of meats, but am always scared of using any of it for one simple reason: it all comes from the States!
I brought it back frozen in my luggage, yes, I am that crazy, so I feel like it has to be a special occasion to justify dipping into my supply of awesome American cuts. We just don’t get as good of cuts here in Israel. Which is ironic because this is the land of Kosher food. As I was looking in my freezer for dinner tonight, I had the realization that Pesach is coming soon. Gasp! I said the “P” word! Why was that a realization? I am hosting Pesach for the first time with my whole family and with that, my freezer will need to be emptied. Not necessarily because it’s chametz, I could just sell it, but because I have very little freezer space and it will need to be used for the Chag. So with that sad fact, I decided I need to start using my stuff in there.
Plus, if I don’t actually enjoy it, then what good was schlepping it halfway around the world? That thought cheered me up! So tonight I decided to cook up my favorite cut of steak, the hanger steak. I brought it from New York vacuumed sealed from Gourmet Glatt and was so excited to eat it!
I was thinking of how to cook it up and of course, I decided on sous vide. Ever since I got my sous vide, I have become obsessed, there’s nothing like it. Every meat or chicken I put in comes out tasting amazing! By the way, lots of you have asked how I am using it here in Israel, and no, I am definitely not using it on a transformer, that would be way too much electricity. Anova Culinary actually sells an EU plug and voltage version which is what I bought on my last trip to the States. No this not a sponsored post ☺️!
So while I set up my Anova to do its magic, I decided to try my hand at a peppercorn sauce that I recently saw on Kosher.com, made by Chef David Kolotkin from Prime Grill. I played around with the ingredients and it came out amazing! It was also the first time I flambéd anything, and it was so cool! I used this sauce to top off everything, from the steak to the deliciously creamy mashed potatoes and the plain lettuce salad, bringing it all perfectly together for a fabulous meal.
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Sous Vide Steak
Instructions
Sprinkle steak liberally with salt and pepper onto both sides, except if you are using a skirt steak. If yes, only sprinkle pepper as they are very salty.
Set up your immersion circulator (such as Anova, Joule, etc.) in a pot of water and follow the steps listed on the app. It will tell you what tempurtaure and how long to cook the steak, depending on the cut, weight, size of your meat and how cooked you want it. I reccommend medium-rare!
Place your steak into a gallon size freezer ziplock and add rosemary springs on each side of the steak and seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly lower it into the water bath, until you reach the zip-line. You will see all the air being forced out of the pouch. Seal the rest of the bag. Make sure the meat is completely underwater and then fold the bag over the side of the pot and clip in place. I like to seal the food before the water has heated up, becuase then you can still palce your hands in the water to make sure the meat is comeplety immersed.
Once the amount of time your immersion circulator has reccommeneded is up, remove the steak from the bag and place onto paper towels. Blot both sides well, you want it to be as dry as possible. Season with a little bit more slat and pepper on both sides.
Heat up a cast iron grill pan until it is screaming hot. Your hand should not be able to be above it for more then a second. Pour in a little canola oil, or any oil with a high smoke point. Place the meat onto the hot pan and press down with tongs, but do not move the steak! Count to 30 and then flip over and repeat until you have a nice sear (crust) on both sides.
That's it! Cut your steak and see the difference! You will never want a steak that hasn't been sous vide again!
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Creamy Parve Mashed Potatoes
Instructions
Place the potatoes into a pot and cover with water. Sprinkle a little salt over. Place the pot on a high flame and bring to a boil. Lower the flame to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
Drain the potatoes and place back in the pot over a small flame.
Dry out the potatoes for 3-5 minutes then smash and add in the stock, butter, sour cream and seasonings. Mix well and adjust salt and pepper. Turn off the flame.
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Colorful Peppercorn Sauce
Instructions
Smash the peppercorn using the edge of a plate until mostly crushed.
In a saucepan, heat up olive oil over a medium flame. Add in the onions and peppercorn and sauté until golden. Add in the mushrooms and sauté until reduced.
Hold the pot away from the flame, add in the bourbon, and using a long lighter light the alcohol until flames appear. Allow the flames to disappear and then add in the red wine.
Simmer until reduced and then add in the veggie stock.
Simmer for 10 minutes and add in the butter. Stir until mixed and serve over steak, mashed potatoes, and salad.
