March On!

By Marilyn Kitzes 

March is an awkward month. Straddling both the end of winter and the beginning of spring, March is a culinary shoulder season, which makes it tricky to choose fresh produce for recipes. Fortunately, by using sous vide, we can leverage the maximum flavor potential of vegetables like cabbage, beets, carrots, and Brussels sprouts—all great choices for this time of year. Read on for our recipe roundup.

EMMA BENGTSSON’S SIRLOIN AND PRESSED CABBAGE
Chef Emma Bengtsson of Manhattan’s famed Scandinavian restaurant, Aquavit, incorporates both sous vide and a grill to make the most of the ingredients in this outstanding recipe. Chef Bengtsson uses sous vide to make her pressed cabbage, which she first cooks in a sous vide bath for three hours, then presses under a heavy object for 15 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. She also uses sous vide to create the cabbage purée, which is made from cabbage, red wine, and soy sauce. To finish, she sears the sirloin over high heat to medium-rare and serves with the sous vide cabbage, along with a sumptuous sauce made from veal stock, onions, and butter.

HONEY-HARISSA GLAZED CARROTS
These tangy sous vide carrots are an easy must-make. Rainbow carrots, the dish’s star, are separated by color and put into separate pouches to prevent color bleeding. After a three-hour sous vide bath—each bag also contains a combination of butter, harissa, honey, and salt—transfer the carrots to a pan, to brown and caramelize. The accompanying lemon yogurt sauce provides the perfect balance to the carrots’ spicy-sweet flavor.

BEET SALAD
If you’re looking to experiment with sous vide and compression in one dish, try this wondrous salad. To start, toss the beets with olive oil and sea salt, and place in a sous vide bath for 60 to 90 minutes. Meanwhile, wrap the watercress in plastic wrap and vacuum seal in a Multivac chamber machine for one cycle. Cook the shallots in a pan, and then roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until they caramelize. Then deep-fry the pecans (if you have a deep fryer) or fry in a pan with sugar and vegetable oil. For a gorgeous presentation, arrange the beets with the rest of the vegetables, and garnish with the pecans, goat cheese, and micro herbs.