Some of the fun of sous vide (and BBQ, or even cooking in general) is taking cheap cuts/ingredients, and transforming them into something magical thru skill, science/technology, and perhaps, a little bit of love. That's not to say I don't buy some high-end ingredients from time to time; only that I especially enjoy the challenge of the thrift aspect of the culinary arts.

One dish that's particularity sentimental to me is Poor Man's Lobster. When I was young, once in a great while, my dad would take my brother Ryan and I out to eat at a sit-down restaurant, and let us order just about whatever we wanted, within reason. I usually went for the Poor Man's Lobster, as it sounded fancy to me, but was still ok by Dad. He was a single father to us for a few years, and eatin'-out dollars were few and far between. As a husband and father to a large family myself, we don't blow extra money at restaurants just for the sake of it very often, either. Instead, we prefer making magic at home with simple ingredients, some technology and skill, and a whole lotta love (cue Led Zeppelin). Anyways, enough rambling....on with the show.

I wanted to see if I could do something special with some el cheapo cod fillets; think $5/# in the freezer section at Wally. I didn't even bother thawing them, actually it works out better this way I think. I cut them from the vacseal, smeared them copiously on all sides with room temperature butter (which sets and hardens to the fish), then liberally coated them with kosher salt and white sugar. I also added some tarragon. The large amount of salt helps firm the cod up to a more lobster-esque texture, and the sugar balances the salt and adds that sweetness that lobster has. I vacsealed them up, and tossed 'em in the SV bath at 130 for 2 hours. When they're ready, I preheated the oven broiler, and got the rack up really close. I removed the fillets from the bag (discarding the juices), and patted the fillets dry with a paper towel. Make sure to handle/dry the fillets gently, as they can still flake apart. I arranged them on a foil-covered cast iron skillet (end to end if they're small) and coated in melted butter and a dust of paprika. Broiled for about 2 minutes, until the edges were just starting to brown. Served with all the usual accoutrements.

Folks, this one was a big win! Cooking sous vide allows the ingredients to really steep in their own juices, which is a boon to seafood. Poor Man's Lobster is often poached, which donates much of the flavor to the water, which is discarded. Also, the salt concentration really assisted in firming things up nicely. While the fillets still flaked, as cod does, they had a much tighter texture, without being dry or chewy at all. Of course, they were basically enveloped in butter/salt/sugar/tarragon for two hours, so good things were bound to happen! I'll definitely be adding this to the repertoire! Thanks for looking, and letting me "bend your ear"!

-Chris

^^^^^^
Looks goooood!

I need to add a suevede too my cooking tools.

Nice write up and good looking food.

Edit: request resolved.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Aeteocles,

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I need to add a suevede too my cooking tools.

I cook a lot and for something everyone touts as simple this has been the toughest learning curve for me.

I've fought off buying a chamber sealer for several years but Sous Vide has me really thinking about one.

I'm so stealing the Cod recipe

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Nice write up and good looking food.

Could we remove the Stars from the title? Nobody else does it and I like to think that SigForum is content and community driven and doesn't need click bait to detract from thread titles.

I consider it jazzy, not "click bait"; click bait is lacking in specifics to get people to follow a link they likely wouldn't otherwise follow. Nonetheless, I'll remove the stars so as not to offend anyone's sensibilities or diminish the perceived value of my content.

Looks good. Will have to try that one. Thanks for posting, stars and all! ;-)

The wife bought me a sous vide for Xmas. Since I do most of the cooking at the house, I suppose it might be a similar gift as a husband buying the wife a vacuum. BUT, I have been experimenting with it the past few weeks. Not everything came out perfect, but it has helped me make some awesome steaks and salmon. The anova smartphone app has a lot of tasty looking recipes.....

Your recipe looks great, and especially the price tag! Next on my list to try.

Thanks for posting this

quote:

Originally posted by mark_a:
I've fought off buying a chamber sealer for several years but Sous Vide has me really thinking about one.

I'm not a yuge fan of the sous vide method, but it is great for some things, and I think I'll try this recipe as I have some cod in the freezer.

(Not meaning to tangent the thread too much)

The chamber sealer, on the other hand,...I don't know how I lived without one for so long. Buy it. You won't regret it.

Try it with Monkfish next time.

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Nice write up and good looking food.

Could we remove the Stars from the title? Nobody else does it and I like to think that SigForum is content and community driven and doesn't need click bait to detract from thread titles.

I consider it jazzy, not "click bait"; click bait is lacking in specifics to get people to follow a link they likely wouldn't otherwise follow. Nonetheless, I'll remove the stars so as not to offend anyone's sensibilities or diminish the perceived value of my content.

---------------

OP, I agree, it was not really click bait, please keep posting your SV recipes and ideas, albeit, minus the 'stars' as not to offend others.

Nice! I have one of those frozen cod blocks in the freezer right now, I was going to make a fake lobster bisque of sorts, using some of the "Better than Bullion" lobster broth.

Think I'll try your recipe instead, with the addition of adding some of the BTB to the immersion pouch.

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
Nice! I have one of those frozen cod blocks in the freezer right now, I was going to make a fake lobster bisque of sorts, using some of the "Better than Bullion" lobster broth.

Think I'll try your recipe instead, with the addition of adding some of the BTB to the immersion pouch.

I love the BTB products, and didn't know there was a lobstah version. I'll be looking for it, thanks!

This sounds really great, especially since I am shellfish intollerant.
Thanks for the post and recipe. Will see if we can try it out.

Guys, a Sous Vide is not gonna make the perfect tool for the kitchen. It is a tool with a specific purpose. Does it qualify for a “ must” have tool”, depends.

It does what it does well, cook slowly at a pre-determined temp and can hold it that way for a very long time. Also you can really change the texture of a cheap/tough piece of meat into something quite wonderful and pleasing to the eye. How do you think they make steaks look so perfect in all the photo ads? I LOVE a Tri-tip roast 8 hour Sous Vide and HOT reverse sear on the grill! Like this!!

https://imgur.com/a/OQgL5bE