So I have been thinking about the blog recipes lately and I realized that I have been doing stuff more on the simpler side. Which is fine since I want to make some dishes that everyone can try for themselves at home. However, I also know that my audience contains some more experienced chefs and cooks that might be looking for something more. So from now on I am going to try to cater to both sides and come up with some recipes and techniques that can be found useful to everyone. For today’s post I made sous vide venison sirloin tip, blackberry pearls, and celery root puree along with a couple other quick sides that I will include the recipes for, some really easy but delicious roasted grape tomatoes, and a baked mashed potato recipe I was messing around with.  So lets start with the meat!

Sous Vide Venison

• Venison Steak
• Garlic
• Thyme
• Olive Oil

For the steak you will want to trim any silver skin or fat from the meat. Place in a vacuum seal bag along with a sprig of thyme, a clove of garlic, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Vac seal at 100% ( Always 100% when cooking) Then place in sous vide bath at 129ºF (54ºC) for 30 minutes. This steak was about 1/2″ thick, for 3/4″- 1″ go 45 minutes – 1 hour. When steak is done remove from package and pat dry. To sear place pan on range and get very hot, add 2 Tbsp butter and hard sear both sides while basting with butter. You just want to get a nice crust. Remove from pan and let rest 5 minutes before cutting.

Celery Root Puree:                                                  Yields: 1 Qt

• 1 Large Celery Root
• 1/4 C Heavy Cream
• 3 Tbsp Butter
• Salt

When I purchased the celery root from the grocery store the cashier said “You must be a good cook to be able to use this!” Not really, celery root is very easy to work with and can be used in lots of ways so don’t let it intimidate you! First you’ll want to remove the outside, use a knife and cut off the outside layer the same way you would a pineapple. Next cut into large equal sized pieces and place in boiling water until fork tender. Strain the water and put in a blender, add 1/4 cup heavy cream and blend until smooth. Next add in your butter and salt and continue to blend until silky smooth, adding the butter will give it a great silk texture. If you want to keep it on the healthier side do not add butter and replace the heavy cream with some water that you boiled in. If it is too thick add a little bit more cream or water until you get the consistency you like.

Blackberry Pearls

• 175 g Blackberries
• 25 g Sugar
• 1/2 C Water
• 1/4 C Red Wine Vinegar
• 4 Sprigs of Thyme
• 2 g Agar
• 2 C Vegetable Oil (cold)

This recipe is for cooks that a looking to add some new tricks to their dish, I am sure you have seen people use spheres or “caviar” on their dishes, this recipe and ratio will show you how to do that, and the best part is that you can use it with pretty much any liquid!

For these spheres we age going to make a blackberry gastrique. In a small sauce pan bring the blackberries, sugar, water, thyme, and vinegar to a simmer and reduce by 25%.  Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh strainer. Take the liquid and return to pan along with agar. The ratio for the agar to liquid is 2g Agar to 100g liquid.( If you want to make cranberry spheres add it to cranberry juice and continue steps ex.) Bring the liquid to a boil and remove from heat, (you will need to bring liquid to boil to activate the agar). Place the blackberry mix into a small squeeze bottle and let cool until about baby formula temp. The smaller the bottle tip the smaller the spheres. To make the spheres hold the bottle upside down and gently squeeze over cold oil slowly so it drips. Let the spheres sit in the oil for 1-2 minutes before removing with a slotted spoon. Rinse the spheres in cold water to remove any excess oil. To hold the spheres you can place them in a similar juice so they stay moist. (Cranberry spheres hold in a little bit of cranberry juice ex.)

For the sides I did a quick couple recipes one of them mainly just trying something new. The first were some really good roasted grape tomatoes, the second was a new thing I wanted to try, needs some tweaking but I like the idea so I’ll let you know how that went.

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

• 1 Pt Mixed Grape Tomatoes
• 3 Sprigs of Thyme
• 2 Cloves Galric
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

In a small roasting pan place the cut tomatoes, thyme, garlic, drizzle with olive oil and season with some pepper. Place in oven at 425º for 30 minutes until tender. Remove from oven and top with finishing salt. Easy as that!

The other side that I was trying was a version of a baked mashed potato. Basically I took phyllo dough and cut it into thin strips, this was going to be my outside crust. Then I made mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and sharp white cheddar cheese. I kept it a little thicker so it would hold form and made 2 tbsp scoops. Then I added 2 tbsp melted butter to the phyllo dough and tossed it until well incorporated.

Next take a small handful of the dough and make a flat square on a work bench, place a scoop of the mashed potatoes on the dough and wrap the potato in the dough. Place on a buttered sheet tray and bake in the oven at 350º for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. When removed from the oven brush the top with some melted butter. I still need to make some tweaks to this recipe but so far I like the foundation, when I finalize the recipe and technique I will share with all of you!

As always that you again for checking out the post! I will try to incorporate parts of the recipes from now on that both experienced and non experienced cooks can take from. Hopefully I can introduce everyone to some new and cool techniques. Thank you again and take care!