Some of you may remember the SousVide contest a few months back. Well, we didn’t win, but they asked if we would be interested in keeping it if we’d post a couple recipes using the machine. I know 99.9% of people in the world don’t have one of these contraptions, but don’t click off of this recipe just yet, because you can still make it without a SousVide. And before you think we’re sell-outs and that the SousVide is a gourmand’s counter space taker-upper, let me just say that I actually really do like the thing. At first, I didn’t. Sorry Sous, it’s true. But I started thinking about it like a backwards slow cooker. Instead of making one complete meal at a time, the SousVide can make 4-8 (or more) partial meals at a time.

Let me explain…

I tossed 2 pouches of meat in the water bath (2 pork tenderloins and 2 tri-trip steaks) at one time and literally had most of the protein I needed for the week, done and cooked to tender, meaty perfection with zero attention needed. Pop the pouches into the fridge or freezer for later in the week. Once our gym opens, I will most certainly be cooking batches of meat this way every Sunday. So here comes Thursday, when you don’t feel like cooking. BOOM. Take out a hunk of meat, give it a nice sear on both sides. Make some roasted veggies for a side dish, whisk up a 5 minute sauce and you have a complete, fancy-looking meal, complete with perfectly cooked meat, on the table in a respectable amount of time.

Ingredients

• 2-3 pounds tri-tip steak loin (bottom sirloin), about 2 loins
• butter, for the pan
• 1 schmedium (small-to-medium) shallot, minced
• 8-10 ounces various mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 cup chicken or beef stock
• 1/3 cup heavy cream + 1/3 cup
• 2-4 tablespoons dry sherry*
• fresh thyme (optional)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Heat the SousVide to 145ºF (fill it with water too, of course). Meanwhile, liberally season the beef with salt and pepper and vacuum seal in a pouch. Cook for 1½ hours, and up to 3 hours. If you don’t have a SousVide, just brown the loins in a hot skillet and pop it in the oven to finish cooking (doneness is measured by the internal temp. and that will be depend on how well-done you like things).

Once the beef is almost done, start making the sauce…

In a saute pan, heat a few tablespoons of butter over medium-low-ish heat. Add the shallot and mushrooms (and some salt and pepper) and cook until the mushrooms develop a slight brown color.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the stock. Let it reduce by half. Then add the first 1/3 cup heavy cream, and let that reduce by half, then add the next 1/3 cup and let that reduce by about a 1/3. So many dang 1/3’s, is this confusing? Add the sherry, a tablespoon at a time, tasting as you go.

To finish the beef, take the loins out of the pouch and sear in a very hot skillet, just to brown the outside of the meat, then slice away.

Top with gravy. Garnish with fresh thyme, if you wanna.

*It’s pretty cheap and lasts forever. It’s also a great way to flavor seafood chowders. If you don’t want to buy sherry, try a squirt of lemon juice.