Ruth

Joan Roca's book has been available for a couple of years and is quite helpful. You should be able to find it. (very expensive!)After that I don't know who will be the first - Thomas Keller, who is said to have one in the works, or Nathan. I am looking forward to both of them.

Season them and vacuum. Depending on how you like your steaks, set your circulator to 50-55°C (50 for rare and 55 for medium). Depending upon thickness they should take about an hour and a half to reach temperature, but you can leave them longer as they cannot overcook. Just before you want to serve them sear over very high heat, preferably in a pre-heated cast iron pan, until caramelized (or if you use a ridged pan until you have good grill marks. You should not need more than 90 seconds per side.

I have the Professional III Foodsaver which I believe has the strongest motor. It also has a feature which permits you to extend the vacuuming process beyond what the sensor on the machine considers necessary. Watermelon is pretty much out of season now but if I see one I'll try to compress a piece and let you know what happens.

I have been using a good peanut oil (imported from Hong-Kong and easily available in Asian markets) for years. It has a wonderful nutty flavor and a high burning point - a perfect all- purpose oil. I dislike canola oil as it gives off a fishy aroma when heated. Grapeseed oil is fine but getting a bit too expensive to use for frying.

I have been bringing steaks to temperature sous vide and then giving them a rapid sear. This works extremely well. I think your idea should work just as well with the chicken. A few days ago I had a superb meal at Akelare in San Sebastian, Spain. One of the many wonderful dishes was suckling lamb cooked first sous vide and then for a few minutes in a very hot oven - delicious.

Do you mean at one of his restaurants? We ate at Dava and at Union Pacific on several occasions. His food was original and superb on almost every occasion. I attended classes he gave at De Gustibus. It was from him that I first learned to cook sous vide. His chicken breast sous vide was an eye-opener. I had finally found something to do with a chicken breast other than a stir-fry. All in all I think it's a major tragedy for the rest of us that he has not made a come-back. Ruth

These are large artichokes. We halved them without removing most of the leaves. I bagged them with lemon juice and evoo and they are in the water bath at 85°C. They have been there for an hour now but, although we like them with a bit of a bite left in them they do not yet seem to be ready. I suppose I should have trimmed them down to the hearts. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Should the bath be hotter? Ruth

I see no advantage in long cooking sous-vide for a steak. I also generally cook seasoned steaks at 62°C until they reach 60°C in the center. For a three inch steak that might take an hour but never longer. I then give them a quick sear on a very hot grill. Now some people were discussing duck breasts. I have successfully cooked muscovy duck breasts (sous-vide and then seared) but I to think that with a magret (moulard duck) before and after searing might be effective. I plan to try one later this week and would be interested to know if Nathan has had any luck with this method. We do like our duck breast rare.

The good ones run a lot - eg. the Wolf which, I have to admit, is fantastic and very versatile, is around $900.00. I have been coveting one for a long time but have a problem justifying the expense.

I use heavy duty stainless stockpots with my circulator - from 14 to 23 quarts depending on quantity and have never had a problem The citric acid might affect the bags when you are cooking for 24 hours or more but I have had no experience with that as I have no serious scaling. It is fun to experiment - total failures are rare but, yes, sometimes the results are less than perfect. I tried veal shanks and was unhappy with the result. Duck confit did well from the point of view of texture and flavor but far too much fat remained under the skin. On the other hand chicken or any poultry breast are supeior cooked sous vide (and then seared) and there is nothing better than a steak brought to 120° sous vide and then quickly seared on a hot grill

Just bake your usual buttermilk biscuits. Cool, wrap individually and freeze. Reheat in a 350° oven for about ten minutes. possibly not quite as flaky as when they first come out of the oven, but still very good indeed. I use half lard and alf butter. I'm not sure if that is what helps them survive the freezerso well

Several chefs cook eggs this way, usually at about 147° (the temperature at which the whites are supposed to congeal) for 45-50 minutes. The texture is very unusual and difficult to describe. The whites are barely congealed and the yolks runny. They say this will only work with very fresh eggs. Some people go crazy about them. I can take them or leave them.

The temperature sounds far too high to me. I would never cook fish at more than 140°F

I generally store my demi (about two cups at a time) directly in small ziplocs but I also fill one ice cube tray and wrap the cubes individually in plastic once they are frozen. I follow exactly the same procedure with egg whites and even heavy cream and crème fraîche which are even more prone to pick up off-flavors. I have never had a problem and those little cubes are a wonderful resource to have available.

Why not reduce it further to a glace? This will keep for weeks in the fridge and what you freeze will take up far less space

Thank you for , once again, setting the record straight. I think that it is the cook-book publishers who are shaking in their boots, afraid of lawsuits. I have complained to several chef/authors of great recipes ruined because following their temperature guidelines leads to overcooked food. They blame the editors. A few brave recipe authors cover themselves by giving the temperature to which they think the protein should be cooked and then adding the USDA recommended temperatures in parentheses. That is fine.

Surely the same rules would apply. If you would cook a piece of fish or meat by traditional methods to let's say 110°F or 120° how long would you feel comfortable keeping it after cooking? I would treat protein cooked sous vide in the same way. Ruth

To continue the saga..... I decided to do it again using 2 teaspoons of salt and substituting 1/3 cup of just-refreshed sour dough starter for the yeast. The result was just as beautiful as the first time but this one was a real sourdough - slightly chewy texture. The crust was the identical to that of my first loaf. If I had to rate them I would say that the sour dough gives the crumb more character but both were terrific breads

When the house is cold I use a heating pad inside a regular cardboard box and let the dough proof on a rack over the pad with a towel over the box to keep in the heat The pad has three temperature settings and I am usually able to keep the box in the low to mid70's For this no-kead bread the system worked perfectly Ruth

I took my loaf out of the oven an hour ago. It is beautiful and exactly as Leahy said it should be . I used a 5 qt oval le Creuset and had no problem. I think 4.5 qt might work but definitely nothing smaller as the dough might hit against the lid. I think the recipe does not call for enough salt. That is the only fault I can find with it and easily remedied. Ruth ← Did you use regular table salt or kosher salt? ← I never use table salt - sea salt or kosher

I took my loaf out of the oven an hour ago. It is beautiful and exactly as Leahy said it should be . I used a 5 qt oval le Creuset and had no problem. I think 4.5 qt might work but definitely nothing smaller as the dough might hit against the lid. I think the recipe does not call for enough salt. That is the only fault I can find with it and easily remedied. Ruth

Last week I took a 3 inch thick piece of beef loin, seasoned it well with s&p, chopped rosemary, sprinkled it with evoo and cooked it sous vide at 135°F until it reached an internal temperature of 120°F (about 1hr). After removing it from the bag I let it cool to room temperature and , just before serving, seared it over a very hot flame for about 30 seconds on each side. It definitely had the flavor of the grilled meat and the texture was phenominal, very different from a regular grill or pan-fry. I do not think I shall ever go back to the old way.

Last time I was there that was the case nd I believe it still is. When you compare it with other "fine dining" restaurants in NYC the prix fixe is very reasonable. Unless the policy has changed you can even take your own wine ($25 corkage). If you plan to do that check with them first.

I would second that. Eleven Madison Park is now a superb restaurant, one of the very best in New York. I am afraid that I do not feel that Gramercy Tavern is any longer of interest and has not been for some time. If you have only two days I would suggest Eleven Madison and Cru

The equipment you plan on using does not sound inexpensive. I bought a Julabo circulator for $900. It fits into any stockpot, maintains water temperature to .1°C and keeps it circulating. I am thrilled with it. When cooking sous vide for only a short time (less than an hour or so) I doubt that it makes a big difference whether or not the water is circulating. However I would imagine that it might make a difference if you are using a large pot over several hours.