Recipe: Sous vide New York strip steak

I’m bringing food back! It’s been quite a long while since I posted a recipe. But I recently got a brand new PolyScience immersion circulator, something I’ve been eyeing for quite some time, and now our kitchen has become a 24-hour sous vide factory.I’m still learning the ins and outs of this beautiful machine, but I thought I’d write about the first food item we cooked in the immersion circulator: New York strip steaks. Now, the strip is not my favorite cut because it's rather lean when compared to the more marbleized (and, thus, fatty) ribeye. But that's what we had on hand (because I like variety, and I always get ribeye), and I was anxious to try out the Creative series immersion circulator. The first two strip steaks were cooked at 138°F for 2 hours, and they came out to a medium well. They were good, but not the medium rare I love.So the second time around, the strip steaks went in for 90 minutes at 130°F. And these were quite possibly the most tender strip steaks I’ve had outside a five-star steakhouse.I served it with a side of quinoa, hummus, sautéed kale, and roasted beets. (For the quinoa recipe, you’ll have to stay tuned until my latest show, “Four Senses,” airs in 2014—it was a recipe I learned from my co-host, Carl Heinrich.)In the meantime, here’s the New York strip steak recipe to get your mind thinking about the possibilities with an immersion circulator.P.S. I’ll discuss in more detail about my PolyScience immersion circulator later as I become more familiar with it. As I type this, beef cheeks are cooking in the water bath. And next week, we plan to sous vide our turkey for the family Thanksgiving lunch. But I was too excited not to post the first dish with which we broke in the immersion circulator. Stay tuned for more scientific cuisine.

Recipe: Sous Vide New York Strip Steaks

Summary: You'll need the following toys: (1) a PolyScience immersion circulator; (2) a vacuum seal system such as the Food Saver; and (3) a cooler, bin, tub, stockpot, or Dutch oven.

Ingredients

1. 2 strip steaks at room temperature
2. 1 tbsp olive oil
3. kosher or sea salt
4. freshly ground black pepper
5. 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. Fill your cooler/bin/tub/stockpot/Dutch oven/treasure chest with cold water, leaving approx; 2" from the top. Place the PolyScience immersion circulator in the water, plug it in, and set it to 130°F.
2. Brush both sides of steaks with oil, and season with salt & pepper. In an iron skillet over high heat, sear the steaks, approx 30 sec per side. Let cool slightly before dropping them in a vacuum seal bag. Pour butter over steaks and seal the bag, making sure there are no holes. Shake the sealed bag a little to get the buttery goodness all around.
3. When the water bath has reached the desired temperature, submerge the bag of steaks in the water. Set timer for 90 minutes and go watch 3 episodes of "30 Rock" reruns.
4. Turn off the PolyScience, fish out the bag of steaks. (Bonus: Use your bare hands, and you're already one step ahead for a manicure.) Let cool slightly before cutting open bags and removing the steaks. Over high heat again, sear the steaks one last time in the iron skillet, approx 30 sec per side again, making sure not to salivate on your partner's steak. Eat immediately.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 1 hour(s) 35 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 2

Learn more about PolyScience through their various social media:

• PolyScience on Facebook
• PolyScience on Twitter
• PolyScience on Instragram