Fall Hunter Moon
Right now I have beef bourguignon cooking on the counter top. It takes 16-24 hours. Sous vide. French for “under vacuum.” I discovered this technique while reading the New York Times. It has apparently been a thing in commercial kitchens for years, but recent products have made it accessible to home kitchens.
The preparation for beef bourguignon still takes a long time, as any of you have made this dish know. After all the prep is done, browning, cooking the bacon and the carrots and onions, deglazing with red wine, everything is put in a plastic bag (or, 4 plastic bags since we wanted leftovers). A vacuum sealer drains the air out and heat seals the bag itself. That bag goes in the sous vide bath. The trick is that a constant temperature and the vacuum seal allows the food to heat slowly, to impregnate itself with all the flavors added during the preparation phase.
