This is the first installation of recipes I am using with my Sous Vide Supreme. Sous Vide Supreme provided me with a unit and in return I’m sharing my successes over the next few months!

The first thing I think of when I consider sous vide as a cooking method is beef, specifically short ribs. Since you can cook at a low temp for a long time you really get your “low and slow” on and that applies to meat. Talking to Heston Blumenthal on the topic revealed that he uses sous vide for every piece of protein that is served at the Fat Duck. Now this is all well and good and over the next 6 months I will post at least 6 more recipes including meats , fish, fowl and who knows what else but this time it’s simple- asparagus.

My family almost always includes asparagus at our gatherings. There are discussions about the proper way to cook it, we reminisce about how my grandmother liked them mushy. My aunt also likes them nearly mush. My parents, and myself, like them to hold their shape and the crunchier the better. I bought my aunt an asparagus steamer. My other aunt has giochi gonfiabili a new method with a roasting pan, lemon and salt. I think I have something everyone will love and, like nearly everything cooked sous vide, it’s ridiculously simple.

Recipe is per bag:
1/2 pound per bag (unless you have big bags) approximately 8 spears
1 large or 2 regular sprigs of rosemary
3 tsp butter
1 clove garlic

There are four ingredients: garlic, rosemary, butter and asparagus. All your ingredients should be cold when you work with them. Warm ingredients expand in the sealed bag. Take a sprig of rosemary and crush a clove of garlic. Roll them in plastic wrap (a tip to Under Pressure by Thomas Keller) as a buffer to keep the herb from touching and burning the taste onto the asparagus. Place the package along the long side of the bag. Line up your asparagus in the bag, choosing a large enough bag to lay them all in a single line. Cube up your butter and spread that around. It will melt so it’s not too important to space them out. Seal the bag. Once your water is heated to 185º, place the bag in the water and set your timer for 35 minutes.

Plate with a sprinkle of salt. You will have asparagus that is completely cooked. It will not be super crunchy but unlike the mush you usually end up with this time you have asparagus that hold their shape and have a solid initial bite to them. You will have nearly perfectly cooked asparagus. Next time though I’ll cook it at 180º as I like mine a bit firmer.

Enjoy.