When I think chuck roast I get sleepy. Nothing beats a stewing braise with carrots, onions, potatoes… you get me? A beer stock? Mmmm. Open the window, get me a blanket and let's watch the whole season of something on Netflix. That's comfort food.

Stewing is important with a chuck since fat needs to render, and that tough meat needs to get tender. Enter the sous vide angle. The idea was to cook it slow and low. Hopefully to end up with a tenderloinish piece of meat.

The true test will be my friend who loves a filet as she is more about texture than anyone else I know. 18 hours in the Sous Vide Supreme at 144ºF and served over buttery thyme Mushrooms… did it work?

She had no idea it was chuck. It prompted a conversation about what about it was different and how even though it was medium well it was unusually tender. She also really liked the mushroomy, butter sauce. In the future I would reduce the temperature but it still was unusual and VERY un-chuck-like.

Here's the recipe.

  The beef:

1 chuck roast 1.5lb – small enough to fit in your plastic bag about 1 inch thick (that's the key part)
4 cloves of garlic
ground pepper

Crush your garlic cloves, layer them longways on a sheet of plastic wrap. Sprinkle fresh ground pepper across. Roll the wrap into a tube and place along the length of your sous-vide bag. Place the meat in the center of the bag and vacuum seal. Place the meat in a 144º water bath for well done, (if aiming for a medium I will try 18 hours at 135º but as of now that's not been tested). Remove from bath and sear in the seasoned-mushroom pan, over high heat until lightly browned no more than 2 minutes on each side. Slice and serve over mushrooms.

  Mushrooms/sauce:
16 oz of mushrooms
4 sprigs of thyme de-stemmed
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil
chicken stock
salt
pepper

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, as is starts to brown add olive oil and thyme.
Add mushrooms and toss until uniform. As the pan dries, add 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Cook until mushrooms caramelize but not crisp. Remove from heat. Save pan for searing meat.

This another in a series 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!