Discover Elegant Autumnal Dishes when Cooking Sous Vide | The Tool Shed

Discover Elegant Autumnal Dishes when Cooking Sous Vide

Whilst it is normal to crave hearty, warming and filling foods during the colder months there is no reason for style and most importantly, taste, to be compromised. Here at Sous Vide Tools we strongly believe that every meal should be an occasion and we have discovered that the key to great tasting food whatever the time of year is to always use foods that are in season.

Autumn provides an abundance of delicious ingredients that are perfect for sous vide cooking. In fact, it has to be said that this is definitely one of our favourite times of the year. So take a look at some of our tasty recipes below for inspiration on sophisticated autumnal food that you are certain to fall for.

RECIPES

SOUS VIDE PUMPKIN VELOUTE WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

If you asked us to name one ingredient that summarises autumn food it would definitely be the pumpkin. As halloween approaches, supermarkets become full of them in anticipation of the growing popularity of carving out spooky ghouls, monsters or witches! However, as well as being a fantastic halloween decoration this humble yet vibrant vegtable tastes pretty great too, especially when cooked sous vide.

This pumpkin veloute recipe is simple to prepare and quick to cook, taking just 90 minutes in your water bath. The results are delicious and it even uses another great seasonal ingredient – mushroms!

READ THE RECIPE

SOUS VIDE HOCK OF HAM WITH CIDER, THYME AND BAKED APPLE WITH A CASSEROLE OF WHITE BEANS

This ham hock casserole has a beautiful sweetness from the cider and is a must for any autumn recipe lists. The ham takes 12 hours to cook sous vide however we can guarantee you that the wait is well worth it. With the exception of the meat, most of the remaining ingredients are store cupboard favourites so why not make this delicious meal one night this week?

If you’re not ready to fully embrace the winter months just yet then why not use our chef’s suggestion of cooking the ham with a BBQ sauce for a BBQ pork hock flavour?

READ THE RECIPE

SPICED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH BLUE CHEESE AND HAZELNUT

For a heavenly side dish or simply a stand-alone vegetarian meal this is one recipe you will want to recreate this season. Butternut squash is a great vegetable similar in taste to pumpkin however it is more commonly used in dishes such as curries, casseroles or soups.

We think the blue cheese and hazelnuts used in this recipe taste wonerful with the squash and because this popular vegetable is such a great flavour carrier you could even add a roasted tomato sauce to the pouch.

READ THE RECIPE

HOW TO COOK PUMPKIN SOUS VIDE

With its intense orange hue and its sweet and earthy taste, pumpkin is perhaps the perfect vegetable to brighten up a dreary winter day. However, traditional techniques for cooking pumpkin use high temperatures and can result in a loss of colour and flavour. This can be avoided by cooking pumpkin at a much lower temperature using the sous vide method.

For a detailed ‘how to’ ensuring perfect results take a look at the video below:

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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