Sous Vide Pork Shoulder | Recipe by sousvidetools.com

Sous Vide Pork Shoulder with Apple and Sage

COOK TIME: 12 hours
PREP TIME: 40 minutes
DIFFICULTY: Easy
SERVES: 8-12

Ingredients

1x 2.5 kg free range pork shoulder
50 mls apple cider vinegar
4 granny smith apples (chopped into rough 1cm dice)
6 leaves of sage chopped finely
3 sprigs of thyme finely chopped
½ tsp garlic powder
100ml homemade chicken stock
2 tbsp roasted fennel seeds
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
5 tbsp olive oil

Equipment

Method

As the paleo diet continues to grow in popularity, we wanted to highlight how simple sous vide cooking methods can simplify this change in lifestyle.

In addition to our What is Paleo and is it For You article, we are also going to review some our favourite paleo recipe books and help you transform one of the recipes using sous vide equipment.

This week, we review Nom Nom Paleo by Michelle Tam and Henry Fong.

Review

Nom Nom Paleo is a great recipe book for those living by the paleo diet, and even those who aren’t, with plenty of diverse and delicious recipes to inspire any home chef!

We particularly like the way the book highlights how limitless the diet is. Even though there is a variety of foods that aren’t ‘paleo friendly’, it’s easy to forget as Tam and Fong still deliver easy recipes packed full of nutrition.

If you’re looking to combine sous vide cooking methods and the paleo diet, this cook book is a great place to start with plenty of recipes that are easy to transform with a sous vide twist.

Recipe

Nom Nom Paleo’s most notable recipe for us has to be their Slow Cooker Kalua Pig.

Long, slow recipes on tougher cuts of meat work perfectly with the sous vide method and promises a perfectly cooked meal every time. We knew this recipe would deliver deliciously tender, melt in the mouth meat!

A great centre piece for a gathering, this pulled pork will melt in the mouth. Not cooking for as big a party? Half all the ingredients to cook for 4 – 6 people. Remember you don’t have to eat it all at once (although you may not be able to help yourself); once pulled re-vacuum seal the pork and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Our variation on Nom Nom Paleo’s recipe is Sousvide Pork Shoulder with Apple & Sage; a great centre piece dish for a dinner party.

Method

In a small bowl mix the salt, pepper, paprika, fennel seed, garlic powder, sage, thyme, apples, and vinegar. Leave this to stand and infuse for ten minutes
Now rub the pork with the marinade and leave to stand for 30 minutes to marinade
In a large vacuum pouch place the marinated pork shoulder and chicken stock, then vacuum seal. If you are using a home vacuum sealer, either freeze the chicken stock beforehand or use a zip pouch instead
Place in a pre-heated water bath at 80 degrees for 12 hours
Then carefully take the pork from the pouch and pull the pork using a fork
Mix the remaining juices from the bag into the pulled pork to create a lovely moist finish
Serve immediately

This recipe makes enough for a large gathering, but the ingredients can be halved if you want to reduce the amount of portions.

If you don’t eat it all at once (unlikely, because it is unbelievably moreish) you can always re-vacuum seal the leftovers and keep them refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Looking for more meal inspiration? Why not check out all of our delicious sousvide recipes!

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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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