Summer? Meet Fall
★★★
An abysmal start to fantasy football season has limited my enthusiasm & focus, but alas, this is a two sided blog and what is the Book Nerd without an equal helping of Cook Nerd.
This post comes at a time when the weather can’t make up its mind and neither can my spirit. While we refuse to acknowledge the chronological end of summer, the cold brisk mornings are forcing our hand. For this meal we are combining summer favorites of grilled steak, halloumi, and asparagus with a fittingly autumnal, sweet potato hash. One caveat…our confined quarters and lack of communal grill space mean we’re forced to make some trendy cookware upgrades.
Enter the Anova Sous-vide. A savior for those with small kitchens, limited outdoor options, and a habit for cooking steak well done. If you’re willing to wait a little longer for perfectly cooked, incredibly savory meals, this appliance is a must.
Our meal starts 2.5 hours before we’d like to eat. Timing is crucial with the sous vide, as dinners can get a bit awkward if the vegetarian option is done far before the carnivores.
Prep/set the sous vide for 2 hours at 130*F. Lightly salt and pepper the steak (I chose a ~16oz NY Strip) and place it in a large, 1 gallon Zip-Loc bag. Optional: Add several thin slices of butter to each side of the steak, its definitely not necessary but adds some more flavor for other cuts of beef. Submerge the bag with the opening up to remove any air. Wait for the temperature to reach 130*, drop in your steak, and wait.
~~~~~~~1:30 Later~~~~~~~~
The sous vide is still going, but it’s time to prepare the rest of our dinner.
Chop and dice your sweet potatoes and onions. Clean your asparagus. And turn on your oven to ~425*.
The asparagus work best with several tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large pyrex dish. Once the oven is up to temperature, pop them in and let them go to work.
~~~~~~~10 minutes later~~~~~
Take your halloumi and stuff it with a tablespoon of your pesto sauce. Place this on an oiled cast iron skillet and throw it in the oven as well. This cheese takes a while to heat up and 20-25 minutes in the oven seems to do the trick.
~~~~~~~5 minutes later~~~~~~
Heat up some oil in a medium skillet and throw in your sweet potatoes and onions. Let them brown and simmer before adding chopped nuts of your choice, salt, pepper, and a dash of cinnamon. Continue to flip to prevent the “browning” from turning into “blackening”.
~~~~~~~10 minutes later
Everything is almost coming together. Preheat a stovetop grill (or use the same iron skillet with the halloumi) in preparation for finishing the steak. We want this bad boy to be hot so keep the flame on high. As your timer goes off, remove the steak and throw it on the grill pan to quickly brown and sear both sides. I may have not let mine sit long enough, but I would go for 3-4 minutes.
While this is searing, we can remove the other items from the oven and stovetop and begin plating our meal. A generous helping of each makes it to the plate, and last but not least the halloumi from the skillet and the steak from the grill pan. Viola!
Overall, I have to say this wasn’t my best combination. The steaks were on sale and again, the rest were leftovers from our staple purchases left in the fridge. The sous vide steak however? To die for. It is truly an amazing way to get a perfect steak every time, no questions asked. Ultimately…3/5, but that ones on me for cohesiveness and flavors.
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