Chef John Placko’s 48-hour Sous Vide Beef Bavette with Parsley Gel Mash, Seared Asparagus and Spicy Crisp Onion Strings
When Chef John Placko agreed to send in a recipe for Chefs #LoveCDNbeef I was eager to see what fun new food science techniques he would have for me to try in his 48-hour Bavette. He didn’t disappoint with this beef dish with modernist sides that is wonderful to eat and fun to make without being labour-intensive.
I got to do some sous vide (long-slow boil-in-a-bag), gelification (changing liquid into solid, bouncy jiggly solids), as well as doing some mashing (great for getting frustration out) and deep-frying (just damned tasty).
Of course, when I initially read the recipe and saw 48-hour sous vide I couldn’t stop laughing imagining how exactly I was going to do that without a sous vide machine that keeps your temperature perfectly controlled. I wrote John back immediately, after I stopped laughing, and asked if I could add a new first step to the recipe: “1. borrow a sous vide machine”.
Luckily John had an extra Sous Vide Supreme, a home sous vide machine, for me to borrow and the kind folks at Nella Cucina coordinated a hand-off.
The whole experience had an edge of a 007 adventure in high tech cooking gear. Especially when I had to head back into get my meat sealed.
This was my first experience doing sous vide at home. As I mentioned before, sous vide is essentially a high class boil-in-the-bag. (pronounced – Sue Veed) But you don’t really boil it. You bring the water to a controlled temperature, add the vacuumed-sealed bag of meat (doesn’t have to be meat, eggs are great this way too and don’t need the bag) and keep it there. The entire piece of meat will slowly be cooked to the exact temperature you want. It makes for an incredibly tender piece of meat and can create perfectly cooked steaks through-out.
When I started tweeting about a 48-hour sous vide I immediately got comments raising concerns about the flavour of plastic and the risk of cooking in plastic. I’ve had sous vide meat before with no flavour issues, but I was a little concerned about the quality of vacuum seal bag I was using. I asked John if he could address this and responded with:
I had concerns about the plastic we were using so again the folks at Nella Cucina came to my rescue. They’ve got good food grade sous vide bags available.
I was also excited about making a parsley gel. This wasn’t all that new to me since I remember using agar agar in high school biology classes and love the idea that I get to make food for me with it finally. The parsley gel is incorporated into the mashed potatoes for a really interesting side.
And the onion straws have become a regular treat around here.
All together the dish is fantastic. Something I’d be happy to serve guests or just invest some time in for a nice meal for us.
Okay, enough talking, there’s a 48-hour sous vide beef bavette to get going.
A couple of quick notes before you get into the recipe:
- This recipe take patience and the right tools.
- Because of timing I had to throw our steak in the freezer before I got it vacuum sealed with the marinate. Make sure it is completely thawed before starting the sous vide process.
- Make extra. This dish is tasty and you will want extras
- I would season the steak before grilling it. I found ours needed a bit more salt than the marinate gave it.
- I didn’t strain my parsley juice. It made for weird fibrous gel. It still worked, but it was weird. Make sure you strain yours.
48-hour Sous Vide Beef Bavette
Ingredients
- 450 gr bavette
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1/4 tsp back pepper
Instructions
- Mix together the marinade ingredients (everything but the beef), brush all over the beef and vacuum seal.
- Cook in a sous vide water bath at 55 degrees C for 48 hours.
- Drain liquid from the bag and strain through a fine strainer and keep for plating.
- Take the beef bavette and lightly oil the beef.
- Now sear on a hot BBQ grill on both sides.
- Slice thinly for plating.
Notes
John’s beef came from Black Angus meats. AAA Angus, Ontario.
(And since he mentioned it, mine came from West Gray Farms via Sanagan’s.)
Parsley Mashed Potatoes
This modernist take on the traditional parsleyed potatoes is so much fun. I love finding regular shapes in my mash, so try your best when making the Parsley Gel to dice it consistently. Sounds a little fussy, but it isn't all that hard and it really does enhance the experience for those of us who are math-minded, look for patterns or are simply mildly OCD.
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes (450 gr) – peeled, washed and diced.
- 1/4 sour cream
- 1/4 cup of potato water - the water the potatoes were cooked in.
- 1/8-1/4 cup of parsley gel cubes - see recipe for Parsley Gel Dice
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook potatoes in salted water and place them through a ricer to obtain a smooth mash.
- Fold in 1/4 cup of potato water and 1/4 cup of sour cream.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Fold in small dice of parsley gel (recipe below).
Parsley Gel Dice
This is a fun way to add parsley to a dish, especially something like the Parsley Mash for Chef John Placko's 48-Hour Sous Vide Beef Bavette. But, remember to strain your parsley juice.
Ingredients
Parsley Juice
- ½ Bunch parsley
- 100 mL Water
- 2g Salt
Parsley Gel
- 100 mL Parsley juice
- 2g Agar
- 100 mL water or beef stock
Instructions
Parsley Juice:
- Purée parsley with water and salt.
- Strain to make 100 mL parsley juice.
Parsley Gel Sheet
- Add agar to water in a small pot.
- Bring to the boil while stirring with a whisk.
- Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add parsley juice, stir to mix well.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a small tray (6 x 9 inch).
- Leave at room temperature as it will set within 5-10 minutes.
Parsley Gel Dice
- Remove parsley gel sheet from pan
- Cut in thin strips, approximately the same width as the sheet is tall
- Cut strips into cubes, appropriately the same length as the strip is wide and tall.
Notes
I can't emphasize this enough, strain your parsley juice before making the gel. It's fine if you don't. It's spectacular if you do.
Another "makes it even better" note, when you cut the sheet of parsley gel, try and get evenly sized cubes. It makes for a much more entertaining experience.
Spicy Crispy Onion Straws
These spicy onion straws have become a regular treat around here. Make extra.
They are so tasty and you will want extras, or fight over what you have.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion – sliced finely
- 3 T buttermilk
- 1 T Franks red hot sauce
Instructions
- Mix onions with buttermilk and hot sauce. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes.
- Drain off liquid and toss the onion strings into seasoned flour and deep fry for 1 minute until crispy and golden brown.
- Place onto paper towel to take away excess oil.
- Serve immediately after drained.
Notes
On the off chance these don't all get devoured before you even finish plating, extras are wildly versatile. You can use them to add extra flavour and crunch to sandwiches or burgers. Top casseroles with these onion straws instead of commercial fried onions, and they are great as garnish for stews and curries.
Grilled Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus
Instructions
- Wash asparagus and cut or snap off the tough part of the stalk.
- Toss in olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper.
- Grill on open grill, direct method on medium heat, until seared and knife tip goes into the stalk easily.
Plating the dish.
Place down a big scoop of parsley gel mash. Top with asparagus, slices of sous vide beef bavette and top with crispy spiced onion strings.
Pour strained cooking liquid from the beef around the mash.
Big thanks to John and Nella Cucina for making it possible for us to make this recipe.
Learn More About Chef John Placko
Note: this post is part of my Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador series. For more information on my relationship with Canada Beef Inc read about my Foodie Adventure: I’m a Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador. #LoveCdnBeefand my disclosure statement
this dish was amazing.
i particularly LOVED the crispy onion strings!
i’m scheming all kinds of dishes they will work with… and legitimate reasons to request she make more.
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