HAAA-le-LU-jah! (sing it!)

so i tried my szechuan chicken for lunch today and IT WAS PERFECT! Perfect, people, perfect, i tell you! wheee! yay! woot woot!

the chicken was tender and juicy but cooked all the way through, and the veggies also came out perfectly. i could just pee, i'm so happy. this particular batch of veggies i threw in the bag raw with about a tablespoon of water, and chucked in the freezer. this tells us one vital thing: fresh veggies do just fine without any prep at all, basically. they steam themselves in the microwave. today also marks the last time i ever pay extra for microwave-in-the-bag veggies. i don't want to chop them or anything, but no more paying extra for "steamfresh" or that kind of malarky.

ooooh, feels empowering, doesn't it? :)

so - basic formula to replicate any bistro poultry cutlet-type entree is:

4 oz. chicken or turkey breast
1 or 2 tbl of some type of sauce
4-6 oz. veggies
3 oz. starch (rice, quinoa) or starchy veggie (corn, beans) - optional (takes the calories from the 250-280 range to the 330-370 range, depending on type)

sous vide the protein, cook and bag the starch (optinoal), bag the veggies and put everything in the freezer. we know that 146 degrees F for 90 minutes works - will experiment with that to see if we can take it down a little. will also work on finding the most freezable, low-sodium sauces. you could also easily add seasonings or herbs to the veggies. one word of caution from the sous vide threads at eGullet.com: use garlic sparingly, because the flavor gets intensified to the point where it's not pleasant. actually, a second word of caution: alcohol. if you use beer or wine in your sauce or seasoning, you'll need to cook off the alcohol before bagging it because it also does strange things during the sous vide process.

this formula appears to hit the macronutrient ratios on the head, too. (can i get another woot woot?)

done. CHECK. now, it's on to making it easier and less time-consuming, and figuring out the most efficient protocol for prep (e.g. is it easier/faster to do one sous vide and one crockpot meal together, two crockpot, two sous vide, or what? should i cover everything in saran wrap to making cleaning faster?) and the bigger question, will i need to invest in a better sealer?

stay tuned!