It started with an immersion circulator, aka a sous vide device. Truth is, all I wanted one for was to cook a perfectly poached egg. God knows how many gadgets for poaching eggs I’ve tried, only to throw them out in a bin meant for old batteries, busted bulbs and dead cellphones. I like my poached eggs with whites firm enough so I don’t have that wet, gloopy mucous running on my plate and ruining a perfect toast, but with a yolk that oozes out in cinematic slow-motion the moment I slice a knife through. Yes, the money shot!
The sous vide device delivered, and more. Three, six, a dozen eggs poached to uniform doneness (while I Facebook in another room), check! A perfect medium-rare (sans that nasty brown edge) New York Strip, check! Hollandaise Sauce, the thought of which terrified and got me all clumsy and messy in the kitchen, check check check! Oh, of course it helps to have a whipping siphon for dispensing Hollandaise sauce that’s velvety and decadent-looking.
I guess things just escalated from there. My kitchen has turned into a playground, and me – as a friend has so aptly put it – into a culinary adolescent. A kid at play has no fear of failure; that’s the beauty of it.
Balsamic Vinegar Pearls
Beet spheres, olive oil, minced rosemary
Liquid olives, an Albert & Ferran Adria recipe, tasted for the first time at Tickets Restaurant, Barcelona.
myopenkitchen 
