Chef’s Choice is a brand that I personally know and love. When I was the manager of the Sur La Table Cooking School at Pentagon Row I became very familiar with this brand. From knife sharpeners to kettles to waffle makers, Chef’s Choice is a name you can trust. It is also the name I trust when it comes to purchasing a knife sharpener for your home or professional kitchen.

In addition to consumer based knife sharpeners, Chef’s choice also makes commercial grade shaprpeners for those kitchens that get more use of their knives than the regular home cook. This year Chef’s choice celebrates their 25th Anniversary. It was back in 1985 that they introduced their first electric sharpener. Today at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, they are introducing their new Hybrid™ sharpener.

The launch of the new Hybrid™ line also reinforces Chef’sChoice’s leadership role in the sharpener market as the only manufacturer to provide advance technology knife sharpeners in all three sharpener categories which include: professional, fully electric powered sharpeners; the Hybrid™ category, featuring sharpeners combining electric powered and manual sharpening; and manual sharpeners which include a variety of hand held units ranging from two stage guided Diamond Hone® sharpeners to diamond coated sharpening stones.

Chef’sChoice’s new Hybrid™220 provides razor sharp edges with advanced Hybrid™ technology, which effectively combines electric and manual sharpening. Featuring two stages, an electric powered stage for sharpening and a manual stage for honing, the Hybrid™220 couples its two-stages with precise bevel angle control to provide a super sharp, arch-shaped edge that is stronger and more durable than conventional “V” shaped or hollow ground edges.

The Hybrid™220 is fast and easy to use, no guesswork. Safe for all quality knives it is compact and can be stored in a drawer or kept on a countertop. Assembled in the USA, it will be available from leading department, cutlery, hardware, specialty and cookware stores, mail-order catalogs and online retailers at a suggested retail price of $39.99. Shipments began this March 2010. For further information, visit www.chefschoice.com.

Polder’s Buzz & Beep Digital Timer uses vibration and beep alerts to notify you when a timed task is complete.  You can mute the sound or be alerted by vibration only. The timer’s large LCD reads in hours, minutes and seconds, and has a countdown/count-up function with a 100-hour capacity and 30-second alarm.

Additionally, the Buzz & Beep’s memory function instantly recalls its last setting.  The timer comes complete with a belt clip, stand arm and batteries.

List price $14.99

The first test was to cook some salmon, sous vide. For those unfamiliar to sous vide cooking, it’s all the rage right now on cooking shows like Top Chef and Iron Chef America. Basically it is cooking vacuum sealed food in low temperatures over a long period of time. A crock pot you say? No, not really. The vacuum sealed bag is immersed in temperature controlled water. This is the key. Sous vide cooking has also been brought to the forefront by such chefs as Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz and Wiley Drufresne.

My first experiment was with salmon. In a vacuum sealable bag (the ones provided to me were from Reynolds). It’s basically in the form of a ziplock bag. A device pulls all the air out of the bag. In the bag I had the salmon, lite soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, a dash of sesame oil, a sliver of ginger, one scallion and  some salt and pepper. I cooked the filet for 45 minutes at 140 degrees. When I took it out, the color looked odd to me. With sous vide cooking there are no sear marks or browning. Usually with meat, after cooking sous vide, you would brown it quickly to achieve the look. Once I opened the bag, it smelled wonderful. Once I got the salmon on the plate, i broke into with with a fork. It was one of the most tender, moist, succulent pieces of salmon I have ever cooked or have eaten. The flavor really spread out over the entire piece of salmon, not just where the ingredients were. I was expecting that the place where the ginger was would be overwhelmingly ginger, it was not.

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fIntrigued, I wanted to do another test. Cook a similar piece of salmon but leave it in there for 2x longer than its supposed to be cooked for. Another thing with sous vide cooking is that you cannot overcook the food. At least, that’s what I understand. Because the water temp is low, there is no way the food could overcook. More on that theory later. I did the same as before but instead of 45 minutes I left it in the water for 2 1/2 hours. My expecation would be that it would be drier and overcooked. I opened the bag and took the salmon piece out and it was just a moist and flavorful as the first piece. Here I was at just past midnight and eating my salmon in the quasi-darkness of my dining room in awe of what I was eating.

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So what’s next…well I wanted to try some eggs. My first attempt was to cook an egg, in the shell. According to the instructions, 45 minutes. What I failed to check was the temperature. The machine was set for 138 degrees. Here’s the deal. From a scientific point of view, egg whites won’t coagulate at 138. No matter how long you leave it in the 138 degree water, it will never firm up. 45 minutes later I broke open the egg only to find a runny, non coagulated mess. The temperature was too low. so I took the eggs (I actually had two of them) and put them in a vacuum bag. Threw in some salt and pepper and a smidge of butter. Sealed the bag up and put in the sous vide supreme and left for work. Yes, I left for work.

Almost 9.5 hours later, the egg in the pouch was still runny and the whites never quite come together. Amazing! It was in the 138 degree water for over 9 hours and the egg was still uncooked. Eggs need to be at least at 142 degrees in order for the whites to coagulate. Yes, even a few degrees can make a huge difference.

Looking at the manual, they call for 147 degrees for 45 minutes. So, I repeated the experiment with two eggs. 45 minutes later, I took them out and the eggs did coagulate. I sprinkled some salt and pepper on top and what I ate was the fluffiest egg. I love soft-boiled eggs and they don’t compare to what I was eating. The egg whites alone were like this airly custard. Pushing my spoon thru the yolks produced an image of this dark, rich orange contrasting against the white. It was so soft, so smooth – i was in heaven again.

My next part of the experiment was to do a meat. I opted for boneless porkchops. The chops went into the vacuum bag with a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Note the instructions say that I don’t need a lot of salt and pepper. We’re talking a smidge above a pinch here – and not on both side, just the side visible to me from the top of the bag. The porkchops go into the Sous Vide Supreme for a minimum of 4 hours at 141 degrees.

So about 3.5 hours later, I take two more fresh porkchops, season them on both sides with salt and pepper and pan fry them in canola and a pat of butter (for fairness of the other having some butter) and cook them for about 4 – 5 minutes per side over med-high heat. They look real good.

At the four hour mark, I take the sous vide porkchops out. What I see thru the bag looks like a mess.

I take them out of the bag (there were 3 of them) and pat them dry. Why? Cuz I”m going to sear the outside of it for about a minute to give it some color. The color right of of the bag is a bit “greyish”.

Now, on the plate you have the sous vide porkchop on the left and the pan fried on the right.

Next I sliced into each chop on a diagonal. The sous vide chop seems very easy to cut thru. The color is even in the inside. The pan fried chop is a bit harder to cut thru. In addition, I see some pinkness isn the middle. Nothing to worry about, its a very light pink – the scare of trichinosis is no longer a factor in today’s pork products. The fact that the pan fried chop is still pink means I didn’t cook it long enough.

Now the real test. Taste and texture. The sous vide chop was indeed tender, but most importantly, there was flavor in the meat itself. It could have used a “tad” bit more salt, but the seasoning was throughout the meat.

My pan-seared chop was a bit tough to bite through, but not by much. What about the seasoning? Well if you remember, I did season the chop on both side prior to cooking. While it was very tasty on the outside, the main portion of the mean seemed less so.

So, over all, was it worth the 4 hour wait? Was the sous vide chop better than the pan-seared one? I think the sous vide chop won by the fact that it was cooked thru and thru and the seasoning was inside the meat itself. It did have a better texture than the pan-seared chop I have to say.

If I had more time, I would have liked to have done a pork chop but leave it in there overnight and see if the texture would still  be the same. According to all I have read about sous vide cooking, the result should be the same if at the minimum of 4 hours of cooking or if it was in there for 6-7 hours. I guess my egg test from earlier also helped make that statement true.

Will I go out and buy a Sous Vide Supreme? I’d like to. Maybe Santa will get me one for the Holidays. If I get a bonus at work I just might put some of it towards one, although I am looking to expand my small collection of All-Clad cookware as well.

Please take the time to visit Sous Vide Supreme’s website and check out some of the testimonials. It certainly does bring the ability to cook sous vide home. It is small, has accurate temperature control, seems well made and solid.

A sidenote: I would have liked to have tried this system with a better vacuum system. The test unit came with the Reynolds vacuum system and there was something about it that didn’t seem as thorough as say a FoodSaver or an Oliso Frisper. These units use thicker plastic and it seems that the plastic forms around the food better. With the FoodSaver you only use what you need. The Reynolds solution uses a battery powered pump. It did the job, but I feel that the seasonings may be have better if there was a true vacuum.

UPDATE: You can now purchase the SousVide Supreme at Sur La Table! That’s right and right now it’s $50.00 off for a total price of $449.00

I have to say that this was one of the moistest, succulent pieces of salmon I have ever had by my own hand. Sous vide you ask? Yes sous vide. More on Sous Vide in the next post. I cooked this piece of salmon for 45 minutes at 140 degrees in a water bath – the salmon was in a vacuum sealed bag with some Asian flavors. I used a new machine made for the home cook, the Sous Vide Supreme by Eades Appliance Technology.

I didn’t mesure but my marinade basically was

1 Very Thin 1.5″ coin of Ginger
1 scallion including the white part
2 Tbls Lite Soy Sauce
1 Tsp Rice Vinegar
Dash of Sesame Oil

I placed the salmon in a Reynolds vacuum seal bag and then placed it in the temperature controlled water bath of 140 degrees. 45 minutes later I had one of the best pieces of salmon I have ever cooked. I had it with a side of Trader Joe’s Brown rice.

If you are a regular viewer of Top Chef, Top Chef Master or Iron Chef America, you’ve seen sous vide cooking.  A water-based cooking method known for its ability to easily maximize a food’s flavor, nutrition and appearance, the sous vide cooking technique has previously been limited to upscale restaurants and institutional kitchens due to high equipment costs. Available now for pre-order at www.sousvidesupreme.com, the new SousVide Supreme is an affordable countertop appliance – and the first of its kind – that now provides the everyday cook with easy access to this beneficial culinary style.

I personally have not had any food that was prepared sous vide and perhaps this is now the time to explore this not so new cooking technique. Not so new I say? That’s right. The first sous vide machine was created in the mid 1970s. It involved vacuumed-packing foods in pouches then submerging the pouch in a low-temberature water bath (typically 120-190 degrees maintaining a consistent temperature for the entire cooking process. Cooking times are generally longer than a traditional oven but without the risk of overcooking the food.

From what I can tell from seeing it on TV, it produces a tender, moist, flavorful food cooked to perfection, through and through. One example that EAT promotes is instead of a medium rare steak being served with a charred exterior followed by a layer of well-done meat before you taste the tender middle, with sous vide it will be a consistent, juicy medium-rare from edge to edge.

“The taste and texture you get from cooking sous vide is simply spectacular,” said famed UK chef Heston Blumenthal, who helped test and develop the SousVide Supreme in conjunction with EAT. “By vacuum-sealing the food and maintaining low temperatures, you lock in healthy nutrients, flavor and moisture that is lost with other cooking methods. It’s almost impossible to go wrong, and it’s a fun method to experiment with, so it’s no surprise sous vide is emerging as the next big trend among adventurous at-home cooks.”

Dr. Mary Dan Eades, physician, respected nutritional expert and EAT co-founder. “The SousVide Supreme is an affordable, all-in-one appliance that automatically regulates the temperature to within one degree Fahrenheit – which is key to successful sous vide cooking – delivering the same precision as commercial set-ups that can easily cost thousands of dollars.”

The SousVide Supreme is similar in size to a bread maker, and meals are cooked in a few simple steps:

• Season: add herbs, butters, or broths to the food – because flavors are intensified, simple seasoning creates dramatically infused flavors
• Seal: using a common kitchen vacuum sealer or hand pump, seal the food in a food-grade plastic pouch suitable for cooking
• Simmer: submerge the pouch in the SousVide Supreme’s 11.2-liter water chamber that has been brought to the desired temperature, and cook for the appropriate time
• Sear: an optional step, some meats are best when seared for one or two minutes using a pan, grill, broiler or heat torch – the searing adds a familiar texture and appearance to the outside, while still keeping the inside perfectly cooked

The SousVide Supreme retails for $449 at www.sousvidesupreme.com, and ships with gourmet seasonings, recipes and an instructional DVD. The product begins shipping mid-November, and advance orders placed between now and November 13, 2009 will receive a $50 discount for a net total of $399!

On a related subject, there have been several cookbook authors who have released cookbooks on sous vide cooking. One of the more notable titles is Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide by Thomas Keller. Excerpt from his book:

Known as America’s most respected chef, Keller explains why this foolproof technique, which involves cooking at precise temperatures below simmering, yields results that other culinary methods cannot. For the first time, one can achieve short ribs that are meltingly tender even when cooked medium rare. Fish, which has a small window of doneness, is easier to finesse, and shellfish stays succulent no matter how long it’s been on the stove. Fruit and vegetables benefit, too, retaining color and flavor while undergoing remarkable transformations in texture.

Researchers from the University of Manitoba report that whole yellow pea flour can be used as an ingredient to produce low-glycemic foods that may help those with diabetes, according to a new study from the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists.

With incidences of diabetes increasing, ways to manage glycemic responses, or changes in blood sugar levels after eating, are being investigated. Whole yellow pea flour is readily available and inexpensive, which makes it an attractive functional ingredient. Researchers studied 19 healthy men and women, observing their glucose responses before and after eating food products

• Researchers created banana bread, biscotti, and pasta using whole yellow pea flour.
• Each food was prepared using either 100 percent whole yellow pea flour or whole wheat flour as its primary ingredient;
• Boiled yellow peas and white bread were used as positive and negative controls;
• Whole yellow pea flour banana bread and biscotti reduced glycemic responses more than whole wheat bread;
• Whole yellow pea flour biscotti reduced glycemic responses more than whole wheat flour biscotti.

“Whole yellow pea flour can be used as a functional ingredient to produce low-glycemic foods. These findings may be used as a tool for health care practitioners to assist patients in cooking low-glycemic foods that help and prevent and manage type 2 diabetes,” says lead researcher Christopher Marinangeli, MSc RD.

Personally, not sure if all the technology in the machine is worth it just to dispense a $1.00 bottle of Coca-Cola – but you know me, anything tech related and I’m there. Here is a clip from CNET’s Brian Tong who got to interact with one of these machines at this years CES show.

Another vending machine that the Cola giant has released is a different kind of dispenser. This is a new dispenser meant to replace the soda fountain at your local fast food joint. So why is that news? This new dispensing machine uses RFID technology (Radio Frequency ID) in the machine itself and changes the way the syrup is distributed to restaurants.

For years, soda fountain technology really hasn’t changed. Restaurateurs purchase large bags of syrup that is then connected to a water line that dispenses the carbonated drink of your choice with the press of your cup against the trigger.  This new machine uses cartridges, much like your inkjet printer, that has an RFID chip in it so that it can collect data on usage and help restaurants get a better handle on their inventory.  The new machine also allows for a myriad of drink combinations to be made.

We’ve all done it. We got our cup, filled it with ice and got a little bit of that, then a little bit of this and we had our signature drink. Well, Coca-Cola has pre-programmed over 28,000 drink combinations with more to come. The cartridges allow for a much larger inventory to be carried than the traditional bags of syrup. Currently the machine holds up to 30 different cartridges that will mix up about 100 drink combinations for you.

The RFID technology gives retailers access to data they couldn’t get before. For example, data can be collected during special events at the restaurant and track exactly what consumers were drinking. The new dispenser allows for new drink concepts to be tested faster in the field and collect data on it. In the unlikely event a cartridge needs to be recalled, the system can be accessed remotely via the network and that cartridge can be disabled.

The technology behind the door is a combined effort with Verizon’s wireless network and Coke’s Data Warehousing systems in Atlanta, GA. They are rolling out these machines in test environments here in Orange County, Atlanta and Salt Lake City.

Have you seen one of these machines and if so, what do you think about it? Let me know.

John S. White, Ph.D president of White Technical Research says, “Contrary to its name, high fructose corn sysrup is essentially a corn sugar.” James M. Rippe, M.D. and cardiologist then adds, “By every parameter yet measured in human beings, high fructose corn syrup and sugar are identical. This is not surprising since high fructose corn syrup and sugar are metabolized the same by the body, have the same level of sweetness and the same number of calories per gram.”

The American Medical Association has helped to put to rest a common misunderstanding that there is a connection between high fructose corn syrup and obesity. The AMA then states that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity any more than other caloric sweeteners.

“This is a marketing issue, not a metabolic issue,” says David Klureld, Ph.D the national program leader for human nutrition in the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and the editor of the June 2009 report in the Journal of Nutrition Supplement, “The State of the Science on Dietary Sweeteners Containing Fructose” Klurfeld adds, “The real issue is not high fructose corn syrup. It’s that we’ve forgotten what a real serving size is. We have to eat less of everything.”

For more information on this, visit http://www.sweetsurprise.com.

iPhone users can access the latest cocktail recipes from this year’s Grand Marnier and NAVAN® Mixology Summit, a think tank for the country’s top 100 mixologists.

Based on the collective talent of Steve Olson of Wine Geek and the top 100 mixologists at the Grand Marnier and NAVAN Mixology Summit. The GM COCKTAILS App showcases the best of mixology today. iPhone or iPod Touch users can download hundreds of cocktail recipes – at no cost – complete with step-by-step guidelines on techniques and equipment.

The app hosts images and a vast dictionary of terms and ingredients. Planning a trip to a new city or researching the best cocktail bars in your area? The iPhone Application allows you to track and locate the featured mixologists – users can make their cocktails at home and read up on their profiles – and plans are underway to add GPS functionality to map the mixologist closest to you.

I was told that my order (placed April 10) would ship a few days ahead of Launch day so that we might participate in Launch Day activities by photographing and video taping our experience with LeWhif.

Well, LeWhif sent me an email today (not a few days ago, today – World Launch Day) saying my order is delayed due to demands on manufacturing. That’s really too bad. Hope your Launch Day was a success.

As soon as our order arrives, we’ll make sure to let you know how this chocolate wonder is with our taste testers standing by.

IAC announced today the acquisition of Seattle-based Urbanspoon. Urbanspoon is a leading online local restaurant guide that aggregates restaurant reviews from across the web, from newspapers and professional food critics to bloggers and diners. In addition, Urbanspoon is one of the iPhone’s leading apps with its shake-and-find-a-restaurant interface.

This blog, foodieindisguise.com, has been an active participant on Urbanspoon since we started last October.

IAC manages more than 35 leading and diversified Internet businesses across 40 countries. IAC owns brands such as Ask.com, Citysearch, Evite, iWon, Zwinky, Match.com, Chemisry.com, ShoeBuy.com and gifts.com.

Urbanspoon will remain in Seattle and will report to Jay Herratti who manages IAC brands like Citysearch, Evite and InsiderPages.

“With a dedicated and comprehensive focus on restaurants, Urbanspoon is a pioneer in the online and mobile space with a truly unique, innovative and consumer-friendly product,” said Jay Herratti, CEO of Citysearch. “Aggregating content from across the web and blending it with distinctive features including a polling system to rank restaurants, Urbanspoon is expanding the realm of what’s possible for consumers when it comes to finding local content on the web.”

This aquisition will expand Urbanspoon’s reach and will help develop new products while retaining their brand. Ethan Lowry, co-founder of Urbansoon said “IAC is a leader in the local space and we are excited to be a part of its family.”

When I first saw this on the net I kept scratching my head. Do I really need a bundt mold that has varying heights and slice marks to determine how big a piece to give to someone? The entire marketing pitch is about the delimna of how big a slice to give Uncle Bob versus how small a slice for Aunt Margaret.

Come on really.

If my guests want a smaller slice, then cut a smaller slice! If I want a gigantor piece (I have been known to devour whole sections of any cake) I’ll just slice the extraneous smaller pieces away and save the large piece for me. Haha. No seriously.

The whole varying height thing bothers me even more. I keep asking myself WHY? It’s all about volume – just change where you place the knife!

Sure from a novelty point it might look interesting on a table and it becomes a curiosity piece at parties. But I don’t get it.

I don’t need to spend $32 to determine how big a slice I need to cut for my guests. Maybe you do?

Photo credits: Charles & Marie