This dish is inspired by David Bouley's technique of baking a rack of lamb nestled in aromatics in a glass dish. Instead of using a hot oven and a thermocouple we wanted to take a gentler approach. First we seared these lamb shoulder chops and then nestled them into a glass baking dish. We poured Guinness dashi around the chops and then put the lid on. We put the chops in our CVap, set at 57°C and cooked them for 24 hours. Then we cooled them down quickly in our Irinox blast chiller. Later we were able to re-therm them in their cooking liquid. The finished chops were tender and juicy, intensely permeated with the flavor of the dashi. The low temperature cooking in the CVap, in conjunction with the lidded glass baking dish, allowed us to create a micro-environment for the lamb. The use of the blast chiller gave us the ability to quickly cool the meat, without the need for an ice bath, which preserved the aromas and flavors. What we learned from this is the use of technology and equipment can give us the ability to refine and improve the flavor in our food. While we realize that this type of equipment is not accessible to everyone, the next step is figuring out how to make the technique accessible in more kitchens simply because it works so well.
Years Past
