Sundays are usually relaxing days for us. After church we chatted with our friends then headed home so I could start working on the highlight of the day: lunch. We decided to have top sirloin steaks prepared by the sous vide method. Briefly, you heat the steak in a sealed plastic bag with the air removed. You set the water temperature at the desired final internal temperature (134F, medium rare) and let it go until heated through. about 1 1/2 hours works just fine.

The final step is searing the steak in a very hot pan. When the steak emerges from the water bath it is an ugly grey in color. The searing makes it look great as well as letting the Maillard reaction do its thing and create lots of flavor. When the sear is done, you have a frying pan full of delicious flavor bursts from which I make a bourbon reduction sauce which is outstanding. As part of that procedure, you introduce a half cup of bourbon (having tasted it in sufficient quantity to assure quality) and light the thing on fire. Hence, today's photo. The steak was great. I made some grilled asparagus and pureed cauliflower. Life is good.