… this will be the fourth of my sous vide supreme trial posts and to be perfectly honest it is also only the fourth time i’ve used the machine. Whilst the results are without doubt faultless I still find the whole process a little alien, slightly faffy and dare I say it ‘anti-cooking’, I simply don’t see the point of it. I’m sure if I ate more meat and I wanted to serve perfect steaks then yes, I would use it but to keep it out all the time is too much and I much prefer the hands-on approach to the cooking i’ve always done… i’m sorry but 6 hours to cook a steak is a pain in the arse, no matter how good the results…
… saying all this, the kangaroo fillet is breathtakingly tender and melts in the mouth like butter, so what do I know… as you can imagine i’ve never cooked kangaroo before although I have eaten an incredible carpaccio of kangaroo way back when The Viking used to run and bar and restaurant in London called Saint. We had a lovely antipodean chef called Neil who was often experimenting with pacific rim flavours and back in the 90’s was one of the forerunners of what has now become a very popular food style. The kangaroo came to me from Kezie Foods as an exotic meat whilst the blackberry vodka came to me as a christmas present from lovely Lady Ann from the village who made it herself and is made with far less exotic, local blackberries.
sous vide kangaroo with rosemary mushrooms and blackberry vodka
for the Cooking with Herbs challenge this month Karen from Lavender and Lovage has given us Rosemary as the key herb… when I think of rosemary I automatically think of mushrooms, I just think they were made to be cooked together, not only do they compliment each other beautifully on a plate but the incredible aroma of mushrooms sauteing in butter with the grassy fragrance of rosemary is simply stunning… if I could bottle it and sell it, I would.
serves 2:
1 x 225g kangaroo fillet
2 tablespoons blackberry vodka (any berry vodka would work – or sloe gin)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
200g chestnut mushrooms or small brown mushrooms – thickly sliced
2 springs of rosemary
butter and olive oil
salt and pepper
pre-heat the sous vide to 55C
place the kangaroo fillet into a vacuum seal bag along with the vodka olive oil and seasoning and seal. once the sous vide is up to heat place the kangaroo into the sous vide and set the time for 6 hours
once your meat is ready, heat a large griddle pan or frying pan and melt some olive oil and butter
throw in the mushrooms and rosemary and gently saute for 10 mins, turning regularly, then season well with salt and pepper and once soft and starting to brown scoop out and set aside
increase the heat on the pan and once very hot cut the kangaroo out of the vacuum bag and tip the contents into the pan. seal on both sides for roughly 3 mins then set aside on a cutting board for a few minutes whilst you plate up
eat and of course , enjoy!
Oh you have gone all Aussie on me. Have not cooked kangaroo myself but ate it about 10 years ago on holiday at Ayers Rock and was put off as it was very touch and quite gamey. this machine obviously does the job perfectly. This looks gorgeous and that blackberry vodka and mushrooms won me over.
I have never had kangaroo before.. but served like this to me and I'm sure I would devour it!!!
I have had roo once, but cannot remember what it tasted like! This looks wonderful though, like a fabulous fillet steak and perfectly cooked……a FAB entry into cooking with herbs too, thanks! Karen xx
Skippy!!!!!! Yum! Love the idea of the blackberry vodka too….. nice touch!
Amazing!
http://duecuoriinpadella.blogspot.it/
I imagine the sous vide method is particularly appropriate for kangaroo meat, which I picture being rather tough. It would have to be good to be worth the long wait.
I've had roo, I thought it was like venison! Never used a sous vide but with space at a premium I'm tempted to try the DIY method pimping the slow cooker to achieve same result – I must google exactly what you do again. This recipe does sound awfully tasty even if it took long time.
Well that just looks plain yummy. Of course, kangaroo is far from exotic at this end of the world where you can but it in the supermarket including the delightfully named 'Kanaga Banga'. It is notoriously difficult to cook as it's so lean and people go a silly when they see it served rare. Smart us of the sous vide. I've never seen or heard of anyone here talk about cooking it that way. Talk about coals to Newcastle. You clever clogs! xx
I ate kangaroo a few times back in the eighties and I seem to remember enjoying it except when it was overcooked (by someone else and not me, of course). Sous vide sounds a fine way to cook it. I've really enjoyed eating some sous vide cooked meats over the years but I can't help thinking that I'm glad that someone else went to the trouble of cooking them for me.
6 hours is FAR too long for Kangaroo cooked in Sous Vide. As Kangaroo is super-lean (actually the leanest meat available), there is VERY little connective tissue; collagen and muscle fibre to denature (break down). The ONLY advantage to long-cooking meats Sous Vide is to effect this denature and to tenderise tough meats. Cooking Kangaroo over 6 hours will NOT benefit the Kangaroo at all – in fact, it will have the opposite effect.
Unfortunately, a lot of people – when they first get into Sous Vide, do not understand the balancing act between temperature/time/thickness.
I cook Kangaroo loin fillets Sous Vide very regularly and never cook them anything longer than 1 hour. They are always truly spectacular! Cooking for 6 hours – even in the highly controlled environment of Sous Vide, will break the (little) collagen there is, and will, actually make the meat tougher and dryer than it could be. Even though it may be great compared to what you are used to; try it for only 1 hour and it'll blow your mind!!
Thanks for the rant Scott. I will try it again but I must say it really tasted incredibly tender. I thought the point if the sous vide was that it suspends the cooking process and doesn't ruin the meat. Anyway, trial and error is the way we learn.
Agree with everything Scott said. 1.30 would be max (perhaps try 58C?). Roo is really excellent. You might need the 6 hrs for the tougher cuts ( i.e tail), but fillet is very tender and VERY lean. Like the idea of the berry vodka. I made some a year or so ago and was wondering what to do with it!