Sous Vide

• Entertain guests in more than one way with a deceptive Thanksgiving turkey cake. — Chow
• First glance at Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelsson's new restaurant. — Eater NY
• Bobby Flay could run for New York office one day. — Grub Street NY
• Safety precautions for deep-frying a turkey. — The Epi-Log
• How to jury-rig your slow cooker into a sous vide machine. — Cooking for Geeks
• Why a visit to a fish farm will make you think twice about eating seafood. — Salon Food
• A New England magazine has lifted hundreds of articles from food blogs and other sources. — Daily Dish

• Skip the sterilizing and preserve fruit by spiking it with booze instead. — New York Times
• Why you shouldn't order wines by the glass. — Wall Street Journal
• Cooking and eating on the Illinois food stamp allowance of $31 a week. — Chicago Tribune
• LA's new Food Rendezvous was inspired by the SF Underground Farmers Market. — Los Angeles Times
• Does bad table service still warrant a tip? — San Francisco Chronicle
• The case for cooking at home with cornish hens. — Boston Globe
• Sous-vide machines designed for home kitchens seem to disappoint. — Washington Post

In my time spent with Momofuku's David Chang, I've learned that there's never a dull moment with the opinionated chef. When I found out he was demoing in Aspen, I knew I'd be there.

Chang, who was a Best New Chef himself at the 2006 Classic, showed his version of vacuum cooking. "Sous vide cooking will be more popular in the next 10 to 20 years," he declared. Although he recommended a water immersion circulator for home cooks ("they didn't pay me to say this, but PolyScience is the best one out there"), he demonstrated a similar, more affordable technique that he refers to as "sandbagging" or "ghetto sous vide."

He made fun of his jury-rigged concept, but I think it was classic avant-garde David Changian. With a large vat of water, the chef used an instant-read digital thermometer to gauge the temperature at about 140ºF, or 60ºC. Then he inserted a vacuum-sealed piece of meat for about 45 minutes, until the protein was just barely, but uniformly, cooked through. For more about what the Momofuku maestro had to say, read on.

For me, one of the highlights of the Food & Wine Classic was a special lunch created by Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio and his brother Bryan. The luncheon was hosted by Williams-Sonoma in the sleek Aspen eatery N9NE Steakhouse. While it was sunny and hot outside, the cool interior of the underground restaurant was the perfect backdrop to the Voltaggio brothers' modern menu. Using products from a new line that's to be released by Williams-Sonoma this Fall, the brothers demonstrated molecular gastronomy techniques that involved sous vide machines, smoking guns, and liquid nitrogen.

Before the interested eyes of a group of select journalists, Michael turned frozen cubes of cream cheese into a melt-in-your-mouth snow and Bryan cut slices of perfectly cooked harissa lamb, fresh out of vacuum-packed plastic baggies.

To take a closer look at the amazing three-course meal, check out all of my photos after the break.

• Why Sandra Lee is not evil. — Huffington Post Food
• Have you experienced the Indian tapa known as thalis? — Good Bite
• Learn how to sous-vide a chicken breast. — Serious Eats
• Prepare a menu with recipes from Top Chef Masters. — Chow
• What's the best burger in the Bay Area?— Eater SF
• The science behind cilantro hatred. — The Epi-Log
• The joy of cooking alone. — The Atlantic
• Guy Fieri's guide to entourage management. — Ozersky TV

• Tom Colicchio is shuttering his Manhattan flagship, Craftsteak, to make way for Colicchio & Sons Tap Room. — Eater National
• Putting 35 food items to the test in the highly-anticipated Sous Vide Supreme. — Serious Eats
• New York bartenders offer their best advice for getting over that mean holiday hangover. — Grub Street
• Oh, dear: Sandra Lee is now plugging Nintendo's Wii Sports Resort games. — Eat Me Daily
• Meet coquito, a Puerto Rican holiday tipple worth trying. — Endless Simmer
• Make your New Year's so very 2010 with a speakeasy themed party. — Chow
• Could this simple tip be the centuries-old secret to stellar pasta? — The Atlantic
• Yes, you can: Craft the best pizza you've ever had at home. — The Epi-Log