Recipes
Low temperature
Prefaced by Hervé This
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Summary
Preface of Hervé This P.2
Preface of the Low-temperature oven P.4
Veal
Preparation P.5
Joint of veal with morels P.6
Joint of veal with fresh walnuts P.7
Joint of veal with prunes P.8
Beef
Preparation P.9
Roast beef in Muscadet sauce P.10
Roast beef in Cognac sauce with pink peppercorns P.11
Roast beef in pears with watercress P.12
Pork
Preparation P.13
Roast pork with sweet and sour sauce P.14
Roast pork with mild mustard P.15
Roast pork with Sauternes ans Roquefort sauce P.16
Lamb
Preparation P.17
Leg of lamb marinated in spices P.18
Leg of lamb with rosemary P.19
Leg of lamb with anchivy sauce P.20
Poultry
Preparation P.21
Chicken lyonnaise P.22
Duck with peaches P.23
Guinea fowl with mushrooms P.24
Yoghurts
Preparation P.25
Traditional recipe P.26
Raspberry frozen yoghurt P.27
Tzatziki P.28
Fish
Preparation tips P.29
Leek and caper sauce P.29
Sauce à la Basquaise P.30
Green mayonnaise P.30
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LLooww--tteemmppeerraattuurree
cooking : modern serving
tradition
Braising in the finest French culinary tradition
Take a braising pan, or even a cast-iron pot. Layer it with ham, onion rings and some bacon
followed by a large cut of beef. Cover with another layer of onions, bacon and ham. Add a
glass of eau de vie, a clove of garlic and half a bay leaf. Cover and leave to cook.
In the past, the braiser pan or the pot would be left to simmer away on ashes with more ashes
being scattered on the lid designed for that purpose. Cooking over a low heat for hours on end
would result in delightfully tender meat...if, that is, the braising was done properly.
And it really did have to be done properly for cooks dreaded the sudden flare of a flame which
would reduce all their hard work to nothing. This flaring was impossible to predict so they would
nervously watch over proceedings praying that their meal would be spared.
With modern ovens, braising has become child's play and slow-cooking over a long period is
the ideal solution for those who are too busy to cook.
This might seem paradoxical but all will become clearer below!
Using low-heat cooking to bring out creativity
Before starting to cook with our oven let us examine an important question: what temperature
do eggs cook at? At somewhere above 50 degrees no doubt, since chickens still have nestlings
and chicks in summer. And coagulation clearly begins at below 100°C since eggs are cooked
in boiling water. So what is the answer?
Well, the simplest thing to do is to place a whole egg in its shell in an oven set at 55°C and
then wait: even after two or three days the egg will still be raw. Now, repeat the experiment at
a temperature of 60°C and the result is the same.
However, at a temperature of 65°C everything changes: after one or two hours the white of the
egg sets slightly while the yolk retains its orangey colour and liquid texture. At 70°C the result is
also very interesting, but this time the yolk takes on a soft unctuous texture and the white hard-
ens a little. Then at higher temperatures the white hardens and the yolk changes from orange to
yellow. At 100°C the egg becomes hard boiled.
Moral of the story: low temperatures bring out the very best in an egg. A method in which an
egg is cooked at 65°C for 2 hours, first discovered a few years ago, is now used by top chefs
around the world and has been dubbed the 65°C egg. Anyone who has a well-regulated elec-
tric oven can use this method.
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For tender meat
The example of the egg is a fascinating one, not only because it enables us to enjoy an
interesting new gastronomical treat ("the discovery of a new dish does more for humankind
than the discovery of a star" wrote the gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin) but also
because anyone who knows how to cook an egg can also cook meat and fish to perfec-
tion, as explained below.
The interior of the meat's muscular fibres is tender to begin with and the "skin" of the fibres,
(known as the collagen) is hard. Fish contains very little collagen and the flesh is initially ten-
der, as for certain "grillable" meats, and your fingers sometimes slide inside as if into butter.
In terms of cooking, the challenge for these "grillable" meats and these fish lies in preserv-
ing the tenderness. When the flesh contains very little collagen, it is just like the egg white,
and cooking at a low temperature keeps them tender. Most importantly, the water should
never be allowed to evaporate. A temperature below 100°C is a key condition but the
meat should be lightly cooked to avoid surface evaporation of the water.
And for succulent meat
But what about tough meat which is the least expensive but often the most succulent. It may
be cheap, but it is virtually inedible unless it is properly braised over a long period.
For such meat, low-temperature cooking is the only option since the
collagen slowly dissolves in water when heated. And the flesh does not harden for the same
reason as cited previously. Finally, the cooking juice is enhanced by the addition of gela-
tine which makes the dish tastier still.
If you have a properly regulated oven capable of low-temperature
cooking of a piece of meat coated with melted butter or oil (in order to avoid hardening
and water evaporation) then you are really in for a treat. Everything which adds to the
flavour is worth remembering: seaweed to wrap fish, raw ham wrapped around meat,
rosemary, thyme, and so on. Turn up the creativity...at low temperature.
Isn't anything that takes a long time to cook surely out of the question for busy people? Far
from it: put your meat in the oven in the morning before leaving home, set the oven for low-
temperature cooking and when you get home in the evening, all you have to do is serve
it up: the well regulated oven (without flaring) will have done all the work for you. All that
remains is to sit down and tuck into a succulent joint of meat!
Hervé This
INRA physical chemist, INRA molecular gastronomy group,
Laboratory of molecular interaction chemistry (professor Jean-Marie Lehn),
Collège de France, Paris.
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De Dietrich has created an oven which is especially designed for easy cook-
ing: automatic programmes combined with food-specific cooking cycles thus
ensuring optimised cooking of meat.
A special rack is supplied for these programmes, enabling the meat to be
raised in the oven so that the warm air can circulate freely without having to
turn the meat.
Manage your time as you wish: the oven's programming allows you to start
cooking when you want so that the meat is ready as the meal begins. If the
meal time is postponed then the "keep hot" function starts automatically at the
end of the cooking phase, thus ensuring that the meat remains stable beyond
the programmed time.
The meat is both tender and evenly cooked: no overcooked first cut or dif-
ferent levels of cooking. Similarly, less juice is lost through evaporation than
with traditional cooking and the weight loss is therefore lower.
The meat cooks slowly and there is no spattering onto the oven walls.
Yoghurt can also be prepared at low temperature. De Dietrich has come up
with a special programme just for preparing yoghurts. Now traditional and
natural yoghurts can be prepared using time-honoured methods.
The De Dietrich low temperature oven
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Préparation
- Choose an appropriately sized joint of meat: allow 120 g to 150 g per
person.
- For perfect cooking, avoid joints of meat weighing under 1 kg.
- The meat can be seared beforehand in a preheated pan to enhance the
colouring but this is optional. This does, though, give the meat a more
coloured and caramelised appearance.
- Try adding some freshly ground pepper and a soupspoon of oil to a dish
and rolling the joint around until all sides are covered.
- Meat cooked at a low temperature doesn't have to be left to rest as with
traditional cooking and can be carved immediately: carve or serve whole
with the suggested sauces
- When serving cold meat, leave the joint to cool before carving so that it
stays succulent,
- The meat is not as hot as with traditional cooking so the plates should be
warmed before serving with piping hot sauces.
- Accompaniments (vegetables, etc.) should not be cooked at low tempera-
ture with the meat.
Choosing the meat
- Large, thick cuts:
- Neck bone-in
- Upper part of leg boneless
- Boneless shoulder
Suggested accompaniments
- Potato gratin
- Cauliflower gratin
- Spinach
- Carrots with cream
- French-style peas
- Chicory
- Braised cabbage and celery
- Broccoli au jus
- Various purées
- Pasta
VEAL
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Joint of veal with morels
Meat cooking time: 4 ½ hours
Preparation of sauce: 20 mins
Ingredients
1 kg joint veal
80 g dried morels
3 chopped shallots
4 cl cognac
500 ml litre of cream
40 g fresh butter
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon flour + 20 g butter
Serves 6
Preparation
The day before cooking, wash the morels and leave
them to soak in 250 ml of water.
The next day, drain them, keeping the water; cut
lengthwise and wash several times.
Set aside the water used for soaking so that the sand
sinks to the bottom, then filter.
Reduce by two thirds then skim the top, add the
cream and cook for 5 minutes. Add 20 g of butter to
a sauté pan and heat. Add the chopped shallots and
the morels, fry for a few minutes then flambé with the
cognac. Add the previous sauce then blend in the
beurre manié and add the 40 g of fresh butter.
Season to taste.
When the joint of veal is cooked, carve it and top
with a piping hot sauce.
Suggested accompaniment: Serve with fresh spinach softened in butter.
VEAL
6
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Joint of veal with fresh walnuts
Meat cooking time: 4 ½ hours
Preparation of sauce: 15 mins
Ingredients
1 kg joint of veal
2 carrots
2 onions
2 shallots
15 cl Banyuls
100 g fresh shelled walnut kernels
6 soupspoons of thick crème fraîche
Serves 6
Preparation
Peel the carrots, onions and shallots and chop into
thirds or quarters.
Lightly brown with warm butter in a pot, salt and pep-
per, then drizzle with Banyuls.
Leave to simmer for twenty minutes or so.
Remove the pieces of carrot and pour the juice,
onions and shallots into the mixer, add the crème
fraîche and blend thoroughly. Add the walnuts,
coarsely chop in short bursts.
When the joint is ready, briefly reheat this sauce then
arrange the carved joint on a serving dish surround-
ed by sauce.
Suggested accompaniment: serve with a celery purée and fresh figs sautéed in
butter.
VEAL
7
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Joint of veal with prunes
Meat cooking time: 4 ½ hours Serves 6
Preparation of accompaniment: 35 mins
Ingredients
1 kg joint of veal
2 red onions
2 shallots
400 g of carrots
300 g of prunes
3 glasses of white wine
50 g of butter
salt and pepper
Preparation
Peel and wash the carrots then slice into rings.
Peel and chop the onions; heat the butter and brown
the onions, then add the carrots, shallots and prunes.
Add the white wine. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and simmer for 30 to 35 mins. Check that the
mixture is properly cooked.
Carve the cooked joint and arrange the accompani-
ment around it. Serve piping hot.
VEAL
8
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Préparation
- Choose an appropriately sized joint of meat: allow 120 g to 150 g per
person.
- The meat can be seared beforehand in a preheated pan to enhance the
colouring but this is optional. This does, though, give the meat a more coloured
and caramelised appearance.
- Try adding some freshly ground pepper and a soupspoon of oil to a dish and
rolling the joint around until all sides are covered.
- Meat cooked at a low temperature doesn't have to be left to rest as with tra-
ditional cooking and can be carved immediately: carve or serve whole with
the suggested sauces
- When serving cold meat, leave the joint to cool before carving so that it stays
succulent,
- The meat is not as hot as with traditional cooking so the plates should be
warmed before serving with piping hot sauces.
- Accompaniments (vegetables, etc.) should not be cooked at low temperature
with the meat.
Choosing the meat
- Slice
- Rump steak
- Loin strip steak
- Sirloin steak
- Tenderloin
Suggested accompaniments
- Garden vegetables
- Green beans with butter
- Fried potato croquets
- Dauphine potatoes
- Braised lettuce
- Stuffed mushrooms
BEEF
9
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Roast beef in Muscadet sauce
Meat cooking time: 3 hours Serves 4
Preparation of accompaniment: 50 mins
Ingredients
1.5 kg joint of veal
100 g small onions
60 g smoky bacon
150 g assorted mushrooms (cepes,
girolles, pleurotes, button)
400 g small Noirmoutier potatoes
100 g butter
5 cl peanut oil
10 cl Muscadet
½ bunch watercress
Guérande salt, pepper
pinch of sugar
Preparation
Wipe the joint, place it on the grill and put it in the oven.
Wash the potatoes then sauté in butter and a dash of oil.
Season, then cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
Peel the onions, cook with 20 g of butter, a pinch of sugar,
a pinch of salt and a little water until the liquid has evapo-
rated and they start to brown.
Dice the bacon and fry in a little oil.
Remove the bacon bits and replace with the washed and
quartered mushrooms without cleaning the frying pan.
Now remove the mushrooms and, again without cleaning
the frying pan, add the Muscadet. Flambé and reduce by
a quarter, add the remaining butter in knobs while heating
slowly and whisking without bringing to the boil.
Add the onions, the bacon bits and the mushrooms.
Season to taste.
When the joint is cooked, place it on a warmed plate and
top with the sauce. Arrange the potatoes around the joint
and garnish with the watercress.
BEEF
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Roast beef in cognac sauce with pink peppercorns
Meat cooking time: 3 hours
Preparation of sauce: 15 mins
Ingredients
1 kg joint
2 soupspoons of finely chopped shallots
3 spoonfuls of cognac
15 cl red wine
1 egg yolk
1 spoonful of tomato purée
200 g butter + 20 g
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns,
salt and pepper
Serves 4
Preparation
Sweat the shallots in 20 g of heated butter. Add the
red wine and leave to evaporate slowly.
Add the egg yolk, tomato purée, 200 g of butter,
and season with salt and pepper.
While whisking, pour in the cognac and add the
crushed pink peppercorns.
Carve the cooked meat and top with the piping hot
sauce.
Suggested accompaniment: serve with dauphine potatoes
BEEF
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Roast beef in pear sauce with watercress
Meat cooking time: 3 hours
Serves 4
Preparation of accompaniment: 25 mins
Ingredients
1 kg joint of beef
1 pear
1 glass white wine
½ bunch watercress
1 soupspoon of chopped shallots
20 cl liquid crème fraîche
20 g butter
salt and pepper
Preparation
Cook the pear in white wine. Drain and blend (keep
the wine).
Boil, drain and chop the watercress.
Steam the chopped shallots in butter. Add the white
wine left over from cooking the pear and leave to
slowly evaporate.
Add the blended pear, watercress and crème
fraîche.
Season with salt and pepper. Bring slowly to the boil
and serve over the carved meat.
Suggested accompaniment: Serve with braised celery.
BEEF
12
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Préparation
- Choose an appropriately sized joint of meat: allow 120 g to 150 g per-
son.
- The meat can be seared beforehand in a preheated pan to enhance the
colouring but this is optional. This does, though, give the meat a mocoloured
and caramelised appearance.
- Try adding some freshly ground pepper and a soupspoon of oil to a disand
rolling the joint around until all sides are covered.
- Meat cooked at a low temperature doesn't have to be left to rest as with
traditional cooking and can be carved immediately: carve or serve whole
with the suggested sauces
- When serving cold meat, leave the joint to cool before carving so that it
stays succulent,
- The meat is not as hot as with traditional cooking so the plates should be
warmed before serving with piping hot sauces.
- Accompaniments (vegetables, etc.) should not be cooked at low tempera
ture with the meat.
Choosing the meat
- Tenderloin
- Tenderloin tips
- Loin
- Shoulder
Suggested accompaniments
- Various purées
- Celery
- Chestnuts
- Braised cabbage
- Lentils
- Brussels sprouts
- Whole candied tomatoes
Preparation
Parboil some oval tomatoes (Roma or des Andes) in water for about fifteen
seconds.
Place them on a tray in the oven, sprinkle with caster sugar and cook at
70°C for 4 hours: the tomatoes will be glazed outside and candied
inside.
PORK
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Roast pork with sweet and sour sauce
Meat cooking time: 4 hours 30 mins Serves 6
Preparation of sauce: 20 mins
Ingredients
1.5 kg of tenderloin of pork
4 pineapple slices
2 tomatoes
3 small onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 sticks of celery
a few sprigs of parsley
6 teaspoons vinegar
6 teaspoons caster sugar
1 soupspoon Worcester sauce
1 soupspoon tomato purée
1 soupspoon water
1 soupspoon oil
1 soupspoon corn starch
Preparation
Prepare the vegetables: slice into fine rings, remove the
seed from the garlic cloves and chop finely, chop the
celery, then peel, deseed and chop the tomatoes, cut
up the pineapple, finely chop the parsley. The aim is
to ensure the vegetables are of roughly equal size.
Heat the oil in a wok (or a large frying pan), sauté all
the vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes until each ingredient
is half cooked. Remove them from the wok.
Mix together the sugar, water and vinegar in the wok
removed from the heat. Now turn up the heat to medi-
um. When the sauce begins to bubble, add the toma-
to purée, salt, corn starch and Worcester sauce. Bring
slowly to the boil and then add the vegetables. Leave
to simmer for 15 mins.
Carve the meat and top with the vegetable sauce.
PORK
14
Suggested accompaniment: serve with basmati rice.
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Roast pork with mild mustard
Meat cooking time: 4 hours 30 mins Serves 6
Preparation of sauce: 20 mins
Ingredients
1 kg loin of pork
4 shallots
20 cl cider
1 soupspoon honey
2 soupspoons mustard
1 teaspoon flour
10 cl crème fraîche
30 g butter
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
Preparation
Season the meat with salt and pepper. Place in the
oven.
Melt the butter in a heavy pot then add the quartered
shallots.
Brown for 3 minutes. Add the flour, cider, half of the
thyme, and the bay leaf. Simmer for 10 minutes then
put aside.
When the meat is cooked, finish preparing the sauce.
Strain the juice from the pot and return it to a low heat.
Add the honey, mustard and crème fraîche. Leave to
thicken 2 to 3 minutes while mixing. Season with salt
and pepper.
Carve the cooked meat and arrange it on a warmed
plate topped with sauce. Sprinkle the rest of the thyme
leaves on top.
Suggested accompaniment: Serve with a potato or celery purée.
PORK
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PORK
Roast pork with Sauternes and Roquefort sauce
Meat cooking time: 4 hours 30 mins Serves 4
Preparation of sauce: 10 mins
Ingredients
1 kg loin of pork
2 soupspoons chopped shallots
20 g butter
10 cl Sauternes
10 cl Roquefort
20 cl liquid cream
salt and pepper
Preparation
Sweat the shallots for several minutes in hot butter.
Add the Sauternes, leave to evaporate slightly.
Add the Roquefort, leave to slowly melt in and then
add the liquid cream. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil and serve immediately.
Suggested accompaniment: Serve with small Noirmoutier potatoes browned in butter.
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LAMB
Preparation
- Choose an appropriately sized joint of meat: allow 120 g to 150 g per per-
son.
- The meat can be seared beforehand in a preheated pan to enhance the
colouring but this is optional. This does, though, give the meat a more
coloured and caramelised appearance.
- Try adding some freshly ground pepper and a soupspoon of oil to a dish
and rolling the joint around until all sides are covered.
- Avoid stuffing the leg of lamb with garlic: the meat loses its juice and ten-
derness when cut before cooking. However, if your recipes calls for garlic
you may tuck in a single clove near the bone.
- Meat cooked at a low temperature doesn't have to be left to rest as with
traditional cooking and can be carved immediately: carve or serve whole
with the suggested sauces,
- When serving cold meat, leave the joint to cool before carving so that it
stays succulent,
- The meat is not as hot as with traditional cooking so the plates should be
warmed before serving with piping hot sauces.
- Accompaniments (vegetables, etc.) should not be cooked at low tempera-
ture with the meat.
Choosing the meat
- Leg
- Boneless saddle of lamb
- Shoulder
Suggested accompaniments
- White beans
- Sautéed aubergines
- Mushrooms
- Baby potatoes sautéed in garlic
- Courgette gratin
- Provencal tomatoes
- Green beans in butter
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Leg of lamb marinated in spices
Meat cooking time: 3 hours Serves 6
Preparation of sauce: 10 mins (the day before)
Ingredients
1.5 kg leg of lamb
juice of 2 lemons
small bouquet of 8 freshly chopped or
frozen mint leaves
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of pink peppercorns
½ teaspoon of powdered cinnamon
and cumin
4 soupspoons of olive oil
Preparation
Mix together these ingredients and coat the leg of
lamb with this preparation; leave to marinate in the
refrigerator overnight.
Cook in the oven the next day.
To serve, decorate the leg of lamb with cinnamon
sticks, cloves and star anise.
Suggested accompaniment: Serve with couscous prepared with saffron, roasted prunes
and sliced almonds.
LAMB
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LAMB
Leg of lamb with rosemary
Meat cooking time: 3 hours Serves 6
Preparation of sauce: 5 mins
Ingredients
1.5 kg leg of lamb
1 clove of garlic
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 soupspoons olive oil
salt and pepper
Preparation
Begin by removing excess fat from the meat so that
only a thin layer remains.
Then rub it with a peeled clove of garlic, brush with
olive oil, sprinkle with chopped rosemary. Salt very
lightly.
Place in oven.
Suggested accompaniment: Serve with garlic purée
Ingredients
5 heads of garlic
40 cl crème fraîche
20 g butter
water, salt and pepper
Preparation
Peel the garlic cloves. Place the cream, garlic cloves,
and a small glass of water in a saucepan then salt
and pepper.
Cook on a medium heat.
Blend in a mixer until creamy. Add the butter.
Mix and serve.
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