Ann's Air Gardens

GWCA Part 10: Pork Ribs Neovide

I had been cooking ribs in my beloved Foodi, but last night I finally got around to trying them in the Neovide 100, and WOW!

Had to cut the rack in two and stack them. Poured half of my bbq sauce over the top and cooked on manual setting 10 hours at 165°F.  Perfect.  There is no way I will ever buy ribs at a restaurant again.

Although I had planned to purchase a Neovide 500, in retrospect the 100 was a better choice for several reasons. The 100 is much more energy efficient.  In fact TWO Neovide 100's can run on 200 watts less power than one Neovide 500. 

It is also more convenient for me to have 2 chambers of the same size so I can switch them around. Also, there is an advantage for me that the NVS100 is lighter weight and easier to move around. 

Broccoli Sous Vide

Next time I will try this in my Neovide, but I cooked this buttered broccoli in a pouch in water at 181°F for about 1/2 hr and then added a pouch with one filet of tilapia for an additional 15 minutes.  I used a Housnat 10 in 1 countertop multi-cooker, with the removeable stainless steel pot. This kind of sous vide has, in my view, rendered immersion precision cookers obsolete.  

It complements rather than replacing the bagless and waterless Neovide cooker, however, and I use them side by side. If I am cooking a Ribeye steak or a chuck roast which will stay in the Neovide for up to 32 hours,  I need the Housenat to prepare foods that cook in a shorter time, such as poached eggs or bacon.

There aren't very many multi-cookers with stainless steel removable pots that have a sous vide setting and I think there would be a lot more if more people knew you can make many delicious sous vide meals in mason jars instead of going through the whole vacuum sealing bit.  

Wolf Gourmet makes a nice one, but it costs 6 or 7 times what I paid for the Housnat.   

 

 

5-day Tomato

From before 2nd winter and brutally hot summer of 2024, saving plant to overwinter indoors?

 

Anatomy of my Quad

This is a Portulaca/Purslane seeding that I am going to reproduce from stem cuttings.

 

The base (#1), buried in the sand to keep it from tipping over, is made of 2 black containers sewn together.

 

 On top of the base is a white container (#2) which collects excess water.  It can be lifted out and the water emptied. 

On top of the white container  is a black container (#3) with holes punched in the bottom for drainage.

The seedling is planted in #3 in cocoa noir/potting soil/etc., partial covered with clay pellets.

 

A pole secures the "Tulip" (#4) which has drainage holes in the bottom.  The Tulip is made from an upside-down milk carton with holes punched in the lid, one large hole for the stake to go through and smaller holes for drainage.

 

Tulip Addition to my Quad System

My quad growing system addresses the need to grow flowers and vegetables in an inexpensive  modular system that works where it is impractical or prohibited to grow conventially.

It consists of sets of 4 containers of the same size and shape stacked and nested so that they are portable and have good drainage.  

Here in the high desert I have to bury them in the sand to keep the wind from knocking them over.

The white "tulip" shaped irrigation feeds simplify hand watering as I can fill them by hose.

This lily opened today, but birds ate some of the petals before I was able to take a picture.  Right of the lily is a Swamp Rose Mallow that I planted last fall and expect to bloom shortly.

Hibiscus Moscheutos

This is a perfect plant for showcasing my quad growing system.

Commonly called Swamp Rose Mallow, this hardy hibiscus thrives in my high desert garden and laughs at triple digit weather.

The leaves and flowers are edible and can be used fresh or dried to make tea.

The flowers only last a day, but this young plant has opened one or two spectacular blooms every day for a week with more on the way.

 

 

 

Three Ways I Cook Sous Vide and Why I Love Them All

People seem to either love or hate cooking sous vide.  What caused me to side with those who love it, was learning that vacuum bags are not a necessary part of the process.

I do use vacuum bags on occasion, particularly if the food comes frozen in sous vide safe packaging.  

The most affordable sous vide cooker is an immersion stick precision cooker.  I acquired one for about $40 USD to use for poaching eggs in buttered mason jars.  This was life-changing for me because I am terribly fussy about my eggs. They really do need to be uniformly consistent and exactly the right temperature.  I now can poach them 8 at a time and eat 2 the first day, reheat 2 more the second day and make eggnog out of the remaining 4. 

Another way to cook sous vide is by using a dedicated one piece precision cooker or a multi-cooker that includes sous vide as an option, such as this Housnat 10-in-One.  

I like this for cooking bacon overnite Using it lets me cook bacon and eggs at the same time,  and it keeps water hot for a long time afterward.

My high-end kitchen helper is the amazing Neovide 100 bagless waterless sous vide cooker,  which is the only tool I will ever again use for steaks, pot roast, chicken, etc.  More to come on this brilliant product which changed me overnight from an I-hate-to-cook frustrated would rather eat out type person to a don't want to eat out because I can make it better at home without exerting myself happy food prepper.  Of course, since my favorite meat recipes take up to 36 hours to become fork-tender in the Neovide, I am glad to have the other devices to use in the meantime.

 

Growing in Water and Cooking in Air - Part 9: Fake Pasta

Although I love growing and eating ripe spaghetti squash, you cannot convince me it is a pasta substitute.  Maybe if I harvest it green and spiralize it, the green spaghetti squash would work better.

This spiralized white zucchini (aka Mexican Grey Squash) cooked together with chicken thighs in my beloved Neovide 100 bagless, waterless sous vide machine made a satisfying meal.

  

Since this squash is low carb, I added a few pre-cooked potatoes.  The pan drippings are from my 6-hr boneless chicken thighs, thickened with Bisto onion gravy.

 

Growing in Water and Cooking in Air - Part 9: Fake Pasta

Although I Love growing