STEAM OVEN COOKING : MY BEAUTIFUL CHICKEN

After playing with this oven for a few days I am amazed at the possibilities of what it can do. Plain old steaming, hot air and steaming combined, regular hot air, proofing, sterilization of jars, baking bread and yogurt making and I am sure there is more.

I'm kinda hooked on it now. Í have to tell you about my roast chicken. Something simple that most people enjoy yet, I never make just a roast chicken - I always feel I have to make it fancy in someway or another. So, for Sunday lunch I made a roast chicken. Actually, I should say the oven made the best roast chicken ever! All I did was to rub it with : 1 tbsp of sea salt, 1 tbsp of herbs de Provence, 1 tsp of pepper and 1 tbsp of dried sage. Then programed the oven for chicken added the weight and pushed start and it cooked it to perfection within one hour.

Steam oven cooking. Gratin dauphinois

All those beautiful blogs out there on baking, cupcakes, cake pops etc... to die for but not many on steam oven cooking. Doesn't sound that sexy, I know. But professionals have been using them for years. The results they say are healthier, more succulent. So, I am going to take the challenge and start using this oven that I've manage to ignore for so long.

Dear steam oven cooks, I am going to start with Gratin Dauphinois, a dish I've been making for years in a traditional oven, first demonstrated to me by an ex-french boyfriend's grandmother (I can make it now with my eyes closed, well it has been a long time) and a dish which is a huge success in our family.

It's was also valentine's day yesterday and I wanted to make this for my hubby in these cute little Le Creuset  casseroles

Ingredients:

1kg of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

40 gms of grated emmentaler cheese

2 dl of cream

salt, pepper and nutmeg

Grease the pots with butter. Lay one layer of potatoes in the bottom, a pinch of salt and pepper and nutmeg and a sprinkle of cheese. Add a second layer of potatoes and repeat until full. Gently pour the cream into the pots. Sprinkle cheese on top.                                                                                                           

Place in oven for 45 mins 160C on position - hot air and steam.

THE RESULT 

                                                     

Could have eaten two pots of these with no problem and it was moister than the traditional method. A first success.