Sous Vide Chicken with Beans and Spud

The French culinary technique sous vide or vacuum cooking seems almost unattainable in the home kitchen (and they'd like you to think that so you'll keep going back to the restaurant) but is really as easy as roasting chicken if you have a slow cooker. I originally intended to do a duck dish but I was down with duck luck and couldn't find one.
The chicken turned out moist, succulent and perfectly done and paired with baby potatoes and french beans that are coated with chicken fat, this is comfort food for the connoisseur.


Ingredients:

1 large chicken
Baby potatoes
French beans
1 lemon
Salt
Pepper
Mixed herbs

Method:

Clean chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Split chicken into two halves and trim off any visible fats. Leave fats aside for later. Sprinkle salt, pepper and lemon juice over chicken and marinate well. Transfer 1 half to a ziplock bag and remove as much air as you can and seal. I used a straw to suck out the air but if you have a vacuum sealer, go ahead and use that.

Let it sit for at least 30 mins. Fill slow cooker with water and set to low. Check the water temperature regularly using a kitchen thermometer. A low setting should keep your water at around 70 degrees C which is what we want. Once water temperature stabilises, put in your chicken bags and let it cook for 60 minutes. Check water temperature every 15 minutes.

While that is going, bring a pot of salted water to boil and add in potatoes. Boil until potatoes are almost soft.

Drain and allow potatoes to sit in pot until they evaporate dry. Heat up a skillet to medium heat and add in chicken fats. Render as much fats as you can until chicken bits turn crisp.

Remove and discard chicken bits. Crank up heat to high and add salt and potatoes into skillet. Toss potatoes around until evenly coated with oil. Remove from heat and transfer to baking tray. Sprinkle mixed herbs over potatoes and roast in oven for 15 minutes at 220 degrees C or until skin is crisp.

Return skillet to heat and cook french beans over medium high heat for about 4 minutes.

After an hour, remove the chicken from slow cooker and carefully remove from bag without spilling the juice. Keep the juice aside. The chicken should look plump and moist.

Heat skillet to high and add olive oil. Brown chicken on skin side for 3 minutes. Remove and put on serving plate.

In the same skillet, pour in chicken juice and a squeeze of lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Thicken the sauce using constarch and water.

Serve chicken with baby potatoes and french beans with sauce drizzled over it. Enjoy!