Sous Vide Pork with Smoked Gouda Grits and Gumbo Sauce

steps

18-Hour Sous Vide Pork

1. Remove the bones and large pieces of fat from the shoulder and cut the meat into four large pieces. (You can use transglutaminase to seal raggedy pieces into one neat piece or just go with the natural breaks in the meat.)
2. Salt the pork on all sides with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 pinch pepper for each pound of meat.
3. Wrap or store the pork in a bus tub in the refrigerator for 2–3 days to allow the salt to permeate the meat.
4. Vacuum seal each piece of meat. Cook sous vide at 165 degrees for 18 hours.
5. Remove pork packages to a very large bowl or bus tub and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
6. Add enough cool water to just barely cover and let sit 20 minutes.
7. Add copious amounts of ice (the ratio should be AT LEAST as much ice as water). Chill in the ice bath for no less than 2 hours or place ice bath in cooler and leave overnight.
8. Slice the cold meat into 8-ounce portions and seal each portion individually.
9. Drop in 145-degree water bath for 1 hour.
10. Remove from bag, pat dry, and sear all sides in a hot skillet or on a plancha.

Smoked Gouda Grits

1. Combine grits, water, and cream in a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil. Add the salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, 20–30 minutes. Watch carefully and stir regularly—grits like to burn!
2. Stir in the cheese, one handful at a time. Adjust to desired consistency with more hot cream or water as needed.
   Yield: 8 cups cooked grits

Gumbo Sauce

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in flour.
2. Continue to stir and watch carefully for 45 minutes to an hour, or until roux turns a rich, dark chocolate brown. Remove from heat and set aside. (You can make this in big batches and freeze it at this point.)
3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add onions, peppers, and celery and sauté until very soft and starting to blacken.
4. Add garlic and stir for 10 seconds (it will turn bitter if you don’t move quickly). Add tomato paste and stir until dark orange, caramelized, and starting to burn.
5. Stir in wine and cook until wine has reduced by half.
6. Add stock, bay leaves, seasoning, and sausage. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour.
7. Return to boil, stir in the roux (it’s okay if it’s cooled and breaks apart). Simmer 1 hour. Stir periodically to prevent roux from burning. Add more chicken stock as needed to prevent scorching.
8. Add sea salt if needed but be careful not to oversalt. Use a pair of tongs to remove and discard bay leaves.
9. Purée the gumbo in small batches in a blender. Use a large ladle to push the pureed gumbo through a fine sieve into a large bowl, creating a smooth, velvety sauce. (Be careful, it’s hot!) Pour blended gumbo into a large bowl. Whisk in filé.
   Yield: 6 quarts

Pork and Grits Assembly

1. Layer grits, gumbo sauce, and pork on plate.
2. Garnish with whole-grain mustard, orange marmalade, and Italian parsley leaves.