Keeping the textures

The home cook trying to emulate a succulent restaurant steak is often disappointed. It might look like the charred sirloin you had last Friday, but after the pan-handling it's all dry and stringy. Well, folks, I have the insider tip for you. It's called sous-vide, and is the fancy-pants French word for "under vacuum". It has nothing to do with beating sense into the strip with your electrolux, though. The Guardian has a fab slide show on how to master this technique at home. And all you need is a beer cooler! Can it get better than that?