Cherry Pickin’…Sorta!

Hi All,

Not too long ago I visited my family in Seattle. It’s always fun because not only is Seattle a rockin’ place, but I get to see my 18 month old grandson, Jordan.

What’s not to love about that face? He’s really cute and very smart….

Ok, I digress! His mom and dad are really into eating healthy so a lot of his food is natural and organic. While there this time, mom was fixing fresh cherries and removing the pits. Now you know I’ve never met a tool I didn’t like, so I was fascinated by the pit remover tool she was using. I’d never seen one before, so this was new to me and I was anxious to give it a try. Who knew? It might be a must have for my ever growing kitchen tool collection!

Looks like something out of a Medieval torture scene, doesn’t it?

Lining it up was a bit tricky. But that’s just me.

Squeeze!

Tah Dah!

It does work, and I think if you have little kids and choking on pits is a concern, this is the tool to have. I’ve since seen several other pit removing tools, some fancier, some plastic, etc…but this is functional and easy to clean, and for folks like me, easy to use. Did I run out and buy one? Nope. But then, for me, part of the fun of fresh cherries is the ability to suck on the pits for a while, and I don’t have any little kids in the house. Just Zack and Zoey, my furry children.

Toodles,

Silly food pic:

Fire it up! Home Made Curry Blend

If you’ve been following my other blog America’s Test Chicken, written by me and my partner in all cooking crimes, you know we have been cooking Indian food of late. Last week we did a basic chicken curry that required a curry blend. Now if you don’t have time to make it yourself, look for Madras Curry blend in your grocery store. However, I made the blend my self, and I’m here to tell you….there’s absolutely no comparison!

Most of the recipes call for the blend to be added to whatever you’re stir frying so that the vegetables can act as a cushion to prevent the spices from being burned. If you add the spices to a preheated naked pan, or hot oil, you risk getting  burnt flavors and unappealing aromas.

Here, the spices are added to garlic and onions.

After searching high and low for an adequate spice grinder, I settled on an inexpensive electric coffee grinder. (I needed one I could use for pods, seeds  and bark and twigs! ) It also needed to have easy access and be easy to clean. This worked just fine.

Here’s the recipe:

2 Tablespoons coriander seeds             1/2  teaspoon whole cloves

1 Tablespoon cumin seeds                      12 – 15 dried red cayenne chiles, stems discarded

2 teaspoons black or yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorn                1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Place the coriander, cumin, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves and chiles in spice grinder and grind them to the consistency of finely ground black pepper. Stir in the turmeric, which will yellow the blend.

You can store the spice in a tightly sealed container away from light, heat and humidity  for up to 3 months.

Honestly, give this a try. It’s fabulous! And…if you stick your nose in it, like I did, it’ll clear your sinuses!

Toodles,

Silly food picture:

 

Not Your Mother’s Pressure Cooker

I’m always looking for new experiences and with that in mind, my partner in all cooking crimes, Chicken #1 (aka Karren) and I signed up for a cooking class at the BergHOFF culinary center.

The menu included  Roast Beef in the Pressure Cooker with Red Wine Sauce. Now I don’t know about you, but I remember my mom’s pressure cooker. You know, the one with the little metal thingy on top that rattled and jiggled as the steam built up! We were all intimidated by the big noisy pot sitting on the stove and the cautionary warnings “let the steam out first or it will explode!” Explode????

I’m sure we all have tales – I know I do – of horror stories involving these scary cooking appliances, so when I saw this on the menu, I was a little afraid. Ok, more than a little….but I figured Chef Toni knew what she was doing.

First we browned the roast in the pot, then added ingredients (I won’t go into all that here) and with a twist of the lid….set the cooking in motion. Yes, I said “with a twist of the lid”. That’s all there was to it. When the cooking was done, lower the heat, the steam automatically reduces, and with another twist of the lid, you can remove your yummy food.

This slick and shiny looking instrument is a wonder. I’m sure there are lots of good brands out there, but since this was my first experience with the new kind, I can only speak to this brand.  The roast was done in 15 minutes! Now isn’t that every cook’s dream??? My mind is full of possibilities.

It’s not noisy, nothing jiggles and I think I definitely want one!   Check one out!

Toodles,

Silly Food Picture:

 

 

To Grate or Not to Grate….

Yes, to grate or not to grate. That is the question of the day! You all know I’m just getting back to the kitchen after years where my oven and other appliances basically stood idle, collecting dust.  So every new recipe and cooking experience is pretty exciting to me. (and yes, I have a life!) I’m loving the exploration and all I’m learning with Chicken One on our main blog, America’s Test Chicken – and the food ain’t bad!

This week we made home made egg nog. Oh my, very tasty! The main recipe called for nutmeg, which, if used fresh, required the use of a grater. Now you know I love kitchen tools. I confess (again) to being a tool addict! So which grater should I use??? So many tools, so little time!

The long, thin, black handled one is my usual go – to grater. However, for this task, I found it too slow. (Actually grating nutmeg from a fresh nut is slow, but I’ll address that later!)  Anyway, much of the grated nutmeg stuck to the u shaped back side of the grater and it was annoying to scrape it out.

The next one I tried was the shorter, fatter red handled one. I think this one is probably better for cheese, because the nutmeg wasn’t fine enough to mix well in the egg nog.

Finally, I found one that was just right. (yes, I am quoting Goldilocks! Hey, I’m having fun here…) The last belonged to Chicken One and is one she brought back from Germany. It is easy to hold, the grip is great and makes the work go faster (if that’s really possible)  It actually stores 2 -3 whole nutmegs inside which is a plus for me since I’m organizationally challenged.

It’s called WMF (don’t know what the initials stand for, but you can get creative!) and you can find it here.

So there you have it. I can vouch for the fact that fresh nutmeg is much better than what you buy in the jars at the grocery store. (unless you have a spice shop around the corner) However, when time is a factor – and it usually is with me – grating my own is just too slow. So….I’m going on Amazon and ordering an electric spice grinder. I’ll let you know how that turns out.  Until then, make some eggnog, bake some cookies, and have a Happy Holiday!

Toodles,

Silly food pic:

Garlic – How to peel, chop, or scare off Vampires!

If you’ve been following my other blog, America’s Test Chicken, you know that Chicken #1 and I made a garlic tart. Sounds odd, doesn’t it…but check it out. Once the tart is cooked, the garlic doesn’t taste as you would expect.

Of course, in order to make a garlic tart, you need lots and lots of garlic and peeling it can be a real pain. (not to mention you might smell like garlic for a week! But trust me, no vampires will get anywhere near you!)  A couple of years ago I discovered  a simple, inexpensive tool to help with this….and I swear by it.

Silicone garlic peeler

Just insert the garlic and roll on a solid surface.

The skin comes right off!

Easy peasy!

I’ve given one to everyone I know who likes to cook. No kitchen should be without it!

Now if a recipe calls for chopped garlic, that’s a whole other matter. I prefer to use a sharp knife, but if you’re in a hurry or don’t want to handle the garlic much, there are lots of chopping, mincing tools out there. Here’s one I decided to try to see if it shortened the work time….you know I’m short on patience….

It’s made by OXO and comes with it’s own measuring cup, which is really handy! It works well, and if you don’t mind cleaning it after using, I recommend it for a quick chopping job. I’m always on the look out for tools to make my life easier….so if you have a garlic tool you love, let me know about it and I’ll give it a try because I LOVE garlic!!!!!

Of course if you just want to keep the vampires away, and don’t want to eat it, you could  string a bunch of garlic and wear it around your neck. I’m told this works.  Just saying…………

Toodles,

Silly food pic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stir it up…little darlin’…..Stir it up

Thank you, Bob Marley!  It wouldn’t be odd to hear me singing his tune while working in the kitchen –  I’ve been known to break into song now and then. Not that you’re missing anything! It’s a catchy little ditty though, isn’t it? And it’s fun to play with all things that stir!!!!

Earlier in the year I went on a whisk binge. I love whisks…any size, any color…a gal just can’t have too many! Of course to actually use one, it requires manual labor and time. Since I’m always looking for a quicker way to do things, I’ve invested in a couple…oh, ok….a few….electronic mixing thingies.

Thingy number one – my Cuisinart Smart Stick. If you’ve never used one of these, or one like it, I highly recommend it. It’s great for making whipped cream – you can whip it up right in the container you’ll use to store it. It’s also great for gravies and sauces while they’re still on the stove.

                                  

Pic above is from the Panna Cotta featured in Americas Test Chicken’s latest blog.

The second “stir it up” thingy actually does double duty. Not only is it a great mixer but also an efficient chopper. It’s my Cuisinart Food Processor. I love this machine…in fact, I think it’s the most used machine in my kitchen. If you can only afford one tool, I strongly suggest this one. It does practically everything but the dishes! On the companion blog, America’s Test Chicken, I mentioned that I didn’t chop the pound of mushrooms for the Duxelles (Boeuf en Croute episode) by hand. That’s right, I used this baby. It made short work of the chopping and took no time at all!

Here are the mushrooms being chopped.

Ok. So here’s the grand daddy of them all. If you’re a baker, it’s a must have. The Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. It comes with three different tools, a flat paddle beater, dough hook, and a wire whip.  If you want more, there are lots of attachments available. You can build this into an Uber machine!. Let’s see, there’s an apple peeler/corer, a pasta maker, a meat grinder, a spriralizer, a juicer, ice-cream maker…somebody stop me!!!!

                         

This is my go-to  machine for batter and whipping eggs into meringue  and a lot more.

So there you have it…mixing, stirring, beating, chopping, and blending at its best, in my humble opinion.

Toodles,

Silly food picture:

My Spiralizer Thingy – Swirl Your Way to Healthier Meals!

One of the reasons for loving to cook and experiment with new recipes and gadgets is the ability to create healthy or healthier versions of standard dishes.  Like Pasta!

Hey look, I’m Italian! Pasta is my life’s blood! Any size, any shape, covered in sauce, slathered in butter, drooling in Olive Oil…it doesn’t matter, it’s all good! However, we all know pasta is loaded with carbohydrates(the not so good kind), so I’ve been looking for healthier alternatives. (Don’t groan!)

Enter Zucchini pasta! Have you tried it??? I started by just finely chopping Zuchinni into thin strips. This works just fine but takes more time than I like to spend in meal prep. Then I tried this nifty little tool I found at Sur la Table …

It actually works really well, but I felt like I was wasting more vegetable than I wanted. Chicken #1 mentioned that she had bought a spiralizer while living in Germany that she really liked, so while at Williams Sonoma (and yes, if you’re thinking I stalk kitchen supply and foodie stores, you’re right!) I found the right one for me. Paderno World Cuisine, 4 – blade spiralizer. I LOVE IT!

Comes neatly packed!

And turns into this! It’s magic!

So this is what it looks like in action! You just attached the vegetable (aka Zucchini) and turn the handle….and ta dah! Zucchini pasta!

Just turn the handle!

Beautiful!

Oh so yummy!

So that’s my story….I’ve never found a gadget/tool I didn’t love or want to own.

Toodles!