Christmas, 2010

Christmas dinner came out beautifully this year.  It was small, for just Kid Cayenne, myself and a friend.  I roasted my first duck.  I was terrified to do it, but it came out well and I'm over the trepidation hump so I think I can continue to hone the skill.  Other dishes included roasted red and golden beets with arugula and goat cheese, a nice baked mac and cheese and  roasted sweet and spicy pumpkin wedges.  We had milk chocolate and  salted caramel gelatos from La Divina for dessert.  All in all, quite lovely.

Amongst my Christmas gifts this year were these jewels:

ad hoc at home - Thomas Keller

Around My French Table - Dorie Greenspan

How To Cook Everything Vegetarian - Mark Bittman

The Art of Simple Food - Alice Waters

tart pan

madeleine pan

kitchen scale

a Kitchenaid stand mixer

1 of those beautiful iitalla EgO coffee cups I oohed over earlier this year.  *sigh*

Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the prospects.  I've hardly put my cookbook stack down since Christmas morning (and quite a hefty stack it is, since each book feels like it's about 45 pounds a piece, at least!)  I've inaugurated the mixer with a batch of tart dough which is currently chilling in the refrigerator and is destined to become a Meyer lemon tart this evening.

I'm looking forward to 2011 with great anticipation.  Rather than compile a list of resolutions for the new year, I'm just trying to think of new and interesting things I'd like to try that I haven't yet.  I'll get back to you with some of those.  Hope your holidays were warm and full of love and joy and your new year is brilliant!

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Weekend in San Francisco

I've spent the weekend in San Francisco and very fortunately for me, my hosts packed much foodie fun into my short visit.

I ate amazing and lovely things at Incanto, so I'll have to come up with some manner of review for you.  I didn't take any photos, but they are all still pretty fresh in my mind, so hopefully I can share the descriptions, at least.  Teasers are: fried strips of pig ear, pork belly, pink peppercorn ice cream...  More on that later.

I have been shown how to make a chicken stock that cooks for about 6 hours on very low heat in the oven.  I can't wait to try it.  It smelled amazing.


Oh, and at Kamei Restaurant Supply, I have purchased two new kitchen goodies: a Japanese benriner mandolin and a simple mortar and pestle.  I am flying home tonight and will be trying to think of how best to put them to use when I get home.  Any suggestions would be fabulous.  If you had a shiny new mandolin, what would you make first?

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Kitchen Equipment Wishlist: To Buy or Not to Buy

I wanted a salad spinner for years but thought it was a one function item and a frivolous purchase, so I resisted buying one.  Finally, a couple of years ago, the longing for properly dried romaine grew too intense and I broke down and got a nice Oxo Good Grips Spinner.  I have never regretted it.  After a quick soak in ice water and a whirl through the spinner, my salad greens are always crisp, fresh and lovely.  My dressing always adheres.  My herbs are clean and dry.  I use the big acrylic bowl for (of course) salad, as well as chips, popcorn, large cold dishes, etc.  I sometimes use the inner strainer as a colander.  Salad spinner is not a frivolous item, in fact it has become something that I use several times a week for a number of purposes.  I was happily wrong.


It makes me wonder about some of the other items on my wishlist of kitchen items I admire, but never buy.  These are confronted by two questions: Will I Use It Enough to Justify the Expense and Cabinet/Counter Space?  and Does It Cost More Than The Value I Will Get From It?  * edit: Wait.  Is that the same question asked slightly differently?  Ugh, I think it is.*


Maybe you could weigh in.  Do any of you own these or similar items and do you think they are worth having if one is on a tight budget and has a small kitchen?

The Heavy Hitters:

Stand Mixer:  I have a small, inexpensive hand mixer, but I covet the KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer.  Aside from being very expensive, they are also huge, heavy and would take up a lot of prime counter space in my small kitchen. I love to bake, but don't do it as often as I would like to because of my ever expanding waistline.  I want to be able to make homemade marshmallows and various other things that take more power than my hand mixer can manage, but... will I do it enough to justify?   I don't want an expensive piece of kitchen eye candy.  Who has a stand mixer, and how often do you use it?

Fancy Rice Cooker:  Everyone in Louisiana should own a rice cooker, right?  Except that I make lovely rice on the stove and since I am usually cooking for just two, rarely need to make more than 2 cups at a time.  This Japanese beauty, the Zojirushi Micom 3-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer, is expensive at about $125. but the reviews are excellent and a friend, who knows about such things, highly recommends the brand.  It has a rice porridge setting.    If you haven't noticed from previous blog posts, I'm a little obsessed with rice porridge.  I already own a very simple rice cooker which I only break out of the pantry for times when I have company.  Do I need to splurge on a fancier version?  Probably not, but I can't help but want to.

Hot Water Dispensing Pot:  I work from home and drink French pressed coffee in the mornings and green tea in the afternoons.  I also use boiling water for miso soup packets and endless other things.  Each time, I fill the kettle and wait for it to boil on the stove top.  When making tea and coffee, I keep an ear perked from the next room hoping to hear and catch it in that moment just before it actually boils, just before it's ready to whistle, so I can avoid scalding the coffee grinds and tea leaves.  I would love to have a dispensing pot such as this one from Zojirushi, that can heat water to a variety of temperatures (140, 175, 195, and 208 degrees F) and keep it there, at the ready, for me to have a nice cup of whatever at any given moment.  It seems that it would also be useful when cooking (starting off boiled eggs, supplementing stock when in the last stages of risotto making, thinning a sauce, etc). But again... expensive (about $90) and requires counter space.  Worth it?  I am strongly compelled to say yes, but then I think... what's the big deal?  So I have to wait a few minutes for the kettle to boil?  How am I in such a big hurry that I can't wait on a kettle?  I'm really not.  Anyone have an opinion on this?

The Little Guys:

Mandolin:  I chop vegetables nearly every day.  I like chopping.  It is meditative and calming.  I take pleasure in learning to use my knife as an extension of my hand.  However.  Chopping many vegetables is sometimes tedious and takes too long, and makes a meal that I'd like to have on the table in 35 minutes take much longer if there are many ingredients involved.  Mandolins are precise and quick (and scary).  They can do things that I can't really do by hand.  While there are well-reviewed, inexpensive Japanese mandolins like this one from Kyocera available, I still hesitate to buy one.  I don't want it to take up valuable drawer space, gathering dust as I continue my love affair with my chef's knife.  Anyone have one, and do you put it to good use?

Madeleine Sheets:  This one really is frivolous, I think.  I love madeleines and I know they are easy and most delicious when freshly baked.  I have read up on madeleine sheet pans and hear over and over again that it's the metal pans that do the best job.  Only problem is... do I really want to spend $20 on something that I absolutely cannot use for anything else?  I want so badly to bake Chez Pim's bergamot madeleines.  I'm just plain aching for them.  Will I bake madeleines 2 or 3 times and then let the pan sit unused in the back of my cabinet?  This is a question that only I can answer for myself, I know.  *sigh*  I'll let you know if I ever decide to go for it.


Your thoughts are welcomed.  What items are on your kitchen wishlist?

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