These little gems are such a time saver in the kitchen. When working with anything sticky or thick, like honey, molasses, peanut butter, sour cream etc., it is so convenient to be able to set the desired amount on the cup, fill the container to the top and then press the plunger to discharge the ingredient cleanly and completely out and into the mixing bowl.
They really take the frustration and mess out of trying to get sticky ingredients measured up and into your vittles.
I have 5 – a 2 cup, a 1 cup and 3 tablespoon measures. They come apart for easy cleaning, and beyond putting a thin layer of oil on the silicone seal when you put them back together, they are pretty much maintenance free.
I use the KitchenArt Pro Adjust-A-Cup series, and have had great success with them. The only caution is that you have to follow the directions and lube the silicone seal with cooking oil, or it can tear on reassembly and destroy the cup – a lesson learned the hard way. There are others out there that are likely just as good, but these are the ones I use.
Hopefully this will keep you from getting into a sticky situation!
All the fanciest ingredients in the world won’t be of much use if you don’t have bowls to mix them in. These big brothers to the prep dishes definitely make the list of must have’s for the kitchen.
Now, most everyone has a bowl or two in the kitchen, and really the science behind them has been around for millennia. Make a container out of whatever you have at hand, and seal it so that the wet stuff can’t get out. Pretty basic really… Of late, there have been some interesting attempts to create the better mousetrap, but basically, a bowl is still a bowl.
I have these in my kitchen, and find them very good for the tasks at hand:
The stainless ones are of medium gauge, so they don’t feel flimsy but I don’t need a crane truck to move them around. They have a sufficiently large flat spot on the bottom to ensure they are stable on the counter, and high enough sides to whisk dry ingredients without sending them flying.
The only other thing that I look for is that they nest together for storage. This also works together with having a variety of sizes to choose from, as having the right size bowl for the job is really handy.
The glass bowls are basically the same idea, but just in a heavier and more ‘hot stuff’ friendly format.
I have seen and had opportunity to work with some of the new silicone bowls that are out there… All I will say is that my momma said if you can’t say anything nice…
The other bowl I value greatly is the ‘mondo’ stainless bowl that I use when working with large quantities of ingredients, like my Italian Burger mix. It doesn’t see daily use, but when I need it, it is indispensable.
Being a bit OCD (stop it Dear, I hear you) and being used to my own kitchen, when I go to another kitchen it is always an adjustment to working with others gear. It surprises me how so many people only have 2-3 bowls, and that can creates a challenge for any large cooking project. The value in a good number and selection of mixing bowls in your kitchen really can’t be overstated.
Besides, what good is a cleanup crew, if you can’t leave a large selection of dirty bowls for them??
There are so many cooking techniques out there that one loses count. Some are basic, some take years of practice to master. However I think the most valuable techniques any cook can develop in order to improve the success and enjoyment of cooking is also one of the easiest to learn.
The French call it “Mise en place”. In English, it means “putting in place”. Ever notice when you watch a cooking show that most chefs have all the ingredients measured out and ready to go? They just grab the little dish with the ingredient and in it goes – no muss, no fuss, no measuring… This is mise en place at work. The other advantage of mise in place is it puts an end to every cooks nightmare scenario – being mid cooking, going to the pantry for an ingredient and then quizzically staring at the shelves saying to oneself “I was sure I had that…”.
Mise en place only requires a little bit of time and a small set of dishes to organize the ingredients in. I have about 20 prep dishes, about half are glass, half are stainless, and they are a variety of sizes. I also use ziplock sandwich bags for larger amounts of items. Here is my collection of dishes
These dishes are inexpensive, and for less than any ‘as seen on TV’ kitchen gadget you can stock yourself with a healthy selection of dishes. The type and size is really up to you, I like the wide shallow glass for herbs and dry ingredients, and the deeper metal ones for liquids. The only kind I don’t really care for are the silicone ones, they are expensive in comparison, and I don’t like working with them as much. Explore your local kitchen shop or mega mart and you will find a selection of them that will work for you.
Once you get into the swing of assembling your ingredients in advance, you will never go back to trying to measure out something while the step before is burning in the pan. Your cooking will improve, your stress will decrease, and you will be able to tell everyone you have mastered a really useful French cooking technique!
One of the things I love about cooking is sharing the discovery of new foods and preparations with others. So much of the joy of food comes from this sharing, much of the time being the one learning, sometimes being the teacher. Other times you just get to be there to witness someone achieve a successful adventure into something new to them. No matter which it is, it is something that brings me a great deal of enjoyment. This leads me to todays post…
In our modern age, Christmas has changed from what they were generations past. Families seem to be far more spread out around the country, or the world, and getting together over the holidays becomes much more difficult. The joining of extended families at the same table for Christmas dinner seems to be getting more and more rare.
Fortunately, this year we were able to spend Christmas dinner with my sister and her family, and as we live very close to one another, we were able to combine efforts on the dinner. I handled the bird, stuffing, gravy and cranberries, she handled the rest.
My sister is a quite capable cook, but like most people she hasn’t ventured too far outside of her day to day comfort zone. But she has the spark of someone who seeks to venture into new territory, and I have enjoyed sharing some recipes and kitchen time with her since she moved here from the Coast. One of the things that fell to her for Christmas dinner was dessert, and much to her credit she decided to head into what was for her uncharted territory and make a Cheesecake.
Dinner came off really well, and we all had a healthy helping (or two) of the bounty that was presented. I could tell from the conversation that my sister was equal parts excited and nervous as the time for dessert came about. She had chosen to do a Candy Cane Cheesecake with chocolate glaze, and it looked great. So hurdle one was cleared, because we all eat with our eyes first.
Very Festive!!
She cut generous slices, and served it up to an eager group. There is an old saying that ‘the proof is in the tasting’ – and the tasting proved that she had nailed it. The texture was great, the flavour even better. It was an awesome Christmas time flavour, and a perfect finish to a great meal. It was really good, and it was so neat to see the confidence that came to her in the knowledge that she has just nailed a new skill. I really enjoyed watching her realize that she had done a great job of something new.
Nice job sis, you just chalked up a new skill to be proud of and drawn upon again!
Now, I am not the worlds biggest turkey fan. But, a nicely prepared slice of bird can act as a great transportation device for one of my favorite Christmas condiments – cranberries.
I can remember many a Christmas with the obligatory ‘cranberries in a can’ sauce that was the norm in the day. However as I worked on my cooking skills, early on I found out how easy it is to make my own cranberries. Now, the recipe on the bag of berries is alright, but the folks over at Cooks Country / Cooks Illustrated / America’s Test Kitchen have a couple of great recipes. The ‘regular’ sauce is a bit nicer than the bag recipe, but my favorite is their Apricot-Ginger Cranberry Sauce.
It has a sweetness from the apricot that balances the tart cranberries, and a little hint of cayenne that gives it just a perfect amount of spice to compliment the ginger. This mix of flavours is really nice, and it complements the turkey very, very well.
Apricot-Ginger in back, regular in front
I made a big batch of each tonight, and portioned out into some containers. They will be off to the kids, and to friends of ours at the coast with a healthy portion retained for our Christmas table.
I can’t share the recipes here unfortunately as they are copyrighted. I do encourage anyone interested in cooking or food to look at an subscription to the Cooks Country / Cooks Illustrated websites. Then you have access to an amazing selection of recipes, all highly tested and very well explained.
Give homemade cranberries a try for you Christmas table. Once you have, you will never open another can again!
Well the last month and a half hasn’t followed the script in the slightest. I found myself out of commission with an illness for a month, and then as soon as i was back in the saddle my computer decided that it was going to get sick too.
Combine this with it being my busiest time of the year at work, I had to give a bit of a break to the site, and to cooking in general. However I am back in good health, my computer is rebuilt, work is still busy, but the kitchen is feeling my presence again.
Thanksgiving was a low key event this year, I was still under the weather and it was just the two of us. Dinner was a bit of a change, with just two of us we decided not to do a turkey this year. I am not a turkey fan, but the family likes it and that is good enough for me. But this year with it just being the two of us, I did something a bit different. Kathy loves duck, me not so much. I love roast beef, her not so much. So, the best compromise was to just do both. Add some homemade spaetzle, roasted vegetable and fresh grated horseradish and dinner was served. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner, and while we missed the kids, I didn’t miss the turkey one little bit.
I have added a new recipe to the site, Grandma Clara’s Waffles. They make a great change up from pancakes and omelette’s, light and flavourful… a great breakfast option.
I will be finishing another recipe for chocolate covered bacon, which is mind numbingly good regardless of how it sounds on paper! That will be up on the site in the next week or so.
This is my second favorite kitchen gadget. From measuring dry ingredients such as flour (5 oz per cup) to portioning out burger patties, it is quick and accurate.
When baking, accuracy in flour measurement is really important. Depending on temperature, humidity and method used with the measuring cup, the actual amount of flour in ‘a cup’ can very significantly enough to affect the outcome. With a scale, the weight is always the same. and it is a fair bit faster to just pour flour into a bowl on the scale until you have just enough.
Then you can zero (tare) out the scale, and add your next ingredient by weight and so on. It really does make life in the kitchen much easier – for real.
I place a bowl on the scale, and then portion out my meat patties into 6 oz patties (8 oz if Kathy isn’t looking) and then every patty is the same size and cooks in the same time as each other.
Buying meats in bulk is a great way to economize, but portioning it out into 1 lb portions then bagging it for the freezer makes it easy to use down the road.
You can even weigh a puppy prior to… no, not cooking him… figuring out how much food he should be getting!
No amimals were harmed in the taking of this photo. All dishes were cleaned prior to being used again. 😎
I have a different scale, but this one is very highly rated by a source I trust very much.
I am in the process of adding a section to the site with links to some of my favorite kitchen gear. Kitchens are a funny place – stuff accumulates with the same mysterious ways as crop circles pop up on the land (maybe their both aliens messing with us), and much of it is not actually useful. So much if the gear is useful for little other than taking up space.
Much if it is designed to ‘make life easier’ in the kitchen – As Seen On TV. Unfortunately, most of the time the bits of kit just don’t work, or worse take twice the time to use and clean up than just doing the ‘old fashioned’ way. Alton Brown is my hero when it comes to what he calls ‘unitaskers’. And the only permissible unitasker in his books is the fire extinguisher. I tend to agree.
That said, there are a few items that every cook should have in their kitchen. The first is an instant read thermometer. A top quality instant read thermometer is something you will use pretty much every time you cook. A cheap imitation will be buried in the back of your drawer faster than you can say “this piece of garbage…”. My favorite, and the one that is generally considered to be the best, is the Thermopen . Available by mail order only, it is indispensable in my kitchen. I use it to measure the temp of water to bloom yeast (105-115 degrees), the temp of baking break (200+), to check meat on the grill or in the smoker, or to gauge poultry in the oven. Tonight I used mine to make sure the smoked burger patty in the frying pan was fully cooked without having to cut into it and let the juices out.
The Thermopen is quick, accurate and has a very small tip that makes the smallest puncture in your food, which preserves juices and keeps it from looking like it got cooked on a dart board.
Some Lilies from our garden – a beautiful reminder of a summer slipping away from us day by day
Yesterday we had a visit from our friends Rick and Laurie, and their awesome kids Kyle and Caitlee. They have recently moved to our home town from the coast, and it is great to have them here.
At long last, we finally found some time to get together and have brunch here around our kitchen table. They have been busy settling into their new home, and that all takes time so between that and our busy schedules, this was our first real chance to get together and have a visit.
Brunch was the usual fare, Pop’s Pancakes, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit and a few toppings were the main course. A few drinks, both adult and something for the kids topped it off. But hands down, the best part was the company. The kids are great, Caitlee ran the feet off of Eve and Harley, a bit of Call of Duty on the PS3 let Kyle show me exactly how bad… no, pathetic I am at video games. It was really nice visit just hanging for the afternoon with R&L, and catching up on life.
One of the things I love most about food in general and cooking with or for friends, is the social aspect that goes along with it. Going out for brunch or dinner is great, but it is on a schedule with people all around and severs bustling to and fro. Cooking at home is so much more relaxed and social, brunch can go 5-6 hours without a server coming to ask if you are EVER going to leave, and you can just sit back, relax and enjoy. It doesn’t have to be grandiose, the point is the people at the table, the food is just the excuse to get together.
We had a great relaxed visit, and there is no better way to spend a day in my books. Taking a few hours from our hectic schedules to just stop and ‘smell the roses’ is something that we all need to do more often. Time passes, and before we know it we have lost touch with some of those who mean the most. Take a few min, put on a pot of coffee and call some friends over for a social afternoon. It is time that will pay you back with memories to keep dear.
Thanks to Rick and Laurie and the kids for a wonderful and memorable afternoon! We look forward to seeing you guys again soon!
Best Budz!One pooched puppy – dreaming of his next time with his new playmate
This monster was constructed with one of my Savoury Italian Burger patties
Well, today was a day of hamburger making. I decided that it was a good day to knock out my recipe for Savory Italian Burgers, and to spark up the smoker and put up a few dozen smoked burger patties in the freezer.
This is why Food Stylists exist – to make food look as good as it tastes. Smoked burger patties don’t look like much, but they are tasty
Fall has arrived it seems, quite suddenly at that, and being in the interior of BC my smoking season will come to an end before too much longer. As a result, I have been running a bunch of meat thru the smoker the last little while and putting the product in the freezer so that thru the winter we can still get a smoky taste of summer.
At the end of the day, I have ended up with 4 dozen smoked burger patties, a dozen smoked Italian Sausage and a hell of a messy smoker. Over the winter, I will do up another couple of batches of the burger, but it will go to towards pan grilled burgers, or using the meat in pasta sauce or other hearty winter eats.
I hope everyone is having a great Labour Day long weekend!
Happy Sunday my intrepid followers (both of you), I hope you are having a great weekend. With the cooler and unsettled weather of the last couple of days, I have found myself getting the urge to do some baking.
When it comes to food, I am very seasonally driven. During the hotter months, I prefer lighter and fresher dishes. In the cooler months it tends to be heavier, stick to your ribs food. Baking is something I really enjoy, but save for special occasion cakes or pies from time to time, I don’t do a lot of it in the summer.
I found myself having some leftover buttermilk in the fridge, so I decided to use it up on some baking. Looking to do something different, I went to my go to site for recipes and general food related information.
Now I should declare here and now that I am a huge devotee of the Christopher Kimball consortium of test kitchens – America’s Test Kitchen, Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country. I have the PVR set to catch the shows on PBS, I have print subscriptions to Cooks illustrated and Cooks Country, and website subscriptions to all three. The information on the sites is huge in volume, and very high in quality. If I am looking for a recipe, this is where I turn first before going into the office and starting to thumb thru the volumes of cookbooks I possess.
After exploring a number of options I settled on something new to me, a Lemon Buttermilk Sheet Cake. The tang and richness of the buttermilk, and a load of lemon flavor from both zest and juice looked to be just what I was in the mood for. The recipe is pretty straight forward, but unfortunately I can’t post it on the site here as it is of course copyrighted. Sorry!
So after carefully following the recipe, this is the finished product:
Fast forward a few hours, and it is time to try it out. Wow… With both the both lemon juice and lemon zest giving flavour to the cake, the punch of lemon was really nice. Then there is the glaze for the top that contains lemon juice, and a sugar topping to be sprinkled over the glaze that is a mix of sugar and zest.
Lemon Buttermilk Sheet Cake from Cooks Country
The recipe, as with most things I have made from the Cooks Empire, was bang on. The lemon flavour was perfect, the glaze and sugar on the top divine. This is my new favorite cake, and my Chief Food Taster is in complete agreement.
This is not really surprising as they employ very well-funded test kitchens, so each recipe is the final result of very exhaustive testing. If you are interested in learning about cooking, the recipes also include an article that details what went on during the testing, what worked, what didn’t, and what they came up with in the end. Very often there is detailed information on the reasons why something worked or didn’t, and for me anyway that is the best way to learn. I highly recommend a subscription to the websites, it will be money very well spent if you wish to expand your culinary horizons.
In the same vein, I also highly recommend Alton Browns two cook books, ‘Just here for the Food’ and ‘Just here for more Food’. These books followed up his series ‘Good Eats’ which unfortunately has been squirreled away by the Food Network so that they can feed us the current crop of game show garbage that is more mind-numbing than useful or entertaining. Anyway, that is a rant subject for another time…
Well, I hope you have all had a great weekend, and that the week coming up is a good one for you!
Well, it has been a busy time in our home the last couple of weeks. That combined with a crazy week at work, and I haven’t had much chance to do anything here.
Kathy and I have decided to sell our home, and downsize a bit. Anytime one makes such a decision, there is a lot of work that comes along with preparing for listing. Oh… and I guess we need to find a new home too. It will (may) all happen in good time, but at the moment things are just a bit busy.
One of my periodic projects, is to cycle thru the contents of the deep freeze. Frozen prepared meals resulting from past projects and experiments, as well as ingredients for something yet to be created hang out in the cold waiting to be called into action. As most things only last so long before the process of freezer burn renders them less than useable, I do try to work thru the contents from time to time.
Then once the space is created, it is back to stocking the upright freezer with new creations and ingredients. For the last week or two we have worked thru the meals, and this weekend is ‘Meatapolooza’ – the celebration of taking various meats out of the freezer and running them thru the smoker. Todays projects were pork chops and chicken thighs, as well as a couple of sausages that were left over and begging for a hit of smoke. Tomorrow will be a dozen of my Italian burger patties and a handful of Turkey Burger Patties. Then I have about half a prime rib roast that will see some smoke, just not this weekend.
Part of the motivation for doing a Meataplooza is that I need to begin to prepare my digestive system for next weekend – Ribfest!
I will post from the Ribfest, as my gooey fingers allow. We have two major events next weekend, a great car show called Hot Nights in the City, as well as Ribfest which I refer to as Meat Sweats in the Park.
Alright, off to pull the chicken from the smoker. Take a minute if you have time and check out todays culinary creation, Savor Apple Sauce.
