use real butter

choosing carefully, choosing well
I made it out to Williams-Sonoma as I was ready to shop for a new addition to my cookware. I got to use the certificate that Michelle gave me - which makes it all the more special. I have been slowly acquiring The Array of Cookware that suits my needs. I hate cooksets. Here is why: No serious cook will ever find the ideal pan for every need in a cookset. It is impossible. Cooksets don’t come with a cast iron skillet for one thing. Secondly, none of the surfaces are all-purpose enough if your repertoire spans more than three styles of cooking. I have an excellent sauté pan for searing. I have an excellent double boiler for pastries and confections. I have a lovely non-stick griddle pan… What I wanted was a high quality non-stick pan for stir fry. I have plenty of workhorse non-sticks, but few can withstand the high heat without warping for more than two or three years.

getting technical about chinese cooking
Some people are intimidated when they walk into Williams-Sonoma because the staff are very knowledgable. I wish REI employees knew as much about the gear they sell as WS employees know about the equipment they sell. These people COOK. So I inquired about the 8.5 quart non-stick dutch oven. The lady didn’t understand why you would want one non-stick. I explained that I wanted it for chinese cooking - that woks are only useful under flames that few domestic ranges can produce and that the high sides of a dutch oven and the wide base allow for clean tossing and even heating for all ingredients. She was intrigued and we discussed the technique at length. She asked if I would invite her over for dinner sometime! In the end, the race between Calphalon and All Clad has been tied in my kitchen. I came away with this:

After the sale and the certificate, it cost me $25. Beautiful. Works for sautés, soups, stews, braising, etc.

decorating with junk
I finally figured out what to do with all of those business cards I’ve collected lo these many years. Some of the best foods I’ve sampled.

After all of that, you’d think I’d have used the new pot for cooking, but no. I like to covet a couple of days before initiation… I made Darling’s Pasta (Jeremy’s parents’ recipe). [Note to self: always buy fresh or frozen tortellini, the dried stuff tastes like crap. Another note to self: if pesto is puke green, don’t buy it.] The ingredients are: pasta, chicken, olive oil, garlic, pesto, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, and pine nuts topped with freshly ground pepper and freshly grated parmesan.



Boil pasta al dente. Sauté garlic in olive oil. Add chicken and fry until cooked. Add tomatoes, peppers, pesto and pine nuts - mix. Stir in pasta and cook for another 3 minutes.



Remove from heat and top with pepper and cheese. Serve hot.

It’s amazing how your entire day can whittle away as you tend to small chores. We managed to get a lot done. The gear room/area is at 25% completion. Pics to come when it’s done, Ro. You’ll dig it! In my efforts to conserve water, I collect warm up water (when you wait for shower or kitchen sink water to warm up) or produce rinse water and administer it to the various plants in the yard that need it. The fun part is, I can get to some of them from the deck:

Shortly after I did this exercise, the valley looked like this:



And then within minutes, our coffee table top (still waiting for a base) looked like this:



I love this weather. The overcast day was just what I needed (heat wimp = me). This evening, as Jeremy implemented my gear rack idea, I prepared my first real dinner in the kitchen: thai larp. Fresh ingredients are a must for this meal. I use ground turkey for my version. Mince garlic, ginger root, and green onion. Stir fry in hot oil until fragrant. Add ground turkey and cook fully. Add lime juice, fish sauce, and chili paste - simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in ground peanuts, chopped red onions, fresh cilantro and fresh mint.

Serve with fresh cabbage leaves and basil.

Okay, it’s time for bed - Fiona comes over tomorrow morning and we head for the Continental Divide!

No, not the house, but for all intents and purposes, the kitchen - she is done. I had been toying with asking my neighbor for some aspen log cuttings so I could build some bookcases to go under the kitchen bar. But the more I looked into the various materials, the more I desired some pre-fab, particle board, DIY kit, cheap thing… my answer came today in the form of a $25 bookcase that ACTUALLY FIT the dimensions I needed, while looking for faux wood touch-up marker at McGuckin’s for my crappy busted particle board bookcases that got dinged yet again… Me and particle board - we go way back. These two bookcases fit to within 1/2 inch of the space needed (b/c there are drawers and cabinet doors to the right).

You see, I hate kitchen bars and I hate bars in general. People rarely sit at the bar, and if they ARE sitting at the bar, they are usually in my way. [I also don’t like the social dynamics of sitting at the bar if there are more than 2 people - but that’s a sushi bar issue…] If I had my druthers, I would have demolitioned the bar out of the kitchen completely - set up my Vardes and some stainless steel worktables and really turned it into a kitchen machine. There’s more flexibility with movable furniture versus some fixed thing nailed to your floor. Anyway, so I hate kitchen bars and I was really annoyed with the one we now “own”. The best use of that space was none other than my cookbooks (too shallow for cookware shelving b/c the diameter of the big pans exceeds the depth of the space), but most bookcases are made in dimensions not suited to fit under a retarded kitchen bar.

another view

Huzzah! I am quite pleased with the salvaging of space, the savings in cost and time, and the excellent access of my culinary library (which I even culled before moving!).