It occurred to me this morning that it might be helpful to go back a few steps and set the scene a bit. There are a few new visitors here, and even those who have visited before, I’ve never talked extensively about my cooking skill or my kitchen.
Cookbooks. My own photo. (c)2013 Reese M.
My cooking skills are about average I think. I’ve been cooking on my own long enough to have learned a few things (like timing), and I’m comfortable with my ability to make pretty much anything out of a standard cookbook.
Here’s the thing though – I don’t usually cook (strictly) from a cookbook.
Cookbooks for me are more like places to get good ideas. I find a recipe I like, and I almost always tweak it. Sometimes I go way beyond just taking out the onion. I don’t measure (not really anyway), I “eyeball it” a lot. I almost feel a little embarrassed by admitting that, given that I have some truly fantastic cookbooks. Please note: I am not doing my usual “tweaking” thing for Ruhlman’s Twenty. I am following each recipe as written, adjusting only for quantity since I’m cooking for two.
My kitchen may not rise to the level of “dream kitchen”, but it’s still a great kitchen. It’s large for the size of place my husband I live in, so storage isn’t really a problem. The appliances are in good working order, although the stove top and the oven date back to the 1960′s (a real-life testament to the old adage “they just don’t make them like they used to”).
Tools of the trade. My own photo (c)2013 Reese M.
My pots and pans are brand-spanking-new, which I swear is a complete coincidence. I had cooked for years on a set that my husband bought as a bachelor from Costco. They served him well for 12 years, 10 of them with me. I would have even kept a few of them, but they had begun to warp. Let me tell you, there is nothing more annoying than using a pan that does not lay flat. So during the holiday season, we bought a new set of pots and pans. You may not be able to tell in this picture, but we settled on the Calphalon “Unison” set. The red dutch-oven-and-pan is by Le Creuset, which is also new as I received it for Christmas. It performed beautifully the other night when I made Coq au Vin.
That concludes the tour of the kitchen. See you all later today – I’ll be covering the Acid section.
Looking at your kitchen makes me want to invite myself over to personally taste your Twenty/20 project. Plus, I have new jewelry from Xmas and nowhere to wear it.
Ha! Well I’m sure something can be arranged! Feel free to drop me an email, you can send it to msbookishgirl [at] gmail.
Do you watch Tpo Chef? The chef from Dallas John messed up his risotto because he used a large pan that wasn’t flat rather than user smaller pans and make batches. He was sent home.
I have seen Top Chef, but it has been a while since I’ve seen an episode. Having a flat pan is so important, but you don’t think about that kind of thing until you have warped pans!