Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category
A Little Wear, A Little Tear with Knives and Skillets
Ok, today lets talk upkeep. Sure you have a $1,000 su vide machine, sure you shop only at Whole Foods and farmers markets and order special ingredients online, sure you have every one-use toy the local kitchen supply shop sells, but is that gonna make delicious food? Well.. probably, yeah, but you’re still far better served focusing on your two best tools in a kitchen: your pan and your knife. So like your ingredients, treat them with respect! I bang my gear all around the kitchen enough to scare my roommate from coming within 10 feet of the stove, but after the foray of tossing ingredients around, making messes and hurting myself, I always debrief and make sure my knives and main tools are properly maintained.
If you’re lucky enough to find a untreated/unseasoned skillet in your local supply stores buy it immediately. These guys will last FOREVER if taken care of properly. I plan on passing my skillet to any future spawn I may have or leave it to someone in my will. I’m not even kidding about this. House burns down, I’m digging through the rubble for my skillet then calling friends and family to say I’m alright.
The concept is simple: Cast iron is porous. When heated metal pores open more. When heated and rubbed with oil, oil seeps into pores treating the metal. It takes a few applications to break-in the skillet, but by seasoning it, you distribute heat more evenly, prevent any rust from forming and basically help cook anything and everything perfectly.
Road Trips, Cooking and Robots
Well some of you may have noticed a little drop in posts this last week, and for that I’m sorry. What was expected to be a quiet and relaxing vacation visiting the folks for the first time in many years ended up turning into a bit of a shit show. Oh don’t worry, I cooked. I cooked my heart out and was never short of people to feed, but the writing just never got done thanks in part to comments at 4:00 pm like my Dad saying, “Did you want to try some of the ‘87 Napa Valley Cab we opened last night? We saved you a few glasses.” Or my mother offering to take me to the local resturant supply warehouse to pick up a few new toys. Or an old friend that I haven’t seen in years, is unemployed and calling to see if I want booze, pre-happy hour. It was a great trip but glad to be back home and settling back into my routine of work, blog, eat, drink.
I did however get a little work done. Made friends with the gang over at Endless Simmer, and they were even nice enough to put one of my posts on baby octopus on their site. It’s a solid crew of food aficionados and I’m really looking forward to trading recipes, talking shit about Food Network and geeking out about weird ingredients with them. No doubt plenty of delicious food to come.
Also, Nuts and Bolts is continuing to grow with some updated walkthoughs and techniques so check it out.
Finally, I found this little article a little while back. It’s as amusing as it is troubling, but when Judgment Day – Terminator style, finally does arrive, just remember that we taste like one of the best substances on Earth to robots… so there’s that. Pleasant dreams.