equipment

Setting up my new Kitchen

January 15, 2017 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I recently bought a house, so for the last while I’ve been working on getting it ready and moving my stuff into it. As someone who enjoys cooking getting the kitchen setup the way I want is key.

The house I’ve been in for the last 13 years has a very spacious kitchen, but it wasn’t the best equipped. The work surfaces, for example, weren’t exactly generous. Also the fridge freezer had a really tiny freezer compartment, which was quite annoying. I don’t rely much on frozen food, but I do use the freezer compartment for some things, such as frozen berries and the like for smoothies, as well as extra meat when I find those irresistible bargains. The current freezer compartment was so small that you couldn’t even see what was in it half the time, so you’d end up with things being buried at the back. The new fridge freezer is a “half and half”, so I’ll have more space and I might actually be able to see what’s in it!

The new house’s kitchen isn’t as big, but it’s a lot better equipped, or at least it will be by the end of the week.

There’s also a double oven, builtin microwave and a dishwasher.

As far as I can tell everything is working correctly except for the 4 ring gas hob, which I’m replacing with a new 5 burner from Siemens:

It turns out that the current hob, which isn’t working properly anyway, wasn’t installed correctly so it could be a safety risk! The new hob will be installed by a certified gas installer and will have a warranty.

As you can see from the photo of the kitchen above there are plenty of worktops in the new kitchen as well as a reasonable amount of cupboard space. Having a dishwasher for the first time makes me very happy – I hate washing up and it’s always been one of those things that I let pile up beside the sink until I had to deal with it. Now I’ll be able to load it into the machine and it’ll be out of sight 🙂

When you start delving into the world of kitchen organisation you quickly find that there are hundreds of things you can get to help organise your cupboards, drawers and even your fridge. For now I’ll be trying to keep it relatively simple, so I’ve ordered an extendible cutlery basket as well as a fridge tidy for holding bottles. As someone who likes craft beer the bottles were always rolling around on the shelves, so this little gizmo should help fix that. I know it might sound a little nutty, but the fact that the kitchen drawers in the new kitchen are so wide really makes me happy. My current kitchen has really narrow drawers that aren’t that deep, so no matter what I do it’s just a mess of junk in there.

The cupboards themselves are all fine, though one of the bigger ones is missing its shelf, so I’ll have to get that replaced, or I’ll won’t be able to make good use of the storage space.

So far I’ve resisted making a trip to Ikea in Dublin, though I know I’ll need to go soon, I’m just afraid I’ll end up buying a ton of stuff that I don’t really need!

Anyway, back to packing up my life!

A Quick and Easy Introduction to Using a Mortar and Pestle [Video]

November 27, 2016 by Michele Neylon 1 Comment

If you like cooking you’ll probably end up adding a mortar and pestle to your cooking arsenal at some point. I know I did.

But how do you use it properly?

While it’s pretty obvious that you put whatever you want to grind up or break down into the mortar and hit it with the pestle, doing it properly is another matter entirely.

A few simple tricks can make a big difference in how effective your usage and experience cooking with one of these ancient culinary tools can be.

This short, yet informative video, from Jamie Oliver does a very nice job of explaining how to use a mortar and pestle both properly and effectively.

The video is one of a series over on Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills.

If you’re looking to get your own mortar and pestle you’ll find them in any shop with a decent kitchenware section, or online via Amazon or eBay.

Cooking Steak And Vegetables With A Cast Iron Skillet

September 16, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I’ve always been fascinated by cast iron cookware. I’ve never really owned any of it, apart from some Le Creuset saucepans. Of course Le Creuset pans are usually enamelled, so a bit more refined, while “real” cast iron has that “rugged” thing going on.

While looking into cast iron cookware I discovered that most of the companies and brands were based in the US. There are a couple in Europe, but most of the better known brands were from some part of the US. In the end I opted for a Lodge pre-seasoned cast iron skillet.

I picked it up on Amazon for around €45. To say that it is “solid” would be an understatement – dropping it on my foot would probably result in broken bones!

If you want to learn more about how they make the cast iron cookware here’s a video about the entire thing:

So last night I was simply dying to try out my new “toy”. I had picked up a nice little steak as well as some vegetables.

I kept the cooking pretty simple. The skillet was new, so I gave it a rinse before using it. As the makers point out:

“consider that cookware is 400ºF in 4 minutes on medium heat and is sterile at 212º F, so soap isn’t always necessary.”

So basically unless you’re dealing with actual pieces of food etc., the simple heat will sterilise and kill everything that could harm you.

Once the skillet was hot I lightly grilled the vegetables (fresh chilli, onion, garlic, mushrooms and green pepper) for a few minutes before turning the heat up high to do the steak. As I like my steaks rare I wanted the metal as hot as possible to really sear the meat. It worked out really well and the end result was excellent. Admittedly I burnt my lips a bit on some of the chilli, but that’s the risk you run with chillis 🙂

I’ll be experimenting some more over the next few days..

Here’s what last night’s end result looked like:

Yes, it was damn good!

Misbehaving With The Actifry

August 27, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I bought an Actifry several years ago. It’s a nice device and solves a problem for me: chips without using a deep fat fryer. I’ve never liked deep fat friers. Unless you change the oil regularly they are really disgusting. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy fries, but I try to avoid cooking with vegetable oil entirely. I generally do most of my cooking with olive oil and even then I don’t like the idea of using large quantities of oil for anything.

Every now and again I get an overwhelming desire to eat chips. Maybe with a steak, maybe with a burger or maybe with something else. Sure, they’re not the healthiest food out there by a long shot, but there’s no point in being miserable all the time either. I’d also rationalise that cooking my own unhealthy food is better than taking a shortcut and going to a local chipper.

I buy my meat mostly from a small local butcher, which means that they often cut the steak directly in front of me. 99% of the meat I eat at home is grilled on my George Foreman. (Getting one with removable plates has made cleaning up so much easier!)

So this week I’ve succumbed to my desire for chips a couple of times. I don’t use frozen chips – I prefer to make my own. So I’ll buy potatoes, peel them and slice them before cooking them in the actifry.

Why am I even writing about this? Well I guess it’s partially my way of dealing with my own “guilt”. I’m currently not travelling, so I’m able to cook my own meals and control what I eat and drink. While I know I’ll buy some fresh kale later today, as well as plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, I also feel that I need to be realistic. I don’t eat 100% healthy food 100% of the time, but when I’m cooking it myself I do my best to use good quality ingredients.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be making lots of fresh soups, stews and salads. But I will still have a nice steak from time to time.

Kalita Wave Coffee Dripper

June 4, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I am a self-confessed coffee addict. Unless and until I’ve had a cup (or two) of coffee I don’t really feel like my day has started.

Over the years I’ve tried pretty much every type of coffee making contraption that exists. However recently I acquired a Kalita wave coffee dripper. It’s almost like going back in time to when I used to use filter coffee.

However the Kalita wave is a thing of beauty:

Instead of the quite nasty plastic that traditional filters use, the Kalita is available in a choice of metals. I opted for the stainless steel version, though there is also a really attractive copper one. Unfortunately the copper version would have cost practically double!

It makes a really good cup of coffee, though I’m not going to be weighing the exact quantities of coffee, water etc., that some people advise! (Who the hell has time for that?)

Slicing And Dicing Is Easier With Good Knives

May 8, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

Knives. Unless your kitchen is a very very sad place, you’ll probably have a few good cooking knives. No matter how big or varied the set of knives is you usually end up using one or two of those knives more than any others. At least in my experience anyway ..

A few years ago I bought a set of good quality Wusthoff knives. They’re very good and come in a nice solid wooden block. I even bought a similar set for my mother.

But there are always people coming out with new takes on how to design and construct knives. So a few months ago when I came across the Fini cutlery on Kickstarter I ordered a set. They were meant to arrive before Christmas, but in typical Kickstarter fashion they only arrived a few weeks ago. I was intrigued by the design and I rationalised the purchase on the simple grounds that you can never have too many good knives in your kitchen.

They were delivered a couple of weeks ago in a nicely presented box, though I doubt the box will last long.

I’ve been using them for the last few weeks and in summary they are fantastic to look at, incredibly sharp and most importantly, good to use.

Cutting, slicing, dicing etc., is a lot easier with a good knife and becomes an absolute pleasure when you have an excellent knife.

Their Kickstarter video explains why the design works so well:

Apart from a few minor mishaps where I put a bit too much of myself into my cooking (*cough*), I’ve been really enjoying working with the knives. The only thing they’re missing is a block or proper case, as the box they came in will disintegrate over time.

The much shorter handles do take a little bit of getting used to, but once you’ve changed how you hold them a little bit, I’ve found them to be easier to work with.

Later this afternoon I’ll be using them to prep and I’m looking forward to it!

Microwave Your Soup (Or Stew) Easily

February 1, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I’ll freely admit to being mildly addicted to kitchen gadgets and gizmos. Any time I’m in a reasonable sized mall in the US I end up in the kitchen department of Macy’s or in the local “Sur la Table”

One of the things I picked up on a recent trip was this microwave friendly soup mug from sistema. Yes, it’s also available in shops over here, but I picked it up along with a few other things 🙂

Anyway … I had been using my Stanley Classic Vacuum food jar, which I got a couple of years ago. The Stanley food jar works very well but I thought I’d give the sistema mug a go, as it’s a generous size 656 ml vs the Stanley’s 500 ml.

What’s interesting about the sistema soup mug is that it’s so sturdy. It’s got 3 clips that hold the lid on firmly and make a strong seal, so the liquid won’t seep out when you’re transporting it.

When you want to heat up the soup (or stew) you don’t need to take it out of the mug – it’s got a very well thought out air vent in the lid which you can simply pop open during the heating process.

One thing I did learn, however, is that heating up soups or stews can take a bit longer than you might expect. You’ll probably work out the right amount of time to leave something in the microwave with a little experimentation.

So you can eat the soup or stew directly from the mug once it’s heated up. Personally I prefer to move the heated up food to a proper bowl, but if I was in a hurry I’d probably eat it straight from the mug.

All in all it’s a pretty good way of transporting, storing and re-heating a single portion of soup or stew. Available on Amazon and other places.

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