Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker

One of my NYC friends, Kristie Nybo PhD wrote an amazing article on BioTechniques where she is an editor about the Prefect Turkey, Sous Vide style.  The article can be read here.  I know what your thinking, that was three years ago and you still remember her article and are finally saying something?  I know I know, I'm slow.   A few weeks ago I was at Target and saw the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker that my friend Kristie recommended.  March 19 I reached my 39th birthday and asked my husband for my own Sous Vide Precision Cooker.    My husband said yes to my gift request!  The particular model I picked up is this one.  My Sous Vide is attached to a 12 qt Cambro Container I bought at a local restaurant supply store.  The container I have is this model.  Also using the advice of Serious Eat's J. Kenji Lopez I use ping pong balls to insulate and keep the water temperature and evaporation under control.  I ordered my ping pong balls from Amazon here.  For my birthday I prepared NY Strip Steak with my new kitchen gadget, after cooking for an hour at 150 degrees I seared the steaks in a hot 12" Lodge Cast Iron Skillet.  Would you like to know more? Serious Eat's J. Kenji Lopez explains the virtues of Sous Vide cooking here.  I'm excited to try my gadget with many more recipes, Kenji also helped create a Anova Culinary App to be used in conjunction with the Sous Vide Precision Cooker.  The app can be found here.  My experience so far with the app is good, it has a lot of great articles and control option for the cooker.  If you like perfectly cooked meat, with consistent results every time and an easy method this is the best tool to use.  

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Baking Steel

A few months ago I decided to step up my pizza baking, I'm always trying to make better pizza.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a pizza oven built yet but this steel is a great way to make a perfectly mottled and crisp pizza crust.  Baking steel's are amazing, they conduct heat better than a stone does so they heat up and retain the heat better than a stone will.  This article on Serious Eats was a big help convincing me to get one.  I opted for a baking steel that had the same dimensions: i.e. width and length of my pizza stone.  The steel isn't the same thickness as my stone but that isn't as relevant.  The steel I have is made by NerdChef and I bought it through Amazon here.  I have the .375 inch thick steel.  The stone I have is from Amazon and I have had it for a few years.  The stone can be found here.  My baking steel is on the middle lower rack in my oven then above that on another rack I have the pizza stone.  Be sure to have the racks placed enough apart to have a pizza fit.   Also always preheat the steel and stone in your oven set to the highest temperature possible for at least an hour before baking pizza.   Another great article about how to use a baking steel is here.  this will be my next test I think, this technique and his dough recipe sound pretty awesome.  

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Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Enamel Dutch Oven

Remember my wild yeast starter and book about bread making?  I learned crusty bread needs steam and since a professional steam oven was way out of my price range the next best solution mentioned a variety of books and blogs was a dutch oven.  My yeast starter is getting bigger by the week so I needed to get serious about sourdough break baking.  After baking two loaves of sour dough bread in the 7.5 quart Lodge Dutch Oven I am a believer.  The bread was perfect and delicious.  I bought this dutch oven here.  You don't need the biggest Dutch Oven though, the 3 quart model would work well and your loaf would grow high versus wide like mine did.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Pressure Cooker Part 3

Have you heard about the latest in electric pressure cookers?  It's called the Instant Pot.   I left my pressure cooker in NYC with a friend since I had cooked chili in it for our very last Astoria Ward Halloween Party and Chili Cook-off.   We were moving and I had my friend Nellie hold onto the pressure cooker with the chili in it and bring it to church and told her to keep the pressure cooker after the activity.  Anyway point is I gave up my pressure cooker and have cooked without it for a little over a year.  Recently Amazon was celebrating receiving some award for excellence by giving every a discount of a little over $8 so I decided to take the plunge into the Instant Pot universe and buy one. I bought this particular instant pot.  This particular pressure cooker has over 16,000 reviews and averages 4 1/2 stars and is a Amazon #1 Best Seller so I figured all those reviews are very very good sign.  Today I'm using it for the first time to cook pork tenderloin.  We have a weekly food menu that calls for pork on Thursday's for dinner.  Pork tenderloin is one of the most versatile, inexpensive, and tender cuts of meat you can find.  I'll let you know what I think of it after I've tried it out on a few recipes.  

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Vita-Mix 5200 Blender

Many of my family and friends have already purchased Vita-Mix blenders, and have raved about them.  My mother-in-law, Vereen, showcased and sold them as one of her jobs.  My friend Tiffany inspired me when she bought her Vita-Mix reconditioned directly from Vita-Mix.  Since I love to cook, and will use all kitchen tools to my advantage, I figured it was time to upgrade my blender.   The next recipe I'll be posting, showcases my Vita-Mix as a method of blending the sauce, so be on the lookout for that later today.  This blender is amazing, why did I choose this blender versus a Blend-Tec?  Well I combed through various reviews of the two and the consensus was that the Vita-Mix has a better motor and will outlast the motor of the Blend-Tec.  The other consensus I read, is, the Vita-Mix blends green smoothies smoother then Blend-Tec.  These two important features sold me on the Vita-Mix.  We love smoothies at our house, and I tend to use my kitchen appliances frequently, so it needs to last.  We have the platinum finish and we got it from the Vita-Mix site here. If you watch the site and wait, they sometimes have one of the finishes on sale for $299, versus the normal price $379.  Another option is to buy it when it is at Costco during a roadshow.  Trust me, you will find reasons to use your Vita-Mix if you get one, and your children may also want to use it, like my teenage daughter.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: My Kitchen

As you remember, my family moved to a new apartment.  We didn't move to a bigger place, which meant my new kitchen set-up needed some help.  Our kitchen is about half the size, and if you have been a faithful reader, you know I have a lot of kitchen gadgets and appliances.  Have you ever tried to find a place for everything in your home when the places for stuff have been drastically reduced? This conundrum had me thinking.  What can I do with my new kitchen?  Good news, I found an answer.  I bought a stainless steel and chrome adjustable shelving unit from Costco and a stainless steel and chrome prep table from Seville Classics.  

Our open shelving has all our appliances, bakeware, and cookware easily accessible.
I have plugged in our appliances in a surge protector.  

My prep table is both storage for my buckets of flours, rice, and whole grains, oils,
and for my children's water bottle and water purifier.  I also have much needed
food preparation space.

Next to the stove is my small counter space that I store cooking utensils in storage caddies
from Ikea. They are organized into three categories: wood, stainless steel,
and nylon/silicone.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Mortar & Pestle

Recently I purchased the above pictured Mortar & Pestle (European term) or Molcajete (Latin term) for my birthday.  I was able to buy the mortar and pestle at Costco for $14 and some change.  This is a seasonal item in our Costco, probably if you were to go to a Latin Grocery store you might find one.  I went to a nearby Latin Grocery store and asked the clerk about finding a Molcajete and she ignored me. I could't tell if it was because she did't speak English or because I was a Gringo.  I wanted a Molcajete style Mortar & Pestle because they are bigger than a traditional European Mortar & Pestle.  Ikea sells a Mortar & Pestle, but it is small.  I have seven people to feed, (sort of) and so I wanted a big Mortar & Pestle.  Now to using this particular Mortar & Pestle. It comes unfinished.  What do I mean by unfinished? I mean the finish is straight cut stone and it needs to be finished before using or you will have pieces of stone in your food.  I opted for the cheat method versus the traditional method.  At Home Depot, I purchased a 3" wire brush attachment for a corded drill.  On our balcony, in the cold, I scoured the stone surface and tried to smooth the surface as much as I could.  Then I rinsed it, let it dry and repeated two more times.  After the wire brush/rinse routine, I then used the traditional grinding rice method to remove the last remnants of stone dust.  Grinding rice is therapeutic.  Yes it is, because you see results as you grind that poor defenseless rice into dust and this doesn't hurt anybody.  I made guacamole the first time I used it.  Oh my goodness, is that so worth it.  I made a paste with cilantro, onion, and the jalapeño, before adding the avocado and lime juice.  Wow, I love guacamole made this way.  On the next day, I made the pesto recipe I posted, and again I was blown away by how wonderful the flavors are heightened by the simple act of crushing them versus cutting them in a food processor.  Having made pesto in a food processor and now in a Mortar & Pestle, I wholeheartedly endorse this Mortar & Pestle/Molcajete from Casa Maya.  In my Amazon store widget you will find a link to the Molcajete I have and use.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Countertop Rotisserie

My family and I love rotisserie chicken from Costco, remember my post about their chicken?  I have been thinking about a rotisserie for awhile. When we had a gas grill I wanted to get a rotisserie attachment but I never was able to find one.  I decided to get a countertop rotisserie instead since my grilling days might be long gone living in Queens now.  I bought the Ronco EZ Store Rotisserie Oven 5250 Series.  You can find this rotisserie through my aStore widget on the right hand side of my blog.

Here are my reasons:

1. It is small and can be taken apart and made more compact for easy storage, which I need in 

my small apartment.

2. 4 1/2 star rating on Amazon.

3. The price was right.

4. The features make it easy to use

I used my rotisserie to make Carnitas.   Oh my goodness, was it easy to use and the pork tasted 

out of this world good.  I have plans for cooking lamb, beef, and chicken at some point.  I am 

so very excited to expand my cooking options.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Rice Cooker

Before we moved to Queens I had a rice cooker I bought at Costco.  It was also the Aroma Brand. When I went shopping for a rice cooker not long after moving here in Queens, I went shopping at Target and found this 20 cup Aroma Rice Cooker.  It has several functions including slow cooker and steamer.  I have used this to make white and brown rice, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and also sweet potatoes.  This cooker has a delay start timer so I can put the food in it and set it to be ready when we are ready to eat.  Check it out on Amazon here.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Pressure Cooker Part 2

My mom was telling me about this pressure cooker, pictured above.  This is a FAGOR 3 in 1 Multi-cooker.  She bought it from Amazon here.  Chef Brad also recommends this Pressure Cooker because it is so versatile and has more functions.  His review can be found here.  This particular pressure cooker works as a pressure cooker, rice cooker, and slow cooker.  My mom has used the slow cooker function to make a one pot meal of beef roast and vegetables, and also the pressure cooker function to make split pea soup.  If ever my pressure cooker should stop working, this will be the pressure cooker I get next.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Belgian Waffle Iron

I have had this waffle iron twice now.  The first one was sold when we were getting ready to move to Queens.  It is a single Waring Pro Belgian Waffle Iron.  I bought it at Costco both in California and here in Queens for $39 I think.  It is a wonderful waffle iron.  The first time I used it several years ago, I sprayed it with cooking spray before cooking the waffles, the second time I cooked the waffles without cooking spray and realized the waffles had a more even browning and looked better.  The batter doesn't stick and I clean the waffle iron by wiping it with a damp cloth.  Before I moved to Queens, I could buy the Waring Double Waffle Iron you see below for $69 at Sam's Club.  I didn't buy the double waffle iron since we were moving and I thought I could buy it after we got to Queens.  When I moved here to Queens, I learned that Sam's Club no longer sold the double waffle iron, insert unhappy face here.  Oh well, you can find it at Amazon here and it has 4 1/2 out of 5 stars rating, with over 400 reviews.  We have really enjoyed this waffle iron and truthfully, Belgian Waffles taste the best, you can use the recipe I shared here.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Electric Kettle

I have an electric kettle like this one.  I bought it at Costco for $20.  I really like the convenience of this kettle.   It heats up the water faster than a microwave.  I used it to heat up water for tea, hot chocolate, preparing oatmeal in the morning faster, and also for brining the beans today.  This is a very simple kettle with an on/off switch and a clear view of the water level and also a screen in the pour spout.  I highly recommend this simple kettle if you want a very versatile kitchen appliance.  To view it on Amazon, click here.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Electric Pressure Cooker

Remember how I said three small kitchen appliances came with me when we moved from California to here in Queens?  This is the third appliance to round out those three.   I have already posted about the other two.  This beautiful appliance was a Christmas gift from my youngest sister Adrienne.  It is an awesome wonderful appliance.  This particular electric pressure cooker can be found here if you have a membership or here.  This appliance has done a multitude of different meals for me.  Why do I like this appliance so much?  Let me count the ways: 1. It is faster to cook in. 2. Because it is faster your food isn't watered down and overcooked. 3. It is compact. 4. It can do as much as an oven in less time, using less energy. 5.Very easy to use.  I have cooked baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, pumpkin, soup, chicken broth, beef pot roast, black beans, shredded chicken, pork roast, and many other foods can be cooked in this lovely appliance.  My mom had traditional pressure cookers in different sizes that she used to make a special Sunday dinner, Swiss steak.  I have fond memories of that meal and have made it myself using this pressure cooker and it is so much easier than using a stove top pressure cooker.  If you go here you will see a Consumer Search article about my pressure cooker.  It is rated best in that review.  Good Housekeeping compares stove top and electric pressure cookers here.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Immersion Blender

Three small kitchen appliances were part of the few items I brought with me when we moved to Queens.  One of those was my red KitchenAid immersion blender, as pictured above.  Why do I have an immersion blender when I can use a blender?  It saves valuable kitchen storage real estate.  My immersion blender can be used to mix and chop food while it is in the bowl, pot, or pan I was preparing it in.  When I make refried beans in my pressure cooker, or when I made them in the slow cooker I once had, I was able to remove liquid and blend the beans without moving them.  I have made broccoli soup and potato soup and used the immersion blender to blend the ingredients in the stock pot instead of pouring them into a blender and back into the pan.  I even used Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" mayonnaise recipe to make homemade mayonnaise with my immersion blender.  I like that my immersion blender has a blade shaft that comes off and offers a small piece to clean instead of a blender pitcher and blade when I used a blender.  This morning I used my immersion blender for making the popover batter because it was an early morning and the immersion blender is a lot quieter than my full size blender.  Whether you would like one or not, consider buying one with multiple speed settings, and a blade shaft that is removable and easily cleaned.  Many immersion blenders now have various attachments, whether you pick one of those is up to you.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Food Dehydrator

My mom had a dehydrator with pull out shelves and a clear front.   I thought it was pretty cool, the fruit leather she made in it.  A few months ago I looked into getting a food dehydrator since my children like dried food and I wanted to make my own.  I researched through forums and read different opinions and the food dehydrator pictured above was mentioned as a good choice for the home.   It worked better than another more expensive brand.  You can see more information about the dehydrator I have here and that is also where I purchased it.  This dehydrator can be expanded.  You can buy more layers.  It is compact for the small space I have, and it is easy to use.

I have made apple fruit leather, dried cranberries, pineapple, and dehydrated rice so far.  I'm hoping to make some jerky soon, I just need to buy some meat first.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Ice Cream Maker

I have been thinking about replacing the ice cream maker that I sold before we moved here to Queens for the entire time we have lived here.  For Christmas I decided to surprise my family with the ice cream maker pictured above.  My sister in law, Rachelle, has this ice cream maker I believe, and whenever she brought ice cream to family functions, my husband said it was the best he had ever had.  I bought mine from Amazon here.  I think that it does very well.   I have made ice cream, frozen custard, and gelato.   All of them have turned out yummy.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Pasta Machine

My mom has a pasta machine.   I don't remember seeing her use it.  I do remember borrowing it though.  When I moved away from my mom, I didn't get to borrow her pasta machine anymore.  I decided after trying to roll out pasta with a rolling pin, that I needed a pasta machine.  I purchased a pasta machine from Bed, Bath & Beyond near my apartment for $20.  Since we now eat homemade pasta and ramen noodles, it seemed like a very good investment.

You can also buy it from Amazon here.

Why use a machine instead of a rolling pin? Let me count the reasons for you.

1. Dough is rolled all the same thickness.

2. Pasta/noodles are all cut the same.

3. A lot easier than rolling it out.

4. Faster than rolling it out.

5. My patience isn't tested along with my muscles.

I have used my pasta machine to make tortillas, crackers, pasta, and ramen noodles. 

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Stove/Oven

My husband began work in New York City a month before my children and I joined him.  The idea was to give him a month to find an apartment so when we showed up we didn't have to live in a hotel. I told my husband please pick an apartment that has a good kitchen, when I said good kitchen my idea was more like my kitchen in my house ie a stove, ample counter space, and maybe a dishwasher.  I told him I would give up an elevator and choose a third floor walk-up for a good apartment(a walk-up means no elevator and only stairs).  A friend also recommended a window too.  I had a white basic gas Maytag stove/oven in our house, not fancy but it worked.  My husband had some trouble finding a three bedroom apartment, we have four children so we wanted a little bit bigger apartment then the average NYC apartment.  

Many friends had ideas about where we should live but we ended up focusing on Queens.  Not long before the month was up my husband found an apartment with a good kitchen, three bedrooms, and in the neighborhood we chose.  He sent me pictures of the apartment and I was in shock, literally!  The kitchen looked better then my kitchen in my house, it looked the kitchen I dreamed about building.  

To reach the part of the story that is prevalent, the part of the kitchen that truly astounded me was the Viking Professional stove/oven.   I was sold, he signed the lease and the rest is history as they say.  A little about this oven, when my husband was home for the gas to turned on he was talking with the technician who told him our apartment stove was a $10,000 stove, WHAT!  Seriously, our landlord lived in the apartment and made huge upgrades and renovations to the place.  The funny part of the story about the stove is he didn't even cook.  

The sad part of the stove came when we realized very quickly that the oven part of the stove was broken.  Many months after we explained to the management company about our stove being broken they were able to find a technician who could even look at the oven, many companies refused to come out.  

Now that the oven works, I have a convection oven that heats evenly and cooks faster.  My bread that I just made cooked a little faster then it would have in a conventional oven.  Here's the truth though, if this were my house I would not have bought a Viking Professional Stove/Oven.  

Part of my complaints about Vikings stem from the broken control panel that ended up being the reason the oven wasn't working when we moved in, that part was $600 to replace, and on all the cooking forums, I read this is a common complaint with owners of Vikings, that the parts in the oven are susceptible to heat damage, say what! Exactly how does an oven manufacturer not see the design flaw in putting parts in the oven that can break from heat.  My opinion is the oven/stove now that is works are amazing, yes they are better then my basic oven.  Should you spend $4,200(I looked up the price) to get your own? No, it isn't worth it.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Stainless Steel Pots & Pans

Pots and pans, I have used a lot of sets of pots and pans and used them to the end of their lives.  I have used non-stick cookware, both traditional Teflon and ceramic, I have used Stainless Steel, aluminum, and I have used cast iron.  Every cookware has a purpose, each has attributes that lend to being the best for certain applications.  My main cookware is the above set.  I bought it at Costco, it is the Kirkland Signature 18/10 Stainless Steel set.  The set can be seen here.  What is stainless steel you ask?  WiseGeek says "Stainless steel is an alloy composed of two to three metals; steel, chromium and in some instances, nickel. The chromium in the alloy prevents or reduces the formation of rust in stainless steel. Higher quality stainless steel has nickel as part of the alloy along with chromium. Nickel works with chromium to increase stainless steel’s resistance to corrosion and rusting.

Stainless steel is a favorite of many cooks because it is a non-reactive metal. This means that it can be used to cook foods with heavy alkaline or acidic content without the stainless steel reacting to and changing the taste and appearance of the food. The non-reactive nature also means that stainless steel will not corrode or pit when it comes into contact with acidic or alkaline foods. In comparison, cookware made with aluminum and cast iron that is not coated nor anodized does react with acidic or alkaline foods."

 Another benefit to stainless steel is the ability to brown meat and create "fond" the bits of stuck on food bits that when a liquid(ie broth, water, wine) is added to them can be made into a fantastic sauce.

Years ago my husband and I bought a set of stainless steel pans we saw in an infomercial with a famous chef I shall not name.  When we got the pans I used them and I was disappointing because my food kept sticking and they were very hard to clean.  I decided I was not meant to use stainless steel and switched to anodized aluminum non-stick until last year.  These past few years I have thought often about switching to stainless steel again because they are more durable and produce better results.  I had been contemplating the pans pictured above for months waiting for the right time to buy them, that came when once again my non-stick pans were scratched and the non-stick was peeling on one of them.  My husband bought me an inexpensive set of pans before we moved here, since we sold most of our kitchen wares.  I used the red pans(the reason why he chose them was the color is my favorite) for a year, not bad.  Did you know that stainless steel can be cooked in such a way as to be nonstick, I didn't switch partly because of the mess I would make of food when using them.  Click here for the best tutorial on cooking with stainless steel pans ever, she opened my eyes to the possibility of cooking.  My last concern was the clean up, I scoured the internet(like that play on words?) for a way to clean stainless steel pans and what I found was just about everyone recommends Bar Keepers Friend, you can see it here.  

I have enjoyed my cookware, it isn't as high end as All-Clad, but it cooks as well for a fraction of the cost.  Cooking eggs successfully still eludes me though.  I have seared meat and sauteed vegetables and been very happy with the results.

Stephanie's Kitchen Drawer: Scale

I learned the virtue of a kitchen scale years ago, but recently even more.  When I started grinding my own spelt I learned that freshly ground grains don't measure the same as flour that I purchase milled by a factory.  I stated converting the cup measurements to weight measurements using online converters, an example is here.  

On the Joy of Baking website is says "Professionals seldom measure their ingredients by volume (cups). They usually prefer measuring by weight, and there are many reasons for this. Baking is not like cooking where you can add a little extra of this ingredient or leave out that ingredient. Baking is all about precision and accuracy so that you can achieve consistent results. And there are so many variables when baking - your ingredients, how you measure your ingredients, the mixing technique, your pans, temperature and humidity, and your oven. Some of these variables are hard to control, but you can control accuracy by weighing ingredients. Unfortunately this is not always true when measuring by volume (cups), especially with dry ingredients. One excellent example is flour. If you "dip" the measuring cup into the flour bag you will get a different amount of flour than if you "spoon" the flour into your measuring cup. This is because flour tends to compact with transportation and storage and there is also the problem of humidity affecting its' density (volume). However, neither of these things will affect the weight of flour. Because a 130 grams of flour is always 130 grams of flour."  More information can be found here

The pictured scale I bought at Costco on sale for $12, it does everything you need a kitchen scale to do. It has multiple measurement choices, on/off button, and a Tare(zeros out weight) button.  I use mine to measure ingredients, also to measure dough so I can portion it equally.  I like when I make two loaves of bread to be the same amount of dough, and my tortillas all to be the same relative size.  This scale can also be found at Amazon here.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQMGFDI?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=B00AQMGFDI&tag=quefoomam-20