New "cheffy" stuff (+ cake update)

BW and I stopped exchanging Christmas gifts several years ago. Instead, we usually buy ourselves a splurgy thing for the household, often for the kitchen. This year we considered getting a Vitamix, a manual grain mill, a food dehydrator, or a piece of LeCreuset enameled cast iron cookware (which has the added benefit of doubling as weight-lifting equipment!) But then we decided nah... we'd gotten our new iMac and new high(er)-speed ISP in the fall, and that would do. (Though we may revisit the LeCreuset when Valentine's Day or our anniversary rolls around!) ;-)

But that doesn't mean we didn't get a few new kitchen goodies! Robyn gave me a Tofu Xpress for Christmas (I've only used it a few times so far but am mighty impressed with the mighty Xpress and already wonder what I did without it!), and I used some gift money from my mom to buy the cookbook Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goodreau.

BW and I also went on a fun little shopping spree at our local kitchen shop right after Christmas with gift money from one of BW's customers. One of our purchases was a Cuisinart PrepBoard, which comes in three shapes: round, rectangular and square. Our kitchen shop just carries the square ones, but that's the shape I'd have chosen anyway. As you can see, it's perfect for serving an 8" square cake...

The cake in the photo is similar to the cake I made for my birthday, only this time I added 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to it and reduced the walnuts to 3/4 cup. I also spread it with a variation of Andrea's Simple Orange Glaze, which didn't turn out as "solid" as hers did, probably because I used maple syrup instead of evaporated cane juice, and a teaspoon of homemade vegan sour cream since I didn't have soy yogurt. But it was delicious, with a lovely orange color that looked especially nice with some coconut sprinkled on it. (The photo sucks of the cake, because I had to photograph it with a flash under artificial light. But it does a good job of showing how perfect the PrepBoard is for serving a square cake, which was my main intention!)

The PrepBoard isn't impervious to slicing and chopping activities - just like my bamboo cutting boards, it shows the knife cuts. But it's great for cutting juicy, liquidy foods like pickles, tofu, citrus fruits or cranberries since it catches all the liquid, and makes a pretty serving tray for more than just square cakes (as long as the food on it covers the knife scratches). ;-)

We also bought a pretty dish towel and a set of four nice table spoons we were very much needing, along with this Pot Minder, a little clay disc that sits in the bottom of a pan to keep it from boiling over. I cook a lot of potatoes, and invariably I also clean up a lot of potato boilover messes. Or I did, till I got this handy little gizmo! (It works well for pasta, too!)

But the face on the Pot Minder kept bugging me (especially when it's looking up at me from the bottom of a pot of boiling water!) He looks... familiar somehow. I couldn't shake the feeling that I know his face from somewhere. But where?

And then it came to me. The Swedish Chef from The Muppets! No really, check it out ~ they're practically twins! They even have the same mannerisms, with the très magnifique hand gesture!

I think it would have been funny if the Pot Minder came with a little waterproof, heatproof microchip in it that made it sing the Swedish Chef's "Bork bork bork!" song when the water came to a boil! :-)

In completely unrelated but slightly interesting news, today was my errand-running day in town. (That's not the interesting part. This next bit is.) When I left this morning it was 29ºF at our house. When I got down the mountain to town, about 15 miles away, it was 0º. When I left town 4 hours later it was 6º, and when I got back up the mountain to our house, it was 35º.

And that, my friends, is what a good altitude can do for you!

(snork snork snork!) ;-)

The poetry of perfect rice

Rice sticking, scorching,

Perfection was elusive;

Till perfect gadget.

~a Haiku by Laloo

:-)

If you've followed my blog awhile you know I'm fond of kitchen gadgets, with a preference, when possible, for the simple and non-electric. We'd pondered the purchase of a rice cooker for a couple of years (because when it comes to purchases, we can be very deliberate, slow ponderers!)...

You're probably asking, "Why would you want a rice cooker if you say you like simple, non-electric gadgets? What's simpler than a pan on the stove?" Okay, well, I think you should stop asking questions while I'm telling you my story. :-)~ The pan on the stove technique is the way we've always cooked rice, and it's also the reason we've been pondering a rice cooker. We were tired of having the pot boil over, having to babysit it until it would finally hit that sweet spot when it stops boiling and starts gently simmering, and having the rice frequently overcook or scorch and always stick to the bottom of the pan. We kept hearing good things from friends about their electric rice cookers, but when we'd browse for them and read reviews, we just weren't smitten enough. So we continued babysitting the rice, scrubbing the stove top, and scouring the bottom of the pot. Till one day...

We happened upon The Perfect Rice Cooker (or so it claimed) in our local kitchenwares store a few months ago. We decided to bring one home and give it a spin, and have been delighted with it. I think its claim to be the perfect rice cooker (or at least a perfect rice cooker) is justified (click on the above link to see how it works). There's no boiling over, overcooking, scorching or sticking, just perfect rice (and other grains) every time. There's also one with a stainless steel handle, but we really like our bamboo-handled version...

With organic short-grain brown rice, before cooking

With FatFree Vegan's Apple-Spice Oats,

all ingredients mixed and steamed together

With the lid (not used in the steaming process,

but to keep the cooked food warm)

We've used it a lot since we bought it, but still have plenty of grains and varieties of rice to experiment with. So far it's cooked steel-cut oats and jasmine, basmati, Wehani, and short and long-grain brown rice to - as its name suggests - perfection.

I haven't posted any recipes in a while (links to other people's recipes don't count!), so here is one of our favorite ways to enjoy brown rice...

Rice Bowls

simple, delicious and nutritious!

Per bowl:

one serving cooked, organic, short-grain brown rice

mixed with

five or six of the following :

Toasted Nori sheet, torn into bite-size squares

1 carrot, sliced thinly or shredded

chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)

handful of fresh spinach leaves

or dark green or red lettuce

toasted pumpkin seeds

toasted sesame seeds

pine nuts or walnuts

hemp or chia seeds

dried cranberries

avocado slices

diced tomato

cucumber

sprouts

Add your choice of dressing or sauce

(vinaigrette can be nice, or a dash of hot sauce perhaps?

We love ours with organic tamari)

Layer the ingredients for pretty presentation,

or mix them all together like we do. :-)

I put the carrot slices on the bottom of the bowl,

then add the hot rice on top of them.

Once I've added everything else & mixed it together,

the hot rice has softened the carrots perfectly!

Serve warm or chilled.

(Great way to use leftover rice)

Enjoy!

And may your rice always be perfect. :-)

Your Final Friday KISS - The Spurtle!

For your final Friday KISS, I've chosen a kitchen gadget that's unique and rather obscure (at least in the US), that I don't own, have never used, nor had even heard of until it was featured in Wordsmith's A.Word.A.Day a while back. (Now, if you've not only heard of it but have one in your drawer and use it often, I'm going to feel pathetic. So just pretend ignorance, mmmkay?) ;-)

Introducing... the spurtle!

Used to stir porridge since the 16th century, the spurtle is considered superior to a spoon because its shape prevents clumping and mushiness.

Both pictures are from Lee Valley Tools, where you can buy one for your own gadget collection. (Of course, you can always use the handle of a wooden spoon instead, but that wouldn't make for much of a gadget post now, would it?)

My mother always made me eat oatmeal when I was a kid and I detested it. I thought it looked (and tasted, though I was guessing on that) like wallpaper paste. But when BW and I stayed at a B&B in Edinburgh twelve years ago, I - rather reluctantly, but "when in Rome..." - ate a bowl of "pinhead porridge" (oatmeal made with steel-cut oats) for breakfast and had to take back every bad thing I'd ever said or thought about oatmeal!

We also enjoy oat groats ~ whole oats that, unlike steel-cut oats, have not been steamed and coarsely chopped, so they take longer to cook but our crockpot does it brilliantly overnight while we slumber. And BW enjoys thick-cut rolled oats, but thick though they may be, they still give me wallpaper paste flashbacks. So I'll stick with the groats and the steel-cut, thank you! I enjoy my pinhead porridge with a little vanilla hemp or soy milk, maple syrup, whole flaxseeds, cinnamon and nutmeg, and fresh fruit like blueberries, apples or bananas, and/or dried fruit like raisins, currants or dried cranberries.

Oatmeal is such a hearty, healthy breakfast, especially in the cold winter months, so here are a few recipes to warm your innards and give your spurtle a workout...

From FatFreeVegan:
Oatmeal: It's What's For Breakfast

From the Dr. McDougall newsletters:

Baked Oatmeal Casserole, Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, and Multigrain Hot Cereal

If your appetite for spurtle-lore and all things oatmeal still isn't satisfied, check out The Tradition and Trivia of Scottish Porridge from Seafoam Woodturning (where you can also buy yourself another spurtle!)

And if you're so inclined, once armed with a spurtle and having mastered the knowledge and skills of oats and porridge-making, you can put your talents to the test and perhaps become the next...

Yes, Virginia, there is a world porridge-making championship. Next one is in October 2010, so you've got plenty of time to get your game on. ;-)

(Meanwhile, I'm off to plan oat-intensive dishes for Hogmanay and Bobby Burns' birthday next month, while eating pinhead porridge and drinking oatmeal stout!) ;-)

Friday KISS - Sprouter

This Friday KISS would need an oversized stocking to qualify as a stocking stuffer, but it will let you graze on fresh, nutritious greens, grown in the comfort of your own kitchen, in the depths of dormant winter!

We're novices at sprouting, having only experimented once growing wheat grass. After learning how nutritious fresh sprouts are, buying broccoli sprouts at the Billings food co-op, and viewing various blogs, articles and YouTube videos on sprouting techniques, we bought the Easy Sprout Sprouter from The Sprout House. We started the process (which really is quite easy) on Thanksgiving Day, and munched from our first crop of broccoli sprouts on the following Tuesday...

Don't those fresh greens look good against that snowy backdrop?

We've been enjoying them in tossed salads and in tempeh and "tun-not" salad sandwiches.

We bought our organic broccoli sprouting seeds from Mountain Rose Herbs. (No surprise!) So smitten am I with this company and its products that I am now an affiliate. So now if you click on my ads or text links to Mountain Rose Herbs and make a purchase, I'll get a wee commission. Yay! So head on over and do a little shoppin' (and maybe a little sproutin'), why dontcha! :-)

Enjoy your weekend!

P.S. Rift left a comment asking a couple of good questions about sprouting, so I've replied with some additional info and links to several more web sites that have very helpful information about the Easy Sprout Sprouter in particular and sprouting in general. So if you want to learn more, please visit the comments section!

Friday KISS - Citrus Peeler

Your Friday KISS for this week -

the humble but useful citrus peeler

that gets my seal of approval!

(snork)

Get it? "Seal kiss?" Sounds like "citrus!"

(Don't look at me like that). ;-)

If you've browsed them at all, you know there are many styles of citrus peelers out there, from the sublimely simple...

to the ridiculously complex!

(Was this what the Spanish Inquisition used to peel their oranges? It's absurd. But what a conversation piece to have bolted to your kitchen counter!)

Obviously, my taste runs to the simple, low-tech, and non-torture-related. So I have this one, which I use to great effect to peel oranges...

(Having no oranges at hand, however, I had to use lemons for props. No matter, this gizmo will happily peel lemons, limes, grapefruits, kumquats...)

Several years ago I was helping a hospitalized friend by cleaning her kitchen when I found this whatsit in one of her overflowing utensil drawers. I thought it was some broken-off part of something that hadn't been thrown away (you'd understand if you'd seen her kitchen!), so I set it aside in the "I'm pretty sure you meant to throw this away but it slipped your mind" pile to ask her about. After she returned home I asked her what it was, and imagine my surprise when she told me that this thing that looked like a toothbrush that had lost its bristles was, in fact, an orange peeler! I made her prove it. ;-) Sure enough, she peeled an orange with it lickity-split! "I must have one!" said I, the kitchen-gadget junkie. So she gave it to me. And thus did I come to own this implement whose humble appearance belies a very useful function, which it performs admirably and without frightening heretics like me. ;-)

Should you wish to own one as well, come clean my kitchen and I'll give you mine. Haha, just kidding! I mean, feel free to come clean my kitchen, but no way are you gettin' my citrus peeler! :-)~

No, you can get a free one and you don't even have to clean anyone's kitchen or organize their messy drawers. You just have to be willing to contact your local Tupperware consultant, have a catalog thrust at you and listen patiently to their spiel while wondering whether your free citrus peeler was:

A) really worth it, compared to cleaning someone's kitchen, and

B) doubles as a lethal weapon.

No, just kidding again! No doubt Tupperware makes fine products and their consultants are nothing at all like Amway ghouls!)*

And while we're on the subject of citrus-related kitchen implements, this is my favorite zester, and this is my favorite citrus reamer. I own the zester but not the reamer. I just thought the reamer is really, um, interesting. Would go nicely with that medieval torture device disguised as a citrus peeler, and probably is equally crackerjack at reaming both citrus fruits and Amway representatives.* I must have one. Mwwwahahahaha! ;-)

*Snarky comments are based on the personal experience of being held hostage for most of a Saturday by an Amway ghoul who misrepresented herself (i.e. "LIED") as a self-employed distributor of educational materials who wanted to offer me a job. Aforementioned snarky comments in no way imply that I want to hear from anyone representing Amway who feels the need to defend Amway's reputation or honor. Amway sucks.

Your first KISS :-x

I've noticed in my wanderings through Blogland that some bloggers do weekly themed posts. Like What Do I Know's "Friday Cow Blogging" (or sometimes "Friday Horse Blogging"), or rift's always delightful Photo Friday. (Is it a coincidence that they're both on Fridays, or is there a Blog Rule Book somewhere that requires it?) Anyway, since Fridays work for me, I thought it would be fun from now till Christmas to share posts every Friday on something I have an inexplicably passionate affection for - kitchen gadgets. Gadgets I've got and love, gadgets that I don't have but which intrigue me, gadgets you may never have heard of. Not big, complicated, electric gadgets, but simple stocking-stuffer sized gadgets. In order to have a better acronym to use for these posts, I'm going to call them implements instead of gadgets.

So here's your first Friday Kitchen Implement Stocking Stuffer post, aka your first Friday KISS!

***mwah!***

The Garlic Twist

For your first KISS, the Garlic Twist!

(Poetic and ironic, I know!) ;-)

I made this discovery in Jill Nussinow's cooking class. She was using one, recommending them, and - handily - selling them, so I snagged one for $15. We use a lot of garlic in our cooking and have a garlic press, a garlic peeler, and a perfect knife for smacking the skins off and releasing the flavorful garlic oil (you can also use the flat side of the garlic twist lid for this). For the past 2+ years that I've had this garlic twist (which comes in blue and red as well as clear). I almost never use my garlic press anymore because this is so much easier to clean. You do need to line the teeth up just right (not difficult) or it gets jammed, it helps to cut large cloves in half first, and if you put too many garlic cloves in it at once it can take some major oomph to twist it. But it does a great job of mincing. (And while it does make two pretty triangles of minced garlic for ease of scooping out, as shown in the corporate photo, don't expect the rest of the garlic twist to look that pristine!)

New Juicer & Wheatgrass Crop

We finally bought a new juicer (after talking about it for a few years!), and now that we've made three batches of juice with it, I figure I am qualified to blog about it. ;-)

If you've ever shopped for one, you know the array of juicers is dizzying to say the least, and some of the prices are stratospheric (is that a word?) :-) But after doing our homework we opted for simplicity by getting the Tribest Manual Zstar Juicer...

We liked its affordability and the fact it's portable, doesn't use electricity, is quiet and easy to clean, and can juice most fruits, vegetables and wheatgrass. We understand it can also make nut butters but we have yet to try that function! (We got ours through Amazon.com).

So then we grew a nice crop of wheatgrass...

... and last weekend we harvested some for the first time, and juiced it along with some apples, carrots, spinach greens from our garden, cucumbers, oranges and a lime. The "recipe" was our own invention. :-) I must admit, it was a fairly noxious shade of green, but it smelled really good and it tasted delicious! Perfect sweetness, really fresh, and no one ingredient overpowered another. We drank a lot of it right away and then refrigerated the rest and drank it during the next 48 hours, and it was just as good by that last day. (Jane was rewarded with the very special treat of the leftover pulp, and there was much loud lipsmacking!)

Enjoy a happy and lucky (or happy-go-lucky!) Friday the 13th and a great weekend!