Have These In Your Kitchen?

A worthwhile post on tools to have in your kitchen….

How to stock a kitchen: You're only as good as your tools
By Almost Vegetarian(Almost Vegetarian)
I also make a lot of salads, so the salad spinner ... erm ... is this a gadget? It’s not plugged in. So, move along, then. I also can’t live without my blender. In fact I use it daily for my morning smoothie. And my evening margaritas. ...

Ok...another gadget article...I am a guy though!

Ok…this is getting away from the kitchen a bit but I thought it was an interesting article….more gadgets!

Great Gadgets for your home
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
As you enter the kitchen, you admire the sparkling-clean floor that your friendly robot scrubbed and dried overnight. Push a button here, and your coffee ...

OK...wait...more gadgets? Yes...but these are for bachelors.

There are some cool things in this guy's post....I might even check out some of these!

7 kitchen gadgets for the modern day bachelor
This nifty kitchen gadget has everything you need in one device. Just add English muffin, an egg, and a meat of choice in the handy meat heating tray and you'll be having a home made McMuffin in minutes. ...

Enough with the Gadgets!

I know you are probably asking .."Where are the recipes on this blog?" Well I have a few I will be putting up soon I promise. I have been so busy that I haven't been on here too much. Please njoy this article about the top 10 kitchen gadgets for under ten bucks!

Top 10 kitchen gadgets for less than $10
Greeley Tribune - Greeley,CO,USA
You don't need a professional kitchen to turn out great meals. But, a few inexpensive gadgets can make a cook's life much easier. ...

38 Pounds of Pesto?

Some info on pesto , salsa, a review of the Spin N Stor salad bags, and a wine pourer/aerator/stopper....from insidebayarea.com

Instant dinners
Inside Bay Area - Oakland,CA,USA
And I like the way it looks on the top of the bottle of wine ? it matches my kitchen. I also like that it's only $10 and can be found anywhere OXO gadgets ...

More Kitchen Gadegts at the Int'l Home & Housewares Show

Check out this article by The post-gazette.com. It's about the 2007 International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago. I saw a piece on the local news about this and they showed a really cool Black and Decker paint roller that you siphon paint from the can into the handle...no drip and no mess supposedly...we'll see.

The article actually has some cool kitchen gadgets....

I like the collapsable collander, the spoon with an edge, and the Spin'nStor salad bag. Sometimes that store bought salad mix is nasty.

More kitchen gadgetry

I like the Smart Label, the roll up frying pan and the drink mixer.  Now the extent of their practicality...that is a different story aside from the smart label.  Check it out for yourself here

TechEBlog » Top 10 Most Innovative Kitchen Gadgets

Top 10 Most Innovative Kitchen Gadgets. We have seen the future of kitchens, and it’s high-tech. Soon you’ll have gadgets that will automatically mix drinks ...

Cool Spoons & Scale...Who would have thought that?

I came across a couple of posts on these blogs that talked about some cool kitchen gadgets. The first article is about a set of spoons that are actually sized in "cooking terms" such as smidgen a dash, and pinch.

• Smidgen Measuring Spoons
  By Maricar
  The 5-piece Smidgen Measuring Spoon set has spoons for a tad, dash, pinch, smidgen and drop.....

This second article is about a slick looking, and sounding kitchen scale. I have this rickety little scale that I use to measure out chicken...etc and I am always afraid it will tip over. Not this one....check it out.

• Tanita Kitchen Scale: Favorite Things
  By Amy Sherman(Amy Sherman)
  There was no going back. You put up with crappy kitchen equipment and gadgets and you don't even realize how lousy they are until you try something better. Meet my latest kitchen favorite, a digital kitchen scale--the Tanita KD-404. ...

Outfitting your kitchen.

I stumbled on this article in a blog search. The author runs down some of the important things you need to have in a functional kitchen. I am still in the process of getting some of these things. My kitchen is small so I have been putting off getting all decked out with cool tools and gadgets until I have a bit more space. My biggest kitchen desire is counterspace. However a great set of knives would be appreciated as well.

In any case give this article a read if you are thinking about what to get for your kitchen, or are in need of some tools to make your food prep go more smoothly.

What's for Dinner? What's in Your Kitchen?
Over the course of my foodie lifetime, I’ve picked up all sorts of tools and gadgets for my kitchen. Some of them I can’t live without and others I forget I own them until the time comes to pack them up and move them into a new kitchen. ...

Southwestern Omelette

As you can probably tell if you have been following my blog that most of my recipes tend to be on the spicier side. I will admit that I enjoy spicy food, for any meal of the day and breakfast is no different. Here is an easy to cook omelette that will stick with you for the morning, and part of the afternoon.

• 3 large eggs (you may use an egg substitue)
• 1/4 cup of salsa (hotness selected by taste. I use medium)
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp of garlic powder
• a few slices of canadian bacon
• tbsp of cooking oil. I use a hot oil called Mongolian Fire Oil since I like spicy stuff
• tbsp or so of parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of low fat mozzarella
• 1/4 cup of low fat cheddar
  

Begin by beating 3 eggs in a mixing bowl until the yokes are fairly broken up. Then add the cayenne pepper, garlic powder and salsa. I usually use a red salsa , but have substituted salsa verde in the past which is equally as tasty....mix contets.

Next heat up your frying pan. I spray a little Pam on the surface to prevent sticking.


While the pan is heating up sprinkle the parmesan cheese across the pan , and allow it to brown a little before pouring in the contents of your mixing bowl. When your omelette is done the parmesan cheese will add a slightly crunchy texture and an appetizing golden brown color.

Next add the contents of your mixing bowl and wait about 30 seconds for it to begin to solidify. At this point you can sprinkle your cheeses across the top of the omelette. I do it this way so the cheese doesn't sink all the way to the bottom, but rather gets mixed and melted thoroughly in the omelette.



I usually let this cook, all the while checking the underside of the omelette to get golden brown. Here you can see that I added a few bacon bits on top as well for color and added taste.

Once the omelette underside is a nice golden brown I take it off the heat and fold it over on a plate.

Next I drop some of my Mongolian Fire Oil in the same pan and then fry up 5-7 slices of Canadian bacon. You may use more or less or even substitute some scrapple, ham or regular bacon. I go with Canadian bacon since it is lower in fat.

I usually cook the Canadian bacon as seen above (about 5 minutes on medium flame) and then serve with the omelette. Enjoy!

What's next?

I'm thinking about cooking a soup this weekend. I have a Mexican Chicken Soup recipe that may go well for next week. I also have an other pancake recipe that I may try on this weekend as well....look for updates, and feel free to comment.

Spicy Thai Pork Panang

I previously posted about this recipe using chicken. Tonight I used some boneless pork chops. I baked them in the oven for 50 minutes at 375 degrees. Next I cut them into small pieces and stir fried them in a pan with the coconut milk/panang curry paste mixture.

See my Chicken recipe
for this and simply substitute pork chops.

Here you can see what it looks like while reducing in a frying pan. The coconut milk and panang curry paste make a nice deep golden/reddish color.




After the coconut milk/curry paste sauce reduces to a nice pasty consistency you can serve it with rice. Here you see it mixed with brown rice...I like to mix my meats and sauces with my rice. Delicious!

Sunday Morning Pancakes

When I woke up this morning I wasn't sure what to go with for breakfast. Should I have some cold cereal….an omelette perhaps? Aha…what would go better today than some nice multigrain pancakes.
This is an easy one as I just followed the instructions on the package. I did modify it a bit by adding 1 tsp of cinnamon which gives them a nice flavor and an incredible aroma while cooking.

• 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill 7 grain pancake mix
• 3/4 cup of cold water
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Simply mix the ingredients in a large bowl…...

...and then spoon into a frying pan.

I have a good non stick pan, but still spray a little Pam to prevent sticking. You can vary the amount of batter you spoon out depending on how large you like your pancakes. I like mine BIG. I usually spread a little butter, or in this case Olivio between the 2 pancakes that this recipe makes.

Finally I cut the pancakes into small pieces and added syrup. In this case I used a sugar free maple syrup. Granted it isn't quite as rich and tasty as regular syrup, but is a decent alternative if you are diabetic, or are just trying to save a few calories.

Spicy Pot Roast

The thing I like most about a roasts is that they practically cook themselves…after a bit of prep work.

I started with a decent size roast…use any kind. In today's case I used a chuck roast that weighed about 4.3 pounds. I placed the roast on a plate and sprinkled each of the following on the cut of meat:

2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Then I poured approximately 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and rubbed the oil/spice mixture evenly around the meat.



Next I peeled about 2.5 pounds of carrots and cut them into small pieces. Then I peeled and cut up 5 pounds of potatos.

Once done the meat was placed in my handy 6qt roaster by Nesco. You could use the oven as well. I like the Nesco because it doesn't heat up the house too bad. I preheated to 325 degrees and then set the cooking temperature to 350 degrees.

I generally cook for 20 minutes per pound, and will check doneness with a meat thermometer. Beef should go to about 170-180. Always remember to cook your beef thoroughly.

Here is a shot of it while cooking



And here it is served up on a handy dandy paper plate!

Americans Cooked With Chili Peppers 6,000 Years Ago, Study Finds

A recent article in National Geographic reports that Americans were using chili peppers in cooking 6000 years ago. This points towards a more advanced agrarian society with more sophisticated cuisine. The interesting thing here is that this seems to have happened before the advent of pottery. Some researchers theorized that this type of cultivation did not occur prior to the introduction of pottery.

Now I know why I love spicy food!

Low Carb Pesto Turkey Wrap

For this simple recipe I used the following:

1 low carb tortilla
4 slices of turkey breast
1 teaspoon of pesto spread
1/2 tablespoon of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of bacon bits
1/2 cup of shredded low fat mozzarella cheese
lettuce

This one is easy...

Spread the mayo and pesto on the tortilla, sprinkle on cheese and bacon bits...




and then the turkey....lettuce is optional. I didn't have any in the house the day I made this. Here is the finished product served up with some soy chips which tastes a LOT better than they sound.





You may add additional seasoning as you like but I find the pesto and mayo give it a good flavor.

If you happen to be cooking some bacon for breakfast the morning you are thinking about this for lunch then cook up a few extra strips. Substituting them for the bacon bits really adds to this. This is really good with potato salad too!

Mexican Chicken and Spanish Rice

This is an easy to cook chicken dish with rice.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts with some cumin and chili powder sprinkled on top.

Rice:
1-1/2 cups of Uncle Ben's brown rice (see package for amount/serving if you scale recipe)
3-1/3 cups of water
1 tablespoon of butter (I used Olivio...no trans fats!!!)
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 small can of diced chiles
1 small can of diced jalapenos



I placed 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts in an iron frying pan and cooked them unitl they were browned on the outside. The pieces were frozen at the outset so I decided to go this way to quickly thaw them. Another way to go would have been to bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes but I felt like being hands on today!




Once I had the chicken thawed and browned I diced the chicken into 1 inch cubes and cooked them the rest of the way, sprinkling some cumin and chili powder on them.



While cooking the chicken I boiled a large pot of Uncle Ben's brown rice. I like the brown rice since it has a slightly higher fiber content than white rice. I tend to cook my food in large batches on the weekends so I cooked an amount of rice that I could eat over 3-4 days with meals. For your purposes you may want to scale it down to the number of servings appropriate for your requirements.

While the rice was cooking I placed a large onion (diced) in a wok with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stirred it until it was sauteed. Once this was done and the rice was done cooking I transferred it to the wok and mixed it in with the onions. Next I added 1 small can each of diced jalapenos and chili peppers, 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of chili powder. Finally I poured 1/2 cup of tomato sauce over the rice and stir fried it until it had reduced to a nice pasty consistency.




If you like you can add the chicken to the wok and mix it in with the rice. This will add a zesty flavor to the chicken as it picks up the tomato sauce....this time I didn't do that but have been known to mix my foods together especially when enaging in wokery!

I served it up with some frozen sliced zucchini that I whipped up on the stove in about 10 minutes. Fresh zucchini is better and is very good if you cook it in a frying pan in a little olive oil...perhaps another post on that?



That's it!

Simple Chicken Panang

I have been trying some international cuisine via a Thai coworker of mine. I tend to enjoy almost anything that is spicy so my friend turned me on to Thai curry paste.

Tonight I whipped up a batch of Panang Chicken. It is not quite as hot as cooking with Thai green curry paste, but rather borders on a hot that is mellowed with a hint of sweetness.

The recipe was somewhat improvised but this is what I did:

I took 4 decent size boneless, skinless chicken breasts and browned them in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes. At this point I removed them from heat and cut them up into small strips of chicken and set them aside.

I then took a 13.5 oz can of coconut milk and poured it into the same skillet I used for the chicken and added 1 small can of Panang curry paste (Brand Maesri). I have yet to find this item in a grocery store, and only have it due to the benevolence of my Thai friend who purchases it at her Asian food store. I also added 1 packet of Splenda.

I slowly mixed the curry paste and Splenda into the coconut milk until it was evenly combined, then brought it to a boil which only took about 4-5 minutes. At this point I simply added in the chicken strips and cooked them for about 20-30 minutes until they were done, and the curry/coconut milk reduced to a pastier consistency.

I chose to serve my main course this evening with some green beans and brown rice. Some may like to eat these things separately , but I love to mix my rice with my meat and veggies in a bowl.

I have a feeling that my recipe would lack Thai authenticity , but it was very good. Luckily I made enough for another night...probably tomorrow night!
Yum!

Welcome to Go Fooding

Hi. This blog be a place for me to think out loud about all topics gastronomic, and those that catch my interest when it comes to food. Look for recipes I have tried, or are thinking of trying as well as postings about dietary and nutritional research, places to eat. I'd even be interested in your comments as well.

Bon apetite'