The Perfect Pot by KimB

Recently I had the not so great pleasure of looking for a new cooking pot.

I had set up my now previous, perfect saucepan on the stove with 6 eggs, water and a dash of salt in it to make hard boiled eggs. I set the timer and well, no surprise, I forgot about it and didn't hear the timer go off. A fairly long while later, Allen heard POP, POW, POP in the kitchen; the water had evaporated off and the eggs exploded. It was a mess to clean up but the worst part was my perfect pot was ruined.

The perfect saucepan had rounded edges on the bottom that fit a stirring spoon shape just right. As the edges were rounded you could scoop out everything from rice to oatmeal and not have it stick into the corners. It had a non-stick coating that made clean up easy. It had a lid too. It was just perfect.

I have another cooking pot that is also perfect: a stew pot. While I'm not into Home Economics much, a few years back Allen had asked me what I wanted as a gift. I told him I wanted a big cooking pot that I could cook stew in. One that could be used on the stove or in the oven. Mom has a terrific recipe for Stew (see the pdfs on the sidebar) and I like making it but all the cookware I had just wasn't right. Either they didn't hold enough or they were too hard to clean or hard to handle in the oven. So I set out to buy a stew pot for my gift.

We went to an upscale kitchen supply store called Sur la Table. I asked the clerks there for a stew pot that could be on the stove or in the oven. We were in luck. They had one on sale, with a glass lid, non stick coating, handles, deep sides, rounded edges, worked on top of the stove or in the oven … in short it was PERFECT. It was also pretty pricey but Allen said to get it and we brought it home.


Sur La Table®
Hard Anodized Braiser,
 4½ qt.

It's now my favorite big pot and I extol the virtues of this pot to whoever will listen. It's deep so food doesn't splatter over the edges. It's got the rounded edges so you can scoop the bottom easily. It has two sturdy metal handles so you can carry it from stove to work surface easily even when it's full of piping hot stew. I cook loads of stuff in it. It's my finishing pot. I cook up my spaghetti sauce in it: ground meat (turkey, sausage, beef and sometimes lamb), onions, garlic, celery, tomatoes and then dump the cooked pasta into mix. Heat. Stir. Serve. I cook meat loaf in it. I make soups and Chinese style stir fry. I cook leg of lamb in it and even make seared pepper steaks in it.

So, naturally after getting such a terrific first pot, our first stop was at Sur la Table to get a replacement for my burnt up saucepan. We asked the clerk for a saucepan and gave the description of what I wanted. He shook his head and said he didn't think he had a pot like that but he showed me what was available. We started at the high-end pots costing more than $200.00 and quickly moved down the price range to the el cheapo just under $125.00. None were perfect pots. They had straight L bottoms. They were guaranteed to stick (you have to have kitchen helpers to clean these). They weighed a ton. And last but not least, they were Not In The Budget.

So, we were clueless about what to do about my burnt up saucepan. I was feeling pretty low but Allen suggested we go to Target and see what was there. So, off we went. I didn't expect too much but perhaps something would work out. We went to the kitchenwares and there were several Name Band/Celebrity Chef Endorsed pots to chose from but on examining each there were “flaws”. Like Goldilocks some were too heavy, some didn't have a good lid, some had handles that were hard to hold. And while they weren't quite as expensive as Sur la Table, they weren't cheap. I decided not to take any of them.

I'd just about given up, when Allen called me to come check out another pot he'd found. It was on the really cheapo side of the aisle. He held out the pot for me to look at and I instantly knew THIS WAS THE PERFECT POT. It was light weight. It had a glass lid. The handle was sturdy and easy to hold. It was non-stick and had rounded edges. It was deeper than my previous pot which was a bonus. The pot has 2 pouring lips on each side and the glass lid had deep edges with vent or sieve holes where you drain off liquids or allow some steam to escape. The best part was the price. It was less than $15!

I am now, once again, the owner of two perfect pots!

[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB.]

Chefmate Aluminum 3-qt. Saucepan

Theater: A Minister's Wife by Richard

We saw the musical A Minister's Wife at the San Jose Rep. The story is based on a George Bernard Shaw's play Candida. George Bernard Shaw was born in Ireland but moved to London to make his living.

This was the premiere showing on the West Coast. This musical production was enjoyable to watch and hear the cast sing the many sections of the play.

The story is about two men, the Minister and a friend, both of them would like the affections of the minister's wife, Candida. The time and place, the drawing room of Dominic's Parsonage on a fine morning 1894.

We left the theater feeling well entertained and then headed home for a good night sleep

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]



A Minister's Wife

 

The Recipe Box: (Not So) Quick Spanish Rice

(Not So) Quick Spanish Rice

From the recipe box of KimB

I've been learning about rice recipes and experimenting with them to make them more my own. One recipe I've been working on is Spanish Rice. It's not that easy to do or do well but I keep working away at making it easy for me and tasty too.

One criteria is that is has to be easy to put together. My days of standing for hours in the kitchen are fast fading in the rear view mirror. So, anything I undertake has to fit into the limited time I'm willing to put into cooking.

Second criteria is that it has to taste good. A bad recipe is just not going to get a rerun, especially during the summer heat when you can cook eggs on the sidewalk.

Third criteria is that the recipe has to be forgiving about what I have on hand and what I can use as a substitute.

This is my current incarnation which I think is pretty good.

(Not So) Quick Spanish Rice

1 cup organic jasmine rice
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 jar organic salsa (mild, medium or hot)
1 ¼ cups water

Preparation:

1. Rinse the rice in cool water until the water runs clear.
2. Place the rice in pot and drizzle with the olive oil, add the salt, cumin and coriander.
3. Turn the heat on medium and stir until the rice turns white and is well coated with the herb mix.
4. Add 4 tbs to 6 tbs of the salsa mix to the rice and stir until most of the liquid is absorbed.
5. Add the 1 ¼ cups of water, stir and bring to a boil.
6. Put the lid on and turn the burner down to lowest level.
7. Cook with the lid on for 15 min. Remove from the burner.
8. Let set with the lid on for 5 to 10 min.

Spanish Rice

Calamities

I wonder if the proportion of calamities we are presently experiencing is the same as it might have been when men carried swords for self defense, and highway robbers stalked carriages. When natural catastrophes like wild fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes occurred, only people in their vicinity were aware.

Just like today, ethnic groups migrated and warred over territory, creating havoc as man made religions clashed. The human condition, theoretically, has improved, but the same degree of power and privilege still exists, causing an unbalance of 'have and have nots' around the globe.

Of course advances in science, medicine and labor saving devices have eased the daily struggle to survive, but global television news coverage of barbaric atrocities of persons searching for better living conditions, destruction of huge areas of habitat due to extreme weather conditions, murder and mayhem for political dominance is such a constant litany of world wide calamities, it suffocates and overwhelms. The threat of nuclear catastrophe is always with us.

In the grand scheme of things, events come and go and history records them. I guess its human nature to adapt and survive. We do find ways to overcome the stresses and actually find ways to pursue happiness. Like my grandmother used to say, “a hundred years from now it won't make any difference”.



South Dakota Tornado
Photograph by Carsten Peter

Learning how to grow potatoes Part 3 by A. Nonymus

Planting Idaho Russets

The volunteer russets got re-planted in large tree tubs and in about a week they are already full up with soil mix to the top, and the plant stems still rising about 18-20” above the lip!?. I can see now that much deeper containers would be better, but so far they seem to be thriving quite nicely, although the tops are so 'leggy' now that some are starting to lean and fall over with apparently with no damage.

Yield should be, according to the information, about 5 good potatoes from each stalk. I have about 10 stalks in each burlap bag with fingerling potatoes. I'm hoping for a yield of about 50-ish fingerlings from each bag. The tubs of Idaho's only have about 5 large plants each, so I'm hoping for about 20+ per tub, although some sources suggest that grocery store potatoes, if they grow at all, never 'grow right'.!?

Everything I read reminds also to keep some as starters for next year. We shall see. Harvest time is best in September and October, so plenty of time to grow. I'm reminding myself however not to 'count chicks before they hatch”.

Next year I will likely try the 'garbage can' techniques for the large Idaho Russets, but continue to use potato bags for the smaller fingerling and gourmet 'taters'. Online I found a specially made bag just for potato gardening. It's designed to provide air and drainage, and is reusable. It's apparent even now that the burlap bags will probably be a one time use, as the burlap is clearly wearing from water, sun, and weather, although – so far - they are keeping the dirt and potatoes enveloped, and appear strong enough to make the whole season.

The potato harvest endgame is, theoretically designed, to just dump the bag or container out and voilà ... ya just collect the potatoes!

[Editor's note: This story is Part 3 of 3 and was written by A. Nonymus.]

In an old country song, "The Arkansas Traveler", there is a talking narrative between musical verses, where the city slicker is dialoging and questioning the farmer on the porch, and trying to be friendly he asks the farmer...

“How did your 'taters turn out?”... and the old curmudgeon farmer replies... 'They didn't turn out... I had to dig 'em out!!”

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!