The Fumbling Foodie

A Smoker!

I bought a Bradley Smoker. It is a result of my quest to find ways to cook various cust of meat in ways that add flavor and make them interesting without out the use of a high-fat suace.

So how does it work? The big box is about the size of a small refrigerator. It has racks and a heating element. The small box on the left is the smoke generaor. It used wood chips that have been compressed into the shape of a small hockey puck. You can see the feed tube on top of the smoke generator.

Essentially, you put the food into the big box, a stack of pucks into the feed tube, turn it on and walk away.

While it's running, it is making this wonderfully-smelling smoke that escapes through a vent in the top. The backyard (and probably the neighbors' yards too) are rich with the scent of your favorite smoke. My wife's favorite is Hickory.

 

Spice Rack

 After living in this house for two years I finally have a suitable spice rack.

The spices have been living on a shelf in the pantry.  Which meant sequentially picking up jars one-after-another to read the labels every time I needed a certain spice.  It also meant using up a lot of space in the pantry.

My Sweet Lady Wife found this modular system made by elfa and sold at The Container Store. It took all of about 10 minutes to mount it on the back of the pantry door and organize the jars in alphabetical order.

Vita-Mix First Impression

WOW.  This is the Vita-Mix Professional Series 5000 that I'm talking about.  

My favorite Gourmet Cooking Tools Store had a sale a few weeks ago.  I have been wanting one of these for about two years.

First of all the most amazing thing is that to clean it, you simply fill it with about 5 qts of water and a couple drops of dish soap, turn it on high, and wait a few seconds. I made a Leek and potato soup tonight and as expected, the Vita-Mix did an excellent job.  I can't get over how quiet this thing is.

I'll follow up with another report later this week when we use some ice and make smoothies.

My Newest Power Tool

Here's my newest power tool: a Vita-Mix Professional Series 5000 blender. The only problem is what to make with it first. Stay tuned to find out!

The Cats are Very Afraid

My Father's Day gift from my Sweet Lady Wife. It's a Messermeister Meridian Elite Cleaver. I've been wanting one of these for a long time. When I make Chicken Legs in a Raspberry Vinaigrette I chop the foot off each drumstick for presentation. It wil be nice to have the right tool for the job now.

I have assured the cats that it is not a tail-removal instrument ;-)

Bosch Integra 800

We're in the house only three months and I'm already replacing a major appliance.

The GE dishwasher that came with the house just wasn't cutting it. I think it is a waste of time to have to wash the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, and that's what we were having to do. The ten-year-old Maytag in the old house did a better job than the new GE. (the GE range and refrigerator are great, BTW, my complaint is only with the dishwasher.)

So I said 'screw it, we are not going to live with this." I already knew what I wanted: Bosch Integra 800.

I had heard that the Bosch Integra was quiet. I was not prepared for just how quiet. You practically have to put your ear up to it to hear it. It's so quiet that they have built in a red light that shines on the floor to show when it's running.

As a test, we found a bowl in my son's room with hard-crusted food stuck inside (typical teenager). We put it straight into the dishwasher to see what would happen: it came out sparkling clean.

Happiness is having good tools.

Fasta Pasta

I will never cook dried pasta the old way again. Heather, the owner of my favorite gourmet cooking tools store showed these to me a while back and raved about it. I was in the midst of the move to the new house so I put off buying it until now.

It has holes in the lid to measure the amount of pasta by serving so you know how much to cook.

It has markings on the side so you know how much water to add.

It has a strainer in one end of the lid for draining the water.

And It Works

No waiting for water to boil. Just put in the pasta and water and slide it into the microwave. They even give you a little chart to tell you how long to cook it.

My New Viking Fry Pan

Yes, I know. It's been a whle since Ive posted. With trying to sell the house, my son's graduation ceremony at Ft Benning, and everything else, the last three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.

Today was the last day of the Third Anniversary Sale at my favorite gourmet kitchen tools store in downtown Glendale, AZ. I have ben wanting this Viking fry pan for a long time.

My New Chef's Knife

The J.A. Henkels rep was at my favorite gourmet kitchen tools store yesterday (yes, I know. The knife in the photo is not a Henkels). He was showing off a new line of Henkels' knives, the Twin Cuisine series. Ergonomic handle. The tang runs horizontally through the blade instead of vertically. Very nicely weighted. I almost bought one. I told Heather that I wanted to compare it side-by-side with the comparable Messermeister. She handed me the 9-inch Meridian Elite. After three seconds' worth of handling it my mind was made up. I just really liked the balance of the Messermeister, so it came home with me.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Do you see the row of shallow indentations just above the blade in the accompanying photo? They are called kullenschliff (in Japanese knifes that are referred to as granton.) and helpful when using the knife for slicing to keep the slices from sticking to the blade.

Ice Cream On Demand

Summer will be here soon. (It's Arizona, where the weather bureau is not allowed to use the word 'hot' until the temperature hits 105. At 104 it's just 'sunny and warm'.)

I have been eyeing this Cuisinart ice cream maker since I first saw it on Cuisinart's website. The cool thing about it is that it has it's own refrigeration compressor, meaning:

• No crushed ice to buy
• No salt to buy, store, and lose
• No salt-water mess on the patio
• No bowl to remember to freeze the night before

While I am not a spur-of-the-moment kinda guy, the ability to haul this thing out and make ice cream with absolutely no forthought or pre-planning means that we'll be making a lot more ice cream around the Fumbling Foodie household. Which will be bad for our wastelines, of course.

So when Heather at my favortie gourmet kitchen tools store here in Glendale received one of these I just had to have it.

I'm going to try it out tomorrow on an organe-pineapple-banana cream sherbet. I'll let you know what happens.