Yep the pots and pans in Pedro’s Kitchen are definitely starting to look a bit beat-up, so we’ve been looking far and wide to choose our new cookware. There has been some contenders and even more pretenders and we’re still looking however after seeing this video we’re pretty confident we’ve found the front runner. What do you think?
Le Creuset bean pots
I know posting about Le Creuset is nothing new here on Pedro’s kicthen, but it’s just because I am so enamoured with it’s stylish effect on my kitchen. This brand just makes mundane tasks more fun with their stylish, colourful designs. From making a morning coffee, to rustling up some dinner, everythings just a little nicer if you have nice dishes.
But the cult cookware brand aren’t all style and no substance, oh no – it’s a brand worth investing in if you want results year after year. My latest purchase from Le Creuset is this bean pot, which stops food from drying out if you want to ensure you get multiple servings out of a batch.
Of course, as the name might give away, it’s designed for beans – but that doesn’t mean you can’t store other food in it. I made a chilli the other night for dinner (using this chilli recipe) and it was just as fresh at lunchtime the next day thanks to this handy pot.
It’s a good price for this brand too – and feels like good quality ceramic that will last for years, as so many Le Creuset do. The pot comes in orange and blue, meaning you can match it to your kitchen and enjoy chilli, beans, caseroles or even macaroni cheese fresh from the pot for dinner and the next day’s lunch!
Basil Tofu: veggie delight
If you think having a vegetarian over for dinner is a challenge – try having a fussy vegan friend to wine and dine at your house.
I don’t cook with much meat these days, but fish is a staple. So what happens when even fish is gone as an option. I have one simple remedy – tofu. What that flavourless white mass that sometimes appears in a Japanese soup, you say?! Yes!
And while I have to say I enjoy it in a noodle bowl (although I know many others don’t), I have to admit that it is too bland to be the main focus of a meal……unless you invest in some basil tofu! Tofu is often associated with Asian cooking, where well flavoursome spices and vegetables make up for its bland demeanour – but with basil tofu, you can take a turn to the Mediterranean, vegan style.
You can probably make it at home, but for best results I’d buy it straight from the shop – I got mine at the Glasgow shop Roots, Fruits and Flowers, but it’s sold at many organic/health shops throughout the UK, so have a look for it. It’s delicious, and has been compared to both pesto and mozzarella by those I know to have tried it, so definitely a shout in Med-inspired cooking. So how do you serve it? I had to have a think about this too – but here’s what I did.
Basil Tofu Stir Fry – Mediterranean style
Ingredients:
400g basil tofu
2 red onions
2 peppers
Chilli infused olive oil (2 dsp)
Parmesan
Recipe:
Chop onion and pepper. Heat the chilli oil in a stir fry pan, while cubing the tofu into 16 pieces. Fry off the onions and peppers until half cooked. Add the tofu, and the second dsp of oil. Stir fry until tofu is adequately warmed. Sprinkle with parmesan. Serve with patatas bravas style potato dish with herb crust.
Fresh starts need fresh coffee
When done right, breakfast can bring a great start to the day – just getting up early to whip up a mini feast in the morning can get the brain working the way it should.
But there are some days when it’s going to take a little more than good food to get you out of bed – and those mornings demand coffee. Yes, we all know a caffiene kick can help wake us up after drinking it. But while that might wake you up after drinking it, is a simple mug of instant coffee enough to lure you out of bed in the first place? Probably not.
That’s why we need the promise of gourmet, Italian style coffee, which fills the house with a nice aroma – and perfectly compliments a delicious portion of eggs benedict, bagels with cream cheese and salmon or cinamon waffles. These are the breakfasts we should be eating people – supermarket bought cereal just won’t cut it on a miserable morning.
So this realisation got me looking for coffee machines – because while there is a Starbucks around the corner, a £2.30 coffee every morning is not going to improve my morning mood any. And neither is going out in the cold to get it. So after a hunt around I settled on a nespresso coffee machine. There were a lot to choose from, but here is this particular machines selling points:
- Fresh coffee – every morning, and a guarantee which ensures I won’t lose this privellege should it break early
- The option of several different flavours and styles of coffee – latte? NO problem. In the mood for a mocha, No need to leave the house
- It turns itself off after 9 minutes – Huge selling point for me, having experienced a coffee maker that would burn the pot every few days after a collegue forgot to switch it off.
- Price of £139. My average spend at a coffee shop is £5. After just a month this coffee maker starts to earn its keep. And with bags of filter coffee widely available at just a few pounds each – the savings are real.
- Choice of colours. The model I choose – the Pixie – came in 6 colours so I could match it to my kitchen. I choose a cool chrome colour, but it also came in green, red and blue.
- The biggest selling point of any coffee maker, howeverm is creamy coffee or espresso instead of lukewarm water – with inevitably will never be stirred well enough. What a good choice, this is one kitchen appliance I won’t regret buying – let’s just not talk about the popcorn maker/cupcake machine which has never been used again.
Expensive Cookware- Is it worth it?
Upgrading your cookware is expensive and it’s difficult to know if you are truly getting value for your money. However it’s still possible to save money by simply buying smart. One area to look at is non-stick cookware. Now whilst quality and heat conduction are still extremely important, the truth is the pan is unlikely to last you the 30 odd years it claims. This is because even in high-end pans the non-stick coating will scratch eventually (although high-end warranties normally cover that). So if you’re looking for a place to try and make a saving, you should consider buying a lower-price non-stick pan for your collection.
Another option is to go for aluminium. To be honest Aluminium is the cheapest choice, and its best to go down this route for a pan you rarely use or are happy to replace regularly. If you are buying aluminium it’s thoroughly recommended to spend a bit more and get the anodized aluminium. It’ll cook better and last longer, yet remains considerably cheaper than the high-end stuff.
Now compromising on quality isn’t the only way to save. There are great deals to be had by looking for “irregular” or marginally “defective” cookware, from the high-quality brands, and these can usually be bought for considerably less than the usual price. Ordinarily, the issues that make them defective are so small you are unlikely to notice them; an example would be a slight variation in shape or colour. So if you don’t mind a slight imperfection that won’t have any effect your cooking, it’s well worth checking out the high-end bargains found in discount stores and online outlets. In some cases you can even buy them straight from the manufacturer, through regular clearances.
That being said the moral of this post is simple: If you’re in a position to buy the best of everything the best of everything, do it. But if you’re not, be clever, mix it up. Spend as much as you can on the every day pieces, and make savings on the items you rarely use.
Masterchef Mashup
If you’re in the UK there’s every chance you’ve already heard/seen this bit of Masterchef related brilliance as it seems to be getting passed around offices like a tray of chocolate biscuits. For those who’ve missed it, it’s well worth a listen. For those who’ve seen it before, try to resist pressing play.
Switch off the hob, step away from the pots and pans and dance to the (buttery biscuit) bass.
Kitchen Hygiene- Some Basic Rules
Its one of those things that everyone knows but not everyone follows, when cooking it’s absolutely essential that hygiene rules are followed, as even simple things like leaving jewellery on whilst mixing ingredients can result in some serious food poisoning.
A lot of people have recently been asking for a set of good kitchen rules to abide by so, I thought I would share these basic principles.
1. Clean as you go- When working with raw foods such as meat, fish and veg the chances of cross contamination increase massively. Now the best way to deal with this is to clean up as you go along, you must always wash your hands, utensils and any surfaces that have had contact with the raw foods.
2. Use multiple chopping boards- One of the most effective ways to stop cross contamination is to make sure you use different chopping boards; one for raw meat and others for anything else you’re chopping. (Just to be thorough, if you’re using just one knife clean it well before moving from raw meat to veg etc.)
3.Wash Up- Once your finished, wash everything with soap and hot water, even if they don’t look dirty ( no, just running it under the tap doesn’t count). You should change the water regularly, and rinse everything in nice clean water.
4. Paper Towels- This is one of the rules that shocks people the most, paper towels are the way forward for wiping down surfaces or spillages etc, this is because you only use them once and bin them. Whereas with dishtowels you will find yourself using it throughout the day both for your hands and wiping up, thus when you think your cleaning all your doing is spreading germs already on it.
5. Remove all Jewellery- I touched on this above but it is so important if you’re going to be handling food. Remove any watches, bracelets, rings etc as they can be a huge source of germs no matter how clean you think they are.
Pots and Pans 101
As simple as it sounds, buying new pots and pans may seem easy enough, but let’s be honest, that’s because your mind has rather helpfully, totally blocked out the ordeal that was purchasing your last set. Much like dating, if you have been off the market for a while you’re going to be a bit rusty getting back in the swing of things.
The pots and pans market of today can be a bit of a minefield with the quality and price different everywhere you go. So before investing any of your hard earned dosh, we thought that a couple of pointers would serve you well.
One of the main points to consider is the material that the pans are made of:
- At the more expensive end of the market the cookware seems to be made from considerably thicker materials, be it aluminium or stainless steel.
- You don’t necessarily need the thickest but a nice mid weight pan should be able to with stand a few kitchen disasters as opposed to its thinner cousins.
Try not to rush into a purchase as you don’t need them all at once; if you’re serious about investing in quality cookware then you may only be able to purchase one or two pans at a time. But the big difference is that those pans will probably last you 20 years.
Size does matter, there’s no point in purchasing and 8 inch pan when you’re regularly cooking for 4. So when choosing a new pot or pan be sure and pick one to fit your lifestyle.
We all love special features and the pans available today have plenty. One feature I always look for is stack-ability, a must for those of us needing every inch of space. Another couple of features I’ve found to be extremely helpful are interchangeable lids just for ease/laziness and locking lids for safety.
When it comes to the storage of your pots and pans even the most stackable set in the world will still take up considerable space. One way to resolve this is an overhead or wall mounted storage system (I say system usually just pegs) which allows you to keep your cupboards pretty spacious.
And finally, shop around, don’t just jump in at the first fancy pan you see check online, outlets even Ebay and that way you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you got a good deal as well as a good pan.
Anyone looking for inspiration should have a look at www.sterlingfurniture.co.uk, they have a really good kitchen range and more importantly a summer sale happening. Get on it!
Pots and Pans: A Chefs Guide
Lots of people ask me about the pots and pans I find most useful – but the truth is I am constantly switching, so it’s hard to come up with just one answer!
There are a few old favourites though – and I think when you are shopping for high quality kitchen utensils, old is the word. And by this I don’t mean you resolve to only use your oldest, rusty pot for the rest of your life – I simply mean it is important to choose a brand that has stood the test of time.
Newer company’s may offer high tech solutions to cooking dilemas, but without a brand history there is no way to know if the product is going to last.
There is nothing worse than having to throw out a pan after just a year or two of use – and if it has deteriorated this quickly chances are the quality of the meals made with them have gone down at the same rate.
Most chefs look to the modern products of classic brands for the best results, and by doing this you can ensure that the company really know what they are doing. Take Prestige Pans for example, they have been around for 50 years but are still constantly evolving to keep up with the latest technology. Now most of their pans are non stick, but they are also very stylish.
And while you should look for value for money when buying pots and pans, it is best not to buy the cheapest option. Research the brand, ask friends for advice or even go to some demonstrations at cookery shows before deciding which ones to buy. Pots and pans affect your productivity in the kitchen on a day to day basis, so they are worthwhile investing in.
Pedro’s Kitchen Essentials
Today I want to talk about the essentials that you can’t do without – I am talking food here as opposed to utensils, which I’ll cover in another post.
For me, a decent kitchen is really only as good as its stock. So without further ado here’s the shortlist of Pedro’s Kitchen Essentials… feel free to agree or disagree in the comments…
Porridge – the breakfast of champions.
Coffee – ground for when there’s time, instant for when there’s not.
Tea – ok, so this isn’t my favourite drink, but at one cup a day that means I still get through a fair few cups a year.
Vegetable oil – frying isn’t known for being a healthy option, but sometimes a fry up is all that will do.
Chilli powder – I pretty much use this stuff as a seasoning, but use sparingly, or it can make a a plate of food into a taste inferno.
Pasta – along with toast, it’s one of those default foods that can easily be made into great meal – just add some olive oil, garlic, a sprinkling of crushed chillis and some parmesan shavings and bingo – it’s a great feed.
Beer – nothing in the world beats unwinding with a decent bottle of ale at the end of a hard day. Ahh…
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