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!
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.
Plates For Pedro’s Kitchen
Plates. They’re round. Therefore they’re the best invention since loads of other round stuff like the wheel, the Wagon Wheel (best biscuit ever) and loads of other things like 10p coins and the planet earth.
Yes – round is a design classic.
Here at Pedro’s Kitchen we’re not exactly fussy about things – it’s a laid back kind of a place where you can fry up some breakfast, maybe chill out witha kebab from the local takeaway, or exercise your culinary skillz and make some spag bol. Orthorexics we ain’t.
But we do care about the general ambience of the kitchen – music, lighting, flooring, etc all go to make the experience here the cosmically nourishing phenomenon that it is. And one thing you need when you break bread is decent plates. Denby Linen is an example of the kind of plate we like here – well designed, round (and let’s face it square plates aren’t round) and well finished.
Once you’re sorted for plates, all you need is some great food to pile onto them. Chips for me, please!
kitchen clocks
Keeping time in the kitchen is important. Watching the all-important cooking time can’t be done without some kind of timer. But the more general time of day is also important. It reminds us that there’s only so much time in a day, so we need to have as much fun as possible while the day lasts.
These fun clocks are pretty cool:
That’ll be ‘beer o’clock’ then.
(Holsten & Peroni clocks £15 each from Sterling Furniture – made from real glass bottles)
Cool Bodum toaster, I like!
Toast is of course a student staple, but even when we mature into grownups with a proper diet, toast is still a breakfast essential, and also handy for pâté, cheeseboard and as a platform for many other culinary delights.
For good toast though you need a toaster. For why? because a toaster applies equal heat either side of the slice. That’s why toast made under the grill is always concave. This Bodum toaster does the trick, and consigns grilled toast to the breadbin of history. It also looks the part.
The New Way Of Washing Your Dishes…
How Times have Changed!
Back in the olden days straight after dinnner the first thing I was ordered into was either washing or drying the dishes with my brother, I usually got stuck with drying and putting away since I was the youngest. These days though when they say the younger generation has it easy in some areas I would strongly agree.
After visiting my Mums last week and making the usual pit stop I came across a new kitchen appliance of hers, a dishwasher! Where was this when I was growing up, all that time that could have been saved! When my Mum told me she only payed a couple of hundred pounds Ive got to admit I was pretty shocked, whats wrong with the kitchen sink?
It seems to me like the world is just getting a bit lazy and things like a dishwasher just prove that. There are a lot more things I would rather spend my money on than a machine thats going to do something I already do in the kitchen sink. Leave a comment and let me know if you agree of wither I’m just being a little bit old fashioned and need to catch up with the times.
Deals On Cutlery
New Cutlery
Unless your some sort of caveman from the dark ages which I’m guessing your not if your reading this then you will know that cutlery is a must have in the house. I’ll maybe make an exception for a chippy dinner because traditionally fish and chips from the chip shop is ate with your fingers.
An online furniture shop isn’t exactly the first place I thought I would have found my new cutlery but when I was on the Sterling Furniture website they had a drop down section for kitchenware, to be honest there wasn’t much you couldn’t find on there.
You know what it’s like when you have guests round for dinner or people staying over you want the best cutlery available and I’ve noticed with the likes of stainless steel it can get a bit “grubby” looking. Anyway against my better judgement Ive ordered more stainless steel cutlery (it looks the best when new) as you will see in the picture above. It was a great bargain with £50 being chopped off the original price down to 50 quid for a 44 piece set.
Win a Le Creuset Dutch Oven (Cocotte)
When I heard about dutch ovens (cocottes in French) I had to say I was less than enamored with the concept.
- Dutch Oven : Princeton University
- Dutch oven (iron or earthenware cooking pot; used for stews)
Why would I need a new stew pot – referring to a dutch oven as a cocotte does add a little elan to what in essence is a big stewing pot. And then I realised I was making stews in a big saucepan. And I had to dish up in the kitchen and then carry plates through. Not quite an epiphany but I do so much more enjoy meals when they’re dished up at the table. Food isn’t just about taste; it’s about smells and often theater. Serving food at the table from a large pot adds some theater to the whole process.
Le Creuset seem to make the best ones – they always do make the best cooking pots as far as I am concerned (the cost is sometimes prohibitive), so I was delighted to find after a bit of digging in Google that there is a competition to win a dutch oven over @ Elizabeth Anne. I like free even better than I like cooking. If you want to have a shot go over and get your entry in.
If you don’t win you can always have a look at buying a cocotte (I’m not calling them dutch ovens anymore: cocottes is nicer). The Le Creuset ones I looked at online were pricey as I wanted a family sized one and the best price I could see was £172! So I’d get entering that competition if you want to save some cash.
I did also find some nice little websites which have recipes for cocotte cooking (I don’t know if it’s called cocotte cooking or dutch oven cooking but que cera):
Le Creuset Cookware – Kitchen Inspiration
If you’re an enthusiastic amateur cook thats been telling themselves for ages that the cooking gear in your kitchen needs an upgrade, then i may have some inspiration for you in the form of the excellent Le Creuset Cookware range. Le Creuset are a long established French cookware brand with a reputation for producing cooking utensils of a high quality and durability. Although it may cost a little more than the average High Street brands it will almost certainly outlast them and be a part of your kitchen for many years.
The Le Creuset range covers a variety of kitchen appliances, including pots, and pans – and perhaps what they are most famous for their casserole dishes.
You can read more on the history on the Le Creuset range on Wikipedia.
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