January's dinner choice: Chicken fricassee with a mushroom onion sauce, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, carrots and corn and an apple tart for dessert. For our maiden adventure, my mother decided it would be fun to dress like Julia, so that made me Julie. I wore a sweater that we both thought looked kind of French...ish. We chose to buy all of our ingredients and cook the same day. I think this works really well, so long as you have the time. We chopped all the veggies first so they'd be ready to throw in the pot. I guess I've always been around sweet onions because I thought people were exaggerating about onions making you cry, but they weren't! Chopping onions hurts!!
My mother in her heels and I just as confused as ever with all the strain this, cut this, skim that, combine those, were having a blast. We got frustrated a few times trying to figure out how to make so few pots work and trying to find the right utensils, but we still enjoyed our time together and the meal turned out AMAZING! It was a meal to eat slowly and savor every bite! We both commented several times it was so good we thought we might just cry! My stove top was as full as it had ever been though! I thought I wasn't going to have enough pots and pans!After our first blind adventure here's what I learned. First lesson: don't wear high heel shoes for 5 hours cooking! My mother was a real trooper; although, I think she still have nightmares of the pain she endured for a good meal. Lesson #2: Use a good veggie knife to cut veggies (shocker there) because it really does make a difference! I used a big heavy steak knife and it was very awkward. I chose to purchase the WMF Profi Plus Vegetable Knife and what I (personally) love most is the size. It's so easy to maneuver and it's super sharp...when you use the blade side...yeah, I actually cut a carrot with the blunt side of the knife! I kept thinking something was wrong and it definitely wasn't the knife. So moving along. The handle is smooth and round and comfortable in my hand. It is dishwasher safe and water tight...it won't get water inside the handle. It's made of 18/10 stainless, so it's got a long life ahead of it and is super rust resistant. Plus, it's just beautiful to look at. Lesson #3: Have a good variety of pots and pans and THINK about what kind of pots and pans will work best. The ones pictured on my stove are beautiful! I love the warm red color against the stark black on the inside; HOWEVER, the love quickly began to wane as the cooking got going. Why? Pots are for much more than decorating your kitchen...obviously. These have a non-stick coating on them. What's wrong with that?! Well there's nothing "wrong" with that other than you have to be careful what utensils you use in it, you have to be careful washing it, you have to let baked on food soak in your sink FOREVER to properly remove it so as not damage the coating. UGH! I have half el-cheapo plastic utensils and half metal ones. I was constantly worrying about finding a plastic utensil to stir with - had to rinse the same one several times to use between two different pots while clean metal ones sat unused because they'd hurt the pot! The solution that I found best was WMF Function 4 cookware. What's most cool about it besides the fact that it's made of 18/10 stainless, is that is has a mirror finish on the inside of the pot. I figured out this means that food particles won't get stuck in the pot. This is why it's so hard to clean other stainless steel pots. It also has an TransTherm base which is an aluminum core inside a stainless steel capsule. Even on my crappy burners, it still heats evenly! The reason it's called FUNCTION 4 is because each lid has three strainers, depending on how you turn the lid, and one side that completely closes the pot. They can also be put in the oven without the lid. I can use any utensil available because the pot can take it. I can scrub it and not worry about damaging it. Check out all this stuff online - way cool! Time for laundry, three baths (the kids), reading and a little cartoons before bed.
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