Peppermill that is!  If there is one spice in the kitchen that Katt and I can agree should belong in just about every meal, its’ pepper.  As a matter of fact on one of the very first dates Katt and I ever went on I actually stole a pepper mill.  It occurred while at a [...]]]>

Peppermill that is!  If there is one spice in the kitchen that Katt and I can agree should belong in just about every meal, its’ pepper.  As a matter of fact on one of the very first dates Katt and I ever went on I actually stole a pepper mill.  It occurred while at a restaurant in Las Vegas, the pepper mill on the table worked so well that it left when we did.  It continued to serve us well on the remainder of the trip.  Many dates and pepper grinds later Katt and I needed a new mill, something that would hold up to the demands of a high pepper use household and some serious au poivre action.  All of our research and testing lead us to one grinder, the Magnum by Unicorn Peppermills.  Hit the jump for the full run down.

After trying about a dozen different pepper grinders at various kitchen stores we came to the conclusion that all pepper mills just suck and we would just have to settle on something that looked nice.  That all changed during some extended research when we started seeing some amazingly positive reviews for the Magnum peppermill from Unicorn.  After finding a store locally that carried them we purchased one without having tried it first based solely on the reviews we had read.  This was one of the best purchase decisions we have ever made.

Anyone who has ever shopped for high end peppermills will tell you that at $45.00 the Magnum actually represents a bargain.  Some “high end” peppermills can easily run 80-100 dollars with results that cannot even compare to the Magnum.  The first thing you will notice about the Magnum is its appearance.  Unlike most peppermills available the Magnum is all about function.  No fancy wood, copper, or clear acrylic.  Ok let’s be honest if this bothers you than get a cheap wood peppermill or some antique to leave out on the table and whip out your Magnum when you actually want some pepper.  In addition to the nonsense looks you will get a mill that requires no crazy contortions to grind pepper and no instruction manual necessary to fill it.  Speaking of filling, this mill simply swallows up the pepper corns, simply slide the plastic ring around the middle to expose the fill hole and pour in the pepper.  Since we use so much pepper around the Flavourgasmic kitchen having a huge capacity was a big plus and with the Magnum there is not a lot of wasted space.  Even with the large capacity Katt and I will probably be moving up to the Magnum Plus, this taller cousin of the Magnum holds a whopping 1 ¼ cups of pepper corns, easily enough for a couple days in our kitchen.  Keep this in mind if you use a lot of pepper.

Now about the grind, one of the biggest down falls of most peppermills is grind consistency.  On non-adjustable models you will get everything from pepper dust to pieces that seem larger then the pepper corns you filled the damn thing with.  On most adjustable models you will spend hours finely tuning the adjustment only having it go wildly out of adjustment when you are trying to pick up some beautiful girl with your precisely dialed in pepper grind.  “It happens to all guys” she will say as she takes her pepper needs elsewhere.  Yep you heard it here getting a Magnum peppermill almost guarantee getting the hot chicks.  Joking aside the Magnum is an adjustable mill, but my god will it hold a setting.  Adjust it to cracked pepper and guess what?  You get cracked pepper.  In a week you get more cracked pepper, a year even more.  I think you get the point, not only is the Magnum easy to dial in the grind it will hold it!  Katt and I like a coarser grind and in 3 years and what seems like several hundred pounds of pepper later it hasn’t changed a bit.  This friend is what peppermills are all about!

While it may not be the prettiest girl at the prom, the Magnum is certainly a lot more fun to play with.  If you can get past the rugged plastic looks you will be rewarded with a peppermill that should last you the rest of your life and remains as consistent as the day you bought it.  Whether you are looking for a new mill or just about ready to rectally insert your current model into the person responsible for making it do yourself a favour and check out Unicorn Peppermills.

Several people asked me about ice cream makers after yesterday’s post.  Ice cream makers unfortunately come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and materials.  From the $25 Ice Cream maker ball, that makes ice cream by rolling around a frozen plastic ball, to the $2800 commercial batch ice cream makers that can make ice [...]]]>

Several people asked me about ice cream makers after yesterday’s post.  Ice cream makers unfortunately come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and materials.  From the $25 Ice Cream maker ball, that makes ice cream by rolling around a frozen plastic ball, to the $2800 commercial batch ice cream makers that can make ice cream in as little as 20 minutes.  Ultimately I settled on the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence 2qt model, I say settled because I couldn’t afford the Taylor 220 shown here used for $11,500.  For $79 dollars though I think the Cuisinart was a close second.  Keep reading to find out why I like it.

My earliest memories of ice cream making have to be of my parents begrudgingly pulling out the hand crank machine.  My memory is a bit foggy but I think it was one of those wood style bucket machines that probably had a stainless steel bucket and required the use of lots of ice, rock salt and man power (or kid power if available).  Looking back I can see why we only made ice cream once when I was younger.  Quite simply it was a pain in the ass.  But that was in the olden days surely technology has surpassed such trivial ice cream issues?  Not as much as you would think.

Below $200 dollars you will not find an ice cream maker that has a built in compressor-freezer.  This means you are left with units that have either a non-chilled bucket (typically stainless steel) and require the addition of ice and salt to keep the bucket below freezing.  Or you will find units like the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence that use a plastic bowl that requires you to pre freezes the bowl for 24 hours prior to using it.

The Cuisinart Pure Indulgence falls into the pre-freeze bowl category and features a nice clean look with stainless steel housing and a very usable 2 quart capacity.  There is even space under the ice cream maker for cord storage, a little thing that makes a big difference for storage.  Other than the unit itself you have only three addition parts, the plastic lid, plastic paddle and the freezer bowl.  All three are very easy to clean and the lid and paddle can be tossed in the dishwasher if needed.  Operation could not be easier, just freeze the bowl, and assemble the bowl into the housing along with the paddle and lid.  Turn the unit on and pour in your chilled mixture.  30 minutes later you have whatever frozen treat you set out to make.

To me the ease of not having to worry about adding ice and salt make it worth the space I need to have in the freezer for the bowl.  Fortunately at Flavourgasmic we have a storage freezer with plenty of space to keep the bowl permanently on freeze for ice cream any time.  If you don’t have the freezer space than I would consider a traditional model but be warned having to monitor your progress and add ice and salt is kind of a pain.  Either way you will do yourself a favor by not getting a hand crank model.  While you may think to yourself that this is cool or olde tyme, you will soon find yourself cursing your decision and not enjoying ice cream.

Not much more to say.  The Cuisinart Pure Indulgence has been a great ice cream maker for the two years we have used it.  In that time we have produced some truly great ice creams and also some truly horrible ice creams (not the fault of the ice cream maker).  If you are on a budget Cuisinart also makes a very similar 1.5qt model that is about $30 dollars less but has most of the same features.  You will not go wrong either way and there is nothing better on a hot day or when the craving hits than some wonderful, creamy, delicious homemade ice cream!

Most cutting boards suffer from two problems.  First they are usually materials that are hard to clean and second they take up huge amounts of space in your cabinets.  Fortunately for all of us Epicurean has come to our rescue.  Not only do we exclusively use Epicurean cutting boards in the Flavourgasmic kitchen we also [...]]]>

Most cutting boards suffer from two problems.  First they are usually materials that are hard to clean and second they take up huge amounts of space in your cabinets.  Fortunately for all of us Epicurean has come to our rescue.  Not only do we exclusively use Epicurean cutting boards in the Flavourgasmic kitchen we also give them as gifts, they are that good.  Read on for more.

Ok let’s start with what makes them such a hit in our kitchen.  They are dishwasher safe and easy to clean, woohoo.  Unlike most bamboo and wood cutting boards (believe me I have had wood boards split) you can just toss them in the dishwasher when you are done.  Perhaps most important to me is that Epicurean cutting boards are knife safe.  As any chef or experienced cook knows, knives are the number one tool we have in our kitchen and we should treat them like gold!  Almost equally important is their size.  Epicurean boards are only about a ¼ inch thick making them easy to stash in most cabinets.  My mom, who still uses a plastic cutting board, will tell you that every once in a while she has to bleach her cutting board due to staining.  She wouldn’t have to do this if she switched to an Epicurean board which thanks to its surface resists staining and odors!  Also cool is their ability to handle heat to 350 degrees F to be exact.  This allows them to work as trivets in addition to cutting boards.  Epicurean also sells trivets that could probably be used as cutting boards.  I begrudgingly feel I need to mention one other trait.  They are eco friendly.  Made from eco select paper 60% of the energy used to produce the raw materials is from renewable energy.  They even have a line of cutting boards made from recycled cardboard upping the green factor, blah, moving on.  Personally I would feel better if they where made from the ground bones of happy fluffy bunnies and the tears of Mother Nature as the earth is destroyed by man.  Ok so they aren’t perfect but they are close.

We own two of their cutting boards and have been using them for about 3 years now.  During that time we have put them through the washing machine hundreds of times and they are just as good now as the day we purchased them.  We are using fairly expensive knives and I’m sure if they could talk they would thank us.  I monitor the edges of them frequently and have not noticed any abnormal wear due to using these cutting boards.  They don’t show any staining nor have they retained any odors despite cutting garlic, squid, and happy fluffy bunnies.

Epicurean offers a dizzying array of cutting boards, from small handy boards, to large carving boards with grooves that can accommodate cups of drippings. You can do yourself and your knives a favor and head over to Epicurean and check out their cutting board line up.  Here are some examples.

I have a confession.  I like salad spinners.  I don’t know why, maybe it’s from watching the dryer at the Laundromat as a child, or maybe it’s from a wet lettuce trauma I suffered at some point.  Either way one thing is sure, when I became an adult (an event that is still up for [...]]]>

I have a confession.  I like salad spinners.  I don’t know why, maybe it’s from watching the dryer at the Laundromat as a child, or maybe it’s from a wet lettuce trauma I suffered at some point.  Either way one thing is sure, when I became an adult (an event that is still up for debate as to when or if it happened) I set upon a journey to purchase myself the best salad spinner I could find.  After years of depression and searching, my pilgrimage finally ended when I found the OXO salad spinner.  Hit the jump to find out why.

Most salad spinners tend to have horrible designs.  Either you have to crank a knob that tends to send the bowl into wild gyrations not seen since Elvis first hit the stage.  Or you pull a cord much like starting a lawn mower, a design that should have been put out of it’s misery before it was born.  The OXO salad spinner is different.  It uses a patented pump mechanism to allow for easy one hand operation.  Simply push down on the non-slip knob to start the bowl spinning.  Since it is geared you can get a really nice spin going with very little effort.  The bottom of the bowl features a non-slip ring to keep the bowl firmly planted on the countertop during extended green drying sessions.  A really cool brake button allows you to easily slow things down when you are ready to stop and a locking lever secures the knob in the down position for easy storage.  Available in several sizes for both salads and herbs and in either a clear or a new green color which I guess is so you can remember what it’s for?  Ultimately I went for the standard 6.22 quart bowl capacity which gives an almost 5 quart basket capacity.  Perfect for drying the greens of a favorite in the Flavourgasmic kitchen, the spinach salad, the bowl makes a perfect container for washing the spinach prior to drying.  Do yourself a favour and don’t even think about entering into salad battles without an OXO salad spinner providing suppressing drying.  Available everywhere for just $29.99, you won’t be disappointed.

If the world of enameled cast iron cookware were anything like highlander, Le Creuset would be the only one.  It seems to me that just about every week some manufacture is introducing a new line of colorful enameled cookware in direct competition with Le Creuset.  So why was this Le Creuset French oven at the [...]]]>

If the world of enameled cast iron cookware were anything like highlander, Le Creuset would be the only one.  It seems to me that just about every week some manufacture is introducing a new line of colorful enameled cookware in direct competition with Le Creuset.  So why was this Le Creuset French oven at the top of Katt’s wish list, and why was I willing to spend considerably more for it?  Read on to find out. 

To begin with, Le Creuset is not new to the game.  Founded in France in 1925 by two Belgian industrialists, one of their first products, and to date their most popular, was the Dutch oven.  But wait Brian I thought you said it was a French oven?  Here’s the thing, culinarily speaking I don’t believe there is anything called a French oven.  The Dutch were making sand cast, iron cooking vessels since the 1600s.  By the time Le Creuset came around the term Dutch oven was already pretty well established.  However being French they were not about to let anyone but the French take credit so Le Creuset decided to market their Dutch oven as a French Oven.  In 1934 Le Creuset introduced what is, to Katt and me at least, one of the most iconic cookware colors ever created, Flame (orange).  It was this color that I purchased for Katt.

So what makes Le Creuset so much better than their often times considerably cheaper competition?  For one, their construction, all Le Creuset French ovens are still produced in the same foundry in France.  Each one is individually sand cast and hand finished before being sprayed with two coats of enamel and fired.  The results are a cooking vessel that is built like a tank and made to endure even the toughest of kitchen abuses.  The other nice feature is that the lid is cast at the same thickness as the pot itself.  This means you have a very robust lid that sits nicely on the pot and has the same heat retention properties as the vessel.

In addition to construction you are also getting the Le Creuset image.  It’s the difference between owning a Ferrari or a Corvette, a Ducati or a Honda.  While there is little tangible performance increase (in some cases at least) you know you own the best and just the act of viewing this object becomes enjoyable.  There is a pride that comes with Le Creuset ownership that just can’t be explained unless you own one.

Right, but how does it cook?  In a word, perfectly, I don’t think either Katt or I have a single complaint about the vessel.  From stews to soups, to slow cooking beef tongue for tacos, it’s tough to screw up in the Le Creuset French oven.  You could even create a tagine in one, if heaven forbid, you didn’t own an Emile Henry tagine already.  The benefits of an enameled cast iron pot are clear the moment you turn the heat to low and let it simmer all day.  Stainless steel just can’t keep up.  It doesn’t retain the heat as well and will end up with burn marks on the bottom.  Cleaning the French oven could not be easier, either toss in the dishwasher if you are so inclined (please don’t I will cry), or simply clean by hand in the sink with minimal effort due to the enameled surface.

I have found 5.5qt size to be just about ideal for home use.  Anything smaller and you have to figure out how to cut down most recipes.  Anything larger and you have a lot of unused pan. Probably one of the greatest things about owning a Le Creuset French oven is the knowledge that in 100 years your French oven could still be around and functioning just as well as it does today.  This means that you can start your own culinary traditions, ones that can be passed down for generations to come, and can you really put a price on that?  Yes, it appears you can, and it’s 229.99 at most retailers.

Ok so I might have over reached a bit on the title of this post, but all puns aside ‘wichcraft is a book that is sure to please sandwich lovers and foodies alike.  Written by chef Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame, ‘wichcraft brings the recipes from his award winning restaurant ‘wichcraft, into the kitchen.  Chef [...]]]>

Ok so I might have over reached a bit on the title of this post, but all puns aside ‘wichcraft is a book that is sure to please sandwich lovers and foodies alike.  Written by chef Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame, ‘wichcraft brings the recipes from his award winning restaurant ‘wichcraft, into the kitchen.  Chef Colicchio holds a special place in the kitchen at Flavourgasmic, for one he is the lovable head judge on Top Chef, a TV show that is not only a favourite in our home, but has also helped to bring about the resurgance of truly excellent food and restaurants.  Chef Colicchio is also quite simply an excellent chef, one of a few that understands that meals do not have to be overly complicated to taste good, his food is honest, and I believe Chef Colicchio to be a caring and compassionate person which comes across in his cooking and in his recipes.  If you are the kind of person that wants a cold cut sandwich that can be thrown together quickly before work, this is probably not the book for you.  If however, like me, you love a good sandwich and want to see how this almost perfect meal delivery device can be elevated to the next level, this is the book for you.  While you could purchase it at Williams-Sonoma for the list price of $27.50 why not save yourself a couple of bucks and get it at Amazon for $18.15?  Continue reading to see a sample recipe from the book.

From ‘wichcraft: Roasted Turkey with Avocado, Bacon, Balsamic Onion Marmalade, and Mayonnaise

This recipe is one of our biggest sellers but, interestingly, each customer cites a different reason the sandwich is special. One says that she could eat the onion marmalade with a spoon for breakfast daily. Others can’t say enough about the bacon. Tom applauds Sisha’s decision to cut the turkey thicker, thus showcasing its moistness. This is an ensemble piece, with no clear headliner. While we use ciabatta, this sandwich would work as well on country bread, too.

Ingredients:
6 fresh sage leaves
1 (3- to 4-pound) boneless turkey breast
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 slices bacon
4 ciabatta rolls
1/2 cup Balsamic Onion Marmalade (This and other condiment recipes are in the book)
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and sliced
4 tablespoons Mayonnaise

Note: Don’t cook the bacon over too high heat or the fat will burn. When you’re done, save the fat you’ve rendered and store it in the freezer. The next time you’re roasting some vegetables, toss some bacon fat in with them! (Makes 4 sandwiches)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Slide the sage leaves under the skin of the turkey breast and place the turkey on a sheet pan. Rub the skin with the butter and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast the turkey for 1 to 1½ hours, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Baste the meat with its juices throughout. (Keep in mind that the meat will continue to cook even after it’s removed from the oven, so be careful not to cook it too long.) Allow the meat to rest before slicing, or cool completely.

In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until golden brown and crisp on both sides. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Slice the ciabatta rolls in half. Place the turkey slices on the bottom halves and top with the marmalade. Place the bottom and top halves of the rolls in the 350°F oven and remove once the marmalade is heated through and the bread is toasted. Top the marmalade with the bacon, followed by the avocado. Evenly spread the mayonnaise on the top halves of the rolls. Close the sandwiches, cut into halves, and serve.

Several years ago, I fell in love with the food and cooking of Morocco.  Of course true to everything I do, I couldn’t just “cook” Moroccan food, I had to become one with Moroccan food.  This of course meant that I HAD to have a tagine or tajine as it’s called, which is not only [...]]]>

Several years ago, I fell in love with the food and cooking of Morocco.  Of course true to everything I do, I couldn’t just “cook” Moroccan food, I had to become one with Moroccan food.  This of course meant that I HAD to have a tagine or tajine as it’s called, which is not only the special heavy clay pot but also the name of the dish itself.  At $165 this was not a purchase made lightly, but Katt noticing me salivating over this pot online and subsequently buying it for me made the decision much easier!  Hit the link to find out what I think of the Emile Henry Tagine.

First you may be wondering why the Emile Henry tagine, well first off it was very important to me that I get a modern tagine that is as close to a traditional tagine as possible.  A lot of the tagines on the market were either metal or enamel coated cast iron, to me this does not allow you to create the traditional Moroccan dish as faithfully, as the cooking pot would retain too much heat.  The Emile Henry vessel is made from their Flame® ceramic line which is great since it’s light, will work on any cook-top (a disk embedded in the ceramic allows it to work on induction cook-tops), is oven and microwave safe, and can even be used directly on a fire.  Almost as important to me is that the Emile Henry tagine is just plain beautiful, it looks great on your table and makes a great serving vessel in addition to a cooking pot.  Also available in a smaller 2.6qt version I found that this was a little too small to properly include the amounts and sheer number of ingredients needed to create a wonderful tagine (at least the ones I like to make).  Also just as important to a tagine is the lid and the Emile Henry has a perfect lid, nice tall cone with a sealed top.  The special lid allows steam to form and drop back onto the cooking meat, this helps keep the protein you are cooking extremely moist which is important for this style of meal.  The shape of the lid also means that you can remove it easily while cooking since it stays relatively cool compared to the bottom of the pot.  Avoid any tagine that does not have a sealed lid, I have seen several that have holes in the very top of the cone and this defeats the purpose. 

The first thing you will notice about the tagine when you get it home is that in addition to its good looks, it feels good.  It is heavy, but not so heavy that you can not easily move it from the stove to the table.  The first thing you are going to want to do, just like any traditional clay pot, is to season it.  This is accomplished by adding milk to the pot until you have a depth of about an inch.  Simmer the milk for about 5 minutes, let it completely cool and than clean your pot.  Important to note, since this is a glazed pot, is that very small cracks will appear due the the expansion and contraction of the material when it heat cycles, this is perfectly normal and should not be cause for alarm.  However, it is never a good idea to heat a clay vessel that is empty, without something in the pot to act as a heat sink the pot has the potential of breaking.  According to the manufacturer this material is dishwasher safe, but like all of the cookware I love, I prefer not to subject it to the rigors of the machine wash but instead wash by hand, the decision is of course up to you.  After seasoning my pot I started by preparing a traditional lamb tagine, this included just about every spice I had, preserved lemons, apricots, olives, carrots, onions and beef stock.  Served over cous-cous the results were amazing, wonderfully tender lamb with just the right balance of sweet and savory!  The great thing about a tagine is that it allows you, just like a stew, to experiment with flavors by substituting various produce, protein and spices.  True to most Moroccan style tagines I try to balance sweetness (apricots, raisins, dates, honey) with sour (preserved lemons, lemon juice) and tie them together with a healthy spice blend.  Since this is a slow cooking method you can use cheaper cuts of meat, since after cooking for hours you can easily break down even the toughest cuts until they are falling apart.  I have since created tagines featuring beef, chicken, lamb, lamb again (it’s sooo good), and even a special vegetarian tagine for my cousin using chick peas and prickly pear cactus, the results were the same for all of them, absolutely delicious, and I have received many complements on the tagines (dish), and the tagine (pot).

If you have not figured it out yet I can completely recommend the Emile Henry tagine, it’s a durable product that will last you a lifetime if cared for and will allow you to create the wonderful dishes of northern Africa and look good doing it!