A New Year Brings New Cooking
The new year has brought a few changes to my humble New York City kitchen. In 2006, my kitchen was ripe for a reality TV home organization show. I had junk mail mixed in with bottles of aged balsamic vinegar and my spices were stored in the same space as my bulk food items - who could find a small McCormick’s nutmeg in the midst of 10 pounds of rigatoni pasta? This year, I made a few New Year’s resolutions. The first was to get organized. The second was to conduct a full-on purge of unnecessary items. This purge was made further necessary by a few new additions to my kitchen; the most noticeable addition being my new electric indoor grill.
My boss generously gave me a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma for Christmas in an effort (perhaps) to compensate for the bonus-less structure employed by my firm. With the gift certificate, I was tempted to buy many cute and fun kitchen gadgets, like silicon pot holders and funky pepper mills, but realizing that my resolution would be compromised by an influx of items that would not be given proper storage, I nixed the spending spree on gadgets and purchased 1 item - the indoor grill!
As you know, I often write about grilling, whether it be out in civilization on a real Webber, or on a grill pan in the City. I have posted many tributes to my grill pan and have frequently commented on different spices that compliment grilled meat.
The first meal prepared on the new electric indoor grill was pork chops. They turned out wonderfully juicy, tender and coated with those aesthetically pleasing grill marks. The second meal prepared on the new electric indoor grill was hamburgers. First, as a minor prelude, I have to say that the preparation of a hamburger is daunting. Perhaps my fear is rooted in some unfounded sexist stereotype, but I just get intimidated by the idea of making a hamburger. So I deferred to my sous-chef on this meal.
With a few chops of fresh rosemary, mincing of garlic, a few dashes of salt and pepper, George had his burgers on the grill in no time. In a quick second, the magical electric indoor grill had perfectly grilled our hamburgers. Complimented by a little fresh mozzarella, lettuce and tomatoes, you would have thought you were dining al fresco on a summer day on the East End of Long Island (that is if I closed my eyes and thought about it). But, although the scenery was different, it was still a perfectly grilled hamburger.
So my humble New York City kitchen of 2006 is slowly becoming a bit more this year if you will. Hopefully with a bit more organization, my new Henckles (another new addition) will be working up another great dish I might not have tried in 2006!
Until next time...
My boss generously gave me a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma for Christmas in an effort (perhaps) to compensate for the bonus-less structure employed by my firm. With the gift certificate, I was tempted to buy many cute and fun kitchen gadgets, like silicon pot holders and funky pepper mills, but realizing that my resolution would be compromised by an influx of items that would not be given proper storage, I nixed the spending spree on gadgets and purchased 1 item - the indoor grill!
As you know, I often write about grilling, whether it be out in civilization on a real Webber, or on a grill pan in the City. I have posted many tributes to my grill pan and have frequently commented on different spices that compliment grilled meat.
The first meal prepared on the new electric indoor grill was pork chops. They turned out wonderfully juicy, tender and coated with those aesthetically pleasing grill marks. The second meal prepared on the new electric indoor grill was hamburgers. First, as a minor prelude, I have to say that the preparation of a hamburger is daunting. Perhaps my fear is rooted in some unfounded sexist stereotype, but I just get intimidated by the idea of making a hamburger. So I deferred to my sous-chef on this meal.
With a few chops of fresh rosemary, mincing of garlic, a few dashes of salt and pepper, George had his burgers on the grill in no time. In a quick second, the magical electric indoor grill had perfectly grilled our hamburgers. Complimented by a little fresh mozzarella, lettuce and tomatoes, you would have thought you were dining al fresco on a summer day on the East End of Long Island (that is if I closed my eyes and thought about it). But, although the scenery was different, it was still a perfectly grilled hamburger.
So my humble New York City kitchen of 2006 is slowly becoming a bit more this year if you will. Hopefully with a bit more organization, my new Henckles (another new addition) will be working up another great dish I might not have tried in 2006!
Until next time...
posted by Anonymous @ 6:41 PM
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