This small All Clad dutch oven is the workhorse in my kitchen. Cooks evenly, cleans up easily.

We have a big Lodge enameled dutch oven but it's too heavy and bulky to use every day. It's also starting to chip.



I bought this thermometer for the smoker but it's perfect for roasts in the oven. No having to open the oven all the time to check the temp.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Oh yeah. The sous vide stick is a game changer!

Try a tough eye of round for like 12 hours to make French dips. Outstanding!

Have you bought a food saver yet? I re-package bulk packs for sous vide, including herbs and such so I can just take them from the freezer and drop them in the bath.

We have had a food saver for almost 3 years. The Sous Vide was purchased last October.

Post that recipe!

Rub the roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Seal in bag with some rosemary and thyme, sous vide at 133 for about 12 hours. Ive seen recommendations to cook for up to 24 hours but 12 hours has always worked for me.

Sear, slice thin, and serve.

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:

Bob does 90+% of the cooking

I win

I hope you do the dishes!!!

I do the dishes. It is hard to stay ahead of an Italian. They are either eating or planning the next meal

Since you mentioned it, I feel like I should post a picture of the dishwasher. A totally under appreciated appliance until it stops working.

Which it just did.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:


Since you mentioned it, I feel like I should post a picture of the dishwasher. A totally under appreciated appliance until it stops working.

Which it just did.

Ours gave up at 30 years or so. It actually still worked, but the latch on the door failed, and it really was time to get a quieter machine.

We have a great dishwasher but the household has shrunk, and we’re eating less. We tend to wash things by hand.

Maybe post-Covid we can throw some fancy dinners with guests.

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
During the last 2 years of being at home, we are all cooking more.

I know that there are some tools I use that are the best no matter what...

So post your fav kitchen item.

Here is mine..Many years of homemade mac and cheese and black bean chili were made in this Dansk dutch oven..I just made cabbage/potato curry in it this week...It was a wedding gift 30 years ago, now stained and chipped but still a staple in my kitchen.



What is your staple tool in your kitchen?

That would definitely be one of mine--except mine is red. It's actually my second set (I have the big one and the less big one). My previous set was blue, but the porcelain cracked off after, oh, 25 years of being used at least once a week.

My other kitchen hero is not available anywhere--I'm not at my house to take a photo, but it's a big (maybe 8 quart) pot with an equally large steamer basket with sides that fits into it. It's perfect for making a big hunk of steamed veggies for the family. We eat a lot of veggies, and most steamer baskets are too small. The spring-loaded kind that just sort of makes a floor in your pot isn't big enough and when you try to pull it out "fully loaded," you need a set of tongs to find the center piece to pull it out, and then everything falls out the side.

I would replace mine in a heartbeat if I could find a similar one. The next closest I've found is a big pasta pot with strainer, but it doesn't have enough holes to really steam efficiently.

My Kenmore dishwasher finally gave up the ghost almost six months ago (long before the fridge). With all the backorders (even the techs were unavailable) I just let it go.

Frankly, I don't know what the big deal is with them - but then I lived so long in Europe and Israel with no dishwasher (even without an oven - ever hear of a "Seer Pele", Wonder Pot?) I was accustomed to hand washing and letting them drain.
The dishwasher just became a cabinet dish-drainer.

I'm finally getting a new one in a few days - much nicer than the old one but I'm sure not as long-lived. The Kenmore lasted 15 years.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
My Mom owned an enameled casserole like that one. Dansk? Hers was turquoise. My sister still uses it.

I learned to cook with one. Try the porcupine balls - delicious!

Here’s a recipe.

In the oven as we speak. I saw some Instant Pot versions of Porcupine Meatballs but decided to try the oven version first. I used TJ's Mushroom Umami and Onion Salt for the seasonings.

Will report back.

Had the porcupine meatballs for lunch (we tend to eat our main meal midday). Prep was as expected, but they were just missing something flavor-wise.

We had them with some white rice, but they probably would be much better with mashed potatoes.

I think they needed some hot sauce.

Was very surprised by how the gravy turned out. Looked and tasted like a brown meat gravy, no hint of tomato left.

If anyone has suggestions for upping the flavor profile, I'm all ears!

Side note: my air fryer might make it on the hero list soon.....

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Had the porcupine meatballs for lunch (we tend to eat our main meal midday). Prep was as expected, but they were just missing something flavor-wise.

We had them with some white rice, but they probably would be much better with mashed potatoes.

I think they needed some hot sauce.

Was very surprised by how the gravy turned out. Looked and tasted like a brown meat gravy, no hint of tomato left.

If anyone has suggestions for upping the flavor profile, I'm all ears!

Sorry to hear that the recipe didn't work. I haven't made them in years so I didn't realize I posted the wrong recipe.

My sister is keeper of recipes, so I texted her for the original. Here is is, canned tomato soup and all, annotated in my mother's very distinctive handwriting. The soup would have been Campbells, the crackers saltines. If you use different crackers you'll probably want to add salt.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:


If anyone has suggestions for upping the flavor profile, I'm all ears!

Since my first cooking experiences were as the wife of a Turk, I always made things Mediterranean often with typical flavoring (for instance, I never made baklava without rosewater - and perish the thought of cinnamon ala greque.)

Meatballs, stuffing for cabbage, peppers, etc, were ALWAYS flavored with cumin and/or allspice apart from all the ones Steve listed.

I love that the recipe's name is "Yummy Balls."

I'm thinking it would be enhanced with grated cheese and green chiles. Maybe tapatio instead of the worcestershire sauce....