by Sheila Connolly
Recently I
received one of those glossy cookware catalogs in the mail (please don't tell
me it's holiday season already!), so of course I drooled over it during lunch. Then
I realized that we seldom talk here about what we cook with (except maybe
cookie cutters!). And I also realize how
much of my cookware collection is inherited—and vintage.
Many of the pieces I use every day belonged to my grandmother or my
mother, which makes them as old as I am.
I keep them and I use them because they were well made and they've
lasted. (If you go looking for Revere
Ware today, it looks exactly like it did in 1950-something, and I've got the
originals.) The metals were heavy-gauge
and spread heat evenly, and they have never warped or developed hot spots,
unlike cheaper ones that have come and gone over the years.
I've got
four stainless steel cookie sheets that are better than the crummy aluminum ones
I've bought myself; I can remember taking a pair of those old cookie sheets to
kindergarten, when we made chocolate chip cookies—the masking tape used for my
name label on the back lingered for years.
I finally
broke down and retired my mother's KitchenAid stand mixer a couple of years ago
only because the motor wasn't up to large batches, but it still works just
fine. The meat grinder attachment she
bought still fits the new one I acquired, not that she ever ground meat, as far
as I recall. I'm still using the family Pyrex bowls (although my sister made
off with one of the set; but I could replace it at any number of flea markets).
Then there
are the middle-aged pieces, like the Le Creuset dutch oven and baking dish that
I got as a wedding present. The bigger
piece is a bit chipped around the edges, and the interior is kind of dingy, but
if I'm not serving a formal dinner it's just fine. There's an electric skillet
that was also a wedding present, that I bring out now and then because there
are a few things it does that nothing else does. And there's my Cuisinart food
processor, that I can't imagine living without now (the first one died of old
age, after thirty years, so I have a replacement one).
I
inherited my mother's crock pot, a decade or more ago, and I'm still learning to use it. To honor it, here's a recipe
from Sarah Atwell's Pane of Death.
Sarah was my pen name a while back, and her heroine was culinarily challenged, but even she could handle this recipe.
FOOLPROOF
SLOW COOKER CHICKEN CHILI
3 boneless,
skinless chicken breasts
1 large
white onion, chopped
3 ancho
chiles with seeds and veins removed, cut into strips or pieces (A word about
chiles: if you can't find fresh ones in
your local market, you can use dried ones.
Just soak them in hot water for a bit, then rinse out the seeds and cut
into large pieces. Anchos are fairly
mild, but you can use hotter ones if you like.)
2 tsp. oregano
2 large
cloves garlic (you may leave them whole or chop them)
4 cups
chicken broth
salt and black
pepper to taste
1 15-oz.
can beans (you may use black, white, or whatever you have)
fresh
cilantro, chopped
In your crockpot, put the chicken, the chopped onion, the garlic, the chiles, the
oregano, and the salt and pepper. Pour
in the chicken stock to cover. Cook at
low heat for four hours (more or less), stirring now and then.
Remove the
chicken breasts, shred them (when they're cool enough to handle), and return
them to the cooker. Add the beans and
continue cooking for another hour (more or less).
Taste for
seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. Just before serving, add the
cilantro and stir.
Serve over
cooked rice. Serves four.
The beauty
of this dish is its flexibility. You can
use pork instead of chicken, or increase the proportion of meat or beans. If
you want more heat, add more chiles, or a different kind of chile, or throw in
a dash of Tabasco sauce. You can stir in
heavy cream or sour cream at the end.
It's very
hard to mess up!
What a fun post, Sheila! We have a fairly small kitchen, but I've it crammed with stuff: a stand mixer, a crock pot, a food processor, a Dutch oven, a waffle iron, an immersion blender ... and a million little items (lemon zester, ginger grater, pastry cutter ...).
ReplyDeleteAlas, I didn't inherit any of my kitchen items (other than the stand mixer, which my mother never used). But I hear you about quality: next time we buy pots, I'm going all high end. :)
Wow, this recipe sounds great for the cold weather that's about to hit a lot of us!
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that so many items are shoddy and designed for a short life today? I have a pizza baking sheet that I use for all kinds of things and protect diligently -- it puts new baking sheets to shame. I recently bought new cake pans and made sure they were sturdy and made in America. I hope they hold up!
~ Krista
Hate to hear your food processor died at 30 - mine is 32! But I only use it a couple of times a month.
ReplyDeleteI did not bring my crock pot when we moved cross country and ended up replacing it. However, meat cooked in it does not taste right - has happened several times. Beginning to think we need a more expensive crock pot. Thoughts?
I stumbled upon this blog today - lovely surprise.
ReplyDeleteAnn