If you have any questions or anything you would like to know how to do, post it here. Whenever possible, I will have "Viewer Mail" posts in which I will answer the questions posted here.

Enjoy!

Kitchen essentials: knives, equipment, pantry
Cooking methods: dry (searing/sauteing, pan frying, deep frying, broiling/grilling, roasting/baking), wet (poaching/simmering/boiling, steaming), mixed (braising, stewing)
Mixing methods (specifically pertaining to baking): muffin method, creaming method, bisquit method
Making menus and shopping lists for the week
Making a roux
Other thickening methods
The 5 "mother" sauces: bechamel, veloute, tomato, espagnole, hollandaise (Those last two will probably be awhile. I never use espagnole, and hollandaise is very difficult.)
Making gravy
Fabricating a chicken
Candy making
Storage
Pie
Making salad dressing
Chocolate
Cooking pasta
Cheesecake
Yeast breads
Cooking eggs
Egg white foams
Pancakes and waffles
Cooking rice

I have moved this blog to pinchofkaty.blogspot.com. It's more accessible since I can get on blogger at work. I hope to see you there. :)

I don't even want to look at the thing that tells me how long it's been since I last updated. Evan and I just moved into our new house (!) on Friday, so the past two weeks have all been packing and moving and unpacking and cleaning and packing some more and moving some more and . . . you get the idea.

But, I actually got a chance to cook tonight. I made this cake, which may have been an unmitigated disaster. I haven't had the guts to take it out of the pan yet. I did something really stupid and put it in a springform pan. Word to the wise: those things leak. Don't pour cherries in a liquid in the bottom of one of them. Especially when you are out of paper towels and will therefore stain one of your dishcloths.

On to happier news, I made a kick-ass pasta salad tonight. I'd never attempted a pasta salad before. My mother often told me of how she could never get a pasta salad to work for her, so I had kind of developed a fear of making pasta salad. Well, it's actually pretty easy. I don't know what I was afraid of. Here's what I put in it, but I don't think it really needs a recipe. I just looked in my fridge for what looked good and threw it all together. Based on my admittedly limited experience, I would suggest 1 part pasta, 1 part veggies, 1/4-1/2 part cheese, and 1/4-1/2 part meat (if you wish).

( Here's what I put in mine. )

Untried Sweet Recipe of the Week
Brownies from Mark Bittman

Untried Savory Recipe of the Week
Pasta with Spinach, Chickpeas, and Bacon from Serious Eats

Internet Tool of the Week
Food Blog Search

Cooking Tip of the Week
How to Make Grilled Pizza via Serious Eats - This makes me even more eager to move into our house so we can actually use our grill. (The city we live in does not allow propane grills in aparment complexes.)

Food News of the Week
Craft Brewers Reformulate Beer to Cope With Hops Shortage - I thought my favorite beers tasted different.

Funny Food of the Week
Steve Carell's SNL Monologue via Serious Eats

( The rest under the cut )

Getting started in a kitchen is hard. If you don't have a lot of experience cooking, how do you know what you need to buy now, what can wait for later, and what will go unused? I already had a fair amount of cooking experience when I got married and moved out of my parents' house, but I still messed up. There were quite a few things that I wished I had put on our wedding registry and a few that I look at now and go, "Why did I want that?" For example? An iced tea maker. I had an idea that since my husband--good southern boy that he is--liked sweet tea, I could make it at home with an iced tea maker. I used it once. It's still taking up space in my small appliance area in the pantry. I honestly don't know why I haven't gotten rid of it.

Now let me preface this list by saying that I normally cook for myself and my husband only. The following list of equipment has served me well in this capacity. I feel that it would still translate well to larger families, but I can't know for sure. I've divided the list into three parts. I would recommend buying everything in the first list before attempting to cook in your kitchen. (You should be able to do this with good quality equipment for less than $300. Yes, you can buy the cheap stuff and save some money, but you'll just end up buying it over and over. Get some good quality, durable equipment, please.) The other two lists I have put approximately in the order in which you should buy them.

The Bare Bones Kitchen
7"-9" chef's knife, paring knife, serrated bread knife - We've been over this one.
2 cutting boards - You need two for food safety reasons-one for meat, one for veggies. You can use a wooden cutting board for veggies, but I would recommend plastic or silicone for meat. Don't use glass or marble cutting boards period. They will dull your knives.
10" saute pan - Non-stick or not, it's really your choice. I have both, but I only end up using the non-stick pan for eggs. Most foods will let go of the pan if you let them sit long enough and start them on a pan that's already heated. If you go with a pan without a non-stick coating, don't buy one that is copper or aluminum. Both metals will leach into acidic foods and make it taste weird. However, if you're into candy making, copper is great. You'll use this to sear meat, saute vegetables, pan fry, and make some sauces.
stock pot and/or dutch oven - I like cast iron dutch ovens over enameled ones. I'm paranoid that the enamel will chip, and besides, cast iron pans enrich your food with iron. When I was little, I was
anemic at one point. The doctor told my mother to cook my food on cast iron. Crazy, isn't it? You'll use this to make soups, cook pasta, deep fry, and braise.
8" square baking pan - I like pyrex best. It's easier to tell when food is done and harder to burn it. You'll use this for cakes and casseroles. It also works as a roasting pan in a pinch if you don't
need to cover what you're cooking. For that, you can use the dutch oven.
Utensils - Silicone spatula, can opener, mixing bowls, and measuring cups and spoons (Oxo good grip ones are great. For liquids I have an adjustable one that's basically a tube on a gasket.)

Not Quite so Bare Bones
baking equipment - 2 half sheet pans or cookie sheets, pie pan, muffin tin, loaf pan, whisk and/or hand mixer, rolling pin
vegetable peeler - Buy one with a comfy handle, not one of those cheap metal things. You know what I'm talking about.
tongs - I use these all the time - to stir pasta, to flip solid food, to toss salads, etc.
wire mesh strainer- Use it to drain pasta, strain sauces/custards/etc, sift flour, decorate cakes with powdered sugar.
cast iron skillet - I use if for pan frying, cooking high-fat meat (helps keep the seasoning), and pancakes. Nothing in your kitchen will heat as evenly. It's a champ.
grater

Time to Trick it out
digital probe thermometer - get one that has a digital readout where you plug in the thermometer which is attached to a cord (like
this). That way, when you're cooking something in the oven, you don't have to open the door to see how close it is to being done. Plus, it has an alarm that will go off when the thermometer reads a
certain temperature.
toaster or toaster oven - I like the toasters with big openings so you're less limited with what you can put in there.
crock pot - Put food in there and leave it all day. Low maintenance cooking at its best.
9"x13" cake pan and/or 2 9" round cake pans and/or springform pan - if you're into astetics when you bake or like cheesecake
stand mixer - I'll just say this. There's a reason KitchenAid is the gold standard. I hear Cuisinart also makes a good one. Look for one with a planetary motion (it orbits while it's spinning). There should
be one beater, not two. They generally come with a whisk, a paddle, and a dough hook. I got my KitchenAid for $100 off Amazon (they have them on sale every once and a while. Be patient and wait for the
sale.)
roasting pan - If you plan to ever make Thanksgiving dinner, you will need one. Get one with a rack. I like the flat ones best.
blender or immersion blender - If you're into smoothies, buy a regular blender. Otherwise, I'd go with the immersion one. Immersion blenders are especially good for making milkshakes and pureeing soups.
food processor - I use mine mostly for making pastry dough and bread crumbs and grating veggies. If you're going to buy a food processor, get the grating and slicing blades. You'll thank me later.
ice cream maker - I have the Cuisinart version where you put the core in the freezer overnight and it sits on a rotating base. It hasn't failed me yet.
coffee grinder - I really want one of those coffee makers that grinds the coffee for you. Anyway, this is nice for having nice, fresh coffee in the morning or for grinding whole spices.
salad spinner - It's good to get the moisture off the surface of greens before storing them. It helps them stay good longer.
pizza stone - The best homemade pizza comes off a pizza stone.

Untried Sweet Recipe of the Week
Chocolate and Raspberry Cake with Chocolate Glaze from Use Real Butter - Oh my goodness. I need to be careful to protect the keyboard from all the drooling.

Untried Savory Recipe of the Week
Grilled Sweet Potato Salad - I love, I mean love, sweet potatoes. It's like the perfect food. You can make it into a side dish or dessert. Mash it. Bake it. Fry it. Put it in a pie. And it's good for you too. Good stuff.

Cooking Tip of the Week
Your One-Stop Shop for Work Lunch Ideas from Cheap Healthy Good

Internet Tool of the Week
Eats.com - Share local restaurant reviews with fellow eaters.

Food News of the Week
They took all the risk out of eating fugu (poisonous blowfish - Does that mean they took out all the fun? Apparently the best sushi chefs will allow a tiny bit of poison (it's in the liver) to get into the meat of the fish, thus giving you a tingling sensation. Will people want it without the tingle?

Funny Food of the Week
An introduction to the world of cheese racing from Serious Eats


( The rest under the cut )

This post is really just an excuse to teach you how to make tomato sauce. Though Italian sausage is certainly a yummy way to augment your tomato sauce. I confess that I do not often make my tomato sauce. I don't know why. You can make it in giant batches for way cheaper, especially if you use herbs from your garden. Unfortunately, a batch large enough to use an entire package of fresh herbs would be ridiculous. Alternatively, you could also use dried herbs, but it won't taste as good. Seriously, plant an herb garden. Basil, oregano, and thyme are great and quite versatile. I could eat basil straight off the plant. Seriously.

Okay, so I don't actually have an herb garden right now. We're moving from an apartment to a house in less than a month, and it would be a serious pain to move it. I want one so bad. :( I got the herbs from my very first CSA box. The basil was so beautiful I could cry.

So, how do you make tomato sauce?

You can make a basic tomato sauce with just olive oil, garlic, onion, and tomatoes. You saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil. (Most recipes require you to sweat the garlic and onions, meaning you cook them slowly until they turn transparent without letting them brown. I like sauting better. Letting the onion get a little bit of color makes it more flavorful.) Then, you add the tomatoes and simmer. You can augment it by adding bell pepper (with the garlic and onions), oregano, thyme, basil, and/or parsley (at the end), and/or crushed red pepper (whenever, pretty much). I put all of these in my tomato sauce, and I am glad to say that my husband said it was his favorite. I use a mixture of diced and crushed tomatoes because I like the consistency of the sauce at the end, but you can use any that you want. Or even fresh ones.

( Recipe follows )

Stephanie, over at Dispensing Happiness is hosting a Blog Party with a Buffy theme this month. How could I possibly resist? I thought ideas would come to me easily since I was only obsessed with the show for six years, but I haven't watched in almost as long. (When did it go off the air?) I need to go back and watch some, especially the good ole old school second and third season episodes. And call me crazy, but I love me some season four as well. Yea, I know. Adam was lame, but it had some of the best episodes. Beer Bad, anyone? Something Blue? Fear Itself? Hush? = possibly the best episode of the entire show.

Anyway, to the food.



I'd say the inspiration is pretty obvious, wouldn't you? I felt so clever when I came up with it. I used a panini press, but you don't really need one. Just make sure you press down well with a spatula and cook it like a grilled cheese. Or you can just go crazy and use two pans like Alton Brown does. Crazy dude. *hearts* I ate the panini with a salad and called it dinner, but they also make for tasty finger food - depending on the bread, of course. Skinny baguette=finger food. Big fat round loaf=meal.

( My hat has a cow on it )

And to drink with it? A stake driver! What's in it? Why, vodka and orange juice, of course. I know, clever.

I also tried to make red velvet cupcakes with a red filling so it would "bleed" when you bit into it, but the filling fell to the bottom . . . so that didn't work. Put one in the lesson learned column.

Untried Sweet Recipe of the Week
Nutella Ice Cream originally from Chocolate and Zucchini - It seems like it would be pretty rich, but who can resist Nutella?

Untried Savory Recipe of the Week
Bourek bil Kefta from 64 sq ft kitchen - It's a North African spring roll type concoction, and it looks really yummy. I have a fascination with Middle Eastern flavors, but I've never tried them. (Well, actually, I did go to an Israeli restaurant in New York. Oh man, that was good.)

Cooking Tip of the Week
How Does Brining Work? from The Kitchn- Brining works great on poultry, pork, and shellfish. It helps the meat stay juicy and infuses it with flavor. This post explains why.

Internet Tool of the Week
Cookthink - Plug in what you're in the mood for, and it will spit out recipes to satisfy that mood.

Funny Food of the Week
Cigarettea via Slashfood - Basically a teabag shaped like a cigarette. I suppose it can soothe the oral fixation and feel of the cigarette in the hand for people who are trying to quit smoking.

For Your Recipe Collection
Roasted Chickpeas
Steamed Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Energy Bars
Lemon Chicken
Hush Puppies - I have such a weakness for them.
Flower Pot Desserts - This one goes against my from scratch sensibilities, but when the end result is this cute, who cares?
Scallion Pancakes
Homemade Oreo Cookies

For Your Edification
Asian Flavor Combinations
Italian Pasta Template
Indian Ingredients and Flavors
What is Spelt?
How to Decode PLU Stickers

For Your Entertainment
Culinary Brain Teaser: The Incompatible Food Triad
A Dishwasher for Your Wall