Lately, my favorite instrument for cooking meat has been a non-stick two-burner griddle. It's very handy because it has a large surface area--you can cook meat on one side and potatoes or vegetables on the other side. You can also toast hamburger buns on it, make scrambled eggs, pancakes, or grilled cheese sandwiches. I enjoy the efficiency of cooking everything on one area--it makes me feel like a short order cook (somehow, I find this appealing).
We bought the griddle around the same time we bought an extra-larger frying pan. For some reason, we gave them names in an effort to differentiate them from each other--the griddle became 'Etienne' and the frying pan became...I forget what we called it--the name didn't stick (no pun intended).
For such a cheap item, it's been extremely useful.
Here's to you, Etienne! Or should I say, à votre santé!
I can't believe you did a post about "Etienne"! Now the whole world (aka the 4 people who read this blog) knows we are big weirdos who name our kitchenware. :P
ReplyDeleteWasn't the skillet named Gordo or something?
BTW I also do most of the menu planning. ;)
You're right! Beebo is responsible for 80% of our meals, readers! I'm just a sous-chef.
ReplyDeleteWe have a similar two-burner number, only it's cast iron. It gives us the same short-order-cook feeling. We are often tempted to just leave it on the stove all the time, but that seems too gross. It's great for making pancakes for a family of four--less waiting!
ReplyDeleteI'm tempted by the cast iron ones, since I think cast iron seems like the best cooking material, but it can get pretty smoky in our apartment when we cook meat.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have a smokiness problem whenever we cook meat. We have no vent in the kitchen, either, and the smoke alarm in the dining room seems to go off from heat alone. We have to turn on the ceiling fan if we're cooking anything smoky, boiling a big pot of water or using the oven.
ReplyDeleteWe have to open the kitchen and living room windows and stick a fan in the kitchen one. I get very jealous of people with oven hoods!
ReplyDeleteWe have an oven hood, but the smoke detector still goes off whenever I use the cast-iron (single-burner) grill pan to cook things with grill marks on them. I don't think I've ever named anything in my kitchen. Maybe I'll call my olive ladle Bertha. See, that would be funny, because the olive ladle is a silly little thing, while the name Bertha tends to evoke big, no-nonsense, wise-cracking broads. I'm all about the (cast-)irony!
ReplyDeleteWhich I think is very advanced for a small striped cat.