Now we're cooking
Today I’m making a bit of a change. I am not going to tell you about something that has caused me pain, or embarrassment. I know that will be a bit of a disappointment to a few, but that’s life, you’ll get over it, and I’m sure there’ll be more stories of pain or red faces in the future.
You will know by now that one of my loves is food. Sometimes I have been known to make something edible, only giving food poisoning to a couple of people at a time.
Two gadgets I have purchased recently have changed my life, well in the kitchen at least.
The first of these is nothing spectacular, a meat thermometer. This has transformed my cooking. Like many, I have a suspicion of undercooked chicken. Up to now, I have cooked my chicken for so long it resembles a fossilised dinosaur (though the chickens here are nowhere near that large). That’s now a thing of the past. The thermometer I use has a base which attaches to the probe using a long lead, long enough to allow the base to be positioned outside the largest of ovens. The main unit is portable, so as long as you are within radio range of the base unit you can see the temperature of your meat. It even has an alarm to tell you when the desired temperature has been reached. Different settings are available for different meats and tastes. I even use this on my barbecue, so we no longer have chops or ribs resembling small pieces of coal.
The second gadget may be a bit of a surprise, a small blender/chopper. So how has this simple device changed my world? If I mention the word chillies, you may get the idea.
I love to cook spicy things, and wherever possible I use fresh ingredients, or at least they are fresh until I freeze them, but definitely not powdered and in a jar. Fresh chillies get their revenge when you chop them. They cover your fingers in chilli oil. This gets into your skin and no amount of washing will get it off your hands. I know I could wear gloves but I prefer to be able to feel what I am doing, especially around sharp knives (the kitchen is the only place I am allowed sharp things, and always under supervision). On your fingers the oil is no problem, rub your eyes and the tears start, visit the toilet and the tears become floods. I’m sure you get the idea (funny how my pain crept into this story). The blender solves that problem in a stroke. Drop in the required amount of frozen chillies, usually along with frozen garlic, seconds later you have finely chopped pieces to put into the dish, and no fear of a call of nature.
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