Reach out and grab the handle!!

there is nothing quite like carbon steel saute pans. New tool review at knifeandfire.blogspot.com

Pie is Good

pies of the summer blend into pies of the fall and, in turn, pies of the winter. A pie for all seasons? There is none, only todays pie.

                

there is no pie for tomorrow...                                                                          

                                                                            

 we must make tomorrows pie when we have picked tomorrows fruit...

flying saucers and taiyaki irons

it came from outer space!! Check out the new tool review of out-of-this-world fun-food tools for the well grounded chef at A knife and a Fire (http://knifeandfire.blogspot.com)

Taiyaki -- traditional and east-west fusion.

Tu-tu-tu kitchenware cottage @ facebook

 Coral likes gold fish!! Traditional taiyaki is a sweet waffle cake with a sweet bean paste filling. Other fillings include sweet potato and savory sausage.

 the taiyaki mold is essentially a waffle iron, in the shape of a little perch. Taiyaki means "sea bream" in Japanese.











                                                                                                                                                                 experimenting with Vietnamese style "sizzling seafood pancake" recipes, I decided to try taiyaki filled with bits of squid, shrimp, and scallop. and a dipping sauce with Thai fish sauce, soy, rice vinegar, and sambal ooleck chili paste. Result was excellent.

A knife and a Fire --knifeandfire.blogspot.com

Tu-tu-tu kitchenware cottage @ facebook                  Kuchenprofi ravioli wheel is the first tool I review at

 knifeandfire.blogspot.com 

nearly 45 years after I worked as a 19 year old cook on an ocean going tug out of Coos Bay;

and after a  number of years cooking for the guru in Spain and Italy, California and Iowa (where I was food services director at Maharishi International University) serving as many as 2000 meditators -- the largest all-natural, mostly organic, mostly vegetarian institutional kitchens in the west. Then cooking in Lincoln county

restaurants during graduate school (Otis Cafe, the Bay House), I now find myself in the role of presenting cooks tools to the public at tu-tu-tu kitchenware cottage.

while this blog is about food and cooking, both in Nye Beach, Newport Oregon, and in Sayulita, Nayarit Mexico (see last winters older posts from Mexico), A Knife and a Fire is about tools: cooks tools, bakers tools, classic tools, and  new tools. It is also about vessels: pans, pots, crocks, and bowls; of metal, ceramic, and wood. I might have called it "a knife and a vessel" but it reminded me of "the Chalice and the Blade" and I didn't want to mythologize things too much, so A Knife and a Fire it is. Kind of has a macho or at least a guys' ring to it.    Or a minimalists'.    I'm a guy---and a minimalist--- in the kitchen. Yet I can't live without my Kuchenprofi ravioli cutter. Find out why at knifeandfire.blogspot.com.

http://knifeandfire.blogspot.com

Paella for a family gathering

Paella is one of the most fun picnic meals, traditionally cooked over a wood fire. This one for about 20 was done over mesquite charcoal on a large Weber grill. This paella has something for everyone, with way more ingredients than any self respecting Spaniard would include. Over 3 quarts of chicken and fish stock were simmered with about 3 lbs rice.

A "composed" (organized mandala) paella requires that some of the ingredients be pre-cooked before placing in the finishing rice simmer (chicken pieces, sausage, prawns). The seafood (prawns, mussels, calamari, and scallops) need a timed entry to avoid overcooking.