My kids say the food just tastes better

16 years ago

My 10-year-old daughter, who is quite the picky eater, said to me after I had cooked a few meals on my new Bluestar, "Mom, this food just tastes better." I have to agree. Stir fry just has a whole other dimension of taste, and I can sear meat so much better and it stays juicy inside. She won't usually eat much meat, but now she is more willing to eat it, and asks for stir fried dishes. Now I'm looking for a really good Chinese cookbook because I'm having so much fun stir frying. I was hopeful, but a little skeptical that I would really be able to tell a difference in my cooking with the Bluestar--but never really dreamed that my daughter would be able to tell the difference too!

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Comments (9)

rhome410
16 years ago
Congratulations, Houscrzy! Isn't it fun? I am really having a great time, myself, with our new Wolf rangetop after the initial panic at the new ways of doing things. All of that left pretty quickly, and my dh commented tonight, amused at how much fun I'm having trying things I've never been able to do before. Tonight I cooked steaks, and served them with the mushrooms I grilled (grill pan) after removing the steaks from the pan. Last night we had stovetop grilled burgers and onions. We've done lots of stirfries, too...Even got a new, bigger wok for doing larger batches.

I am so impressed with using my new cast iron stuff, too.

Best wishes and happy eating!
cpovey
16 years ago
As a pro cook who loves Chinese cuisine, I have two recommendations re Chinese cooking.

Ther are two great Chinese cookbooks readily available. One is 'The Breath of a Wok' by Grace Young. If possible, buy this book before buying a wok, as you will learn a great deal about woks from this book, as well as the great recipes. The second is 'Martin Yan's Feast' by Matin Yan. I know Martin (we are not friends) and I have discussed Chinese cuisine with him on a couple of occasions at American Culinary Federation meetings and he says (and I agree) that this is his best book.

Two, get a good wok and tools. The Wok Shop (link below) has has excellent tools and decent prices. They have a starter set for $60 that is excellent. and you can sub any same-priced wok you want in the set. 14 to 16" wok's seem to work best on Bluestar ranges. Cast iron or carbon steel is the only way to go, IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Wok Shop
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houscrzy
Original Author
16 years ago
Cpovey--thanks for the tips. I have heard of "Breath of a Wok," but don't own it. And I'll look for the Martin Yan one as well. My husband was determined to give me a wok for Christmas. I told him not to, that he would spend too much money and buy the wrong kind, and that we had agreed no Christmas presents as our remodeled house was our Christmas present. He actually returned one wok, so I didn't have the heart to tell him his second attempt wasn't quite right either. So I'm going to cook with it for a little while, and then order what I really want from the Wok Shop. I definitely need one of those BIG cast iron or carbon steel woks. The one he bought has wooden handles that I'm progressively burning up with the Bluestar, so I should be able to buy a new one pretty soon! Thanks again for the info.
nskylark
16 years ago
I just got my shiny new Bluestar installed last week. And - this is going to really sound crazy - but I think a pot of boiling water even looks nicer on the Bluestar than it did on my old gas cooktop.

Is it possible to be in love with an appliance? I find myself hugging the range regularly!
User
16 years ago
houscrzy: the post on pianos got moved to the Conversation side on Home Decorating Forum by the moderator. I will post there about the keyboard.

As to woks there are lots of pics of DH using our 37 year old carbon steel wok on our Caldera. Pics under food on "My Page" photobucket link. You don't want a cast iron wok. The Chinese make them very thin and they are very fragile. There are several threads on woks and cooking Chinese if you do a search. Some of the best books around are:

1000 Recipe Chinese Cookbook- Gloria Bley Miller (great starter book)
The Good Food of Szechwan - Robert Delfs (out of print but can still be found)
Land of PLenty - Fuschia Dunlop ( her books are simply wonderful)

Caroline
houscrzy
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Trailrunner! I'll look for the books and for the post about keyboards. Appreciate your help!
User
16 years ago
Sorry houscrzy, when I didn't see a post from you I didn't post anything. It will be on the Conversation side of Home Decorating....I didn't see an e-mail address for you or I would just have e-mailed. DH was glad to give several ideas for your son. Caroline
User
16 years ago
When mom is happy, the food always tastes better!

A kitchen remodel may not be cheap, but it's worth every penny, isn't it. It's such a pleasure to work in a new, well designed kitchen with appliances that do what you want them to do.

Enjoy
User
16 years ago
keyboard stuff posted !! Caroline

My kids say the food just tastes better

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rhome410

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My kids say the food just tastes better

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rhome410

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