MHarney

Funny this topic should come up, because I was knee-deep in it for a few days just recently. Because I haven't received it yet, I can't vouch for or deny its quality just yet, but I can tell you how I plan to use it. Last Friday, I ordered a somewhat higher-end toaster oven, a refurbished DeLonghi Airstream digital combo oven (AD1079) from Amazon, their last one in stock for the moment. It has several cooking options: keep warm, bake, bake with convection, broil, dehydrate, defrost, built-in rotisserie, and "pizza function," whatever that means. I've gotten along for years without an auxiliary oven of any kind (well, besides the microwave), but finally decided to get one for several reasons: Three times in the last month or so (and dozens of times in the past), I wished I had a second oven in which I could bake something to go along the low-temp slow food I had cooking in the full-size oven. The afterthought items were a bourbon and cane syrup pecan pie, corn bread, and crème caramel, so in each case, the current oven temp was wildly different from what I needed. I don't have room for a second full-size oven or the dough for a nice double oven with warming rack, nor do I have a lot of spare counter space, so something smaller that could fit on a cart would be in order. I recently watched the "To Roast a Chicken" episode of The French Chef, in which Julia uses an in-oven rotisserie unit and thought, (first) "How come the power cord on that thing didn't melt?" and (second) "Well, I've got a trussing needle, but no rotisserie. Dang." Sure, I roast chickens in the usual way on a V-rack, but the thought of perfectly uniform browning is very appealing. I would probably prefer roasting in hell before considering something like the Ronco Showtime rotisserie unitasker. For many reasons, not just the spray-on hair he still sells. I'd like to try my hand at dehydrating foods (an optional rack on the DeLonghi) and maybe even fresh herbs (despite my best efforts at preservation, I still have a lot of waste), but without the dorkiness factor of using stacked air conditioner filters and a fan à la "Good Eats." A warming oven would be very nice to have. Hey, I could warm a stack of plates in there before serving, too. Cool. After a good deal of research on various units, I found the DeLonghi can handle all these tasks and, at 1.1 cubic feet internally, with two racks, but just 23"Wx16"Dx15"H externally, can fit a 9" pie tin or 9"x13" baking dish. However, its list of $300 it was too pricey for me. The final justification (okay, okay...rationalization) for this purchase arrived in two forms: First, I found that Amazon's refurbished price plus an ongoing $25 kitchen & housewares promotion brought the price down to the much more reasonable 50% of list price. Second, I also wanted to set up a sort of Ultimate Dried Herb & Spice Rack that didn't take up any counter, cabinet, or wall space, and so looked for a small cart that 1) was low cost (under $100), 2) had the right dimensions and sturdiness for the new oven, and 3) had a pull-out shelf that could accomodate thirty 3"x3" 8 oz. clear top square tins in one layer so I will never have to poke through cabinets for such things again. After a somewhat lengthy search, I finally found one (and, surprisingly, only one) that fits the bill -- here it is after I set up the spice and herb rack but before the oven's on it, obviously.

According to the Travel Channel schedule for No Reservations, that was the last show for a while. His "last thoughts" type wording at the end of the Malaysia show made me wonder enough to check. I certainly hope there are more to come. Has there been any word on that?

Now that was a good show. I had no inkling of the stupendous mountains of Vietnam, and that bay seemed otherworldly. Imagine living all your life on the water there...weird but cool. After seeing an episode of "Stranded" yesterday, when Tony said, "I still had no idea what Mr. Sang had in store for me," I expected Mr. Sang might say, "If you're lucky, we'll only make you shriek like Cash Peters."

After seeing three shows now, I like the new series. To me, it has the feeling of Bourdain inviting one along to do some local fun stuff, some stupid stuff ("Oh, c'mon, it might be fun -- even if it isn't, we can still snark it up"), and maybe even some instructive stuff. In other words, not a bad day-long vacation by video proxy. The Paris episode was a great side-opener, as they used to say in the recording industry. The slightly orangey, mostly nighttime videography created a mood I liked. (And thank goodness they didn't choose the jaundice tint favored by Sandra Lee.) Towards the end, I swore I could smell all that bread and that boulanger might just be my dream job. In fact, it might just be: I found myself peering closely, trying in vain to see what kind of lame he was using to slash those loaves, and was compelled to make a few baguettes a day later. Bourdain and crew must owe me something for making me slobber so during much of episode 1. And more for making me think, "Ah, fromager...that's the life for me" last night. Iceland, I can take or leave, but at least I learned that even calling it requin décomposé and charging twenty-five bucks a lump would not and could not improve the anti-umami of putrefied shark. (May I add here that I am just shocked?) To paraphrase the durian segment in "A Cook's Tour": Mmm...tastes exactly as bad as it smells. Two points regarding the New Jersey show: 1. Those didn't look like fried clams to me, certainly nothing like the ones I must revisit soon at J.T. Farnham's in Essex, Mass. Strips, maybe, but the waitress actually said, "Here are your fried oysters." Was it a slightly sloppy edit or a fear of big squirty clam bellies at work here? If the latter, it would be surprising given the sensibilities of the host, but good: More for me. 2. I've always thought of Paris Hilton as a stick insect, so the stupid bug analogy really worked for me. It is, of course, a dreadful insult to all lobsters to compare her to a lobster in any fashion. For shame. However, I do agree that [drawing and] quartering her would just be plain wrong and I wouldn't even think of saying that someone should do it soon. Dammit, now I have to make some lobster stew. Mike Harney