FauxPas

Not sick of seeing it at all! I love seeing the variations. Bring 'em on!

Also, if you keep searching you can find resources for Steam Convection ovens - like the Thermidor site here: http://www.thermador.com/Culinary/Recipes/steam-and-convection-oven And there are a few blogs, like the VZUG Combi-Steam Queen. https://www.facebook.com/vzugcombisteamqueen

I love the way it cleans up, also. I also like being able to use it for meat + veggies. I have steam-roasted half a dozen whole chickens in it and dry-roasted a few roasts. I wrap the chicken or roast or whatever in some tin foil and put on top of the Cuisi - it generates just enough heat to keep the meat warm, while I steam or steam-roast potatoes and veggies. The local nugget potatoes are perfect as they are done in 20 to 25 mins. I put them on the rack + tray and then add veggies about 10 mins later, depending on the veggie. Works out very well. We are currently living in a temporary furnished place while our house is being reno'd and I am so glad I brought the Cuisinart.

I don't like all cold meals, either, even during the summer. I make soup on the induction burner sometimes, even when it's warm outside. The burner doesn't add much heat. I'm thinking of making some corn chowder or corn soup now that we have fresh local corn. Here's a Velvet Corn Soup Recipe that caught my eye recently. It's not complex, you could probably make something like it without a recipe at all! I like that it works hot or chilled. Are you comfortable leaving a pot to simmer on your patio? http://www.purewow.com/entry_detail/recipe/10977/Velvet-corn-soup.htm

A simple all-purpose creamy sauce that I use for salads is yogurt, bit of mayo, crushed garlic, touch of oil, whatever herbs you like or have on hand. Mustard or lemon or citrus zest can be added. I like it with garbanzo beans and diced peppers and sweet onions. (Though I like vinaigrette also.) Also, warm potato salads. Boil potatoes, then add something like green/yellow beans, broccoli, carrots or whatever veggies you have that might benefit from light cooking. Then drain the water and add onion, balsamic vinegar, touch of oil, bit of feta cheese. I would add tomatoes also, but your wife may still find them too raw even if warmed? Maybe peppers, squash, corn? Mix lightly and serve while still warm. Black bean and corn salads - with peppers and onions. I don't think these even need a dressing. Not sure this is helpful. Your dog looks lovely. What is her name? Your outdoor kitchen set-up looks very impressive. Do you have a covered patio area? Else, it must be really hot while cooking out there! I admire your approach. Is propane less expensive than electricity? I thought it was interesting that you were concerned about the cost of the convection toaster oven, but not so much the propane. We have fairly low electric costs here - about 7.5 cents per kW.h but I think parts of California are quite expensive, is that right?

But water can become superheated, especially in microwaves. it's easiest to do in glass or glazed containers. The water can rise to a temp above 100C or 212F. Here are some details from the Physics dept at UNSW in Austraila. http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/superheating.htm Plastic containers may be less prone to this? ETA - I'm not saying that it's completely risk-free to microwave in plastic containers, just that the superheating phenomenon (and its attendant risks) may be less likely in plastic. Also, there are various grades of plastic. Some are probably better choices than others, no?

Seems to me there are a bunch of things being lumped together here. Someone busy on their phone happens everywhere and can be annoying, but I also see people who just want to enjoy their apéritifs and starters without being rushed into ordering dinner. Is the complaint that people are taking longer to dine? Closer to 2 hours rather than 1? One hour is not a lot of time for a formal or multi-course meal. And I don't see the problem with taking some pics. Lots of people make restaurant reservations for a celebration of occasions - birthdays, retirements, engagements, girls' nights, promotions, showers, etc. Shel_B, do you seriously want to ban photos of these occasions? And do you think that most restaurants want to ban these celebrations? It's a big part of restaurant business, the celebration occasion. (I won't even mention your "Good Thing" Martha Stewart speak) I love seeing pics of food from different restaurants - it gives me an excellent idea of what is actually served rather than just what is described. But I can't believe I even have to explain this fact on eGullet, Most of us here want to see pictures of food. Cooked at home or anywhere! At the same time, I am not obnoxious about taking pics and often have been afraid of doing so. But I think I might start taking a few more pics.

Tamari soy sauce is gluten-free, is it not? And seems to be readily available in the areas I have visited. I don't have any issues with gluten, but I use Tamari much of the time anyway - I think it tastes better than some regular soy sauces.

I am absolutely going to try this one! Thanks so much for posting the details. Do you ever add in EVOO or just stick with the sunflower/canola oil?

Maybe try asking Kerry Beal: http://forums.egullet.org/user/34671-kerry-beal/

Shelby, I thought Saveur had a few good suggestions in this collection: http://www.saveur.com/article/-/Delicious-Summer-Squash I liked the frittata, the Tian and the marinated zucchini, but maybe you have already seen these?

I think i have a few choices - some kind of cover/screen, less liquid, higher-sided dish, lower temp. The manual (when in doubt.... ) does say to cook things like short ribs directly on the baking tray with minimal or no liquid. Start at a medium temp (approx 350) and then reduce after 1 hour (to approx 225) with a total cooking time of around 2 hours. "Minimal to no liquid is used in steam-baked, braised dishes because natural juices are drawn out from the meat, providing the perfect braising liquid." (p 9) I do like making the sauce along with the braised meat, though I could have braised the meat separately. Maybe next time I will try - brown the meat then remove from skillet and into the steam oven. Add aromatics to skillet and sauté and deglaze as usual with wine and stock. Set liquid aside. When meat is done, defat as necessary, then add to liquid and heat through. I think that would work quite well. And use a lower temp for the last hour of cooking, which I did not do this time. And I might still use a small casserole dish for the meat rather than just the baking tray. Thanks for helping me work this through!!!

Here is an interesting article on the transition of the Microplane from woodworking to kitchen and beyond: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/dining/12united.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Yes, that would certainly help! I'll have to try a similar dish again.

Braised beef short ribs, local nugget potatoes and carrots - all steam-baked in the Cuisinart Combo oven. More details on the Cuisinart Combo oven thread: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/146617-cuisinart-combo-steamconvection-oven/?p=1978594

Another meal that turned out very well in the oven was braised beef short ribs. Usually, I would not be keen on making this on a warm day but short ribs were on sale and it's a fave dish. The oven did a fabulous job but this became messy. No need for a lid on the baking dish because the oven can generate the necessary steam, but I would either use a lid or a lower temp next time because this did splatter around the inside of the oven quite a bit. I used Bake Steam at 325F and maybe even Steam only at 210F would have been sufficient without causing the splatter? It's pretty easy to clean out the oven after doing an extra Steam run but I didn't really like having to do extra clean up. The meat was fabulous though and you don't need nearly as much braising liquid as you would in a dry oven. Maybe I used too much? But at the same time, even with the steam, you do get some evaporation after cooking that long. (I did almost 2 hours, but not sure I needed that much time) All the usual braising methods, pretty much - brown the meat, sauté onion, carrots, shallots, garlic - add red wine and beef stock. Put in casserole dish with some thyme and rosemary and bake-steam! After the meat was done, I removed it and strained the liquid and defatted it. Threw some lovely local nugget potatoes and carrots in the oven and steam-baked them while I reheated the braised ribs in a saucepan on the induction burner. Not a beautiful pic, but a very tasty meal!

More cooking in the Combo oven: This one was just OK. I put some fresh baby spinach in the little casserole dishes, then cracked some eggs on top and then some red peppers. My timing was off for the eggs, as the yolks became too hard. I did a steam only at 210F, not sure how I could make this work better. Definitely needs work. Very basic blueberry muffins. Needed something quick and had some blueberries and not a lot else. They baked up very nicely in the oven though. This was a huge winner - lasagna on the Steam Bake. The lovely thing is that you can make a non-watery sauce and the noodles (not home-made!) cook through very nicely without any of the dried out hard edges you can sometimes get in a regular oven. The sauce stayed thick and the noodles were just right and the cheese still browned nicely. Also, a decent-sized casserole dish fits in this oven, made 4 very generous servings. And finally, we have a bit of a weakness for Papa Murphy's pizza, so had to try a 12" one in the oven on a day when we had little time for making a meal. The oven was great, I rotated the pizza after this pic which evened out the baking. I do think the back is a bit hotter than the front so turning food is a good idea when you want even browning, etc. This is a Papa Murphy's with creamy garlic sauce, artichokes, mushrooms, black olives, feta cheese and pineapple. It looks a bit bent because it got squished in the car on the way home! All in all, still loving this little oven.

I have an over-the-range microwave (which was important to me because I didn't want to give up counter space for one) but I am using it far less than I used to - mostly because of the Cuisinart Convection-Steam Oven and the induction burner I bought. The Cuisinart and the induction burner perform many of the functions I used to use the MW for, although not always as quickly. But the results are usually better.

Do you eat any of the local fish while there?

Mmmm... Cider! We've always had cider in BC but we have better choices all the time. Two of my favourites on Vancouver Island are Merridale Ciderworks (which also has a nice little bistro) and Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse. I love the variety of ciders and Merridale does make a scrumpy, but I'm pretty sure it is tamer than the one liuzhou references! We also have larger BC producers like Growers or Okanagan Cider, but they churn out 'flavoured' ciders like Black Cherry or Peach, most of which I find unappealing and way too sweet. Their extra-dry apple isn't too bad, though, when choices are limited. But the smaller (artisanal?) producers have some lovely products. Nice little article on Merridale: http://vacay.ca/2012/10/this-vancouver-island-cider-house-rules/ I've found it hard to find cider in the US.

I like your choice in vodka - Iceberg is a nice brand!

Some of the best shrimp I ever had was in Oslo - small shrimp but so tasty - we had buckets of fresh shrimp steamed and we peeled it and ate it with fabulous bread, mayo and beer/wine. You know, Smørrebrød type stuff.

So maybe I just need to suck it up and try it! I don't have an easy way to do deep fried, but maybe that would make me braver about trying the heads.

I sometimes think I should dress our food up a bit more, but every day now we can get fresh pink shrimp straight off the boat and we live just above the marina and there's a very reliable shrimp boat that comes in every day at 6 pm. Back in June, we had Spot Prawns - big and amazing, but fussy to cook right and they have to be fresh. But they are so amazing when all goes well. The price is going crazy on them though, The pink shrimp we are getting now are more forgiving but we still like to buy them fresh off the boat and cook them immediately. Either sautéed or boiled, I adore them. I don't eat the heads though, and people give me grief over that. Do you eat the heads? What am I missing? I just don't like the look of them and we are very spoiled here - I can buy lots from the dock for a reasonable price.

I second Q Tonic - I love it's lighter taste and no high fructose corn syrup. From their website: And the link to their site: http://qtonic.com/index.html