Manitoulin test kitchen

[Darienne]

We have popcorn for supper on Wednesday nights. With my own take on an orange julep, of course.

Ed eats his popcorn with butter and salt...so last century...and I have mine with olive oil, pepper and salt and ground chipotle.

[Kerry Beal]

With you on the popcorn Kerry - what is your method of choice and favorite topping(s) if any?

Paper bag with slice holes made by a paring knife, on top of a bowl - 70% in the microwave until nearly all popped, scraping it out of the bag several times.  The last kernels get a minute or more at 100%.  Butter, melted in a pyrex measuring cup, while the scraping out of kernels is happening - poured liberally over the popcorn.

 

Then get your local friend the dentist on the phone - catch up on what has been happening with his family since you saw him last - convince him that you need some walnuts from his tree in order to make the batch of vin de noix that you will leave for him - and ask him to come in to work early tomorrow to put a temporary cap on what remains of the tooth that broke off while eating said popcorn.  I thought one of those kernels was unusually hard!

 

Edited to correct several typos noted by my personal editor!

Edited July 4, 2014 by Kerry Beal (log)

[FauxPas]

Ow, hope you can get that tooth taken care of OK. And hope it doesn't affect your ability to eat and enjoy yourself! 

 

At first, I 'liked' your last post but then it sounded as if I liked that you had broken a tooth, which of course I don't. So I 'unliked' the post, which feels unfriendly. Sigh.   

Edited July 4, 2014 by FauxPas (log)

[weinoo]

So far nothing I have made called for a 1/4 sheet pan and I do not believe there is pne here! I miss most a baking stone (round ones don't work as the size is already limiting) and then the pre-heat of a stone. None of the functions of this oven include a pre -heat but it is programmed into my DNA to do so.

My "trick" for pre-heating the combi is simply to add 5 minutes to the first cooking time, so if I want to cook asparagus for 10 minutes, I set the oven to 15 and put the asparagus in when it reads 10.  These small ovens pre-heat rather quickly - and are more accurate than you might think (at least mine is, and I posted about it in the thread linked above).

 

I know of no recipe that specifically calls for a 1/4 sheet pan, the way a recipe for a loaf calls for a specific size loaf pan or a pie calls for a specific sized pie pan.  At this point, I think the size difference between the large Breville and the Cuisi-girl is being overblown. 

Edited July 4, 2014 by weinoo (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Temporary filling in place - off to Wiki for the day.  

 

Forgot to take pictures last night when I made a few barks and such.  I'll be taking one of the two banana breads I made the other day as well as a few barks.

 

 

Maple sugar bark.

 

 

Freeze dried strawberry and freeze dried mandarin orange bark.

 

 

Trader Jo's ginger.

 

 

Ginger cookie and crystallized ginger bark.

 

 

[ElsieD]

Kerry, where did you buy the freeze dried fruit? I have been looking for freeze dried raspberries and all I can find are the dried ones, not the freeze dried ones.

[Anna N]

My "trick" for pre-heating the combi is simply to add 5 minutes to the first cooking time, so if I want to cook asparagus for 10 minutes, I set the oven to 15 and put the asparagus in when it reads 10.  These small ovens pre-heat rather quickly - and are more accurate than you might think (at least mine is, and I posted about it in the thread linked above).

 

I know of no recipe that specifically calls for a 1/4 sheet pan, the way a recipe for a loaf calls for a specific size loaf pan or a pie calls for a specific sized pie pan.  At this point, I think the size difference between the large Breville and the Cuisi-girl is being overblown.

I don't want to be argumentative for the sake of it. But I do not believe five minutes is sufficient time to heat a baking stone which was the point I was trying to make. Further I think you under estimate the power of the quarter sheet pan! Because it is a recognized standard size I can buy silicone baking mats for them, buy flat-pack parchment paper in half sheet pan sizes and just cut in half to fit the quarter sheet pan. I cut up a bunch at the same time so they are always ready. If I want to bake cookies I can have two or three sheet pans ready with cookie dough so I speed up the process. A few extra square inches may not seem like much but when you are roasting vegetables you can get a lot more on a quarter sheet pan than sofar the Cuisinart when's only two fronts with me on the Cuisinart's supplied pan. Quarter sheet pans are much sturdier.

So far the Cuisinart wins on only two fronts with me. It makes better toast than the Breville smart oven and it does a better if much slower job of reheating than the microwave.

[Anna N]

After I emptied the dishwasher (yes it is working again), did a bit of tidying up of the kitchen, I made this for breakfast:

Bacon, eggs, fried bread and a couple of tiny tomatoes.

Now I am going to attempt the Cinnamon Quick Bread that merstar was kind enough to share the recipe for.

I'm thinking that for the sake of living up to the title of this topic I should bake it in the Cuisinart combi oven.

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, where did you buy the freeze dried fruit? I have been looking for freeze dried raspberries and all I can find are the dried ones, not the freeze dried ones.

Trader Jo's in Buffalo.

[weinoo]

I don't want to be argumentative for the sake of it. But I do not believe five minutes is sufficient time to heat a baking stone which was the point I was trying to make. Further I think you under estimate the power of the quarter sheet pan! 

 

No, no - please - argue away!  I made the same point about baking stones in the thread linked above.  I don't think any toaster oven is going to be as good as a real oven when it comes to baking on a baking stone.  I mean, I preheat my baking stone (when I use it in my regular oven) for an hour; I just don't think that's what I want to use a toaster oven for, be it the Breville or the Cuisi-girl.  

 

As far as quarter sheet pans, there are plenty of 1/4 sheet pans that are not sturdy - Ecko, for instance.  But that's neither here nor there.  The pan that comes with the Cuisi-girl is undoubtedly crap, but I've worked around that by buying the Chicago metallic set, and using things like cazuelas and Le Crueset gratin dishes to work in the Cuisi.

 

I don't think you've done enough testing of the Cuisi yet to make a definitive statement.  Shir some eggs.  Roast some chicken parts.  Cook some rice (oh wait, someone did upthread).  Test it for 6 months, as I have. It's already making better toast and reheating better than 2 other appliances.  Maybe you'll find you like it even more! 

Edited July 4, 2014 by weinoo (log)

[Anna N]

No, no - please - argue away!  I made the same point about baking stones in the thread linked above.  I don't think any toaster oven is going to be as good as a real oven when it comes to baking on a baking stone.  I mean, I preheat my baking stone (when I use it in my regular oven) for an hour; I just don't think that's what I want to use a toaster oven for, be it the Breville or the Cuisi-girl.  

 

As far as quarter sheet pans, there are plenty of 1/4 sheet pans that are not sturdy - Ecko, for instance.  But that's neither here nor there.  The pan that comes with the Cuisi-girl is undoubtedly crap, but I've worked around that by buying the Chicago metallic set, and using things like cazuelas and Le Crueset gratin dishes to work in the Cuisi.

 

I don't think you've done enough testing of the Cuisi yet to make a definitive statement.  Shir some eggs.  Roast some chicken parts.  Cook some rice (oh wait, someone did upthread).  Test it for 6 months, as I have. It's already making better toast and reheating better than 2 other appliances.  Maybe you'll find you like it even more!

I am by no means finished testing the oven. The rice worked fine but since I was gifted a Zojirushi rice cooker a couple of years ago it would be my appliance of choice for rice. Up here without a rice cooker the oven did a credible job.

Today I baked a quick bread in it with no issues but really have nothing to compare it with. I have never made this particular bread before so don't know if it would've been better in the big oven.

[Anna N]

Not a very good photograph of the mise en place for merstar's cinnamon quick bread! I could see everything but apparently the camera couldn't. Also there is baking powder in there which is not called for. In the small stainless steel bowl I have mixed cinnamon and sugar for the filling. Then there is baking soda, salt, sugar, flour, oil, vanilla, buttermilk and egg.

I baked it in the Cuisinart combi oven at 325F using the convection bake cycle.

It will likely go home with one of Kira's caregivers tonight or tomorrow morning.

All being well we are off to Sudbury tomorrow (an hour and a half drive) to replenish our supplies from real grocery stores and even Costco. Tonight I am going to see about using up whatever I can from the supplies on hand. This means sirloin steak again as I SV'd four portions, some caramelized onions, a gratin of cherry tomatoes and I'll case the fridge for anything else we might enjoy.

[rotuts]

Anna N

 

is on the Job.

 

independently of those 

 

High Test beverages .

 

Just saying

[FauxPas]

I also love the steam oven for steam-baking veggies (tomatoes steam-baked at 425F were fabulous) or just steaming them. I want to keep trying new ones. Bake-steamed chicken is the one that really won me over. Seafood with steam or steam-bake, though I have mostly done salmon. Baking eggs is tricky for me, I seem to keep overcooking the eggs but want to keep playing with that. I like the shirred eggs idea. 

 

Also, want to try the slow-steamed tamales recipe from the cookbook. 

 

Braised dishes are great in steam-bake mode and I love the idea of being able to cook some of these things on warmer days without worrying about the big oven generating a lot of heat. It was warm enough to run the A/C the other day but I would not have been averse to say, steam-roast a chicken or steam-bake some ribs. 

 

Would love it if you two were able to play with some of these options, or others! 

 

Also, although leftovers take longer to heat in the steam oven, I find the texture so much better that I don't mind the wait. I hate the dry edges that can result from reheating in the microwave. 

[MelissaH]

How does the steam-bake mode compare to, say, using a regular oven but either tightly covering the food in question or pouring hot water into a preheated dish alongside? I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the benefits.

 

Anna or Kerry, is the Costco in Sudbury new, or has it been there a while?

[Smithy]

MelissaH and I have similar questions.  I'm thinking that if Sudbury has a Costco or a Real Grocery Store, then it's come up quite a bit since I last passed through.  Granted, I last passed through many years ago. Photos of the trip will be welcome, as always.  Is the Giant Nickel still there?

[FauxPas]

How does the steam-bake mode compare to, say, using a regular oven but either tightly covering the food in question or pouring hot water into a preheated dish alongside? I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the benefits.

 

I hope it's OK if I try to answer this question - basically the steam oven is a braising environment, as it already has the steam that you are trying to create with the methods you mention. You don't need to cover the braised dish while in the steam oven, as the oven is generating the steam and you want it in contact with the food. You can also use more varied containers, you don't need a heavy braising dish. 

[Anna N]

So I will try to answer questions over the next few hours or perhaps Kerry will get to them first. She is on her way back from Wickwigamog to Little Current.

Dinner is largely under control. The onions are coming along nicely. I will finish them off just before dinner.

They are MUCH darker than the photo shows.

The cherry tomato gratin is ready to go into the oven:

And I just had to try a slice of the quick bread:

[rotuts]

may I ask what pan is on that Burton Induction plate ?

 

and those tomat's go on those crumbs ?

[weinoo]

I think the tomats (sic) are under those crumbs.

[rotuts]

its  ""  Tomat's ""

 

 as a ref. to tomato(e)'s

 

using the (...) Quayle ( VP ) prefer'd spelling

Edited July 4, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Kerry Beal]

How does the steam-bake mode compare to, say, using a regular oven but either tightly covering the food in question or pouring hot water into a preheated dish alongside? I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the benefits.

 

Anna or Kerry, is the Costco in Sudbury new, or has it been there a while?

1999 apparently.

[Kerry Beal]

MelissaH and I have similar questions.  I'm thinking that if Sudbury has a Costco or a Real Grocery Store, then it's come up quite a bit since I last passed through.  Granted, I last passed through many years ago. Photos of the trip will be welcome, as always.  Is the Giant Nickel still there?

The giant nickel has returned!  It was missing in action for a few years - then put back up maybe 3 years ago.

[Anna N]

may I ask what pan is on that Burton Induction plate ?

 

and those tomat's go on those crumbs ?

It is a Biro. Kerry got an excellent deal on a whole set and the townhouse owners picked up the tab I believe.

The crumbs top the tomatoes.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Lunch for me today at the Spruce Glen in Wiki - a retired PE teacher and his wife run this little tea and sandwich shop from the property that belonged to his wife's parents.