Cooking with the A4 Box Induction Cooker: What'd you make?

[Anna N]

 

no doubt there will be frowns of disapproval at my dinner of spam and baby bok choy but I have reached an age now where I don’t give a damn. It was quick, it was tasty and I got to enjoy my new toy again. 
 

 

and a little chutney on the side because I can. 

[Shelby]

Looks good to me.  And I love your plate.

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Looks good to me.  And I love your plate.

Thank you. The plate was a thrift store find. 

[Anna N]

 

While the rice defrosts in the microwave, the box takes care of the pepperoni and egg. 

 

 

And before you know it I am enjoying an onigirazu for breakfast. 

[Anna N]

While orzo cooked in some chicken stock on the stove, I cooked up some onions, a couple of cherry tomatoes and a few shrimp on the A4. No, not the road going out of London!  My new toy. 
 

 

 

My proportions were a bit off – – too much orzo not enough inclusions but it was tasty and I binned some of the excess orzo. My mind blanked — was it 1/3 of a cup or 2/3 of a cup of orzo I usually use. Well I picked the wrong one. 
 

Surely I must’ve cooked something before I became the proud owner of the A4 box. 
 

Yes, I know. I still owe you a demo with the takoyaki insert. Soon my pretties.  

Edited October 22, 2019 by Anna N
Typos and other gobbledygook. (log)

[Anna N]

With two sweet potatoes staring at me and pulling on my guilt strings I knew I had to do something. 
 

 

I added two large carrots, a drizzle of oil and roasted them. Please admire my carefully nurtured patina on both my oven and my pan.

 

 

While that was happening I dug up a cut a leek from the freezer, added some chopped onion and a couple of cloves of garlic and sautéed them. 
 

 

Threw in some Thai red curry paste, some fish sauce and stirred that around for a while while I reminisced about my first encounter with fish sauce. (I thought it was the most disgusting thing I have ever smelled in my life and there was not a chance in hell that I would ever eat it. Today I was tasting, adding a little more fish sauce, tasting adding a little more fish sauce.  Can’t think of too many things that smell more appetizing than some excellent fish sauce. This was Red Boat.)

 

 

Pullef myself back into the real world and added some broth and some coconut milk. 
 

Let that cook for a while then transferred everything to the Thermomix to purée it. 
 

 

Had a very satisfying lunch. Bowl of spicy soup and a small ciabatta bun with rotisserie chicken and soupçon of salsa.  
 

And there is an enough soup to feed the freezer. 
 

Love my A4 Box. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I envy you.  I wish my kitchen had the electrical capacity to run two appliances at once without tripping the circuit breaker.

 

[Anna N]

18 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I envy you.  I wish my kitchen had the electrical capacity to run two appliances at once without tripping the circuit breaker.

 

Been there. You have my sympathy. Late hubby put in extra power to my kitchen. But trust me the rest of the house is a pain in the ass. If my air conditioner is running and my cleaning angel plugs in a vacuum cleaner she has to run downstairs to throw the circuit breaker. I have no idea what they were thinking when they wired these houses which are not even 20 years old. I have a  long hallway without a single outlet. 

[Anna N]

This box gets so hot I don’t think I even envy @JoNorvelleWalker her Phillip’s grill. 

 

The meat was a gift and I’m very grateful for it. It will keep on giving for at least a couple of days. but tonight it’s what’s for dinner doncha know.  And because I need to please no one but me it will be served with nothing but a little horseradish on the side. 
 

I suppose I should point out that it was cooked sous vide before I put it on the grill. I did four hours from frozen solid at 54.5°C. 

[rotuts]

@Anna N

 

that rib chop looks perfect

 

betting the ' cap ' was exceptionally delicious.

 

which got me thinking :  Beef cuts are rarely referred to as ' chops '

 

it usually pork or lamb.

 

maybe because pork and lamb are smaller animals , and

 

a chop from then can be literally ' chopped ' off the larger hunk of meat

 

w larger beef , its sliced.

 

and just to be clear ,

 

its still early in the day 

 

 

[Anna N]

I am still very much in love with my A4. Tonight‘s dinner was a repeat of something I did not too long ago but in that case I roasted the vegetables in the oven. Tonight I wondered if they could be roasted in the A4 box. 
 

 

and indeed it worked very well.  Carrots, parsnips, onions and a sliced cheddar Smokey. They had plenty of colour but it’s not showing up very well in this photograph. 

[Anna N]

When we used to “entertain” — OK have friends over for a meal,  I often made a Danish dish called pork with apples and onions. Used to make it with pork tenderloin medallions. Today I decided to see if I could do something a little different. 
 

 

 

 

I stuffed a half pita with onions and apples and then broke up a pork patty and added it. 
 

It does not photograph well. 
 

I should’ve remembered that I am stuffed- pita challenged. Others seem to have worked out the physics. I am very good at carpeting the floor with the stuff that should be in the pita. 

[rotuts]

@Anna N

 

I must say

 

you are On Top of your Game

 

with that A4 !

 

[blue_dolphin]

Apples, onions, pork? That sounds really great, @Anna N. 

I would be inclined to include a smear of grainy mustard but I guess that would take the pita out of Denmark, wouldn't it?

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Apples, onions, pork? That sounds really great, @Anna N. 

I would be inclined to include a smear of grainy mustard but I guess that would take the pita out of Denmark, wouldn't it?

 

You know, when done right*, I never found this needed more than salt and pepper. We each have our own taste and I would not frown upon some mustard if that’s what you fancy! I might under other circumstances even be tempted to deglaze with a little Calvados and a little cream for a lovely sauce. How do I know it’s lovely? I’ll never tell. 

 

*By done right I mean nothing more than taking the time to get deep colour on everything. I was not quite patient enough today.  

[lemniscate]

I finally opened my A4 and put it to use recently.  I decided to use it on the patio, I'm kind of a feral cook, felt like the most fun environment for it.  One night we did cod and scallops with sauteed tomatoes, the next we did Tiger shrimp and fried rice.  So far have just used the griddle part.  I really, really like this tool.  I can definitely travel with it.  The dial control is simple.  

 

Not sure what the next insert to be used is, either the pancake one for potato pancakes or the takoyaki one for meatballs.

 

Also, I'm seriously considering a shabu shabu night on the patio with the deeper insert.  Never had that possible outside of a shabu shabu restaurant until now.

[Anna N]

44 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

 I really, really like this too

Me too!  I made a quick one dish meal in the ceramic insert yesterday. Just ground beef, some cut up vegetables,  some tomato passata and some orzo.Made enough to freeze two lots!

 

 

[lemniscate]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

But is there fan noise or not?  As much as I adore my Paragons I wouldn't situate one on my dining table.  (I infer you don't often serve takoyaki nor cheese fondue.)

 

I just went out on the patio and tested the A4 noise against the Duxtop hob.   They both live out there.

The A4 is virtually sound-less.  I turned the dial to full and got my ear right down against it and there is  the tiniest buzz, I don't think there's a fan in it, it may be the induction circuitry I am hearing.  I cycled the dial to make sure I was hearing the sound correctly.  Again, I had to have my ear right down near the unit.

 

The Duxtop sounds like a jet engine comparatively.  And I can clearly hear the induction whine from the cycling magnets at a normal distance.  

 

I saw your question regarding noise and it occurred to me that the A4 is so quiet, I had to double check myself. 

 

I will say the A4 does not heat up quite as quickly as a pan on the induction hob does, but to me it's a minimal wait time.

 

I did a goofy experiment with the takoyaki pan last night.  Some ground bison parceled into the cups and some precooked potato/carrot hashbrowns on the side.  The bison balls were browned and flipped and a shaving of gruyere was laid on top.  Nice appe-dinner.

The hashbrown balls were less successful, they needed a binder to hold them together, the starch wasn't enough.  

Edited December 14, 2019 by lemniscate (log)

[Anna N]

40 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

I did a goofy experiment with the takoyaki pan last night.

Good for you. I haven’t done anything with it yet and my conscience is pricking me!  Not quite enough yet to get me moving but sooner or later…

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'm still conflicted about whether I should return my A4 while I can.  I have yet to use it.  True, it is cute.  Yesterday a friend showed me her copy of The Little Book of Takoyaki.  Told her that I had a copy.  They say you can use shrimp, she added hopefully.

 

My doctor told me not to eat shrimp.  I spent the afternoon aimlessly browsing takohiki.  Thinking of Swedish meatballs.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I decided to try the A4Box.  Maiden voyage:

 

 

 

No these are not takoyaki.  Nor are they neko nabe.  They are Swedish meatballs.  Relatively little mess.  So far I'm pleased.

 

 

[lemniscate]

I will probably never make takoyaki, I've never been a big fan.   I also do meatballs in the takoyaki pan.   I thought it worked great.   I was also thinking some sort of stuffed mushroom would work it that pan.   I was thinking something like hush puppies might work.  Blistered small tomatoes possibly?

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker 

 

you rotated them once or twice for all around color ?

 

looks easier to do than in a flat pan.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

@JoNorvelleWalker 

 

you rotated them once or twice for all around color ?

 

looks easier to do than in a flat pan.

 

 

 

Yes, rotated them with kitchen chopsticks, easy.  Two or three times.  Meatballs removed from the pan with chopsticks.  The nice thing is I didn't have to form the balls by hand.  I simply used a Zroll 2050 1¹/₂ inch disher to portion the mixture into each cup.

 

 

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker 

 

lets review a bit :

 

I have a MeatBall  history , 

 

esp w Swedish Meat [ real meat ] balls

 

my mother has some sort of cooker thing  , a back in the day

 

and she made SB  for Students etc that came over to your house

 

as they had Killer tasty gravy , nice

 

if you were to make the SMB's this way

 

versus , the oven method that does not require turning 

 

and you save the Oven Jus for the sauce

 

what do you think about those two methods :

 

a tasty MB  ( Swedish or Not )

 

w the A4  vs the oven.

 

looking forward to you analysis.

 

BTW  Im having some M.R. just now 

 

two very different TJ's white table wine

 

combined   50:50  and ice cold

 

I know its a bit early here

 

But for Science ?

 

It Waits for KnowOne