Favourite things

These are a few of my favourite things

Coddlers

By now you know I love to coddle. While this entry will be devoted more to the kitchen gear that has helped me most in transitioning, my little coddlers are things I discovered during my marriage and have brought with me into my new, downsized world.

They meet one of the most important criteria of bachelor food - scaleability. I currently have four one-egg coddlers. Cooking four eggs takes no extra time than cooking one, no extra cooktop space, and very little extra cleaning up. It is also very easy to manage different likes - more spicy, less spicy; harder, softer etc.
I had a very pleasant late breakfast this Sunday, with two slices of toast drizzled with olive oil (I use olive oil instead of butter in all my sandwiches etc - it tastes nicer, and its cholesterol is of the Good variety).

The eggs were flavoured with salt and sliced chili. Lovely and warm.

Now on to my bachelor purchases...

Rice steamer

This has been extremely handy, and takes the worry out of rice. I use basmati rice, as it has a fantastic flavour and has a good GI (Glycemic Index), 1 cup of rice with 1.5 water; 2 cups rice 3 cups water etc, etc...

Once it's done, it keeps the rice nice and warm and fluffy. Another big advantage for the down-sized is that it frees up cooktop space for my wok. And speaking of which...

Carbonized steel wok

You can get expensive stainless steel, or non-stick, ceramic coated etc versions of this, but why would you?

Here's how to properly season a wok. This is Poh's version, who has a lovely smile and a great set (bachelors can say these things). I did this on my gas barbecue with my boys one weekend, and it was great fun. And speaking of which...

Gas barbecue

I have a small courtyard - so there's a big BBQ in it. Because of this, I get more use out of the outdoor area. The same would go if I had only a small balcony (and a small BBQ). It gets me outside - and it cooks me great meals. There's not much you can't cook on a good BBQ, even dessert. I make a very tasty scorched fruit and icecream dessert which I'll get round to posting eventually.

Mostly, but not exclusively, barbecues are for quick, intense activity style cooking, pretty much the opposite of the slow cooker. And speaking of which...

Slow cooker
Like the rice cooker, the humble crockpot takes pressure of precious cook-top space. It is not so much a time-saving device as a time-distributing device.

Most roast and casserole meals should include browning the meat (and often the vegetables too) in a pan on a high heat, before consigning it to its slow cooked fate.

Slow cooking needs to be done over a whole day - for cook times five hours or less, don't bother - use a casserole dish or stewing pot. The slow-cookers best work happens between the 5 and 7 hour mark.

I have an oval shaped one rather than a circular, as it's more versatile, being able to handle roasts and joints etc.