Following my recent bridal showers, I’ve lately found myself involved in several, simultaneous love-affairs with my new kitchen swag: I think about them when I’m at work and fantasize about things I might do with them (the food processor especially). Its occurred to me that I obsess over them the way I once obsessed over 80’s tv-stars and highschool crushes (sort of sad, when I put it that way…), so I’ve decided to introduce a new post category: Kitchen Crushes; a spot for product reviews and general swooning.
Let me introduce my first crush….
Isn’t he handsome?
Many nights, as I hovered over the sink, lovingly scrubbing my favorite pot, it occurred to me how very much I LOVE said pot. Actually, calling it a “pot” seems sort of durogatory. Its not really a pot at all. It’s a: “Mario Batali 6-Qt Italian Cooking Essentials Dutch Oven.”
Okay, so no points for catchy title, but whatever. Its a heavy-duty cast-iron, enamel-coated, fire-engine-red workhorse and I absolutely love it. I don’t even mind that the darn thing weighs a ton and its too damn big to fit in any of my cabinets. Its so pretty, I just leave it sitting on my stovetop all the time. And, more often than not, its cooking something anyway.
I’ve used it for everything from braising meats to roasting vegetables in the oven, then adding broth and pureeing in-pot on the stovetop to stewing a pot of JiT’s famous chili all day long. This thing does it all.
Which brings me back to lovingly scrubbing: your dishwasher is no match for a pot of this heft (not to mention cast iron and dishwashers do not play nice), but the pot washes up pretty easily in the sink. I may be risking a serious case of dishpan hands, but he’s worth it (insert girlish squealing here).
Woohoo! I love getting new pots and other kitchen things to use. Red is my favorite!
Woohoo! I love getting new pots and other kitchen things to use. Red is my favorite!