In My Kitchen – February 2016

The Christmas fairies have visited, and In My Kitchen you will find lots of shiny new gadgets and cookbooks. Enjoy!

It’s been a few months since I have written an In My Kitchen post.  In the interim, Christmas has come and gone, and my kitchen is now full of new gadgets.  Top of the list is my new temperature controlled folding proofer, which I absolutely love.  I am using it at the moment to make large quantities of yoghurt, although it will really come into its own in winter when the house becomes too cold, and bread dough takes forever to rise.  No more trotting to and from the car with large trays of dough for me.

I purchased a new toaster years ago, hated it from the moment I bought it, and spent the remainder of its lifetime hoping it would die.  Finally, accompanied by some spectacular fireworks, it was no more and I was able to replace it.  So In My Kitchen is a brand new, baby blue SMEG toaster, which is more than capable of toasting all the weird sized bread I make.

Last year I invested in two Kickstarter campaigns, with the products arriving just before Christmas.  My Kefirko glass jar makes it easy to culture and strain kefir.  I recently took it on holiday and found it very handy to make kefir each day without additional strainers and bowls.  The Pickle Pipe is a silicone, self-sealing airlock for fermenting vegetables.  The airlock sits on top of a wide mouth Mason jar, meaning I can now easily ferment small amounts of vegetables.  Mr Grumpy also gave me a large fermenting crock for Christmas, so I am set for a great year of fermenting.  All I need is a drop in the temperature.

I am always late to the party when it comes to food trends, so whilst others have been extolling the virtues of vegetable noodles I have had my head in the sand.  Thanks to the presence in my kitchen of The Inspirilizer, a Christmas gift from my sister, I am now very much on trend.  The zucchini plants have been flourishing this year, and as a result we have all become rather fond of raw zucchini noodle salads. Turns out spiralisers are a fantastic way of using up the zucchini harvest.

My sister-in-law gave me this fresh cheese kit for Christmas, which I plan to put to good use when it becomes slightly cooler.  I am hoping to make a lot more cheese this year, which should be easier with the folding proofer.

I subscribed to the Goodness Me Box recently; a monthly health food sample box.  I do have to be quick if I actually want to sample anything myself though, as The Princess seems to call dibs on most things before I even crack the seal on the box.  All that is left from the last box are these Lupin Flakes, possibly because The Princess didn’t realise she could eat them raw (or lightly toasted anyway). Lupin flakes, a reasonably new product, are incredibly versatile.  They can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes, and make a stellar dip.  They are high in protein and cook in three minutes flat, making them an ideal accompaniment to a main meal.

As always in my kitchen are new cookbooks.  I found River Cottage: Love Your Leftovers incredibly inspiring, and it has made me evaluate how much food I actually waste.  Whilst we do have chickens to eat our scraps, my plan this year is to become much better at using up my leftovers.  I am slowly working my way through Nigel Slater’s recent offering A Year of Good Eating: The Kitchen Diaries III.  I love his laid back approach to cooking, which very much mirrors the way I cook.  After falling in love with Adam Liaw’s latest offering, I have been hunting down his earlier books.  The most recent addition to my collection is Asian After Work: Simple Food for Everyday.

That’s about it for this month.  Hopefully the weather will cool down by next month, and I can start cooking again.  Head over to Maureen’s at the Orgasmic Chef to see what is going on in other kitchens around the world.

* I have come to the realisation that I will never be a gadget photographer, so have included professional photos where applicable for illustration purposes.  The source of these images is credited.  All other images are my own.

This post contains affiliate links.  Should you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.