So after looking at the Lodge again in daylight, I saw it still had brown spots on it, a lot of them. I soaked it overnight, and even then I had to SCRUB it hard (with a green pad) to get the spots on the outside to come out and the general brown-ness on the inside to come out. To top it off, after two soaks and scrubbing sessions, there is still a faint brown spot on the inside bottom if it, marring the beautiful white-cream interior.
Needless to say, I am not thrilled. Maybe I'll take the plunge and try LC, but for now I am very much inclined to wait for Emile Henry to go on easy pay and leave enameled cast iron (in all its beautiful, spunky and glorious colors) out, or at least secondary, my kitchen.
Browning Contest - Lodge vs. Emile Henry
So I love my Lodge french oven and Emile Henry clay pots so much, that I have decided to eventually replace all our pots with either LC/Lodge, or Emile Henry. Since I shop outlets and discount stores, I wanted to decide ahead of time so I can be ready to snatch a good deal when I see one. Therefore, a decision had to be made - Emile Henry or Le Creuset/Lodge?
Well, only one way to answer that question if you are a woman of science like myself: an experiment. Thus I undertook the Browning Contest.
I began with two side dishes to help me enjoy the final results. Cut up aspargus tossed with butter and salt in my petite Le Creuset baking dish, and Brazilian pão-de-queijo (cheese breadies). Those turned out pretty delicious and required no attention during the contest.
Then it was time to ready the competitors. The heat was set for 4/9, then increased to 6/9, and there was some oil on each pot. My stove is a plain electric one.
After the pots were heated, I browned some onions and mixed specialty mushrooms. Both did this equally well.
I then reserved the onions and mushrooms, added butter to each pot, dried two cuts of Ribeye with a paper towel, and in they went.
After 4-5 minutes on each side, they looked like this:
As you can see, the Lodge cut looks much nicer. I confess as I saw this development I became more and more excited, as although I love my Emile Henry I think it is harder to find those at a good price, they could break if dropped, but mostly, they don't have them in the "flame" and "kiwi" colors that I decided to eventually do my cookware in, in addition to my cobalt Lodge (or similar colors, for that matter).
Then it was time to deglaze with some Cabernet. Both looked fine. I added a touch (literally, a teaspoon) of bottled Marsala sauce to each pot.
I then re-added the onions, mushrooms, and beef. At this point, the Emile Henry sauce looked very, very smooth (though it's hard to see), but the Lodge's started to break and separate.
Aaaand... The finished Ribeye! I cut each in half since I could never eat two full cuts. However, as I cut them I forgot to turn the heat off on the Emile Henry, so by the time I served that pan sauce it had broke a bit too (though it was completely my fault for turning the heat off on the Lodge and forgetting it on under the Emile Henry).
With the Aspargus and pão-de-queijo.
THE RESULTS: As much as I wanted the Lodge to win and believed it would, it did not, because:
1) The EH meat was noticeably more tender, and the less browning did not affect the taste. The Lodge meat was "good" and the EH "very good". This is an amazing result because I have NEVER cooked an edible piece of steak.
2) The pan sauce separated on the Lodge much sooner than on the EH.
However, the Lodge was very fun to cook in as well. In the end, I thought the EH would win for easiest clean up, but both pans cleaned up incredibly easily with a soak, and tied on that department.
So it looks like I'll have to find a way to make the EH color scheme work in my kitchen... Maybe I'll add a LC in flame and an EH in green. I'll keep you posted.
Well, only one way to answer that question if you are a woman of science like myself: an experiment. Thus I undertook the Browning Contest.
I began with two side dishes to help me enjoy the final results. Cut up aspargus tossed with butter and salt in my petite Le Creuset baking dish, and Brazilian pão-de-queijo (cheese breadies). Those turned out pretty delicious and required no attention during the contest.
Then it was time to ready the competitors. The heat was set for 4/9, then increased to 6/9, and there was some oil on each pot. My stove is a plain electric one.
After the pots were heated, I browned some onions and mixed specialty mushrooms. Both did this equally well.
I then reserved the onions and mushrooms, added butter to each pot, dried two cuts of Ribeye with a paper towel, and in they went.
After 4-5 minutes on each side, they looked like this:
As you can see, the Lodge cut looks much nicer. I confess as I saw this development I became more and more excited, as although I love my Emile Henry I think it is harder to find those at a good price, they could break if dropped, but mostly, they don't have them in the "flame" and "kiwi" colors that I decided to eventually do my cookware in, in addition to my cobalt Lodge (or similar colors, for that matter).
Then it was time to deglaze with some Cabernet. Both looked fine. I added a touch (literally, a teaspoon) of bottled Marsala sauce to each pot.
I then re-added the onions, mushrooms, and beef. At this point, the Emile Henry sauce looked very, very smooth (though it's hard to see), but the Lodge's started to break and separate.
Aaaand... The finished Ribeye! I cut each in half since I could never eat two full cuts. However, as I cut them I forgot to turn the heat off on the Emile Henry, so by the time I served that pan sauce it had broke a bit too (though it was completely my fault for turning the heat off on the Lodge and forgetting it on under the Emile Henry).
With the Aspargus and pão-de-queijo.
THE RESULTS: As much as I wanted the Lodge to win and believed it would, it did not, because:
1) The EH meat was noticeably more tender, and the less browning did not affect the taste. The Lodge meat was "good" and the EH "very good". This is an amazing result because I have NEVER cooked an edible piece of steak.
2) The pan sauce separated on the Lodge much sooner than on the EH.
However, the Lodge was very fun to cook in as well. In the end, I thought the EH would win for easiest clean up, but both pans cleaned up incredibly easily with a soak, and tied on that department.
So it looks like I'll have to find a way to make the EH color scheme work in my kitchen... Maybe I'll add a LC in flame and an EH in green. I'll keep you posted.
Mango Sticky Rice
I made this recipe for the second time yesterday. It is chef Mitzewich's recipe from this video. I made a double batch. By the end of the potluck, there was about 1/3 left... then everyone took bunches home and I had nothing left! Never thought I'd ever make such a popular dish, and if you know me you wouldn't either :-)
Anyway, here is how it turned out - first, I cooked the long grain sticky (thai) rice with coconut milk in my 6qt Lodge french oven...
Then, I diced the mangoes. Used regular ones that were juicy at the stalk, one was incredibly sweet and orange, and the other not so sweet. That's ok, I squeezed all the juices off the good one on the bowl and it helped sweeten the other. The farmer's market had Ataulfo mangoes though, had I looked the video over before I went shopping I would have known to get those - they're sweeter!
Then, I browned some grated coconut on my Emile Henry. Oh, how I adore this pot! I can heat it up empty, then brown foods beautifully without burning them.
And voila'! Very easy, very tropical, very yummy! And displayed beautifully in my deeply discounted, but perfectly made Le Creuset oval baking dish!
And by the way, despite the super stickiness of the glutinous rice, after a 10 minute soak with dish soap and water, the Le Creuset basically washed itself. What a pleasure to cook with the proper tools!
Anyway, here is how it turned out - first, I cooked the long grain sticky (thai) rice with coconut milk in my 6qt Lodge french oven...
Then, I diced the mangoes. Used regular ones that were juicy at the stalk, one was incredibly sweet and orange, and the other not so sweet. That's ok, I squeezed all the juices off the good one on the bowl and it helped sweeten the other. The farmer's market had Ataulfo mangoes though, had I looked the video over before I went shopping I would have known to get those - they're sweeter!
Then, I browned some grated coconut on my Emile Henry. Oh, how I adore this pot! I can heat it up empty, then brown foods beautifully without burning them.
And voila'! Very easy, very tropical, very yummy! And displayed beautifully in my deeply discounted, but perfectly made Le Creuset oval baking dish!
And by the way, despite the super stickiness of the glutinous rice, after a 10 minute soak with dish soap and water, the Le Creuset basically washed itself. What a pleasure to cook with the proper tools!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)