If I’m going to cook then I like to have the right tools. One of those tools is a cast iron pan. It’s just something you need to have. It’s heavy, can stand very high heat, heats evenly and holds that heat for a long time. If you plan to do blacken Red Fish or fried chicken then you must have a cast iron pan.

When ever possible I like to have the “best of breed”. Cheap things just don’t last as long or work as well as the best. Sometimes it’s not important. But when it comes to cookware that is meant to last, it makes a difference. So my brand of choice is Lodge Manufacturing. You just can’t beat it. Lodge is a family company located in South Pittsburg, Tennesse that’s been around since the early 1800s. The quality is top notch. They use a privately held metal formula and precision molds. The wall thickness are exact. When you hold a Lodge product you’re holding the result of more than 100 years of making cast iron cookware. It just feels right. And it will last more than a lifetime.

www.lodgemfg.com

My simple Chicken Piccata recipe goes like this. 

Pound boneless, skinless chicken breast until about 1/4″ thick. Dredge in flour. Cook in a skillet with a small amount of Olive oil until golden brown on each side. 

Remove chicken from pan. Deglaze pan with white wine, lemon juice and a little chicken stock. Reduce juice on med high heat until about half. 

In a second skillet cook chopped green onions and a small yellow onion in Olive oil until soft.

Add chicken back into pan with reduced sauce. Add green onions and yellow onion to pan with chicken. Simmer to allow sauce to thicken. 

Server chicken with sauce on top, some lemon wedges and capers. 

For some time now I’ve been wanting to try using fresh, vine ripened tomatoes in a shrimp and tomato receipe I often make. So I purchase a dozen fresh ripe tomatoes at the local farmers market. I was looking forward to a whole new taste in this shrimp dish so the extra work seemed worth it. Well, it wasn’t. The dish didn’t taste any better at all. If anything, it probably wasn’t as good as when I use quality canned tomatoes. So there was a lesson. I’ll save the fresh tomatoes for a salad. In a tomato based sauce, they just didn’t make any difference. 

No need for a whole chicken. Use the right techniques for the right cut, and the result is succulent, tender and aromatic. 

Check out this recipe at the LA Times.com

After owning the Zyliss garlic press for about 25 years, I decided to see what’s new in these gadgets. After some research I decided on the Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press. Here is the ultimate garlic press – as efficient as it is exquisite – right down to its easy-to-clean pull out sleeve. Ergonomically designed in stainless steel it gives you better results for less effort. It has a lifetime warranty and should easily last me for the next 25 years.

Seems like variations on the martini are endless. Here is one I recently discovered, a terrific new martini called a saketini. The recipe is 2.5 oz sake, 1 oz vodka. Serve ice cold in a martini glass with slices of Japanese cucumbers. It goes well with Teriyaki Chicken and for some reason gets better with each sip.