I'm Just Here for the Food (44 page)

Hardware:

1½ microwave-safe glass or
ceramic dish
Microwave oven with carousel
Plastic wrap

Rosie, of course being the Jetsons’ robotic maid and cook. I’m pretty sure the ol’ girl had a microwave oven in her midsection so she could cook this while ironing Judy’s school uniforms.

Bourbon Apple Pear Sauce

This sauce can be served hot or chilled, over ice cream, or pound cake, or anything you like.

Application: Microwave Cooking

Combine all the ingredients except the bourbon and lemon juice in a microwave-safe container, loosely cover (to allow steam to escape), and cook in the microwave oven on high power for 10 minutes. Allow the dish to rest in the oven for 10 minutes more.

Remove the star anise. With a sieve, drain the liquid from the fruit into a small bowl, and set aside. Return the fruit to the container and use a potato masher to mash to your desired consistency.

Add the reserved liquid and the bourbon to a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the liquid is reduced to a near-syrup consistency. Fold the sauce into the fruit. If the sauce is too sweet, add a little lemon juice to taste.

Yield: 3 cups

Software:

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled,
cored, and diced
4 Taylor Gold pears (or your
favorite variety), peeled, cored,
and diced
1½ tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 piece star anise
½ ounce bourbon
Freshly squeezed lemon juice to
taste (optional)

Hardware:

1½-quart microwave-safe
container with lid
Fine-mesh sieve
Small bowl
Potato masher (preferably the
grid kind)
Small sauce pan

Beef Blueprint

Beef

Lamb

Lamb

Chicken Blueprint

Pork Skeleton

Pork

The Basic Culinary Toolbox

The word gadget derives from the French
gachette
or “piece of machinery.” It’s a cool word and I dig the way it sounds, but I’m not too fond of the modern connotation, which smacks of infomercial hucksterism rather than the Yankee ingenuity that produced marvels like the ice-cream churn and the space shuttle. The fact that the word is most often used in association with devices intended for culinary use is a sad statement indeed. In an effort to save time, calories, energy, and so on, people turn to gadgets; then when they find no satisfaction in them, stick them in a drawer. Eventually, there are so many gadgets there’s no room to cook. What we need is less gadgetry and more tools. Tools are serious things, meant to last and to be employed in a wide range of applications. Good tools are rarely cheap, but there aren’t many that you absolutely have to have either. Here are some thoughts on a few essential tools.