PFOA-free Nonstick Cookware!

OMG. Just got an email from Sur la Table announcing they are carrying Danish ScanPan pots and pans.
Now, I *hate* non-stick pans. The noxious chemicals used to create that non-stick surface eventually degrades -- even upon first use -- no matter how careful a cook you are. If you burn the dickens out of everything (like my sister Marcia), then the degradation begins upon first use. So every bite of food you eat has those nasty chemicals IN it. Ew.
But I also empathize with beginner cooks who lean on nonstick to hide their inexperience, nee, mistakes or lazy cooks who cannot be bothered with scrubbing. But the payoff was gnarly chemicals in your food. Not a good trade off.
The other downside of non-stick is that you cannot get a good sear on a side of meat because you cannot heat the pan sufficiently to scorch it precisely because it's a non-stick pan. And forget deglazing. Without those burnt bits and precious liquid left, there's nothing to deglaze.
So for the beginner cook and lazy scrubber, there may be hope in these pans. If you *have* to have nonstick pans, then buy these, please. And get rid of those nasty, chemical-leeching nonstick pots you have. No use putting more nasty, god-knows-what-they-will-do-to-you chemicals into your food and those you love.

Thomas & Korean

My good friend Thomas was in town to cover the Mets-Rockies series then the All-Stars game. Thanks to his schedule, we get to see each other about twice a year. yeah!

Since good sushi is hard to come by in Denver, we usually go for that but this time I talked him into Korean.
LF Paik turned me on to KumGangSan on 32nd St., so we went there.
Thomas ordered nabeyaki udon. He as in 7th heaven. It's one of his fave udon dishes.
I ordered bi bim bop and jap chae so he could try them. The jap chae was too sweet for him but he liked the bi bim bop.
Look at the radish presentation on the jap chae! Fancy.

Although in the photos, Thomas is on his phone, he wasn't being rude. MLB.com forgot to get him a hotel! So he was making hotel arrangements at 10pm. It was all resolved by the time we were done with dinner.

Tiki Tiki

Gina & Damian graciously hosted a tiki party in their backyard last weekend. Good people, yummy food. Yes, poo poo platter and all. *I love shrimp toast.* Hot wasabi rice crackers threw me for a loop. Holey Chimoley. A wickedly deceptive fruit salad with a spicy kick. Damian grilled pork skewers. And Karen broke out a red velvet cake (my fave) that weighed a ton. It was gorgeous and super yummy with blueberries!
Everyone was festively dressed, myself included, in a vintage Hawaiian shift dress with a waterfall in back.

I contributed blood orange limeade and pomegranate limeade for mixers. The men tending bar were mixing up Dark & Stormy, Mai Tai, Blue Hawaiian and other rum yummies. Oh, and I was treated to a cigar! Good times :)

Weekend Pastries

Nothing quite beats a warm sticky bun on the weekend. I had this one at Sweet Melissa on Court Street. Yum.

Warm Rice Salad

The best thing about a rice cooker in the summer is that it doesn't heat up your kitchen! All hail rice cookers!
I modified this recipes from Molly Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook, my college bible. She credits Sri Wasano for this Indonesian rice salad.
I prefer dishes with as few ingredients as possible for 3 reasons: 1) I'm lazy 2) I rarely have *that* many items already handy 3) my palate gets confused when I have lots of ingredients to filter, sort through, identify. I just want to eat and be sated. So this is my pared down version of this almost-no-cook dish.
In a rice cooker, measure 1 part basmati rice to 2 parts water. Press cook and do the other stuff.

3T peanut oil
1T sesame oil
1/2c orange juice (fresh)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2t salt
1T shoyu (or soy sauce)
1T rice vinegar
1T apple cider vinegar
Combine these in a large bowl.
Then start chopping...
1c fresh pineapple, diced
2 scallions, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
When the rice is done cooking, scoop the rice into the dressing bowl. Coat well. Then fold in the veggies and fruit. Add 1/4c raisins. Sprinkle with gomasio or sesame seeds for a little extra protein.
Eat warm or cover tightly and chill. I like it warm.
Note: Pineapple has this weird way of cannibalizing other food around it, so eat this dish within 3 days.