Kitchen Zen
Nov. 9th, 2010 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
herlander_refugee in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomIf one takes the most light-hearted definition of any practice described as Zen-like, it would surely mean something that gives you great calm and even bliss in the practice?
Making a fantastic new recipe can do that for almost anyone, but we all know time does not always allow for such an extravagant choice. I find, as I get older, that I actually revel and delight in the most repeated and ordinary kitchen cooking chores.
I don't use margarine, I whip butter with equal amounts of olive oil and the sight of it, fluffy and fragrant as I pour it in the dish where it will stay spreadably soft in the refrigerator always gives me a visual rush of pleasure.
But the best, absolute best Zen-like kitchen joy is making ghee. I put a pound of unsalted butter in my iron skillet and melt it. I stir it as it bubbles and foams; I lower the temperature and let it simmer until it pops and fizzes off excess liquid. The cheaper the grade of butter, the longer this takes. The scent of boiling, browning butter fills the house with such a mouthwatering fragrance! I skim the bubbles browning on top, and after 15 minutes or so, I pour it into a heat proof glass container through a cloth coffee filter in a sieve. This will cook eggs and saute various things for more than a month. The skillet is well seasoned once the brown-black milk solids crusting the bottom are scrubbed away in plain hot water. And the house smells warm.....I'm pretty sure the scent of familial love is browning butter!
What is your kitchen zen?
Making a fantastic new recipe can do that for almost anyone, but we all know time does not always allow for such an extravagant choice. I find, as I get older, that I actually revel and delight in the most repeated and ordinary kitchen cooking chores.
I don't use margarine, I whip butter with equal amounts of olive oil and the sight of it, fluffy and fragrant as I pour it in the dish where it will stay spreadably soft in the refrigerator always gives me a visual rush of pleasure.
But the best, absolute best Zen-like kitchen joy is making ghee. I put a pound of unsalted butter in my iron skillet and melt it. I stir it as it bubbles and foams; I lower the temperature and let it simmer until it pops and fizzes off excess liquid. The cheaper the grade of butter, the longer this takes. The scent of boiling, browning butter fills the house with such a mouthwatering fragrance! I skim the bubbles browning on top, and after 15 minutes or so, I pour it into a heat proof glass container through a cloth coffee filter in a sieve. This will cook eggs and saute various things for more than a month. The skillet is well seasoned once the brown-black milk solids crusting the bottom are scrubbed away in plain hot water. And the house smells warm.....I'm pretty sure the scent of familial love is browning butter!
What is your kitchen zen?
