PASSIONATE RATIONS

It’s arrived! James Peterson’s Cooking is here.

I’m a bit worried though. He insists that one need not have a well-endowed kitchen to cook well, but then lists equipment that he appears to consider essential–at least three of which (a “spider”, a Benriner slicer, and a drum sieve) I do not have, despite having a pretty well-equipped setup (or so I thought). After flipping a few pages I note that there’s even more equipment needed for recipes sprinkled throughout (e.g. tartlet molds). I love shopping for kitchen implements, but that’s money I didn’t really plan on for this project. Perhaps I can improvise to start.

Today’s lesson: white cooking wine. I had to buy a dry white for a bridal shower I’m attending tomorrow. My part of the menu is a white sangria. I realized I wasn’t sure which was drier: chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc. Smart phones are great for this sort of thing, and I quickly narrowed it down to the pinot grigio v. the sauvignon for my drink recipe. Ultimately, I chose the Pinot G., but then came home to find the “Cooking” book. It turns out Mr. Peterson (I’ll call him “Mr. Peterson” until I get to know him a bit better) recommends dry whites, and in particular sauvignon blanc, for cooking. Well, I hope my Pinot G. works out anyway.

By the way, you can use dry sherry instead of wine. You can also use white vermouth, or even white wine vinegar, in a total pinch. Clearly, these latter two items will keep longer around the kitchen–something I always look for (especially since I don’t drink white wine in nearly the quantities I’d need to to always have a fresh bottle around).

I hear Julia Child often went the vermouth route.

But this isn’t really about her. Or is it? I note Mr. Peterson also went the France/Cordon Bleau route. Hmmmm….