Lodge vs. Le Creuset Skillet

I had my eyes set on Le Creuset skillet for awhile now. I've got their Braiser and I like using it to cook stews and curries. I have to say they are pretty expensive; especially here in Canada where just about anything costs more than U.S.

One day, I decided that I needed a skillet. We didn't have our grill with us and I wanted to cook up some steak and burgers.
Instead of buying a Le Creuset, I decided on a Lodge skillet. It came in a 12" size and it cost about $130.00 less than Le Creuset. I really like the look of Le Creuset and it is enamel coasted so there is no seasoning required but I didn't want to spend so much on a skillet at this time.

Lodge is a heavy duty skillet. I've read that you can even use it in camp fire. It's American made which is nice and a 12" skillet cost me under $20.00 on Amazon. It doesn't look sleek or as pretty as Le Creuset since it is not coated with colour.

With the Lodge, you have to season it periodically. Some of them come pre-seasoned but from my personal experience, it is better to season before you start using it.  You don't' have to do it every time you use it but it does need to be done. Seasoning isn't hard but it is time consuming. If you don't want to bother with seasoning, I would highly recommend a Le Creuset.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with Lodge. For its price, it is worth getting one if you do need one.
I may cave in buy a Le Creuset at a later day if I need another skillet but for now, Lodge is serving its purpose quite nicely.

C's Make and Eat

I can never get him to properly smile into the camera. But he still looks so Adorable! There is his pizza he made all by himself.

When C. woke up, he asked for pizza for lunch. And I said YES! I am really into homemade pizza not because it's more economical but because it's a fun cooking experience for me and him. We usually make the dough together and it gives him a chance to help me with scooping out flour and measuring.
I really like the idea of being able to customize the toppings and know what I am putting into it.

I think that's what matters to me the most; I know what goes into the food.

Back to the pizza, this post is more about the experiences we shared rather than on the pizza recipe. I have the recipe to the pizza dough here.

There are so many learning components to it; there is counting, reading and also just being able to follow simple steps to making a pizza. There is also a social learning aspect to this as well. He is learning to wait and take turns.

Need an idea for a rainy day? Let this be your next rainy day activity. It's delicious and so simple (be warned, it may get little messy).

Bon Appetit!

Quesadilla

I've been really getting into Mexican food. I am sure I am not getting the essence of Mexican cuisine with my taco and fajita nights at home but I find them to be pretty quick and easy meals to prepare at home. I've always enjoyed eating Quesadilla at restaurants so I thought to myself "why not try this at home?". The concept seemed pretty simple. Flour tortilla with cheese in the middle; sorta like Grilled cheese but with tortillas. (I really hope I am not offending anybody with this remark. If I am, I apologize.) I grilled some onions and spinach in a separate pan with my mix of cajun seasoning. Then in another pan, I put a tortilla down, put blended cheese of Monterey and Cheddar in the middle and spread the onion and spinach on top and covered it with another tortilla. Flip it after few minutes and make sure both sides are nicely browned. Serve with a side of guacamole, sour cream and salsa. The key here is to make sure the pan has enough butter or oil on it so that the tortilla doesn't stick to the pan. Otherwise, flipping it would be extremely hard and you may end up with a hold in the tortilla. And the beauty of this dish is that you can pretty much customize however you want it. You can add meat, mushrooms, olives and etc. I am going to attempt to make my own tortilla and see how that goes. I am not sure if it would be worth it to make my own but heck, why not. Right? Bon Appetit!

Spring Rolls

I am Back!!! My life has changed so much in the last year. We've moved from our bustling Downtown dwelling to a suburban neighbourhood. We are still adjusting but it's been okay. I have been so spoiled living in downtown that the idea of having to drive almost anywhere here is annoying but I do love the neighbourhood. And now that we are settled in, I can start to get back to cooking and baking. Couple weeks back, we went to a Thai restaurant out in the burbs and the food was pretty good. We had spring rolls and when I was out grocery shopping, I bought a spring roll wrapper on impulse.


I've made man-du (Korean dumpling) before at home so I figure making spring rolls is along the same idea. I like meat in my spring roll so I seasoned some ground pork with salt and pepper, cut up some cabbage and bamboo shoots. I started to cook the meat and I made some gravy with corn starch and water and mixed that in . Now depending on the size of the spring roll wrapper, you can adjust the size. The original size was too big so I cut into quarters to they were more bite sized rolls.



Scoop some meat up, put it in the middle of the wrapper and roll up one side and tuck the sides in and keep rolling until it looks like a spring roll. This make take some time and practice before you perfect it but hey who cares if it isn't perfect. Pour vegetable oil into the pot and get it up to 350 degrees. Don't crowd the pot with too many rolls as it can bring down the temp of the oil. Fry it until they are golden brown and take them out. Dip them into a sweet chilli sauce or plum sauce and enjoy! These would make great party food as an appetizer or a potluck dish.