Hello my Foodie Friends!
How many of us foodies have cookware, baking products, or cooking gadgets that have been handed down over the generations? As our children have grown and moved out of the house, we have also moved much of our cookware and cooking gadgets with them. Some of the items have been handed down from prior generations. Recently, my wife found a loaf pan that was her grandmothers. It brought back memories of various items that both her grandmother and mother made in that pan. The loaf pan is a cool kitchen tool and often overlooked for its plain design. It is definitely an indispensable item in the kitchen. Every kitchen should have a loaf pan to bake a variety of sweet or savory recipes – from meatloaf and lasagne to ice-cream and baked delicacies. A loaf pan is in the shape of a narrow rectangle, a convenient form which enables uniform slicing.
A loaf pan is great to use when you’re looking to bake a smaller portion of a recipe or are cooking for one or two. This versatile pan is excellent for baking bread loaves, loaf cakes, and zucchini bread. You don’t have to make your own bread, or even bake, to love the loaf pan. Despite their specialized name, these rectangular pans are extremely adaptable to cooking, freezing, desserts, and more. And with all the creative ways you can use them, loaf pans are anything but idle in the kitchen.
There a many uses for loaf pans. These pans are the ideal shape for the ultimate comfort food, meatloaf. Marinate meats. Keep more of each steak, chicken breast, tofu slice, or veggie skewer in contact with the marinade you made by placing the foods in a loaf pan, then pouring the marinade on top. Cover with plastic wrap, and slip the loaf pan into your fridge for the allotted time. If you have a bit of meat or a few sides of the skewers sticking out, use tongs to rotate them in the marinade for full coverage.
Rectangular pans are perfect for lasagna or baked ziti, especially if you’re only serving a few people. If you cut recipes in half, a square baking dish may be too big. Use a loaf pan instead. Savory pies like shepherd’s pie or chicken pot pie don’t have to be round just because that’s convention. You can bake them in a loaf pan and still have a hearty one-dish meal.
At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutler store located at 33 Railroad Place, we carry several different size loaf pans. Make some memories with the heirlooms that you have collected over the years. Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”
Take Care,
John & Paula
