All In The Family

Hello my Foodie Friends! Paula and I grew up in Italian homes where the house always smelled delicious especially when mom was making a sauce and meatballs. Ahhh, I can still smell and taste the wonder of their sauces and the incredible meatballs. I can also remember helping my grandmother, Nonni Rosa (who taught my mom everything she knew about cooking) carry a large cast iron sauté pan that she would later fill with meatballs. My Grandmother came over on a boat from Sicily to Ellis Island and settled in Meriden, Connecticut with her husband Angelo and had five children. She never spoke English and the grandchildren never spoke Italian but we always understood her! I was a master at getting a taste of her meatballs before anyone else! I would go up to her and give her a hug and she would smile and sit me down and plop a meatball in a dish and a piece of her hot home made Italian bread and say “Mangia Johnny”! I miss her and my mom every day. The sauté pan is among the most used pans in the kitchen. These wide, flat-bottomed pans have high L-shaped sides and are ideal for deep or shallow frying such as fried chicken, braising, sautéing meatballs or making Mexican rice. It is the perfect pot for one-pot meals. Sautéing is a form of dry cook heating that uses a very hot pan and a small amount of fat to cook the food very quickly. Like other dry-heat cooking methods, sautéing browns the food’s surface as it cooks and develops complex flavors and aromas. Sautéing Requires a Very Hot Pan. When sautéing, it’s important to heat the pan for a minute, then add a small amount of fat and let the fat get hot as well, before adding the food to the pan. This hot fat helps to brown the surface of the food. Another key is don’t overcrowd the pan. In order to achieve the desired browning of the food, the pan must stay hot throughout the cooking process. Too much food in the pan dissipates the heat, causing the food to steam or boil rather than sauté. Keep the Food Moving. There’s another element to sautéing — the toss. The word sauté actually means “jump” in French. Tossing or flipping the food in the pan ensures that it cooks evenly, but it also helps keep the pan hot (culinaryarts.about.com). Sauté pans options include; cast iron, enamel cast iron, and layer bonded Stainless Steel cookware. One of our favorites is the All Clad Tri Ply Sauté pan with lid. The All Clad Tri Ply Sauté pan with lid is a natural choice for making convenient one-pot meals; this versatile piece from All-Clad’s original three-layer bonded stainless steel cookware line combines the attributes of a sauté pan and a saucier. A new capacity engraving on the base makes for quick identification, and an improved ergonomic handle ensures comfort. Features: • Tri-ply construction sandwiches a heat-responsive aluminum core between an easy-care stainless-steel interior and exterior. • Bonded-metal construction ensures fast, even heating. • Stainless-steel cooking surface with starburst finish provides superior stick resistance and won’t react with foods. • All-in-one pan combines wide base for searing and sautéing ingredients over high heat and sloped rounded sides to contain liquids and facilitate stirring when you’re simmering stews, whisking sauces or browning meats. • Lid locks in moisture and heat after browning to finish cooking ingredients, either on the stovetop or in the oven, ideal for preparing one-pan meals. • Ergonomic, riveted stainless steel handle stays cool on the cook top. • Pan size etched on base. • Ideal for use on any cook top, including induction Our son John and daughter Aubrey like to use the Sauté pan and when customers ask them if they know anything about cooking they are quick to say; “it’s all in the family”! So my friends remember to give your mom and grandmothers a hug because “Life happens in the Kitchen”! Take care, John and Paula