What is it with pan and pot lids? Despite having a well-stocked and seemingly organized kitchen, time and time again I find myself searching high and low to find the matching topper for the pans in my cupboard. Even worse, many (I'm looking at you, sauté pans) don't come with a lid in the first place. So what's a girl to do?
Searing meat, sautéing onions, or stir-frying veggies in a sauté pan can cause a layer of caramelization to form on the bottom of the pan. Stainless steel pans are the most notorious for burning. To avoid this, try a nonstick or cast iron pan instead, because the mixture of fat, carbohydrate, and protein molecules won't as readily stick to the bottom of the pan and cause burning. Even if the pan is edging on the side of burned, whatever you do, don't toss it carelessly in the sink. Take a deep breath, lower the heat, and assess the damage first. If it is mostly black, scrape the meat or vegetables onto a clean plate quickly, then soak the pan in soapy water to make the cleaning process easier. Transfer the contents of the plate onto a clean pan if they are not cooked thoroughly. Only this time, add sufficient oil, and keep the flame low to prevent burning.
Otherwise, if the "caramelization" is a dark brown with a few spots of black, then deglaze the pan instead! Despite its unattractive appearance, the layer of dried juices is called the "fond." In French, it means "base" or "foundation," and it acts as the base of many pan sauces. Even though it appears messy and unusable, it is actually condensed flavor and will add unbelievably delicious depth to whatever you are cooking, whether it's sauces, gravies, or bases for soups.
Learn the deglazing technique that will change your sauces forever.
Thanks (or no thanks) to the writers' strike, FX's Rescue Me won't be back on the air for its fifth season till Spring 2009. But Denis Leary and company weren't about to make fans go that long without at least a little taste of New York firefighter life.
On Tuesday, FX premiered the first of 10 Rescue Me "minisodes," bite-sized bits of the show (all approximately five minutes long) that are meant to tide fans over till next year. Each minisode will premiere at 10 p.m. on Tuesday for the next nine weeks; 10 minutes later, they'll show up on Crackle, and by the next day they'll spread through various other online video sites.
The first minisode, "Fast," finds Sean Garrity struggling to maintain his cleansing fast in the face of Lou's doughnuts. If you're a fan, will it be enough to get you through to next year? To watch "Fast" for yourself, just read more
All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.
Weeds: Season 3
I added the third season of the hit Showtime series Weeds to my must-haves for June because it's a must-watch before the fourth season starts up this month. This is a series I love to own because I want to watch the lovely Mary-Louise Parker and gang whenever I get the urge.
As I said in my must-haves post, the seasons prior to this one always balanced dark elements with high comedy but this third go-around is mostly dark. New faces in the cast this third season include Matthew Modine playing a real estate mogul and Mary-Kate Olsen as the religious (yet still tokey) girlfriend of Nancy's (Parker) son Silas. Even Carrie Fisher pops up — but that's all I'll say, so as not to spoil the fun.
Special features include eight commentary tracks, the full set of Good Morning Agrestic videos, and a sampler of the show's soundtrack.
Two more new titles — one TV, one movie — up next. So read more
From "The Shield" — which starts its sixth season tonight — to "The Riches" and "Nip/Tuck," FX has become known for edgy dramas unlike anything else on TV. Which of the network's shows is your favorite?
Photos courtesy of FX
