The Boquete Gourmet » David

Upgrade Your Kitchen to Elegant

corakent — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:47:46 +0000

If you are a “foodie” and love to cook like I do, make sure you have these up-to-date items in your kitchen. You don’t need to spend a lot of money – just aim for a collection of things that make you feel like you can prepare anything. You probably have what you need now, but why not upgrade?

These items and utensils will make kitchen time easier, more distinguished, and more fun!

Pepper Mill

There’s a massive choice of pepper grinders and it’s tempting to go for the one that looks fancy or has better form than function. Unless you want to be continually replacing pepper mills, choose one that’s durable and is easy to fill. Foodies recommend the Unicorn Magnum or Peugeot models. Don’t bother with a salt grinder, they won’t work in Panama because of the moisture, but a cute little dish filled with salt can be used on your table for a nice touch. They are easily available, sometimes for less than a dollar.

Sharp, Good Quality Knives

At Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School last summer, I learned that the best knives, according to master French chefs, are made by Wusthof. I noticed that every student had a roll of these expensive knives, the ones with the red square on the handles. Why not just buy one Wusthof Chef Knife? You’ll be using it every day and feel like a “real” chef. I don’t know where to buy this brand in Panama, but they’re available on Amazon, click here to see them, they’re magnificant!

Stainless Steel Cookware

The arguments about peeling non-stick surfaces and the potential danger to health are many, and although it’s not clear what the impact might be, it’s far better to err on the side of caution and buy stainless steel pans. I love having glass lids that show what’s happening inside. I just found Rachel Ray’s new set of cookware at the Arrocha Department Store in David, and that set would be a perfect way to upgrade my kitchen – and, the handles are orange!

Hardwood Cutting Board

Living in Panama provides us with the opportunity to get really high-quality hardwoods for using as cutting boards, and they’re so reasonable! My husband David, has made several boards for me that get used often, I love them. Sand your cutting board often with fine-grit sandpaper. Buy a bottle of cutting board oil, mineral oil, or olive oil and rub on a thin, even coat regularly. You’ll love the look in your kitchen!

Blender

This should be a standard piece of equipment in any gourmet kitchen. Be sure to buy a stainless steel model, and one that is powerful enough to make peanut butter. The Breville model linked above is the one I would buy. But, my first purchase will be cookware, then I can think about my new blender.

Stainless Steel Gadgets

Forget the “As seen on TV” gadgets, a cooks kitchen needs high-quality, well-made, stainless steel equipment. Our kitchens are no place for plastic, miss-matched, ugly gizmos. I’m talking about amassing real chef-standard tools. Upgrade to a real Microplane grater, colander, swivel vegetable peeler, wine opener, and 2 or 3 sizes of whisks. From now on, try to make sure everything you buy is stainless steel.

Hand Mixer

A stainless steel hand mixer like this one, or even a hand whisk can complete your equipment collection. The big Kitchenaid stand mixers are magnificent, but if you have a good quality hand mixer, you can save lots of space and expense. Reaching for this hand mixer would be much easier and more fun, don’t you think?

In the beginning, I said that upgrading your kitchen to elegant doesn’t need to cost a lot of money, but a couple upgrades listed might be out of your budget for now. You can begin with just one item and upgrade as you can.

TIP: Whenever you’re in David and you want to have some fun shopping to upgrade your kitchen, go to the “cheap streets” and see what you find for a couple dollars. The stores near the central park in David have some amazing merchandise, many things are made of stainless steel and come in sleek designs. You may need to ask directions to Daisy’s Department Store, Piccadilly, The Shopping Center, Podoroso, or Jackies, but you’ll be happy with what you find, and you may want to return again and again, like I do.

Happy hunting!
Cora

Explore the New Kitchen Store in David

corakent — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:50:35 +0000

La Cocina has recently opened their doors in David, offering low-cost housewares of all types, lots of plastic containers and cookware.

To get to La Cocina, take the first left off the highway and drive past Romero’s until you get to one of the 3 traffic lights in David. Elmec is on the left and the new La Cocina Kitchen Store is on the far right corner, right across from Elmec.

The owners are very helpful, and they have items that are not readily available in other shops. Actually, I believe this is the only exclusive kitchen store between here and Panama City.

The first thing I noticed was the huge selection of mixing bowls beginning at only $1, the stacks of aluminum cookware and good-quality 5-piece wooden spoon sets for $2. I bought a set of spoons, which are just right for mixing up some artisan bread dough. I painted orange stripes on the handles to match my kitchen and to make them easy to find in my drawers.

If you are looking for plastic containers, pitchers, plastic and ceramic plates or bowls, La Cocina is the place to visit.

You won’t find any electrical appliances at La Cocina, which is unfortunate. I’d really like to find a place to buy an electric juicer, a big electric fry pan and a milkshake maker. With Lauretta’s “Gourmet Burgers & More” cooking class coming up, I know I’ll need a milkshake maker.

The owners were very glad to have us visit their shop. They are trying to bring items for the kitchen together into one place, making it easy for cooks like us. I asked if they handled wooden cutting boards, and the response was “Yes, we will be getting them soon.”

A very nice stainless steel thermos bottle was $4, just what I needed to keep a delicious cup of Boquete’s fine coffee hot to drink anytime. It fits perfectly into my car’s console.

I love kitchen gadgets, and La Cocina has a limited supply of basic gadgets. In the photo below, you can see their selection of gadgets on the back wall.

I’ll keep checking back to see the new items La Cocina will be offering and pass along interesting acquisitions to you, as they appear.

Upon leaving La Cocina, I turned left and walked one block to the new Cuidad De David Hotel, the perfect place for lunch!

Don’t you just love David?
Cora

Getting Ready for Chef Juan

corakent — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:16:17 +0000

Our next Boquete Gourmet cooking class features Juan Linares, Professional Chef and exceptional teacher, presenting “Famous Historic Dishes”. Juan will tell stories about six historic dishes and he will demonstrate how to make them, explain how they figured in history and share how they can be replicated today in Boquete and in your kitchen.

The class is totally filled at this time, and a waiting list of eager participants are standing by, in case someone is not able to attend. The dishes are unusual; Beef Wellington, Antipasto, Crepes Suzette, and three other unique dishes, making a full-course dinner for the attendees. This is culinary history revisited.

I have received the recipes from Chef Juan and they are all very interesting, full of unique techniques and blends of ingredients to be prepared on Thursday.

One of the tips we’ll learn is where to get ready-made puff pastry, right here in Boquete. There are two main dishes, Beef Wellington and Chicken Marengo, each of which have interesting and unique histories.

My shopping list is now complete and it should be quite easy to find everything the chef needs. Almost everything is available within 5 minutes of my kitchen. Juan uses ingredients that are mostly found locally, except for one.

The item that may be a bit difficult to find is real French foie gras, or fat goose liver pate’. We have a small delicatessen on Boquete’s main street, so I’ll begin my search there. If I can’t find it here, I may need to go down to David, a city about 45 minutes from Boquete. Almost everything can be found in David’s many huge supermarkets.

If you’d like to read more about foie gras, go to Wikipedia for the complete history, methods of preparing and serving this delicacy. Wikipedia provided this idea of serving it with pickled pears, it really looks delicious.

The entire menu from the class will be posted soon, along with one of the recipes from Juan’s recipe book.

Please keep checking this site for more details on this one-of-a-kind, historical class, and especially of how Chef Juan plans to use the foie gras.
Wish me luck shopping!
Cora