Kitchen With (Lots of) Stuff

I swear that you can cook in 4′ by 9′ of kitchen. Remember my plan? Here it is.

I do believe NO ONE has ever fit more kitchen stuff into a space this small ever before. Well, perhaps they have, but holy moly, there’s stuff in every square inch of this kitchen. You can’t even see the stuff under the sink. But everything is easily within reach while cooking. I’ve got spices and pans and spoons and bowls and everything. It’s truly excellent. I tried to make it look decent too.

I was cooking black bean tacos here. The main issue with this kitchen is not the space, actually, it’s that TERRIBLE STOVE. The top of it tends to slide around. You know, completely OFF. Which is not optimal when cooking. And three out of four of the burners won’t lie flat enough to cook on, even with water in the pan weighting it down. We’re discussing this with the landlord. A repairman came and took a look and said it looks like I need a new one. I agree.

Anyway, if you think I can’t cook a five-course dinner in here, you’re wrong. I would. Just for the challenge. To see if I could.

Here’s some more pictures. I was having fun taking them. By the way, if you’re reading this via email, you can’t see the slideshow via email, you’ll have to visit my website to see them.

In which I experiment with tempeh

There comes a time in every newbie vegetarian’s life when they must break out of the standard ingredients they once knew and experiment with such things as tofu and tempeh and miso and other things that are not standard in the average American diet. Should you be familiar with non-Americanized Asian food then this process is somewhat easier, however most Chinese places where I grew up featured a lot more sweet-and-sour fried chicken than they did tofu.

I have had rather a lot of fun with this experimentation, actually, and I thought I’d share one such recipe I made up for the folks that aren’t so familiar with some of these ingredients. This is a tempeh version of chicken salad. My simple recipe is in fact vegan and extraordinarily good for you – although that actually wasn’t my intent, and I always end up adding cheese and messing up the super-healthy aspect. My intent was for it to be extremely tasty, which it is. It’s also super simple and non-messy to make.

Ingredients – Tempeh Salad:

• 1 8 oz package tempeh (I like the 3 grain tempeh from Lightlife pictured here). Dice into small cubes.
• 1/2 crisp apple, finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp Miso Mayo, garlic and dill flavor (or regular mayo)
• 1 tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper

Diced tempeh, above, kind of looks like you’ve just diced a fish filet with the skin on. The fermentation process leaves gray and white marks on the surface, but it’s normal. It’s chewy and grain-ey and this flavor, at least, has a slightly nutty taste.

A note on ingredients:

I use two things here that aren’t standard grocery store fare, but usually can be found in the “health food” section of stores (having a “health” food section always makes me wonder what the other food in the store is supposed to do for you). Tempeh is a fermented soy product involving the whole bean originating in Indonesia. It’s protein rich, which is something vegetarians have to make sure to get enough of. The Miso Mayo I use is one of my many attempts to curtail the fat in my diet – I love mayonnaise, but I do not love what it does to my pants size. This stuff is ridiculously healthy, and made of canola and miso and some other stuff. But I probably still wouldn’t bother with it if it weren’t so very tasty I don’t care whether I have mayonnaise anymore. I swear, it’s good.

Directions:

Place diced tempeh into a nonstick pan with a tablespoon or two of oil (it doesn’t have any oil, so without oil + nonstick it will stick to your pan). Add the spices – curry powder, garlic and onion powder, turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix well. On medium heat, cook the tempeh until it’s getting browned and crispy. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Add cooked tempeh, diced apple and diced celery to a medium sized bowl. Add the Miso Mayo and mustard. Mix well. The tempeh/apple/celery should be coated. If they are not, add more mayo. It will still be loose, it doesn’t all clump together quite like standard chicken salad.

That’s it. It’s very simple to make. Now I recommend placing a few spoonfuls on some greens, or placing some on a sandwich and melting some swiss cheese on top. Either way, yum!

That’s my lunch tomorrow, btw.

The Case of the Kitchenette

I knew when we showed up the kitchen would be difficult. It was obvious, because it was only four feet wide and about 9 feet long. 36 square feet isn’t a lot of space to work with. There is a sink and a narrow four-burner stove, and two cabinets. There is no counter space at all. And three of the walls are poured concrete, making it near impossible to drill into them.*

What is a cooking lady to do with a kitchen like this? Yes, this is the whole thing. This doesn’t show about 2″ to the left.

So I’ve done a number of things to alter and fix this space (the stuff in red).  I planned them all out based on storage needs and traffic patterns (in blue). Explanation of everything below.

1. 4′ rail with S-hooks:  stores 10 pots and pans
2. Wall-mounted shelf for counter space runs the width of the wall and is 8″ deep.  For the spoon rest and ingredients used during cooking.
3. Wall-mounted magnetic knife rack from Ikea.
4. 2 shelves above stove for storage of items used during cooking – made them myself from lumber.
5. Corner shelves above the 8 gallon slimline trashcan.
6. Spice rack – adhesive 30 mil magnet, 3′ x 2′ plus metal canisters – materials purchased wholesale.
7. Pantry – made of a narrow/tall Billy (Ikea) bookshelf with doors – in the next room with the refrigerator.
8. Basket and
9. Folding dish rack hanging on a rail above sink (also Ikea)
10. Shallow, tiny shelf (6″) next to sink counter, extra storage.
11. Shelf in left side of under-sink cabinet for 2 levels of storage – toaster and cleaning supplies, plus door-mounted saran wrap and foil holders and a towel rack.
12. 2 drawers in right side of under-sink cabinet for 2 levels of storage – eating utensils and misc. cooking utensils.
13. Bookshelf storage – there are two bookshelves on one end of the dining room (where the refrigerator and the pantry live) that hold plates, baking implements, pitchers, etc.

So that’s how to deal with a tiny kitchen. I’ll show it to you when it’s all fixed up again, it’s nearly done now, just waiting on the magnet to come in. And still struggling somewhat with that concrete wall situation.

*We discovered to our immense chagrin today that one entire end of our little place has walls of poured concrete. Not concrete blocks, but thick poured concrete. Imagine!  You can’t drill in that without something called a hammer-drill, which we don’t have. I’d been wondering why there were no nail holes etc, and that’s why. The concrete part of the house is an addition to the original garage. I have NO IDEA why someone would want to make a concrete room. Afraid of a war breaking out? In desperate need of 100% sound insulation? Really hates termites?

I don’t know why I’m surprised. The concrete walls are only one of several building anomalies we’ve discovered.