Aga Kitchen

Sorry no picture but I will get one up soon.

One of the things that takes some getting used with an Aga is no open flame. Hard to light a candle off of the Boil Plate. It's also hard to peel a tomato. I know dip it in boiling water, chill, it peel it. Not when I need only one or two. You just score the flower end as usual and hold it over an open flame until the skin is blistered and your done. I was using a blowtorch but that was a relationship destined to fail. And it did. Again Aga, no open flame, bummer. Here's the solution. Score the tomato as usual and just roll on the Boil Plate. The skin will blister and it will peel off. Use tongs if you have to and don't feel like you need to get every inch. Ripe tomatoes peel easier, unripe tomatoes taste differently and maybe you need to rethink your recipe.

Another Aga miracle.

now who went and misspelled lavender?

I received an email from an Aga owner asking about drying herbs in the Slow Oven of his 4 Oven Aga. Not sure, my wife only let me get the 3 Oven so how do I know what that magical 4th Oven can do? I'm also a fan of freezing herbs over drying them. I like the bright color they retain. While I was out raiding my friend's garden I took six big flowers from  dill plants that had gone to seed. I will dry the seeds with the power of Aga. I took one and tied it up and hung it over my Hot Plate with a sheet pan to catch the goods. It took a few days and dried nicely. I also put three heads in a bag (hope Homeland Security doesn't pick up that last phrase) and hung them upside down. It worked well, took a day longer but easy to retrieve to the dill seeds as they fall off. Next up tarragon.

How many times have people asked you if your Aga is too hot in the summer? More than a couple I'm sure. Today I was doing a cooking demo for a non Aga kitchen store. They had a wall oven. A nice convection oven and a fancy microwave. In between demos my wife came over and stood by the oven. She commented that the convection oven (it vented indoors) was much warmer than the Aga. I checked it out and sure enough you would break a sweat just getting near that puppy.

Congratulate yourself, you choose wisely.

Slow roasted tomatoes are a perfect summer staple. Sweet and tart are intensified in an Aga. They go great on a salad and are better on a burger than ketchup or sliced tomatoes. They also make a great salad dressing or salsa. Sing along with me "Anything a tomato can do I can do better". Sounds good doesn't it.

These are easy but there is a trick. You need to cut the white pith out of the center.

• Gather your sheet pan, roasting rack and bake-o-glide
• Wash and quarter 6 plum tomatoes
• With a sharp knife cut the white pith out that starts near the middle and runs towards the stem end
• Place tomatoes on the rack and sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• In the slow oven for 3 1/2 hours turning the pan around for more even cooking once or twice
• Remove, cool and place in a container with a little olive oil, lasts a week in fridge

Look at those ugly bitter white pith pieces. Pith pieces sounds funny

This simple task essential to many dishes is often an energy drain. We lift the lid and slowly cook and stir like people with normal ovens. You don't have to. Here is an easy way to sweat, sauté, soften  or whatever you want to call it in your Oven and retain that precious energy.

The example I have here is from a batch of Onion Soup with Whole Grain & Spinach. Here it is step by step.

• With the rack on the floor of your Roasting Oven put in the pan you will be using, empty
• Dice the onions for the soup
• Take the pan out of the oven and on the Simmer Plate
• Add a few tablespoons of oil and then add the onions and a good pinch of salt
• Stir the onions around and then with a heat resistant rubber spatula scrap down the sides of the pan and pull any onion away from the edge

• 
before and after, 30 minutes later they are soft and translucent

• As long as nothing is on the edge or sides of the pan nothing will dry out and burn. They will slowly cook in their own juices. As the liquid evaporates the onion will get sweeter.
• You can do this in the Baking or Roasting Oven. It will need more attention in the hotter oven but still not as  much as the stove top.