Iron Cast Casserole 鑄鐵鍋 Le Staub

A typical shopping trip for me: setting out to get something and ending up with another thing which was not even in my mind scope at all.

A friend said Le Creuset is on sale at Sur La Table so I went all the way to get a Creuset at the South Coast Plaza, which is like 20 miles away from where I live.

友人在舊金山買了特價的綠色Le Creuset鑄鐵鍋，才150美金。於是我興沖沖地跑去離家二十哩的同一家店。但是我喜歡橘色的，稅前還是要170美金！

I love the orange color of the Creuset’s 2-in-1 3 3/4 qt pan, but the price at $169 before tax is still intimidating, plus I hardly fry anything anyway.

Then I thought of getting those cute little mini cocottes. Three for $55. I can see myself making crème brûlée with these, or having my pasta lunch. But then, I thought of the cocotte I bought in China with only 5 RMB…any individual Chinese medicine cooking pot can do the trick as well, I think.

我審慎評估了一下，我反正不煎東西的，170元一個小鍋太貴了。

然後就看上了這組55元的迷你陶瓮。可以想像自己拿這個來做焦糖布丁、粵式奶油烤白菜、意大利麵……一人份的食物，單想就覺得很幸福。

但是又想到家裡那個5元人民幣在景德鎮買的砂鍋，其實都是一樣的東西，只是法國人做的比較可愛。想一想這個價差，不如下次回中國時，去找幾個可愛的煎藥罐子（若是有人看到這種東西，請幫我弄兩個）。

就在我的揮霍心和理智心爭戰不休的時候，經過了交談中的售貨員和顧客，她們正在對一個大盒子品頭論足。於是發現了這個超值組合：140美金有一個鑄鐵鍋，加4個小陶鍋，是另一個法國牌子Le Staub的。這個牌子和LC的主要不同處在於內裡是不粘鍋塗層，其實更適合我！鍋子的顔色又比LC的顔色典雅。於是試抱之後（主要障礙是不確定自己能不能扛著這箱寶貝、越過商場到車上。這時就會怨歎身邊還是有個男人好～），就當成運動，抱了回家。

Then I found this amazing deal which I simply cannot say no: $139 for a 4 qt iron casserole plus 4 mini ceramic cocottes. The color of mini cocottes is a bit too dark for serving on the table but I simply love the grenadine color of the big one. Not to mention that cute blue, white and red ribbon tied on it! La France, je t’aime!

The only debate I had with myself was where I can carry this box by myself to my car, as I parked the car at the other end of the mall. And I made it! So now I am happily living after with my cocottes.

I first heated some left over pasta after this physical exercise. The mini cocotte worked just nicely. No dry-out issue as with microwave, and much faster than traditional pan. You need to stir from time to time with a traditional pan to ensure evenly cooked. With this, I didn’t stir at all as I was busy preparing the broccolis to try the big cocotte. 

抱回家後，馬上迫不及待地用小陶盆熱了點冰箱的意大利麵吃，用大鐵鍋煮了西蘭花和意大利節瓜。

也許是心理作用，兩樣都比之前的好吃。

意大利麵不會像放微波爐加熱一樣乾乾的，也不像放一般鍋子裡一樣要一直翻動，才能上下均勻受熱。我忙著切花菜，所以整個小鍋加熱時，一次都沒翻動，就從上到下都熱了。鍋底的麵邊緣有一點點小鍋粑，可以想見拿這個來煎鍋貼會很好吃。

Then I tried to cook some broccoli and zucchini. Tested again on the 2nd day to ensure it was not just luck.

Now I am fully convinced the advantage of“evenly cooked”by an iron cast casserole. The broccolis stayed green and crunchy while all of them were cooked. I only opened the cover and stirred three times I think. And the veggies do taste more juicy with more flavors. Staub’s interior non-sticky enamel is another plus for a lazy cook like myself.

隔天中午又煮了一次西蘭花，兩次實驗確定了鑄鐵鍋真的很讃！鑄鐵鍋的特色是均勻受熱，所以雖然是蓋著蓋子“煮”西蘭花，期間只打開蓋子兩三次稍微上下翻一下，但是西蘭花每一朵都煮熟、翠綠、脆脆的。鑄鐵鍋號稱煮菜能鮮嫩多汁，也確實如此，神奇極了。而且鐵鍋保溫效果很好，再去盛菜或有家人晚點回來去吃時，菜都還是熱的。

And there is an collateral impulse purchase I made at the shop. I bought this red Josef Josef scoop earlier. Though I was a bit skeptical about all those plastic stuff, at that time I just badly needed a scoop as scalding vegetable is my primary way of cooking. And the shape of this scoop made it so easy to take out anything from the boiling water really quick – be it chopped vegetable or pasta.

So when I saw this tuner from the same line, I decided to buy it immediately. It would be great to turn the pancake, or even cut a fish fillet while frying it. Of course, the only question is I cannot remember when was the last time I made  pancake. And I am very sure I have never pan fried any fish in this life so far… and I pray that I will never do that in the future. So I am still puzzled what to do with this newly acquired turner.

Anyway, if anyone has good recipe for slow cooking, please kindly share.

這是附帶的衝動購物戰利品。紅色那隻是之前買的，因為我基本上都是白灼蔬菜為生，之前需要瀝水大勺時，買了這個Joseph Joseph的勺子，那個形狀非常順手，不管要從鍋裡撈什麽出來，都撈得又快有多。

這次在店裡看到這個煎東西的鏟子，立刻心動買下。想像它拿來翻pancake，或是煎魚時不但可以翻魚，還可以切魚（鏟邊有鋸齒紋）。不過，為什麼現在覺得是衝動購物呢？因為我這一輩子好像只有做過2次pancake，平常不吃早餐的人，哪可能去煎pancake呀！煎魚更是這輩子沒做過的事情，希望以後也不會做。阿彌陀佛！

總之，若是有人有適合砂鍋或鐵鍋的素菜食譜，請記得分享～