I’ve already gone into detail as to why I hate my new stove. So, between being sick and just hating how this stove ruins perfectly good food, I’ve not cooked much lately. I swear, I’d rather undergo extensive body acne treatment than have to worry about breaking one of The Sacred Glass Top Stove Rules, and being forced to pay out a ton of money to fix a piece of garbage that I don’t even own (because if it breaks, I WILL be blamed for it!).
But WAIT A MINUTE! I’m not a kitchen appliance junkie for nothing! I have all manner of cooking appliances, I really don’t have to use this piece of crap stove much, if I don’t want to!
So I cooked a chicken in my Rival Crock-Pot BBQ Pit (pictured here). This is kind of a cross between a traditional slow cooker and an outdoor BBQ, it looks cook, and gives you the same slow-cooked goodness that you’d get from an outdoor BBQ, except for the smoke. I hadn’t used this thing in a while, and I’d forgotten how good it is. The machine comes with a stoneware insert with a well at the bottom, which is good for adding some sort of flavorful liquid with which to infuse whatever it is that I’m cooking. Since I was doing a chicken with lemon, thyme and garlic, I chose to add a bottle of Sam Adams Coastal Wheat. Since it’s brewed with lemon peel in it, I thought it would add good flavor and go well with the chicken, and I was right.
One thing good about the flat-top stove is that it makes a good countertop space for my NuWave Oven. I use that more than I use the stupid burners these days. The NuWave is really good for cooking a lot of things, including asparagus. I had gotten some really nice asparagus at Stop & Shop, and the NuWave is my favorite way to cook it. The booklet that comes with the appliance suggests tossing the asparagus in olive oil, and then sprinkling it with lemon pepper. Place it on the 4-inch rack in the NuWave, and cook on HIGH for 5-7 minutes for nicely roasted asparagus. If you don’t have a NuWave Oven (and why not, despite the fact that it’s an infomercial item, it really is a good product and does what it advertises that it does)…you can just roast the asparagus in a regular oven. It’ll probably take a little longer, but watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn, and you’ll be okay.
The only thing I had to use the crappy stovetop for was the rice. But rice and pasta are two things that are hard to screw up, even on this piece of crap stove.
So now I am rediscovering all of these cool cooking appliances I’ve bought over the years, and may not have used much. Any time I can avoid using the stove reduces the chance that it will break and end up costing me a fortune!
