Cooking Clutter #3: Mitch
Boston, MA
Mitch is a 33 year old software engineer currently re-learning guitar and exploring the city while on leave with his newborn baby.
Favorite corner of the kitchen?
Our kitchen is compact and definitely cluttered, especially after the adding the bottles and baby gear. One thing that I really like about it is the window that opens to the living room. The setup works great with one person in the kitchen. You can reach everything without moving and still be part of a conversation.
Go-to source for new recipes?
I prefer free-styling in the kitchen and rarely look too closely at recipes. If I'm baking from scratch or working with an unfamiliar ingredient I'll check the first few google results for "how to" do a specific thing. This week I wanted to see how long to pressure cook salmon. Google said 4 minutes but I did 20 (because I wanted to to blast the zucchini). Along the way, I confirmed that salmon skin was good to eat.
A cooking endeavor you're proud of?
It's fun to try and take a concept to the next level when you are feeling inspired and can make time to execute. One time, as a joke during a school project where I helped make a small farm egg washing machine, I made 2 gross (2x144) deviled eggs. It took a long time but I still chuckle about it. Another time, I made the most extreme carrot cake recipe I could find for my wife's birthday (it involved pineapple). As an experimental "frosting" on top of the cream cheese frosting, I wrapped it with candied carrot strips.
Favorite grocery store?
Trader Joes! They seem to have everything I need and a lot of things I didn't know I needed. It's always sort of relaxing to be there and I like tracking their undulating themes.
A food figure you admire?
My mom is my culinary idol. She has great skill, ambition, and productivity in converting raw ingredients, recipes, themes, and constraints into happy tasty memories.
Favorite tool in your kitchen?
Lately I have been appreciating the Instant Pot pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is the shortest path to a non-trivial meal with easy clean up.
We have some very large bowls that we thought were "normal" sized cereal bowls when we saw them online. We probably would not have put them on our wedding registry if we looked beyond the aspect ratio to the scale. They have become cherished challenge items that push us to imagine new bowl-based recipes.
The most important tool in our kitchen is the AeroPress - a single-serve plunger-style coffee maker from the creator of the Aerobie frisbee. We use it so much that we have now individually replaced each of the components through overuse.
Going to a dinner party and the host asks you to bring something - what are you bringing?
Cornbread! I love cornbread and feel like it should be more widely celebrated and consumed. My mom has a delicious buttermilk cornbread recipe in our family cookbook. It is by far the most referenced page in my print of the book. It is fun to make because, even though it's messy, there is no downtime during preparation and the mixing bowl residue is an immediate reward while waiting for the bake.
Do you listen to anything while you cook?
I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks while cooking. Lately I've been listening to the Lex Fridman Podcast, Jocko Podcast, and All-in Pod. I get audiobooks through the library app and most recently listened to Thus Spake Zarathustra. If I find a new podcast or book I like my cooking output shoots way up.
You might have noticed we took last week off. This was partly due to us being on our honeymoon and therefore being very busy eating our way through Portland, ME. But, also, we need kitchens to feature! Share yours? You can fill out our Google Form or submit some photos and answers by email - whichever works. We’d be so grateful and so happy to share what you have cooking.