le creuset! i think i've been hoodwinked!

My very nice boyfriend will hopefully not be upset with me if I let on that he's unemployed. It's only very temporary, a little sabbatical of sorts before the next exciting thing. One of the most glamorous parts of unemployment is that when you hear about something you don't know about, and if there's no immediately pressing need to look for employment, you can spend the time when you might otherwise be "working" doing "research" i.e. using wikipedia, prolifically. So as nice boyfriend contemplates his glamorous new Palo Alto kitchen (the largest room in his studio!) and all the necessary accoutrements, when I oh-so casually mentioned Le Creuset as the death of teflon everywhere, you can bet when I came home that afternoon, Mark was an expert on said cookware.

I first discovered Le Creuset when cooking at Jennifer and Casey's house ("They're very nice pans," Jennifer explained to me). Jennifer and Casey are my most grown-up friends, as they are married and have a house. AND live in Washington and cook almost only with organic products and every time I go to their house it is so SO yummy. Last time I went there I brought prosecco, and Jennifer just happened to have *homemade plum syrup* which we added to invent our very own plum belinis. Who has homemade plum syrup? Magical people, I tell you. Just as magical as the sparkles in prosecco make me feel, that's Jennifer and Casey's kitchen for you. So once I cooked so magically with Le Creuset, how could I go back?

Imagine my delight, then, when Mark mentioned to me a few days later that he'd like to take me for a spin in the Twin Cam to visit the Le Creuset outlet - part of the Chicago Premium Outlets, oh! - for a little enameled cast iron magic. "Just think," I thought, "Now I can use those pans when I visit Seattle and Palo Alto!" Much to my surprise, then, when we hop into the oh-so-air-conditionerless car on a day when our lovely city was under an extreme heat advisory and Mark casually mentions:

"I don't think I'm going to buy anything. I'm going to stick with non-enameled cast iron. I thought you might want to buy something."

But who am I kidding? I love my nice boyfriend and my nice kitchen. And I'd been looking forward to this trip all week. I was so coy about it, too - when I found the pot of my dreams, I had to do another lap around the outlet mall to pretend to "think it over" - but let's be clear, she'd already stolen my heart (I'll post a picture for you to oggle in a few days when Mark comes home - he's my photographer).

So she's green, of course. And deep - too deep for things like pancakes, of course, but just just deep enough for risotto. And she has that lovely, satisfying lid - I supsect I'll be able to make not a few sassy soups in the coming cold months. I've already done some lovely carmelized onion and mushroom quesedillas (with a splash of wine, because she's just that kind of a pan ladies and gentlemen).

Do you all know the beauty of Le Creuset, people? Because they work like non-stick, only they're not scary like Teflon. I can't remember why exactly Teflon is scary, but I'm pretty sure it's related to cancer, and I'm pretty sure it's pretty bad. Also - they're less finicky than your average cast iron pan - no need to season repeatedly, no fear of rust. And maybe you didn't know this - I didn't - but acidic flavors like tomatoes or wine can corrupt a regular cast iron pan. But not my little enameled love, oh no no no! She's like non-stick. But not scary like non-stick.

I made a risotto in her this past weekend. It was no good - although this was my own fault, and pan, I'm sorry that I let you down. I thought I could pull off a risotto-with-a-few-things-I-just-happen-to-have-on-hand and yes, yes, I've learned my lesson, thank you very much. I will never, NEVER not put cheese in risotto. EVER again. Unless it's an asian inspired risotto. Or that corn risotto Lauren made. Regardless - the FEEL of making this risotto was amazing - the sound when the wine hit the pan - so perfect! There was a good weight and resitance, too, stirring the rice as the broth began to evaporate, but before it was time to add my next ladleful. The reluctancy, I believe, of the rice to leave the pan - they love her too! I'm still getting the hang of her (she cooks on a much lower heat than I'm used to, but takes a bit longer to heat up), but this is no fickle fling my friends - she comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Stay tuned - I just found the special rice. Apparently, the nice Italians Mark recently met think arborio is *trash* and carnaroli is the true rice. We've found some, and we promise to be making some very special risotto in the coming week.