Now You’re (Steam) Cooking

Oh, the mind of a food blogger. It’s always focused on snapping photos of delicious-looking food– and yesterday was no different!

The food at yesterday’s Thermador event was truly out of this world. I took close to 200 photos! Learning about the new Steam and Convection Oven was pretty neat, too! 😉

The group spent the majority of the day at the Thermador training center, where they teach their sales reps and distributors all about the products and a how to use them.

The Thermador folks had a full day planned for us. We learned all about the history of the brand and toured the facilities.

We also got to see a number of gorgeous kitchens.

And took plenty of photos like good little bloggers do! 😉

Now, I have lots of ideas for when I purchase a home… whenever that will be. *Sigh*

After getting a tour of the Thermador facilities, it was time to eat breakfast. Thank goodness! My stomach thought it was noon, so I was ravenous!

Breakfast was well worth the wait though. We had a huge spread of goodies: blueberry pancakes with buttermilk syrup (recipe coming tomorrow!), fresh fruit, Greek yogurt, granola, eggs, bacon, croissants, pastries, toast, juice, and coffee.

Not surprisingly, I was obsessed with the Thermador coffee machine. It freshly grinds coffee beans for each cup!

I ate everything on my plate within minutes. Delicious!

After breakfast, we learned about Thermador’s innovative technologies and tried some out first-hand.

Blog buddies! 😀

A little while later, we participated in a hands-on culinary training with a few of the Thermador chefs. We helped cook lunch!

I seriously love hanging out with bloggers– lots of snapping cameras! 😀

Bloggers love blowtorches!

How pretty are these creme brulees?! I love the star-shaped ramekins.

Dessert, of course, was amazing. Lunch was awesome too! The Thermador people definitely feed us well. Lots of good eatin’!

Check out this fabulous lunch spread! I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it.

Salmon Wellington

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry dough rolled out to 1/8 inch thick
• 2 pounds spinach, blanched and drained well
• 1 tablespoon shallot, teaspoon garlic
• ¼ quarter teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon dill chopped fine and fresh
• 1 three-pound salmon fillet

Directions:

1. Saut̩ shallots and garlic. Add spinach in pan. When spinach goes soft, drain in colander Рmake sure to completely drain spinach.

2. Roll out pastry, brush with butter. Add ½-inch thick layer of spinach to pastry. Lay fish on top, seasoned with dill.

3. Wrap it up, score top and bake on 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 8 ounces strawberries, quartered
• 4 ounces cashews
• 1 pound baby romaine or buttered lettuce, washed and chopped
• ¼ cup Yuzu dressing (lemon or lime work, too)
• 1 tablespoon honey, or agave
• 1 teaspoon Dijon
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Mix Yuzu with honey and Dijon, whisk in olive oil gradually until all gone.

2. Assemble lettuce on platter, dress with strawberries, cashews, pour dressing over salad finish with cheese. Add salt and pepper.

Orzo Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Orzo cooked al dente
• 1 large carrot, very finely diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 1 clamshell full pear tomatoes, halved
• Sunflower seeds or pine nuts, toasted
• 6 ounces golden raisins
• ¼ cup mint
• ¼ cup parsley
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 3 tablespoons white balsamic
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• A squeeze of lemon and lime
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients, except for pasta. Fold in pasta. Refrigerate for a day.

Roasted Veggies

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Freshly Baked Rolls

I helped myself to a little bit of everything. All of it was delicious, but my favorites were the Orzo Pasta Salad and Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad. Both were so fresh and flavorful. I want to recreate both of them at home sometime soon. Orzo rocks, by the way!

After loading up my plate, I went back for a roll. They looked and smelled so amazing; I couldn’t pass them up. Plus, I’m a carb whore! 😉

After lunch, it was time to learn about Thermador’s brand spanking new Steam and Convection Oven (aka the reason I was invited to Scottsdale). Even though I’m not in the market to buy new kitchen appliances anytime soon, it was still interesting to learn about this new technology. Plus, I like “play house” and envision what my dream kitchen would look like some day.

Thermador’s Steam and Convection Oven is pretty amazing, and, of course, I want one. It would be really cool to own one, but, sadly, it’s way out of my price range. 😕

Pros:

• Steam retains food’s nutrients and vitamins
• Don’t need as much oil (fat) to achieve desired results
• Food doesn’t dry out
• Reheating foods brings it back original results
• Thaw food evenly without cooking the edges (think frozen ground beef)
• Easy to use, almost effortless

Cons:

• Price! This baby costs $3,000! 😯
• Must be installed, not a freestanding appliance

I thought the “reheat” option was the coolest feature. You know when you reheat pizza (or quiche) in the microwave and the bottom ends up all gooey and gross, not crisp and delicious like when it was first cooked? Well, the Steam and Convection Oven retains the crispy bottom. It’s awesome.

If only I could afford the Steam and Convection Oven just to reheat my leftover pizza! 😉

The Steam and Convection Oven also makes amazing cinnamon buns.

I really enjoyed learning all about Thermador’s products, but now I have some serious kitchen envy! It’s going to be tough to go back to my little kitchen with its crap-tastic appliances and single square-foot of counter space. Wah! I guess I better start saving my pennies for a down payment on a house!