FFEMax Blog

If you think of yourself as a ‘serious cook’, you probably have the latest convection oven, would never dream of using anything but a gas cooktop, and never even use your microwave for anything other than defrosting. But even the fanciest of cooks can find some surprising uses for the microwave that will save time in the kitchen without sacrificing great taste.

• Cut long cook times in half by starting a dish in the microwave oven and then transferring it to the range or cooktop. You’ll spend less time slaving over a stove, and nobody will ever know the difference.

• Brown sugar is a great flavor enhancer, but once you open a bag, it starts to dry out and form into hard clumps, which can be a real pain. Instead of beating on the bag or breaking up the clumps by hand, microwave the package for about 15 seconds, watching that it doesn’t start to liquefy.

• Tired of steaming and boiling? Save time by using your microwave instead. In fact, there are some people who claim that the color of microwaved vegetables is better than steamed.

• If you have a fresh herb garden outside your home, you can dry the seeds and herbs for storage using the microwave. Place them on a paper towl, nuke for 1 to 2 minutes, turning halfway through.

• Freshen stale bread, biscuits or crackers by zapping for a minute and letting them rest for another minute or two before serving.

The best part of the microwave is that, with the popularity and availability of over the range microwave ovens, you don’t have to step outside the defined parameters of your cooking area to use it - just look up. Your microwave oven is a powerful kitchen tool, and not just for TV dinners and Hot Pockets.

As kitchens continue to become the new chic room in the modern home, it may be time to think about replacing your cooktop with a newer model. Thankfully, there are plenty of great features on any cooktop you choose, but the question – same as it’s ever been – remains ‘gas or electric’? While any serious foodie will tell you that a gas cooktop is the way to go, but there are still plenty of reasons to consider an electric cooktop when you design or remodel your kitchen.

• Easy To Clean – Most electric cooktops, especially the newer ceramic models, are easier to clean that clunky, grated gas models. For the cook in a hurry, cleaning up fast is just as important as boiling water quickly – maybe even moreso!

• Attractive – Because those ceramic cooktops are available in a wide range of surface colors, they can match virtually any kitchen design. Not only that, but they glossy finish is a gorgeous addition to any kitchen.

• Easy To Use – Gas burners boast huge heat outputs and ultra-precise control, but if you’re not a professional chef, you might end up burning your food without even trying. For the occasional cook, electric is a perfect set-it-and-forget-it option that doesn’t need constant micromanagement, and models with dual burners like this Amana 30” Smoothtop can provide extra heat.

• Safe – Because electric cooktops don’t use an open flame, they’re a safer alternative for households with small children.

So, despite what your food snob friends might say, there are still plenty of reasons why electric ranges and cooktops are relevant in today’s kitchens. If you want to go electric, we offer tons of electric cooktops with Free Shipping.

With spring in the air, it’s time to shake off the yoke of that oh-so-delicious/oh-so-bad-for-you comfort food that keeps us functioning during the winter months and whip up something healthy and exotic on your cooktop. With that in mind, here’s an awesome chicken vindaloo recipe to put a dash of spice in your dining room.

You’ll need:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

• 1 tablespoon coriander seed

• 1 teaspoon cumin seed

• 2 teaspoons mustard seed

• 10 dry red chili peppers

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 5 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 stick cinnamon

• 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger

• 1 tablespoon paprika

• 2 teaspoons corn syrup

• 1 cup water

• Salt (to taste)

If you don’t have access to fresh cumin, mustard, ginger or coriander, it’s okay to opt for preserved, pre-packaged substitutes – you’ll just have to use a bit less of each, depending on your preference.

1. Start off by cubing the chicken, then put it off to the side in a refrigerator-safe container. Combine the peppers with your cumin, coriander and mustard and grind them with a mortar and pestle (if you have one) or a coffee mill (that you won’t be making coffee in!).

2. Add in the turmeric, garlic and vinegar, and give the whole thing a good mix. Pour the wet mixture over the chicken cubes, then cover and refrigerate overnight. This will let the chicken marinate in the wet mixture and soak up the flavors.

3. When you’re ready to cook, grab a large pan (preferably cast-iron) and add the olive oil (for a more exotic flavor, try another type of oil, like sesame, but be sure to change your cooking temperature accordingly). Heat the oil on medium/high heat. Once the oil is hot, add in the cinnamon, onion, and ginger, leaving the pan to cook for five minutes. If you have an electric cooktop, it’s ideal for a recipe like this. You can leave the pan unattended without worrying about managing the heat or keeping an eye on an open flame.

4. Drain the chicken and toss it into the oil, cooking it until it develops a light sear. Then add in the paprika, syrup, water and salt and bring the pan’s contents to a boil. Simmer for 1 ½ hours, or until the meat is tender.

5. When finished cooking, let the dish rest for a few minutes, and then serve with jasmine rice or couscous. This recipe should serve four people, or two extremely hungry ones!

I got this recipe from a little bed and breakfast on the east coast, and did some tweaking to make it my own. Every Christmas morning, I make this for the family, and everybody raves about it. And when I’m up late entertaining out-of-town guests, I prepare this the night before, toss it into the oven when I wake up, and look like a rock star (except domesticated) when they wake up craving breakfast.

Try it out and let me know what you think:

You’ll need:

• 2 pounds bulk sausage
• 1 loaf artisan bread, sliced
• butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
• 8 eggs
• 1 quart half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons salt

First, in an iron skillet, brown the sausage and then drain it using paper towels.

Take about six slices of bread and layer them onto a buttered 9×13 baking pan, buttered side down.

Add a layer of the browned sausage, and then top with a layer of both cheeses, mixed together.

Place another layer of bread on top of the cheese, this time buttered side up.

Combine milk, eggs and salt. Add other spices to taste. Mustard seed gives this recipe a nice kick.

Add your wet ingredients to the dry ones in the baking pan. Cover the pan and refrigerate it overnight. Letting it get sufficient rest is important, so don’t just go ahead and pop it in the oven – gas or electric kitchen ranges are are fine (no need to be picky).

When you’re ready to heat it up, bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and rest for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Serve with OJ and – if you don’t have enough starch – some home fries for a truly epic breakfast.

The trend in wine is good, cheap wine – the proliferation of “Two Buck Chuck” at stores like Trader Joe’s are a sure sign that even the snobbiest of wine snobs is starting to get comfortable with the notion of a tasty varietal with a pricetag under $20 or even $10.

A good number of these wines are Californians – after all, the State of California is the fouth-largest wine producer in the world – but quality wines can be had on the cheap from virtually every state, and even the more ‘classical’ wine regions in France, Italy and Germany produce inexpensive bottles of vino.

The downside of cheap wine is that it’s not going to keep as long as more expensive varietals without preservation. One way to combat spoilage is temperature control. This isn’t a cure-all, unfortunately – prolonged cold-temperature storage makes wines flat – but it can keep a cheap wine viable for a few extra days. Even higher quality vintages are still susceptible to spoiling – unprecedented longevity is the domain of a relatively small set of wines, like Tuscan vino di tavola and Australian icon wines, so wine storage refrigerators can have a good deal of utility for a wine aficionado. As long as you keep white wines between 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit and reds slightly higher, you can get the most out of your wines without too much fear out of spoiling.

Bonus tip: If you like your wine colder than average, pop the bottle into a food storage refrigerator briefly to lower its temp before serving. The old standby bucket of ice also works.

Decades of travel and dozens of hotel stays have taught me one indelible lesson: whether it’s a spartan roadside motel or a high-class resort that ferries guests around by gondola, it’s the basic amenities that make or break a guest’s hotel experience. Usually the breaks are caused by minor tweaks that can be easily avoided:

• Cleanliness – Even the fanciest room can make me afraid to bust out an ultraviolet light in the room if it’s not well-maintained. Conversely, a small, no-frills room can be plenty homey if it’s taken care of.

• Continental Breakfast – Don’t even bother advertising a continental breakfast if you’re going to put out an anemic spread that nobody wants to look at, let alone eat. Day-old danishes, a Rube Goldberg contraption full of Corn Flakes and off-brand froot-loop-alike cereal, child-size cups of yogurt and fruit that’s been left out just an hour or two too long are not going to win a discerning traveler over, even if they are getting for free.

• Ice Machines – I can’t think of a good excuse for a decent hotel to continue to use one of those old, robot-from-Forbidden-Planet-looking ice machines. They’re noisy enough to keep guests up at night if they’re roomed close enough to the monstrosities, they’re bulky and unattractive, and they’re horrible energy hogs. And yet, I still see the antiquated obelisks jutting up in stairwells all over the country. FFEMAX’s selection of Scotsman ice machines meets the new FEMP energy efficiency guidelines and offers a sleek look without sacrificing capacity.

• Friendly Staff – I remember staying on Cape Cod and having the plumbing in my room malfunction. These things happen, and they’re often not anybody’s fault, but the manager didn’t apologize or offer to move to another room. The hotel was clean and modern and had a great location, but I’ll never stay there again. Even when tragedy doesn’t strike, a smile or helpful tip from the front desk staff can make a huge difference in the quality of a stay. Remember, a hotel’s staff is a key link between out-of-town guests and the community, and guests won’t know the best places to eat, shop or see the sights without their help.

• News access – Even on the road, travelers like to feel connected. Complimentary newspapers and magazines or a TV tuned to a national news channel in the lobby are great way to make guests comfortable and keep them in touch with what’s going on in the world.

With temperatures already inching up into the 80s and beyond, it’s time to start thinking about dragging the air conditioner out of the attic and keeping the house cool. At the same time, energy prices (and, well, prices for everything) keep going up, too. But don’t fret; there are a few easy-to-implement tips that can keep you cool while making your energy bill no sweat.

• Turn up the heat. The temptation to set your thermostat at 60 and forget it is powerful, but consider exerting a bit more of the ‘control’ part in ‘climate control’. The optimum temp for your house should be around 78 degrees – every degree below that adds another 3-4% to the total energy cost for your home.

• Consider the size of your rooms before splurging on a huge air conditioner. Any additional cooling that a large window unit might grant you is going to be wasted on a small room.

• Turn off the AC when you’re not home. Leaving your AC on during the day to save energy is a myth and will actually end up costing your more.

• Consider replacing old window units. The efficiency of today’s window units is exponentially better than the models available fifteen years ago. It may be worth upgrading to save money in the long run. LG air conditioners and other models have the Energy Star logo to let you know they’re energy-friendly.

This summer, stay cool whenever possible. Even if you don’t have an AC unit, ceiling fans and box fans can go a long way toward controlling the temperature in your home.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting.

Relax, it’s neither as racy nor as diabolical as it sounds.

I’m talking about cooking using the microwave. Being an inveterate foodie, I’ve always preferred to cook instead of nuke, and for small things like the occasional frozen pizza or pot pie, I still rely on the toaster oven to do the job. It may look as hip and cool as the rest of our stainless steel appliances, but our over the range microwave oven is strictly the province of leftovers and Hot Pockets.

Anyway, I’ve been cooking for one more and more frequently, and have just decided to make single servings and prepare them in the microwave, rather than making more leftovers that will invariably not get eaten.

What I’ve discovered is that some of my fears about microwave cooking – that the results would be soggy and flavorless – are unfounded. On the contrary, once I figured out the proper timing and a few other tricks – like tracking down a microwave-safe browning grill for meat – my results were nearly identical to a stove-cooked meal. I could even argue that I’m eating healthier, if only because boiled or steamed foods retain more nutrients when they’re microwaved.

What surprises me most is the variety of recipes I can make. A quick Google search nets a microwave-friendly recipe for everything from Chicken Parmesan to cake. I’ve actually found that I’m cooking a wider variety of dishes, and my wife isn’t angry about leftovers (because there aren’t any). So I’m considering this experiment a success.

Bombarded by clutter? No space to cook? Galley kitchens are efficient, but that’s their only redeeming feature. If you’re thinking of giving your galley a makeover, here are some easy tips to help you utilize all of your space in your tiny kitchen and make it a bit less of a pain:

• Single-Bowl Sink: Although it may seem that washing dishes would be much easier with a double bowl, a single-bowl will save you about 6 in. of counter space. So, if you could handle the dishwashing with a smaller sink, seriously think about going smaller.

• Make the most of your cabinets: Install roll-out shelves that enable you to have a few levels of cabinet space. That will alleviate the pile-up of pots and pans, leaving it hard to find things when you need them. Roll-outs come pre-installed in new cabinets, or you can install them yourself in older cabinets.

• Decorate with lighter colors. This will give the feeling of a larger space whereas darker cabinets make your small kitchen seem a lot smaller.

• Got an empty inch of space? Use it. One great piece of space that often gets overlooked is the wall. Use it up by installing an over the range microwave oven. By installing this you alleviate a large portion of your countertop that can be utilized as a cooking space, or whatever else you need room for.

So, get started on your kitchen. You’ll be surprised at how big your space really is by just making some minor changes.