pots & vans

Boring and really important. One of the critical decisions to make when setting up your little kitchen is which pots to include. Over many years, we find this set serves us really well. Surprisingly, I have never 'wished' for another style pot, these have done the trick for the two of us. I'll divide the pots into two sections, everyday and specialist (occasional use). One of the considerations is the small stove top. Large pans or standard woks for example, are too big to position so the heat is under the centre. And, you will need to be able to put dishes beside each other, so anything too big will limit the number of pots in use at anyone time. So what do we use?: Three everyday pots 1. 24cm wide, deep heavy base fry pan (with lid). We use this for frying (obviously) but also for risottos, pasta sauces etc.  2. 20cm saucepan, also with a heavy enough base to be able to fry off onions etc if needed. (with lid) 3. 22cm cast iron enamel pot for soups, slow cooking etc. Can ...

Maria doesn't drink hot drinks very often, so the coffee and tea caper in our van is usually a 1 person affair; hence the small plunger and tea pot. Coffee taken on our first ever caravan excursion from a few years ago from the deck at Clark's Beach This morning overlooking Simpson's Creek   Coffee tastes better when you grind it yourself. I've had this coffee grinder since we had our first caravan, when my habit was to get up early and do some work before others started the day. Maria and Johanna joke that whenever I grind my coffee (most mornings in the caravan unless we buy one from a cafe) it reminds them of those early years laying in bed trying to sleep while I sat outside and ground away. Some friends and I visited Marvel Street Coffee for some tasting mornings and Nico kindly gave me one of his cups, just the right size for my morning brew. Tea I've recently become a convert to rooibos tea, a red tea from South Africa that has the qualities of green tea but...

Until I got one of these, my attempts at paella with good socarrat were always foiled. I couldn't get our gas stove to go low enough to stop it burning rice in the thin paella dish. I could give up on the authentic paella pan, or keep trying. We could have got the gas flow adjusted to the stove, but that would have created other problems.  I went into Chef's Essential in Geelong looking for something I could use to lift the pot above the flame, a wok frame or something. When I explained what I was trying to do, the helpful women said, "I think you need one of these!". As well as the one we have in the van, we now have three at home for when we are doing paella for a crowd, and Maria uses them regularly for reheating etc. We even stack a couple on top of each other if we want an even slower burn.

Perhaps the equipment post of all ... toaster, kettle and blender. The blender joined the set when the weather cooled and we needed to puree soups, but as well as that, it comes in handy for other functions such as whipping the potatoes for this dish. Our kitchen as a nice little kink in the bench which facilitates a space behind the sink where we can leave our toaster and kettle permanently out.

There are few things that frustrate me more in cooking than blunt knives. You don't need many but this set of four work really well for us. I have threatened to buy a peeler, but at this stage have held off and just used the small kitchen knife. The star of the show is my Wüsthof, 20cm chefs knife. Beautiful piece of equipment that I use every day. We started off with this and the small kitchen knife from another set, and quickly added the bread knife because I love cutting my own bread. Buying sourdough from farmers markets or bakeries is our much preferred option. We picked up the small cerated one by accident ... in fact I am still not sure where it came from, but it is really useful when a cerated edge is better. It's a keeper. Space is a premium so the knives get put into the drawers alongside other utensils. To protect them, we've got a set of Baccarat knife sleeves. And to complete the kit, a couple of diamond sharpeners which I picked up from Bunnings after searchin...

What do you include in your little kitchen tool cupboard? Here's what I have chosen. 'Will likely add to it along the way, but every new item will be carefully selected so as not to clutter the space. Each item must add value, and even better if it can do more than one thing! This is kinda boring, but I geek out on this stuff. I'd love to know what you find necessary in a little kitchen. What are you hacks? What is that implement you just can't do without?   Chopping boards There have been times when we've had other heavier boards, purchased from markets or the one I made when I was in grade 7. But we find this set of three lighter weight cheap board are really versatile and work well for us. Mixing bowls There is another one not pictured that we use as a fruit bowl. These get used everyday for chopped dinner ingredients, nuts and nibblies, or even small dessert bowls. Great purchase. Grater Not sure how you'd do without one; outs gets used most often for parmes...