my favorite pots and pans
it's no secret that i love to cook. however, with a small kitchen, i had to be careful about which pots and pans we could fit in our limited storage space. here are my essentials:
- stock pot - to boil water for pasta and make soups
- 10-12" nonstick skillet - for frying eggs
- wok or other nonstick pan with high curved sides - for stir fry
- 1-2 qt sauce pan - for making ramen, boiling eggs, making pasta sauce
- dutch oven - basically a pot with high sides to make soups and stews, bonus if it's oven safe so you can transfer
- heavy pan for searing - some people use cast iron. we use anondized aluminum because rust freaks me out. my favorite pan, the the calphalon commercial hard-anondized aluminum everyday pan (currently on sale!), is what i use when i'm searing for two people. also, great for braises, especially if they need to be transferred into the oven. not bad for stir frying but it's heavy!
- lasagna pan - also good for baking or broiling meat and making large batches of brownies
- cookie sheets with inch-high sides - a lot of surface area for making cookies, pizza, french fries, baked root veggies
what's your favorite pan? (am i a dork or what?)