Worth the Money

I once worked at a literary agency. Among the many books that had been published before I arrived was one with a title that made me cringe: Will Our Love Last? It's not the author's fault, mind you, they rarely have the final call on titles. But I have to say, this is the sort of title I wouldn't want to be caught reading in public.

But then my friends in Portland starting talking about the book—my guy friends. They got my friend Jen to read it as well. They started calling it “the bible”—as in, the relationship bible.

Eventually I had to read the book myself, just to see what all the fuss was about. I don’t remember all the details, but there is one part of it that has stayed with me.

The author talked about money, about how even couples who have loads of money argue because people often have different financial styles.

Some people want quality and are willing to pay for it. These folks will save, will give up other things, in order to purchase exactly what they want.

Other people love a bargain. They’ll buy something that is perhaps not exactly what they were looking for, because it is on sale. Sometimes they buy things they don’t need at all, if they can get them for a good price.

I seem to be a third financial style—a most annoying permutation. I like good quality items, but I don’t always like paying the prices they command. For the most part this is okay, I am not a big shopper anyway (and let’s face it, there’s very little I need in this world).

This is why, when I happened to be wandering through the Sur La Table store in Pike Place Market, and saw that the Staube Cocotte I had been eyeing—for, oh, a year or two—was on sale, I jumped. I have no doubt that it is worth the full retail price, but it was even better getting it for a bargain

[Though, really, when you think of the amount of use one gets out of a high quality pot, it justifies the price and then some. I’ve inherited some of my mother’s Le Creuset and Copco and they’re still going strong, thirty or forty years later.]

That’s how I came to be the happy owner of a chicken yellow stew pot, which has been living its life on my kitchen counter lately, because it’s too happy a thing to be kept shut up in a cupboard.



And also (ahem), not much storage space here in the Treehouse.

Seeing as my cocotte hails from France, it only seemed right that the first recipe we collaborated on was a French lentil salad. I've made this recipe before, but I must have been overcome with pleasure at my new toy because I ended up putting in the shallot, carrots, and celery raw, without sautéing them (or perhaps I was just being authentic; lentil salads in France often include raw shallots).

Either way, it’s a lovely recipe, perfect for lunch or a hearty snack. Though I do recommend you cook the vegetables. It's a bit less punget that way.



The other fun we’ve been having together lately is baking. Yes, two years later I am finally falling for a version of No-Knead Bread, the recipe heard 'round the world (though between you and me, I miss the kneading). What can I say, I come late to trends.

It was Pim who got me hooked on the bread, with her version of a sourdough-based Levain. It sounded just like the sort of thing I would love—and I have a sourdough starter (from a very kind Sourdough Wrangler, thanks Dylan!) that wasn’t getting enough opportunity to play.

I took my starter out of hibernation in the back corner of the fridge and started feeding it—I even boozed her up with some wine, which turned her a pinkish hue. And together with the happy yellow pot, we made bread.



Everyone who got into the No-Knead action a while back will remember that baking in a pot on high temperatures gives this recipe a nice crust. You can use Le Creuset pots, of course, but their lids have those black handles not made to withstand high temperatures. I even remember at the height of the No-Knead craze, stores were reporting that their Le Creuset display models were missing their knobs, as people had been stealing them to replace knobs that had melted in No-Knead baking experimentation (you can, however, replace those black knobs with a metal ones from the hardware store).

The Staubs come with metal knobs, so there is no such problem.

I have to say, I do love this bread that Pim devised. It has a nice crust and a tender but firm interior with great flavor due to a mixture of spelt and barley flours.



My favorite version is to make it with walnuts. This gives a bit of a texture and a rather purplish hue. This walnut bread, spread with a blue cheese and a slice of pear is the perfect, about-to-be-autumn treat. It's also rather blissful warm out of the oven, with butter and honey. I must say, I think I'm smitten.

My chicken yellow cocotte, I believe we’re going to be happy together for a long time.
This is definitely a love that will last.