Features
By
kathygori
Come behind the scenes at The Colors Of Indian Cooking for a #KitchenTour and see Kathy's kitchen in LA.
(Photography by Alan Berger)
I love the fact that my kitchen is ultra functional. This is a working kitchen, it's clean and modern and it opens out to a view of my garden while I'm working at the stove.
Tell us about your kitchen?
It's pretty large, and always the center of everything. We knocked out a wall, and closed off an eat-in kitchen dining area when we remodelled after buying the house. We put in an island and we also have a dining room. We took out another part of the kitchen and just opened the wall to the dining room where we put a large square copper dining table that seats 8-10. We also have another dining table in the garden which seats 10 and a heavy stone coffee table and cushioned benches out the french doors of the dining room so sometimes the party moves outside. Our house is modern which is quote a change from our craftsman styled house in Santa Monica.
What have you done to make your kitchen cosy, functional, beautiful or inspiring?
When we remodelled we totally switched the kitchen around. The stove now looks out on the garden, we added a large island for casual dining which also has storage for a lot of equipment. We exposed beams and also added skylights so the kitchen is very light and open. We also removed the old kitchen when we tore it out and had it installed in the garage, so in effect I have two kitchens. The old kitchen had a lot of heavy golden oak cabinets top and bottom, and a huge larder that went up to the ceiling, so our crew took all of that and put it into the garage. They built me a kitchen counter that runs along one whole wall, above are the top cabinets, below are the bottom cabinets and drawers and the huge larder which i vae a ladder to get to the top of. The old fridge that came with the house was installed there along with a full chest freezer. All the other appliances, sinks, stove, faucets, fixtures, lighting we donated to Habitat for Humanity. The other side of the garage has floor to ceiling storage cabinets for equipment, photo props etc. Those cabinets came with the house and I have a lot of equipment, and clay pots, trays, etc that Paula Wolfert who is my cooking mentor passed on to me when she stopped cooking. I was also consulting and designed the gluten free menu for a local restaurant here in Sonoma for a couple of years and so I have a lot of equipment from that.
How do you keep organized while cooking?
I make work sheets for everything, prep, cooking, and I always clean up as I go
Any tips & tricks for organising your pantry, fridge and ingredients?
Ha! I am not the queen of organizing...just ask my husband. If I'm not hit on the head by at least one box or bag while getting supplies from my larder I'm not really cooking.
Do you do a lot of cooking and what are your favourite dishes to make?
I have been cooking Indian food for 30 years, however I am of Italian ancestry and so I also do a lot of pasta and other Italian dishes. I can't choose just one!
Where do you turn for new recipe ideas?
I read a lot, explore a lot of Indian food websites.
Do you plan out your recipes for the week or do you like to be spontaneous?
We grow a lot of our produce so whatever is ready for cooking figures in a lot. We took out the back lawn and fountain and had 7 big growing boxes made where we grow lots and lots of produce. We also planted 7 fruit trees since I do a lot of canning. I try to cook seasonally and always organic. I have large rose gardens front and back and I use the flowers for cooking so everything we grow is organic.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make this your dream kitchen?
I actually really feel I've found my dream kitchen...maybe a couple of more stools at the island???? I'm very content with this kitchen.
Whose kitchen would you love to explore? Send us a message!
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