Winning! Introducing a new video cooking series

Posted on 2 December, 2017

Winning Recipes: a new video-based cooking series brought to you in partnership with Winning Appliances.

Chances are, when you’re looking to buy a new kitchen appliance you head straight to Fyshwick, where you might wander the aisles looking blankly at the rows of neatly-assembled options, sandwiched between the televisions and computers.

Maybe you’ll decide which one to take home based on price. Perhaps you’ll be able to track down a salesperson to talk you through the main features.  Almost certainly, you won’t have a clue what to do with it until you pore through the user manual (and maybe not even then).

But if you take a detour to Kingston, a very different experience awaits you. Here, on the corner of Jardine and Giles Streets—where Canberra’s first department store once stood—is Winning Appliances.

Spanning more than 2,600 square metres across two levels, it’s the largest appliance store in the ACT, housing more than 30 brands including Miele, Bosch, Smeg, Ilve and Fisher & Paykel, as well as exclusive brands like Sub-Zero and Wolf, Siemens, Gaggenau, Pitt and Highland.

It’s a welcoming space—the lower level more like a modern café than a store—and resident Culinary Expert Danielle Brito laughs when she tells of locals who regularly pop by for a coffee and a chat but have no need for an oven purchase.

Danielle is Winning Appliances Kingston’s in-house chef. Her job is to—simply—teach people how to cook using the appliances in the showroom. Her HQ is a light-filled kitchen banked by 16 ovens and a generous island cooktop. It’s here that she hosts visitors to the store—some taking their first steps towards buying kitchen appliances, others looking to narrow their choice, and still more who have already bought but want to get the most of out their investment.

Because that’s what it is. When you stop and think about it, there are few items (house and car excluded) that demand such a commitment—in cash and time.

Danielle in the ASKO Kitchen—one of eight working kitchens in the Winning Appliances Kingston showroom.

We’re in Danielle’s kitchen today for the first of a series of cooking videos produced in collaboration with Winning Appliances—they’ll not only show you how to whip up some delicious recipes, but they’ll give you an insight into some cooking techniques you may not have tried.

COMBI-STEAM

Today, we’re focussing on combi-steam. You may not be familiar with the terms, but basically these ovens combine steaming with the cooking abilities of a multi-function oven—meaning you can bake, combine steam/convection cooking or use the oven just as a steamer. They usually come with water tanks, which can be easily removed and refilled (no, you don’t need to re-plumb your whole kitchen if you’re renovating).

So, if you’re thinking a bamboo steamer full of veges, think bigger. Steam can actually be used to cook bread, cakes, and even crisp salmon skin—and that’s what you’ll see in today’s video as we whip up a delicious meal of Salmon with Macadamia Cream, Steamed Greens and Herbed Sauce. Get the recipe here.

WATCH THE VIDEO

ABOUT STEAM COOKING

Steam cooking is essentially nothing new (some of the earliest historical evidence dates back about 10,000 years), however, the way steam has been combined with modern technology has given rise to a new-found popularity. And that popularity is well-founded.

As we all know, steam cooking retains more of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals of your food, making it a healthy option that also ensures your food tastes (and looks) better.

While convection heat can dry out fish, chicken and vegetables if they aren’t coated in fats and oils, steam cooking helps seal in flavours and moisture. This also makes steaming an ideal method for reheating food, helping to retain the delicious quality it originally had.

When combined with convection oven capabilities, you get the best of both worlds: the means to achieve bakes and roasts that are beautifully moist on the inside while deliciously crispy and browned on the outside.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Much like conventional ovens, combi-steam ovens come at all price points. The oven Danielle used in the video is, unsurprisingly, the cream of the crop—it’s the V-Zug 60cm Electric Built-In Combi-Steam Oven CSTXSLZ60.

But you can actually get a combi-steam from a quality brand like AEG for around the same price as a conventional oven in a well-known name like SMEG. Most of them come with features such as a built-in probe to ensure perfect cooking, so they’re well worth considering if you’re in the market for a new oven.

Here are three for a variety of budgets. Winning Appliances also has some handy tips for choosing the best steam oven.

V-Zug 60cm Electric Built-In Combi-Steam Oven CSTXSLZ60 $7,999

AEG 45cm ProCombiPlus™ Combi-Steam Built-In Oven KS8454801M $3,999

Ilve 60cm Built-In Combi-Steam Oven ILCS45X $2905

FREE COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS

But the best way to see what the range of ovens can do is to attend one of Winning’s free cooking demonstrations—all the major brands in store host these sessions and they’re a great opportunity to watch an expert get the most out of the appliance. Oh, and you get FREE FOOD!

the essentials

What:                  Winning Appliances
Where:                80 Giles Street, Kingston
Open:                  9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday.
Phone:                02 6261 0000
Web:                   winningappliances.com.au

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