Monogram Kitchen Appliances

The 44th Annual Pillsbury Bake Off in Orlando is right around the corner. On April 11 – 13, 100 finalists from 36 different states and the District of Columbia will compete for the $1 million Grand Prize plus $50,000 in additional cash and prizes, including GE Profile appliances. This is the 37th Bake Off to include GE appliances, both in the contestant kitchens and as prizes.

A kitchen doesn’t have to be big to be beautiful or functional. I remember catering a Russian dinner for 18 in a kitchen that was so small we had to plate the salads on a rock wall outside the back door. Granted, this was not an ideal situation, but the kitchen itself had downsized appliances that did the work of their fullsized counterparts.

American manufacturers are finally answering the cry for smaller appliances with big features. Baby boomers are downsizing, but the generations behind them are finally beginning to appreciate the efficiency of a smaller living space. Less to maintain, less to clean, easier to lock up and go.

G.E. Consumer & Industrial, a company that spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliances, produces a line of space-saving appliances. Perhaps this contributes to their ranking 82 in Newsweek’s Top 500 Green Companies  released just last week.

Not only are the reduced dimensions space-savers, smaller sizes are more energy efficient. Among these is the Monogram series Spacemaker 18-inches-wide slim dishwasher. The 18 inches instead of a standard 24-inches-wide dishwasher saves 6 precious inches when laying out major appliances in the work triangle. GE also offers a stainless gas range at only 24-inches and a column-style 11.6 cubic feet Full Door Bottom Freezer/Refrigerator measuring 23 1/2-inches wide, or an even more narrow tower refrigerator coming in at a skinny 17-inches.

Saving space with narrow appliances may mean offering clients options they had not thought about like an extra pantry or storage closet. It’s a good strategy to apply when renovating as well. Keeping walls intact and plumbing in place, will open the door to innovation. Smaller spaces demand discipline, but the results can have big appeal.

Fine Lines associates are available to help with all job sizes.

A kitchen doesn’t have to be big to be beautiful or functional. I remember catering a Russian dinner for 18 in a kitchen that was so small we had to plate the salads on a rock wall outside the back door. Granted, this was not an ideal situation, but the kitchen itself had downsized appliances that did the work of their fullsized counterparts.

American manufacturers are finally answering the cry for smaller appliances with big features. Baby boomers are downsizing, but the generations behind them are finally beginning to appreciate the efficiency of a smaller living space. Less to maintain, less to clean, easier to lock up and go.

G.E. Consumer & Industrial, a company that spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliances, produces a line of space-saving appliances. Perhaps this contributes to their ranking 82 in Newsweek’s Top 500 Green Companies  released just last week.

Not only are the reduced dimensions space-savers, smaller sizes are more energy efficient. Among these is the Monogram series Spacemaker 18-inches-wide slim dishwasher. The 18 inches instead of a standard 24-inches-wide dishwasher saves 6 precious inches when laying out major appliances in the work triangle. GE also offers a stainless gas range at only 24-inches and a column-style 11.6 cubic feet Full Door Bottom Freezer/Refrigerator measuring 23 1/2-inches wide, or an even more narrow tower refrigerator coming in at a skinny 17-inches.

Saving space with narrow appliances may mean offering clients options they had not thought about like an extra pantry or storage closet. It’s a good strategy to apply when renovating as well. Keeping walls intact and plumbing in place, will open the door to innovation. Smaller spaces demand discipline, but the results can have big appeal.

Fine Lines associates are available to help with all job sizes.

The winner of the Electrolux Design Lab 2009 competition is Rickard Hederstierna from Lund University in Sweden for inventing Cocoon. The winner was announced at finals in London on September 24, at 100% Design London, the UK’s leading architecture and design event.

Cocoon is a sustainable response to the world’s growing population and its desire to consume meat and fish. Similar to heating popcorn in a microwave, Cocoon prepares pre-packaged meat and fish dishes by heating muscle cells identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) signals. The signals detect the specific dish and then suggest the required cooking time. This process uses science to create food, lifting a burden on the planet by reducing the need for further intensive farming and fishing.

The jury of international designers agreed, “Cocoon addresses a controversial issue that is very real: humankind’s continued desire to eat meat and fish. A great design concept polarizes opinion, and this is exactly what Cocoon achieves by exploring this issue. An inviting, tactile design, the Cocoon resembles a gemstone with a metal accent reflecting the heritage of the Swedish art-glass industry. Cocoon meets all of the brief’s criteria: it is daring, cutting edge and truly innovative in its focus on social and environmental issues.”

Mr. Hedertierna received The Electrolux Design Lab 2009 award of € 5000 and a six-month paid internship at one of Electrolux global design centers.

This is the seventh Electrolux Design Lab competition. Undergraduate and graduate industrial design students were invited to send in their home appliance ideas for the next 90 years in celebration of the Electrolux 90-year anniversary. The charge was to create thoughtfully-designed products that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes over the next nine decades. This year over 900 entries were submitted from students in more 50 countries.

The top winners of the Electrolux Design Lab 2009 Competition were:

First place: Cocoon, the fish and meat maker by Rickard Hederstierna from Lund University, Sweden

Second place: Water Catcher, the flying rain catcher and water purifier by Penghao Shan from Zhejiang Sci-tech University, China

Third place: Renew, the smart steamer by Louis Filosa from Purdue University, USA

People’s choice (as voted for online): Teleport Fridge, the refrigerator that teleports food

Do not expect the Teleport Fridge at Fine Lines in the near future. However, Fine Lines carries the current models of Electrolux appliances along with Wolf, Sub-Zero, Thermador, Jenn-Air, Broan, GE Monogram and others to build an exceptional kitchen by any standards.

For more Electrolux news, try:
Electrolux Named to Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Electrolux Design Lab 2009 Finalists
Meet Geoffrey Zokarian, Chef from Team Electrolux

If I didn’t look around the room, I’d think I was in someone’s over-the-top walk in closet. But instead of a pristine row of starched shirts stacked on the shelves, there are rows of food containers, milk, eggs and European butter. This is not a wardrobe, it’s a refrigerator.

Jenn-Air has just introduced a line of fully flush refrigerators with custom cabinet panels. The collection includes a 42-inch and and 48-inch side-by-side door refrigerators and a 36-inch bottom freezer model. Jenn-Air accomplished this design feat through hidden articulated hinges, which allow the doors to swing open beyond a 90 degree angle.

Jenn-Air has also added improvements to the interiors of these side-by-side or French door refrigerators. The fully flush line has the widest interior space of any fully flush refrigerator and features Jenn-Air’s Precision Management Temperature System for discrete areas of customized temperature for different types of food.

Each Advanced Climate Control drawer has four settings including Deli, Produce, Meat and Quick Chill. The Quick Chill setting lowers the bin temperature below liquid freezing point for a period of one hour, ideal for quickly chilling white wine, sparkling water or other beverages. Glide-out drawers with precision ball bearings make opening and closing effortless, even when fully loaded.

Other features include a gallon door storage bin, pulsed defrost, Max Cold, Sabbath Mode, over temperature and door open alarms, water filter indicator, automatic ice maker with ice bin, covered lights and dairy section with magnetic sealing gasket. An industry exclusive removable water filter features PUR filtering technology.

The price for the Jenn-Air  is comparable to similar models from Sub-Zero and GE Monogram, all of which are available at Fine Lines.

Making a great salad starts with perfectly fresh produce. Certainly it’s not always possible to purchase and prepare the same day, but thanks to sophisticated refrigerators, it is possible to keep lettuce fresh for several days.

When you return from the store, gently wash your lettuces and lay them between paper towels. Loosely roll up the towels and put the wrapped lettuce into a plastic bag. Store in the vegetable or produce drawer of your refrigerator. The drawer was designed to maintain an optimum temperature and humidity level for your greens. Drawers can usually be adjusted. Be sure it is at the appropriate setting, check your owner’s manual.

When it’s time to prepare the salad, ingredients are up to the preferences of you and your family. But a great finish will always depend on the perfect dressing. Classic vinaigrette is always a good choice, but cooks often complain about the dressing separating before its poured on the salad. Cook’s Illustrated testers reported on a secret ingredient to end this problem, which they say occurs because,

They tested three emulsifying agents: mustard, egg yolk and mayonnaise. To find out which one held the vinaigrette together the longest, try their classic vinaigrette recipe below.

Foolproof Vinaigrette
Makes about ¼ cup, enough for 8 to 10 cups lightly packed greens

1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons very finely minced shallot
½ teaspoon regular or light mayonnaise (the winner!)
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Combine vinegar, shallot, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper to taste in a small nonreactive bowl. Whisk until mixture is milky in appearance and no lumps of mayonnaise remain. Place oil in small measuring cup so that it is easy to pour. Whisking constantly, very slowly drizzle oil into vinegar mixture. If pools of oil are gathering on surface as you whisk, stop addition of oil and whisk mixture well to combine, then resume whisking in oil in a slow stream.

Fine Lines carries many lines of sophisticated refrigeration solutions including Thermador, Sub-Zero and GE Monogram. Visit a Fine Lines to learn more.

"It's one thing to see an appliance in a catalog and imagine how it might look or perform in a kitchen, but it's quite another to experience it," said Valinda Wagner, center manager, "We created the Monogram Experience Center to give people the opportunity to interact with our products in an engaging and memorable way."

Among the highlights is a professional culinary studio, where guests have a unique opportunity to prepare meals with a gourmet chef. Guests can also find something delicious to savor in the wine-tasting room, a facility that elevates the art of wine to state of the art.

A showcase gallery with full multimedia capabilities provides further insights into the design and performance potential of Monogram appliances.

After a full day of hands-on experience and experimentation, guests can retreat to rooms at 21C, which was named a 2006 Hotel of the Year by The New York Times. This downtown Louisville 90-room hotel is dedicated to 9world class luxuries, Southern-style hospitality and contemporary art from living artists. The hotel features a 9,000 square foot contemporary art museum funded and managed by the International Contemporary Art Foundation. A perfect partner to the Monogram Experience Center.

The full line of GE Monogram appliances are located at Fine Lines showrooms.

Though aspiring chef Julie Powell struggles within the confines of a tiny apartment galley kitchen, Julia's kitchens are far more spacious and well equipped. Fine Lines stores offer  walk-in kitchen galleries designed for serious home cooks who appreciate exceptional equipment within beautiful surroundings. Sub-Zero, GE Monogram, Thermador and Wolf are all represented in the Fine Lines gallery. We're sure both Julia and Julie would approve.

In anticipation of Julie & Julia, Fine Lines is pleased to offer a quintessential recipe from Julia Child's classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, or as Julie says, "MTAFC":

Pipérade
[Open-faced Omelette Garnished with Onions, Peppers, Tomatoes, and Ham]

This is a Basque specialty, and quick to make if the pipérade mixture has been prepared in advance. As the omelette is not folded, and is served in its cooking vessel, it is not a disaster if it sticks a little on the bottom. You may therefore cook the eggs in a low, glazed pottery dish, or a fancy skillet.
For 4 to 6 servings

8 to 12 strips of ham 1/4 inch thick and about 2 by 3 inches across
2 Tb olive oil or butter
An 8- to 9-inch enameled skillet

Brown the ham slices lightly on both sides in hot oil or butter. Set them aside, and reheat just before using them at the end of the recipe.

1/2 cup thinly sliced yellow onions
1/2 cup thinly sliced green or red bell peppers
Salt and pepper to taste

In the same oil or butter in which you browned the ham, cook the onions and peppers slowly, covering the skillet, until they are tender but not browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

1/2 clove mashed garlic
Speck of cayenne pepper
2 or 3 firm, ripe, red tomatoes peeled, seeded, juiced and sliced, page 505
Salt and pepper

Stir in the garlic and pepper. Lay the tomatoes over the onions and sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Uncover, raise heat, and a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally until the juice from the tomatoes has almost entirely evaporated. Season to taste, and reheat just before using. (*) Recipe may be prepared ahead to this point.

1 1/2 Tb olive oil or butter
An 11- to 12-inch serving skillet or shallow, fireproof serving dish
8 to 10 eggs beaten lightly with 1/4 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper
A large table fork
2 to 3 Tb minced parsley or mixed fresh green herbs

Heat the oil or butter in the skillet or dish. When very hot, pour in the eggs. Stir rapidly with a fork until the eggs have just set into a creamy mass. Remove from heat and spread over them the hot pipérade, mixing a bit of it delicately into the eggs. Lay the warm ham strips over the pipérade. Sprinkle with the herbs and serve immediately.

Bon appetit!

Fine Lines is a division of hhgregg Appliances, Inc. that offers premium brands from renowned appliance manufacturers including:

• Best by Broan
• Broan
• Electrolux ICON
• GE Monogram
• GE Profile
• Jenn-Air
• KitchenAid Architect
• Thermador
• Thermador Freedom
• Sub-Zero
• Wolf
• U-Line
• Gaggenau
• Jade
• Viking
• Zephyr

Note: Brands vary by location.

You’ll never compromise at hhgregg Fine Lines. Not only do we sell the best and newest kitchen appliances, each of our five locataions provide over 18,000 square feet of showroom space and vigniettes where you can get ideas for your own modern kitchen design.

Plan for any room in your new or existing living space with the help of our expert sales professionals.  They can also help you outfit your home with the latest electronic products such as plasma HDTV, home theater audio, under-cabinet LCDs and more.

Have questions? Visit your nearest hhgregg Fine Lines location or have a peek at some of our vigniettes, recipes even, at hhgreggfinelines.com.