I recently returned from an idyllic week teaching at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Baja California. Cooking from the organic garden just outside the kitchen door, meeting new and seeing old friends, and teaching without everyday distractions puts me in a pretty blissed out state. (Join me at the ranch next year, Oct 12-19, 2013.)

Under those conditions, I learn as much as I give. This particular week, I became obsessed with size. Not produce size, although that’s important: “baby” vegetables’ flavors are often not fully developed, while very large ones can be overly mature, i.e., woody or dry. On the other hand, small fruit size often signifies very concentrated flavors while overly large fruits may be an indication of over-watering and diluted flavors. Nor was I focused on uniformity of size for even cooking, which is also key.

Zucchini Saute Pan

This time it was all about the shape and size of the pot and how that alters the end product. Right, wrong, or just different? My musings were triggered by having to use someone else’s cooking equipment instead of my own, which is the situation recipe users always find themselves in.

Zucchini Stew Pot

Back home, I experimented with “melting,” one of my favorite techniques for vegetables. The idea is to cook them low, slow, and covered to release the juices, which break the veg down into a luscious mass. The 14-inch straight-sided sauté pan and the 9 ½-inch stew pot, shown above in that order, hold the same volume. Each has three chopped and sautéed leeks to which I’ve just added two pounds of diced zucchini.

Zucchini Two Ways

I cooked both, covered over low heat, for 15 minutes. The vegetables piled deep in the pot with the smaller cooking surface (left) steamed each other, which released more juices, hastened the melting process, prevented browning, and resulted in a creamy, sweet dish that can be used as a side or as a pasta sauce. In the larger pan (right), the zucchini pieces were generally in a single layer; they browned instead of steamed, which kept the dice intact and produced a rustic, caramelized appearance and taste.

Same ingredients, same cooking technique, but two different, equally delicious dishes. All because of the size of the pot.