Jenn: It's Matt's turn to update the Jenn & Matt story, so for those of you waiting on an update... I'm truly sorry. Pester him. I am, and I all I get is that he'll write it when he's feeling "inspired." To his credit, right now he's not feeling much but very cough-y and sore throat-y. I'd write it, but I feel the next part is best told from his point of view...
If you haven't picked up on this yet by reading my other blogs (shameless plug - they're on the left hand side of the page), I really like food and cooking. Which might come as a bit of surprise if you take a look around my kitchen, as I have a complete lack of kitchen gadgets (I don't have a full size food processor or stand mixer, or even a rolling pin). I thought it might be fun to do a run down on what I consider the top 10 necessary kitchen gadgets, in no particular order:
1) Microplane grater: This incredibly sharp, easy to use, easy to store grater has only one flaw: it's a little bit hard to clean. It grates sponges, and fingers. However, a quick rinse after grating and brushing with a stiff bristled dish brush seems to do the trick. I use it with garlic a lot, but it's good with anything that needs to be minced, grated, shredded, etc.
2) Kitchen tongs: I used chopsticks until I finally caved and decided to get a pair of tongs at crate & barrel. I haven't looked back and now that Felicia got me a second pair (and so nifty!) I can double-tong things! Tongs are so much better than any other tool for gripping hot food items, and now even come with silicone covers on the ends so they can be used on pans that might be damaged by metal tools - though I plan on phasing all of those out of my kitchen soon.
3) Big stock pot! I've always had a big pot for making sauces, but nothing beats a huge stock pot that can hold entire bird carcasses after roasting a chicken or turkey so you can make a rich stock out of the leftovers. Any soup, gravy, etc. made from that base is 1000x better than whatever you might make from the canned or boullion stuff.
4) Ovenproof skillet: This was a specific requirement of the Zuni cafe roasted chicken recipe and ever since I got one I've used it for roasting all kinds of meat. You can't beat something that can sear and go straight into the oven. I'm all for using as few dishes/pans as possible when cooking. P.S. I bought one at target for probably around $20 and it's awesome.
5) Good knife set: Again, a target purchase - probably $50. What? you're saying - this isn't a gadget, all chefs need knives to cook. I consider it a gadget. My mom, an exceptional cook, probably has never had a knife set - only one chef knife, a meat cleaver, and a paring knife. I consider huge knife sets overkill, but it's nice to have a block to keep them from nicking each other.
6) Rice paddle: It's an asian thing.
7) One handed pepper grinder: It's essential when preparing anything that requires a "dirty" hand and a "clean" hand - breading meat, etc. Unfortunately, every one handed pepper grinder I've ever bought has broken, and they aren't cheap. My last one broke last week. I'm considering putting 10 on my registry since they're really the only thing I need.
8) Rice cooker: It's an asian thing - but if you ever have trouble making rice, get one!
9) Immersion blender: How does anyone live without this? You don't need a mixer, food processor, or any of that silliness. My immersion blender makes velvety soups, mixes cupcake batter, whips cream, makes dressing, and all without having to remove what's being blended from the container. Genius.
10) ??? What's your favorite kitchen gadget? What should be added to this list?
If you haven't picked up on this yet by reading my other blogs (shameless plug - they're on the left hand side of the page), I really like food and cooking. Which might come as a bit of surprise if you take a look around my kitchen, as I have a complete lack of kitchen gadgets (I don't have a full size food processor or stand mixer, or even a rolling pin). I thought it might be fun to do a run down on what I consider the top 10 necessary kitchen gadgets, in no particular order:
1) Microplane grater: This incredibly sharp, easy to use, easy to store grater has only one flaw: it's a little bit hard to clean. It grates sponges, and fingers. However, a quick rinse after grating and brushing with a stiff bristled dish brush seems to do the trick. I use it with garlic a lot, but it's good with anything that needs to be minced, grated, shredded, etc.
2) Kitchen tongs: I used chopsticks until I finally caved and decided to get a pair of tongs at crate & barrel. I haven't looked back and now that Felicia got me a second pair (and so nifty!) I can double-tong things! Tongs are so much better than any other tool for gripping hot food items, and now even come with silicone covers on the ends so they can be used on pans that might be damaged by metal tools - though I plan on phasing all of those out of my kitchen soon.
3) Big stock pot! I've always had a big pot for making sauces, but nothing beats a huge stock pot that can hold entire bird carcasses after roasting a chicken or turkey so you can make a rich stock out of the leftovers. Any soup, gravy, etc. made from that base is 1000x better than whatever you might make from the canned or boullion stuff.
4) Ovenproof skillet: This was a specific requirement of the Zuni cafe roasted chicken recipe and ever since I got one I've used it for roasting all kinds of meat. You can't beat something that can sear and go straight into the oven. I'm all for using as few dishes/pans as possible when cooking. P.S. I bought one at target for probably around $20 and it's awesome.
5) Good knife set: Again, a target purchase - probably $50. What? you're saying - this isn't a gadget, all chefs need knives to cook. I consider it a gadget. My mom, an exceptional cook, probably has never had a knife set - only one chef knife, a meat cleaver, and a paring knife. I consider huge knife sets overkill, but it's nice to have a block to keep them from nicking each other.
6) Rice paddle: It's an asian thing.
7) One handed pepper grinder: It's essential when preparing anything that requires a "dirty" hand and a "clean" hand - breading meat, etc. Unfortunately, every one handed pepper grinder I've ever bought has broken, and they aren't cheap. My last one broke last week. I'm considering putting 10 on my registry since they're really the only thing I need.
8) Rice cooker: It's an asian thing - but if you ever have trouble making rice, get one!
9) Immersion blender: How does anyone live without this? You don't need a mixer, food processor, or any of that silliness. My immersion blender makes velvety soups, mixes cupcake batter, whips cream, makes dressing, and all without having to remove what's being blended from the container. Genius.
10) ??? What's your favorite kitchen gadget? What should be added to this list?
I'm living barbarically without a microplane grater, rice paddle or cooker, AND preground black pepper. I need new roomies...
ReplyDeleteI might add a whisk to the list. I resisted for a long time, but a few too many chunky roux and batters convinced me otherwise. Also, Whirley Pops, purely for entertainment purposes.
People who steal your microplane grater should have their nails microplane grated. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteA whisk is really useful when you need a really creamy batter - like crepe batter. Sometimes, a fork just doesn't do. Good one!
Okay, it's a specific type of pot, not a gadget, but I would die without my porcelain-enameled cast iron dutch-oven type-thing. Makes the best soups and stews (being so heavy--even heat) and goes straight from the stove top to the oven, I LOVE it!! Same idea as your oven-proof skillet I guess, but in pot form. :) I REALLY need an immersion blender.. the last time I made potato/leek soup, I had to blend it in batches in my blender. UGH.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my Kitchen Aid stand mixer is the only kitchen gadget I've never NAMED. God I love that mixer!!!
ReplyDeleteerrr... EVER, not never! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is true. I can't even recall how many recipes I've made that call for a dutch oven that I don't own, so I have to improvise. It would be nice to have one. But I fail at care of cast iron, so might be a bad idea.
ReplyDelete