Posts filed under 'Gadgets Galore'
I read about these reusable sandwich bags in Boston Globe Magazine. Ever since our bags arrived in January, they have been in the lunchboxes daily. We have saved 140 resealable plastic baggies!
The SnackTAXI bags are totally styling and totally washable. I actually run mine through the dishwasher and let them air dry on the dish drying rack. Thirty patterns are offered in the sandwich bag size and twenty-five are offered in the snack bag size. Both grown-up and child-friendly patterns are available. The SnackTAXIs close with a simple velcro tab. What a great idea!
February 26th, 2009
The winter months are a great time to start incorporating more legumes into your diet. I think the best way to cook dried beans is with a pressure cooker. It takes under 30 minutes to cook pre-soaked beans and the results are always great.
I have a perfect small pressure cooker from Kuhn Rikon of Switzerland. If you’ve never cooked with a pressure cooker, they are not hard to use or dangerous. The Kuhn Rikon website is very helpful. You can reduce your cooking time and also retain a lot of nutrients by using a pressure cooker. Other brands of pressure cookers include Presto, Fagor and Magefesa.
Pressure Cooker Recipes:
Chuck Wagon Beef Stew with Cheddar-Smashed Potatoes, Lorna Sass
Miss Vickie’s Guide to Modern Pressure Cookery
Pressure Cooker Chili, Alton Brown
February 9th, 2009
My son gave me these adorable nesting measuring cups from Anthropologie. While not the most functional, they are pleasant to have sitting out on the counter and they make me smile.
January 9th, 2009
Here is a gadget I love, as it was invented by a woman who could not take another bad zester. She marched into her husband’s woodworking shop and "borrowed" his micro-plane wood shaver so that she could get extra fine lemon and orange zest for her baking. This zester also makes lighter than air grated Parmesan cheese. I don’t use it on ginger as it can be hard to clean afterwards. It works amazingly well for grating nutmeg. Be aware that this is not a gadget for young children. The reason the microplane zester works so well is that it is super sharp. When using it with citrus, make sure you use quick, light movements. You do not want to get he white part of the orange or lemon peel, just the colored zest.
I like to eat fish at least once a week even though I live a mile high and hundreds of miles from the ocean. Sometimes the fish here is exceptional, but there are also days when you know that it was caught well over 24 hours ago. Let your nose and your fish monger guide you.
This salsa-style sauce is great for simple grilled (or broiled) fish. I recommend it on cod, grouper, halibut, salmon, mahi mahi and swordfish, whichever fish is the absolute freshest. I call it a "dry" salsa because there is not a lot of juice in it. The texture is great. For variety, you can use orange or lime zest in addition to or instead of the lemon zest.
"Dry" Almond Salsa
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup Japanese Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh Italian Parsely, finely chopped
Zest of one lemon (Microplane Zester makes it easy!)
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon, lime or orange juice
2 Scallions, sliced thinly
Salt and Pepper to taste
Place all ingredients into a bowl and toss together. Allow to sit at room tempreature for 20 minutes while you assemble the rest of dinner and grill the fish. Place a bit of the salsa on each piece of fish and serve.
November 11th, 2008
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A few good pairs of cooking tongs are as essential in the kitchen as wooden spoons. Most commercial kitchens would not operate without tongs. Line cooks always keep their tongs close by for flipping steaks on the grill and for transferring hot food to plates. I have three pairs of 12 inch tongs and they are in constant use. A locking mechanism is not essential, but it is helpful for storage.
Oxo Good Grips 12-Inch Stainless-Steel Locking Tongs
Kuhn Rikon Stainless Steel Wire Tongs
Basic Stainless Steel Tongs
Chantal Kitchen Tongs
Rachel Ray Nylon Tools Tong Set
October 16th, 2008
While technically not a gadget, my Romertopf clay pot cooker for fish makes its way out of the cupboard when the weather starts to get cool and a dash across the yard to the grill is not quite as appealing as it was during the summer months. While it takes a little forethought, the results are always perfect: Tenderly cooked aromatic fish and vegetables, all in one pot. You can get really creative and make wonderful fish stews in a clay pot cooker, as well.
The clay pot cooker needs to soak in water for a full 20 minutes, while you get your ingredients together. The filled pot is placed into a cold oven. Turn on the oven and then it’s only about 35 mintes until your juicy concoction is ready. Tonight, I layered a 1 1/2 lb. piece of haibut, some thinly sliced carrots and celery, a few springs of fresh thyme, lemon slices, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup dry white wine. Next time, I’ll add a few canned chopped tomatoes and I suspect it will be even more delectable.
October 10th, 2008
This is another of my favorite gizmo’s: I got this apple peeling gadget from L.L. Bean many years ago when I was first married. I get so many comments from people, especially kids, who come into my kitchen to visit. While it may seem ridiculous to have something that just peels apples, it is really useful for baking and as an added bonus, children tend to eat more apples. First, they eat the "apple spaghetti" which is the actually the peel (Where all the phtyo-nutrients are!) and then they eat the "apple accordian." Here is a recipe that I adapted from Pie In The Sky by Susan Purdy. It is bursting with apples and it is so outstandingly delicious, you’ll end up making it once a month. Aspen Apple Cake will be all the justification you need to add a countertop peeler to your kitchen cache.
Aspen Apple Cake for Sea Level Dwellers, adapted from Pie In The Sky
2 1/2 cups flour, sifted
½ Cup Wheat Germ
½ tsp baking powder
½ baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups chopped baking apples (about 3 large), such as Granny Smith
1 cup dried cherries from the great state of Michigan (you can also use raisins)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 ½ cups Safflower or Canola oil
2 cups Sugar
(for a special treat try 1 cup real dark brown sugar, such as Muscovado, mixed with 1 cup white sugar)
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
3 Tbsp. whole milk or buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the dry ingredients (reserving 2 Tbsp. of flour to toss with apples and dried cherries and nuts.). With an electric mixer beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla and milk. With mixer on low add dry ingredients, scraping down to make sure it all gets incorporated. Fold in the apples/cherry/nut mixture.
Pour into a buttered and floured 9-10 inch tube pan and bake for 75 to 80 minutes. I made this one in a 9×13 pan and it baked for 55 minutes.
September 28th, 2008
I have a confession: I cannot imagine life in the kitchen without my immersion blender, also called a hand blender. Of course, I use it for making smoothies, but its primary use is pureeing soups right in the pot. There’s no fear of burning yourself while transferring hot soup to a blender. Additionally, there is no blender to clean and you know how we flavoristas love efficiency in the kitchen. Immersion blenders are also good for small batches of pesto and for making vinaigrettes. There are several models out there ranging in price from $15 to over $200. My current immersion blender is a Cuisinart which is very decent.
Recently, I was working in a remote location and had an immersion blender emergency: Mine died after 8 years of hard labor. Walmart was the only store around and I found my current model on sale for only $10.00. I am not sure how long it will last but I am hopeful because it has a 3 year limited warranty.
Flavorista Note: Immersion Blenders are a fantastic piece of equipment but we do not recommend using them to crush ice for a smoothie or frozen drink. I tried it and broke mine. Perhaps some of the heavy duty, commercial immersion blenders could take on ice and win, but most home versions are not cut out for it (pun intended).
We both like the Braun immersion blenders having used them at Odwalla and at home. The different speeds are useful and effective. Many brands offer lots of attachments which are fine if you will use them. If not, they just take up valuable kitchen space so select your immersion blender wisely. Happy purees to you!
September 14th, 2008
I have to confess that I love kitchen gadgets; I am likely to test drive any gadget that has the potential to do something better, faster, and in this case free up stove top space. My favorite new gadget is my Rival rice cooker. I have a samll one which suits us our house of 5 just fne. It makes perfect rice (brown or white) and oatmeal, especially steel cut oats (aka Irish Oatmeal).
August 19th, 2008
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