Category Archives: Favorite Tools

September 22, 2012 · 9:36 am

Favorite Tool #7 My Wooden Stirring Stick

It’s curves are perfect. It is narrow enough at the tip to fit into the edges of pots and the handle flairs out to just-the-right size for my hand to grasp. This stirring stick has been in my kitchen tool pot forever. If I ever pare down my all the items in my kitchen (which, if I’m being honest, will probably never happen) this tool would always stay. I can’t remember where I picked it up or if someone gave it to me. Perhaps I’ve had it since the cradle or since I first started collecting kitchen gadgets.

"Favorite wooden spoon"

Wooden spoons and stirrers can be so personal. If you want to see some amazing ones click here, they’re pricey but delicious. I look forward to seeing Herriott Grace’s new inventory every few months just so I can drool. You can often find a nice selection of wooden spoons at your local craft fair. My suggestion is to pick up one that catches your eye. See how it feels in your hand. Close your eyes and stir it in an imaginary pot. Is it a keeper or should you try others? You’ll know when you’ve found the one.

I would love to know what your favorite wooden spoon or stirring stick is. Send me an email 50recipes@gmail.com* with a picture attached and I’ll feature them all in a future post.

*Wordpress is trying to protect me from spammers by not making my email clickable. You’ll need to copy and paste it into your mail program if I’m not in your address book.

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August 3, 2012 · 9:51 am

Paper Love

"parchment paper"

One “tool” I can’t live without is parchment paper. They should advertise it as having a 101 uses because it really does. A piece under pies (and don’t forget today is Pie Day) makes cleaning up the juicy overflow a breeze. Parchment allows cookies to slide off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack with one gentle tug. You can wrap fish and vegetables up en papillote and cook your dinner in a “bag”. Trimmed to a circle I often put a round of parchment under most of the cakes I bake, ensuring there are no chunks of cooked cake stuck to the bottom of the pan. Some cooks even use it in place of pastry bags for drizzling on chocolate or piping. I like that it cools down almost instantly, unlike my silpat mats which seem to retain heat and are hard to slide off a baking sheet while hot.

"Parchment paper beneath pie"

Most grocery stores around me sell rolls of parchment. If you do a lot of baking you can buy it in precut sizes that fit a half sheet baking pan or a round cake pan which is what many restaurants do. Parchment traditionally comes in white, although now there are several companies that make an unbleached version. So give your kitchen some lovin’ and buy a roll of parchment today. Then let me know how you use it as a cooking “tool” in your kitchen.

"parchment paper beneath biscotti"

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July 17, 2012 · 11:44 pm

Burn Baby Burn (favorite tool #6)

I’ve been listening to Erasure’s version of Cole Porter’s Too Darn Hot from the Red, Hot and Blue tribute/benefit CD.

“I’d like to sup with my baby tonight,

Refill the cup with my baby tonight

but I ain’t up to my baby tonight

’cause it’s too darn hot.

It’s too darn hot

It’s too darn hot.”

And that pretty much sums it up around here as of late. It is just too darn hot.

"cooling off in the kiddie pool"

At least our feet our cool….

To combat the heat Shawn has pulled out the kiddie pool so we can cool off our tootsies. I’m making pitchers and pitchers of ice tea, and most nights we’re firing up the grill to keep from overheating the kitchen. Pizza, grilled chicken and tofu marinated in Teriyaki glaze, and an amazing grill-roasted lamb with tapanade which I read about on Elissa Altman’s blog.

To help with all the grilling there is one essential tool needed for a charcoal grill – a chimney fire starter. All that is required to get it going are three sheets of newspaper, a bunch of briquettes, and a match. It could not be simpler. Wad up the newspaper and shove them in the bottom part, flip it right side up and pour in the briquettes, then light a match. No starter fluid, no watching and waiting to see if your fire will catch. It works every time. If you want a very thorough and thoughtful way of getting that baby smoking hot read here or watch this video. Otherwise take a gander at these instructional images:

"paper first"

Shove some paper in the bottom

"charcoal in the top"

Next flip starter over and fill top with briquettes

"lite it up"

Add match and you’re almost there…

"grilling time"

Time to grill – lamb anyone?

Thanks to our friends Lisa and Lee for grilling  and posing for these instructional pictures. They thought they’d been invited to Tuesday dinner not to come and work for their supper!.

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March 20, 2012 · 10:11 am

Snip, Snip (Favorite Tool #5)

I remember the first time I used a pair it was a revelation. You may ask how scissors can open your eyes, but you only ask because you have not cut things up with a pair of Joyce Chen scissors. They were recommended by all my food styling teachers and mentors, each of whom had multiple pairs in their kits. Twenty-five years ago $20 seemed like a lot to pay for a small pair of scissor, but I quickly learned these scissors more than pay you back for that investment. They can clip herbs from the garden as well as cut apart a chicken. They’re handy when I need to snip the end off a disposable pastry bag or trim a leek so it is ready for its closeup at a photo shoot. In my opinion there really is no need to have another pair of scissors in your home kitchen (though I do have additional scissors in my food styling kit the ones I reach for most often are my Joyce Chen’s).

"joyce chen scissors"

They come in different colors, but since the tools in my food styling tool kit are marked with red I bought the original red handled ones. When my children were younger I found these brightly colored scissors had the extra bonus of being easy to find when “by accident, Mom” they were sometimes left behind in the herb garden and I needed to retrieve them by flashlight. These days we keep two pairs in our kitchen drawer ready for whatever may need a snipping.

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February 4, 2012 · 8:45 pm

Cool Corks

I’ve been told I have asbestos fingers. Years of cooking will do that to you, however, I still can get burned. With a little pre-planning (which involves drinking a few bottle of wine) lid burns can be avoided.

"cork pot holder"

Corks for coolness

One of Shawn’s friends showed me his trick for not singeing your hand on a pot lid if you didn’t have a pot holder handy–just jam a few leftover wine corks under the handle. Brilliant.

"no burned fingers"

Easy lifting

Since I don’t pop this cover in the dishwasher I never bother taking the corks out. In my opinion it’s worth a Merlot or two…

Update 2/10/12: I just got back from a photo shoot and was regretting that I didn’t have any spare corks with me to add to our pot lids. So when I got home I went to add them and found it was nearly impossible to jam the corks under the handle of the lid due to it’s curved surface. Finally Shawn managed to wedge a few in there but thought I’d point out how much variation there can be in lid handles.

"domed lid with cork coolers"

Domed lid with a few corks jammed in

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