What's the most important kitchen tool?

The thermometer?

It makes sense. Check out this article from the Orange County Register. The premise is that thermometers are essential because they tell you when food is cooked. With that information, you avoid foodborne illness.

Of course, the highest tech thermometer in the world won’t save you if you don’t follow proper cleaning steps. Avoid cross contamination, work only on clean surfaces and always wash your hands.

I don’t eat meat, so I don’t worry about getting sick from undercooked food. But I use a thermometer all the time. I use it to keep fry oil at an even temperature, which allows me to make crispy French fries or fried “chicken” (seitan or tofu) without starting a fire. I stick it in baked goods to see if they’re done rather than guess with the old see-if-the-fork-comes-out-clean trick.

I actually wish I had an oven thermometer because the oven in my apartment is ancient. There’s a strange array of knobs on the backsplash, but I have no idea what they do – or if they even work – because they’re caked over with years of gross, gross grease splatter. Apparently, none of the previous residents of the apartment ever heard of a splatter screen.

Getting to Know Our ChefTools Foodies: Alison

I'd like to introduce you to Miss Alison.

Alison joined the ChefTools team almost 5 years ago and knows our company inside and out. She is originally from Maryland which is kinda funny because we have quite a few transplanted East Coasters who call ChefTools home. It makes for a fantastic variety of opinions, ideas and creativity - and we like it that way!

Although Alison loves food, she is not a cook herself. In fact, if she had it her way she’d eat out every night at a new restaurant until she’s “tasted everything under the sun”. One thing she cannot live without is crab cakes – but since she moved from Maryland, Alison has not found one that can compare to the cakes from back home. (Any local suggestions out there, Seattle?)

But to show that even non-culinary artists have their favorite kitchen tools and gadgets, Alison provided us with a list of her favorites. Either she has reviewed these items for our own site, bought them for friends and family, or just thinks they are pretty darn cute. This list just goes to show that even the non-cooks out there can benefit from great tools in the kitchen.

So… let’s get you cooking!

Alison’s Top 10 List

Goodbye Detergent! Original Spaghetti Scrub

Le Creuset Whistling Tea Kettle, 1.7 qt, Flame Orange

RSVP Just Ducky Floating Tea Infuser

RSVP Z-Gadgets Pizza Cutter

Plink Garbage Disposal Cleaner, Orange

Tovolo King Silicone Ice Cube Tray, Green

Tenuta Castello Rosemary Breadsticks, 6-1/3 oz Box

Vic Firth Mario Batali 7" Salt Mill, Orange

Vic Firth Mario Batali 7" Pepper Mill, Pesto Green

And of course, Miss Royal Kitty herself
Lucks Edible Image - Royal Kitten

No More Dirty Dishes!

If there's one thing I really can't stand it's coming home to a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I'm sure that sentiment is shared with many. It just makes me not want to cook - and that's a big deal because I LOVE to cook! I believe in the old adage: one person cooks, the other person cleans. However, it would help if both people in the relationship felt the same way.

In my household, I cook and I clean. Again, I absolutely love to cook so that’s not a problem for me. However, the last thing I want to do after creating and eating an elaborate meal is doing the dishes afterwards. So to make my life easier, I’m always on the hunt for good cleaning tools & all-natural cleaning products.

Thankfully, I started working at ChefTools and voila! I entered the world of gadgets galore and found some products I will never be without. Since today is National “No More Dirty Dishes Day” I figured I’d share with you my favorite cleaning products. And if you loathe cleaning dishes as much as I do, you will appreciate these recommendations, for they have made my life MUCH simpler!

Last night I made sure the dishes were done so I could come home tonight to a clean kitchen – ready for me to create my next culinary delight! (Well, at least I hope it’s delightful! HA!)

Happy No More Dirty Dishes Day!

(Above photo copyright "Fotosearch", source: DigginBeingDozier's) http://digginbeingdoziers.blogspot.com/2010/10/dont-ever-grow-up.html

Houseworks Rub Away Bar

We've all seen these stainless steel bars and wondered "do they really work?" Well, I'm here to tell you they do! I can't stand going to bed and smelling garlic on my hands and since I start with garlic in practically every dish I cook, this little bar has made my hands much less smelly. Yay!

Goodbye Detergent Spaghetti Scrubber

Being a Calphalon and Le Creuset addict, I needed something to scrub, but not scratch, my gooey messes out of my nice pans. Our fearless leader - Walter - introduced me to these beauties and I'm now just as addicted to these Spaghetti Scrubs as I am my cookware. They have saved my nice pans and made clean-up a cinch - without any detergent! Trust me, once you try it, you'll never be without one in your kitchen.

Full Circle Crystal Clear Glass Brush

Can't fit your hand inside your wine glasses? Either can I. So this little Glass Brush makes it easy and it won't scratch your nice crystal glasses! Love it!

MU Kitchen Dishcloth with Scrubber

And last, but not least, this little baby is awesome for scrubbing my circa-1976, faux-butcherblock countertops. It's made of microfiber which is awesome for amazing absorption and it has a little scrubby pad built into it for getting up the sticky, dried-on sauces that get splashed all over. And they come in cute colors that match my kitchen, which makes me happy.

Happy cleaning everyone!

Copper River salmon arrive in Seattle

The first shipment of Alaska Copper River salmon arrived early this morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport here (just a couple of miles from the ChefTools HQ). I’m not a fish eater, so I don’t share in the fuss, but a lot of people are apparently really excited for these fat, oily sea dwellers. From the Seattle Times, via the Associated Press:

“Some Seattle chefs went to Sea-Tac Airport early Tuesday to greet the Alaska Airlines flight carrying the season's first shipment of the highly prized Copper River salmon from Alaska.

Cooking stations were set up next to a cargo facility for a cook-off by three chefs.

Alaska Airlines says there will be at least five more flights Tuesday from Cordova to Anchorage to Seattle and across the United States.

Last year Alaska flew nearly 700,000 pounds of Copper River salmon.”

The Times’ account is a little thin. So I did some research to find out why Copper River salmon are so prized. According to FishEx (a play on FedEx, I believe), a fish exporting company in Anchorage, Copper River salmon are special because of the extra-tough journey they make to spawn (a journey that is, um, interrupted by fishermen, and probably later by bears). The Copper River, which runs 300 miles from the Gulf of Alaska up to toward the Yukon, is extremely turbulent, so the fish have to be strong, thus the extra fat and oils they store. And fat and oils equal taste. Three kinds of salmon run this river: King, Sockeye and Silver. Fishermen wait at the Copper River delta to catch them. From FishEx:

"Hundreds of fishermen try their luck, flooding the local Alaskan fishing town of Cordova in a "salmon rush" frenzy. The 500 some gill-netters fish the 35-mile wide Copper River Delta(mouth) where depth and sandbars change yearly. The rushing waters of the Copper River empty steeply from the mountains above while breakers pound in from the ocean. Unpredictable weather and extreme tides make fishing the "Flats" of the Copper River a dangerous endeavor. However, the prized catch has come to be world-renowned."

Now you know where your Copper River salmon come from. Anyone have a suggestion, or a good recipe, on how to cook these guys? Grill, oven … raw?

Excellent Italian ... Food

Do you like interesting food blogs? Do you like hardcore punk music and/or steely, sardonic post-hardcore? How about world-renowned recording engineers?

Even if you like only one of the above, you might want to check out Mario Batali Voice. It’s a food blog by Steve Albini, who started such bands as Big Black and Shellac; he’s also a renowned and revolutionary recording engineer (perhaps most famously, he recorded Nirvana's "In Utero"). He’s also, apparently, an excellent cook.

His entries are detailed, thoughtful and easily replicable. I also like the bits of personality he throws in, like how he discovered a kind of pasta called trottoli at his local Jewel (for those who are not familiar with Chicagoland grocery stores, it’s your usual big 26-lane supermarket; Stop and Shop or Pathmark for East Coasters, Safeway, Ralph’s and QFC for West Coasters). And he prepared it simply (letting pasta cook for a few minutes in sauce, by the way, is essential):

"I boiled the pasta and made a sauce by sweating finely chopped celery, onion and garlic in butter, then adding some white wine and the packing liquid (tomato juice) from a can of San Marzano tomatoes. I reduced it all down to a fairly dense paste, then added the pasta and a little of the pasta water. Cooking the pasta in the sauce for the last couple of minutes, tossing frequently, I was able to get the sauce to fill the crevices of the noodle just as I had hoped."

So, read Albini’s blog, try his stuff out at home, and put on a copy of “Excellent Italian Greyhound” to put a little pep in your step as you chop onions or sear meat.

The spears of spring are here!

Winter is over, asparagus is here. I spied my first display of the spring-green spears at my local Safeway last Sunday. Instinctively, like pressing the brake at a stoplight, I put the bundle of asparagus in my cart. Later that night, I ate them fresh from the oven, crunchy and dripping with olive oil, sea salt and garlic.

It was only a couple of years ago that I learned to love asparagus. I had steered clear of it for years, remembering how my parents used to overcook it, serving it up mushy, stringy and smelling unappetizingly pungent. My friend brought a bunch to a barbeque a couple of years ago and threw the spears on the grill wrapped in tinfoil, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. She’s from northern Michigan, where asparagus grows abundantly, and was well-versed in preparing the vegetable. So trying her version was a revelation.

I have since made sure, like tomatoes, potatoes, onions and carrots, to make asparagus part of my produce-buying routine. Asparagus is such a meaty, satisfying vegetable, like mushrooms or fingerlings. I still think grilling is the best way to prepare asparagus – a method I do not have access to in my current living situation. Head over to Bon Appétit magazine, though, for a great reflection on the vegetable, and some tips (har, har) on preparing it.

Introducing: paper bakeware

Like a cupcake wrapper, but bigger.

That’s the best way to describe the line of paper bakeware by Welcome Home Brands that we just added to ChefTools.com.

My biggest concern as an occasional home baker is pan-to-baked good physics. Will this cake stick or come out clean? How do I cut these brownies with this metal pan in the way? Can I alter the particle composition of my spatula so it can pass through the wall of the pan and get horizontal underneath my treats (just like this X-Men character I’m thinking about)?

Of course, when baking cupcakes, you don’t have to worry about any of this. You just pour the batter into the wrapper, bake and remove the cupcakes when they’re ready to eat. And, peeling that wrapper back is kind of fun.

So, imagine if you could apply the same method to cake, brownies, crispy treats, or whatever other sugary baked good you create. Plus, the bakeware looks nice, so you can feel good about plopping it down in the middle of the table after Thanksgiving dinner, rather than your 20-year-old dented aluminum pan.

Oh, and I almost forgot: you don’t have to clean anything. I think we all know that sugar + flour + water + 2 hours left sitting on the counter = cake concrete.

So, check this stuff out. These are not a substitute for metal or silicone bakeware pieces – especially if you’re a voracious baker - but if you only bake occasionally and for special occasions (if you’re like me, it’s about 6 times per year), you might want to try paper bakeware.

Spaghetti scrubber test

How ironic: last night I used the Goodbye Detergent! spaghetti scrubber to clean out a pot I had used to make pasta. I mix pasta and sauce in the same pot, so it was quite soiled. Since I had been lazy about the dishwashing, the marinara sauce was a little dry, and some bits of pasta were still stuck to the bottom.

I was lucky to have the spaghetti scrubber (it’s another one of those products that we get to test; I was given it to take home last Thursday), since the only other implement I had was a plain old sponge. If you’re looking at the picture of the scrubber and wondering how it works – as I did when I first saw a picture – it’s basically a tangle of cotton and polyester strands embedded with corn cob smithereens. It’s a gentle abrasive.

I can report that the scrubber cleaned the pot well. It took one pass to clear off the sauce (keep in mind, this was a huge pot with deep sides, and I had succeeded in coating basically the entire thing with sauce), though I had to work at the pasta stuck to the bottom. I like the scrubber because it does not gross me out like steel wool, and it’s easier to maneuver than a brush. It also does not need soap to work, so it could be useful for non-stick surfaces and cast iron.

I still felt weird cleaning up pasta with “pasta.” I guess it’s not as weird as cleaning up after Thanksgiving with a turkey-shaped sponge, or cleaning the grill with a cow-shaped brush.

For a tasty Derby Day ...

The Kentucky Derby is an excellent, and strange, sporting event. It’s the exact opposite of other sporting events. We expect the athletes (the human ones) to be small and light and to avoid making contact with the others. It is only two minutes long, which leaves no room for boredom, as with baseball, soccer or hockey. And, it gives beer drinkers an excuse to imbibe a cocktail with a French-sounding name infused with pretty little herbs. Also: gambling.

The day of the Kentucky Derby is also an excellent day for eating. The Super Bowl may have nachos, pizza and all, but the Derby allows for richer, more refined binging. Yes sir, I will have another handful of buttered pecans sprinkled with cayenne pepper and brown sugar with my bourbon.

If you have not already planned a celebration for Saturday’s Derby, you should consider it. Listed below are some ideas for drinks and eats. I named each after a fictional racehorse.

NASCAR Dad

Start your day off right with sugar, butter, bourbon and espresso. It’s a bourbon ball and a couple of shots of espresso. I had never heard of a bourbon ball until this story on NPR. A bourbon ball is a chocolate confection with a butter cream center infused with the liquor. And the alcohol from the bourbon is not cooked off, though the confectioner on the radio said it’s not enough to impair you. Combine that with some espresso and you’re OK to operate heavy machinery.

Indiana Pants

This is rolled oysters – a Louisville delicacy – and fried lemons. This one is easy because you can batter and deep-fry both at the same time. Bathe your oysters in an egg, milk and cornmeal batter, then roll them in crackers (I’d use buttery Ritz), then fry. For the lemons: slice them thin, then dunk in that same batter; instead of crackers, coat them in a mixture of Panko, cayenne, black pepper and salt. Serve it all with aioli or mayonnaise mixed with adobo sauce and minced chipotle peppers.

Yes And No

You have to eat pecans. There are many recipes for improving on an already perfect snack – especially this one.

Lazy Diplomat

Salted watermelon and whiskey. You really don’t need to salt the watermelon, but I once knew a guy who put salt on all his fruit, and the salted watermelon was really good. I’ve never combined watermelon with whiskey before. But I know that some people infuse fruit and liquor to make liquor fruit. But I’d suggest having the watermelon and whiskey separate – it’s fancier.

Fitzcarraldo

This might be best for a small gathering, or if you’re just sitting around on Saturday afternoon and want to make a hearty lunch: a fried catfish po-boy with a lager tallboy. Catfish is good because you can still get it fresh if you live far from the ocean. Get a couple of filets, dip in cornmeal and any other spice you like and fry. Serve on a crispy bun with spinach (or tomatoes) and mayonnaise. Or, deconstruct it and serve deep-friend catfish fingers wrapped in spinach with mayo on the inside, or on the side. And you already know that lager complements any fried food. I suggest the tallboy size because the lead-up to the Derby is a couple of hours.

Good luck on your Derby Day, and may you eat well, drink responsibly and pick the right horse!

Don't Forget the Limes and Salt

!Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

I'm celebrating tonight by making carnitas tacos, saffron rice, refried beans and of course the usual condiments: cilantro, queso fresco, crema, lime and fresh avocados. I use a lot of lime, cilantro and cumin in my recipes - for that fresh, authentic flavor.

Walter, our fearless leader (who happens to be a professionally trained chef) also brought in some goodies for us today.

Homemade veggie pico de gallo!

It had three kinds of peppers, carrot, onion, avocado, corn, chili's and tomato with fresh lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. This was a very crisp, refreshing take on your classic pico.

And what would a celebration be without the tequila?
Patron seems to be the favorite around here - CHEERS!

How are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo?