I would totally eat deep fried butter

The deep fried butter stick, courtesy of KCCI in  Des Moines.

 The Iowa State Fair is an amazing combo of giant livestock, fried food and politics, but they’ve really increased the intensity this year … some intrepid midway fry cook has introduced deep fried butter. It's an entire stick of butter fried in a cinnamon honey batter. It’s like a reverse pancake. (Idea: deep fried blueberry pancakes.) Oh, and it’s also drizzled with sugar glaze.

What’s the craziest food you’ve ever fried at home or eaten at a state fair? Deep fried Doritos? Deep fried Pepsi? I’ve had deep fried chicken feet, and I swear I was one of the first Americans to try a deep fried snickers bar.

Here's a link to a video of a reporter from Des Moines' KCCI investigating the deliciousness of deep fried butter.

Inventorialization!

The 9s section of the warehouse (BBQ stuff)

It was a busy week here at Chef Tools. We inventoried our warehouse this week, which means the entire staff spent 3 days counting what felt like millions of products. Chef Tools has over 10,000 products and we have several of each. I would estimate that we counted somewhere in the range of 20,000 items, from tiny pastry tips to hulking Dutch ovens. 

We worked in teams of 2, with one person counting items, the other keeping tally. Then, we went back for a second wave of counting to correct miscounts. The count required agility and creativity. One moment you might find yourself suspended 12 feet in the air balancing atop a shelving unit, a few minutes later you were emptying a box of Meri Meri party supplies, counting, and then re-packing it correctly, which was like solving a Rubik’s cube. 

The Nana Saver

We inevitably found some items that we had forgotten about. Doing inventory is sort of like cleaning out your attic or basement. But instead of finding an old middle school yearbook or a love letter (or gross spider carcasses), we found things like bottle dust caps. Or, my personal favorite, the ‘Nana Saver. No, it’s not a cryogenic chamber for your beloved grandmother; it’s a plastic cap for bananas to keep them from browning. I also discovered that we have an enormous stock of silicone spatulas. I counted so many spatulas that the word “spatulas” lost all meaning to me. 

The coolest thing I found was a Reed’s Rocket Nutcracker. I’m not sure who Reed is, or if he’s still alive, but his invention looks like a rail gun for nuts. It is awesome. It’s made in Glenville, Ga., by a company called Peas and Corn Inc., and I could totally picture a guy sitting on a porch in a rocking chair with a julep, a Reed’s rocket and a pile of pecans just completely set for the night.

At any rate, inventory was a success. It will help us get products to you faster because we have triple checked what have and what we don’t have. Also, if you know anyone who needs a ‘Nana Saver, send them our way.

Do you have art hiding in your house?

The Le Creuset Ogive teakettle

I came across a really great looking art exhibit that I can’t go to. Atlanta’s High Museum of Art has a show called Modern By Design, which is full of beautiful and functional household and industrial items from the last century (the collection is on loan from MoMa). It includes some items that you might even have in your own home, even in your own kitchen.

The High’s website does not give a good preview of what’s in the exhibit, but one item they show is the Chemex coffee maker. I have one at home; not only does it make great coffee, but it’s nice to look at – it shimmers and has a voluptuous figure tied at the center by a wood collar and a leather strap.

The “modern” part of the exhibit references a couple of different periods from the 20^th century: World War II era industrial design – large springs, motor parts and all – then the Space Age, and finally the post-counter culture 1970s. The exhibit got me thinking what items in Chef Tools’ arsenal would fit in this exhibit; kitchen and household items that are beautiful, durable and very useful.

The Matfer black steel fry pan (9-1/2" inch model)

The top prize, I think, goes to that Le Creuset Ogive teakettle (in fact, most Le Creuset items, especially their iconic French ovens, could fit in this exhibit). Other coffee-and-tea-making items could fit, too (what is it about vessels that hold hot liquids that inspires fine industrial design?) like the Bialetti espresso maker, or the RSVP pyramid-shaped tea infuser.

But there are other items, like this set of measuring cups by Amco, or soft kitchen tools by OXO. I really like these intense black steel fry pans by Matfer and these RSVP stainless steel straws. And – to prove that I’m not solely into steel and glass – the Tovolo King Cube ice tray.

What from your home would you include if you had to put together an art exhibit about industrial design?

TA-DA! Introducing the World's Greatest Corkscrew

The best word to describe the Rabbit corkscrew is “beautiful.” It is good looking, and it has brains – and by brains, I mean great design.

The difference between the Rabbit – and its brother, the Houdini – and standard corkscrews is like the difference between a rotary phone and the iPhone. As far as opening corked bottles, this is the pinnacle. You simply affix the Rabbit on top of your bottle – be it your favorite chardonnay or a bottle of aged balsamic vinegar – and squeeze. No more broken corks, no more putting a bottle between your legs to pull out a sticky cork. Did I mention that it’s beautiful?

So, we were really proud to start offering the Rabbit and many other excellent products by Metrokane, the company that designed these tools. We started selling these products a couple of weeks ago to smashing success on our Amazon.com page, and we’ll eventually add them to Chef Tools.

In addition to the Rabbit, we offer the vertical Rabbit, the Electric Rabbit, and soon we'll add the economical Houdini, Houdini wine preservers and vacuum wine stoppers, and wine aerators. Ditch that rickety old handheld corkscrew and start opening and enjoying wine on an entirely new level.

Come Wine & Dine With Us - For A Good Cause!

This coming Monday, July 25th, we'll be participating in a great event at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club to help launch the new book "Food Lovers' Guide to Seattle" by Seattle based food blogger Keren Brown.

We are partnering up with Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods, who also happen to be our neighbors here in South Seattle, to offer some tasty tidbits and demonstrations of popular tools available through ChefTools.com.

The best part about this fun evening event is that the proceeds from ticket sales go to FareStart of Seattle, which provides culinary job training and placement for the homeless. For those of you who have never been, FareStart has its own cafe right here in the Rainier Valley and serves up some delectable soups, salads and sandwiches - all prepared and served by youths in the FareStart training program.

Details about, as well as tickets to the event can be found at Brown Paper Tickets. If you don't have your tickets, get them now and come join us for a fun evening on the waterfront! We hope to see you there!

Monday, July 25th, 2011

7:00pm to 9:00pm

Shilshole Bay Beach Club
6413 Seaview Ave NW

Visit us to sample some fantastic Ritrovo Italian foods:

~Ritrovo Selections Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar on Bruschetta

~Truffle and Salt Almonds by Miller Farms

~Michele Ferrante Controne Beans cooked with Olive Oil and Salts

And enter to win one of 2 gift baskets with a hand-picked selection of top selling Ritrovo and ChefTools products!

Salute!

ChefTools Customer Profile: Cakes By Kemi

ChefTools, being an online business, sees a huge variety of customers. On any given day, people from all 50 states and Canada will shop at ChefTools.com. Some are shopping just to shop, some are buying supplies for their business, and some just need 100 aluminum funnels for their laboratory (true story!). 

The notion of the huge variety of people who shop at ChefTools struck me today after noticing one particular order. Today, Adekemi Fowler bought a jar of American Silver Disco Dust from us. I did a little digging and found out that Adekemi owns her own cake catering and decorating business, Cakes By Kemi, in Jonesboro, Ga., just about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. 

Fowler is a well-trained baker and decorator, having graduated from a Le Cordon Bleu school – yes, the world-famous cooking school founded over 100 years ago in France – in Georgia. Take a look at the photo gallery on her website and you’ll see a host of incredible cakes that prove her training. She makes wedding cakes, themed cakes (one shaped like a movie theater popcorn box, or one themed on Georgia Tech’s mascot), and cupcakes – just all kinds of cakes covered in ornate fondant, frosting and decorations.

And, the cakes come in all these off-the-wall and delicious sounding flavors: raspberry limeade, humming bird, pink lemonade, pina colada …

A cake by Kemi.

“If you don’t see a specific flavor or filling listed, just ask! I can make just about any flavor combination you can imagine!” she writes on her site. 

It’s really cool to know that the little jar of Disco Dust will travel from our warehouse here in Seattle thousands of miles to Adekemi in Georgia. And then – even better – that Disco Dust will adorn one of Adekemi’s unique cakes, which later a bride and groom, or a birthday girl or boy or whomever will enjoy.

I hope to use this blog to highlight more of our customers – you’re all very important, and you’re all probably doing cool things with the stuff you buy from us. So, if you want to tell us about what you’re cooking or how you’re using something you bought on ChefTools, please email me  at Neal@ChefTools.com. Otherwise, you might get an email from me one day bugging you to tell me your story. And thanks to Adekemi for letting me share hers!

Can You Can (and preserve)?

Canning and preserving: never done it, and probably never will. But I quite enjoy it when other people give me canned/preserved food. 

A couple of weeks ago, two friends of mine while on a camping trip on the Olympic Peninsula bought about a bushel of rhubarb. (For those of you on the metric system, a bushel is about 36 liters.) They apparently encountered a kindly farmer who was selling the stuff cheap, so they bought a lot. They decided to stop at a Wal-Mart to buy Ball jars and other canning supplies with the end goal of making some scrumptious rhubarb jelly. 

Cut to last week and me in their kitchen accepting a big jar of spicy rhubarb jelly. See? They did all the canning and preserving work, and I benefit! But I was doing them a favor, because they had about two dozen cans of the stuff.

I stupidly did not ask where they got the jelly recipe, because this stuff is really good. Here’s a recipe I found, but my friends’ version seemed to simply be mashed rhubarb mixed with red chili paste. It tasted like spicy strawberries. Absolutely excellent.

And though I’m too slothful to get my hands dirty and can stuff, I definitely endorse the process. It’s a romantic labor, with a low risk, high reward end result. It involves a lot things I enjoy, too, like boiling water, fresh fruit (or vegetables) and vacuums. It’s also deeply American, like distilling moonshine (though more legal), or making venison jerky. At any rate, if you haven’t canned, do it. If you already can, keep it up. Chef Tools has put together a great canning supplies kit. We also have a pretty wide selection of individual canning equipment if you need to beef up your canning/preserving arsenal. 

Happy canning. And be sure to send me a sample!

Like, Tweet and now +1

We've added new social media buttons!

Wanted to make everyone aware of a new feature we’ve added to each page of ChefTools.com. We replaced our old “share” feature with three simple links to Twitter, Facebook and +1, Google’s new social media service. 

So, if you buy something really cool, or just see something that’s really cool, make sure to tweet it, like it or +1 it. By liking, tweeting or +1ing an item, you’re actually helping to build the Internet and make web searching and ChefTools.com easier and better for everyone. You’re probably familiar with liking and tweeting, but +1 might be new to you. Here’s how it works: whenever you do a Google search, your results will show how many times a certain website has been +1’d. If you have a Google+ account, your +1'd items will show up in your news feed - just like when you like something on Facebook. That’s mostly it. Google wants to give searchers a social media cue when displaying results.(Go ahead and try it out and see if any of your favorite websites have +1s.)

Finding out what items are popular, relevant and meaningful to you are one of our biggest goals here – we don’t want to carry items that people don’t like, and we want to keep popular items in stock. So help us, help build the Internet and let your voice be heard across the social media sphere!

PS: Due to the newness of Google +1 (we assume – it just debuted two weeks ago), the button is a little hard to use. The area in which you can click is very small, but hopefully the problems with the button will be worked out in the coming weeks. 

PPS: Google +1 only works on the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari web browsers - newest versions, of course! 

Roasted Rosemary Garlic Marble Potatoes

Sometimes a “standby” just gets better. I was at the grocery store finalizing my purchases for the July 4^th barbecue weekend when I came across some small mesh bags of marble potatoes. I typically make this recipe with baby reds or fingerling potatoes. It has always been an incredibly easy side dish to make with very little prep and roasting time, and I rarely have any leftovers because everyone eats them up. So I couldn’t help but think of this recipe when I came across these potatoes. The results were amazing and I will most likely seek out these marble sized potatoes from now on when making this recipe. The particular potatoes I bought were yellow, red, and purple. Not only did they provide great flavor, but three distinct textures as well. All have a bit of a crunch or light snap when you bite into them, but the meat of these jewels goes from very creamy to a more dense, almost chewy texture as you sample yellow to red to purple. Combine these flavors and textures with rosemary, roasted garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper and you have an excellent addition to any barbecue. Here’s how I did it:

- 2 lbs marble potatoes

- 1 sprig fresh rosemary 7 to 10 inches

- 3 medium sized cloves of garlic

- 4 TBSP olive oil

- salt and pepper

Rinse off the potatoes in a colander and set aside to dry. Peel the garlic cloves and finely chop with a sharp knife. Strip the rosemary sprig of the needles and finely chop them. Place the potatoes, chopped garlic, chopped rosemary, and olive oil into a large mixing bowl. Mix together with a large spoon until the potatoes are evenly coated with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Sprinkle in salt and pepper and mix again. Pour the potatoes into a heavy gauge roasting pan making sure to scrape the remaining oil, garlic, and rosemary from the mixing bowl. Place the roasting pan into a preheated 400 degree oven. Remove 12 to 15 minutes later and stir or shake the potatoes. Place back into the oven for another 10 minutes until the skins start to brown and the potatoes become fork tender. You should be able to stick a fork or paring knife into them and remove it without any resistance. This can also be done on the grill using a grill basket or a perforated grill basket. I find it best to close the grill lid when roasting the potatoes this way.

A side note: If you do have leftovers then just reheat and serve with chopped bacon or sour cream and chive for other variations.

4 Barbecues and a Kale Salad

Kale is a springy, cooling leafy green.

I had an excellent July 4 weekend. I went swimming in Lake Washington, went on a hike, saw some excellent fireworks and – most importantly – went to a barbecue every night. I did not go into the weekend expecting to attend 4 barbecues.

So, by the time Monday rolled around, I was craving food that wasn’t so … charred? I came up with something light, sweet and easy: a kale salad with carrots, raisins and a couple of other spices. It turned out to be the perfect antidote to all the grilled food because it cools and fills the mouth. Here’s how I made it:

- 1 bunch (your local supermarket will decide this portion for you) of kale, red or green

- 1 cup of shredded carrot

- ½ cup of minced raisins (it’s a real pain mincing raisins; make sure to wet your knife first)

- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (or balsamic, whatever your taste)

- Sesame seed, flax seed and ground black pepper (as much or as little as you want)

Shred the carrot and kale in your food processor with the shredder attachment (separately). Then toss in a bowl with the wet and dry ingredients. Tune it up to your taste and serve chilled alongside traditional barbecue fare.

And while I enjoyed eating that salad, it was not the best food I ate this weekend. That was the garden fresh broccolini (like, really fresh – my friend picked it from her garden as the charcoals were heating up) grilled until crispy. It was, I dare, better than grilled asparagus …

I hope your July 4 was as good as mine. Tell us about yours!