Hey bakers and cake decorators, stop squandering pastry bags!

The Bag Adapter Kit

The Bag Adapter Kit is one of those ingenious products that could only come from the mind of someone who’s intimate with a particular trade. This trade happens to be cake decorating and the inventor is Michelle Hageman.

A baker/decorator for 30 years in the San Diego area, Hageman got tired of having pastry bags that could only accommodate one size coupler. To wit:

“At the end of the week, when you work in a bakery, you’re down to bags that will only get used if you’re putting icing on a cake or cupcake,” she told a the host of a morning TV news program. “When you go to get a coupler to put through the bag itself, you’ll find you have a bag you can’t use.”

“I got tired of that. Who wants to stop what they’re doing and go buy more bags?”

So, Hageman invented the Bag Adapter Kit (“we’ve got your BAK” seems to be company’s motto). It’s a simple, inexpensive device: a conical plastic piece that slides inside any pastry bag allowing you to use any size coupler (and thus decorating tip) with the bag – no matter how big the hole you cut. The BAK essentially returns the pastry bag to its original, uncut form. Here’s a video with Hageman demonstrating the BAK:

You can get a BAK at Chef Tools right now. We’re very excited about it. A long season of holiday baking kicked off last week with Rosh Hashanah, so what better time to try the BAK? Save time, save money, save pastry bags, save a trip to the store. Above all, create awesome baked confections. If you decorate cakes, cupcakes or anything else – whether as your job, hobby or for your grateful family – the BAK was made for you.

(And trying BAK benefits a good cause: Hageman donates 2 percent of all proceeds to the charity, Autism Speaks.)

Architec: stylish and durable, a plastic alternative

Architec Purelast mixing bowl set (cool)

You’ll see these bowls by Architec start to pop up everywhere, including Chef Tools (available 9/30). At least, I hope you'll start seeing them more (especially in your kitchen), anyway. 

That’s because these bowls are special. They look like plastic, feel like plastic and are as easy to clean as plastic. But, you can’t call them plastic. These bowls are made of 98 percent natural materials. The exact recipe is secret (and it’s probably too complicated for a non-chemist brain to understand), but they’re kind of like those Sun Chips bags made of corn … without all the noise. 

Man has created many plastic things. Look around you and you’ll see that almost everything close to you is made of plastic. There’s probably a lot of plastic in your kitchen, too. It’s almost freeing to find a product that’s not made of plastic. These bowls mean less pollution and less waste. Let's hear it for innovation!

Not to mention, these bowls are really stylish. The colors are cool, the curves are cool, the manufacturing process is cool (made in the USA). 

Head to Chef Tools this weekend and pick up some durable, non-plastic essentials. We have added:

• 3 mixing bowl sets

• 3 sets of prep cups

• 3 sets of condiment cups

We’ve also added some other fine Architec products; made of plastic, but still incredibly useful, durable and stylish. These cutting boards won’t dull knives – and the kicker (pun intended) – have hundreds of tiny feet on the bottom so the board won’t slip. 

Architec Gripper Cutting Board

Check out our “What’s New” page to find out about all the great stuff we’ve added in recent weeks (just go to our homepage, scroll down and click the “What’s New” box):

• All new OXO Good Grips gadgets, mixing bowls and small appliances (coming 9/30)

• Emerilware Pie and Cake Maker

• WMF Profi Ball Whisks

• Shun cutlery

A Plethora Of Plums

Last night I went to a girlfriend's house for dinner and finally got to ravage her Italian Plum trees. I've been waiting for weeks for these little beauties to ripen and finally, finally, I got to pick all the little black beauties my heart desired.

Since it was girls night and we all bring something to share for dinner, I decided to make dessert. While my favorite plum dessert is an upside down cake with sour cream from my idol: Ms. Martha Stewart. But while perusing Facebook yesterday afternoon (for work of course, I am the social media girl ya know) I found a great looking recipe from one of my favorite magazines: Coastal Living. Plum upside down pudding cake. Sounded fantastic, so I  ran off to the store to grab a few things and got to work on dessert.

I did make a couple mistakes. I used too large of a baking dish and not nearly enough plums - which is just plain silly since I had an entire bushel of plums at my disposal. duh. And I would also change a couple things in the recipe. I'd substitute brown sugar for the white refined sugar and I'd use way more butter and brown sugar. I mean why not? Everything's better with butter (and brown sugar)!

But even with my couple of mistakes, the dessert turned out fantastic and was completely gobbled up, with not a crumb leftover! So if you have some plums at your disposal, try this recipe for a quick weeknight dessert. It was fast, easy and very yummy! Thank you Coastal Living.

Plum Upside-Down Pudding Cake

Ingredients:
4 small red or black plums, sliced

• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole or low-fat buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• Sweetened whipped cream

Directions:
1. Combine plums, 1 tablespoon sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a bowl, tossing gently.

• 2. Grease sides and bottom of a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or deep-dish pie pan. Cover bottom with plum slices, overlapping slightly.
• 3. Whisk together eggs, remaining sugar, buttermilk, vanilla, and butter until well blended.
• 4. Combine flour, baking powder, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; whisk into egg mixture. Pour batter over fruit. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan about 30 minutes.
• 5. Run tip of knife around edge of cake to loosen. Invert onto a platter, and serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Scanpan: the Danes make a great pan

Denmark

Denmark is located on a peninsula bordered on the north and west by the North Sea, the east by the Baltic Sea and the south by Germany. Its largest city is Copenhagen, which is actually very close to Sweden (a bridge connects the two), and the entire population is right around 6 million. Humans have lived on this piece of land for around 12,000 years. Denmark is, according to the CIA, about the size of Massachusetts. 

Denmark has a high life expectancy, low unemployment and a high literacy rate*.  It has a gross domestic product of around $200 billion and is renowned for its pharmaceutical, green energy and shipping (by sea, etc.) industries. Denmark also produces a lot of steel, iron and nonferrous metals. 

9-1/2" fry pan

And that brings us to our subject: high quality pans. Specifically, Scanpans. These are pans made of titanium and aluminum** by happy, well-paid, literate workers in an incredible process that also happens to be environmentally friendly. 

For Chef Tools to sell these fine Danish pots and pans is a real coup. 

We added them to the site just a couple of days ago. We have Scanpan fry pans from 8 to 12-3/4 inches, a 10-inch crepe pan, a wok, a 5-1/2 quart saucepot and an 8-piece cookware set (which I desire). But let’s get back to why Scanpans are so special.

They*** start with titanium. They heat it to 30,000 degrees (F), they fuse it with liquid aluminum and then they compress into a pan shape. The result is ceramic titanium, a strong and non-leaky^ metal that’s ideal for cooking. But the process is not over. A layer of PFOA-and PFOS^^-free nonstick coating is applied, which is good for cooking, and a plus for you and the environment. 

Making a Scanpan (photo from Scanpan)

In sum: Scanpan makes durable pans coated with a futuristic nonstick coating that does not contain chemicals with unpronounceable names. Get a Scanpan and celebrate (even for one meal) the cultural and metallurgical miracle that allows you took cook a perfect omelet, salmon fillet or hash browns.

*78.63 years, 5.2 percent and 99 percent, respectively

**Titanium and aluminum are nonferrous; they do not contain iron

***”They” are the Scanpan makers; that gentleman in the photo above, for example

^”Non-leaky” is my phrase to describe a metal that will not leach into your food; your food will not taste like the pan, in other words

^^Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, respectively, whose harm to mammals and Earth is not fully understood but generally thought to be very bad

Braised Pork Shoulder Chops With Leeks

After a weekend of shopping the local Farmers Market and picking wild blackberries, Monday night became a marathon dinner endeavor in my tiny little kitchen at home.

Poblano, Yellow Banana & Gypsy Peppers - All Sweet

I know to many cooking is a chore, but for me it's an absolute delight. I love chopping the vegetables with sharp knives. I love caramelizing onions until golden brown. I love the gorgeous kiwi and Martha blue colors of my cooking instruments. And I especially love sipping on some vino while taking in the wonderful aromas of a home-cooked meal. It's been awhile since I've been able to actually spend a couple hours cooking a really nice meal for two, mainly due to my work schedule and overzealous summer social-life. But after shopping the local farmers market and coming home with some of my absolute favorite veggies, I just had to take some time to be in the kitchen - finally!

As many of you might know, peppers are in season in abundance. Red, yellow, green, orange, purple. Not only are they beautiful, but so sweet and fragrant and absolutely delicious. They are so easy to work into a wide range of recipes and I just can't seem to get enough of them. And the corn! The corn is finally sweet! I've been waiting all summer for sweet corn and peaches and I finally found both. I also grabbed some gorgeous leeks, the first of the season.

So, what to make?

Braised Pork with Leeks

On a recent trip to the supermarket I decided to try a different cut of pork - the shoulder blade chop. I had never cooked with it before and since I have been trying to cook with a lot less beef and a lot more pork, I thought I'd give it a shot. So I found a recipe on MarthaStewart.com and modified it based on what I had at home. And thus, Braised Pork Shoulder Chops was born.

And for a side dish?

Leeks & Peppers Caramelized & Sweet

My favorite summer side dish is a corn succotash. My standby recipe is for Confetti Corn with Mixed Peppers by Ina Garten and it is fantastic!

Serve the Pork over Orzo and dinner is served!

Leftovers Will Be Made Into Soup!

Confetti Corn Recipe:

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small red bell pepper, 1/2-inch diced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Kernels cut from 5 ears yellow or white corn (4 cups)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft. Stir in the bell pepper and saute for 2 more minutes.

Add the butter to the pan and allow it to melt. Over medium heat, add the corn, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the corn just loses its starchiness. Season to taste, gently stir in the basil or other green herbs, and serve hot.

Pork Rib Ragu Recipe:

• 1 large leek
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 pounds pork spare ribs, cut into 4 sections
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 large carrots, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 
  
• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve leek lengthwise and rinse thoroughly; dry well and coarsely chop. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season ribs with salt and pepper. In batches, cook ribs until browned, 4 to 6 minutes per batch. Transfer ribs to a plate. Add leek, carrots, and celery to pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften slightly, about 5 minutes. Add wine; bring to a simmer and reduce wine by half.
  2. Return ribs to pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook until meat is falling off bones, about 3 1/2 hours. Transfer ribs to a rimmed baking sheet and strain cooking liquid into a heatproof container; skim fat from liquid. When ribs are cool enough to handle, shred meat (discard fat and bones).
  3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium. Add onion and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in flour to coat. Gradually whisk in cooking liquid and simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes. Add pork to sauce and heat through.