A note about utensils.

So, in my brief but star-making turn as a brand new blogger I've thrown several recipes against the virtual wall to see what stuck.

However, I would like to make note of a few utensils I feel are absoutely of paramount importance in the kitchen.

I would also like to note that at this time, I am under no duress of sponsorship, so the opinions included herein are honest.

*Whew*

Here are what I would consider the top most important utensils of a kitchen.


There are 8. 8 shall be the number, and the number is 8. 7 shall not be hinted at, lest ye be counting to the number 8 and the number 9 is right out. (If you get this joke, I pity you)


8. Sauce pan
Innocuous enough, but at only a diameter of about 4 inches and 4 inches deep it doesn't seem like it could make much difference right? Wrong. Cooking sauces, creams, etc in this pan will make your life so much easier. Turn it on low, taste every so often, don't worry about the expanded area of an actual pan overheating the mixture and burning or over reducing.

7. Small Wooden bowls
This sounds esoteric doesn't it? But seriously. How many sauces start out with butter, garlic and shallots. That three way orgasm is the key to heaven in an untold number of sauces. Being able to prep this before hand is unbelievably helpful. The more small wooden bowls ( 1.5 inch diameter to 3/4 inch depth ) you have, the better.

6. Potato Ricer
Its cheap. It makes potatoes better. You have no excuse. Why wait. Buy one.

5. Bamboo Cutting board
You know the old Cut chicken on one side, cut beef on the other adage regarding the plastic cutting boards? Yeah. Who gives a shit. Cutting fat is a joke. Try slicing 8 type of vegetables and herbs in one setting. Doing this on a bamboo cutting board will speed up your chopping. Don't believe me? Try it.

4. Omelette Pan
Ok, first off. Omelettes. If your husband or wife doesn't like an omelette on sunday morning, I suggest you turn in your "member of the human race card". With the perfect size for a 2.5/3 egg omelette plus nicely sloped edges, you can make an omelette in this with simple flicks of the wrist. No spatula needed. Oh and by the way, almost every freaking recipe I do calls for a smallish pan that you can saute something in. Get one.


3. Aluminum Foil
Hah. HA HA! I hear you laughing. Lucidz, this costs 2 bucks at the local Shop'n'puke, who cares about it? Pretty much every damn meat you cook that wasn't ground into 1/8 inch gutlets benefits from "resting/tenting". Foil is your friend. Your meals will get more bang for their buck out of foil than anything else in your arsenal.

2. Cast Iron Skillet
Its not just for rednecks hunting squirrel any more. Cast Iron skillets when preheated in an oven to 500 degrees, then cranked up on the stove on high heat offer a more realistic steak house experience than ... well shit, the steak houses. Follow one of my steak recipes (or alton browns, the copycat) and you'll see what I mean. By the way, you can also cook salmon, chicken, scallops, etc etc etc etc etc in one. (And burgers) Its 15 bucks at walmart, pretreated. You have no excuse not to have one.


1. Chef's Knife
To hell with everthing else. Give me a global G2 8" chef's knife and I'll wilt bark, saute clovers and eat some kind of small woodland creature medium rare, and it'll taste great. The single most important item in your arsenal is your knife. It is your defense, and your offense. Do NOT skimp on this. I have several knife sets. But only one knife is my global g2 chef's knife. It is like a light saber through every substance I know. At around a hundred bucks, its definitely worth the cost for what you get.