Moira's Favourite Things

In the kitchen, that is. After having a few requests, I have finally come up with a list of my favourite things in the kitchen. I also asked a few foodie friends & family what their favourite things in the kitchen are and I got some great feedback. There was an interesting cross-section of kitchen tools and gadgets. I will start with my own favourites and then give you a list of what they couldn't live without.

1. KitchenAid Mixer - I use my mixer all the time, and sometimes I wish I had two! I leave my mixer on the counter at all times and this makes it very convenient to just throw together a recipe at the drop of a hat. I have a cream coloured one but my next one will be in red!

2. Le Crueset pans - As I have mentioned before, I LOVE these pans. I keep seeing the odd one at HomeSense or Winners but I can't keep buying them all the time! Once these pans are broken in, they are as close to non-stick (without the Teflon) as you can get. I also got a knock-off Dutch oven made by Mario Batali. This looks like a Le Crueset pan but it was much cheaper. It was at Costco for around $60. A very heavy, substantial pan that seems to be doing a good job, so far.

3. Candy Thermometer - While on the road, if there could be a chance of doing some baking, or in particular, making a buttercream, I should just pack my candy thermometer in my suitcase! It is one of the things that I consistently wish I had brought along and it is essential if you are making something and you need to know the exact temperature. No thermometer, no buttercream. I am going to blog my favourite buttercream recipe soon, that way you'll understand my pain!

4. Rasp Zester (A.K.A. Microplane) - By now, most of you probably have a rasp. It is a dream for quickly zesting a lemon or grating fresh ginger. I think the rasp from Lee Valley is great and it is a good price ($13.50). They also sell the attachment that slides on to the bottom of the rasp to catch whatever you are zesting. I don't have one of those so I usually just zest right into the bowl that I am using.

5. Stainless Steel Baking Sheets - These come in different sizes and I bought mine at a restaurant supply store. Most home ovens can only accommodate the 3/4 size of pan which is 20x14 inches. This size is ideal for many things. I also have a couple of 17x12 inch sheet pans. What makes these pans great is that they last and they can continue to look like new if you clean them well. I have other baking pans that I have collected over the years but eventually they seem to peel and rust until they aren't safe to use anymore. The stainless steel pans really heat up and hold their heat, making these pans very hot. I sometimes have to move cookies off of the sheets right after they come out of the oven, if they are in danger of being over done.

6. Parchment Paper - Imagine reaching into your cupboard and pulling out a piece of parchment paper, pre-cut to fit your favourite baking sheet. I thought that was only a luxury for chefs in restaurants until my sister told me otherwise. We go to a restaurant/industrial paper supply company called "GT French" in Niagara Falls, and I stock up on my "restaurant supplies". I also have two Silpat sheets which are excellent, especially for cookies.

7. Food Processor - A few years ago, I asked for a really good food processor for Christmas. I ended up getting a very nice (and expensive) KitchenAid food processor that had to be returned a few days later because it had sliced off part of the plastic lid while I was trying to grate something. We returned that one and I should have realized that I wasn't going to get the sort of quality that you would expect when you spend that much money on an appliance. After less than a year I had to have the bowl replaced because it wasn't clicking in properly to enable the motor to start. It took more than two months to get that new bowl (and close to $100). If I were to go buy a new food processor today (it is currently in working order so I don't have to - yet), I would get a much less expensive model, maybe from Costco. I thought I needed all those special attachments on my KitchenAid food processor but it turns out that I never use them, with the exception of the grater attachment, and I am sure that even the cheapest of food processors comes with one of those. At the end of the day, I love using my food processor. I just didn't need the cadillac version to get the job done.

8. Good Salad Spinner - It may seem strange to include this gadget in my list but about a year or so ago, I got rid of the flimsy piece of plastic that was masquerading around the kitchen as a salad spinner. I went to Costco and bought a very nice, sturdy salad spinner and I kicked myself for not doing it sooner. I no longer avoid washing lettuce for salads. In fact, I will sometimes even wash it ahead of time now.

9. Sharp Knives - Did you know that dull knives are more dangerous to work with than sharp ones? I have actually been meaning to have my knives professionally sharpened for a while. After six months of not having my knife magnet hung up, my knives are very dull right now. The knife magnet has at last been hung up, but the damage from storing them in drawers with lots of other things has been done. I should have a stone for sharpening my knives, but I don't. (I can feel my reputation taking a nose dive right about now!) I do have a sharpener that you hold on the counter and run the knife through 8-10 times. I think it is a Henkel sharpener. As for brand preferences, most of my knives are "Gold Hamsters". My head chef at Bridges Restaurant, on Granville Island in Vancouver introduced me to these knives. I bought my first ones at a kitchen shop in Vancouver (in Kerrisdale to be more exact) and since then I have found them at Ashley's in Toronto. I think the brand matters less than the state of your blades. There are three knives that are essential for every good kitchen: A large chef's knife, a serrated-edge knife (for bread, etc), and a paring knife. Start with these and make sure they feel comfortable in your hand.

10. One Litre & Half Litre Containers - I buy these at GT French, the paper supply store in Niagara Falls (they also have locations in Hamilton, Toronto, and Kitchener). They are an excellent way to store food. I use them for everything and they make my freezer look like I am running a production kitchen (I love that look!). The lids are sold separately and the bottoms stack nicely in the cupboard when not in use. There are 25 containers to a sleeve and they are much less expensive than trying to buy 25 reusable containers from your grocery store. I rarely have to buy more because they can be used again and again. I don't know what I did before I started buying these things!

11. Immersion Blender (A.K.A. Hand Blender) - I use my Braun immersion blender all the time. It saves time and energy in the kitchen, because rather than using the big blender or the food processor, the immersion blender just has the wand/blade to wash after. I use it for smoothies, vinaigrettes, and blending soups right in the pot, amongst other things. It also comes with a whisk attachment that I have used for whipping cream or other jobs that require some extra elbow grease with a whisk.

12. Colour-Coded Cutting Boards - There is nothing that annoys me more than the taste of garlic or onions on pieces of fresh fruit. I decided to do something about and I bought green and blue cutting boards at a restaurant supply store. The green one is for fruit or veggies that won't affect the odour-free board (such as cucumber). The blue one is for most other things, including meat. I also have two wooden boards that are all-purpose as well, but I don't put raw meat on them. If I have been cutting lots of onions and garlic, or even meat, and I want to get rid of the smell and bacteria, I wash the board in hot, soapy water and then squeeze and rub a half a lemon over the board and let it sit for a few minutes. I scrub this into the board and rinse well. This should remove whatever was on the board. Now, if I could just get Alan to pay attention to the rules...

Tools that were recommended to me by a few foodie friends...

Potato Ricer - I don't have one but I have often wondered if I need one.
Strong Pair of Tongs - Definitely.
Lots of counter space - One of the reasons we bought our house!
Wooden spoons - My sister and her husband Jake, collect wooden spoons and it is sometimes possible to find really great old ones at antique markets.
Mandolin - I have one but I don't remember where I put the blades... for safe keeping! The one I have is metal and is pretty heavy. Great for slicing potatoes in various shapes and sizes.
Batter Bowl - Can be used for virtually anything. The sizes mentioned were 8 cup and 4 cup capacities. Make it a bowl that you love and it will make you happy everytime you use it.
Small metal spatulas - Excellent when you want to get under something without disturbing it too much (like hot cookies, pancakes, fish, etc.)
Grapefruit Knife - I think I need one of these. Has a curved blade that is handy for little jobs, not just cutting grapefruit.
Mezzaluna Knife - A two-handled knife that you rock back and forth to chop things finely.
Maslin Pan - I bought this for my Mom for making jams and jellies. It is a special shape that was designed in England for making marmalade. My Mom swears by it now and I will probably get my own if I can find the time to start making my own jams and jellies. I bought it at Lee Valley.
Great Cookbooks - Nothing inspires me more than looking through cookbooks. Can you imagine a world without cookbooks? Bleak. Absolutely bleak.

*I have a few things that I would really like to have in my kitchen but I know they are probably not necessary. A good ice cream maker. Madeleine pans. A pressure cooker. Someone to wash my pots...

*Be careful about going to a Pampered Chef party and having too much drink. Someone (no, I am not going to mention who) ordered an avocado peeler during one of these free-for-alls! I am sure that the Pampered Chef has lots of things that are worth having in your kitchen (well, I wouldn't put money on it). However, if you are trying to keep the clutter in your drawers and cupboards to a minimum, avoid these parties at all cost.