THE COOKBOOK TEST #0060: Five Kitchen Implements I Can't Live Without (That You May Not Own)
INSTALLMENT #0060 A VERY SPECIAL INSTALLMENT WHEREIN THE AUTHOR OF THIS NEWSLETTER GOES TOTALLY OFF BOOK
Dear Readers,
It finally happened: I had a recipe misfire from a book that I sincerely don't want to use as target practice. The cookbook is self-published and honestly looks very nice overall and can't have a gigantic print run to begin with.
I'm off to New York soonish and am feeling a little under the gun. So in lieu of your regular cookbook and recipe test, you're getting a “very special” installment of THE COOKBOOK TEST, a post dedicated to exploring the lesser-known but absolutely critical bits of my kitchen from which you might derive inspiration.
The emphasis here, mind you, is on "lesser-known." While I do occasionally bump into people who don't yet have a rice cooker, and I often meet people who haven't made a leap into owning a dedicated deep fryer, this isn't the venue to sell you on those two appliances.
They're big, they're semi-expensive, and they're commitments to entire lifestyles (the delicious fried food lifestyle, and the easy-to-make perfect rice lifestyle, respectively) that either make sense to you, or do not. I won't change your life by advocating for either, although if you don't own either or both, I will say here, briefly and with real love, consider them. They each rule.
Now, on to the list. Product links go anywhere but Amazon, and I am guaranteed to make $0.00 per click or purchase.
#5 Chefn Bananza Banana Slicer
Look: I know. On paper, at least, owning a banana slicer is stupid. I did a whole video revolving around that opinion back in my Supertaster days, and bought two banana slicers despite being 100% sure that I would junk both within moments of turning the camera off. One of the slicers, a weird wire rack kind of thing, was in fact a complete waste of everybody's time and mental energy.
But the Chefn Bananza Banana Slicer stuck around our kitchen for some reason. And then ... and then I found myself using it. Rarely, at first. And now, as a parent with young kids, with some regularity. It whips through a banana faster than I can with a knife, and without the attendant dirty cutting board to clean up. And it slices with such regularity that it's perfect for banana-augmented snacks like banana splits and banana-topped breakfast porridge.
I feel slightly ridiculous every time I see it lurking in the gadget drawer, but damned if I'm ever going to purge it.
#4 The Christopher Kimball Traverse Power Whisk
I saw this thing at Sur la Table, and shook my head at the tweedy hubris and insufferability of Christopher Kimball, with whom I have always had a distant love/scoff relationship.
Why I should I give that yankee egghead $22 for a freakin' whisk? But then I picked it up, and appreciated its legitimate heft. And I thought: This thing is going to get a lot less tangled up in stuff than regular whisks, in general, while still mixing it up throughly.
And then I bought it. Now, years later, I still love the thing and use it constantly. When I'm making a chicken pot pie, for example, I can either get the leeks caught up in a balloon whisk pretty much constantly, or I can traverse whisk it up like a boss. And when I'm whipping up biscuits or pancakes, the traverse whisk seems to get the job down as fast as a standard model, but with less mess and fuss. I'm sold.
#3 Red Head Customized Cocktail Barrel
A good friend sent me a customized oak cocktail barrel from Red Head for our annual Febgiving celebration a few years ago, and I've absolutely fallen in love with the thing. You can keep it stocked up with something tasty and strong (I like Applejack Negronis or Manhattans) and decant it onto ice any time you want an quick evening drink that tastes like it was prepared by a serious-business bartender.
Even better: If you're hosting a party, you can throw something punchy into the barrel, stand back, and let people serve themselves as desired. Refilling takes just a few moments and is just a matter of knowing your proportions; it's a clever hack to get more good drinks into more appreciative hands more quickly and with less effort.
Plus: It looks cool sitting on your bar. Bonus points!
For reference, here's what a barrel cocktail recipe looks like...
Applejack Negroni: 1000ml Applejack Brandy / 750ml Campari / 750ml red Vermouth (serve on ice with orange twist)
#2 Bialetti Moka Pot
I bought a Bialetti Moka Pot specifically to make espresso in support of a friend's Italian-themed dinner party. I’d never used one before, and had very little idea as to what you were supposed to do with one.
It turns out that the Moka Pot is:
a) Dead simple to use
b) Incredibly robust and
c) Makes a really tasty (and strong) cup of coffee
Moka Pot coffee clocks in somewhere between espresso and French press coffee in terms of intensity, and we tend to cut it with warm milk when we're enjoying it for breakfast. We use a slightly finer grind on the coffee than we do for our French press, and our electric stove top brings it from cold to brewed in a few brief minutes.
So, to recap: It looks charming, it's easy to use, and it makes tasty coffee. I thought I'd sell it or store it in a cabinet after that first dinner, but it pops out at least once a week to brighten our mornings.
#1 Thin Round Cake Pans
I know, these are kind of a head scratcher. And why, oh why, are they parked in the number one slot?
Here's why: Not until my family owned a set of thin, light, small, easy-to-stack cake pans did we realize what a game-changer they would be. Small serving of late-night nachos? Cake pan. A couple of Costco whatevers for a light dinner? Cake pan. A single large baked potato? Cake pan. Small pile of leftover chicken pot pie or Chinese takeout? Cake pan.
It feels like we use the cake pans as often or more often than the sheet pans, at least 5-6 times a week for random snacks and lunches. I'm not sure if we've ever actually made a layer cake with them, but that, as of now, is completely beside the point.
at your service,
James
P.S. Exciting week for subscribers next week as I dive into a two-parter about THE ULTIMATE MINNESOTA COOKIE BOOK. Is it truly ultimate? Stay tuned!!