My Father's Day gift from my Sweet Lady Wife. It's a Messermeister Meridian Elite Cleaver. I've been wanting one of these for a long time. When I make Chicken Legs in a Raspberry Vinaigrette I chop the foot off each drumstick for presentation. It wil be nice to have the right tool for the job now.
I have assured the cats that it is not a tail-removal instrument ;-)
We're in the house only three months and I'm already replacing a major appliance.
The GE dishwasher that came with the house just wasn't cutting it. I think it is a waste of time to have to wash the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, and that's what we were having to do. The ten-year-old Maytag in the old house did a better job than the new GE. (the GE range and refrigerator are great, BTW, my complaint is only with the dishwasher.)
So I said 'screw it, we are not going to live with this." I already knew what I wanted: Bosch Integra 800.
I had heard that the Bosch Integra was quiet. I was not prepared for just how quiet. You practically have to put your ear up to it to hear it. It's so quiet that they have built in a red light that shines on the floor to show when it's running.
As a test, we found a bowl in my son's room with hard-crusted food stuck inside (typical teenager). We put it straight into the dishwasher to see what would happen: it came out sparkling clean.
Happiness is having good tools.
I will never cook dried pasta the old way again. Heather, the owner of my favorite gourmet cooking tools store showed these to me a while back and raved about it. I was in the midst of the move to the new house so I put off buying it until now.
It has holes in the lid to measure the amount of pasta by serving so you know how much to cook.
It has markings on the side so you know how much water to add.
It has a strainer in one end of the lid for draining the water.
And It Works
No waiting for water to boil. Just put in the pasta and water and slide it into the microwave. They even give you a little chart to tell you how long to cook it.
Yes, I know. It's been a whle since Ive posted. With trying to sell the house, my son's graduation ceremony at Ft Benning, and everything else, the last three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.
Today was the last day of the Third Anniversary Sale at my favorite gourmet kitchen tools store in downtown Glendale, AZ. I have ben wanting this Viking fry pan for a long time.
The J.A. Henkels rep was at my favorite gourmet kitchen tools store yesterday (yes, I know. The knife in the photo is not a Henkels). He was showing off a new line of Henkels' knives, the Twin Cuisine series. Ergonomic handle. The tang runs horizontally through the blade instead of vertically. Very nicely weighted. I almost bought one. I told Heather that I wanted to compare it side-by-side with the comparable Messermeister. She handed me the 9-inch Meridian Elite. After three seconds' worth of handling it my mind was made up. I just really liked the balance of the Messermeister, so it came home with me.
Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Do you see the row of shallow indentations just above the blade in the accompanying photo? They are called kullenschliff (in Japanese knifes that are referred to as granton.) and helpful when using the knife for slicing to keep the slices from sticking to the blade.
Summer will be here soon. (It's Arizona, where the weather bureau is not allowed to use the word 'hot' until the temperature hits 105. At 104 it's just 'sunny and warm'.)
I have been eyeing this Cuisinart ice cream maker since I first saw it on Cuisinart's website. The cool thing about it is that it has it's own refrigeration compressor, meaning:
So when Heather at my favortie gourmet kitchen tools store here in Glendale received one of these I just had to have it.
I'm going to try it out tomorrow on an organe-pineapple-banana cream sherbet. I'll let you know what happens.
This is the Viking 7 qt stand mixer that I have been lusting over for some time. A couple of days ago, my wife mentioned that she would be making the Christmas cookies soon and the old hand mixer was just about dead.
With barely concealed glea, I said "It Is!?!?!?!?!"
My wife then said she would go to the local discount store and purchase an inexpensive hand mixer, to which I replied, "Oh No You're Not!"
Now I can make more of those great cinnamon rolls.
Adam on Men In Aprons has a great post today about knife care.
One thing he forgot to mention is that some cutlery manufacturers will re-sharpen your knives at no charge other than shipping. LamsonSharp calls their program Sharp For Life. I am told that Messermeister has a similar program.
Welcome to the modern art section of the Spatula Museum. While technically a spoon, this specimen from Cuisipro it has been serving as a spatula here and seems well-suited to the task. The handle is reversable (right now it is set up for a righty) and is very ergonomic. I was making madeleines yesterday and it worked wonderfully, replacing both a spoon and a spatula.
I picked this gadget up a few weeks ago at Plate It Up! but I have not had a chance to use it until now.
It is a vegetable peeler designed to fit in the palm of your hand. It has a little loop on the back side designed to fit aroung yor middle finger.
I used it Sunday to peel the carrots and instantly promoted it to my favorite. The hand motion is very natural and for those that might have a problem with maintaining a grip or have wrist problems, this thing is perfect! I could peel all day with this thing and never get tired.
