“What did I do with that potato peeler?”
When I was rearranging my kitchen gadgets, I ran onto these that I use with varying frequency. Still, I like to know they’re available when needed, that is, if I can find them in the doo-dad drawer.
If you have some favorite kitchen utensils, drop us a line.
Lemon Squeezer
Get every last drop of juice from a lemon or lime with this funky kitchen device.
Bench Scraper
This handy utensil is mainly used to cut dough, but also useful in scooping chopped veggies up to place in a cooking pot. The scraper is great for cutting up brownies and bar cookies, where you need to cut downward and close to the edge of the pan. It also works with casseroles and lasagna. Use it to scrape down a cutting board before washing it. The Bench Scraper also helps you lift pie crusts into a pie pan
Garlic Press
Anthony Bourdai loathed the garlic press. Most chefs mince garlic with a knife and gasp at using jarred garlic. The garlic snobs think pressing alters the flavor. But there’s more than one way to prepare garlic for a recipe. Although, I remember a chef at a cooking class I went to in Paris being quite distressed that I was not doing it his way.
Julienne Vegetable Cutter
Among the peelers is a variation that easily juliennes vegetable. But there are many types of peelers in most home kitchen. (You might be interested to know what Food Network declared their favorite vegetable peelers.) The cutter, shown here, is the one I use most often to make pickled carrots.
Meat Pounder
A few whacks with this Meat Pounder and your meat or chicken will be flat as a pancake.
Tomato Slicing Knife
The serrated tomato slicing knife, with its toothlike edge, easily slices through foods with a tough skin and a soft interior, like tomatoes, bread and lemons. Onions and lettuce also slice well. Because the knife cuts with a saw-like motion, it requires less pressure than a smooth blade. Halloween designers find the knife works well for carving Jack-o’-lanterns.
Banana Hook
The banana hook (or banana tree, as I like to call it) can be an artsy and handy part of a kitchen counter. It works well until you get down to the last banana, that can no longer hang with the bunch.
Mezzaluna
For those who like a well-chopped salad, a mezzaluna can make it happen effortlessly with its rocking, chopping motion. Besides the mezzaluna is handy to use and fun to pronounce.
Nutmeg Scraper
I could get by without this, but it’s so cute and takes so little space.
Mandoline
A mandoline turns out perfect slices with every stroke and has a hand protector that keeps your digits at a safe distance.
Immersion Blender
Perfect for blending soups, purees, fruit smoothies, pesto, and baby food. Just don’t let the opening around the ball-shaped blade get above the liquid or you and your countertop will be thoroughly splattered.
Microplane
The hand-held microplane with its fine blade allows you to shave hard cheeses such as Parmesan. It also shares the load as a zester. The one-size grater shaves finer than a box grater and directly into a pot or dish.
Kitchen Advice from a Pro
A fellow attending a cooking class offered by a renown chef listened attentively and then asked: “How many sheet pans do I need?” The chef replied: “How many do you have?”
The fellow replied, “Three.”
“In that case,” he said with a smile, “you need four.”
The moral of the story is that you will always need one more sheet plan than you have. Hmm . . . you suppose that’s true of kitchen gadgetry as well?
My gadget drawer looks the same! Of the gadgets shown in your blog, the ones that interested me most are the bench scraper, mezzaluna, tomato slicing knife and Julienne vegetable peeler. I either have or can do without the others. And you gave me a couple of ideas for my son who does his family’s cooking there in Webster Groves. But I agree that we do not press our garlic. Out here in Marshall MO, we grow our own garlic. It is so fresh, even though it does take some time to peel. I have a e-z-rol garlic peeler that at one time was promoted by Martha Stewart. It does not actually peel the garlic clove though, but it loosens the skin enough to help when peeling them with a sharp paring knife. My husband helps peel and chop veggies, so he just finely chops the garlic. Our adult children do not want our garlic as it is too time consuming to prepare. City folks with small town parents. 😆
I wish I could pick up your garlic. Fresh garlic sounds very appealing. Sorry – inadvertent pun.