Kitchen Gadgets Archives - Good Food St. Louis

Ho-Ho-Ho! Getting in the spirit of the season

Pick a Present

In recent years I’ve told my family and friends that I don’t want any gifts bigger than the proverbial bread box. Keep it small or edible, I say.

If you’re thinking about what to get your foodie friends, you might consider some of the following:

Remember what Julia Child said: “People who love to eat are always the best people.”

20 Goodies and Gadgets for Foodies

Food Basket: Compose your own or get one that’s already assembled. Harry and David offers them at all prices and in all sizes and other seasonal gifts as well.

Cheese Board

Chop Block

Cutting Board: My favorite comes from Boos. It’s industrial size, for the serious chopper. When one of my boards began to warp sightly, the company replaced it immediately. Williams Sonoma offers a round, thinner board shaped like an oversized ping-pong paddle, that makes a more decorative serving piece.

Butter Spreader: I’ve not used this little gadget, but I’ve watched the video. Small slotted holes run down the blade edge designed to curl hard butter onto bread. Perfect addition to the food basket.

Ninja Blender

Balsamic Glaze: I’ve ordered Arrezzio Balsamic Glaze several times after having it recommended by an Italian chef. I first had it on eggplant parmesan, but it can also highlight a tomato caprese, grilled salmon, or roasted vegetables—even ice cream! Available at Walmart and Amazon. Good addition to any Christmas basket.

Ninja Blender: I buy the frozen mixed fruit package (mangoes, pineapple, and berries) from Costco to make this hearty, healthy morning drink in my Ninja Blender.

Immersion Blender.

Chinese Soup Dumpling Kit: I’m a fan of those street delicacies that I came to enjoy when visiting in China some years ago. Now I’m glad there’s a place on Olive called, well . . . what better name, than just Soup Dumplings. But they’re fun and easy to make at home with kids and guests when you use this kit. A number of varieties are available at Amazon.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Vinegar: There’s a great selection (which you can sample) at Extra Virgin: an Olive Ovation in the strip mall on Ladue Road just east of I-170 next to Pasta House. It’s easy to find a gift here among their imported pottery, French table linen, and olive wood accessories.

Immersion Blender: This is my go-to device for soups or anything I want to puree smoothly.

Penguin Soda Stream

Sparkling Water Maker: I have the Penguin Soda Stream, that turns tap water into sparkling water. When I add a squeeze of lemon or lime, I have the equivalent of the pricey, flavored waters.

Mason-Cash mixing bowl

Mason-Cash Mixing Bowl: When I use this, I feel so retro. Like your cast iron skillet, this country classic will easily become a family heirloom.

Food Magazine Subscription: I receive several food magazines, but my favorite is Cook’s Illustrated Magazine from America’s Test Kitchen.

Cookbook: Foodies adore cookbooks. They never have too many. Anything by Ina Garten is good. Her latest is Go To Dinners. For an adventuresome, Mediterranean cook, look to the work of author/chef Yotam Ottolenghi.

Ice Cream Bowls: There are many ceramic ice cream bowls online, but my favorite set is the colorful-patterned, stoneware from Williams-Sonoma’s Sicilian dinnerware collection. They also make good dipping bowls.

Restaurant Dinner for Two: I’ve seen a rack of these gift cards at Costco and others can be found online.

Cook’s Illustrated

Pink Champagne Cake Bites: These are a signature item from Caroline’s Cakes, a bakery in Spartanburg, SC, widely acclaimed for its traditional Southern cakes.

Cooking class

Mug Warmer: I keep my mug warmer near the computer for cups of coffee or tea. It comes on automatically when you set the mug in place and goes off when the cup is lifted.

Pecans: A friend who lives in the pecan-growing part of Texas, sent me a 5-pound bag! Now that’s a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year. A handful a day is suppose to be of health benefit as well.

Lemon Tree: If your giftee has a green thumb, you may benefit from having made this selection.

Cooking Class: This is a good gift for couples, presuming both enjoy the kitchen. I’ve taken a half-dozen, or so, classes around town and a couple in Paris and Florence. Fortunately, Kitchen Conservatory is nearby and offers an array of classes (more than 900 a year) for both beginners and kitchen pros.

“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?