Knife Care

We've discussed the need for having a good set of knives in your kitchen. Now, let's discuss how to properly take care of them.


1. DON'T PUT THEM IN THE DISHWASHER! Wash your knives by hand, making sure that the blade is away from you at all times. And, please don't toss them in the dish water so that you then have to root around in soapy water to find them, all the while cutting yourself in the process.


2. Wash and dry your knives immediately after use. It will maybe take you 2 minutes to clean and dry your knives right away. First of all, you don't want anything to get stuck to them. The likelihood of you cutting yourself goes up with the amount of stuck on food. Also, don't leave your knives in a dish drainer to dry. Dry them with a towel and put them away. You have less chance of accidentally cutting yourself.


3. Sharpen them! Before you start your chopping, swipe the knife a couple times over the sharpener. You want to make sure your blade is up to the task. Be sure to always sharpen with the blade away from you. Our block has a sharpener built into the block, so there's no chance of cutting yourself. You don't look as cool when you're using it as you would with a traditional sharpener though. 

We also just purchased the Wusthof Precision Edge 2-Stage Knife sharpener and have been pleased with it. We just run the knives through it a couple of times before we get started and things are much easier!

Silicon Spatulas

Between the two of us, we go through a lot of spatulas in the kitchen. We use them constantly. We use them to make eggs, to make any form of batter, to scrape our creations out of the blender. You name it, and we probably use a spatula for it. 

We prefer the silicon spatula. We don't like the ones with the wooden handles, because they can be difficult to clean properly and every once in a while, the scraper will pop off of the wood, rendering the spatula pretty much useless.

We have a couple of KitchenAid spatulas, but our favorite brand has become Zyliss. You can peruse their full line of spatulas here. They have all sorts of fun shapes that are ideal for different uses.

This long skinny one is great for spreading icing or removing purees from the blender. If you're going to be spreading icing inside a pan as opposed on a cake stand, we'd recommend an offset spatula (but that's another blog all together).

This double sided spatula is probably the most used. There are two different sized ends depending on what you need to do. Can't you just imagine the scraping possibilities with this?

This spatula is primarily used for baking. Though, it does come in handy for scrambled eggs from time to time.

Zack likes to use this one for his eggs. The flat bottom works well for him.

You probably don't need to have quite as many spatulas as we do. One or two sturdy spatulas should suffice. Since we use them for just about everything, we like to have plenty on hand. Saves time washing them!

Cookware Protectors

It may seem as though we plug Pampered Chef products a lot. Well, it should seem that way, because we do. We should mention that we are in no way affiliated with Pampered Chef, nor are they soliciting our endorsement of their products in any way. We just love their stuff. And, we write a blog, so we want to share the products that make our culinary lives easier.


That being said, these cookware protectors are amazing! The idea is you slip them in between your non-stick cookware to prevent the edges of the pans from scratching the non-stick coating off. You really shouldn't ingest Teflon. It's bad for you. Good for cooking, bad for eating.


We bought two packages (there's three in a package) of these to put in between our pots and pans. They're really helped us cut down on storage of our cookware and helped us preserve the life of our pans.


There are other brands out there, if you don't (for some reason) like Pampered Chef. We'd recommend picking some up!


Enjoy!

Enamel Coated Cast Iron Dutch Oven

This baby has changed our lives. We've wanted one for ages, but never purchased one.  Well, Zack's parent's bought one for us for Christmas and we have already gotten our money's worth. Or, their money's worth. Whatever. 


You'll be seeing it a lot in our posts going forward. This pot holds heat amazingly well, and heats evenly across the entire surface. It's a 6 quart pot, so you can fit just about anything inside. 


It's also heavy, even when it's empty. We recommend using both hands when lifting it and sitting the lid down when you're taking it off to stir or season. 


As far as cleaning goes, we left cooked our Red Wine Braised Short Ribs in this and it was quite a mess afterwards. We left it to soak for a couple of hours and after that, clean-up was a breeze.


Overall, we HIGHLY recommend purchasing one. The only thing we would change about this pot is the handle. It is only rated up to 400 degrees, so we're planning on switching it out with a stainless steel knob.


Four Thumbs Up!

Kitchen Knives

If you enjoy cooking, you need good knives. You need to take care of your good knives. We have a set of Chicago Cutlery knives (not exactly the ones pictured above) that Zack invested in before we started dating 4 years ago. They still do their job well and we will probably have them around for years to come. We're kind of attached to them.

You don't have to go out and buy the most expensive set of knives out there. There are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for kitchen knives.

1. Is the steel of the knife forged in one piece all the way through the handle? It should be. Don't waste your time on a knife that isn't.

2. Is the knife weighted properly and fit well in your hand? The knife should feel comfortable for you to hold, and shouldn't be overly heavy at the base. 

3. If purchasing a block of knives, is there a sharpener or honing case? You want to sharpen your knives regularly. If the knife sharpener isn't included (which it should be if you're purchasing the block) pick one up.

The Mix 'n Chop

Earlier this year, we discovered the mix n' chop. If you read our blog with any regularity, you'll realize that we brown a lot of ground meats. This amazing little tool has made our lives much easier. If you need to break up ground beef, pork, sausage, turkey, chicken - anything - you should have one of these. It makes quick work of breaking up the meat and allows you to move on to prepping other things.


We bought ours through Pampered Chef. You can find others, but we can't attest to their handiness. We realize this is the second plug for Pampered Chef, and no, we don't sell it on the side, we just like the Pampered Chef one because it has these handy pinwheel shaped blades that really chop the meat up. Plus, it's nylon, so you can use it on any pan without worrying about scratching your cookware. And, it's dishwasher safe, which is always helpful!


Four thumbs up!

The Flat Whisk

Today we're highlighting one of our favorite tools - the flat whisk. If you ever deglaze a pan, this kitchen tool is a must. Yes, a regular whisk will do the job, but the flat whisk really gets in the edges of the pan and gets all of the good bits of flavor off the bottom. It also does a wonderful job with making the roux for gravy or sauces like hollandaise. We're huge fans of tools that make things easier in the kitchen, and this tool definitely delivers.


We have a silicone coated flat whisk, which is great because the sound of metal on metal sets Michelle's teeth on edge. It also protects your non-stick pans from scratching.


We give the flat whisk four thumbs up.

The Newest Addition to our Kitchen: The Tagine

We've been talking about getting a tagine for ages, but weren't sure if we would use it enough to justify the cost.

Zack & I ran across this beauty at a rummage sale a while back. It was $2.00. We couldn't pass it up.

So, what exactly is a tagine?

The traditional tagine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving.

Thanks, Wikipedia, for that succinct definition.

We're excited to test it out, but we may wait until the cooler months of the year, since it requires oven cooking for an extended period of time. You never can tell with us, though. We may try it out tomorrow. It may just get cold enough her in the Midwest to justify cranking the oven on!