So I really wanted a roasted bell pepper recently. And ok, I don’t have a gas stove (grrr) and I didn’t feel like throwing the pepper in the oven for awhile. So I decided to have fun in the kitchen. I love to cook, so why not play more. The pictures explain it all. I had every single fan on in my kitchen and brought in two others and had them on at top speed. Also had several windows open. I did not want the fire alarm to go off or any neighbors to wonder. In the end, the pepper was perfect!
There are way too many kitchen tools out there, some of which you never use. But, sometimes you do find some that are great. Got this avocado one in my stocking a couple years back that I love. There are 3 sets of ‘teeth’ to help with cutting — long, a bit wide on the bottom, then small at the top.
You can use the small one to puncture the skin and start cutting the avocado in half. Then you can use the long side to continue the cutting process.
I will then usually slice the avocado crossways (both ways to make cubes) while it’s in the skin. I’ll make this happen with both the small end with the 3 teeth, then go onto the long side (I seriously just have fun with this thing — sometimes I’ll use the wide bottom). I’ll chop with the wide bottom if I don’t want a clean cut.
Then you can use the wide bottom to scoop the avocado/good stuff from the skin to start making guac. Or, to remove it for whatever other purpose you have for the avocado.
The tool then works well to mix the avocado if you’re making guac — as a spoon or masher-like thing.
(yes, the teeth are facing away from what I was cutting, but it was all for photographic effects)
Kitchen gadgets can be so much fun! I went to a business lunch and there were door prizes. I never win anything. Most of the giveaways were gift cards, anyway, and as nice as essential cash is (they were Visa cards), I knew I wouldn’t win. Well, suddenly I heard my name. But, I didn’t get a GC. The stars aligned and I won the kitchen gift bag. The rep giving this one away had been to Sur La Table and had a field day. WOW! I was in luck. So, I got all sorts of new toys that I would totally never go buy for myself but loved getting.
The one I’ve played with the most is the Berry Pincher (that’s the formal name I give it). The manufacturer, Chef’n, calls it the StemGem. You can remove the leaves from strawberries and clean all sort of other things.
You just plunge the sharp teeth of this thing right in the top of the berry.
You give it a little twist.
And yank it out. The motion makes the picture a bit fuzzy! Sorry. The website has better pics.
The other great toys I got in my bag were:
A Kuhn Rikon Pepper Mill with Ratchet Handle — so cool with the handle!
A Joseph Joseph Rocker Garlic Masher — SMASH! Great fun, you can also use it to get rid of the odor in your hands.
And the last toy, by the same producer as the strawberry toy, I got the Zipstrip Herb Stripper. I haven’t actually gotten around to using this yet. I needed it the other day and of course was cooking in somebody else’s kitchen when I was looking for it!!
So if you want so new additions to your kitchen, consider checking these out.
The kitchen is my playground. My parents brought my brother and me up in the land filled with spoons, forks, knives, blenders, mixers (go KitchenAid Stand Mixer), stoves (gas is the only acceptable type), BBQs & more. And, we had to eat everything. I have therefore learned not to waste anything. In order to not waste, I love just making stuff…testing. I know various flavors and what can and can’t, or shouldn’t, go together.
I have some fresh herbs left from a dinner last week that I don’t want to them go bad/waste. What to do with them? Thick pesto-like dip, cheese-free is what I came up with. So, ingredients I pulled from various areas of the kitchen, along with the essential mini-prep food processor:
All quantities are ‘some’ — who really measures? It’s all about taste!
-fresh basil
-fresh flat leaf parsley
-1 lemon (ok, measured, but still could be big, could be small)
-garlic — I cheated and used stuff from the jar
-walnuts
-almonds
-S&P
-a great Penzey’s spice with lemony-Italian flavors
-olive oil
Blended, sampled, added more stuff, blended, sampled. Good! Now, will get final reviews after it’s been in the fridge for about 24 hours. Plan to serve with chips, tomatoes and/or mushrooms for dipping.
Testing…1,2,3…Testing.
After some suggestions from friends, I decided to finally start a blog for Mel’s Mosaic. It won’t be overly frequent, but it will go from deep cooking thoughts to new recipes I find that I’d like to share. What prompted to me finally put this together tonight? Lactose intolerance, or the best thing I’ve heard “Lactards” — I will only accept that name since I am one. I was making Mocha Rum Balls and Orange Cream cookies tonight and could not have a single bite. I was worse than Movay, the Food Lab, drooling (not in the bowl of dough), just wishing I could have a bite.
Bake on…
Mel's Mosaic 