Cooking tools, food stuff and recipe sites we like. Private for the moment.
Pots, Pans and Tools
You can’t cook without a proper set of tools. Here are some that we reach for all the time.
- Chinese Spider – aka a wok strainer or a food strainer.
- Splatter screens – useful when frying in a shallow skillet in saving your walls and cooktop from an oil bath
- T-fal 12″ Non-stick Skillet – my go-to skillet for almost everything.
- Victorinox Fibrox 8-Inch Chef’s Knife – a great, simple, knife. Non-slip grip is great when your hands get wet or oogy from chicken
Food products we depend upon
Every cook finds food products that work for them every time. Here are a few that we rely upon.
- Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Vegetable Base – great in place of chicken broth when you want to make a dish vegetarian OR in place of water for rice when you want a bit more flavor
- De Cecco Potato Gnocchi – a quick side dish and shelf stable
- Penzeys Spices – there is more to spices than the little plastic vials in the local megamart. Penzeys has stores from coast to coast where you can see and smell spices. Not near a store? Mail order is easy with a low minimum for free shipping.
- Trader Joe’s Frozen Roasted Corn – roasting adds flavor
Recipe Sites
The Internet can be a boon for inspiration. Here are a few sites I return to again and again for recipes and tips.
- America’s Test Kitchen – we subscribe to their Cook’s Illustrated magazine and make heavy use of their website. The annual fee associated with website access is worth it for the ease of finding recipes and the solid advice behind them. My only complaint is I wish the fee for access was inclusive of their other properties such as Cook’s Country.
- Epicurious.com – recipes from Gourmet and bon appetit magazines.
- Goya Recipes – interesting ideas based on cuisine from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America
- Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry – so many fun looking dishes
Last updated: July 4, 2015
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