Some might call a discussion of mixing bowls insignificant because they may think of them as an afterthought when it comes to kitchenware. But since they’re some of the most used items in my kitchen, I think of them like a good hammer.

When I was in college I worked my share of construction jobs, and when you’re going to spend a sizable portion of your day pounding nails, you get a good hammer. Mine is a Stanley 20 oz. Rip Claw SteelMaster. It’s the kind of hammer you can use to drive a nail with one strike. It’s also tough enough to do some serious damage when deconstruction is called for. Solid construction, good heft, comfortable grip. I don’t drive that many nails anymore, but I know I’ve got a great tool handy when I need it. That sums up what I look for in a mixing bowl.

We have two sets of stackable Pyrex mixing bowls, but my favorites by far–and another item in my Top 10 Kitchen Favorites– are the 6-, 4-, and 2-quart brushed stainless steel set from Pampered Chef. Pampered Chef sells some great stuff, most of which is right up there in quality with OXO. Their products are well-made, well-designed, and durable. Plus, they usually have that extra little design feature that makes them better than average. (I should note that I don’t sell Pampered Chef and I’m not shilling for anyone who does; I just like their products.)

These mixing bowls come with lids and pour spouts and have a silicone bottom and a padded thumb hole to steady the bowl when mixing or pouring. They also have internal measure marks for quick volume reference. They are at home in the fridge or freezer and are  dishwasher-safe.

I think I like the overall design best. They are deep for their size which makes vigorous mixing mess-free and the spouts and thumb holes are ergonomic and efficient. My favorite feature is the silicone bottom. The bowls stay where you put them and are very stable whether you’re using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer.

The lids on these bowls are also a plus. With glass or ceramic bowls it’s not much of a challenge to get your favorite plastic wrap to stick when you want to cover something tightly and put it in the fridge, but with metal it’s sometimes tough to get a good seal. The lids on these bowls have a lip that extends up instead of down so the lid seats itself on the inside of the bowl, not over the outside edge. The lip is also molded to conform to the pour spout keeping spills at bay.

People might look at you funny when you wax philosophical about how a good mixing bowl is like a good hammer. Maybe that’s just me, but a good set of mixing bowls can make any cooking endeavor easier and more fun. So throw in a little Bob Marley and stir it up, little darlin’!

When I cook, I’m often reminded of a bit that comedian Richard Jeni used to do about high-brow TV cooking shows: “Today we’re going to make a massively complicated dish using ingredients you don’t have, utensils you can’t afford, in a kitchen bigger than your whole apartment.” It’s a funny bit, and for the most part–thankfully–it’s an exaggeration.

What isn’t an exaggeration is the staggering variety of cookware, bake ware, utensils, appliances, accessories, gizmos, gadgets, and cutlery available today. I don’t have a large kitchen or much extra storage space, so I need to keep it simple by zeroing in on the things that offer the most utility.

One such utilitarian item is my stock pot; it’s one of the best kitchen investments I’ve made and occupies a spot high on my list of Top 10 Kitchen Favorites. I have a Calphalon commercial hard anodized 12-quart pot, but any high quality model will do you just fine. Stock pot sizes vary, too, ranging from 6-quart way up to 80-quart commercial sizes. For me, 12-quarts offers a lot of flexibility. It’s ideal for soup, stew, chili, pasta, corn on the cob, spaghetti sauce, lobster, corned beef, and of course, stock. Its heavy-gauge aluminum also stands up to deep frying. Metal utensils won’t harm the surface and it’s oven-safe to 700 degrees F.

There are many large pots you can buy in varying sizes and dimensions, but what makes a stock pot a stock pot? Ideally, you want a heavy-gauge pot–or at least one with a heavy bottom–that is tall and narrow. A heavy gauge isn’t as critical for a stock pot as it is for a sauce or sauté pan, but the gauge contributes to heat retention and transfer, which is important for low and slow cooking. The tall, narrow shape facilitates low simmering and low evaporation allowing heated liquids to move up through the food, extracting maximum flavor.

(…the aromatics I added to my veal stock this week…)

I have only one negative thing to say about my Calphalon pot: it has to be washed by hand, which, in the long run, is a minor inconvenience when compared with how well this pot performs on the stove and in the oven. And at around $70.00, this pot is a bargain.

If you read any reviews of this particular pot, you may notice some negative comments aimed at pots made in China. Mine was made in China, and I can tell you that it is of no lesser quality than Calphalon cookware I have that was made in the US. Food does not stick provided that the pot is properly heated and you use proper cooking liquids. The hard anodized finish stands up to anything, including acidic foods like tomatoes, and is easy to clean.

A good stock pot is a piece of cookware every cook should have. It truly is a pot for every kitchen.

We all have favorite things; things we feel we simply couldn’t live without. Things so comfortable, so thoughtfully designed, so ingeniously engineered, that we never fail to marvel at them or at least feel really good about using them. Silicone cookware and utensils do that for me. Every time I use them I think to myself, “This is soooo cool!”, and that’s why silicone cookware has a place in my Top 10 Kitchen Favorites.

Silicones aren’t new, in fact they’ve been around for years and have a wide variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant, nonstick and rubberlike, they combine the temperature and chemical resistance of glass with the versatility of plastics.

Aquariums of every size and shape use silicone sealants to join glass plates. Silicone grease is used as a lubricant for brake components in automobiles. It’s also used as insulation in spark plug wires to prevent electrical interference.

Liquid silicone can be used as a dry cleaning solvent and electronic components are sometimes protected by encasing them in silicone to protect against mechanical and electrical shock, radiation and vibration.

Silicones are used in harsh conditions such as in space. They are ingredients in some leave-in hair conditioner products, used in bandages and dressings, in breast implants and a variety of other medical uses. Juggler’s love silicone balls because of high bounce back, which allows for easier bounce juggling. It’s also used in baby bottle nipples and pacifiers.

Silicone sealants and caulks are widely used in the construction industry to seal gaps and joints in buildings and in plumbing. What bathroom in America hasn’t seen a little silicone sealant around the bathtub or shower enclosure?

Professional and commercial chefs have been using high-temperature silicone bakeware for years. Some silicone bakeware can go from temperature extremes of -58°F up to 430°F, easily moving straight from freezer to oven. Most silicone utensils are heat resistant to 600°F and safe for non-stick cookware. Some heat resistant utensils are made of nylon, which is heat resistant to 400°F and also non-stick safe.

What’s available in silicone you ask? Baking pans, cake pans, molds, springform pans, loaf pans, muffin pans & cups, ice cube trays, strainers, baking mats, pizza mats, spatulas, spoons, basting brushes, turners, pot holders, lids, cutting boards, funnels, splatter guards, ties and trusses, measuring cups, pie crust shields, handle grips, cup & can grips, oven mits, trivets, whisks…just about anything you can think of.

The OXO Softworks 12-piece kitchen gadget set (that’s what it says on the box!) I got for Christmas contains a mixture of silicone and nylon utensils, all with OXO’s Universal Design philosophy supremely evident. It includes the six pieces you see here (of course, only the tongs are high-temp), plus a silicone basting brush, regular and slotted nylon spoons, large and small nylon turners, and a silicone spatula. I love these tools because they feel great in your hands and they make everything easier to do. With the heat resistance of the silicone and nylon, I never have to worry about performance no matter what I’m cooking. So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.

I also have a Lékué spoon that is very flexible and is actually more like a spatula than a spoon. The silicone stays soft and pliable making scraping and mixing easy and efficient. In fact, because it’s so soft, it’s kind of weird using it in a hot environment. You don’t expect something this soft to withstand such high temps, but polymer chemistry prevails!

Other favorites of mine are my Matfer Exopat silicone baking sheets. Exopat is a laminated sheet of rubberized food-grade silicon reinforced with silicone-based woven fabric that never affects taste. These are FDA and NSF approved and can be used up to 3000 times in temps ranging from -40F to 580F degrees.

What I love about these sheets is that you can use them for ANYTHING: cookies, breads, roasts, poultry, anything that can go in your oven. You may have to adjust baking times a little, but it’s worth the effort. They are also handy to use under your cutting board to prevent it from slipping.  I have two of these in the half sheet pan size, which makes them great for another use: rolling dough and pie crust. Just place your dough ball in between two sheets and roll. No sticking! (Next, I want to try one of the silicone rolling pins.) Cleaning is as easy as shaking them off and rinsing under hot water. I still use parchment paper for some things, but these mats are so versatile it’s hard to imagine doing without them.

Silicone cookware and utensils aren’t expensive, so if you don’t have anything silicone in your kitchen yet, you owe it to yourself to try one or two pieces. Pick yourself up a spatula and a baking mat. You’ll wonder how you got by without them.

We had a terrific Christmas holiday filled with family, food, and fun, and I hope you did, too. Many of the gifts I received this year were–surprise, surprise, surprise–kitchen/food oriented and I’m excited to give them all a try.

First, the books. Along with Michael Ruhlman’s Elements of Cooking and Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here For The Food. I also received Holiday Favorites: The Best of the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library, which has some great recipe ideas for holidays all through the year, and KitchenAid Great Baking and More, which has a surprising variety of recipes prepared using one of my Top Ten Kitchen Favorites, my KitchenAid stand mixer.

In Elements of Cooking, Ruhlman describes, defines, and expounds upon topics and terminology that every cook needs to have in their cooking toolbox. Besides defining hundreds of culinary terms, he writes eight ‘Notes on Cooking’ essays covering knowledge every cook needs to have on a variety of tools and ingredients. His writing on veal stock alone makes the book worth reading.

As I’ve written before, I’m an Alton fan, and I’m Just Here For The Food is an extension of his show. In the opening pages, he writes “I want to understand what makes food tick and how to control the process known as cooking. In that regard I’m more a mechanic than a cook.” This is why his approach resonates so well with me; I’d rather understand my food than follow a recipe. With greater understanding, I’ll have the freedom to play with ingredients and techniques to create good recipes. Brown also espouses the advice of Baron von Rumohr by stressing the three elements of that cooks must learn to control: salt, water, and heat. The deceptive simplicity of this appeals to me and makes this book an interesting read.

To illustrate the varied combinations that can be created using Holiday Favorites, this book lists menu suggestions for New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, a Holiday Buffet, and Christmas. It’s then broken down in the expected course sections like Starters, Main Dishes, Breads, etc. It also contains a section called “Gifts from the Kitchen” which highlights creations you can make and give as gifts during the holidays. It’s fun stuff.

The KitchenAid book is a collection of recipes written especially for the KitchenAid stand mixer and are designed to take full advantage of its power and versatility. It also includes a speed control guide and tips on using different beaters and attachments. The recipes not only include the obvious baking creations like breads, cakes, cookies, and desserts, but also include appetizers, sides, and entreés.

Other gifts included a large expandable strainer that can stand on its own or can straddle the sink, a bamboo cutting board, an Oxo Softworks 12-piece kitchen gadget set (that’s what it says on the box, and I love gadgets), and a chef’s hat. The family also received some gifts: a Cuisinart 7-cup food processor, a four-piece ceramic canister set, and a creme brulee set. I also gave Renée a Wagner Ware cast iron breakfast skillet and a Lodge cast iron corn stick pan. knowing how much I love classes, Renée got me a Tools & Techniques class from the Viking store that we’ll attend together!

While visiting the family on Christmas Day, my mom gave me two Wagner Ware cast iron skillets she found buried in the back of her cupboard; a No. 3 and a No. 5. These will be great for making eggs and baking and roasting in small quantities.

Can’t wait to try everything!

How was your cook’s Christmas?

“Higher than high, feelin’ just right
Call it Heavy Metal”

Sammy Hagar and Jim Peterik probably never imagined that their song “Heavy Metal” would be referenced in a cooking blog, but rock ‘n’ roll and cooking don’t come together any better than when you’re cooking with heavy metal, known far and wide as cast iron. That’s why cast iron skillets are high on my list of Top 10 Kitchen Favorites.

Today’s cast iron cookware is made pretty much the way cast iron has been made for hundreds of years. Well cared for, a good cast iron skillet just might last a hundred years! I recently bought a Griswold No. 9 skillet on ebay that is at least 50 years old and it cooks better than most of the pans I have. As the saying goes, “Old is gold!”

We all know cookware can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be, and cast iron a great example. You can get a cast iron skillet that will last you the rest of your life for under $25. As I’ve gotten more into cooking, I’ve moved away from chemically treated pans for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the danger of potentially harmful fumes. A well-seasoned cast iron pan is nearly as non-stick as any manufactured non-stick pan and will definitely outperform stainless, aluminum, and copper pans. Non-stick pans don’t cook as well, either. “But wait,” you say, “aren’t non-stick pans better for low-fat cooking?” Not necessarily. Cooking at the proper temperature with the right amount of oil or butter will yield better results, tastier food, and less fat than you think. Plus, cooking with cast iron actually adds iron to your diet!

When it comes to cooking proteins, cast iron outperforms almost every other kind of cookware you can name, including cookware costing hundreds of dollars more. As experienced cooks know, you can’t brown properly without preheating your pan. Because cast iron distributes heat evenly, there are fewer, if any, hot spots. In addition, you can move it from stove top to oven with confidence. Sauces and acidic ingredients don’t play as well in the cast iron sandbox. Use stainless steel for those.

Cast iron is great for when you want to get your pan really hot and keep it that way. It’s great for browning, grilling (you can get pans with raised ridges that leave grill marks), and frying. It’s  also great  for Dutch ovens.

Seasoning is by far the biggest fear most people have when it comes to cast iron. Cast iron is porous and rough and unless seasoned properly, your food will definitely stick. Lodge, the only “Made In The USA” cast iron cookware manufacturer, now has a line of pre-seasoned cookware which aims at giving cooks a head start in achieving the right patina for a non-stick surface.

Seasoning and maintenance is actually pretty easy and doesn’t take that much time. Because cast iron is porous and rough, it will absorb oil when heated and, over time, form a smooth, non-stick cooking surface. To season a new pan, wash it well in hot water and dry it. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you warm the pan over low heat on your stove top. Spread a tablespoon of corn, vegetable, or olive oil over the entire surface of the pan using a brush or a paper towel. Make sure there are no pools or excess oil on the surface. It should be a light coating. Put the pan in the over for an hour, then turn off the heat and leave the pan in the oven to cool slowly. When it’s cool, remove it and wipe off any excess. That’s it!

When seasoned, your pan will clean easily with a scouring pad (don’t use steel wool or anything that will damage the seasoning). You can safely use some mild soap without removing the seasoning. Worst case, you’ll have to season it again. I usually just pour a little hot water in the pan and bring it to a boil. When it begins to evaporate just wipe it dry and apply a very thin coating of oil over the surface with a paper towel while it’s still warm. You can also just pour some salt in the pan a use a paper towel to rub it clean.

Don’t be afraid to buy old cast iron. As long as the surface isn’t pitted, any rust can be removed with a wire brush. Then wash and season as described above and you’re ready to go!

Some see cast iron’s weight and care routines as disadvantages. For me, the benefits easily outweigh these small drawbacks. Plus, there’s something cool about cooking with a 50 year old skillet. After all, it’s heavy metal, baby!

This little piggy was in Williamsburg,
This little piggy came home,
This little piggy has two feet,
This little piggy is fun,
And this little piggy holds the spoon.

(Renée made me do it; she said it was cute.)