Wednesday, October 5, 2011

...and Schnitzel with Noodles!

I loved Chef Brett's post about her favorite things (and I totally have baker's envy for that beater blade)! It inspired me to post about my favorite kitchen gadgets too--and while they don't involve schnitzel, they kind of have something to do with noodles...









I love my small-volume liquid measuring cup. I use this whenever I am making dressings or marinades from a recipe and any other time I need to measure any liquid volume in teaspoons, tablespoons, or less than 2 ounces.









My girlfriends bought me my microplane grater for my birthday years ago and I use it any time I need to zest citrus or grate chocolate. Sometimes I'll use it for garlic or fresh ginger when making soup or stirfry.





Chef Brett introduced me to this favorite: a digital probe thermometer. I use it to make this:




Lime-honey-blackberry glazed pork tenderloin... And any other meat I'm roasting or grilling (like Earl Grey and Lemon-Brined BBQ'd Thanksgiving Turkey)! It has pre-set temps for various meats and levels of doneness and you can also set it for any temp you need. This is indispensable in my kitchen--I use it at least weekly.




For years I wanted a mandonline slicer and I finally bought myself this $40 version last year. I was never sure if I would use it enough to justify the storage space, but the answer is a definite yes! This inexpensive one works fine, but I fantasize about this one made by Kai... Drool...

I told you there would be noodles--my favorite use for this tool is to make this:




Zucchini "noodles" sauteed in butter and olive oil with garlic, onions, chicken, Parmesan, and herbs. So tasty! It is also great for making my latest favorite indulgence: three cheese scalloped potatoes. There really is nothing healthy about this dish but it is amazingly delicious and I reserve it for that 10% of the time when I don't worry about what I'm eating (since I try to make healthier choices 90% of the time).





Speaking of unhealthy choices, I use this favorite gadget--my immersion blender--to make this:





BACON JAM!! Chef Brett and I made this recipe together last month and it's phenomenal! Again, so not healthy but it feeds the foodie's soul so that's healthy in a whole other way, right? I also use my immersion blender to make salsa, peanut sauce, soups--any time the recipe says "transfer to blender" I get to skip that step (as well as the blender lid and hot food flying all over the kitchen) thanks to this wonderful thing. It even has a mini food processor attachment that's great for chopping nuts, herbs, garlic and ginger paste...

So, those are a few of my favorite things--what are yours?

Dr. Crystal

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