Comments on: Tom Ford Italian Cypress & The Ten Party

By: Amarie

Amarie — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:00:47 +0000

My sympathy has no bounds. The utter sacrilege seems even worse when well meaning.

By: sherobin

sherobin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:47:04 +0000

A huge, heavy stockpot, a heavy dutch oven, good knives (something everyone can agree on), plastic (only) cutting boards in several sizes. For pans, I’ve gone to all restaurant quality (not fancy or horrendously expensive) stainless steel. They are just as good as the pricey ones, IMO. I’ve also switched from wooden spoons to nylon, because they are easy care and durable. Other essentials include: a set of small bowls or ramekins to use for mise en place, a coffee grinder dedicated exclusively to spices, and a generous lidded container for kosher salt because a salt shaker or grinder just isn’t too practical for cooking.

By: moongrrl

moongrrl — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:25:56 +0000

Yes! Nothing beats a microplane for quickly zesting citrus, grating hard cheeses, or grating nutmegs.

I love gadgets that have more than one use.

By: moongrrl

moongrrl — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:23:01 +0000

I’m jumping on the good knife bandwagon and adding a hand-held, idiot-proof sharpener to my recommendation. A knife is only as good as it’s edge and most accidents are caused by dull knives. Take it from me and my long-suffering fingers.

My other must-have multi-taskers for my tiny apartment kitchen:

Cutting “sheets”, you know, those large foldy ones that replace boards. They go anywhere, cover a lot of space (if you are messy like me) and you can use them to funnel what you’ve cut right into the pan. I don’t know how I ever lived without them. Seriously.

A large nonstick skillet. A cheap one, since the teflon won’t last forever. If I spend too much, I would mind pitching it. IIRC, Elton Brown doesn’t recommend spending over 10 bucks for one (neither does America’s Test Kitchen).

A couple of sizes of “universal” lids. That way, I never have to go lid hunting (and those cheap non-stick skillets don’t tend to come with them).

I have a thing for my wooden scraper spoon. Nothing works better for breaking up ground meat while it’s browning and it’s not perforated, so it moves to being a good stirring spoon with ease. On top of that, it’s teflon safe. Woo!

One of those Chef’n pepper grinders that has a magnet on the back of it. I keep it on the hood over my stove, so it’s always handy without taking up more space.

By: Flora

Flora — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:58:00 +0000

Well, of course a good cast iron skillet, and a heavy-duty food processor (my Cuisinart is over 20 years old and going strong) but something that is often overlooked is a really good strainer for pasta and vegetables, etc., it is essential. I have had a Tupperware version, with a long handle to avoid steam burns, for ages. Another good choice is a really sturdy metal one with feet, so it can sit and you don’t have to hold it at all while you pour your pasta into it. If you are going to be cooking all that homemade pasta, you will need it!