Food for Thought with Alex Bielak- Kewl Kitchen, Part 2

Kewl Kitchen Kit – Part 2

In the last column I promised to write about some of the kitchen gear I’ve had the opportunity to use recently.

At the SIAL food marketplace held recently in Toronto, among the myriad products the Cookina stood out. A free sample of this re-usable, 100% non-stick alternative to aluminum foil, parchment and wax paper was immediately put to use by the bakers in my family. Good to 500°F, it is one of a line of several related products and available online, or at local Metro stores.

Though I have a full complement of pots and pans, two of the new Nordic Ware line of cast aluminum enamel-coated Traditions cookware I mentioned in Part 1 have quickly become favourites for certain tasks. Manufactured in the US since the mid-1940s (and available at 100 Sears locations in Canada), they obviously don’t hold the heat as well my (far heavier) cast iron standbys, but they do heat up faster. They also require no seasoning and because of the “texture fuse non-stick interior” cleanup has been a snap.

I used the 4 ½ quart braising pan to make 3 racks of ribs: Having earlier applied a dry rub I popped the ribs
in the pan without further ado. They then went into a low oven for several hours. With literally no attention beyond a quick peek to ensure all was well, the meat came out succulent and juicy. I’ve since made meatloaf to similar effect and have used the small (3 qt.) Dutch oven for quick sautéing of onions and making sauces.

I also used a Nordic Ware chicken leg griller and Jalapeño roaster in my charcoal barbeque. Once again cleanup was easy as pie. (Speaking of which Nordic Ware kindly also sent me a solidly-built pie plate and a couple of cookie sheets that I will let my bakers loose on this weekend. Given my experience to date, I expect they will perform flawlessly too.)

Almost more than any other item in the kitchen, a knife is a near-extension of the cook. Among my go-to knives for slicing roasts thinly is a long-bladed Cutco knife that my wife and I received over 20 years ago as a wedding gift. Since we do not use it day to day, the knife has stayed surgically sharp and we have never had to resort to the company’s “Forever guarantee”.

I was interested to see Cutco’s range of products (including 5-ply cookware) at a recent event in Toronto. I liked some a lot, like the trimmer/utility knife we ended up being gifted with. I’ve been using it as a steak knife, I suspect to the slight horror of Rhancha Connell, the charming National Sales Director for Canada.

However I found the Chef’s knives less comfortable and nimble than my own. This mirrors my experience with the slicer. It came with another knife I have never been happy coming to grips with, literally.

Similar to Nordic Ware, Cutco has also been operating for over 60 years. Its sales force was historically recruited from among college students but they are branching out: you too can now host a demo or become part of their sales force. See www.cookingwithcutco.ca for more information.

Penultimately, in FFT20 (Object of Desire #1) I fantasised about Santa bringing me a Thermomix, essentially a two-thousand dollar Culinary Swiss Army Knife that chops, mixes, heats and stirs among other functions. Thanks to a friend who was kind enough to lend me his, I got to road test this beast a couple of months back.

It is certainly a robust and wonderfully engineered piece of equipment. I used it to make soup, turn dried porcini literally to dust (making a wonderful seasoning for steaks), and (noisily) make great smoothies. I followed their recipe for risotto and had to rescue a soupy mess. For the investment required I was unconvinced of the value, particularly since I already have most of the appliances such a machine is supposed to replace.

I subsequently met two ardent Thermomix advocates Valerie Lugonja, and Helene Meurer at the Food Bloggers of Canada conference. The former writes the “A Canadian Foodie” blog and is a sales rep for Thermomix: the latter is a self-professed enthusiast who runs an unofficial fan site called Superkitchenmachine. Their collective enthusiasm (and wisdom) has me persuaded that the Thermomix, once one has learned how to really use all of its capabilities (and read the instructions!), might be worth space in a new or downsized kitchen, particularly one with limited storage.

Other companies see the potential value of such “all in one” machines. Some frankly seem like cheaper knock-offs, while others are Transformer-like, coming with all sorts of attachments. Marvel at the shiny (at $2K also very pricey) Kenwood MK080 Kitchen Chef to see what I mean. I’d be interested in a longer test drive of the Thermomix, and taking it head to head with of some of the other offerings in the future.

Finally Cedarlane Culinary located in Burlington have begun to sell molecular cooking equipment and supplies. This may sound intimidating, and some of it is certainly pro-grade and expensive. However the chemicals integral to executing some of the techniques are available at reasonable cost and in small quantities. (Several years ago I tried to purchase a specific powder, and the only source I was able to find indicated the minimum quantity I could buy was a skid!)

If I did not already own my own sous-vide (think boil-in-the-bag on healthy and tasty steroids) set-up, I’d definitely be looking at the Sous-Vide Supreme machine which is fully described on Cedarlane’s website. Having spent an evening at their facility with enthusiastic advocate, and Culinary Division Manager, Dustin Skeoch I found the machine dead easy to use.

Also fun was the Smoking Gun, another piece of kit that can add a kewl factor to dinner. Or enliven a cocktail for that matter: I smoked a Bloody Mary and my wife insisted on calling it a Saint Joan!

And with that I’m back to my stove.

To see more pictures, click here. 

Alex (Alex can be reached at fft@thehamiltonian.info ) or on twitter @AlexBielak

Food for Thought logo, designed and kindly donated by Ninka Bielak. Ninka can be reached at ninka.bielak@gmail.com.