By now, most of us have been deluged with a variety of television infomercials hawking the latest kitchen inventions: “wonder” pots that strain pasta, doohickeys that slice avocados, thingamajigs that pit cherries.
Maybe some of them are useful, but experts say others offer more hype than substance. With a little guidance, cooks can find more durable gadgets to make mincing, slicing, mixing or grating easier and improve a dish’s presentation, texture or flavor.
Before adding to your arsenal, consider your needs. Perhaps your cooking incorporates lots of sauces, which require pureeing softened vegetables. Maybe you’re slicing and dicing on a regular basis, or constantly grating nutmeg, garlic and cheese, or zesting fruits.
Ted Cizma, executive chef of Elaine restaurant in Naperville, says that “the basic cooking process remains fairly rudimentary.
“We really haven’t reinvented the wheel in terms of food preparation,” Cizma said. “You’ve still got to use a lot of basic tools.
“There have been some improvements in ergonomics. Things are more heat conductive. But in terms of technology, a guy with some knife skills and an 8-inch blade can do an awful lot.”
But retailers know there is a market for new gadgets. Tools add “a fun fashion element” to the kitchen, according to Williams-Sonoma’s director of merchandising/culinary content Donata Maggipinto, who said bright color is this year’s big trend in tools such as spatulas and equipment such as mixers.
Colors may be cool for decorating a home kitchen, but professional chefs need the real deal when it comes to preparing the dishes that keep customers coming back.
High-end gear
For the serious cook, several professional-grade gadgets may be worth your money. Professional-grade, cooks say, is about more than size: It’s about power, quality of material, ease of operation and cleaning, and dependability.
“Frankly, they are usually tools that can be dropped without breaking them,” said chef Sandy D’Amato, who operates the Coquette Cafe and Sanford restaurant in Milwaukee. “You’ll find stainless steel, for instance, in food processors, rather than plastic. Pans are a heavier gauge, and motors are more powerful.
“If you plan to buy what the professionals use, you have to balance the cost against the labor the tool will save you.”
Warren Herzog, owner of a commercial kitchen store, Herzog Store Fixtures, in Chicago, agrees that professional quality is a “weighty” issue.
“You’re talking about steel bowls, nothing with glass or Pyrex, knives without plastic handles, and just a lot more weight,” Herzog said.
Mark Facklam, former executive chef at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, says he doesn’t use trendy gadgets while teaching, calling them “something bought at Christmas by home enthusiasts.”
“We want students to learn to use the basic tools,” he said. “There are some things that are becoming popular again, like the mandoline, which I don’t consider a gizmo–I’ve had one for 37 years.”
Of course, one cook’s gadget can be another’s basic necessity.
D’Amato’s tip for those interested in high-end gear is simple: Ask the chefs at your favorite restaurants about the tools they use in their own homes. Chances are, you’ll be buying a high-quality tool without overdoing it.
Northwestern Cutlery on Lake Street is a favorite among professionals and homemakers looking for anything from knife sharpening services to the latest kitchen tool. Manager Marty Petlicki believes the right tool can benefit the executive chef or the home cook.
“Chefs would be the first ones to tell you to keep things simple,” Petlicki said. “You don’t want to overdo it and feel like you need everything. One benefit a tool may offer the chef is it allows him to do ordinary tasks quicker and spend more time on his creativity. And for the home cook, it often means being able to make things look like they do in the restaurant.”
Tools can never make up for a lack of basic cooking and cutting skills. But Cizma and others suggest a few favorites that will make life easier and add to what Cizma calls “economy of movement:” completing a task in one or two steps instead of three, four or more.
Chef favorites
Pat Cassata, owner and chef of Eclectic restaurant in Barrington, likes the mandoline for a variety of dishes made at Eclectic, such as Vietnamese coleslaw or a red onion salsa.
Foods are passed over the mandoline’s sharp metal blade, which cuts them into shapes ranging from waffle cuts to julienne strips. Cassata says the tool makes “awesome” fries and onion rings–even home-style potato chips. It sells for about $130.
“This is the first tool beyond a chef’s knife I had anything to do with,” he said. “There are two sides to the cutting surface, one with a smooth blade, the other with teeth for making waffle cuts. I use the Bron brand, made in France. It folds up in a drawer when it is not in use, and it’s a time-saving, efficient piece.”
Cassata said the mandoline provides a number of enhancements to his dishes by adding finesse to the food, producing a uniform appearance and increasing opportunities for creativity.
“The uses for it are endless. The more you use it, the more fun it is, and I’m always thinking up new ways to use it,” Cassata said.
At Northwestern Cutlery, Petlicki sells a plastic-frame Japanese mandoline for about $30, and says its price and weight make it a popular alternative to its heavier and larger metal brother.
“Caterers like to use them because they’re so portable, and they take up very little room in the home kitchen,” he said.
Cizma’s choice is the immersion blender, or what he likes to call “a food blender on a stick.” A rotating rod accepts various blades that can chop, cream or mix whatever is in the stockpot. Commercial versions run from about 16 inches up to 4 feet in length.
“The one I use is called the Dynamic Blending Stick, and I can blend things in a 40-gallon stockpot,” Cizma said. “I started using one three years ago. Before this came along, we used to have to transfer 15 to 20 loads of stock or sauce into smaller pots so we could blend things.
“I use it for sauces, fresh creams for finishing desserts, mashed potatoes and so forth. We hold our sauces here all night, and as they evaporate or reduce, we’ll have to add stock or butter, and the ‘stick’ helps us maintain the same consistency.”
Smaller immersion blenders are more practical for home use and are made by manufacturers such as Krups and Braun. They range in price from $50-$60.
John Manion, executive chef and owner of Mas in Chicago, likes using a chinois (an ultra-fine strainer, also called a China cap, about $20-$25) and the super sharp Microplane grater-zester (about $15) for grating citrus zest and other foods.
“We don’t use a lot of gizmos here. Our food is kind of rustic, but there are certain dishes where these two tools are indispensable,” Manion said. “After a while, you wonder what people did without these things. If any of the tools I’ve mentioned broke, I’d have to try and replace them the same day.”
A house specialty, a shrimp and lobster bisque, gets its rich flavor from a lobster-shell stock. The chinois’ mesh is fine enough to remove any bits of pulverized shell.
“Tools allow me to do things in the restaurant that improve the presentation and ease preparing the food,” Manion said. “I’ll use the chinois for stocks and sauces and people will ask, ‘How is it this is so smooth?'”
He also likes the preciseness of the Microplane graters compared to ordinary graters:
“If I want to make a fine zest or larger, they have a selection of zesters that will do that for me. I find they also are more precise in terms of getting just the colored rind that you are looking for and leaving behind the bitter pith.” The graters are patterned after wood rasps.
Manion and other chefs agree that even the most basic of tools can be vital in the kitchen.
“There is no such thing as having too many wooden spoons or sets of tongs,” Manion said.
Remember that at its core, preparing food remains basic.
Using the tools
Want to try your hand at a few dishes using popular tools? Here are some recipes from local chefs and the Tribune test kitchen.
Shaved root vegetable slaw with seared tuna
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Marinating time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Chef Pat Cassata of Eclectic restaurant in Barrington uses a mandoline to slice the vegetables paper thin for this salad.
1 each: carrot, small celery root, golden beet
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
4 tuna steaks
1. Set mandoline with small blades for very thin slicing. Slice carrot, celery root and beet by sliding down the mandoline; place vegetables in mixing bowl. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste.
2. Dissolve sugar in sherry vinegar in another mixing bowl; add thyme. Pour mixture over vegetables; marinate 2 hours.
3. Heat skillet or grill pan over high heat; season tuna with remaining salt and pepper to taste. Place tuna in skillet; grill tuna to rare, 3 minutes on each side, or to desired doneness. Slice tuna into thin slices with a knife. Place individual portions of vegetables on plates; place tuna on top of vegetables.
Nutrition information per serving:
325 calories, 26% calories from fat, 9 g fat, 2.4 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 44 g protein, 1.8 g fiber
Spicy corn chowder
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ted Cizma of Elaine restaurant offers this recipe that utilizes the stick emulsifier or stick blender.
3 tablespoons corn oil
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
Kernels from 4 ears of corn
2 poblano peppers, 1 diced, 1 roasted, see note
1 each, diced: onion, celery rib, carrot, dried chipotle chili
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons each: cumin powder, chili powder, curry powder, red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream or half-and-half
1 red bell pepper, seeded, diced
1 small bunch each, chopped: cilantro, chives, basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1. Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy stockpot. Reserve 2 tablespoons of corn kernels for garnish. Add remaining kernels to pot. Add the diced poblano, onion, celery, carrot, chipotle, garlic, shallot, cumin, chili powder, curry and red pepper flakes to the pot. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are softened, 5 minutes; add wine. Cook until wine is almost evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in broth. Reduce heat to low; simmer 1 hour.
2. Process the mixture with an immersion blender until it smooths into a thick soup, but not a puree. Stir in the cream, red bell pepper, cilantro, chives, basil and the roasted poblano. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, garnish with whole corn kernels.
Note: To roast a poblano pepper, heat a heavy skillet over high heat. Add pepper; cook, pressing down and turning to char skin on all sides. Remove; let cool. Dice.
Nutrition information per serving:
315 calories, 64% calories from fat, 24 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 865 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 6 g protein, 5 g fiber
Blackberry port wine sauce
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 3/4 cup
Developed in the Tribune test kitchen, this sauce is delicious served with grilled steak, duck or as a glaze over a pork roast. Blueberries or cherries may be substituted for the blackberries.
1/2 pint blackberries
1 cup port
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) beef broth
1 shallot, diced
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Heat blackberries, port, broth, shallot and honey to boiling in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Place mixture into chinois fitted over medium saucepan. Force mixture through chinois with wooden spoon, pressing well to remove all blackberry seeds. Stir butter and salt into sauce.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
30 calories, 61% calories from fat, 2 g fat, 1.2 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 301 mg sodium, 2.5 g carbohydrate, 0.3 g protein, 0.7 g fiber
Sources for information and equipment
For more information on quality tools, check out “The New Cook’s Catalogue” (Knopf, $35), which reviews more than 1,000 pieces of kitchen equipment.
Locally, you can find tools (from commercial-quality knives to the latest in Microplane graters) in these stores:
Chef’s Mart, 9685 W. 55th St., Countryside, 708-354-1265 or www.piercechefmart.com
Edward Don Outlet, 2525 N. Elston Ave., 773-489-7739
Gold Brothers, 1140 W. Madison St., 312-666-1520
Herzog Store Fixture Co., 1034 W. Madison St., 312-666-2600
Northwestern Cutlery, 810 W. Lake St., 312-421-3666
Sur La Table, 52-54 E. Walton St., 312-337-0600 or surlatable.com
Williams-Sonoma, with stores throughout the Chicago area, has a catalog, 800-541-2233, and Web site, williams-sonoma.com.
— D.S.
