The Cooks Kitchen

It's time to pause for an inventory.

There are some essential tools and basic ingredients a good cook needs to have in the kitchen. These are suggestions that make it possible to almost always prepare a meal.
Aside from the standard pots and pans, you need:
· A gravy separator
· Some “disposable” non stick frying pans. Most don’t stay non stick forever so buy the cheap ones in the supermarket or discount store and toss them when the surface gets frustrating. Try to keep one hidden and use it only for lower heat cooking, like frying eggs, and it will never lose it’s no-stick ability.
· Heavy duty kitchen shears for everything from cutting meat to snipping herbs.
· A food processor: many good recipes call for lots of chopping and the processor does the work.
· A good blender, it should have the power to chop ice (when placed in the blender with liquid).
· The right cleaning tools. A plastic scrubber is essential, avoid abrasive cleaning products on your good pans they will “pit” the surface. A brush with a long handle to get into bud vases and drink storage containers. Also, if you have copper, do not clean it with anything but copper cleaner, a paste type is best. The same goes for silver and brass.
· One of those rubber discs for opening jars.
· Kitchen forceps (a large pair of tweezers), for putting small garnishes on anything, and reaching to the bottom of small jars.
· Fresh Curly Parsley. It keeps 3 or 4 weeks in a plastic bag and the dried stuff is not an acceptable substitute in a recipe that calls for fresh. This is a very mild herb, use it freely.
· Good, brown mustard, Gulden’s or Dijon. Don’t use that yellow stuff in these recipes even if you do like it on your hot dog.
· Plain, nonfat yogurt. It can be used to add moisture to a recipe, to thicken a sauce and to mellow out a soup. It is sometimes a marinade ingredient.
· Non or low fat cottage cheese. It’s the secret in tasty no fat mashed potatoes and an emergency source of protein.
· Butter, olive oil or canola oil—what do I use? Don’t bother with margarine, its flavor is inferior to butter and it’s no better for you. If you like the taste of olive oil, the richest tasting is “extra virgin”, it’s made from the first pressing of the olives. “Light” olive oil refers to a lighter taste, not less calories. All oils have the same number of calories: 120 per tablespoon. Canola is basically tasteless, therefore best for baking, or whenever you do not want the olive oil flavor. Both oils are sources of monounsaturated fat, a little bit of which is essential in a healthy diet.
· Fresh lemons. A dash of fresh lemon juice zips up many recipes, and a squeeze enhances the flavor of many veggies (try it on spinach and brussel sprouts). There is no substitute.
· A TUBE of tomato paste. Many recipes call for 1T of tomato paste, and it should not be skipped. Once the tube is open it will keep in the refrigerator for a long time. A squeeze of tomato paste enhances beef and pork stews and gravies, giving them a richer (not tomato-ey) taste.
· Good fresh garlic. Buy cloves that are firm to the touch, don’t buy more than you need for a week or two.