Right there in the kitchen. In a prominent place on the wall. Next to my measuring spoons. Ready for me to grab at any second. My bright fluorescent green potato peeler.
When André and I started dating, he took one look at my old rusty potato peeler and went straight out and bought me a shiny new Henckels peeler. Didn’t like it. Hard on the hands. Wasn’t sharp enough.
This new one, this green one, I found at a huge kitchen store while on vacation in Seattle. It cost about $3. I occasionally do volunteer work in a restaurant kitchen, and this kind of wide blade peeler is the only kind we use. It’s good for right and left handers, and it’s really, really sharp.
Of course, it’s not only a potato peeler. I think it’s called a vegetable peeler. Carrots. Stalks on tough broccoli.
It has earned its own place on the wall in the kitchen. Right underneath the art.
Subscribers write in >
My last article about “favourite things” was about a bamboo stick [if you want to read this or any cooking letter again, you can get your collection of the first 20 cooking letters here...]. I invited you to tell me about your favourite kitchen gadgets.
Here’s what Roberta (Vancouver, BC) had to say:
“I have the most glorious tool. It is a jar opener my mother bought for me in Hawaii many years ago and I am lost without it. It is basically a bar of wood with a heavy duty plastic loop attached. You fit the loop over the jar lid, then use one end of the bar as a lever against the jar lid which the loop is holding. I have round rubber things that call themselves jar openers, but they only open SOME jars. My little loopy thing opens all jars – have never met a jar yet it would not open. I have not tried those pliers-looking jar openers – but then I don’t need to.
What I also love about my jar opener (and why I never leave home without it when I go out photographing), is that I can use it remove the ball head off my tripod if I need to, and I can use it in reverse to tighten the ball head onto the tripod good and secure as well. There are no metal bits to damage the tripod head and it gets things on much tighter than I could by hand – very important when you are carrying big lenses on a tripod over your shoulder in rough terrain.”
Now, how many of us have a bottle opener that works as a photographer’s tool? How cool is that!
In this series of articles, to mix in with the recipe adventures and the meal planning and the research on the BEST ham and cheese pasta … well, in this series called “These are a few of my favourite things…” I’ll share some of the things that make my life as a cook just that little bit easier. Future articles will include the story of my special Dorothy-goes-to-Kansas chef shoes, and my potato ricer.
OK, what do you think?
Do you have a tool that you think everyone should know about? As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. Just post a response here or you can always reach me at shelley@oneroastchicken.com.
Thanks and bon appetit!
Shelley MacDonald Beaulieu, Owner & Head Chef
www.oneroastchicken.com
The first 20 cooking letters from OneRoastChicken.com > I have created a little booklet of the first 20 emails you’ve received … although I can’t really call it ‘little’ because it’s a whopping 48 pages long. And I can’t call it a ‘booklet’, either, it’s too comprehensive. Think of it more as a reference manual, a time capsule, a perfect snapshot, a collection of ideas and recipes and feedback and full-colour photos. A present from me to you. Visit this page to read all about it…
Yikes, I’m going to have to order more!
but I’ve posted 20 wonderful One Roast Chicken cooking letters on this blog since it first started.
