These are a few of my favourite things … Potato peeler

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

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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…

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Food Treats in Paris

On a recent vacation to Paris, I sat on a sunny patio and wrote lots of notes about all of the great Parisian food bits I had discovered, because I knew I’d want to share them with you once I got home. Here’s part 2:

acations are great for getting us out of our food ruts. You usually can’t eat the same things that you have at home. Of course, the further away from home you go, the bigger the adventure. When travelling, the adventure of eating is as big and as great as you want to make it. I’m not talking about eating live reptiles (or even cooked ones). It’s more about having your mind opened to new possibilities.

Being married to a guy who doesn’t speak English has some advantages. For example, we’ve been to Paris twice, and are currently scheming our way back for a third trip. And when I’m being nosy and want to know what exactly is in the cream sauce served with our lasagne, André can ask for me. The answer is béchamel sauce — remember back when I thought white sauce was yucky?

We had a lot of great Parisian food adventures, both large and small. Here are some of my favourites:

1. The food adventure really began on Air France, where we were served a full meal with real silverware and wine that we didn’t have to pay for! We had an appetizer of marinated chick peas and tuna. Also of note was the free champagne, and the woman who came around with the bread basket (twice) so you could have little baby baguettes with your meal.
2. While there may not be a giant grocery store near your hotel in Paris, you will find — every few blocks — a corner store that sells fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of snacks, and corkscrews.
3. One rainy afternoon, we sat on a covered patio across the street from Notre Dame Cathedral. I read a cool book about life in France (A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle). We drank beer and ate 4-cheese pizza that included Roquefort. I would never have ordered this at home. I’ve always avoided blue cheese on principle. On this particular pizza, on this day, it was fabulous and salty and added a new dimension to the simple combination of crust + tomato sauce + cheese.
4. When you get back to your hotel room late at night after a concert, and you’re starving, the only thing open might be the corner store (see #2 above). But they sell tuna “saladières” in nifty packages with pasta and olive oil. It’s not exactly low in fat, but it makes for a very satisfying munchie. We bought extras and kept them in the little fridge in our hotel room.
5. There are restaurants that specialize in tartine, which literally means ’slice of bread’. Open faced bread, with oil and seasonings, and then different toppings. Some are heated under a broiler, some aren’t. I had ham and swiss. André had chicken and bacon.
6. At the outdoor weekend food market, we found salt-water caramels, and herbes de provence. We learned that you can buy your beets raw or cooked, and that the squash is so giant you can buy just a slice if you like. This particular market also sells underwear, kitchen utensils, and fresh cheeses from all over France.
7. The grocery store sells a kit with all the ingredients necessary to make pot au feu, including celery, onion, carrots, leeks, and a spice package. Just add your own beef.
8. I discovered braised leeks. Really, who knew you could cook leeks and turn them into a silky side dish? These leeks were served as an appetizer next to grilled fish, the sauce a light mix of dijon, mayo, and perhaps tarragon. This was one of the great finds of the vacation, these braised leeks. They were perfect and opened up a whole new world for me. Adding to the novelty was the fact that they were served in a rotisserie restaurant that had a house cat, who roamed around beneath our feet the entire evening. I’ve got a picture of the cat, too, if you want to see it.

As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. You can always reach me at shelley@oneroastchicken.com.

Thanks and bon appetit!

Shelley MacDonald Beaulieu, Owner & Head Chef
www.oneroastchicken.com

These are a few of my favourite things …

Hi there,

I’ve made friends with a stick. I think technically it’s called a bamboo skewer. Think of chicken shish kebobs, remove the chicken and the vegetables. Now you have the wood part in the middle. That’s the part I’m talking about.

I bought a bag of these wooden sticks several years ago to use for making teriyaki salmon kebobs. And they do still get used for that meal. But I’ve rescued one stick from the garbage, and now it’s my favourite kitchen tool. I know it’s not very sexy, and it’s so cheap it’s virtually free.

My stick has many fabulous uses. For example, I poke lots of things to check for doneness, such as baked goods (banana bread, muffins, apple pie to see if the apples are soft enough). I stab boiling potatoes. I pierce the potato and lift up… if the potato falls off, it’s cooked. If it clings and stays stuck to the stick, it’s not fully cooked yet. I jab pork tenderloin and hamburgers to see if the juices are no longer pink.

As well, I stir my coffee grounds with my wooden instrument of torture before plunging my Bodum coffee press. If I was the type to eat chocolate fondue, I could use it for that, too, I suppose, but really chocolate doesn’t last long enough in this house to be saved, melted, and eating elegantly. Instead it is hidden, eaten in one sitting, or not brought into the house at all.

These bamboo skewers sell for about (US) $2 per pack of 100. This allows for the occasional one to be broken or thrown away. Very recently we were trying out a new cleaning lady, and after she left I quizzed my husband as to where he’d put the stick. You know, the stick I use all the time. How am I supposed to check the potatoes (to make mashed potatoes) without my stick?

Anyway, we soon discovered that our new cleaning lady had THROWN OUT my precious stick. She was trying to be helpful, I’m sure. She probably thought we’d ordered take-out the night before (and only had one stick hanging around … seems suspicious). Maybe she took it home with her (unlikely). Thankfully, Husband found the package of remaining sticks and pulled out a buddy.

This begins a new series of articles, to mix in with the food bits and the recipe adventures and the lasagne disasters and the tandoori chicken recipe I’m trying to perfect… 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 $4 fluorescent green vegetable peeler, my special Dorothy-goes-to-Kansas chef shoes, and my potato ricer.

Do you have a tool that you think everyone should know about? I’m certain, for example, that Ginger has an ice cream scoop that she says rivals all others. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. Just hit reply to this email and drop me a line

You can always reach me at shelley@oneroastchicken.com.

Thanks and bon appetit!

Shelley MacDonald Beaulieu, Owner & Head Chef
www.oneroastchicken.com