Kitchen Stuff

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary tools, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

We’re in the season of soup. You know it, I know it, and no matter how much we crave spring’s crunchy salads, a huge pot of simmering soup is going to keep bringing us warmth and comfort for a handful of weeks to come.

So, we need a good soup pot. Look, if I’m making some making some tiny batch of pork ramen soup, for example, I’m fine using my 5.5-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven. But the moment I want to fit a whole chicken in my pot or whip up an week’s worth of split pea, I turn to my enamel soup pot. I picked up a super cheap pot somewhere long ago, around when I moved into my first apartment. But if I were restocking the cabinets today, I’d definitely pick up this Le Creuset 12-Quart Stockpot-which could probably fit two whole chickens, if not three!

Here are a few of the soups you’ll make in bulk in your new blue pot (counterclockwise from top):

• Alphabet Soup
• Chicken Soba Soup
• Creamy Habanero & Tomato Soup

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary equipment, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

My mandoline comes in handy for two reasons: one, it slices vegetables beautifully evenly and thinly; and two, it cuts them so easily I barely need to use my knife. This comes in especially handy when I’m making salads on exhausted nights (more on my new favorite mandoline salad soon). The mandoline also completely enables my obsession with okonomiyaki, which I posted about just last week. I use Kyocera Double-Edged Slicer which has a ceramic blade that doesn’t get dull and a handy plastic guard that prevents you from fearing that blade.

There are adjustable mandolines so that you can cut slices of varying thicknesses, but in three years of owning this simple one, I’ve been happy with the one size. The tool itself is really skinny, which makes for easy storage.

I love making shaved parmesan on my mandoline, and it’s fantastic for cutting lots of onions thinly when you want to caramelize them for red onion jam or onion soup.

Here’s a glimpse of what you could be making if you had a mandoline (from top to bottom):

• Okonomiyaki
• Pork & Cider Stew with Shaved Fennel
• French Onion Grilled Cheese

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary tools, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

A one-pot meal is only as mess-free as your pot is attractive. What I mean is, if you cook your meal in one ugly pot but have to transfer it to a platter to serve, you’ve immediately got a second thing to wash up after dinner. That’s why I love having baking dishes so pretty I can plop them right down on the table to serve dishes like yesterday’s Cheesy Butternut Squash Enchiladas, for one. I reach for my Emile Henry Casserole Dish all the time-it’s a Williams-Sonoma exclusive, but you might also like one of these adorable (and slightly less expensive) Emile Henry 13-by-10-inch lasagna bakers too.

Here are a few of the enchiladas, gratins, baked pastas and mac ‘n cheese recipes you’ll make in your pretty new casserole dish (counterclockwise from top):

• Barb’s Corn Pudding
• Mac ‘n Cheese with Pesto, Prosciutto & Peas
• Baked Shells with Tomato & Mozzarella

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary tools, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

If you’ve got a bowl of rice, you’re more than halfway to dinner. Add vegetables or chicken and peanut sauce, fry leftover grains into fried rice, smother a bowl with black beans, or merely melt some cheese on top. Likewise for quinoa, barley, or bulgur.

Yet for a long time, I was no good at making these grains. I’d burn the bottom or add too much water, making the rice soggy. When I finally mastered the technique, I had my Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Saucepan with Cover to thank. A small volume means you can cook just enough rice for one or two, without whipping out your Dutch oven. An aluminum core spreads heat evenly. And a tight-fitting lid means steam won’t escape, rendering your rice way too dry. While it’s not as multipurpose as some of your equipment, this pot is about rice perfection. If you’re looking for an A+ in grain achievement, get this now.

Here are a few of the dishes you’ll use your new pot for:

• Vegetarian Fried Rice with Shiitakes & Cashews
• Seared Steak & Sesame Rice Salad
• Chicken Curry with Bananas, Raisins & Peanuts

Giveaway now closed. Thanks for entering! - C, 12/23/13

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary tools, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

Most of the items in this series are actual pieces of cooking equipment, food processors and pasta servers and mixing bowls and such. Today, though, I want to talk about a book, Rachel Hofstetter’s Cooking Up A Business.

If you’re the type whose cookies and granola always garner comments like, “You could totally sell these,” then this book is for you. In it, Rachel profiles the founders of food companies who made it work, who did market research and baked hundreds of test batches and negotiated shelf space at grocery stores and figured out how to package and scale and ship and market-and do it all again the next day, until they found success. She also distills practical lessons from the founders’ stories, which make this as much a how-to book as an entertaining read.

Even though I don’t sell actual food in my business, I loved the sections about how founders reacted and met challenges and worked crazy hard to understand their markets, clients, and vendors. If you-or someone you need to give a gift to this season-are interested in food, business, or both, I think you’ll find a lot here to intrigue you!

(In the template I use for these posts, I usually paste in three recipes that you can make with the piece of equipment I’m featuring. Today, we’re a little more abstract-three different ways I’ve built BGSK into a business. Top to bottom, that’s 1) working over breakfast; 2) writing a book; 3) pitching and writing freelance pieces.)

And: I’m so happy to be giving away one copy of the book to a lucky reader! You’ll also get a gift package from the creators in the book, which includes lots of granola, chocolate, gummy candy, popchips, and more (at least a $50 value!).

To enter:

{one} Leave a comment below and tell Rachel and me about your dream business-the company you’d start tomorrow if there were nothing holding you back. Maybe it’s food, maybe not!

{two} Tell your facebook friends and/or twitter fans about the contest – post the link and tag @Big Girls Small Kitchen and @Cooking Up a Business (facebook) or @BGSK and @rachelhoffy (twitter). Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so for a second chance to win.

In small kitchens, I sometimes think useful gifts trump all other gifts.

For much of this year, I’ve been posting about the tools that are essential in my small kitchen, the (soon-to-be) complete collection of things you’ll need to cook great meals. There really aren’t that many-we’re talking about small kitchens, after all. But there are some pots, pans, utensils, and gadgets that will help make your kitchen a place you love, so why not give or get some of them this Christmas?

To spare you a slog through the archives, I’m reposting a dozen of my kitchen essentials, with brand recommendations and links pointing you to buy.

ROW #1: Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor | OXO Stainless Mixing Bowls | Wusthof Classic 8-Inch Chef’s Knife

ROW #2: Emile Henry 9-Inch Pie Dish | Lodge Cast Iron Skillet | 5 1/2-Quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven

ROW #3: OXO Fine Mesh Strainer | Sturdy All-Clad Colander | OXO Pasta Spoon

ROW #4: OXO Good Grips Cutting Boards | Non-Stick Frying Pan | DeLonghi Kmix Kettle

P.S. Last year’s edible gift guide.

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary tools, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to introduce you to the prettiest pie plate I’ve seen. It’s the Emile Henry 9-Inch Pie Dish, and I like it in this beautiful red. If you’re going to be making any deep-dish pie that gets served straight in the pan in which it baked (e.g. pecan, pumpkin), that pan may as well be nice-looking, so that it really flatters the dessert within. Don’t stop at pies, though: you can treat the pan like a round casserole dish and use it for gratins, clafoutis, chicken pot pie, and even lasagna.

Unlike the rest of the items in the Kitchen Stuff series, I don’t yet own this pan. I have this Pyrex pie plate, which is very well priced at $8 and totally serviceable, if not as drop-dead gorgeous as the red stoneware.

Whatever you get, here are three sweets to help you break in your pie pan:

• Peanut Butter Pie
• Chocolate Mousse Pie
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Clafoutis