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My Favorite Knives

There are a lot of items in my kitchen that I couldn't live without, but near the very top of that list is my knife collection. I am *really* fussy about my knives. I've learned over time that a good set of knives can make the difference between a good kitchen experience and a bad one. There is nothing more frustrating that being ready to cook a well thought out meal and then coming to find that your knives aren't up to the job. It seems that a good portion of cooking is in the prep work; slicing, dicing, chopping, and paring. So, having a good knife (or 2 or 3) is essential.

My favorite brand of knives is WÜSTHOF. http://www.wusthof.com/en/default.asp Over the years I have built up a nice collection of Wüsthof knives. They are pricey, but worth every penny. It took me some time to get my knives. I started out by buying the smaller, less expensive knifes and worked my way (slowly) through to the bigger, more expensive ones.

The one single knife I couldn't do without though?
This one:


This is the knife I use the most. My Wüsthof Culinar 8 inch Cook's Knife. This is "THE KNIFE." *MY* knife.


I hope you will make the investment in some knives you love for your own kitchen. It makes all the difference, I assure you. Talk to your friends, go to a department store when you can try them in your hands, read reviews. But find a knife that "fits" you, take good care of it and cook happy.

Good site about kitchen knives:
http://www.fantes.com/knives.html

The Care and Sharpening of Kitchen Knives:
http://design.hgtv.com/Kitchen/Article_detail.aspx?id=359

Posted Aug 9, 2008 by KitchenGirl | Add a comment | Share It

August Favorite Things Giveaway!

**NOTE**

Enter the August "Favorite Things" Giveaway by commenting on this entry---> <a href="http://kitchengirljo.blogspot.com/2008/08/august-favorite-things-giveaway.html" target="_blank">"Favorite Things" Giveaway</a> NOT HERE AT YUMMR! Thank you! :)

This month I'm giving away a "goodie bag" of a few of my favorite kitchen items... a bottle of my favorite olive oil, some of my favorite seasonings, and a few other surprises! All you need to do is follow the directions below to enter and when the winner is chosen at random, I will contact them for an address to mail out their winnings!

So, here's what you do to enter:
Comment on this entry with:
1. Your valid e-mail address
2. Your name (your online pseudonym is fine)
3. Tell me the one kitchen item you couldn't live without.

Get your comment entry in by 8/18/08 11:59 PM EST. I will pick a random winner on 8/19/08 and will announce it here.

Enter the August "Favorite Things" Giveaway by commenting on this entry---> <a href="http://kitchengirljo.blogspot.com/2008/08/august-favorite-things-giveaway.html" target="_blank">"Favorite Things" Giveaway</a>

Posted Aug 4, 2008 by KitchenGirl | Add a comment | Share It

insalata caprese

One of my favorite summer dishes is this delicious tomato, mozzarella and basil salad from Italy called "insalata caprese." For this salad, several things are *very* important to make it the best it can be.

First, you need ripe yet still firm, meaty tomatoes. I like to use beefsteaks when I can get them. I also like to add in a couple of yellow tomatoes, when I can find them. The color of the red and yellow tomatoes together with the vibrant green basil and milky white cheese is so pretty.

Secondly, this salad begs for *really* good olive oil. The best you can afford. That light, all purpose olive oil you find at the discount store won't cut it. You won't be needing a lot of it, so splurge if at all possible and get the good stuff. You want that thick, darker colored extra virgin olive oil for this dish.

Thirdly, get the freshest mozzarella you can find. Really, to make this best you need the mozzarella packed in water. I have used (as I did in this case) mozzarella that is wrapped with a small amount of water, and while it's *okay*, the mozzarella that is packed in a plastic "bowl" and swimming in water is really the best. Unfortunately, I live in a *very* small town and my local grocer was out of it, so I made do with what I could find. It's still really good, but not as excellent as it could have been.

Lastly, the balsamic. I really like this salad with a drizzle of balsamic. However, the traditional recipe doesn't call for it and a good Italian chef would tell you it's a no-no. The tomatoes are acidic enough and it doesn't need the added acid of the balsamic. Yeah well... I like it, so I drizzle. You don't have to. That's the wonderful thing about cooking... you can do what ever *you* want to :)

I really hope you'll try this salad this summer while the tomatoes are plentiful. It's light, tasty and amazing.

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes - about 1 lb, not too ripe
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella cheese
basil leaves
sea salt
freshly crushed black pepper
3 - 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
a drizzle of *good* balsamic vinegar (optional, but not traditional)

Method:
Wash and slice tomatoes into thick (1/2 inch) slices. Drain mozzarella and slice into thinner slices (1/4 inch). Pick off the largest, finest basil leaves from the stem. Wash basil gently and spin dry. Arrange salad on a large platter, alternating a tomato slice, a slice of cheese and top with a basil leaf until all your ingredients are used. Right before service, drizzle salad with olive oil, balsamic (if using), and sprinkle liberally with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.

Posted Jul 20, 2008 by KitchenGirl | 2 Comments | Share It

Filed under: Dish light salad side veggie

KitchenGirl's Favorite Things Giveaway!!!

No, I'm not Oprah... but this *is* my version of her "favorite things" giveaway. The premise is simple: I have my favorite food related items, things *I* think are SO wonderful that I think everyone should try them. So, I will share these things with my readers from time to time. All YOU have to do is enter the contest by leaving a comment with a valid email address and be willing to supply me with a mailing address where I can send the loot. The things I giveaway each month will change. It might be a book by a favorite foodie author, it might be a foodie product or gadget... who knows! All I can say, is whatever it is, it will be something I personally endorse, use and enjoy.

This month:


The review as written on the Amazon.com site:
*Click here to read all reviews*

Most diners believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts, and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years. CIA-trained Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection.... But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it."

So, here's what I need you to do to enter:

http://kitchengirljo.blogspot.com/2008/07/kitchengirls-favorite-things-giveaway.html

Comment on this entry with:

1. Your valid e-mail address
2. Your name (your online pseudonym is fine)
3. Tell me your favorite food.

That's it! Easy peas-y! Simple as pie!

Get your comment entry in by 7/16/08 11:59 PM EST. I will pick a random winner on 7/17/08 and will announce it here.

Posted Jul 8, 2008 by KitchenGirl | Add a comment | Share It

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