Ruhlman's Twenty (55 page)

Authors: Michael Ruhlman

BOOK: Ruhlman's Twenty

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One of my all-time favorite cooking vessels is the enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. I couldn’t do without mine. It holds heat well, can be used on the stove top or in the oven, and is stick resistant but still browns food well. There’s no better vessel in which to braise foods.

The Important Countertop Appliances
STAND MIXER

Of all the countertop appliances, the stand mixer is among the most expensive but also the most important. I use my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer far more than I use a food processor. If you do a lot of cooking, I highly recommend it. Can you get by without it, say, by using a handheld electric mixer and a food processor? Yes, I suppose, but you’re giving up some convenience and quality. Doughs are best prepared in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stand mixers have a lot of power, and the bowl—be sure to get a mixer with at least a 5-quart/4.7-liter bowl—has plenty of room for big batches. The mixer comes with other useful attachments, such as a whisk and grinder.

BLENDER

The blender, my second most-used countertop appliance, is invaluable for changing the texture of food. The Vita-Mix is the best blender made because of the power of its motor, the strength of its blades, and the variability of its speeds—but mainly for its power, which reduces solids to evenly textured purées. The Vita-Mix is expensive; if you have to make choices, put your money into the stand mixer first and purchase a less expensive blender. Regardless of quality, you should have a blender.

FOOD PROCESSOR

Food processors are good for pulverizing solids and semisolids. They are excellent for making bread crumbs, tapenade, bean purée, nut butter, aioli, pesto, and many other preparations. Frankly, though, if you have a stand mixer and a good blender, you’ll use those more frequently than a food processor.

ASSORTED VESSELS AND TOOLS

I’m not going to offer an extensive list of all the tools a kitchen should have. Many are obvious or too personal to matter. The tools you have in your kitchen depend on the way you cook and what you feel comfortable using.

I like to have a variety of Pyrex mixing bowls at the ready. They have multiple uses beyond mixing. They can hold ingredients as part of your mise en place. Pyrex bowls are heatproof, so you can put one over simmering water to make a double boiler. You can also bake in the bowls.

I’m also a fan of Pyrex measuring cups and recommend having many in various sizes all the way up to 2 quarts/2 liters. The large size is useful not only for measuring but for mixing and storing food. I also end up storing food in the smaller measuring cups.

I use an instant-read thermometer for testing the doneness of meats and other foods, and I use a candy/deep-fry thermometer. I also use a cable thermometer, for keeping an eye on the temperature of something that’s in the oven.

I buy three different sizes of deli cups— 1 cup/240 milliliters, 2 cups/480 milliliters, and 4 cups/960 milliliters—for mise en place and storage. Their uniform sizes makes them easy to stack and store out of the way.

Tools that I wouldn’t want to be without include a perforated spoon; a large soup spoon for basting and serving; a heavy, flexible rubber spatula; ¼-cup/60-milliliter and 1-cup/235-milliliter ladles; a good-quality sauce whisk; and a pepper grinder that grinds finely. I’d be cranky if someone took away my flat-edged wood spoon, one of the most-used tools in my kitchen. I keep near my work area a small mortar and pestle for quick grinding and crushing, and a Microplane grater for zesting citrus. I’m never without heavy-duty side towels near the stove for grabbing hot pans because I don’t like clunky potholders. And, ever present beside my stove and cutting board are ramekins holding kosher salt.

SOURCES

We live in an extraordinary age for sourcing ingredients. I wonder if soon these pages will become obsolete, given that even the most out-there ingredient can be Googled, purchased over the Internet, and delivered to your door. For instance, when I looked for a source for Ras el Hanout for the braised lamb recipe, I not only found a source recommended by cooking authority Paula Wolfert, I was also able to find a link to a recipe for the spice blend from Wolfert herself.

Also, because of the Internet, I’m usually available for questions via
Ruhlman.com
.
Check my site for answers to commonly asked questions, for more information about me, or to contact me by e-mail. To find sources for tools mentioned in this book, such as a scale, thermometers, and mandolins, as well as my own tools such as the All-Strain straining cloths, see
Ruhlman.com/shop
.

Of course, the Internet is so vast we do need some guidance in finding the best products. If you’re looking for excellent grits to make shrimp and grits, or excellent polenta, heirloom and organic grains can be ordered from Anson Mills,
AnsonMills.com.

For all my curing needs, I go to Butcher & Packer,
butcher-packer.com
, which carries an array of sausage-making products and sells
sodium nitrite under the name DQ Cure #1, generically referred to as pink salt. It’s tinted pink to avoid accidental ingestion, as too much can be very harmful. Sodium nitrite is an important curing salt and antimicrobial agent, and is responsible for the bacon and ham flavor in cured pork. As for foods that are overly charred on the grill/barbecue, bringing food cured with pink salt to very high temperatures has been found to create nitrosamines, which can be carcinogenic. Used as directed and in moderation, sodium nitrite should not present a health concern.

Specialty salts are invaluable for finishing many dishes. While Maldon salt and fleur de sel are now commonly available at many specialty stores, a great online source for these and many other salts is The Meadow,
AtTheMeadow.com.

Yogurt cultures are available in many supermarkets and health food stores. A good online source for them, as well as for many other starters for all kinds of fermented products, is
Leeners.com.

Ruhlman's Twenty (55 page)

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