SC - vegetarian dish help please

[Charles McCN]

- ---Steve Geppert <emster at alaska.net> wrote:
> I am also interested in knowing what would be a good 
> "starter set" of knives.  

Based upon the description of "Honey Apples", it sounds like you
already have at least part of a "starter set", soooooo.....

Caveat up front: I sell knives & swords to the SCA, mostly imported
things for feast table use or for display as part of costume. (The
"Russian" knife I sold to Esko's lady wife is being marketted
elsewhere as a filet knife for fishermen, and just happens to be a
reasonable shape for utility and kitchen working purposes -- would
be considered a stiff boner, if I follow the formal jargon
correctly...) My father sells knives to friends and family. My
grandfather sold knives at craft shows and otherwise, and made them
himself until emphesema kept him away from the grinder. I'm still
selling modern kitchen-type knives from Grandad's stock. I've seen
custom blade designs for kitchen and elsewhere, I've seen cheap
imports, I've seen fancy high-price imports, and I'd guess about
every form of sharpening device known to humanity.

My proposed starter set is not based upon a manufacturer, but upon
materials and willingness to learn the tools. For this starter set,
I suggest stainless steel blades, low-maintenance plastic or cast
metal handles, and the best set of sharpening stones you can afford.
(You specified "starter", so I hope the purists don't slam me too
hard for specifiying stainless...)

First digression: yes, I said stones. More control than a "steel",
yet more demanding and far more flexible than a set of crock sticks.
Requires some of that "will to learn" in order to use stones
properly. I guarantee that learning to do proper sharpening with
stones (including carborundums, Arkansas, and what-have-ya) will be
time well-spent in the long term. 
Whatever you do, do NOT use an electric grinding wheel or that
stupid slot in the back of an electric can opener. The dinky
hand-held device with the interlaced metal wheels is also a big
no-no in my book.

Knives in the starter set:
- -------------------------
Paring Knife: maybe two, in differing lengths
"Chef" Knife
Boning or Filet Knife
Bread Knife (only knife in the set which should have serrations, IMAO)

I would add as important tools not always considered "proper" or
sometimes just not mentioned in advanced knife sets:

Knife block / rack ("care & feeding": *never* just toss your knives
loosely into a drawer or jam them into a jumble in that structured
plastic silverware bin compartment)

Your choice of "potato" peeler (whatever you grew up with or are
most comfortable in using - my favorite at the moment is a mid-50s
or earlier design with a metal body and perpendicular blade which I
just saw approximated in a plastic bodied version at the nearest
Japanese market here in Irving)

Vegetable brush

Approximations of appropriate blade lengths: 
Paring 4" blade (if two, try a very short blade in addition to
whatever you have already been using), Chef 8 or 10" blade, filet
knife 7 to 10", and bread knife at least 10" if available

The entry for "Chef" knife may be misleading. Something a little
fuller bodied than the shape I grew up calling a "French chef", but
less than a pointy-ended cleaver or "Chinese cleaver", is my
personal preference. The distinction here is to try some differing
blade shapes when you get a chance, and include at least one knife
in your final set with a "deep" enough blade to allow carrying
chopped incredients on it with some ease. I happen to prefer this
shape to a square-ended cleaver blade style.

Second digression: never consider a double-edge blade for regular
kitchen use without *damn* good reason to do so. Too many safety
problems, too little advantage beyond only one (double-length)
sharpening session.

Materials Choice
- ----------------
I choose stainless and plastic or cast metal for this "starter" set
due to ease of maintenance. Unlike many other reports I have heard,
I've very seldom been unable to place a good edge on any decent
stainless steel, and in the few cases where I could not there were
typically other factors in play (very thick blade spine, less than
my full set of tools on hand, blade already badly damaged by
mistreatment of some type).

If you have an experienced cook or knife vendor whom you trust and
who is willing to go blade shopping with you, a properly maintained
high-carbon steel blade with a well-made, well-fitted wooden handle
is still going to be the better buy in the long run. *IF* you are
willing to invest time in maintaining it. *IF* you are willing to
sharpen the edge by hand and clean it properly after use. And *IF*
you always remember that it is NOT stainless steel.

Closing caveat to knife rantings: remember, even stainless steel can
and will rust if a knife is not cleaned after use and stored properly.

> I've greatly enjoyed the discussions so far and have been glad
> I don't have coffee in my hand or I would've burned myself!

Yes, but reverse-snarfing Diet Cherry Coke doesn't do any better
than spilling hot drinks, at least in my case...
 
> Thank you,
> Lady Clare
> (settling in for the long Alaskan winter, snow on the ground 
> already!)
 
Braggart! But, then, I'm the wienie who starts seriously dragging
out his "Think August" t-shirt when other people are putting on
"Think Snow" or "Ski Oklahoma" slogans...

===
Pax ... Kihe / Adieu -- Amra / TTFN -- Mike
Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard) / 
Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra (AoA in SCA, so: al-Sayyid) /
Mike C. Baker: My opinions are my own -- no one else would want them!
     F.O.B. (Friend Of Blackfox)
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8661
Alt. e-mail: KiheBard at aol.com MikeCBaker at aol.com

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