[Sca-cooks] Queston on Basic utensils

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> I have found that a garlic press is one of those things that you either
> use all the time or you use it a couple of times, get fed up with
> cleaning the darned thing, throw it in the drawer to languish, and buy the
> pre-minced garlic. ;-) If I am *not* pressed for time (intentional,
> yes) then I prepare my garlic the way I saw on TV once--you put your
> peeled clove on the cutting board, lay your chef's knife flat on it,
> and give it a good whack. Then you mince what's left.

Yes. I find that this makes it imperative to own a chef's knife with a
broad enough blade-- in a pinch you can use the hinged garlic peelers from
the 70s to squish garlic but the flat of a chef's knife works better. (If
you use too narrow a blade, you will cut yourself.)

> Multiple vegetable peelers are a godsend. It's always easier to find one
> of five than it is to find one of one. I buy the cheap ones from Wally's
> because a) that's the style I'm comfortable with, and b) the other person
> who cooks in my kitchen destroys things at a frightening rate, including
> vegetable peelers. If it were just me I'd have a nicer one, but at the
> moment such is not to be.

I've found that the nicer ones go dull at about the same rate as the cheap
2 for a dollar ones and one feels much less remorse about simply tossing
the cheap ones.

> I have never found that a food processor would make my life easier. In
> my experience, it's just another thing to clean. When you don't have a
> dishwasher, this is an important consideration. Other people seem to love
> theirs, so, YMMV.

I only use mine for cooking large quantities for SCA events. Dilling 9
pounds of cream cheese would not have been possible without my food
processor. However, for small quantities a mortar and pestle gives a
better grind and texture... even for that evil item, almonds. (Bah.) You
can fake ground almonds by using a combination of food processor, then
blender with a small amount of water or oil (blender alone takes WAY too
long).

If you have a dishwasher a food processor is much more practical.

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."