Resurrecting Five Things

I'm about two months into my new job and things are really good. I've even trained someone else on the station already, as my previous station partner moved onward and upward. I've been having a bit of difficulty shaping my work experience of late into words, so instead I thought I'd resurrect the Five Things I Learned This Week theme. To be fair, some of these have been culled from longer than a week ago, but let's just play pretend, okay?

1. Having a Forschner as a line knife is the way to go. I really don't know why it took me so long to catch onto this idea; you think having my Shun Elite 8-inch chef's knife dropped and tipped TWICE (both times not by me) would be enough to make me run to the store for a cheap-o line knife. Then about three months ago my friend Morgan and I won first place in a grill competition at a zinfandel event, and one of the prizes in our gift basket was a sizable gift certificate to Sur La Table. We finally got around to shopping at SLT last week, and while I don't exactly enjoy browsing the endless amounts of useless products or small-talking with the wide-eyed Food Network-philes cluttering the aisles, we had free money to blow. So along with some other goodies I picked up this handy little Santoku to keep on the line. Forschner makes a good quality product for a great price, and it's been an insanely wonderful difference--not having to babysit my knife, especially since my station is in a high-traffic area.

2. A helpful way to roast squash: Adding white wine and water to barely cover the bottom of your hotel pan before it goes in the oven keeps the squash skins from sticking and burning. Plus the white wine adds a nice aroma.

3. A mis-cooked terrine can go a very long way in family meal. A little baked ziti in earthenware dishes (consuelos?) never hurt anyone.



I threw these together on a slow night one evening, and they did not suck. We snacked on the leftovers for a few days afterwards, and I made my way through a quart of it in my fridge at home. Also: Why use breadcrumbs when you can have buttery baguette croutons? I'm just sayin'.

4. Family meal can make or break a night. A good family meal goes beyond simply feeding everyone; it can bring home an awesome night, and bond the crew together in quiet revelry as we sit on the stairs and regain our energy. Alternately, a bad family meal can be downright disheartening, even demoralizing. It's hard to tuck into a half-thought-out pile of something-or-other and feel like you're ready and charged up to get back to the grind. I don't take the fact that we have family meal every single night for granted, and bad family meals have been very few and far between and usually occur under already-strained circumstances (insanely busy nights where everyone is buried); it's just that a little care and attention go a long way.

5. Wearing a button-up shirt and tie on the line is totally awesome. My current kitchen, like my previous one, is an open kitchen, and we've resurrected Tie-Day Fridays--basically the opposite of Casual Fridays. Seeing our entire line in button-up shirts and ties is both hilarious and swagger-affecting. You really move differently when wearing a sharp get-up, and it always puts a smile on my face.

For all the fellas out there with ladies to impress...

... it's easy to do, just follow these steps.



I kid.

Being officially chest-deep in the holiday season, I thought I would share some of the things that make my life as a cook easier. The idea started many months ago as a self-help guide for uninitiated cooks, but it's so close to Christmas that it seems appropriate as a gift guide for friends and family of aspiring chefs. It's both, really. Call it what you want--there's a lot of unnecessary junk out there that's marketed to cooks who want professional kitchen experience but don't know exactly what goes on in the daily life of a kitchen monkey. I would know; I have lots of extraneous tools I amassed over the years, currently filling storage boxes and drawers in three different cities. There's also stuff out there that's might be good for the home cook but is completely impractical in restaurant kitchen cooking. Bagel slicer, anyone? Egg separator? Garlic press with built-in cleaning device?

I'm also including a short list of items that are specific to women, as there's not much info out there for us kitchen chicks. I'm totally talking bras and stuff. Dudes out there, try not to get weirded out.

I advise to you take my guidance with a grain of salt, as I'm still a professional kitchen rookie. These are my personal favorites, and my tastes will probably change as I gain more experience, but I'd like to think this is a good start.

Things I could not live without:
These are items I use every day.

- A Good Chef's Knife
This is your main tool in the kitchen. Your knife will become your best friend and your right hand. You will spend many, many hours chopping, slicing, brunoise-ing, mincing, and you'll want a knife with which you can comfortably spend that much time. You will become very protective of your knife, and you will learn that using someone else's knife is a privilege. Currently I'm loving the Shun Elite 8-inch that I was lucky enough to receive on my most recent birthday...

...and for three years prior to that I was using a trusty Wusthof Classic 8-inch.

I've been asked "What knives are best?" more than once since I started this blog, and I've come to this conclusion: Ultimately, there is no one "best" knife brand or size, as everyone's hands, skills, usage and personal preferences are different. I prefer an 8-inch knife, and personally I couldn't imagine wielding a 10-incher for prep and during service, especially in a small kitchen. But I know some cooks who don't like to use a chef's knife under 10-12 inches. For those still wondering, Shun, Global, Wustof, Misono and Messermeister are popular brands among cooks. No matter what, always, always, always test run a knife before buying it; most cooking stores will have test knives for that purpose. If you're buying for someone else, take that person to the store and let them try it out for themselves.

- A Decent Paring Knife
Usually 3 to 4 inches in length, this is an all-purpose tool for in-hand work. I really like my school-issued Mercer paring knife, because it has soft edges that are really comfortable in my hand.



Sure makes skinning 5 pounds of pearl onions a breeze. My paring knife is second only to my chef's knife in kitchen knife usage.

- Peeler
Again, all-purpose. I have two in my kit: the below-pictured Swiss peeler for wider items (blocks of cheese, winter squash, apples and such) and a traditional swivel peeler to blow through long, skinny items (carrots, parsnips, etc.).

If I could only have one, the Swiss peeler would win hands-down.

- Messermeister Knife Bag

As much as I like my OCI-issued Mercer knives, the clunky, heavy knife case it came with was a certified pain to carry. I didn't realize exactly how much of a pain it was until I switched to a Messermeister knife roll, which carries the same amount of stuff in a much more compact, light and efficient package. Bought mine at Sur La Table.

- Birkenstock "Birki" Chef Clogs

Holy mother of bejeebus. These shoes literally saved my back (and feet). After an extremely painful three weeks of culinary school in Dansko clogs, I followed a friend's recommendation and purchased a pair of Birkis. I would say these shoes count as one of my top five purchases ever. They're that good. I've spilled on them, dragged them through mop water, dropped hot oil on them, and they're as good as the day I bought them. And they're dishwasher safe! Seriously, what more could you ask for in a shoe?

- Microplane
It's not exactly an every day item, but I'm surprised at how frequently I do use it. Nothing compares to a Microplane for zesting and grating.

It's really one of those "once you go there, you never go back" items. It's the shit, ya'll.

Things that are really nice to have in your toolbox:
Not quite essentials (or not yet, for me, anyway), and I don't own all of these items, but these are certainly helpful to have and, I've noticed, popular amongst restaurant cooks.

- Serrated knife
- Boning/filet knife
- Plastic/flexible pastry scraper
- Japanese mandoline (nothing better for super-thin slicing, hand-tool wise)
- Flexible fish spatula
- Needlenose pliers from a hardware store (for fish pinbones)
- Reamer (aka juicer)

For the ladies in the house:

- J.Crew "Favorite Tank"

I own 7 or 8 of these tank tops in different colors, and I rarely buy anything in duplicates so you know they're good. First I bought 2 for the sake of having something under my culinary school chef's jacket that wasn't a t-shirt. I hate having sleeves on under more sleeves, so tank tops are ideal. When I got the restaurant job, I bought a few more so I could go more days without doing laundry. And then I bought a few more when I realized exactly how awesome and indispensable they are. The J.Crew tanks in particular have a long, neat fit so they hug my body without strangling it and don't ride up my waist during service. I wear them outside of work all the time too. Bonus points for often being on sale at the J.Crew website.

- A good sports/wireless bra
Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. You need good support, and there's nothing worse than straps and wires digging in your ribcage during service. I love my Calvin Klein front-clasp wireless racerback. No link, unfortunately, as I snagged mine at Nordstrom Rack and haven't found an online source.

- Scunci No-Damage hair bands
I have thick hair, and a lot of it. I also have a minor fear of a customer finding my hair in their food, which hasn't yet happened, thankfully. I started using Scunci No-Damage "Firm and Tight" hair bands several years ago and they're the only hair bands I've found that hold my unwieldy hair without having to readjust during service. The "No-Damage" means there's no metal parts to pinch or catch your hair. I've seen these in almost every major grocery and drug store I've been to.

And that's all, folks. I'm sure there's plenty more out there that I'm missing, but this is what I can come up with off the top of my head. I personally could use properly tailored chef pants that I don't have to roll up or step on during service, and a few nicely fitted chef's jackets.

Anyone have other "must have" suggestions?

On knives

My school-issued Mercer knife kit (blades aren't normally nekked in the case like this... they have hard plastic protective sheaths which I took off for the photo)

I received a comment from a reader named Norm (who has a lovely wine blog) regarding the Mercer brand knife kit we've been using in the kitchen. He was wondering if I would recommend them, and while I am certainly no expert, I figured my reply to his question would make a decent blog post on its own, so I did the lazy blogger thing and copied-and-pasted here:

I really like the Mercer kit we have (10-inch chef's knife, 8-inch chef's, 10-inch slicer, serrated/bread, paring, boning, fillet, diamond honing steel, zester and peeler), and from what I understand it's a pretty great bang for your buck. I've been using mostly the 10-inch chef's knife, and I find it does everything I need it to. Plus it's been banged around a bit and seems quite sturdy, yet not industrially heavy. I haven't had to hone it once in six days of use (the steel that comes with the kit is actually a bit of a stone as well and takes off a tiny bit of metal when you use it), but I also take care to wash my knives carefully of the starch and acids that can eat away at the blade and dry it immediately after washing. Though you probably already know that ;).

However, if you're looking for something more lightweight, you might want to look at Japanese knives. My brother recently got a MAC 6.5-inch chef's knife that he *loves* and was only 50 bucks, and which he bought online. It's a sharp sumabitch (cut myself twice on it, though not badly), but it's truly impressive. I'd say the MAC is up there in cutting quality with Global, but without the steel handle.


"MAC Superior" 6.5-inch Santoku knife, aka Sharp Sumabitch(link)

Alternately, if you're looking for even heavier, I love my 8-inch Wusthof Classic, which was a Christmas gift to myself several years ago. You might even like the Wusthofs better than I do because I'm a total weakling when it comes to upper body strength, and those babies are solid.


Wusthof Classic 8-inch Chef's Knife... so purdy (link)

The short answer is I would recommend the Mercer kit. The guys in my class seem to work well with them too. I could write a novel about knives, so I'll stop here. Hope this helps!

*Addendum: The Microplane in the kit photo is actually my own; a gift from a few years ago from my brother. My chef instructor mentioned that the zester that comes with the kit isn't the best for a lot of production, and recommended adding a Microplane (I do so love my Microplane!). Also, the kit comes with nested stainless-steel measuring cups, but they're slightly bulky to lug around in the kit, not to mention we measure nearly everything by weight at school.