Part of making home cooked meals every night of the week, means you have to have the right tools to make things go smoothly. While you can get by without them – part of having the time to make things from scratch is utilizing some modern technology. Every home cook has their own list of Kitchen Must Haves, and they all do different things. I pulled together a list of my top 5 tools!
So here some of My Kitchen Must-Haves:
- What is it: Immersion Blender (This is what I have)
- What does it do: It is a hand held blender that gives you way more control over the blending and mixing process. You can make super creamy sauces and soups. And you can use it on your potatoes and cauliflower! (Check out my Citrus & Herb Whipped Cauliflower Recipe)
- Why I love it: I use this device maybe more than I need to but honestly it makes things so much easier. I can make fresh fruit purees for gastriques. It makes the creamiest mashed potatoes ever. It’s small, and easy to clean.
- What is it: Stove Top Grill Pan (This is what I have)
- What does it do: It let’s you turn your stove top (gas or electric) into a grill surface. So you can get the grill marks and flavors of grilling without having to get the whole grill going.
- Why I love it: I especially love this for when I want a small part of the meal to be grilled – like grilled pineapple for a Teriyaki Burger or grilled Chicken for tacos. I also love it in the colder months when I don’t want to have to go outside to grill.
- What is it: Waffle Maker (This is what I have)
- What does it do: You can do so much more than just make breakfast waffles with it! This one in particular makes two waffles at once to speed up the process.
- Why I love it: I love to make Chaffles (it is a Keto-friendly bread alternative). But I also love to make hash brown waffles, corn fritters, zucchini waffles….really the possibilities are endless.
- What is it: Skinny Cooking Tongs (This is what I have)
- What does it do: Makes picking up and flipping smaller things so much easier.
- Why I love it: Whenever I am deep frying something like my Beer Battered Onion Rings, these tongs are a life saver. Regular sized tongs just don’t work the same. I also use them to cook bacon and while I am putting any type of coating on, like fried chicken.
- What is it: Pasta Bowls (This is what I have)
- What does it do: These are wider than a typical bowl, but closer to a plate in depth. They are perfect for salads, pastas, rice bowls, soups and so many other dishes.
- Why I love it: They make it so easy to create a beautiful plate. They also keep the sauces and juices on the food instead of spreading out on a plate.
So there you have it – in no particular order – My Kitchen Must-Haves! These 5 tools help me create the yummy meals you find on this blog and in my cookbook Homemade on a Weeknight – which is available for order in Paperback or Kindle (eBook) versions through Amazon.