Gadgets Galore

Julia Child, photographed in her Cambridge, Massachusetts, kitchen, June 29, 1970. By Arnold Newman/Getty Images.

If there was ever a kitchen I coveted, it would be Julia's. As humble as it was, it was a place of great wisdom and gadgetry, of tasty and educational revelations and culinary delights. Her pegboard has been immortalized in the first floor of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C.

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Julia Child's copper pots and pans as they looked in her kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Image courtesy of the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, in Napa, California

 Paul, Julia's husband gave her an amazing gift, her kitchen. He designed her kitchen in 1961 according to how he felt she could best discover her culinary expertise. He knew what she loved and that was cooking. The kitchen and it's three pantries held tools and utensils that only professionals or those devoted amateurs could dream of. Paul designs an amazing pegboard and mapping system so that each pot, pan or utensil could be replaced easily after washing. Along with the professional equipment she had some favorite gadgets that were small, simple and everyday familiar objects of daily use in each of our homes. The Smithsonian accounts for over 1200 artifacts, excluding her copper pots. Julia called her kitchen utensils "gewgaws". "It did my heart good to see rows of...copper pots at the ready," Julia wrote in her 2006 bestseller My Life in France, " I could hardly wait to get behind the stove." See Julia didn't care so much how beautiful the kitchen, but how it functioned. If you've enjoyed her detailed recipes and her precise detail to technique, you'd know she was about making it all work and not being jumbled up. There is nothing worse than a dysfunctional kitchen.
Do you have certain kitchen gadgets that that you just can’t live without? It's sometimes a bit embarrassing that I can't pass by a kitchen supply store without going in. I've been better lately, but that's just because people who love me have payed attention to my amazon list and have been purchasing them for me, they are so nice. The good thing is that I actually use these gadgets and doohickeys. If there is something in my kitchen that just sits there...I know I didn't purchase it. Here are a few that I can't live without and I use very regularly. 

Cotton Kitchen Twine $2 at most grocery & hardware stores
Kitchen twine is important for so many reasons.  We might find ourselves using it mostly for non kitchen related reasons. I use it mostly for bunches of herbs, art projects, bundling up satchels of herbs for soups, or trussing an occasional chicken or a stuffed and rolled pork roast.  Some of us just have it in our drawer because our Moms and Grandma's did. Not only is twine inherently practical, but strangely a ball of string is oddly comforting. It's ordinary basic cotton string and inexpensive, but so practical. You might not think of it everyday, but boy is it frustrating when you do need string and you go to the drawer and it's gone or your husbands taken it to the garage. Ooof! I want to open that drawer and see it, even if I'm not using it.
 This next recipe is a big hit at my house. I've served it to people I really like.

Asparagus Stuffed Flank Steak & 

Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes

• 1 flank steak 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick
• 2 garlic gloves minced
• 1 bunch of asparagus cleaned and trimmed
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 T. Dijon mustard  
• Salt and Pepper 
• Kitchen twine and plastic wrap 

                                                       
Gouda Mashed Potatoes

• 6 russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and halved
• 1 T. salt for water + salt to taste final potatoes
• 1 whole bay leaf
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup smoked Gouda cheese grated 

Place your halved potatoes in cold water with your salt and bay leaf and cook until a knife or fork comes out of the potato without resistance. Dis-guard bay leaf, drain potatoes, but reserve 2 T. cooking water and return to hot pot on the stove and let the heat dry the water off, mash them up lightly and add buttermilk and cooking water. Add Gouda cheese, stir carefully making sure you don't mash so hard that you produce gluten in the potatoes because they will get sticky and be ruined. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot. 
Flank Steak Directions:
Line a cutting board with 1 large piece of plastic wrap, lay your flank steak between the plastic layer and flatten with a meat mallet or heavy rolling pin to 1/2 to 1/3 inch thickness. Remove top layer of plastic and spread 2 T. dijon mustard over the entire steak inside, arrange your asparagus in a line across the steak and mustard, sprinkle with 1/2 T. olive oil, salt and pepper and your crushed garlic. Start at one end and roll your flank steak up slowly, but tightly into a bundle. Starting at one end, shimmy the kitchen twine under the steak, bring the tie around the top and tie a knot and continue down the steak until it is firmly tied so it wont come apart. Here is a video I thought was helpful. 
Once you're all tied up, brush the steak with remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper and grill on your bbq grill or in a hot pan in the oven on medium high for approx 8-10 minutes on each side. You want your steak to be medium. Let the steak rest 5-8 minutes before you slice and serve. You can make a simple sauce from juices on the plate mixed with 4 T. of hot cool water mixed with 1/2 tsp cornstarch and seasoned up with 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and cracked pepper. All you do is put the mixture in a small non stick skillet and let it bubble, turn off heat and add a pat of butter and swirl in pan until it's melted. Pour over your prepared steak. *just a tip--you don't want your asparagus to stick out too far, you want your asparagus to just be peeking out from the steak so it doesn't burn on the grill. If you're baking it, this shouldn't matter as much. If you see it flaring up and burning the edges, simply spritz with water or cover the very end with a piece of tinfoil. 
Microplane Herb Mill $19.95 from Williams-Sonoma
A great way to add an herb like touch to whatever you're eating. Easy to clean, easy to twist and  they even have a mini cheese mill that matches. So worth it and if you grow your own herbs, it's such a helpful tool for the kitchen. Please make sure you only grind cleaned and dry leafy herbs. The mill will bog down if the herbs are too wet. Try it, you'll like it.


Magnetic Knife Strip Grundtal IKEA $8.99

 This is one of my very favorite kitchen items I own. These knife strips come in so many different styles and lengths. The strip I have is from IKEA and is 20 7/8" long which is an amazing size for the price. As you can see I store just about everything on it from my Cuisinart blade, peelers, knives etc. There is room for everything. The best thing about these magnetic strips is the anti bacterial qualities that the stainless steel has. You're not shoving your clean knives back into a butcher block that is filled with bacteria and heaven knows what. Easy to install and your knives are right there to grab when you need them.

Cuisinart Immersion Blender 200-Watt Amazon $29.85
If you don't have this handy object, run and get one. You'd be amazed at how helpful it is. This model has power and it's very easy to clean. This blender is smaller than others on the market and saves on space. Whether it's a smoothie with huge chunks of hard ice or a delicate cream soup you want to blend, it can do it all. A simple rinse under the faucet when you're finished and it's clean and ready for your next use. The helpful measuring/blending cup is great for dressings, making homemade mayonnaise or pureeing fresh steamed vegetables for baby food. My favorite feature is that this immersion blender can fit inside a mason jar to blend homemade mayo and vinaigrette's.

Simple Basil Vinaigrette

1/2 shallot
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 T. Dijon mustard
3 T. red wine vinegar
9 T. lite olive oil (I use bertolli)
salt and pepper to taste

Classic BBQ Sauce

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 T. chili powder
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 8oz can crushed pineapple with it's juice
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes with juice
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 T. brown sugar
3 T. light molasses
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
In a 5 quart stockpot, heat olive oil on medium heat, cook onion in hot oil until tender, add ginger and cook for 5 minutes. Add chili powder, garlic and pineapple and combine. Turn off heat, add all remaining ingredients. With your immersion blender, puree the sauce until smooth. Return sauce mixture back to the heat and cook on medium low for 25 minutes. Sauce should reduce to about 5 cups.