Certainly, a cook needs to have a certain amount of talent and perseverance to be successful in the kitchen. Is it not also true that a cook can only go as far in the kitchen as their tools will allow? You obviously agree to an extent as you finally rid yourself of that drawer full of dull and dangerous knives for a precision set that you can not only hone but most likely hand down. Amazing how meal prep is less stressful and even something to look forward to now that you can quickly and safely mise en place. Let’s survey some of the practical and aspirational accessories, such as range hoods, that may someday soon find a home in your ever evolving and improving kitchen.
Like your previous set of knives, you probably had been using them for so long in their inefficient condition that you didn’t imagine how replacements could make a difference. Knives are knives. Now we know better that a quality scale exists that impacts performance in the kitchen. And a shiny new block of blades looks pretty darn impressive, too. The humble kitchen towel may be another item that could use a reevaluation and upgrade. Aesthetically it would be nice to have a set that complements or at least doesn’t take away from the decor or cleanliness of your kitchen. After all, a clean kitchen is a more efficient kitchen. And threadbare or tattered cloths that have seen better days are not effective tools in your toolkit. Gorgeous tea and flour sack towels from Weston Table give you both the look you want while serving an important purpose in almost any task in the kitchen from stabilizing a mixing bowl to keeping your knives clean, to retrieving piping hot vessels from the oven. Whether your choice is driven by design or quality, these textiles will be a robust foundation for your culinary adventures.
Countertop appliance options are many although the surface area to house them is definitely limited. Add a slow cooker, a blender, an air fryer, and a toaster oven to your cooking army and you may now have a multitude of ways to craft a meal but no actual real estate left upon which to prep that meal. Since a combination machine that handles all those tasks doesn’t seem to exist, at least not yet, maybe we should be looking for a multitasker that earns its spot on your counter. Stand mixers from KitchenAid have been the go-to appliance for professional and home chefs alike for over half a century. So much more than their name implies, they are basically workhorse engines that robustly perform any task from whipping up a batch of cookies, crafting fresh pasta, spiralizing a bushel of veggies, and now they even, wait for it, make ice cream. While they do their primary tasks of incorporating volumes of ingredients with ease and efficiency, today’s stand mixers are the Swiss army knife of the culinary world that through the robustly and cleverly engineered attachments could soon have you mincing and forming your own sausages, or crafting a bakery case-worthy birthday cake. Once you install one of these stand mixers in your kitchen lineup your culinary opportunities multiply, as will your enjoyment.
We’ve all heard the maxim to season as you go. Salt and pepper are almost assuredly within arm’s reach. What about those other additions that make a dish rise from blasé to restaurant-worthy? Marinara is barely stewed tomatoes without the addition of sweet basil. Without Thai basil, Pad Thai is well, just pad, and that doesn’t sound too appetizing. Tarragon and chicken salad; turkey and sage, salmon and dill, chili and cilantro – okay, that one may be contentious. These pairings give a certain “je ne sais quoi” to the finished dish that elevates it above the combination of its ingredients. To go along with the French saying we have a French solution to having whichever secret ingredient we want at our fingertips. The Smart Garden from Veritable will have you harvesting your own herbs, vegetables, and even edible flowers within weeks, thereby broadening the flavor pallet of whatever you chose to create. And while phone apps are certainly all the rage, the apps associated with appliances have not exactly proven to make life easier, and can be rather clunky and confusing. The Smart Garden has its smarts built into the hardware so there is less fussing about and more harvesting of savory – and sweet – goodness. Leave the green thumb to technology and reap the benefits of meals that have never tasted better.
Confidence is key in a successful kitchen. Kitting out your workspace with these items, including your beloved new knives, will give you the support to try things new, improve the mundane, and keep it clean at the same time. Humble kitchen towels from Weston Table, while lovely to look at, are like an extra hand in the kitchen, and once you start regularly using them in your culinary workflow you’ll never be able to do without them. The stalwart stand mixer from KitchenAid not only allows you to make more quickly and efficiently but gives your chef’s imagination the chance to run wild with all that it is capable of accomplishing. The Smart Garden from Veritable puts you in a position to build the flavors and complexity of your menu with just a pair of kitchen shears. Enjoy your fortified kitchen and the heightened menu you will undoubtedly be serving forth.
