Knives - Your Most Important Kitchen Tools

Photo by Rob Robitaille

Knives are the most important kitchen tools you can own, and arguably one of the most personal.  It is an extension of your body, which is probably why good chefs own their own set of knives but use the restaurants pans. Yet most people treat them like they would treat an old screw driver.  Sometimes they are just thrown in a drawer with other utensils, and sometimes they are stored in a knife block.  Regardless of the storage method, most often they are really dull.   I only know of a couple of people where I can go into their kitchens and find sharp knives.  Seriously, it drives me nuts.  To sole purpose of a knife is to cut things and in order to cut things, it needs to be sharp.  It seems pretty obvious to me.  That's why, when I visit somewhere and have reason to believe I will be in the kitchen, whether by choice or a well-meaning friend or relative "promoting" me to kitchen bitch, I bring my own knives.  They are that important to me, and they should be to you too.

Selecting Knives

So, where am I going with this?  Well, there are a few simple rules for selecting knives, in my opinion.  First, buy the best quality knives you can afford.  They don't have to be the most expensive, but they should be good quality.  What makes a good quality knife, primarily, is the steel.  There are many good knives made in the US and Europe and I have owned my share, but my vote goes to Japanese knives, specifically Shun.  The steel in a Japanese knife is superlative.  They hold an edge far longer and usually come out of the box ridiculously sharp. I'm talking razor blade sharp.  Many people are terrified of using a knife that sharp, but let's put it in perspective.  A sharp knife does the work for you without you having to provide much pressure.  A dull knife requires a lot of pressure, doesn't cut straight, and tends to slide off surfaces such as onion peels or tomato skins, which are two items that should not prove difficult to cut.  The reason that Shun knives are so sharp is the edge bevel angle.  Shuns tend to be about 16 degrees, while others can be 20+ degrees.  This means a sharper angle where the two bevels meet.  Combine that with good hard steel, and you have a very sharp edge that will stay that way for a long time.

Honestly, other than quality, the rest falls to personal preference.  Every person is built different, so find something that fits your hand.  I have big hands, and you will notice that my knives have pretty hefty handles.  Someone with smaller hands may have problems with that arrangement, but they fit my hand perfectly.  Fortunately, most companies offer several lines of their cutlery with different sized hands in mind.  A good cutlery store will let you try them out to see how they feel, sometimes with a supply of vegetables so you can see how they truly perform.  That way you can spend some time with the knife in your hand so you find what works for you.

Another aspect of personal preference is knife style, which can be lumped into two main types, European and Japanese. They differ in a couple respects.  Most importantly, most Japanese style knives have a single bevel, meaning they are only sharpened on one side, European knives are beveled on both sides.  The second major difference is that the European style knives sharp edge tend to curve up to a point toward the top edge of the blade, where Japanese knives have straighter blades and the tip is toward the bottom sharp edge.  Which style you pick is up to you.   It is important to note that, despite being Japanese made, the Shun knives pictured above are European style.

When I was younger, I used to own a a lot of knives.  As I grew older, I found that I only used a few knives on a regular basis.  I typically use a 10" chefs knife, a 3.5" paring knife, and a 4.5" utility knife (all pictured above).  That being said, I use my chefs knife 90% of the time, even for small jobs like slicing garlic and mincing shallots. The point is, start with the basics, and if you still want to buy more knives, knock yourself out.

Knife Care

Only four rules here.  First, keep your knives sharp.  It is really easy to do with a little bit of practice and should be a normal kitchen task, not unlike cleaning your work area and equipment.  If you don't feel comfortable sharpening them yourself, there are many knife sharpening services available, some that even travel.  The point is, keep them sharp and they will server you well (and safely).

Second, the knife should only be in one of three places; in your hand, laying safely on a cutting board or towel, or properly stored.  Period.

Third, use only blade friendly cutting boards such as wood, bamboo, and plastic.

Fourth, always wash and dry your knives by hand and be careful.  Don't put them in the dishwasher, sink, or drying rack.

Final Thoughts

Don't be afraid to spend some time and money selecting good knives.  Good knives make prep work easy and enjoyable, not a chore to be avoided.  And, barring any unfortunate mishaps and with the proper care, you will only need to buy one set of knives in your lifetime.

Pfannekuchen - German Pancakes

Photo by Rob Robitaille

This is another thing I grew up eating.  As usual, no one else I knew ate anything like this, and in case you are wondering, yes, these are basically crepes.  I have yet to find any information on what, if any, difference there is between a pfannekuchen and a crepe.  The only thing I can tell, from my own observation, is that the German pfannekuchen tend to be cooked a bit more brown than the crepe, which tend to be in the golden brown category.  Other than that, they seem to be identical in all other aspects.  This photo represents the most common use for these from my childhood.  Creamed asparagus rolled in a pfannekuchen.  This is not uncommon in Germany, but the main difference is that Germans tend to eat the white asparagus, rather than green.

Asparagus tangent: From what I understand, the white asparagus are really no different than the green, other than they are kept covered in earth until being harvested.  This yields a pale white stock with a much more mild flavor as well as being much more tender.  Generally these are harvested at about 18" in length and as big around as your thumb.  When I visited Germany as a child, it was right in the heart of asparagus season, and like most of Europe, when something is in season, that is what you eat until you can't bear the thought of having it again.  It typically starts out with them in the purest form - being steamed and served with some clarified butter, then moves into many other variations, including creamed and rolled in a pfannekuchen.  Although white asparagus are occasionally on the market in the states, I have never had any as good as in Germany.

But, let's get back to the pfannekuchen.  Like I said before, they are a crepe and can be used in the same ways crepes can.  They can be filled with savory filling or sweet, made into a cake, or eaten with a dusting of sugar or honey.  Left over, they can be frozen for later user.  But since I am thinking back to my childhood, I should mention the main use for left over pfannekuchen in our house.  Actually, for some reason it was Dad's job to do this, and that was to thinly slice them into strips, then lay them on a sheet pan and freeze them.  Once frozen, they were stored in plastic bags until being used in soup, similar to a noodle. The cool thing about this symbiosis is that the frozen shreds are placed in a bowl and piping hot soup is ladled over them. The hot soup thaws the shredded pfannekuchen and  in turn, the pfannekuchen helps cool the hot soup.  For some reason, soup was always dished up "boiling lava" hot in our house.

I would consider crepes to be an easy recipe that most anyone can make.  A well seasoned or non stick pan is helpful, as is a silicone spatula for flipping.  Total prep time for the completed dish is under an hour.

Pfannekuchen

• 2 1/2 c. Flour (all-purpose)
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. Baking powder
• 2 Medium eggs
• 2 c. Milk

Place the dry ingredients in bowl. Add the eggs and part of the milk. Stir together and add remaining milk in stages until the batter is thin and creamy. Heat a large non-stick pan with a bit of vegetable oil, butter, shortening, lard, duck fat, or whatever seems appropriate for how you will be using them. Pour in one 1/4 cup ladle of batter and spread around in circles until you have a very thin pancake. When the pancake starts to get dry on top, flip over with a silicone spatula and cook until lightly browned and cooked through. Don't be afraid to make them a bit darker than golden brown. Remove to a plate and repeat until you use all the batter.

Creamed Asparagus

• 1 lb. asparagus, woody ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• sauce bechamel (recipe follows)
• Fresh nutmeg to taste 

Steam asparagus in salted water until tender.  Remove the asparagus from the pan with a slotted spoon and combine with the bechamel.  Season with nutmeg to create that traditional German flavor.

Cooks note: depending on much loss their is by trimming the woody ends from the asparagus, you may need to adjust the amount of sauce bechamel.

Sauce Bechamel

It just kills me to add this into this post, because this sauce is so important to the culinary world that it deserves its own post, which I will do at some point.

• 2 T. butter
• 3 T. flour
• 2 c. milk, hot
• Salt and white pepper to taste

In a heavy sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat.  Then add the flour and whisk for a couple minutes until bubbly and frothy to form a white roux.  Remove from the heat and add the hot milk whisking vigorously until smooth.  You don't want any lumps.  Place on medium high heat and whisk until it comes to a boil.  Continue to whisk for another minute.  Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Cooks note:  For this particular use, you can substitute some (maybe 1/4 - 1/2 cup) of the asparagus steaming liquid for the milk.  Just be mindful of this when adjusting your seasoning at the end as you may not need to add any salt.

Pork Belly Part Deux - Food Porn

Photo by Rob Robitaille

I know that I have already posted about pork belly, but this was really, really good.  I made it the other night when my wife was working.  I was bored and this turned out fantastic.  I had no intention to post about it, because I had recently posted a similar article.  Regardless, I was rolling through my pictures, ready to post about something else tonight, and I rolled across this picture - and it brought it all back to right now.  Have you ever wanted to roll in something?  Or make a sleeping bag out of it and crawl in?  Well, I am ashamed to say that I have.  Roasted pork belly has to be, hands down, one of the most decadent foods you can experience.  I mean...it is a slab of uncured bacon.  Treated properly, it is tender and delicious and can invade your dreams.  I admit, I dream of food.  This combo that you see, works.  It just works.  I has it all.

The base is caramelized onion and sauerkraut braised with bay leaves, caraway seeds, and a bit of brown sugar.  The pork is nothing more than an ordinary, unappealingly white slab of animal protein and fat.  Unremarkable in its raw, plain form.  However, with the proper prep and mix of heat; you have an extraordinary experience.  I know what you are thinking.  For now, my dear friends, let's not think of fat as either good or bad.  Let's think of it as a flavor.  We can have the other discussion later, perhaps.  Fat is both flavor and a texture.  Have you ever had baked potato chips?  They taste okay, but they are kind of wrong on many levels.  They are dry and stick to your tongue in a very unholy way.  This is the antidote to that very experience.  Fat, in moderation, is a very good thing both in taste and texture.  It has to be experienced rather than observed.

I prepared the roast (about one pound) very similar to all the times before, but I took a hint from the Scandinavians, because...you have to.  I live in Minnesota for goodness sakes.  I made slices, about 1/8 inch deep and about 1/8 inch apart on the fat side.  Then, running off on  my own as I often do, I rubbed in salt and some vinegar between the slices (vinegar is really good on pork...try it). After which, I roasted it at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours, then turned on the broiler.  Once the layer of fat was crisp, I removed it to a cooling rack and sliced it about 1/2 inch thick.  I garnished it with some mustard (yellow mustard with some brown sugar, tarragon, cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper).  I am not joking when I say that, this was unbelievable.  It was sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.  All the basic senses of the human tongue and then some.

All right, I need to stop.  Food should be fun and interesting.  This is about as fun and interesting that I can think of.  Don't think of what is necessarily "healthy".  This is an occasional treat.  Enjoy it.

Krauter Butter

Photo by Rob Robitaille

When I was young, I used to wonder, who would put butter on meat?  Well, a lot of people, and rightly so.  It is not uncommon for a steak house to finish a steak with a bit of butter.  But, butter with something in it is even better.  There are numerous ways to make a compound butter, which is just a fancy name for butter with something else added to it.  Growing up, this was a foreign idea to me until we visited my grandparents in Germany and had Krauter Butter, or herb butter.  In Germany, they market herb salts, or krauter salz.  After that trip, no steak dinner in our house was complete without krauter butter, which amounts to nothing more than butter, krauter salz, and garlic to taste. Again, this can be made however you like, with almost any kind of seasoning mix, herbs, spices, cheese, shallot, onion, and on and on.  This can be served on pretty much any meat, poultry, fish, even vegetables.  Obviously, you need to select the flavors that match what you are serving it on.  For steak, something a little bossy goes well such as garlic, shallots, and blue cheese.  Something a bit sweeter for pork and poultry, and something acidic for fish, like capers, onions, and anchovies.  You are only limited by your imagination.