Kitchen Hero's

So you might think by the title of this i'm talking about chefs but nooooo it's all about the equipment. I think too often people don't invest their $$ into the right areas of their kitchen and i'm always worried someone is going to lose a finger or something because of it! I am in absolutely no way the aficionado on any of this and everyone's different....just sharing what I have put priorities in.

The photo above by the way is of the homewares mecca Williams- Sonoma which contains every single one of my kitchenware dreams and aspirations.

First up we have knives. I don't think there is any getting around this one...knives are expensive but absolutely my number one use item. if you work it down to a cost per use basis (c'mon girls you know you justify things on cost per wear...knives are the same!) they really aren't too pricey and last for many years. I still like Global's..can't handle wusthof's and mundials as they have that heavy handle that throws me way off. I prefer the lightweight knives...the short chef's knife is actually the one I use most of the time. A water sharpener is a handy addition to these and I can't help but think the block actually dulls them quicker so a magnetic strip wouldn't go astray either. I don't have a good place for a strip but if I did I would be all over it.



Dale like's Shun's and Japanese knives. These babies are way pricier than the Globals so for a change i'm actually budget friendly. They are scary sharp too and need much less regular sharpening than the global's do.



As a interesting sidenote if you are ever heading to Kyoto you mustmustmust go the the knife shop..it is pretty popular but amazing quality...unfortunately prices to match and you are looking at a few hundred aud per knife but they are brilliant. You can also get them engraved with whatever characters you like which is such a great gift (smaller paring knives start at about $100).


Second up is my most used pan in the kitchen bar none. It's a Circulon commercial saute pan. It was quite pricey back in the day when i got it but I think you can pick one up for around $140 from Victoria's Basement and it is really worth every cent. I have used this almost everyday for the past 4 years and it's like brand new...it is fantastic quality and so diverse I use it as a frypan, braising pan, fried rice.. you name it. It is an absolutely brilliant pan.



My other fave kitchen thing are stainless steel bowls. You might notice alot of s/s around our kitchen in photos and that's cause I use alot of ex-stuff from my dad's restaurants...some of these bowls (the huge ones) were his and others i've bought. They are quite cheap but when you are cooking a bunch they are absolutely the most useful things. They aren't actually as easy to find as one might hope so keep an eye out for them...they shouldn't be expensive.

So then there's the dream items such as these mauviel copper pans which will one day be mine. I'm also lemming a copper mixing bowl for my KA to make perfect egg whites (which I could really do with right now for Aus day tomorrow!).



I'll do another post sometime about gadgets and utensils cause there's some pretty cool stuff hiding around in the kitchen :)