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Pastry Brush

A pastry brush isn’t just useful for buttering the pans in which you are going to be baking your cake, but it can also be useful when you are decorating. Use a pastry brush when you need to remove extra icing sugar from your fondant for a clean look. As long as you are gentle when brushing with a pastry brush, you won’t accidentally damage or mark the fondant. You can also use these brushes to help spread edible glitter across the surface of your cake so that it is evenly distributed. Without a pastry brush it can be difficult to spread glitter without it clumping in certain areas.

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Delectable & Mouth-Watering Calzone Recipes

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Electric Frying Pans

Electric frying pans are frying pans whose heat source comes from an electrical element attached to them. They are not designed for stove-top use. They tend to be square. Almost all come with a thermostat to regulate the heat that you take off when you wash the pans.

Older ones had hot and cold spots, because the heating element was just a ring under the bottom. Some come with high-domed lids so that you can do roasting or baking in them. For baking, put a metal trivet in them, and then your baking pan on top of that. Lids usually have a vent in them that you can open to let steam out. Some come with ceramic inserts, letting them act somewhat like a slow-cooker.

Electric frying pans are good for simmering and slow cooking, both being cooking methods that allow unattended cooking (for short times, for obvious safety reasons.) Electric frying pans will maintain a controlled temperature during this time. They can also be used for braising, stewing, and some oven-type dishes. You can make spaghetti sauce and fried chicken in them. Electric frying pans are also a popular table tool at parties for keeping food such as Swedish meatballs warm.

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DISTINGUISHING PANS FROM POTS

A problem arises when trying to distinguish a pan from a similar cooking vessel, which is called a “pot”.

In general, pots are for liquids; pans are for solid ingredients. Consequently, pots are deeper, with straight up sides.. Pans are shallower, and may have sloped-out or curved sides. Some say a pot should have two handles, and a pan only one, a longer one. In practice, most pots have one long handle. Pots often get called pans, but pans are almost never called pots. A saucepan is technically a sauce pot, but most English speakers would never refer to a frying pot. A chip pan is actually a chip pot. A wok is a pan. Of course, all guidelines go out the window with Dutch ovens and large soup kettles.

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Spatulas

Regular spatulas are not ideal for decorating a cake, but they are necessary to scrap frosting out of your mixing bowl and pour it into your piping bags. Without a spatula that is easy to use and very flexible, you will struggle with getting all of your frosting out of the bowl. They are also ideal for mixing up frosting and ensuring that any color you choose is fully incorporated throughout.

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Rice Recipes To Fill You Up For Dinner

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Make-Ahead Chickpea Salad With Cumin and Celery Recipe

A simple salad of chickpeas dressed in a light vinaigrette is flavored with cumin, shallots, and olive oil. Crunchy celery and parsley finish it off. This is the kind of salad that gets better as it sits—make it one night and pack it for lunch at the office or on a picnic the next day.

Ingredients 1/2 pound dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), soaked overnight in cold salted water at room temperature 1 bay leaf 1 carrot, cut into 3-inch segments 1 onion, split in half 2 stalks celery, one thinly sliced crosswise, one cut into 3-inch segments, divided Kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 small shallot, thinly sliced 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves Freshly ground black pepper Directions 1. Drain chickpeas and place in a large pot with bay leaf, carrot, onion, and the segmented celery stalk. Cover with cold water by 2 inches, season with salt, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the chickpeas are tender but still hold their shape, about 1 hour. Discard bay leaf, carrot, onion, and celery. Drain and rinse under cold running water until chilled. Let drain in a colander set in the sink while you prepare the rest of the salad.

2. Combine cumin and vinegar in a large bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Add shallot, sliced celery, parsley leaves, and drained chickpeas. Toss to coat with dressing and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or for better results, store overnight in a covered container in the refrigerator. Salad will keep for up to three days.

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Essential Tips that Make Traveling with Food So Much Easier

Secure Your Slow Cooker Nervous to place that steamy slow-cooker chili in the passenger seat? We were, too, until we found this genius trick to keeping the lid on tight: Grab a small bungee cord, hook each end onto the slow cooker’s side handles and then wrap it around (or thread it through) the lid’s top handle. Give it a wiggle to be sure it is good to go. Grab yourself a bungee cord to keep handy in the kitchen.

Line the Trunk Collect your yoga mats or extra drawer liners before you place any dishes in your car. Line a trunk, or back seat, with these no-slip materials to keep food from slipping and sliding when you hit the interstate. You can trust your most elaborate layer cakes on this simple setup—but we get if you want to stick them on a friend’s lap in the front seat.

Build a Double-Decker Carrier Bringing multiple goodies to the party? Go you! Here’s a great way to transport them all at once. Grab your cooling rack and a storage bin that’s slightly larger in size. Place one of your dishes on the bottom of the bin, set the cooling rack on top, then set another dish on top. 

Make a To-Go Salad Kit Here’s how to make a quick, travel-friendly salad, hassle-free: Prep all of your ingredients separately in reusable containers (we love these silicone storage bags from Stashable) and place them in a large serving bowl along with a bag of greens, a bottle of dressing and your serving tools. When you’ve reached your destination, simply toss everything together and serve.

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COLANDER DESIGNS

A colander can be made of plastic, ceramic, enamelware, or a metal such as stainless steel or aluminum. Older ones were made of tin or graniteware.

Plastic colanders can be damaged if set on a hot surface; some people also fear that some plastics might melt if too hot a boiling liquid such as oil is poured through them. Plastic ones can also stain. Ceramic ones often only have holes in the bottom. Metal ones will have a lip around the top rim. People who buy the stainless steel ones seem to like them to remain shiny enough to act as a kitchen decoration on the wall or shelf. Though there seems to be one standard size, about 23 to 25 cm wide at the top (about 9 to 10 inches), you can get ones smaller and far larger than that. Larger ones may be used by professional cooks and home canners. Some colanders have feet right underneath of them coming out of the bottom of the bowl. Some instead have legs attached to the side, or a single pedestal foot. Some have no feet or resting device at all at the bottom. Ones with such a resting device allow you to place the colander in the kitchen sink, not leaving you to worry about how sanitary your sink actually is at the moment while food in the colander is touching the bottom of the sink through the holes.

Most colanders usually have a handle on each side at the top. Some though are like very large flour scoops, with one large handle off to one side that you use to hold it with.

Some are designed to be propped up over a sink. They are more like mesh baskets, with long arms that come out to reach each side of the sink, and hold the colander suspended above the sink. These usually but not always have feet as well. Not all colanders are dishwasher-safe; check to make sure before purchasing if this is important to you.

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Fondant Rolling Pin

You can either opt for a fondant rolling pin that will imprint images on the fondant while you are rolling it out, or you can choose one that will create a smooth and flat surface. You want to make sure that your fondant rolling pin is comfortable for you to hold and has a smooth surface free of nicks or cracks so that you don’t have to worry about these imperfections showing up on your fondant, as this can lower the final quality of your finished cake.

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Mayo-Free Mediterranean Tuna Salad Sandwiches Recipe

This mayo-free tuna salad is loaded with Mediterranean flavors, including plenty of fresh olive oil, capers, olives, fennel, celery, and a splash of lemon.

Ingredients 1/2 medium red onion (about 4 ounces; 110g), thinly sliced 1/4 cup (60ml) red wine vinegar 20 ounces (560g) oil-packed tuna, preferably ventresca (see note), drained and flaked by hand into roughly 1/2-inch pieces 1 stalk celery (about 3 ounces; 85g), sliced thinly on the bias 1/4 medium bulb fennel (about 1 ounce), cored and thinly sliced Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped 2 tablespoons (30ml) drained brined capers 1/4 cup (60ml) drained pitted briny black or green olives, quartered lengthwise 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed 2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh juice from 1 lemon 1/2 teaspoon (3ml) Asian fish sauce or very finely minced oil-packed anchovy fillets (about 2 small fillets) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 8 slices rustic sandwich bread, such as a Pullman loaf, brushed with olive oil and toasted Arugula, for garnish Directions 1. In a small bowl, combine onion and vinegar (vinegar should just cover onion; add more if it does not) and let stand 15 minutes.2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine tuna with celery, fennel, parsley, capers, olives, olive oil, lemon juice, and fish sauce or anchovy. Drain onion well, then add to bowl. Mix gently until thoroughly combined; season with salt and pepper. Dress with more olive oil if desired.3. Spoon tuna salad onto 4 slices of toast, top with arugula, then close sandwiches and serve.

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Whisk

A whisk is a kitchen tool using for blending, whipping, incorporating air and eliminating lumps in food. Most whisks are hand-held and hand-powered, though some mechanical and electronic versions are available.

Whisks can be made of metal, nylon plastic, wood or bamboo. Wooden ones break easily. Nylon whisks are quite flimsy and don’t have a lot of whisking power. Silicone-coated wire whisks are better. Better quality metal whisks have the handle sealed at both ends.

Not all types of whisks are dishwasher safe. Check before you buy if this is important to you. It’s best not to risk using metal ones in non-stick pots or pans, as you may damage the non-stick surface of your pot. This is when nylon whisks, despite not having a lot of oomph, are useful.