The late, great food writer Laurie Colwin once wrote something to the effect of, “I feel sorry for anybody who picks up a cookbook only to find a list of equipment you need to buy in order to cook from it.” This isn’t that. What this is, instead, is a randomly organized list of those tools and gadgets and vessels that I constantly reach for. Because here’s the thing. I often find myself cooking at other people’s houses, and more often than not, they have such a haphazard collection of tools and cooking equipment, and I think, No wonder you don’t like to cook. Cooking without the right tools can be so uncomfortable and frustrating. The items on this list, many of which are very inexpensive, make cooking easier and more fun for me, and I’m including them here in case it will make cooking more fun for you, too.
1. Microplane: Throw away your garlic presses, everyone. They don’t work that well. Cleaning the minuscule garlic bits out of the tiny holes is virtually impossible. And besides, the Microplane, which is a kitchen tool that originated as a tool-tool (a rasp) makes such easy work of grating garlic. It works for grating ginger, too. And for grating cheese over a dish. But the garlic thing—it’s going to change your life. In these recipes, I call for number of cloves rather than measurements because I like to grate the garlic directly into whatever vessel I’m adding it to; besides, who wants to spend their time stuffing grated garlic into a teeny spoon?
2. Scissors: These are invaluable in the kitchen, for opening packages, cutting off carrot tops, and most essentially, snipping herbs. I have a Wustoff pair, but my favorite scissors are a red handled pair I paid $4 for at the Asian grocer.
3. Mandoline: For thinly slicing and shaving vegetables. You need one if you’re going to make shaved raw vegetable salads, such as Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Spelt, Walnuts, and Pecorino (here). They also come in handy for cutting vegetables into delicate matchsticks and/or dicing very small. The good news is, inexpensive plastic mandolines are widely available.
4. Mini food processor: For pureeing chipotle chiles, grinding nuts, making pesto, and grating chunks of hard cheese, such as Parmesan or Pecorino. They’re inexpensive, easy to use, and lightweight. I have two.
5. Vitamix or another stellar blender: For whirring up sauces, hummus, pesto, and other purees. I inherited one used, so it’s not very pretty. Nevertheless, it opened up my cooking world.
6. Cast-iron griddle or grill pan: I’m madly in love with my long, rectangular Lodge cast-iron griddle/grill. It fits over two burners, and it is a griddle on one side and a grill pan with grill grates on the other. The grill side allows me to grill even when I don’t feel like going outside and lighting a fire. I use the griddle side for making pancakes, warming tortillas, and searing meats. The griddle, being flat, provides more surface area, which means more brown deliciousness. It cost me $60 at Sur La Table and it has already paid for itself as far as I’m concerned.
7. Baking sheets: I suggest you have a lot of these, and preferably not nonstick. I recommend sheet pans, which are thick, with sides about ¾ inch tall. Thin-gauge cookie sheets buckle in the oven. Thick ones, and those that develop patina over time, will give you more color on your vegetables. I buy them in packs of two at Sur La Table. I most often use the half sheet pan size (18 by 13 inches) for tasks like roasting vegetables, but I also have quarter sheet pans (9 by 13 inches) for small jobs like toasting nuts. The nice thing about these is that they stack, so you can keep a lot of them in a small space, which is essential since my kitchen is smaller than your average walk-in closet.
8. Bowls: Having plenty of mixing and prep bowls on hand makes life so much easier. I like sets of small bowls for holding prepped quantities of little things like herbs and garlic, and I have an extensive set of stainless-steel bowls for tossing grains and salads. I buy them at kitchen supply stores. They’re not expensive, light, and don’t break. And they nest, so they only take as much space as your largest bowl.
9. Fish spatula: A so-called fish spatula is made of metal and is thin and flexible, so you can really get under something and turn it without leaving the nice browned part behind in the pan. For me, it’s not just for fish anymore. It’s the only spatula (other than a rubber spatula) I will ever need.
10. Dutch oven: Heavy, large pots for braising and making beans and soup. I love my Staub pots for their sheer beauty but I also have a giant, vintage Le Creuset that I inherited from my dad and two less expensive Mario Batali by Dansk pots from Bed Bath & Beyond. Honestly, they all work the same, and I use them all, all the time.
11. Rubber spatulas: Essential in dessert making, for scraping the good stuff off the sides of the bowls, and also for cleaning out blenders, making scrambled eggs and stir-fries, stirring sauces and porridges (many rubber spatulas are heatproof), and folding salad ingredients together without any smashing and breaking. I have several, and when I’m cooking a big meal, I use every one.
12. Food-handling gloves: Using your hands to toss salads and perform other jobs in the kitchen is, in my opinion, an essential and enjoyable part of cooking. Gloves are for those who want to get down and dirty in the kitchen but without the dirty.
13. Tongs: For turning things, like vegetables, in a skillet or on a baking sheet. When you want to really achieve that perfect caramelization that makes food look and taste delicious, shaking or stirring can only do so much. You have to take the 45 seconds it requires to turn every last mushroom, each Brussels sprout, or each shrimp. Tongs are the only way to get the job done.
14. Pots and pans: I’m an All-Clad girl. I have a collection of the least expensive line in New York, and one set of the classic, mid-priced line in California; and I can tell the difference by the weight of the pans, but barely. One of the things I like about doing the matchy-matchy thing with my pots and pans, besides the fact that it satisfies my slight OCD leanings, is that the lids to same-width pots are interchangeable. Here are the pieces that I couldn’t, or wouldn’t want to, live without: A straight-sided skillet with a lid is my go-to for no-fail, fluffy, and perfectly cooked grains. I use a smallish (2-quart) saucepan, which I call my oatmeal pan, almost daily for making porridge. I use my 3-quart All-Clad saucier, which looks like a stainless-steel bowl with two handles and a lid, for making porridge when I want more room, for cooking soup, larger batches of saucy things, and sautéing just about anything. I invested in a proper All-Clad stockpot only recently; it makes clean and easy work of cooking chicken or vegetable stock because it means not having to turn over a giant pot to strain out bones or vegetables; instead, those things go in an insert, like pasta in a pasta cooker, and you lift them out in one quick, easy motion. I once stood firmly and stubbornly in the anti-nonstick pan camp. Then, in the last couple of years, I bought one for cooking eggs and fish. It’s been life altering. I now cook many more eggs and much more fish, both in much less oil than I would have had to in another pan.
15. Wire whisk: Essential for whipping, stirring, mashing, and, of course, whisking.
16. Knives: I’m sorry to disappoint you by telling you this, but you don’t need a knife block. And you don’t need a set. I know that the knife block knife set is part and parcel of the American dream, but they take up valuable counter space, and you won’t use half of them. Serious professional cooks buy one knife that they love. Then they buy another knife that they love. And then another… The knives don’t even match, if you can imagine! You only really need two knives: a big knife, called a chef’s knife, and a small paring knife. I love my Shun chef’s knife, which was a gift from Sara Foster, a wonderful cook with whom I have written two cookbooks. And my Global vegetable cleaver, which was a gift from me to myself. And I rely heavily on my inexpensive, plastic-handled Victorinox paring knife, which I got from Nina Maconnell’s wonderful weekend pop-up shop at Chino Ranch. Buy what feels good in your hand. Most important: Keep your knives sharp. That long round thing that makes you feel like a samurai using it? That’s called a honing steel. Its job is to realign the edge of the blade, which does make it a little sharper. But real knife sharpening requires special skills. Unless you have them, take your knife to a knife sharpener. (There is no shame in not sharpening your own knives. Knife sharpeners make regular rounds to restaurant kitchens, sharpening the knives of chefs.)
17. Plastic U-shaped vegetable peelers: These are so superior to the straight ones that I grew up using, and they’re only about five bucks apiece. My favorites are Kuhn Rikon Swiss Peelers, which come in a revolving variety of bright colors. I buy them in packs of three, and I often give them as gifts.
18. Recycled jam jars, deli containers, and plastic zip-top bags: To store all that delicious homemade food you’ll be cooking from this book. Cooking up big batches of grains, beans, and condiments to mix and match for last-minute meal preparation is the secret to home-cooking success.
19. Strainer: I have one that fits across my sink, which, in a small kitchen, is life altering. I use it for rinsing vegetables, beans, and grains. Then I have a set of handheld fine-mesh strainers. In a grain bowl world, you will need the large one for rinsing and draining grains. Keep it handy.
20. Mexican elbow: That’s a new term for me, not used (that I know of) in Mexico, where actual Mexican elbows are everywhere. I’m referring to that hinged gadget in which you put a half a lime for squeezing the juice (I call it a lime squeezer). I have one for lemons, too. Very handy, but positively indispensable when juicing large amounts of lemons or limes, such as for making vinaigrettes or micheladas, beer and lime juice cocktails, when all’s said and done.