METRO's Foodie Gift Guide

Kitchenware staples for the chef in your life

A good stockpot helps

Image credit: Photos by Tate Carlson

By: Mecca Bos |   December 2011   |  From the print edition

As a longtime cook, I’ve received every kitchen gadget imaginable: the Ove Glove, a raw-food cookbook and clunky, one-use appliances that come with an absurd amount of attachments and whizgigs. Most of these items end up cluttering my pantry, and by the next year, they’re out the door.

You mean well when buying for the chef in your life, so do well—give her tools she’s sure to use. These staples will always have a place in the semi-professional kitchen.

Silpat

A great substitute for parchment paper, a Silpat is essentially a silicone mat that creates a non-stick surface on baking sheets. Many bakers wouldn’t dream of mixing up a batch of chocolate chippers without one, and they’re completely reusable and dishwasher safe. $28.

Pastry scraper

I’m no pastry chef, yet a pastry scraper always finds its way into my knife bag. It’s indispensable for picking up piles of chopped veggies and transporting them to the pan without removing a heavy pot from the heat. The baker in your life wants one for scraping stubborn dough from surfaces. Lamson Sharp, $13.75, Messermiester, $10

Fish Spatula

The “fish spat” is an indispensable tool for turning and transporting fish filets, omelettes and other delicate dishes. Note the short handles for easy grasp and dexterity. Lamson Sharp, $25.50

Sturdy set of tongs

If there’s one other tool aside from a very sharp knife that pro cooks can’t live without, it’s a pair of kitchen tongs. (Speaking of knives, we included some in the photo at right becuase no foodie gift guide is complete without them. These are Wusthof’s Studio Set. You should buy them.) Great for grasping food, lifting hot lids and shifting pans around without hot pads, tongs are essential. Find a sturdy pair that fits the size and shape of your hand. Cuisipro 9.5” tongs with silicone tips, $14, Cuisipro 16” all-stainless tongs, $15.75

Fine-Mesh Sieve

The only way to get the lush, silky mouthfeel found in fine-dining sauces and soups is to strain, and then strain again. And again and … . Most everyone has a colander in their kitchen for removing bones and big bits, but for delicate sediment, you’ll need a fine-mesh sieve. Your velouté will be that much finer for it. Cuisipro 8” fine-mesh sieve, $18

Quality nonstick pan

Every wannabe cook thinks its imperative to have a full, sexy set of All-Clad Stainless hanging above the stove. And sure, that would be nice. But the truth is that most restaurants use good, nonstick sauté pans for everyday needs. They’re indispensable for making eggs of almost every sort (just try turning out an intact egg in stainless steel) and for making good, caramelized crust on fish and meat. Mauviel M’Stone2 3.2 qt. saute with glass lid, $180, Mauviel M’Stone2 8” fry pan, $90

KitchenAid stand mixer with all the attachments you can afford

So classic it’s almost cliché, the KitchenAid stand mixer is one of the most coveted machines in any kitchen. Not only is it an object d’art, its many accessories are the cook’s answer to iPhone apps. Pasta, fresh sausage, ice cream, fresh squeezed juice? There’s an attachment for that. Once you’ve used one of these high-end mixers, you’ll find that baking of any sort is a sheer misery without it. KitchenAid 5 qt. artisan chrome stand mixer, $299, KitchenAid sausage grinder, $49.99, Kitchen Aid sausage stuffer, $9.99, BeaterBlade, $30

Good stockpot

Good chefs hate waste. Jacques Pepin says that cooks in his kitchen used to bury scraps deep into the wastebasket to avoid his wrath upon finding them. Avoid this fate by tossing vegetable cuttings into your stockpot as you go—corn cobs, apple cores, onion trimmings, tomato seeds—all of these make a good light vegetable stock. When you’re done cooking, cover all of this with filtered water, and simmer for an hour. Now, you’ve got the basis for your next soup, sauce, or braise. All the best restaurants do it. Mauviel 9 qt. stainless stockpot, $399, All Clad 6 qt. stainless stockpot, $270

Microplane

A Microplane will shred Parmesan into quick, satisfying piles with only a few flicks of the wrist. It’s also great for making citrus zest, fresh nutmeg powder and grating pure rock salts. Microplane, Cuisipro, $15

Salt and pepper bowls

Since grains of salt are almost invisible to the naked eye, and pepper flakes not much easier to see, it makes zero sense to shake them, willy nilly, over your carefully sourced pastured chicken. Instead, keep a ramekin of each near your cutting board, and season with pinches. Over time, you’ll grow accustomed to the feel of seasoning between your fingers, and you’ll start using the perfect amount. Choose containers that are sturdy enough to stay put on slippery surfaces, and pretty enough to love. I like portable varieties with covers that you can throw in your knife bag or purse, allowing you to be prepared for cooking, dining and seasoning anywhere you go. Emile Henry mini-bowls, $8, RSVP marble pinch bowl, $5.75, BIA 2 compartment pinch dish, $5.50

Stainless Bowls

Cooking catalogues are filled with decorative dishes, Italian pottery and the like, but if good cooking is what you’re after, buy a nesting stack of stainless steel bowls, from one large enough to bathe an infant to finger-bowl size. You’ll use them all, sometimes simultaneously, for stirring, whisking, mixing, holding, chilling and more, and they’ll never, ever break. RSVP 2 qt. stainless bowl, $8, RSVP 4 qt. stainless bowl, $12.50, RSVP 6 qt. stainless bowl, $16.25, RSVP 8 qt. stainless bowl, $21, RSVP 12 qt. stainless bowl, $29.50, RSVP set, 4 prep bowls, $22

Kitchen towels

Rather than use paper towels or sponges for spills and cleanup, and hotpads for hand protection, consider a good pile of utilitarian kitchen towels (no Williams-Sonoma monogrammed set necessary)—they’ll increase organization and decrease waste. When cooking, use one dry towel for moving hot things around, and one wet for cleanup. Now Designs set of three white bar mops, $8, Now Designs ripple towels, $8.50

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Most cooks can credit some individual for that little push that tipped them into taking food seriously. For me, that would be New York Times food writer Mark Bittman. While he wasn’t my first inspiration, he gets credit for teaching me that cooking needn’t (and probably shouldn’t) be complicated, fussy or expensive to be delicious. And that a precious few ingredients and a little ingenuity can alchemize into a fabulous dinner. The new, revised 10th-anniversary edition of his best-selling How to Cook Everything features 2,000 recipes and is essential for any cookbook shelf. How to Cook Everything, $35, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, $35

+ All items listed in this story are available at Cooks of Crocus Hill, 877 Grand Ave., St. Paul, 651.228.1333; cooksofcrocushill.com