Kitchen Gadgets

Burger Press

Who does not love a burger? You can make them out of beef, chicken, turkey, pork, seafood, and veggies. I am a fan of the beef burger and I love stuffing them with flavor. I use rosemary and sage compound butters or cheese to stuff my burgers. The variations are endless. This burger press would come in handy, to make sure the filling stays inside the burger. The big thing is not to "press" the burgers when coking them. Not only will the filling come out, but the juices that keep your burger moist will escape as well. I found this burger press online at Williams and Sonoma. I have not picked one up yet to try it out, but it looks neat!

KitchenAid Food Processor

There are so many kitchen gadgets that make our "cooking lives" easier. I just don't know what I would do without my food processor. I use it to chop vegetables or as we call it in New Orleans "seasonings", which means, onion, celery, parsley and some use green bell pepper, not one of my favorites in cooking. This may seen odd to my fellow New Orleanians, but green bell peppers are a bit too strong for me. Green Bell peppers are quite good with beef, because beef can stand up to their bold flavor. I like to have my seasonings already chopped and ready to use at a moments notice, so the food processor is a must for my kitchen. Biscuits can be made in the food processor as well as salad dressings, doughs, soups and a multitude of foods.

Biscuit Cutter Set

Pineapple Slicer

For those of you who love fresh pineapple, this tool is so useful. It takes all the work out of having those fresh, perfect pineapple slices. You can even fill the pineapple shell with fruit for a buffet.

There are a few other things that make life easier in the kitchen and one is a good bread knife, an electric knife and an all purpose knife along with kitchen sheers. A grill pan for the stove top is nice along with a big splurge an induction cook top; you can use this appliance inside or outside to fry fish, chicken, seafood and boil seafood. Induction cooking is fast, but you need to use cookware that works with this method of cooking. A cast iron skillet or cast iron pot works well on induction cook tops.

Just remember, you should cook smart, not hard and these kitchen tools will help you accomplish that! Also a glass of wine while cooking helps make the job a bit smoother! Try a glass of J 2009 Pinot Gris while preparing a light meal like grilled shrimp on skewers or just to sip while cooking.

This wine has a light straw color. The nose is beautiful! I have to say that I have a "thing" for wines with ripe beautiful noses. The nose has a "warm" tangerine and honeysuckle nose with just a slight hint of spice. The palate mirrors the nose with an addition of honey and lime. I think this wine is one to have during the warm months and also in the the cooler months due to the warmth of the nose, the citrus flavors (tangerine), and the acidity of the wine and the hint of spice. I think this wine would pair well with ripened goat cheese, pork, orange glazed chicken, crab cakes, and grilled shrimp, which were marinated in a marinade that included orange juice with a bit of ginger and lime juice. This wine is one that I will have in my cellar, just to sip or to pair with a meal. Note: This wine was a sample provided by J Wines. http://www.jwine.com