Get Cooking!

Recipes, Kitchen Gadgets, Cookbook Reviews, Gluten Free Recipes...

You are here: Home / Archives for Reviews

Reviews

Hamilton Beach Power Deluxe Hand/Stand Mixer

By

Hamilton Beach Power Deluxe from EmilyThanks, Emily!

Fellow moms (and a lot of dads for that matter), you know how it is. You want something really badly, but you just never get around to getting it for yourself. It’s so much funner to buy things for your spouse, kids, and cats!

That’s the way it has been for me when it comes to the Hamilton Beach Power Deluxe 6 Speed Hand/Stand Mixer. I’ve wanted a stand alone mixer for just about as long as I can remember. I tend to especially remember my great desire when I’m cooking/baking and desperately wishing for a second set of hands.

I also find myself wanting one in the worst way when beating something that takes a great deal of time (egg whites, divinity, some fudge).

Thanks to my oldest daughter, Emily, I no longer have to wish, I simply have to go to the bakers rack and get mine down. Em and I were shopping a few days ago and she coyly lured me to the kitchen appliances (it never takes much effort to get me THERE). She pointed out the Hamilton Beach Power Deluxes on the shelf and asked, “If you were going to buy one, which color would you buy?” While I loved the black and the white muchly, my St. Louis Cardinal’s heart said, “Red!”

Then she proceeds to grab the box (there was only one red left) and places it in the cart. Her smile told me that it was, indeed, mine now and I had to refrain from doing a happy dance right there in the store – not that it would have embarrassed her, she’d have simply danced with me, but if word got back to my younger daughters, I’d never hear the end of it.

My dear, beautiful, intelligent, witty, sweet, and charming daughter allowed me to take it home with me – which is a good thing, I didn’t want to have to wrestle her for it. Why wait a week when you can play with your new toy right away?!

If you, like me, have been wanting one of these beauties for a long time, you have two choices:

  1. Buy it today!  If you tend to put your loved ones ahead of yourself, think of it this way: Who will you be making all the cakes, cookies, rolls, and candy for anyway?!
  2. Do some heavy duty, masterful, ninja-like hinting.  You have a few days left before Mother’s Day.  As for you baking Fathers, you have plenty of time to start raining hints before Father’s Day.

Product Features

  • Doubles as a hand mixer
  • Shift & Stir bowl
  • 275 Watts peak power
  • QuickBurst button
  • 4 quart glass bowl
  • Includes beaters, whisk and dough hooks
  • Bowl Rest mixer stabilizer
  • Easy-clean rounded cord

Take a closer look at the beautiful Power Deluxe 6 Speed Hand/Stand Mixer. Take it from me, HAVING is so much better than WANTING.

Expeller-Pressed Canola

By

Expeller Pressed Canola

I was sent a bottle of Expeller-Pressed Canola from BetterBody Foods & Nutrition a while back to review on Get Cooking. As someone who is constantly looking for healthier things to feel her family, I was anxious to try this oil. I loved its byline, but the truth would be in the taste and in the performance.

I’m delighted to say, it exceeded all expectations. I truly can’t think of a single reason NOT to choose Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil in your own baking.

From the BetterBody Foods & Nutrition:

Our Expeller Pressed Canola Oil uses no chemicals during the extraction process, has ZERO trans fats, is GMO Free and isthe lowest in saturated fat of all oils. It is very high in “heart healthy” essential fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) and is a great source of Vitamin E.

Most brands of canola are extracted using hexane, a petroleum-based product, and are then refined using phosphoric acid and other additives. Our Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, much like virgin olive oil, is expeller pressed without the use of chemicals or solvents and is then refined using our proprietary steam filtration process. Our Expeller Pressed Canola Oil is lower in saturated fat than olive oil, is higher in Vitamin E, Omega 3 and Omega 6 than olive oil, and is also much more versatile in your kitchen (see “Uses Comparison” chart). It is so light and delicious that it can be used for salad dressings, dips, sautéing, baking and frying. You will definitely taste the difference.

Expeller Pressed Canola Comparison

As far as tasting the difference, you can count on it!

Simply Calphalon Nonstick 12-in. Jumbo Fryer Review

By

Simply Calphalon Nonstick 12-in. Jumbo FryerAs I said in a recent post (appropriately enough, another post about Calphalon), if you want to be the best cook on the block, you’d better surround yourself with the best tools on the block.  If you surround yourself with second, third, or fourth best – guess where you’ll fall in the lineup.  Honestly, a serious cook MUST arm himself/herself with quality cookware, bakeware, and other cooking tools.  They last practically forever and allow your creativity and know-how to shine through.

One of the best things a quality pan has going for it is the fact that it isn’t a cheap pan.  Cheap pans (the kind hanging in your department store that are priced so low you think, “This is too good to be true!” – you nailed it) are nightmares to clean as everything seems to stick to them and refuse to let go.  Calphalon Nonstick pans are the complete opposite – they practically wash and put themselves away.

The only thing is, my Calphalon pans are so darn handsome, I refuse to put them away!   It’s like, “Here. Sit out and show off your beauty.”  Besides, they’re used daily, why bother letting them get out of reach?

The Simply Calphalon Nonstick 12-in. Jumbo Fryer shown above is my newest obsession.  I honestly use this gorgeous beast for everything under the sun – make that under the kitchen light.  I don’t fry that many foods, actually, but when I do break down and revert to my southern roots, the shape of this pan is deep and contoured enough to hold plenty of oil without making a spectacular mess.  It’s ideal for frying shrimp, chicken wings, okra, squash, corn nuggets, doughnut holes, and just about anything you can dream up.

I use my new obsession for…

  • Spaghetti Sauce
  • Taco Filling
  • Fried Rice
  • Baked Beans
  • Risotto
  • Squash
  • Asparagus

I named the recipe below in honor of the Simply Calphalon Nonstick 12-in. Jumbo Fryer.  After using this pan to make asparagus this way for a dozen times, it seemed only fair.

Simply Delicious Asparagus Recipe

1 pound fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Heat olive oil in the Simply Calphalon Jumbo Fryer.   Add garlic and the salt and pepper.  Heat the minced garlic for almost a minute,  and make certain you don’t let it brown.  Turn the heat down a little and add the trimmed asparagus.  Cook for 8 – 10 minutes.  Frequently turn the asparagus to ensure even cooking. Also, you may want to adjust the cooking time to suit your own taste. Some people like for their asparagus to be almost noodle limp (not me, not me, not me!) while others want it to have a lot more gumption. I’d rather mine have a little snap to it, actually.  Since stovetops and food preferences vary, always remember to test the asparagus as you go along.

Another tip: When I made Simply Asparagus recently, I added a tsp of Land O’ Lakes Light Butter with Canola Oil to the pan before the olive oil.  It gave an extra flavor that was outstanding.

Simply Calphalon Nonstick 12-Inch Jumbo Fryer Product Description:

Deep-fry a few chicken wings, sauté a steak, or pop a casserole in the oven. Deep enough to hold hot oil and even certain stews and sauces. Simply Calphalon makes choosing cookware a simple proposition. Everything that counts in cookware: delicious results, good looks, easy clean-up and durability is built right into it. An ideal choice for cooking enthusiasts of every budget, Simply Calphalon is constructed to meet Calphalon’s strict standards for performance and durability. Designed with an eye toward simple elegance, capturing the essence of Calphalon style. – From Calphalon’s Website

Features:

  • Vessel Construction: Drawn construction.
  • Crafted from a disc of virtually pure, medium-gauge, hard anodized aluminum for even heating.
  • Hard anodized aluminum exterior will not chip or crack.
  • Key Performance: 2 layers of nonstick coating for extended performance.
  • Cooks with little to no oil or fats.
  • Effortless food release.
  • Non-reactive with foods.
  • Safe for use with nylon, coated or wooden utensils.
  • Handles: Contoured, cast stainless steel with silicone for added comfort and heat-resistance. Double riveted for durable performance.
  • Covers: Tempered glass. Allows easy monitoring of the cooking process. Domed shape returns moisture to foods. Stainless steel bands reinforce glass and complements handles.

Everything that counts in cookware; delicious results, good looks, easy clean-up, durability is built right into it!

  • Calphalon’s signature hard-anodized aluminum construction for excellent conductivity and even heating.
  • Tempered glass covers
  • The interior surface is double-coated with Calphalon’s sturdy, reliable nonstick coating.

This is one extra-special pan and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.  Don’t let the name “Jumbo Fryer” fool you, though.  This guy does it all, and beautifully.  Clean up could not be easier – but the real beauty lies in the performance.  Calphalon pans will not let you down.  With Calphalon by your side, you’ll be the cook you always wanted to be.

Click HERE to read more about the Simply Calphalon Nonstick 12 inch Jumbo Fryer.  The price is so extraordinary, I’m tempted to buy a second one.  While asparagus is cooking in one, I can make German Fries in the other.

Man, am I getting hungry….

Calphalon Unison Nonstick Omelette Pan Set

By

Calphalon Nonstick Omelette Pan Set

Is it acceptable to buy yourself a Mother’s Day present?  It could sort of be like a declaration of, “I love being a mother!  In fact I love it so much, I’m going to celebrate by buying myself a _________!”   The blank could be filled in accordingly, with whatever has caught the happy mom’s eye and captured her heart.

Okay, I’m ready to vote – I’d say it’s more than acceptable to buy yourself a Mother’s Day present.  In fact, it should become a tradition.  Okay, maybe I carried it a little too far.

Be that as it may, I know what I’d fill my blank with: Calphalon!  My newest pan is a Calphalon and I use it every single day. The little beauty is a 12  inch glass-covered jumbo fryer and I sing it’s praises each time it helps me whip up magic and all but insists on washing itself.  These pans refuse to make a mess!  It boggles the mind.

I visited Calphalon’s website this morning to see if there was anything new I needed to know about.  They come up with so many different ingenious pans and products on a regular basis, I want to stay in the loop.  Bless their  sturdy little hearts, they had something waiting for me on the front page.  It was as though they KNEW that I’d been lambasting my old-as-the-hills smallest skillet,  the one I use for omelettes.  I’ve never been overly ecstatic (or should I say eggstatic?) about this pan but it means well.

In fact, the last time I made omelettes, I vowed to never do so again until I had an official omelette pan.  From my mind to Calphalon’s mega minds. The beauties pictured above and described below make up the Calphalon Unison Nonstick 8” & 10” Omelette Pan Set.  A set of omelette pans.  How perfect is that?!?!

When it comes to many things in the kitchen, your success will not surpass the tools you use.  Whether they’re ingredients, utensils, gadgets, or cookware – if you want to make the best, you have to use the best. Simple.  This is never more apparent than when making something like omelettes.  The pan has to be just right, otherwise what you have is basically flat-ironed scrambled eggs.

Product Description:

The flat, heavy-bottom pans have wide surfaces to provide even heat. The sloped sides are designed for easy tossing and rolling. Set Includes: 8-in. Skillet 10-in. Skillet The revolutionary Calphalon Unison SLIDE NONSTICK surface releases foods effortlessly, making even the most demanding culinary creations simple to prepare. Cook with little or no oils, butter or fats.

Features Include:

  • Slide nonstick interior
  • Heavy-gauge, hard anodized aluminum
  • Handles stay comfortably cool on the stovetop
  • 100% Dishwasher safe
  • Oven safe to 500°F / 260°C

You can, of course, find Calphalon pans in stores – if  your favorite store doesn’t carry Calphalon, feel free to find a new favorite store!  However, there’s a very good reason to shop for Calphalon from their website – a little something they call SPECIALS.

Calphalon amuses me.  They make superior, standard-setting products.   They set the bar in their industry.  They put the price very much within reach (click through and check out the savings on the omelette pan set – the set is on sale now… just in time for Mother’s day shopping – and it’s not just a sale, it’s a SALE).   THEN, after all of that, they don’t rest on their laurels – they insist on rewarding you for buying products you should be honored to buy already!

Visit Calphalon‘s website right away and check out the amazing specials going on.  They seem determined to give us better than we bargained for and more than we pay for.

Wow. Don’t you wish all companies were like that?


KIND Healthy Snacks, I Love You

By

KIND Healthy Snack Nutritional BarsKIND Healthy Snacks has completely raised the bar.

My husband and I were killing a little time before seeing a movie Friday night and, well, you know me, killing time meant hanging out in Starbucks for a little C & C (caffeine and chatting).  I saw some outrageously delicious looking nutritional bars near the register, so I grabbed  one for me and one for my husband.  I’m sweet like that.  I wanted to have them to nosh on when we came out of the movie.

They were KIND Healthy Snack Nutritional Bars, the Apple Cinnamon Nut + Fiber variety.  I ate mine on the way home, as we were talking about how dang good the movie (I Am Number 4) was.  My husband didn’t reach for his right away… he was still too pumped up from the movie I guess… and after I took one bite of mine, I kind of slid his back into my purse – out of sight, out of mind meant mine for later.  I’m sweet like that.

Seriously, these are outrageously delicious.  Since that night, I’ve hunted down a few other flavors as well. Each blew me straight away.

KIND Healthy Snacks

  • All Natural
  • Gluten/Wheat Free
  • Dairy Free
  • Cholesterol Free
  • Very Low Sodium
  • Only 180 Calories

You can taste the natural goodness in these nutritional bars.  Literally taste the difference between them and their counterparts.  I think we’ve (unfortunately) become accustomed to additives, trans fats, tons of sodium, and sweeteners that are put into the things we eat – even the “healthy” foods.

It SHOULD taste unusual to eat food with any of these unnatural additions but it DOES taste refreshingly unusual  to eat something completely natural, wholesome, and un-violated by any unwelcome additives.

These bars are simply exceptional – so delicious I can’t even find the appropriate words.

Personally, I’ve only seen these little beauties at my 3 local Starbucks (yes 3, God loves me).  However, a Store Locator on KIND’s website actually showed me a few more locations.  Don’t think for a minute I’m not headed that way.  According to the website, there are many, many, many more varieties I MUST find.  Of course, I plan to also keep buying the Apple Cinnamon Nut + Fiber bar each time too.  SO wonderful!

Please check out KIND’s website to read about the health benefits, the wonderful story behind the company, and (get this!) how KIND bars can help you control your weight, even if “control” means dropping some pounds.  I couldn’t think of a more delicious way to do it.

T-fal and Ingrid Hoffmann? I’m So There!

By

T-fal Simply Delicioso Paella Pan from Ingrid Hoffman

I love what I do. I love, love, love what I do. As a web publisher and food blogger, I’m frequently sent pans, kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, chocolate, coffee beans, and appliances to review for Get Cooking.  Everyone knows that I will post my own opinions, for better or worse.  I will always let my readers know exactly what I think about a product.

The wonderful thing about the arrangement is this: If someone is willing to send their products to someone they’ve never met, and trust them to give an honest evaluation to their readers/friends, they have great, great confidence in their product.  Almost without fail, the confidence stems from the fact that…

  • …what they have is outstanding
  • …. they want everyone to know about it

It’s my honor to take part in the process.

This past week I received a pan in the mail that made me 25 kinds of happy – and I didn’t even know there were 25.  First of all, as you know, I’m a TOTAL Food Network fanatic.  Yes, I can list all of the chefs and television personalities.  Yes, I can tell you where Guy has been on Triple D. Yes, I can tell you what Ingrid Hoffmann will be making on the next Simply Delicioso.  Yes, Sunny Anderson lights the room up with her smile.

Another reason the package had me skipping into the house was the fact that I’m a fanatic for something else: T-fal.

  • T-fal = flawless
  • T-fal = quality
  • T-fal = gorgeous
  • T-fal = never gonna let you down

I tore into the box and pulled out a gorgeous T-fal Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann Hard Enamel Paella Pan – Red (14″). I wasn’t sure which was prettier, the pan, the picture of Ingrid Hoffmann, or the delectable looking food Ingrid was holding.

I made up my mind that it was a three-way tie but did not (repeat did not) ask my husband for his vote. Why invite trouble, right?

I’m really excited about Ingrid Hoffmann’s T-fal line.  When you combine two names that are at the top of their game, how can you get anything but outstanding?  The Paella Pan is a real beauty.  I know that the true worth of a pan is in how it performs – if it allows you to wax brilliant and impress your loved ones with your dishes – but I’m sorry, I can’t help but notice just how gorgeous it is!

As for the performance……. Well, it’s T-fall so it’s impeccable.  If I loved my Paella pan any more, I’d have to rename one of my daughters Paella.

The T-fal Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann Hard Enamel Paella Pan – Red (14″) features a wide, shallow design that’s ideal for preparing paella. However, it has many more tricks up its sleeve. It’s also ideal for braising meat, warming tortillas, making large omelets, and so on. It features a unique Thermo-Spot indicator that turns solid red to let you know when the pan is preheated.

Brilliant!

The pan’s stainless steel buffet handles offer comfortable lifting and handling – from stove to table stylishly and safely.

The T-fal Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann Line of Latin-Inspired Cookware

Columbian cook and TV host, Ingrid Hoffmann partners with top cookware and kitchen appliance manufacturer T-fal, to develop her first line of products, T-fal Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann. each designed with her Latin recipes in mind, Ingrid is proud to introduce the first 6 pieces to the collection. I know that, like me, you’ll want the entire collection! See the widget below – click through to read more about each wonderful piece.

T-fal Simply Delicioso Open Paella Pan Features

  • From the Simply Delicioso line by Ingrid Hoffmann
  • Heat indicator shows when pan is perfectly preheated
  • Beautifully decorated base provides even heating
  • Non-stick interior is exceptionally durable and scratch resistant
  • Hard enamel exterior is stain resistant and easy to clean

I have a series of Ingrid Hoffman-themed posts, recipes, and articles planned, so be sure to keep an eye out for those.

Click the following link for more information and to take a closer look. Believe me, you’ll want to order the T-fal Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann Hard Enamel Paella Pan – Red (14″) right away.

AnySharp Knife Sharpener

By

I recently received a great knife sharpener to review for Get Cooking. Like all avid cooks, I have a great knife collection, but they’re only as useful as they are sharp. Let them get dull and they’re of absolute zero use to anyone (kind of like people, eh?).

The AnySharp Knife likes to refer to itself as “The world’s best knife sharpener,” so my expectations were high. It also promises to sharpen serrated knives, which is pretty uncommon for knife sharpeners. Fortunately, the AnySharp knife sharpener lives up to the hype.

I have officially sharpened every knife in the house and they’re as sharp as the day I met them. Yes, even the serrated knives.  The AnySharp “locks” into place, so you don’t have to chase it all over the kitchen counter.  It’s very, very, very easy to use and makes even your oldest knives seem new again.

To learn more about the AnySharp Knife Sharpener, watch the highly entertaining video below and visit their website: AnySharp: The World’s Best Knife Sharpener. And please forgive AnySharp for its high level of confidence, it’s hard to be humble when you’re ridiculously outstanding.

At some point, you just stop trying. Humble’s so overrated.

Product Features

  • Innovative knife sharpener; easy-to-use; have a perfect edge on any blade
  • Use on kitchen cutlery, gardening shears, lawnmower blades, serrated knives and more
  • Diamond precision hones the blade to its proper angle; patented design produces results that are superior to those from traditional steel or stone
  • Removes only microscopic amounts of metal
  • Unique round design and PowerGrip suction bottom makes it safe and easy to use; exterior has zinc alloy finish

Buy the AnySharp Knife Sharpener, Professional on Amazon.

Toddy Cold Brewing System: Coffee That’ll Make You Swoon

By

“(The Toddy) is the ultimate coffee maker.” -The Washington Post

If you’ve never used the Toddy T2N Cold Brew System for coffee, you have no idea what you’re missing. I’m not sure why this system makes incredible, outrageously flavorful coffee (I guess we’d need Alton Brown to explain it to us) but it does.

Truth be told, I don’t guess I care WHY Toddy’s so outstanding as much as I care how soon I can have my next cup.  Then the next, then the next, then the next…

I insist on trying out every coffee bean and every coffee-brewing system that comes down the pike before I recommend them on Get Cooking – so I force myself to consume untold amounts of coffee, but that’s okay, really, I don’t mind. As in AT ALL.

It’s how I roll, I call it my caffeine roll.

After I took a few drinks of my first cup of brewed “Toddy” coffee, all I could think was, “This is a perfect cup of coffee.” And I’ve thought the same thing with each subsequent cup. Perfect, with a coffee house boldness – yet smooth as a baby’s….well, you know.

From the website:

As important as those fresh roasted beans are to your cup of coffee, it’s what you do with them that counts the most.

In 1964, as a chemical engineering graduate of Cornell, Todd Simpson developed and patented a cold brew system that, using regular coffee beans, creates a superior-tasting cup of steaming HOT coffee. And, with 67% LESS ACID than coffee made by conventional hot brew methods, it’s easier on sensitive stomachs.

The Toddy coffee maker extracts the coffee bean’s true delicious flavor and eliminates much of the acidity, producing a bold, super-smooth coffee that can be served one cup at a time.

Toddy Cold Brewing System Features:

  • Designed to brew coffee with 67-percent less acid than coffee made with hot brew methods
  • Patented cold brew system uses regular coffee beans to create super smooth hot coffee, but with no electricity required
  • The Toddy Cold Brew System also makes tea, served hot or cold
  • Set includes brewing container with handle, glass decanter with lid, 2 reusable filters, 1 rubber stopper, set of instructions, and recipe guide
  • Get more out of your coffee beans, since the coffee concentrate stays fresh for up to 3 weeks

You can use your favorite coffee beans with the Toddy System and, as you just read… it makes fantastic tea as well.

You’ll want to slide on over to Amazon and order your very own Toddy T2N Cold Brew System right away. While you’re at it, you might want to grab one for the biggest coffee fiend on your Christmas list.

Giada de Laurentiis Products from Target: Must Haves!

By

Giada de Laurentiis 3.5-oz. Sicilian Sea Salt with Fresh Lemon

Okay. I normally don’t make broad, sweeping statements (unless it plays something like, “Drink coffee, it makes you sexier,” which doesn’t really count because that’s been proven). However, the time has come to make a doozie: If you ever see a cookbook, food item, kitchen gadget, pot, pan, dish, coffee mug, spoon, small appliance, large appliance, apron, salt shaker, or bulldog puppy (???) with the name Giada de Laurentiis on it, buy it and prepare to be amazed. The woman does not attach her name or beautiful face to anything less than a 10 on a scale of 1-10.

Apparently it’s against her code.

Good code.

The Giada de Laurentiis 3.5-oz. Sicilian Sea Salt with Fresh Lemon, pictured at the top of the post?  Ridiculously excellent.  Like all of Giada’s food products, you get so much more than you pay for or even hope for.

Product Description:
An incredibly tasty Sicilian Sea Salt with Fresh Lemon Zest. The hand-harvested, all-natural sea salt with lemon zest comes from a combination of the pure Sicilian sea water and the freshest lemons grown under the Sicilian sun. Giada’s Sicilian sea salt presents a delicate and intense aroma, with distinct hints of sweet, fresh lemons. Its fresh and delicate taste is characterized by intense notes of lemon, making this gourmet product a perfect ingredient to be coupled with light dishes, ideal for cooked or raw fish and shellfish, poultry, vegetables and desserts. Academia Barilla and Giada De Laurentiis present a piece of Italy to Italian food lovers and food connoisseurs, to taste, enjoy and share. Together, Academia Barilla and Giada De Laurentiis have launched the much anticipated range of high quality, authentic Italian gourmet products.

I regularly buy Giada’s pasta, sauces, and other food products at my local Target…. a store I have nothing but love for. Her spaghetti sauces are amazing – my favorite one is a creamy pasta sauce that boggles the brain.

A recent gift from my husband (for a birthday I acknowledged but didn’t count) is the gorgeous ceramic lasagna pan pictured above. Naturally, like a kid with a toy, I had to use it right away. I normally would have whipped up my favorite vegetarian lasagna but we’d recently had spaghetti — I’m nothing if not anal — so I made a cheesy potato au gratin. Outstanding. The pan refused to allow the potatoes or the cheese to stick, which made serving, eating, and cleaning joyful, delicious, and simple.

It’s such a gorgeous ceramic pan I kind of hated to use it. You really have to see it to appreciate it. It’s worth a special trip to Target to see Giada’s collection of pans, gadgets, and more. She even has a line of sexy aprons as well as her own coffee.

Somebody tell me why I haven’t tried that yet.

By the way, when you click through to the ceramic lasagna pan, if you scroll down you’ll see what appears to be a great recipe for Baked Gnocchi, calling for spinach, nutmeg, gnocchi, chicken broth, heavy cream… is your mouth watering yet?

Another gift the wonderful husband bought me was the Giada De Laurentiis for Target 12″ Stainless Steel Nonstick Sauté Pan (Click through this link for details as well as a recipe for Orzo with Sausage, Peppers and Tomatoes!). This gorgeous pan was initiated into the family with salmon patties and is currently simmering a little pasta sauce for my oldest daughter’s lunch.

It’s quite possibly the best pan I’ve ever owned.

Features:
Pan-Pot Material: Stainless Steel
Handle Material: Stainless Steel
Features: Riveted Handle
Care and Cleaning: Hand-wash Only

Click through any of the links (except for the Giada de Laurentiis 3.5-oz. Sicilian Sea Salt with Fresh Lemon – it has a mind of its own) to browse Target’s outstanding line of Giada de Laurentiis products.

New West KnifeWorks: What Makes These Knives So Special

By

New West KnifeWorks recently offered to send me one of their uncommonly gorgeous knives to review for Get Cooking. Since my knife collection isn’t very impressive (something I’m a little insecure about, actually), I jumped on their offer. When the box was delivered, I ripped into it like my husband would rip into a Vin Diesel movie.

When I took the Chef Knife out of it’s box, the ooooohing and ahhhhhing insued. I’m not accustomed to knives being so handsome. My collection, such as it is, consists of the standard, plain, we’re-here-to-cut-if-you-want-handsome-get-a-golden-retriever knives. The newcomer is an absolute stunner.

The knife I was sent is the Chef Knife (8 inch).  Not only is he a looker, he’s making magic in my kitchen.

This time of year, I do a lot of slicing and dicing. Fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit pass through our kitchen on a daily basis as I prepare them for vegetable salads, fruit salads, desserts, casseroles, and so on.  Just this morning I came in with a bowl of fresh herbs from our herb bed that my New West Knife chopped up beautifully.  Other knives have caused me to struggle a bit while preparing fresh herbs but the New West Chef knife went through the chives, thyme, rosemary, dill, cilantro, and stevia like the champ that it is.

When you do a lot of cooking – preparing your own herbs, vegetables, and fruits – your success will be only as good as the kitchen utensils, gadgets, and knives that you use.  If you use second-rate gadgets in your kitchen, second-rate food will come out of your kitchen.

I love New West KnifeWorks motto, “Cooking is a fine art, the knife is the artists brush.”  So true!  I’d publicly like to thank them for reminding me how important knives are.  As I said, I’d been neglecting my knife collection for awhile.  So much so that I almost forgot what a difference a great knife makes.

Great knives, like the ones from New West KnifeWorks, make your work faster, easier, and more enjoyable.  They also make for a better presentation.   I made a huge tossed salad at lunch and the cucumbers, celery, carrots, peppers, and other vegetables were picture-perfect.

You absolutely HAVE to check out the magnificent knives at New West KnifeWorks.  The knives are sold individually as well as in outstanding sets.  You have to see these collections to believe them.  With Father’s Day around the corner, you might want to consider these knives as a truly special gift for the man who cooks and grills.  He’ll brag about them to everyone he knows!