Archive for February, 2010
Bon Appetit considers the Chef’n FreshForce Juicer to be an essential tool. Today is a great day.
In fact, the people at Bon Appetit “love the new ‘FreshForce’ [Juicer] by Chef’n.” They found it to be “powerful, efficient, and heavy-duty.” Our citrus-squeezing all star made “quick work of the 18 Key limes [they] had to squeeze to get 1/3 cup of juice” for their Key Lime Meringue Tart (which, btw, sounds delicious).
Alright! We have a winner:
Congratulations Danielle! You’re the proud new owner of a Chef’n VeggiChop — perfect for chopping all types of shelled nuts. Please email your preferred shipping address to media@chefn.com.
Thanks to everyone else for participating!
Time for some free product! Name the four types of nuts pictured below and be entered to win a very special Chef’n prize.
Ready. Set. Wait for it. Waaait for it. Okay. GO!
We will randomly choose one winner using a random number generator.
A few members of the Chef’n team spent Valentine’s Day in Frankfurt, Germany for the Ambiente tradeshow, which is a European housewares show. Far from home and their significant others, Rebecca (our customer support guru) and Paula (the tradeshow coordinator for our Canadian distributor, Danica Imports) went out to dinner at the German restaurant, Solberfaessje, to celebrate all things Valentine.
They shared a “Love Arrow” cocktail…
How cute are we?
And dined on traditional Fresh Liver-Dumplings in Bacon-Sauce with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a Bratwurst Plate with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Sauerkraut. Okay, maybe not the most romantic-sounding meals ever, but we hear they were delicious!
Fresh Liver-Dumpling with Bacon-Sauce and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Bratwurst Plate with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Sauerkraut
More photos from our German adventures coming soon!
Rocky and Bullwinkle
The Scene: Me, the Chef’n blogger, waltzing into my father’s kitchen for Sunday dinner. He’s cooking and it smells delicious.
The Dialogue:
Me: Smells good! What’s for dinner?
My dad: Moose meatloaf.
Me: Moose? As in the animal often found in Alaska and Canada? The same kind of moose as Bullwinkle from the ’Rocky and Bullwinkle’ cartoon?
My dad: Yup. Except I’m willing to bet this moose was not named Bullwinkle. That’s a weird name.
Me: Don’t make fun of Bullwinkle. He was a very nice moose.
My dad: Nice or not, you’re about to eat him. Or his friend.
About 20 minutes after this oh-so-academic conversation, I ate moose for the first time. And I have to tell you, it was really delicious. I mean, it tasted better than any other beef-based meatloaf I’ve ever tried.
For those who have never eaten moose, it tastes like beef, but is generally more nutritious. Moose has far less fat than beef and virtually no carbohydrates. Many studies show that game meat is a great healthy alternative for domesticated or farm-fed meats.
The Moose Meatloaf was juicy with a crunchy, cheesy crust, and just the right amount of spice. I enjoyed it so much, I asked him for the recipe to share with all of you. Below is the clipping sent me. It’s a beef-based Italian Meatloaf recipe he cut out of a newspaper approximately 20 years ago. An oldie and a goodie — the best of the best :)
The StemGem is looking good in Spring 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens’ special interest publication, Kitchen+ Bath Makeovers. Here’s what the mag had to say:
“Don’t let cleaning and stemming strawberries keep you from enjoying pie or jam — or a handful. This cute and effective Chef’n huller will make quick work of strawberries.”
Thanks K+BM magazine!
Strawberry season is just around the corner. Do you have your StemGem yet? Pick one up today at Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, Amazon.com, ChefsResource.com and many other find retailers.
Ooh, sudsy!
Today The Kitchn posed the question, What is the best way to wash dishes?
The commenters offered up a variety of techniques — filling the sink with water, washing each dish separately, throwing ‘em in the dishwasher and calling it good.
We’re pretty open minded when it comes to techniques, but when it comes to tools, well, that’s another matter entirely. We’d like to apologize in advance for potentially offending any dish towel users out there, but…EW! We just can’t handle the soggy, never-quite-clean-”ness” that is used dish towels.
So to rid the kitchens of the world of dish towels, we created a line of awesomely effective kitchen cleaning tools aptly titled CleanGenuity.
Ta da!
Here’s some info on our sudsy wonder-tools:
CleanGenuity’s intelligent collection of Sudster cleaning tools establishes a new level of creativity and style in the kitchen cleanup category. The goal of the CleanGenuity kitchen cleaning tools is to make the often mundane task of dish cleaning, a little more fun.
The Drinkware Scrubber is equipped with a cross-shaped scrubber, which allows it to compress down to the diameter of a champagne flute or expand inside of a vase or other flared vessel.
The Wand Scrubber and Hand Brush offer two working-end options, a stiff brush for quickly clearing plates and a scrubbing pad perfect for efficiently cleaning pots and pans. The Wand Scrubber and Hand Brush heads are detachable, interchangeable and replaceable for versatility and convenience reasons.
The Sudster Wand Scrubber, Hand Brush and Drinkware Scrubber all feature squeezable handles and dripless silicone valves. To refill, simply twist off the handles and pour in any type of dish soap. The products’ clear bodies make it easy to check soap levels so the user knows when it is time for a refill.
The organizer of it all, the CleanBase Sink Caddy fits on the counter near the sink, collecting excess water and keeping the Sudster tools all in one place. Able to hold both tall tools in its clear vessel holder and shorter tools on the low landing pad, the caddy is a versatile and functional addition to the CleanGenuity collection.
And a bit of exciting news…these tools will soon be available in brand new colors. We’ll debut the CleanGenuity tools’ new look on our Facebook page sometime in the near future, so stay tuned!
Well, dear readers. We’ve reached the end of our 3-day, 3-recipe, Super Bowl extravaganza. Our last recipe recommendation is an appetizer that can be salty or sweet, depending on your mood.
The Sweet Corn Cakes/Fritters from Chop Onions, Boil Water are best served either sprinkled with salt or drizzled with honey. We’ve been wanting to dabble in fried food, and think this is the perfect opportunity.
NOTE: This recipe includes peanut oil.
Photo via Chop Onions, Boil Water
Step 1: In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir in sweet corn kernels. (Hello, PalmZipper!)
Step 2: In another mixing bowl, beat the egg, peanut oil and milk together.
Step 3: Combine wet and dry mixtures together, stir until just blended.
Step 4: Heat 3 cups of oil in a heavy pot to 350°F
Step 5: Drop tablespoons of the batter into a the hot oil and cook, turning occasionally until golden brown.
Step 6: Drain on paper towels and serve warm, brushed with butter, drizzled with honey or sprinkled with salt.
Have a fabulous Super Bowl weekend everyone! Be on the lookout for a follow up post details our attempts at recreating the Motherload Cookie Bars, Rosemary-Lemon White Bean Dip and Sweet Corn Cakes/Fritters.
Seeing as we ruined your diet yesterday with our Motherload Cookie Bars recipe, we’re lightening things up today with a healthy alternative to bean dip. Rosemary-Lemon White Bean Dip, to be exact. We discovered this delicious recipe, crafted by Mark Bittman of the New York Times, on one of our all-time favorite blogs, The Kitchn. Easy to make and diet friendly, we think this dip has potential to become a staple in our “What should I bring to the party?” recipe file.
Photo via The Kitchn
via Mark Bittman, The New York Times
Ingredients- 2 cups cooked white beans, like cannelini, drained but moist
- 1 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- Grated rind of 2 lemons
Step 1: Put the beans in a food processor (if you don’t have an electric food processor, try starting with VeggiChop and then using a blender) with one clove of garlic and a healthy pinch of salt. Turn the machine on, and add the 1/4 cup olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube; process until mixture is smooth. Taste, and add more garlic if you like; then, puree the mixture again.
Step 2: Place the mixture in a bowl, and use a wooden spoon (or maybe a Switchit Spoon?) to beat in the rosemary, lemon zest (where’s your PalmZester?) and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Taste, add more salt and pepper as needed. Use immediately, or refrigerate for as long as 3 days.
I think we’re going to serve this dip with either the pretzels shown in the above The Kitchn photo or with pita chips.
Anyone tried this recipe before? Or maybe planning to try it this weekend? Let us know how you liked it!
Super Bowl Sunday is only 4 days away, and you know what that means. Good grub, and lots of it. What are you bringing to the party?
I’ve got three recipes to try. One dessert, one dip and one appetizer. Over the next three days I will share each of these recipes with you. Feel free to give them a try! I’d love to hear what you and your friends thought of them. Especially if I mess up and/or ruin a recipe, which I often do. *sigh* I figure between all of us, someone’s got to get it right :)
First up is dessert. Introducing the delightfully sinful Motherload Cookie Bars courtesy of Lick the Bowl Good and Confessions of a Bake-a-holic via Picky Palate.
Photo via Lick the Bowl Good
And yes, that is what it looks like. Four types of cookie layered on top of one another and drizzled in chocolate. I’ve been looking for a reason to justify baking these diet demons, and I think the SuperBowl is the perfect excuse opportunity. And the best part? You don’t have to make all the dough from scratch!
Motherload Cookie Bars
Layer 1: Sugar Cookie
- 1 Roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9″x13″ pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Press sugar cookie dough evenly into pan.
Layer 2: Double Chocolate Chip Cookie
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 6 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
In a large bowl (Nesting Bowl?), cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add egg and vanilla until well combined.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients. Stir in chips (Switchit Spoon?). Layer over sugar cookie layer, pressing gently.
Layer 3: Peanut Butter Cookie
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. Press over chocolate cookie dough.
Layer 4: Chocolate Chip Cookie
- 1 stick softened butter
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp.granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 Tbsp. pure vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 bag chocolate chips plus more for drizzling
Cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in separate bowl (SleekStor Measuing Cups?). Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips. Spoon the dough evenly over peanut butter cookie dough but don’t press, just leave uneven.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until center of dough is cooked mostly through. Edges will be brown. Monica of Lick the Bowl Good recommends covering the pan with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.
Let cookies cool completely. Lift out of pan with edges of foil. Drizzle top with 1/2 cup melted chocolate chips if desired. (optional)
NOTE: You can layer dough and refrigerate until ready to bake.
And that’s that! Be on the lookout next week for photos of my attempt at baking these suckers.
‘Til then!
Chef’n Blogger
