Kitchen Knives are a Cook's Best Friend

When it comes to cooking, kitchen knives are a cook's best friend. They're an extension of the cook's body. 

Knives

But with so many options out there, which ones are the right ones?

People tend to make the mistake of buying a set of kitchen knives when they are first starting out. I've done this too, so don't feel bad if you have. The problem with knife sets is that you will end up with extra knives that don't really have a use. You'll also spend extra money on these extra knives. By knowing what you need, you can piece together a knife set just for you.

Just about every one of my knives is an old J. A Henckels. There are other, nicer brands out there, but the ones that I have work great for me.

 

• 12-inch Chef Knife - I use this one for large work. Usually, this is things like watermelons, brisket, turkey, etc
• 8-inch Chef Knife - I use this for general everyday work. I can make quick work of dicing vegetables or breaking down a chicken.
• 7-inch Santoku Knife - This is my number 1 knife. It seems faster and sharper than the chef's knife and I can control it a little better, which helps me chop vegetables easier.
• Boning Knife - I don't use this one every day, but it's a good one to have. It's flexible to get into tight areas when you are breaking down a piece of meat.
• Bread Knife - This is a great knife to have around for bread. It doesn't matter how sharp your chef's knife is, chances are you will end up flattening it. The serrated bread knife will cut through it without flattening it out.
• Paring Knife - This little knife is great delicate work. I use it sometimes to remove the tops off of peppers or quickly cut up strawberries or peel a potato. But where it really shines, is decorative garnishes. (Which I cannot do.)
• Honer - This is not a knife, but a good honer is indispensable. It will help you keep your kitchen knives sharp. Run your knives across it before use and after you clean them after each use.

What Makes a Blogger

Young me

I've published this in a few other outposts on the internet. It gives a little background on me as a writer and blogger and just me in general. I wanted to share it with my food blog community to give a little more about me.

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I am a blogger.

For at least the last decade, what was once viewed as maybe a fad or a hobby for some and reserved for business and journalists by others, has become a widely accepted medium for delivering information. For a lucky few, blogging has become lucrative.

The first step to becoming who or what you want to be is to write it down, say it out loud, acknowledge it. Just get it out of your brain. Once you admit to yourself what you want, the battle is already won. If you’re lucky, your strengths are also what you enjoy, and you capitalize on those strengths.

I am a blogger.

My LinkedIn headline says I’m a blogger, but I was a blogger long before I was on LinkedIn. To be honest, I’ve always been a blogger.

In high school, I journaled. I journaled mostly for myself. I wrote down my thoughts, wrote poetry, bits of information I can across. But I kept it to myself. The best blogs are honest, and in high school, I wasn’t ready for that type of honesty. And what is a blog, if not a written account of the author’s thoughts and opinions?

And then came Myspace. My first foray into social media. As a budding songwriter, I could post some recordings to my page, and also maintain a blog. I developed a habit of writing on Myspace at least once a week. Anytime I thought something noteworthy, to Myspace I went. You see, a good blog has to become habitual for the author, if not it will never be updated. It takes that level of commitment.

College found me joining the ranks of the department of English as a creative writing student. Towards the end of my college career, I took some advice and started posting some of my writings on a blog hosted on the now-defunct vox.com (not to be confused with the current iteration of vox.com, now a news aggregator) under the name N. James Bonassin.

My next blog was the only record of a catering company I conceived, called Di Bonassini’s Catering. The catering company idea was born on a business trip to Atlanta, where I read the latest issue of Entrepreneur Magazine on the plane. The blog covered everything that I learned in the process of creating a catering company. The catering company never left the kitchen. I’m not sure what stopped me. Fear?

Since 2011, I’ve written a food blog, Me, Myself, and Cuisine. I chose to write a food blog because food is something that has always drawn families together. Even when a family hasn’t spoken in a long time, food can bring them together. Food has always been the backbeat of my family. Not only do we gather for meals, but we gather to prepare the meals. It’s something I can write about and be honest. I can put myself behind that.

Once you become a blogger, it’s hard to think about anything else really. What is the next story going to be? How can I make those pictures better? Do I focus on a series? The list of questions never ends and you’ll always be looking for ways to improve and grow your audience.

I am a blogger.

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.

The Ecstasy of Sushi

I think almost everyone has a food that takes them too a different place. When the flavor combination is so great, that it is transformative. Sometimes when I sit down for a meal, I get lost and suddenly in the experience until suddenly the meal is over. Sometimes food is just that good.

Think about the movie Ratatouille. In the climactic scene, the food critic is served ratatouille, a simple, provincial dish that some might call peasant food. The critic takes a bite and is transformed to his childhood. Coming home with a bloody knee. He sits to a lunch of his mother’s cooking. A plate of ratatouille.

For me, one of these foods is sushi.

Sushi

My first sushi experience was on a family ski trip in Park City, Utah. We ventured in to town one night for dinner and found a nice place to eat. What we found was a Japanese sushi bar, right on the main drag in downtown Park City.

Looking back, this probably wasn’t the wisest choice. How exactly are you supposed to get fresh fish for sushi in a landlocked mountain town?

Needless to say, it wasn’t very good. In fact, it was awful. You could say, that I hated it.

Actually, I would say that I hated it.

Fast forward a summer. I’ve just come home from camp, and the family decides we’re going out for sushi for dinner.

But don’t you remember that I hate sushi?

No matter, I’ll go along.

All of a sudden, I’m at a sushi restaurant, unwillingly, in Humble, TX trying to decide what to get. I’ll check the menu for anything else maybe?

Throughout the course of the meal, I found, surprisingly, that I in fact enjoyed, loved you could say, sushi. I realized I didn’t want to eat something else off of the menu. I wanted to eat more sushi and see what else the sushi chefs had to offer.

Since then, my brother and I have gone to great lengths at birthday celebrations to put sizeable dents in mom and dad’s credit cards. Think of Kitchen Confidential when Anthony Bourdain travels to Tokyo with his boss to check out the local Les Halles location.

But each time I eat sushi, I am reminded of that first time. Bad sushi is still sushi and everyone’s first time isn’t exactly what we want it to be. But we still have the experience right?

Pellet Smoker vs Real Wood

About a week ago, I wrote a post about all of the different types of smokers. Smokers come in all different types, shapes, and sizes. You have offsets, box smokers, electric smokers, propane-fueled smokers, kettle smokers, and the seemingly ever popular pellet smokers. These pellet smokers seem to have exploded on to the market in the past few years, giving way to a whole sect of the population who is suddenly crazy about smoking meats.

Stack of Firewood

But, there’s a problem with that. Over the weekend I went to my local Lowe’s to get some more firewood for my rotisserie and was disappointed to find that they seem to only carry campfire wood, not exactly something you want to cook with, and a whole aisle full of a variety of manufactured pellets. That’s great if you use a pellet smoker. But for me, a pellet smoker is like an infomercial I saw on TV years ago for an electric countertop home rotisserie. The man peddling this product would say, “Set it and forget it!” Well, I don’t want to set my smoker and forget it.

For me, part of the joy of cooking is the experience of actually cooking. I’ll even forgive the electric and propane type smokers. With these, you still have to go out there and add wood chips from time to time. I enjoy the work of cooking, not just eating what I’ve made. I enjoy putting all of the ingredients together to make something delicious. Even more, I enjoy checking on anything that I have slow cooking, say like something on the smoker. Going outside to check on the grill and see if the fire is still where I want it to be is therapeutic. I can only imagine that checking on a hopper full of pellets in your pellet smoker is less than fulfilling. 

So Many Smokers, So Little Time

The other day I came across a post in a foodie group where someone was looking for advice on choosing a smoker because he wanted to start smoking meats. This was my chance to get my opinion out there, and it wasn’t completely unsolicited. 

Classic Weber Grill

Starting Out

At first, I was smoking briskets and chicken in college and then moved on to pork shoulders and ribs. But, I have not perfected the ribs. That’s not the point. A few years ago, I completed a Backyard Pitmaster class from Brisket U, but that’s not the point either. The point is that I am not a professional pitmaster, but still have some thoughts and opinions on the subject. I’d like to think I’m qualified to give my not completely unsolicited advice. 

I’ve owned offset smokers and barrel smokers and have some minor experience with the egg type of smokers. I have found that the grill that works best for me though is the simplest. I have gone through at least a couple of Weber classic kettle grills. They make great smokers. As with all grills, they require periodic attention to ensure that there is enough fuel for the fire to keep up the smoke and heat to cook your meat. With any grill, the key is to control airflow to keep the fire at the right size to keep the temperature and smoke at the right level. 

Pellet Style Smokers

What I don’t have any experience with, and what most of the comments giving advice were about, was the pellet-style smoker. What I call and understand to be the set it and forget it type of smoker. For me, half the fun in smoking a piece of meat is tending to the fire and maintaining the heat. It should be a hands-on experience. For me, filling up a box with pellets and setting a thermostat takes all or most of the fun out of it. The pellet-style smoker does work for some people. 

Final Thoughts

This is just my opinion. There are many different schools of thought out there on grilling and smoking. I like a grill that can do it all without a lot of bells and whistles. There’s a lot of information out there for you to make an informed decision for yourself. 

Meal Kits - Life Savers or Environmental Hazards

Meal kits. They’re everywhere. I watch a lot of YouTube when I’m working and I think at least every other ad is for a meal kit delivery service. I know some people that use them and there’s nothing wrong with that. Meal kits do serve a purpose. Sometimes it is hard to make it to the grocery store. Especially lately, when we all have to be extra careful and concerned about social distancing. Then there is the other benefit. Everything is already there in the box, portioned out and ready to go, making a recipe super easy to follow.

Meal Kit

But then there’s what I don’t like about them. All of the packaging and portioning. I typically skip the YouTube ads, but I have made it through a few of them. What I have seen for most of them is that they are over-packaged. When the meal kit arrives at your doorstep, there is a box, with a box inside, with labeled bags for each meal. Inside each bag, are individually wrapped plastic food items. All of that food has to be cooled somehow too.

What Happens to the Packaging?

After the food is cooked, where does the packaging go? Probably in the trash, unless you’re like me, and recycle or reuse as much as you can. Like most, I hate doing the dishes, but I’d rather do my part and avoid using paper plates as much as possible.

I’m not saying that I’m a huge environmentalist. I do my part for the environment, but that’s a different story. I’m not saying that meal kits are evil. They really do work for some people, and really do serve a purpose. They don’t work for me because part of the joy of cooking is going to the store and picking out ingredients. I do however wish that we would be a little more conscientious about what we are throwing away.

I’m not expecting to change anyone’s mind or disrupt an entire industry. Some good comes along with a meal kit service. I just don’t think people should rely on them as their sole source of food.

Grizzly Spit Rotisserie Chicken

It’s been a while since I shared about a cool cooking gadget. Actually, it’s been a long time since I 

Grizzly Spit

shared anything besides the Weekly Favorites. Today I am writing about a new toy I have, called the Grizzly Spit Rotisserie.

What this is, is a portable battery-powered rotisserie to take camping or like me, use over your backyard campfire. Made up of a battery-powered motor, a set of forks, a rotisserie rod, and two stands, one for either side. It breaks down and is easily stored in the provided canvas pouch.

This article contains affiliate links that I may earn a commission from as an Amazon Associate.

What You’ll Need

The Tools

• Grizzly Spit Rotisserie
• Firewood – I’ve been using a combination of oak, pecan, apple, hickory, and mesquite
• Pliers
• Lump Charcoal (optional)

The Ingredients

• A Roaster Chicken – Typically 5 to 7 lbs
• Salt and Pepper

The Method

First, setup up the Grizzly Spit Rotisserie and get the fire going. You’ll want the rod to use as a measure to determine how far apart the support stakes need to be. This is way easier to do without the chicken on the rotisserie.

Next, season the chicken with salt and pepper and assemble the rotisserie rod and forks. use the forks to tuck in the wings and drums. It’s now ready to go over the fire. The process is really pretty simple.

For the fire, you want it to be big enough and hot enough to roast the chicken, without the flames actually touching the chicken for extended periods. The wood you use is important, and not just for the flavor. Of course, you want to use hardwoods, but it’s more than that. Oak and mesquite will turn into hot coals, while apple, hickory, and pecan will just burn to ash. The coals are where most of your heat is going to come from. If you need to, make your fire on a bed of lump charcoal to give you that heat source over time.

Now for the chicken, I try to keep it about a foot over the fire, just high enough for the bigger flames to kiss the chicken and also enough room to stack the wood on top of the fire. The chicken will need about 4 to 6 hours over the fire. The good news is that the 2 D Cell batteries should give around 20 hours' worth of run time.

I’ve used this twice now. Both times, I’ve had to take the chicken off and readjust, reposition, and retighten the forks, so I’m still figuring that part out. This last time, I did figure out to use pliers to clamp down the forks even tighter.

My neighbors and I have lots of ideas like stuffing the chicken with rice or jambalaya or sausage or even boudin. It’s going to be a lot of fun. My dad is even going to try it out for his Thanksgiving turkey. I’ll keep you posted on all of the fun.

Until then, happy eating!