What’s On Your Kitchen Counter?

This was my mental exercise to prepare to teach “A Cook’s Tools” a couple of years ago. Yes, I’ll get to that, probably over the weekend. I need to find my notes from my old Dell desktop, and hope that they were uploaded into my new MacBook.

Space in the kitchen is always at a premium. Our loft was built without a pantry, imagine that! So the laundry room has shelving installed for pasta, herbs and spices, dog meds and grooming tools, Jim’s serious tools, cleaning supplies and other sundry items. Ok, the dog has three entire shelves with food, treats, stuffed animals et al.

In the kitchen proper, since it is an urban loft I got away with a five-shelf metal utility cart. Save a bundle and get the one at Home Depot for $39.99 and the wheel kit for an extra $25. It holds all my pots and pans, an old TV with no cable (so I can listen to the morning weather report before Jim leaves for work), toaster, spice grinder, teapot, cooking mags, my classic antique Pyrex bowl set, measuring cups and spoons. Along the sides I’ve got a heavy roasting pan and rack, heirloom utensils from Jim’s grandmother and great-grandmother, a potato ricer, ridged cast iron grill pan, and a large cutting board made by my grandfather.

Now for the countertop, my space is very limited, to about three feet to the left of the stove, two feet to the right of the stove, 18″ to the left of the sink on the island, and about four feet to the right of the sink/island. Above is a granite “bar” with Ikea chairs so I can talk with guests or feed Jim breakfast. On the stove is a large crock filled with tongs, spatulas, brushes, sharp scissors and wooden spoons.

I urge students to find out what is most important to them and place it on the countertop. If it’s coffee or espresso, go with the machine. If one cooks Asian food three times a day, by all means get the electric rice cooker. Otherwise choose machines that do more than one thing.

Mom kept her butter out in a butter dish all the time, so I do that. Kitchenaid blender, salt bowl and pepper mill. Knives are on a 18″ magnetic rack over the stove, except for the ceramic chef’s, which is in a knife guard in the silverware drawer. To the right of the stove are a Kitchenaid food processor, and a 5 qt. Kitchenaid mixer in gray.

Left of the sink is a clean tea towel for setting out hand-washed dishes to dry. Right of the sink is my key prep area, with a downtown view, and it boasts a stainless steel herb/spice rack with 12 of my most-used flavorings. The remaining ones are in the ersatz “pantry.”

So this is your introduction to “A Cook’s Tools.” And what is a cook’s most important tool? His/her hands. Of course, to be a star chef one needs to pair that with a brain, knowledge of the basics, knife skills, chutzpah, willingness to work long hours and evenings and weekends, a working knowledge of Espanol and at least a cup or two of crazy hopefulness.