Cookware is always a rather contentious subject. I have seen chefs turn up to even the simplest of cooking jobs carrying more than it would take to maintain your average oil tanker (though maybe this is not the best use for your cookware), when all that was really needed was a knife and something to sharpen it with.

So what are the real ”cookware essentials”, the things that you really can’t do without? Well surprisingly you actually need only a very small amount of things to get you going. Probably considerably less than you have already.

All the cookware you actually need is a good knife, a means of sharpening it, a chopping board and a couple of pans.You may prefer a bit more cookware but you can cook with just that.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as partial to a kitchen full of mixers, blenders, electrical appliances and assorted useful, and otherwise, gadgets as the next person.

But although good quality cheap cookware ( yes it is possible )like grinders and blenders give you a lot more scope there are plenty of things that you can cook without them, but a good knife, or three, is absolutely essential.
The first and most essential piece of cookware you need is a cooks knife, thats as large as you feel comfortable with, an 8 inch knife with a blade that curves slightly to allow a rocking motion is a good start, then a smaller knife, about 4 inches, for cutting small vegetables and a carving knife.

If you buy one about 10 inches long it can also double as a bread knife. Although there is no point buying extra knifes just to line the pockets of the large kitchen eequipment manufacturers. A set can actually be quite good value and give you more for a similar amount of money. But check carefully what is in the set first.

If you cannot find a set with what you think will be useful to you, don’t buy it. Many sets come with extras like a case or wooden knife block but try to see past the free gifts. Its much better to have a few good knives in your drawer than a fancy polished beech wood block with fifteen designer knives, fourteen of which you never use, and one that is not the right shape for your hand and gives you blisters.

I have a small, not very expensive set of French Sabatiers that are comfortable but not as posh looking as some of the more fashionable makes like the Japanese globals which I find too light which makes chopping a lot of veg for example much harder work.

If you learn how to use them properly then steel or grinding stone is a good way to keep your knives sharp otherwise there are a good choice of proprietary sharpeners that keep the knife at the right angle while you pull it through the sharpener. Pans also need to be good quality, nothing over the top, no need to spend a fortune. Just make sure they are of a good solid construction.

This promotes good even heat distribution and helps to prevent things burning. Stainless steel is a good option. A good wok on the other hand should be made of a thin light steel and cost very little, but always check that it has a good well-fixed wooden handle. The best place to buy this most useful of pans is (perhaps unsurprisingly) usually the local Chinese supermarket. A good chopping board is another necessity though two are better than one as this helps to prevent cross contamination if you designate one for uncooked meats/fish etc.and another for things like fruit and salads.

No matter how much you think you will always be careful and wash them between uses this is the best single way to prevent contamination between foods. Mixers can be useful if you intend doing a lot of baking. But unless you make bread on a regular basis (always a good idea), then buying a simple, good quality hand held mixer rather than a heavy stand alone version could save you a couple of hundred dollars in as well as a lot of space on your worktop.

A blender is always useful for soups and the occasional smoothie, and a grinder will give you a lot more options in your use of nuts etc.and will also provide a constant supply of fresh coffee for the more manic cook. A good way to combine the functions of all three is to buy a food processor.

A good quality machine such as a Moulinex or Robot coupe will save space and allow you to buy a much better processor than if you bought there items separately. There is an almost unending list of kitchen equipment that you could buy (if in doubt walk into your local cookery shop and ask the owner what he thinks you need!), but make sure you get the essential good quality cookware right and it will make your cooking easier and more enjoyable.

Traditionally, in my mother’s household, we fry foods in a thick black wok, but you need a specific stove ring to hold up the wok firmly from tipping over and spilling boiling hot oil.  Nowadays with the modern stoves that cater to flat-bottomed pots, that even the woks have to sport a flat base, I decided to get an electric deep fryer.

On top of what I have just mentioned above, I have one more reason to do so. My stove top does not accommodate 2 big pots cooking at the same time, let alone adding a wok frying away at the same time.  I tend to do 2 dishes at the same time, or prep an ingredient in one pot in order to add to the other.

In my search for an electric deep fryer, I looked onto the one my sister bought for her family use.  I love the fact that hers is basically a simple non-stick flat-base pot with a heating element practically soldered underneath.

The electrical cord which the thermostat is attached to, towards the pot’s end, can be taken off whenever we need to clean the pot.  The pot is propped up by 4 plastic wedges so that the heat from the deep fryer would not come into contact with your kitchen surface.

So, based on what I have seen so far, here’s a summary of what I would look for in an electric deep fryer:

a) Size of the pot: You may want a bigger one, if you tend to fry whole turkeys or chicken.

b) Easily washed : A detachable cord and washing-friendly frying pot is quite high on my list.

c) I care not for the wire basket to suspend food while frying, it will make me use more oil, so all the fancy ones with LEDs and multi-settings would not do for me.

I urge you to find what fits your needs before purchasing one. The simple list above basically fits mine, and I most probably settle for the same brand my sister uses.

I mean, whenever I visit friends and family, if offered coffee, I would take it, no problems.

But at home, it is not automatic for me to have coffee in any drinking liquid form on a daily basis. I prefer hot chocolate, juice, plain water and on occasion, tea.

So, with some trepidation, I stealthily inquired my best friend, Stella on what makes her coffee tick. Yes, tick or tickle her pink, whichever applicable. And through our casual chat over the phone, I managed a small list without giving any of the upcoming surprise away. I was sincerely hoping so, of course.

Next, I had to combine that list of criteria with the environment and life she is living.

By that, I was thinking of
a) the size of her kitchen and counter top, where she would most likely place the espresso machine,
b) the number of coffee drinkers in her household, so that the number of cups the machine provides on a single run is enough to cope with the daily demands of the household,
c) how frequent she throws a get-together for friends and family, even how often I came to her house and notice her taking a cuppa.

I also know, based on my observations, that she seems to prefer specialty pods on our outside meets, she’s not a coffee purist (purists would most probably have their very own system of grinding coffee to unleash the UTMOST best from a coffee bean, and have an exact system of extraction, beating the current scientific method), her coffee machine is aging at home, and now that her sons are going of to college, the tendency is to just have a cup on her own leisure.

Well, I am finally glad to say after all the research of my target “market”, I was happy with the purchase I made, and Stella was extremely ecstatic and practically over the moon with the one-cup espresso machine I had gotten based on the many feedbacks from Amazon. Hurray!

After all, what is so hard about going to the store, skimming over the one you need ie. the simple one that is, a reasonably good brand and off to the checkout line?

Thinking that it could be a simple buy, must have been my downfall.
Per my previous post, I cook rice many ways and instead of finding a simple rice cooker and went home, I was a little overwhelmed by the variety of settings or features available in the line of electric rice

cookers nowadays.

When the time has come for you to buy an electric rice cooker, consider these things in mind…

The size: would an 8 cup be good for you and the family or a 5 cup would be enough for one sitting or the whole day? Bear in mind the measurement cup is small and should be viewed properly before purchase.

Durability: Pick the brand you trust and make sure the warranty covers a certain important things such as LED batteries and availability of spare parts. We sure wouldn’t want to be buying one every 2 years.

Your requirement for settings such as timer and keep warm function, cooking brown rice or sticky rice. Mine have all of them and more.

I love doing rice for meals.

No matter whether it’s going to be porridge or congee, fried rice, coconut rice, packed rice cut into cubes or any shape you like, a side dish, as filler in soups or just simply steamed to perfection, rice would be staple for me and the family.

Now, I know that some people think it’s unhealthy due to all the carb.  I’d say, its the volume that makes the difference.  I have had rice almost all my life and I am a normal 5′3″ and 125lbs.  Furthermore, rice is considered an organic food compared to other processed carbs.

Back to the many ways one can enjoy rice dishes, with the advent of new technology, there are a few appliances that could be used to cook rice as you wish.

For porridge/congee, the slow cooker or crock pot is a  good choice, where one could even add pieces of chicken to simmer to perfection while you tend to other things.

For packed rice, the way I do it is to cook manually and ensure it’s cooked further than you would eat as your main meal with other condiments, drain the excess water and press the rice into containers and let it chill before cutting into cubes or into cookie cutter shapes.

For normal cooked rice and even coconut rice, the best almost hands-free way to do so would be using the electric rice cooker.

For fried rice, the best cooked rice to do this would be normal cooked rice leftovers from the meals the day or night before and chilled in the fridge overnight.  And just before I add the chilled rice into the wok for frying, I would gently break the clumps without mashing them up, so that the flavor or seasoning of the fried rice would be evenly distributed.

Good thing is that now, I can do rice in many ways by using my electric rice cooker, the one with multi-settings, of course.

Risotto – which we should not over stir or be stirring too often seems a breeze to make, and rice puddings turns out well too.

In the next post, I will indulge more on what features are available on the new-age electric rice cookers. Till then…

Here’s my list to quickly recap what I have discussed last week and the remaining criterias I set for the appliance.

a) Size of loaf and machine: Usually a toss between 1lb or 2lb loaf maker.  You need to choose one that would fit your household consumption requirement, or simply to ensure your tiny kitchen could fit the machine on the kitchen counter or both.

b) Elements that would make your life easier ie. Timer and Keep Warm function: Choose them if you view bread-making as more of a necessity than just a hobby.

c) Features that would produce a good loaf like heavy-set non-stick baking pan, even heating element.  We would not want the loaf to be brown at the bottom and almost doughy at the top.

d) Other settings of interest.  Mine has a cake setting, for whenever I want to bake a small cake without cranking up the oven.  So I use the function to make banana bread.  I have read of others’ success with baking Blueberry bread with a muffin recipe using this setting too.

e) Ease of cleanup.  This is also important not only to avoid la cucaracha to invade the kitchen, but to ensure your future loaves are evenly and well baked.

With that I hope you would be able to decide what you look for in a bread maker.

I must admit, there will be some of us, who insisted that making bread needs to be the traditional way, ie. mixing, pounding, kneading the dough to “submission”.  One is for being very therapeutic, secondly – healthier for the maker and the consumer. And last but not least the traditional way and all those hard work would result in great tasting loaves.

For me, having watched and followed avidly bread-baking shows and using recipes to a T, I am proud to say I have put in some time to building a new skill at this direction and have had my share of success and failures.  However, I still feel some intimidation right before making them (ah.. the pressure of churning out good looking and great tasting bread – want yes, waste not!).

I mean, we really need to measure out the ingredients carefully to achieve a good product (a cup of this, a pinch of that would not do) and there are other things to watch out for too when doing this, plus time-consuming – like do the preliminary mixing and kneading first, leave it to rise and come back to work on it again.  I could  have gone on and on, that I wistfully wished that I could somehow put the steps all into automatic mode.  Or at least semi-automatic mode while lessening the compromise on taste and healthy factor.

So I have plodded along, most of the time alone, finding out little ways to perfect the techniques and such, until I finally admitted to something big:  we do not need to possess the professional Baker’s magical hands, or their secrets to bread baking in order to churn out such wonderful and healthy loaves.

None! Really… we can be off to a good start by using the device called the Bread Maker or Bread Machine.

No more trying to find the secret professional chefs and bakers won’t tell you, the secret they guard so jealously.  That even if you look over their shoulder when they are doing it, you still won’t be able to produce fantastic results as theirs.

But from what I experience, a bread maker can assist you to be up to par with the best of them.

From mixing the ingredients to determining when to release the yeast, baking your loaf and how long to keep it warm before we get to them are very big pluses for me.

There is so much more I would like to share with you regarding bread baking using the bread maker, so check out the next post!

Because if we believe in throwing all required ingredients together into the Icecream Maker’s bowl and hey presto!  30 minutes later, we would most likely get a slushy, a frappe, or a milkshake instead of the valued icecream we sweated out for.

Apparently, after having tried out myself, I find that there are a few things worth noting and doing diligently to get that perfectly churned ice cream everytime.  Having said that, please do not be discouraged if your first few tries turns out a runny sherbet.  I had a few myself too.  On a slightly funny, yet positive note, let’s look at the failures this way: the Icecream Maker seems to be the miracle machine, buy one and you churn out 2 types of desserts or more.

Some people would stand by the salt rock icecream maker although the work is a bit messy and the machine will be churning noisily.  I find that the modern ice cream maker is awesome to use, as long as I do a few things accordingly.

Namely, the bowl of the icecream maker and the chilling canister needed to be in the freezer for at least 24 hours.  And the freezer temperature must be really low, some people would describe it as “blowing” cold, or a blizzard.  If it’s not “blowing” cold, then you may need to check the coils of your refrigerator, any refrigerant leakage etcetera.  Other suggestions would be to use cold packs all over the canister or bowl in order to ensure the freezing temperature requirement is met.

The mixed ingredients are also needed to be chilled in the freezer for about an hour before “making” icecream in the icecream maker.

Someone asked me the other day, how much ice cream could I make with my small icecream maker, which serves 1-1/2 quart, and I told her with a sheepish grin – 2 adults and 1 company.  So buy bigger if you are expecting multiple companies.

There will be more tips and discussions on making homemade ice cream coming in the next installment, next week!

My sister began using a crockpot / slow cooker recently, because she does not have time to cook after getting home from work.  She told me that she could do a lot of dishes with it.

On top of that, she finds that she could leave the crockpot on all day at times when doing stew dishes like chicken curry, which she reported comes out really well.

My Asian friend echoed her sentiments and proceeded to tell me how she uses it to make congee or rice porridge among other Asian delights.

So, after hearing all the glowing testimonies, by the end of that week, I dug out my small crockpot – a gift I had years ago – that was hardly used and started looking for interesting recipes to create with it. And cook I did – the beef stew was exceptionally good, the rice porridge tasty and the clam chowder became my comfort food.

I know that some people worry about burning food if the crockpot is left too long. I should think that is a possibility. So, before you start dumping all ingredients into it and stay out of the kitchen whole day, perhaps you would want to test first how long it takes to cook a particular recipe with the crockpot, just to be on the safe side.

There are a lot of crock pot recipes and videos hanging around the online world and I thought this one is pretty good. So here it is: