Microplane Elite Zester

Every year I host a traditional Slovak feast, and there’s one dish that requires a lot of grated potato. A lot. I used to find it crippling—until I discovered the Microplane, that is. It makes grating a dream, and it’s quickly become the top tool in my kitchen—not just for potatoes, but for grating ginger, garlic, citrus rind, cheese, chocolate (and I’m sure a lot of other things I’m forgetting right now). (It turns out it was a Canadian woman who’s credited for bringing the traditional woodworking tool into the kitchen—she grabbed her husband’s Microplane to grate an orange, and the rest is history.) They’ve just launched a new Elite Zester that will soon be in my baking rotation: it includes a transparent cover that doubles as a measurement tool for when I’m zesting limes and oranges for my favourite cream-cheese icing recipe. And nothing says spring (it’s coming, right?) like confetti-coloured icing atop a coconut cake.

Elite Zester, $19.95, available in Vancouver and Calgary at London Drugs, londondrugs.com

Le Creuset Dutch Oven

I’ve developed a new Sunday afternoon ritual, perfect for the extra-chilly winter we’ve had this year: I test out a new, warming recipe that will get me through dinner that night, and a few lunches that week. (Yesterday’s recipe was a particularly yummy one from Vij’s Relax, Honey cookbook: mung beans in coconut curry.) I’ve noticed, however, that the trusty Dutch oven a friend gave me (about, oh, a dozen years ago or so) has started to show its wear, and the handles are threatening to give way at an inopportune moment (like say, when the pot is full of hot curry). So I’ve got my eyes on the gold standard of Dutch ovens, a new Le Creuset, in my favourite Colour of the Year, Radiant Orchid (or Cassis, if you’re talking in Le Creuset-speak.) They’re perfect for stove top to oven to table, and with a container this pretty, I know whatever I make will be perfect.

Le Creuset Dutch Oven, from $170, available in Vancouver and Calgary at Williams-Sonoma  williams-sonoma.com

Global Sai Chef Knife

I spent the weekend with a few friends at a cabin in Mt. Baker in Washington State. We’re ostensibly there to ski—and we did have a bluebird day up on the mountain on Saturday—but I’d say 60 percent of what has made this an annual trip are the meals we prep together. We’re always well stocked with ingredients (thanks to a few pitstops at Trader Joe’s and the Community Co-op) and wine (critical for meal prep, of course), but every year I kick myself for not bringing the crucial element to really making cooking fun: a great knife. Hands down, my favourite chef’s knife is from Global line: the handle is comfortable (and sanitary, without any grooves or grommets), the blade is hand-hammered (which creates air pockets, allowing the food to be more easily released) and most importantly, it slices and dices like a charm. (Which is more than I can say for a rental cabin-supplied knife.)

Global Sai Chef knife, $224.99, available in Vancouver at House of Knives, houseofknives.ca; in Calgary at Williams-Sonoma, williams-sonoma.com

Raw Wood Cutting Board

 

So often when working in magazines, you’re asked to source things that are on your wish list (as in “I love the lines of the new Maserati GT”). But this week, I strolled up Granville St. to grab a coffee from the West Elm Market and I came away with this cutting board. It’s big and heavy, and I know it’ll be a pain to wash, but somehow all those factors just added to its rough-hewn appeal. In my mind, one day I’ll bring it to an architect’s office and ask them to design a cabin on Jasper’s Lake Edith for me around this board, but until then, I’ll use it for cheese and charcuterie and menacing any would-be robbers.

Raw Wood Board, $63, West Elm Market, Vancouver, westelm.com.

Written by Food & Travel Editor Neal McLennan

High-Tech Oven

I’ve just come back from a whirlwind tour of GE Monogram’s gorgeous showroom in the Architects and Designers building in New York City (a one-stop shop of nearly every grand design brand—I was a kid in a candy store). And I’ve now got a new piece to add to my dream kitchen wish list: GE’s Monogram Advantium oven, a four-in-one built-in that’s as Futurama as it gets. I witnessed it bake a perfect piece of salmon in four minutes and a juicy rack of lamb in 14—all through pre-programmed “recipes” that balance a percentage of power from its four cooking elements: a convection fan, a halogen light overhead, a ceramic heater underneath and a microwave. Now, if I can just convince Marcus Samuelsson to share his Fried Yard Bird recipe from his Harlem-based Red Rooster, I’ll have left NYC totally happy.

GE Monogram Advantium oven, $3,749, available in West Vancouver at Y Franks, edmondsappliances.ca/yfranks.htm and Calgary at Castle Appliances, castleappliance.com.

Japanese Santoku Knives

When rain and high winds kept us off the mountain at Mt Baker this past weekend, my friends and I turned to the next best thing: prepping great food for each other in our cabin (with requisite breaks for prosecco and some hot tub time). I tested out these new Santoku knives from Canadian company Trudeau—which, admittedly, I’d been drawn to because of the colour. But I was presently surprised at their efficiency—Japanese Santoku knives are shaped slightly differently than traditional western knives, and known for their excellence in slicing and dicing—and even more thrilled at the price. At three for $30, they’re the perfect set for the cabin. Santoku knives by Trudeau, $29.99/set of three, available in Vancouver at Ming Wo, mingwo.com; in Calgary at the Compleat Cook, compleatcook.ca.