I admit that I am a Food Network junkie. Thanks to an open floor plan, I can see the television in the living room while I am cooking in the kitchen. I have been known to watch countless hours of cooking shows while I am working in the kitchen.
Mario Batali is definitely one of my favorite chefs to watch on TV. He is the authority on Italian cooking, and I love his sense of humor (not to mention his orange Crocs!). Last year, I had a gift certificate for www.cooking.com and I decided to invest in some of Mario Batali’s cooking tools.
I purchased an espresso colored wooden spoonula (yes, that’s right, a spoonula – part spoon, part spatula, completely wonderful!), a fine grater, and a persimmon colored dough separator/counter scraper (close in color to the famous Crocs). I am writing about these tools a year after the fact because they are among the most used tools and utensils in my kitchen.
You may have noticed the spoonula in some of my recipe pictures in the past. Because the spoon is silicone, I can use it with my nonstick and stainless pots and pans. I also found that Mario’s version is much sturdier than the other spoonulas I have purchased. I use it to break up meat, to stir fry and saute vegetables, and even to make marinara sauce.
I have found that I use the fine grater more frequently than I had originally expected. When I purchased it, I had two very specific uses in mind – parmigiano-reggiano and lemon zest. Since then, I have used it to finely grate ingredients for sauces (such as garlic and ginger) and to garnish a variety of dishes and desserts. Not only is it handy for a variety of kitchen tasks, it is also very easy to clean – much easier than cleaning my box grater!
The dough separater/counter scraper has also been used heavily over the past year. I have used it a few times to divide pizza dough, but I mostly use it to clean off my cutting board and shuttle chopped vegetables around the kitchen. It is great for transferring diced onions from the island in my kitchen to a pan on the stove. It’s also great for removing clingy items from the cutting board – like broccoli remnants, minced garlic, and jalapeno seeds.
Overall, I have been thrilled with my Mario Batali products. Now if they would just wear out, I could justify buying some new ones!
