My story "Holiday Gift Guide: The Home Bar" for Liquor.com

Take a peek at my piece on the ultimate bar tools from French decanters to high tech shakers to a great new muddler these are the best to give and get for the holidays, in a story I wrote for a great new website Liquor.com

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Monica
http://liquor.com/liquor/articles/holiday-gift-guide-home-bar/ 

See Jane (and Monica) Cook American Southwest Cuisine

                            Jane Butel and Monica in Albequerque, New Mexico.

The thrill of the road, for a foodie is getting to learn about local cuisine from an expert. Recently, I got to meet and cook with the well-known New Mexican chef, Jane Butel in Albequerque. Credited with starting the Tex-Mex trend, Jan published her first book on New Mexican and American Mexican food in the 1960's. These days, she's producing cookbooks, leading Northern New Mexico Culinary Tours, selling fresh spice blends and running her private cooking classes (dubbed one of the four best cooking schools in the world by Bon Appetit Magazine) out of her home. Today's class would be on making Sopaipillas, a delicious fried bread recipe that originated in Albequerque, 300 years ago. Jane greeted me at the door of her adobe-style home with her wildly energized 7-month old daschund. Settling ourselves into her roomy kitchen, with apron on, I watched eagerly and made detailed notes, wanting to try this back home. Jane mixed up the dough in a large metal bowl, kneeding the dough as we talked. On the counter, were two new-to-me tools that she would use. While she was rolling out the smaller amounts of dough on her granite counter, she used a small wooden mini roller, which was the perfect size for the amount of dough she was working with. The second was the appliance made famous recently by being ceremoniously buried on TV: a deep-fryer.

And after cutting the dough into small triangle-shaped pieces, she slid them
straight down, so the oil wouldn't splash, into a pre-heated TeFal deep fryer. We wiggled the dough a bit in the hot oil with metal tongs with teeth, then watched the pieces of dough puff up quickly. We watched carefully as they turned a golden color, then pulled them out of the oil and put them on paper towels to absorb excess oil. After the cooled for a minute Jane handed me a small honey pot and drizzler telling me how a small amount on the warm fried dough was delightful. She was right, of course. I ate three. Jane's kitchen, where she has been teaching cooking classes for many years, opens up onto a large casual dining area and a TV room with storage cuboards seem to go forever. Her kitchen has everything, and more importantly every tool/gadget/appliance she needed and acquired to create the thousands of recipes that have gone into her eighteen cookbooks. 

As a New Yorker with a small kitchen/limited space and obsessed with kitchen tools, I had some green-eyed gadget (and storage) envy. 
Jane promised to send me her latest book "Real Women Eat Chiles," so I bought four bags of the amazing fresh chili spices she produces: Chipotle Chile, Pequin Quebrado, Caribe Chile and New Mexico Red Chili. I can't wait to try some of these recipes out on my chili-loving husband. 


For more information on her cooking classes, articles and books check out:   http://www.janebutelcooking.com/Public/Home/index.cfm

Best lobster tool ever

Hi,
In the month of July, while lobsters are in season on the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, we eat them as often as possible. It helps that our across the street neighbor and friend Jonathan is a lobster fisherman, and he humors our "called in orders" (so-o-oo New York--ugh!).  Since lobster is on the menu a lot at our oceanside cottage in Nova Scotia, the task of getting the meat out of the shells quickly--and safely--is on our minds a lot. Sure we had the usual suspects: pickers, crackers, kitchen shears, and for moments of desperation, mallets and hammers, but my new favorite tool is these Seascissors that someone sent me awhile ago. The ergo, heavy duty handle allows you to push down hard on the sharp serrated and smooth blades to effectively slice open the shell of the body, and even the tougher shell of the claws, safely and neatly and in short order. 

When there is lobster meat as delicious as this is to eat, time getting it out is of the essense! (http://www.seascissors.com).

Old School Tool

I love kitchen tools that remind me of ones you'd find in grandma's kitchen or a small town diner but have been updated with a cool and useful twist. This new sugar shaker by Trudeau has been earning a treasured spot on our kitchen counter from day one. Part of their Flipper Dispenser collection, this glass shaker sports an innovative opening on the cover. You simply push your finger down on the silicone top part and it flips up to reveal the hole where a controlled amount of sugar pours out. The cover helps keep sugar moisture (and ant) free. (line ranges in price from $3.99 to $7.99; www.trudeaucorp.com) 

a perfect cup

Morning,

I am contemplating cups. Do you have a cup that you must use for your am coffee in order to be puuurrrfectly happy? Me too. My family has a history with cups, BIG tea drinkers that they are. I remember once asking dad why he kept the ones with the handles broken off, and he asked," why do you think?" And I said, "Well it’s nice to keep your hands warm up in the studio." Dad (Tom Forrestall) is the cliche artist painting under the eaves of the roof in a rambling and drafty attic. Every morning though for 7 years I have reached for the same ceramic cup by Emile Henry. It came into my life with the annual holiday party invite tucked inside, one year at Food & Wine magazine, when I worked there. I love the smooth and comfortable round shape that invites you to hold it by the handle and then by the rounded sides once the coffee cools slightly. It holds heat beautifully, so as I run around getting my son off to school the coffee stays warmer longer and the 14 oz size allows me to fill it up with a good serving of my favorite French press coffee (La Colombe--Phocea blend). This cup is practically indestructible (perfect for am clutzes) I have accidentally bounced this cup. I'm using it this morning...I'll use it tommorow...

My gadget drawer runneth over

Hi all,

Welcome to my kitchen gadget blog. I've had a few requests (and strong suggestions) that I start blogging on all the great information I have on one of my areas of expertise; kitchen equipment. I'll start with what I have and use every day.

My spring  cleaning frenzy has finally reached the kitchen drawer phase. Having covered kitchen tools for most of my editorial career at Food & Wine magazine, Bridal Guide, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine and MANY freelance stories along the way, I've had the good fortune of having a lot of interesting kitchen tools sent to me to test, photograph and write about. I confess I am not that good at getting rid of things, and with new items arriving every week, and few exiting, my drawers have gotten  little packed. Here and now, Im going to weed some things out, and reveal what I am DEFINITELY keeping. I'm starting with Drawer #1. (Yes, I have three gadget drawers.) 

1) Trudeau's cheerful orange spatula scraper. I'm in cookie making mode once a week, and this tool helps scrape down the batter from the sides of my mixer bowl better than any other. 

2) Rosle's no sharp edges stainless can opener, gets the tops off of cans safely. It also doesn't require tons of strength to crank the black knob, and even my son can use it. 

3) Zyliss rolling pizza cutter, which comes apart for dishwasher cleaning.

4) OXO International's stainless kitchen sheers with herb stripper slots. I use these for everything. They also come apart easily for cleaning. 

5) OXO International's vegetable peeler. Comfortable slip-proof handle and sharp, smooth gliding blades. Use it on cucumbers every day. 

Getting rid of? A no name brand of white plastic measuring cups, that I've never used (I love my Pyrex! measuring cups). A couple of wine bottle stoppers, that we seem to have lost the pump part for. A dull peeler. A white plastic handled cheese slicer I never use, yet keep nicking myself on. 

I'll tackle another drawer tomorrow. 

Monica Forrestall