Difficult to buy for, foodies usually buy equipment and utensils for the kitchen they need as soon as it becomes available.
Difficult to buy for, foodies usually buy equipment and utensils for the kitchen they need as soon as it becomes available.
If you are the gift-giver, you could create a gift basket with the following items:
Clack egg shell breaking device
I received a Clack from our son, Neil, when he visited us several years ago from Germany. If you enjoy a soft-cooked egg, this is the perfect gift.
All you do is place the soft-cooked egg in an egg holder, place the Clack on the egg, raise the ball and let it slide down. As the ball goes down, it cracks the top off cleanly.
If you want the perfect soft-boiled egg, these instructions from Cooks’ Illustrated are the best:
4-6 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator
1 tray of ice cubes
In a large pot with a cover, fill with 1/2-inch of water, cover. Place on stove and turn the heat to high until boiling. Place egg in a steamer basket, with the water boiling, remove lid, place the steamer basket with the eggs in them, replace lid, and with the heat still on high, steam the eggs for six minutes, 30 seconds. (I have steamed egg without a steamer, just carefully place the eggs in the boiling water.)
While the eggs are steaming, empty a tray of ice cubes into a large bowl and fill with cold water. Once six and a half minutes are up, remove the eggs from the steamer basket and place them in the ice bath to stop them from cooking. Let cool three minutes before serving. (I have just run cold water on the eggs for about two minutes, which also works, as an ice bath will cool the eggs too much. I like to eat them hot.)
Kitchen timer
A very necessary kitchen tool, especially if you are steaming soft-boiled eggs, is a kitchen timer.
I love timers, and have at least three timers next to my stove. I like the Polder and CDN brands and also have two Neil gave me. He uses them for his laboratory work, so I know they are scientific timers and very precise.
“A Portuguese Kitchen”
“A Portuguese Kitchen, Traditional Recipes with an Island Twist” by Wanda A. Adams now is available at Basically Books and other stores where books are available, and is published by my publisher, Mutual Publishing. Wanda learned Portuguese cooking from her “vovo,” or grandmother, Adelaide “Ida” Sylva Duarte, whose life was her family, church, kitchen and garden.
Living on Maui, I can only imagine how delicious Vovo’s pickled Maui onions were.
“Just as every Chinese home in my childhood had a gallon jar on the roof of the carport of pickled lemon, every Portuguese household had an old quart jar or ceramic crock on the kitchen counter full of pickled onions,” Wanda recounted. “Grandpa would walk by, fish out a piece with his fingers (drove Grandma nuts!) and walk out to the garden, munching. This recipe can also be used with carrots, cauliflower, pipinellas (chayote squash) and other vegetables, but in those cases, can the mixture in a 15-minute hot water bath for safety, or keep it refrigerated as use within a week or so.”
Pickled Onions
Makes 2 to 3 quart jars
2 to 3 sweet onions (such as Maui or Vidalia)
2 to 3 red bell peppers
3 to 6 small, red Hawaiian chili peppers (ni‘oi)
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon Hawaiian salt
2 teaspoons pickling spice
Cut onions into eighths and break the chunks apart. Quarter bell peppers, scrape out seeds and membranes and cut into thin strips. Wearing kitchen gloves, break off stems from chilies and lightly press to smash gently, retaining any seeds that escape. Layer onions, bell pepper strips and chili peppers in two to three sterilized glass jars, making sure each jar contains at least one chili.
In a nonreactive saucepan, combine vinegar, water, salt and pickling spice. Bring to boil. Carefully pour hot liquid over onions and pepper in jars until liquid fills to within 1/2 inch of top. Cover the top with plastic wrap or decorative cellophane; cap the jars tightly and marinate at least 24 hours before serving. Can be left at room temperature or refrigerated. Serve as pupu with beer, as a complement to grilled fish and meats, or in sandwich fillings.
If you want the recipe for linquica pica, or spicy Portuguese sausage, page 60 of Wanda’s book has a recipe from her friend, David Izumi, a master smoker. Portuguese fried chicken also is featured on page 69.
“Off The Grid: What’s Cookin’?”
“Off The Grid: What’s Cookin’?” is a self-published cookbook by Lynne Farr. She writes about moving from Los Angeles to a rain forest here on the Big Island, with no electricity and, of course, water catchment. With her trusty butane stove, Lynne has many Japanese recipes that make her Japanese national husband, Shingo Honda, very happy.
“Practical Folk Medicine of Hawai’i”
“Practical Folk Medicine of Hawai’i” originally was published by Likeke R. McBride in 1975 and has been reprinted by Christine and David Reed of Petroglyph Press in Hilo. Have indigestion? Find out what kind of tea you should drink to cure it on page 97.
Silicone spatulas
Slip several silicone spatulas into the basket after you’ve filled it with cookbooks, the Clacker and a timer. A foodie never has enough of them. Make sure the spatulas can withstand temperatures of more than 400 degrees.
Kitchen towels
A foodie never has enough kitchen towels. The packages with plain white terry or microfiber towels are useful and can be used to fill the bottom of the basket as well as the spaces in between.
Including these items in the basket, you now have a perfect holiday gift for the foodie in your life.
Email me at audreywilson808@gmail.com if you have questions.