Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Sharp. Real sharp.

I'm pretty stoked about some new kitchen equipment I just got. It's a set of 3 shiny, beautiful chef's grade kitchen knives by an australian manufacturer, Furi(http://www.furitechnics.com.au/) and endorsed by the very famous food diva, Rachel Ray. Before I go on, I should admit to being a devoted viewer of Food Network(FN) on TV. Gelatu sometimes calls me a FN junkie. The thing is, I'm really not that into TV, other than a couple of reality shows, so the only thing 2 channels I really enjoy watching on TV are FN (my TVland happy place) and BBC (which I am currently not subscribed to :( on comcast).

Anyway, I'd been lusting after these knives since the beginning of the year, when I noticed that Rachel Ray uses all Furi products on all her shows. I love Rachel Ray for the fact that she's more a food expert than a chef. More food basics, than food hype. Unlike chefs who beat about the bush, use 23 ingredients for a single dish, fuss around the kitchen for an hour and end up with a tiny plate of food that looks totally unapproachable; our Rachel Ray is a chef-next-door typa girl. She is the author and presenter of 30-minute meals, where she shows you how to be in & out of the kitchen in 30 minutes, cooking a complete meal for 4-6 people from start to finish. And Rachel Ray's Tasty travels - a travel show from a foodie perspective. So instead of the 23 ingredients, she'll recommend a simple pre-mixed dry rub you can pick up for $2.29 in your local grocery store without driving yourself nuts. Nobody I know has that much time to spend working on a grocery list, or in the kitchen on a daily basis. I love how practical and smart she is about everyday cooking.

Back to the original topic, these beauties make everyday kitchen chopping a total breeze. I'm no longer getting frustrated fumbling with those good-for-nothing, silly walmart knives. I think that you tend to be better and faster at what you do if you spend the time to gather up the right tools.
You can chop & slice tricky food like green peppers so easily(the shinier the surface of the vegetable, the harder it is to get past it because of the slipperyness that eludes the knife edge. This is a complete non-issue with these knives). In fact, they are so sharp, that the product comes with several injury warnings, for noobies, who might be experimenting with cooking. Oh yeah, these blades are not for the faint-hearted. They make me feel like supergirl working at a Benihana. Here are the first pictures I took of them when I first opened the package that had just arrived:
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I love the neat gusto grip and they look very good too - they brighten up the kitchen with that tangerine color ! If you want some edge in the kitchen, check these out:
http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/ProductDetail.aspx?R=145952
They're pretty pricey at $99 at the FN store, so I decided to buy them off ebay for $25 instead. Of course, I spent some time to ensure that I was getting the real deal and not knock offs. They make kitchen prepping such a joy.

I can picture my hubby rolling his eyes at me even before I say this, but that's the point of this blog, I guess : Finally, this is the kind of threesome I can enjoy ;)