Tag Archives: kitchen tools az

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Lodge 14″ Pre Seasoned Cast Iron Wok.  I have been in the market for a new wok for a while.  Our current wok is a huge wok with one of those “stick free surfaces”.  It works okay but it is really too big (like 20 inches) and it just doesn’t really hold heat the way I would like, so it is going off to Goodwill.

In my quest for the new Spirko wok I examined two main options, the first was carbon steel and the second cast iron.  Basically I came down to the conclusion that the chief advantage to carbon steel is it is lighter and better for “tossing” stir fry.  Where as the heavy cast iron does better with great heat distribution.  However, given it comes in at 11 lbs, you are going to be “stirring” that stir fry, not tossing it.

The other advantage to the thinner carbon steel is it heats up faster, where the cast iron wok will hold the heat longer.  In the end I sat down in my kitchen and asked myself, which one is more likely to be still being used and in better shape then the day I bought it, long after I am dead.  On that thought I considered my grandmother’s old cast iron griddle that my father still has.  It was her mother’s and it was one of the few things though brought to the US from the Ukraine in the 1890s.

Well, that was that!  So I started looking at brands and I looked at thinner cast iron woks that weighed a bit less, but the reviews were abysmal and some were not actually cast iron.  Once again I thought about my own kitchen, all the cast iron I own is either old school stuff like Griswold found at flea markets and antique malls and almost all the new stuff comes from Lodge.

I have a Lodge Dutch Oven, a Lodge Griddle and quite a few other Lodge items.  So I checked out the Lodge Wok and realized it was always going to be my choice in the end.  No matter how many other ones I looked at there was one that you knew exactly what you were going to get when  you ordered it.

Lodge has been making cast iron for over 100 years right here in America, of the current manufactures they are simply the best at it.  Now I do dearly love old school “milled” cast iron, which is why I am always sniffing around antique malls, frankly it is about the only reason Dorothy can drag me into one.  But in 45 years of living I have yet to see and old school milled cast iron wok.

Buying the Lodge was a solid choice and with all the stir frying we are doing since discovering new vegetables like Thai Water Spinach which is growing far faster than we can eat it all, it was time for a new wok.  The Lodge is simply fantastic, this thing gets screaming hot, it stays that way.  I power the burner up heavy to get it pre heated but after that a low flame keeps it cooking hot and fast the way wok cooking is supposed to be.

Frankly if I had a larger kitchen I would like have this wok and a hand hammered Japanese made carbon steel wok as well, but my kitchen is rather small and any time I buy a new pan, frankly an old one has to go.  And funny enough cast iron seems to be taking over my kitchen.

So if you are in the market for a wok, and want something your great grandchildren can be using long after you are gone, check out the Lodge 14″ Pre Seasoned Cast Iron Wok today.  There are not many things left in our modern world that you can buy for under 50 dollars and yet know they will outlast you and your children, this is one of them.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop online you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Regency Soup Sock.  When I showed this to my son, his exact words were, “that thing is genius”.  Now my son didn’t quite learn everything I know about the kitchen but he seems to have paid attention to stuff that lets you stretch a dollar!  He is now 27 with two kids of his own, so that makes sense. 

So one thing we have always done in the Spirko house hold is make at least two meals from a chicken, some times we freeze the left over parts and do two or three frames into soup at one time.  More often than not though, it goes like this.  Make whole roaster chicken, have dinner, next day toss remains into a pot, boil and make a pot of chicken soup for dinner the next day.

This process is really easy and I will give my basic method in the PS below, but there is one issue.  When you simmer that birds frame long enough to make a good stock it sort of falls apart.  This leaves you to strain out tons of tiny bones and gristle and skin from everything else.

Enter the soup sock, put bird in sock, simmer till meat falls off the bones, remove sock, set aside, add veggies, let bird cool, pick off meat and add back to pot.  It saves a lot of time and one sock is plenty big enough for one bird, even if it isn’t a left over.  I have used these for duck stock as well, and making quail stock.  Real time saver there.

When I process quail I cut out the back bone with kitchen shears.  Sometimes we process 40 quail, one time we did 80, that is a lot of back bones!  Man those things when they come apart are tiny but they have tons of flavor so why toss them.  We put them in bags until we want to make up some quail stock or simply add them to chicken stock.  Into the sock they go, you just pull those things out and discard, the tiny amount of meat on them isn’t worth the effort.

One thing I really believe in is developing skills that make your life more cost effective.  When you an take a roaster chicken and feed four people twice with it, all of the sudden you can afford organic, pastured, etc, what ever the best you can get is in your area anyway.  So consider adding the Regency Soup Sock to your pantry today.

Note that the link I provided goes to a 9 pack of them, (three packs of three), at 9.37 with free shipping it makes them about a dollar a piece and the most cost effective way to buy them I have found so far.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop on Amazon you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

P.S. – Jack’s Left Over Chicken Soup

• One left over chicken frame (more if you want more soup)
• About one bunch of celery
• About one pound of carrots (tops on if available)
• One large or two small onions
• Dehydrated Onions
• Handful of Garlic Cloves (coarsely chopped)
• One Bunch Fresh Parsley (coarsely chopped) (use dried if you have to about one big hand full)
• Two Bay Leaves
• One Lemon (shh, this is a secrete)
• Salt to Taste
• Pepper to Taste
• Keith Snows Northern Italian (if you don’t have it use equal parts Thyme, Oregano, Basil and Rosemary, it is different than Keith’s seasoning but just as good)  I do either or by eye, a big pinch or two of both.
• Better Than Bullion Organic Chicken Base

Procedure

First – cut bottom off celery, carrot tops off (if you have them) and cut onion into quarters.  Cut lemon into quarters Put chicken in sock, add to pot cover with water.  Also cut the leafy tops off the parsley, tie the stems in a bundle.  Toss in celery bottom, carrot tops, quarter and toss in entire lemon, toss in parsley stems.  Add half the garlic, add bay leaves, about a table spoon of salt and a table spoon of black pepper bring to simmer.  When simmer starts dissolve about two teaspoons of Better Than Bullion Chicken base.  Simmer about two hours until meat will fall off chicken.

Second remove soup sock, and set in a bowl to cool.  Take out lemons, onions, carrot tops, celery bottom and discard.  Cut celery and carrots into bite sized peaces and add to pot.  Add dehydrated onions, I use about as many as fill a cap on a standard mason jar two times, because that is how I store them.  If the jar is wide mouth I use one cap full.   This is the time to add the Keith Snow seasoning or blend of Thyme, Oregano, Basis and Rosemary.  Also now add your reserved garlic and all the parsley leaves, coarsely chopped.   Bring back to a simmer.

Third remove bird from soup sock, pick all meat off bird and add back to pot.  Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, soup is done.  You can add more salt and pepper to taste.

If you want to do noodle soup, I highly recommend you cook your noodles in salt water in a separate pot.  Then add them to your bowl and ladle soup over them.

For paleo noodle soup (and I think it tastes better) make up some zucchini noodles, just do the salt treatment and don’t even cook them, just ladle hot soup on them in the bowl.  To learn how to make zucchini noodles see this post.

Final note I don’t really use a recipe, this is all easier than it sounds and every time I make it it is a little different do not sweat it and omit or add as you see fit.  The method is the key, not the ingredients list.

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Microplane Classic Zester/Grater.  I love this tool and use it often in my cooking.  The way I ended up with this is a friend who has helped with some of our workshops brought one to us as a gift.

My response was, I have always just used a small grater for zesting, her response was simply try this and you won’t use anything else.

Well she was dead on!  The three primary things I use this for are grating hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano, zesting rinds of citrus like limes, lemons and oranges and finely grating large spices like nutmeg.

These are all almost like cheat codes in the kitchen.  Here are two examples…

• Slice up some peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and carrots and slice a big handful of green onion on the bias (that just means slanted) now add olive oil to a pan, season your veg with salt and pepper.  Saute the carrots for a minute or two, then add peppers and mushrooms and saute for about 3 more minutes, then toss in zucchini for about one minute.  Then shut off heat and add most of the green onions and stir in and serve.  Most would be happy, here comes the cheat codes!
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  When you start out also grate up finely some ginger and garlic and lime zest.  Add these when you add the peppers and mush rooms.  Then when you serve the dish, top with the reserved green onion and grate a small amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.  The first dish is good, the second is great and it only takes about 2 minutes of extra time to make it happen.
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• Next one, take a whole chicken and cut the back bone out of it with something like these shears.  While you are at it cut the wing tips off and reserve those.  Flatten the chicken out and rub with oil, then season both sides with salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary.  Par boil some potatoes, build a bed in a roasting pan with the potatoes, an onion chopped coarse, some carrots and celery.  Place bird on veggies and roast in oven at 425 till chicken is done.
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  While roasting boil chicken back, wing tips, neck, heart and liver with salt, pepper, celery and carrots to make a stock.  Do this in about 4 cups of water and add about 1-2 tsp of Better than Bullion Chicken base to it.  Strain stock and make it into a gravy with a flour and butter roux.  Serve chicken and veggies with gravy and enjoy a great meal!
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  Cheat codes, use zester when you are getting the chicken ready, and zest 2 lemons and 4 cloves of garlic, rough chop some fresh basil and parsley, mix thyme and rosemary with basil, parsley garlic and lemon to make a paste.  Gently separate the skin and stuff this paste in between the skin and meat under the breast and thy skin use about 75% of the paste this way.  Oil and season chicken as before, but rub remaining past on it along with the oil.  Place on veggie bed and squeeze lemons on top of chicken and veg.  With a little fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and proper use of this tool, you have gone from good meal to gourmet dinner.

There are so many ways to use this tool, just adding lime zest to your stir fry in addition to the customary ginger, garlic and chili is big boost in flavor for instance.  Zest a bunch of lemons, put in jar with vodka and allow to soak for bout a week, then strain out the zest and mix with 50% of the volume of simple syrup (equal amounts of sugar and water), you have high proof Limoncello at a fraction of the cost at a store.

Heck take some dark chocolate and zest it over that desert you are so proud of and take it to another level in appearance alone, not to mention taste.

One big thing is how well this tool shines at zesting citrus.  The key with citrus zest is you want all color and no white pith.  The colored part is teaming with flavor and amazing oils, the white pith is bitter.  This tool does an amazing job of taking off the part you want and leaving the rest behind.  So check out the the Microplane Classic Zester/Grater and for under 9 bucks you can take your cooking to another level!  For more ideas on using this tool, tune in to today’s show.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop online you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is 2 Inch Ice Cubes Molds by Home Complete.  I know this is a simple little item but I am excited about it.  It all stated when Bryan Black of ITS Tactical talked me into going to a cool Farm to Fork Place in Fort Worth called “The Bird Cafe”.  The food is good but the bar is what is amazing.

These bartenders are fricken chemists who do their work in adult beverages.  Anyway Bryan is like you have to get one of the “Old Fashioneds”.  I was like not really a fan, he insisted saying, look I am buying if you don’t like it order something else.

This is what I ended up with and I go back to the Bird Cafe every time we are downtown just to have one.  They don’t muddle fruit they use a combination of cherry branding, house made orange liquor, and a combination of three different bitters.  For bourbon they use Knobb Creek Rye.  Purists will scoff at this, but purists I don’t like your version, so suck on an orange peal!

Anyway I was like, I should try to cobble that together, still looking for the right brandy and can’t find some of the bitters, so for now using basic bitters but mine are damn tasty!

What I needed though was that massive 2 inch ice cube that didn’t melt fast and water down the drink.  So I went on Amazon and found the 2 Inch Ice Cubes Molds by Home Complete.  I didn’t do a ton of research on this product, I am not sure how one really could screw up  silicone ice tray but these were a good price, had a solid B on fakespot with 1300 plus reviews and 4.5 stars so that seemed good enough.

Man these things are great and not just for cocktails frankly any drink you want to chill but not water down.  Because they are silicone it is easy to push the cubes out.  I make up 16 at a time, pop them out and put them in a ziplock bag, refill and repeat.  Since they are so big you don’t use them up very fast.

There is another use for these guys too, stocks.  You know like chicken, beef, bone, etc. stock.  We had been using something like a silicone muffin mold for that but this is a LOT better, because it was designed for the purpose of making ice, translation you spill less.

I ordered the two pack for 9.99 but if you want a single one you can get that too.  Also if you want more for any reason, like they are bad ass gifts for instance they offer a discount.  Right in the item description you will see the following

Get 5% OFF When You Buy 2 (Coupon Code B3OR3JEH) -Get 10% OFF When You Buy 3 Or More (Coupon Code QHE8TC8V)

I didn’t notice that when I ordered mine but frankly again 16 of these cubes go a long way, still I will likely order some more, again what a great gift for any friends or family that enjoy making a good drink now and again.

So check out the 2 Inch Ice Cubes Molds by Home Complete and enjoy your next drink adult or otherwise without it being watered down, and hey get some of that stock put up as well.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop online you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

P.S. – So were is the recipe for the drink?  Sorry guys and gals the above description is all I am giving until I get it down as good as they do it at the Bird Cafe, if you want one until then and you are near Fort Worth, go down and get one, you won’t regret it!

Special Note – If you are MSB do not order here, I was so impressed with this little product I tracked down the owner and got an MSB discount, a BIG one percentage wise for members.  If you are MSB and want these, login to your MSB account for info on the discount before you order.

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is a cool product called Taco Tenders.  Wow do I and my family love these things!  We don’t eat a lot of tacos but we eat them say once every two weeks as a treat.  My problem has always been how soft tacos just fall apart and are a pain in the ass to make and eat.

We were at a restaurant one night and I got some Fish Tacos that were awesome.  The restaurant had a product similar to this (as most do) that held your tacos nicely for you.  I liked that they were held and didn’t fall apart, I liked even more that they let you put a part eaten taco down and have a sip of a drink or talk to someone without it totally falling to pieces.

I got to thinking, man I have seen these in restaurants forever, there must be a “civilian version”.  I browsed Amazon and found Taco Tenders in both Original (holds three) and Oven Safe (holds two).  Given I personally warm my tortillas in a hot cast iron pan (I like them a bit toasty) I went with original.  One big selling point to me was they were stackable and that means they take up very little space in the kitchen.

Well now I am hooked and so is every family member and guest who has used them!  They make tacos even better because you can easily fix them up with toppings and they don’t fall apart or get coated in your side dishes. So check out taco tenders in both Original (holds three) and Oven Safe and make your Taco Tuesday’s even better.  Check out the video below to see how great they are to use.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop online you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

P.S. – I wanted to let you know that it turns our the owner is connected to the TSP community and actually had tried to reach out to me in the past but we never synced up.  When I posted about these on Facebook, Patrick Roehrman of M.T. Knives and our Expert Council said, hey I know that guy he lives a few miles away from me.  Patrick connected us and I worked this discount.  So by buying this product you are supporting an American run business by a good guy who is also a member of the TSP community.