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05/19/2022 12:01 AMI have a friend who asked me why she should keep her large Cuisinart food processor. I literally blanched.
Of course you keep your kitchen tools because you should be using them enough so that you want to keep them close. Also you should, perhaps, because you adore them. I love mine, and consider them, if not as pets but as best friends in the kitchen.
On the other hand, if you have a terrific yet very small kitchen, sometime things have to go.
I have just a galley kitchen, but it has a bay window with a shelf below it. The shelf, reworked by woodworker Josh Friedman in New London, now holds large and small Cuisinarts, a 6-quart KitchenAid mixer, an Instant Pot, a slow cooker, a Ninja Pro blender, and two tiny grinders (one for spices, one for coffee). I use all of these gadgets constantly. I keep them shinier than my desk. They are my own pieces of art.
This weekend I was asked to make cole slaw and potato salad for a large number of friends. I used my big Cuisinart thin slicing disk for the cabbage and the grater disk for the carrots. I used my Instant Pot for the potato salad. Both dishes were ready for the refrigerator within half an hour. With summer coming, my counter appliances will keep my kitchen cool.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Zimny’s Cole Slaw
Yield: serves 10 to 15 people
Ingredients:
1 cup good store-bought mayonnaise
5 ½ tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice
(or celery spice, if you don’t have five-spice)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
freshly white pepper to taste
about 6 to 8 cups green and red (Savoy)
cabbage, shredded in a food processor
2 carrots, shredded in food a processor*
Directions
Using whisk, blend mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, five-spice, salt, and pepper.
Combine cabbage and carrots. Pour dressing over vegetables and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours. It is even better on the second or third day.
Lee’s Favorite Potato Salad
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
2 pounds of potatoes
(I love The Little Potato Company’s tiny
potatoes; no need to peel them)
1 small onion, thinly diced
2 stalks of celery, finely diced
About 3 to 4 tablespoons bottled Italian salad
dressing (I love Wish Bone brand, full fat)
salt and pepper to taste
about 4 tablespoons Hellman’s mayonnaise
(full fat)
Directions
In a large pot of water, bring potatoes to a boil and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.
Drain water and, in the same pot, toss potatoes with onions and celery and stir. Wait a few minutes before you add the Italian dressing and mayonnaise and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool on the counter at room temperature before covering and refrigerating.