Try not to over-do it on the gadgets. There's nothing worse than having to cope with the clutter in that one drawer we all know - full of useless, tangled, gadgets, multiple melon-ballers, and broken nutcrackers.
However, there is one weird little plastic kitchen tool we adore and use constantly: the Benriner Mandoline, a budget version of the fancy metal ones you keep passing by at Williams-Sonoma.
This is a great (and inexpensive) gift for the cook on your list who appreciates culinary flourishes like super-thin potatoes for their Pommes Anna and perfectly julienned carrots in their slaw. You can get the Benriner in Chinatown at Kam Man food Products, 200 Canal Street (Mott Street) or Pearl River Mart, 477 Broadway (Grand Street). ($25-$35)
thanks mindreader!
I was just looking at this last week on Canal St and wondering how well it worked...
I've been looking at mandolines for a while. They varry so wildly in price. How do you tell a good one from a not so good? I heard stories of people getting pretty cut up by these though?
Chris,
Yes, you can get cut (I have) - so it's important to use the guard, which is included. With the $199 model at Williams-Sonoma, it's built in. With the $30 Chinatown version, you place it on top of the thing you're cutting, thus guarding your fingers. The key is to not get too confident and start slicing really quickly. Don't rush, use the guard, you will keep your fingers. I've had mine for two years and the blade is as sharp as it was on day one.
i just got an oxo mandoline recently and i'm not overly impressed. i think if i were going to slice a ton of stuff for a party, then i would bust it out, but otherwise a knife is much easier.
Let me second that, Sara Kate. It is so tempting to forgo the guard in order to get started, but USE IT EVERY TIME. Common sense, which I lack (according to my mother), dictates that you would naturally use the guard, but you get in a hurry and...well, it's not a pretty scene.
Used correctly, it is a fabulous tool.
Use the guard. I was slicing potatoes for a gratin on Thanksgiving with a plastic mandoline, got distracted by the dog running around, and shoved my thumb right into the blade. It cut deep because the blade was so sharp.
martha stewart also sells a great cheap mandolin at kmart. i love mine
I have one called a *Mama Slicer*. Love it. Love the name. It evens advises you to "Watch your fingers" right on the front of it.
USE THE GUARD! I sliced off the tip of my finger (a thin slice, but still), then gave one as a gift to a friend with firm, clear, insistent admonitions to use the guard, and first thing she did was slice off the tip of *her* finger! You think you're the one person who can get away with it, but the rules of physics apply to you, too, pal!