Gadgets

Any gadget in my kitchen has to do more than one thing. My coffee station is both for coffe and espresso.  My Ninja is the insanely strong blender and has the produce slicing attachment with a variety of blades.  My panini unit makes paninis, toast, and can grill chicken.  My Kitchen Aid mixer has a meat grinding attachment.  My Cuisinart immersion blender can cream hot veggies into soup and has a whip attachment for cold cream.

The only exception to the rule- my Robot Coupe.  It is a food processer on steroids that can grind anything to a pulp in mere moments.  My husband loves to harvest fresh horseradish this time of the year.  I cut those babies in thirds, throw them in and press the on button.  Within seconds, it is ground to the familiar condiment most commonly added to ketchup to make cocktail sauce or mayo for roast beef!  And my eyes are tearing.  With ramp season underway, I pack the bulbs, leaves, some parsley, toasted pecans, and olive oil into the unit and within seconds  I have beautiful bright green pesto.  I have even been known to whip (pulse?) together a double batch of scones because the dough comes together very quickly, reducing how much it is handled, producing a more tender scone.  Breadcrumbs from day old bread can be made in seconds to add to meatballs, meatloaf, roasted tomatoes, and salmon cakes.  Fresh salmon please, not that canned stuff.  I cringe just thinking about that product!

My kitchen is small, my house is small. Every nook and cranny is important space that must be used efficiently.  But I splurge because the singular focus of this appliance is that good.