Nothing is more frustrating in preparing a meal (other than working with peeling Teflon pans) than having to work with dull knives.  We sharpen knives at La Cuisine and you can bring them in or mail them to us.  Regardless of blade length, we charge $4.00 for stainless steel knives and $3.00 for carbon steel ones.  How do you know if yours are carbon steel or stainless.  If it is discolored and rusts easily, it is carbon steel.  Their advantage is that they can be sharpened easily by the user and with practice, you can maintain a much sharper edge than you can on most stainless knives.  Cleavers are $7.00 for stainless and $6.00 for carbon steel.  We can repair broken tips and nicks in the blades as well.  That is more expensive and we have to look at them to give you a quote.  Your knives must spend the night by themselves.  As we get closer to carving holidays, it might take a few nights by themselves.  BUT you get a free Bacon Bandaid with your sharpened knives!

We use a professional belt sander made especially for knives.  Knife blades are run through on a variety of hand set angles on the horizontal and not the vertical slant.   (Much damage is done with these electric knife sharpeners that force the blade through a vertical shaft)  We then use a finishing steel, sometimes Chromium plated, sometimes a Diamond one to give a sleek finish to the new bevel on your knife. 

Please, please, use one our recommended steels (or get out the one you have at home) and steel your knives regularly.  It keeps the blade healthy and sharp.  Slicing and dicing will be much easier; you will use less pressure on your cutting surface.  Joe Raffa the executive chef who does our knife skills classes, says if you slice onions with a truly sharp knife, you won’t be in tears.

Molcajetes are used to make guacamole and grind spices.  Matates are used to grind corn and spices.  Both are made from volcanic or lava rock.   Because of this, they must be treated before use so that loose pieces of the rock does not get ground into the food. 

Place your molcajete or matate in the sink and wet thoroughly.  Also the roller or pestle must be rinsed thoroughly.  Take handfuls of raw rice and place either the molcajete or matate.  Add some cold tap water and begin to grind the rice into the bowl.  Repeat several times, making sure that you have ground the entire interior surface.  Rotate the pestle as well so that its surface is cleaned as well. 

This needs to be done until the water runs clear.  No bits of stone should be coming off as you rinse.

Traditional tin lined copper from Mauviel  in both the brass handled Presentation weight and iron or  bronze handled Hotel weight gives you the most rapid and uniform heat conduction of any cookware on the market.  One of the advantages of copper is that it responds to lower heat beautifully.  You do not have to put your burner on high to get a wonderful saute temperature.   Mauviel’s copper with an 18/10 stainless steel bond will not require the same care as tin lined pieces. 

The melting temperature of tin is 440^oF.  If you have melted the tin, life has not ended.  Simply let the tin resolidify. It may appear shinier than the surrounding tin that has not melted and it may bead a bit.  But all is well. 

Copper itself does discolor while cooking, particularly on a gas range.  We use Barkeeper’s Friend   when we wash copper pans after cooking. This is a very simple and painless way to keep your pans coppery and not dull brown.  This will keep it clean.  For shinier polish use either Copperbrill or Red Bear.  Both of these are easy to use with warm water. 

You will occasionally have to send your pots to be retinned.  Check our Links page for Abercrombie Plating.  They are our highly recommended plating service.  We only have pans retinned when a LOT of copper is showing through.  We all indiscriminately use stainless steel whisks and turners on our tin lined pots. 

We think Hammersong cutters are a wonderful addiction.  No other cutter design group has come up with the intricacy and whimsicality of these cutters.  In addition Betsy Cukla teaches awesome classes here, both hands on and demonstration.  Check our Upcoming Events section on the Home Page or email Stephanie@lacuisineus.com for more information.

A few simple procedures will make the cutters easy to handle and keep them in pristine condition.  These guidelines are from Betsy Cukla herself.

Prep the cutter by greasing and flouring it.  Put flour on your work surface, then take a piece of chilled dough the size of a golf ball and push it all around the cutting edge of the cutter.  Dip the cutter, cutting side down, in the flour and tap off excess.  There should be a thin film of flour on the interior of the cutting edge.  Do not use non-stick sprays or vegetable oils to grease cutters.

Prep the cookie cutters by taking a small ball of the cookie dough and
running it around the cut edges of the cutter. This "greases" the cutter.
Place the
cutter cut side down into a plate of flour.  Remove it from the plate of
flour and tap the excess flour off. You have prepped the cutter and are
now ready
to make cookies.

The idea for the silpat is for the cutouts to stick to the silpat.
Without using any flour, roll the cookie dough directly onto the silpat to
within 1/2 inch of the edges.  With the prepped cutter press firmly into the
dough. Press straight down, then pull straight up.  Do not wiggle the cutter.
Place the silpat onto a cookie sheet for stability and chill. Remove the
silpat/cookie sheet combo from the refrigerator and pull the waste dough
away from
the cutouts and bake cutouts with the silpat on the baking sheet.

CUTTER CARE
Wash cutters in ot soapy water.  Rinse.  Wipe cutter backs dry.  Tap out
excess water from cutter.  Let dry right side up. A small toaster oven is
ideal
for drying cutters.  Heat oven to 180 degrees- NO HIGHER- then turn off.
Place
cutters cut side up ON TOP OF THE TOASTER OVEN. The residual heat will dry
the
cutters.  Do not store wet. Do not put into the dishwasher.

The cookie, in many cases, will still be inside the cutter and then can be transferred to a prepared baking sheet.  Hold the cutter about an inch over the baking sheet, and with the handle of a pastry brush or icing spatula, rap sharply on the back of the cutter to release the cookie.  Brush off excess flour, if any.

To make additional cookies you may have to repeat the prepping process.  A Cuisinette alternative is to quickly cut several cookies out of the rolled chilled dough, lifting the cutter quickly.  Then pull away the exterior dough.  We usually do this on a Silpat, which is then ready to go on a baking sheet. 

We have several cookie recipes in the Cuisinette Recipe  section which are perfect for Hammersong Cutters.

Cast iron and its derivitive, carbon steel, will both give you excellent results in certain types of cooking.  While they are a bit slow to heat up and cool down, they can be used at high temperatures for browning and searing.  They can also be used over low heat to provide a constant simmer or braise. 

Both cast iron and carbon steel will rust if they are not seasoned.  Seasoning is a gradual process and one which can be redone if some miscreant carefully scrubs it off as a favor to you.

A seasoned pan is one in which the fat has burnt and carbonized onto the surface.  This will provide you with a natural non stick surface and will keep the pan from rusting.

When you receive your pan, wash and dry it.  With a brush, paper towel, or cloth, rub a cooking oil or  lard onto the exterior  and interior of the pan.  You can then bake the pan in the oven for several hours.  A hotter temperature will produce faster results than a lower one.  You can also heat the pan over medium low heat on a burner and allow the oil to burn onto the surface.

Your pan will not look perfectly black after the first  seasoning times.  It will have a brownish cast and be somewhat mottled.  Not to worry, seasoning is well on its way!.  Use the pan for frying, wipe off, and use again.  Each time a pan is used with with some fat in it, it will "season".  A pan that has not been seasoned successfully, or if the seasoning has peeled off, does not need to be discarded.  Take steel wool, sand it down and start the process over again. 

Or, to quote Dorothy Remington Pollard:  "Just fry bacon in it for a month!"

Any questions?  just email us at info@lacuisineus.com.

Piral terra cotta is made in Albisole, Italy.  This pottery has produced this cookware for trattorias and restaurants in Europe for over 30 years.  Terra cotta is one of the oldest and most durable materials used to make cookware.  It requires a minimum of care and can bring you years of trouble free cooking and beautiful presentation at the table.  They are free of lead and cadmium, and are usable on an open flame, electric cooktop (on American cooktops, we recommend using  one of our heat diffusers), microwave, or in the oven.  We have found that these pieces actually can shorten the cooking time of gratins, bean dishes and stews because they heat so evenly.  . 

Before using the first time, you should should allow the piece to be submerged in room temperature water and soak for three hours.  Then dry it thoroughly.  Some of our clients have put the pieces in a rinse and dry cycle of a dishwasher as well.  The soaking and thorough drying process needs to repeated ONLY if  the piece is used only  occasionally.

After cooking, allow the pot to cool completely, then wash with warm water and any dish soap.  Do not use steel wool or an abrasive cleaning pad.  If food sticks, soak for a few minutes, before washing.  You can put these pieces in the dishwasher as well.  Dry pieces thoroughly before storing.

Food or liquids should not be stored in any Piral terra cotta piece.  The moisture gradually penetrates the clay, destroying the finish and causing beading when reheated. 

To avoid chipping the finish, use wood or silicone utensils. 

Avoid extreme differences in temperature.  Always begin cooking at a lower heat and then raising the heat both in the oven or on top of the stove.  Piral cookware will cook your food slowly and evenly. 

Check out our recipe for Ligurian Fish Stew in the Cuisinette Recipe section.