kitchen skills
Must-Have Kitchen Tools With these kitchen items in hand, cooking will be easier than ever BY JASON ROSS
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he kitchen collects gadgets and tools like no other room in the house. Cabinets fill with pasta rollers, silicon mats, air-fryers and whatever nifty tool is in vogue at any given moment. But the tools we’ve outlined here won’t collect dust in the back of your pantry. Use these must-have, affordable items in the recipes that follow. A cast iron pan will quickly become your most-used pan. It holds heat like a dream without temperature fluctuations—when it gets hot, it stays hot, making it the best pan to sear steaks and fish or anything else, and also makes it perfect for pan-frying. Once properly seasoned (see below), it maintains a non-stick surface great for eggs, pancakes or cornbread. Cast iron is nearly indestructible and goes straight from the stove, to oven, to tabletop (as in the recipe, below, for seared salmon and zucchini). Stove-to-oven capability makes cast iron the right choice for braises and slow-cooked foods, too. Incredibly, cast iron looks and performs better with age. To season, rub the pan’s surfaces with a neutral oil like canola or vegetable. Follow by baking the pan for 30 minutes in a 450°F oven. Allow the pan to cool, and repeat, oiling and baking a few more times, until you notice a shiny and smooth patina building on the pan. PHOTOGRAPHY TERRY BRENNAN FOOD STYLING LARA MIKLASEVICS
Cast Iron Pan-Seared Salmon with Zucchini and Herb Butter MAKES 4 SERVINGS
The cast iron pan skills used in this dish— searing on the stove and finishing in the oven—can be applied to nearly any meat or poultry. ¼ stick soft room temperature salted butter 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill, divided 6 real food fall 2021
½ ¼ 1 1½ ¼ 1½ 1 ½ ½
teaspoon minced lemon zest teaspoon granulated garlic tablespoon olive oil pounds skin-on salmon filet teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste teaspoons salt, divided pound zucchini, halved and sliced in ½-inch pieces red onion, halved and sliced in ½-inch pieces lemon juice
1. Heat oven to 350°F. 2. In a small mixing bowl, use the back of a spoon to beat and soften the butter. (You could also use a mixer, but it’s not really worth the trouble for a small amount of butter.) Add 1 tablespoon dill, plus the zest and granulated garlic, and mix to fully incorporate. Set aside. 3. Pat dry the salmon and season with ¼ teaspoon pepper and ¾ teaspoon salt. 4. Heat a large cast iron pan on medium high heat. Add the olive oil. Wait for the oil to get hot and place the salmon filet in
