Gifts for the weekend chef: 10 things for long, happy cooking
Slow braises, proper roasts and the perfect steak. Ten gifts for the friend who cooks big on Saturdays, from flaky salt to cast iron.
The weekend chef cooks big on Saturdays. A slow braise, a proper roast, a steak they have read three articles about. During the week they survive on quick pasta, so the tools they use at the weekend should be good ones.
These ten gifts go from stocking filler to splurge, with rough prices in kronor. Each one makes a long weekend cook easier, tastier or more fun. If you only buy one thing, buy the thermometer. It saves more roasts than any recipe.
The picks
Ten gifts for the weekend chef
- A big box of flaky sea salt (about 60 to 100 kr): For finishing steaks, roast potatoes and even chocolate desserts. They will get through it faster than you think.
- A Microplane grater (about 250 to 350 kr): Parmigiano over pasta, garlic into butter, lemon zest over everything. The tool I would save first in a fire.
- A Marcella Hazan cookbook: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is the book I return to most. Clear, opinionated and full of weekend projects.
- A digital probe thermometer (about 200 to 500 kr): The best tool for roasts and steaks. They pull the meat at the right temperature every time, then let it rest.
- A heavy canvas apron (about 300 to 500 kr): Deep pockets for a tea towel and that thermometer, and long ties that go round twice.
- A combination whetstone (about 400 to 700 kr): A 1000 and 6000 grit stone. Sharp knives are safer and more pleasant, and sharpening on a Sunday morning is calming.
- A Lodge cast-iron skillet (about 400 to 600 kr): Heavy, nearly indestructible and the best pan for a deep crust on a steak. It goes from hob to oven to table.
- An end-grain chopping board (about 800 to 1,500 kr): Thick, gentle on knives and big enough to carve a whole roast. Oil it once a month and it lasts for years.
- A sous vide stick (about 1,500 to 2,500 kr): It holds water at an exact temperature, so steaks come out evenly pink from edge to edge. Then a fast sear in that skillet.
- A Le Creuset casserole (about 3,000 to 4,000 kr): A 24 or 26 cm cast-iron pot for braises, stews and bread. Expensive, and they will hand it down to their children.
Guide: roasting resting
Guide: sharpening knives
Something homemade
Make a batch of honey barbecue sauce and pour it hot into clean glass bottles. It is sticky, sweet and smoky, and it turns a Saturday rack of ribs or a smoked pork loin into a feast.
Keep the bottles in the fridge and write on the tag that it should be used within two weeks. Add a little bag of flaky salt and a wooden brush for basting.
Recipe: honey bbq sauce
Recipe: smoked pork loin
Bella's tip: Tape a short handwritten note to the thermometer with your favourite temperatures: 55 °C for pink beef, 65 °C for pork, 75 °C for chicken thighs. They will keep it on the fridge for years.
