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10 Comments
Tim
March 13, 2018
Just a note to people who are new here... the recipe above for "Luisa's (Lemon) Cake" is one of the best recipes I have ever tried. It has been a staple at our house now, and I am expected to bring it to parties and family gatherings. This is a must in your cooking toolbox.
witloof
March 11, 2018
I love my three Microplane graters so much {although the 15 year old box grater is extremely badly designed and collects shards of cheese and carrots in its hollow upper handle} that I bought a Microplane mandoline. Let me advise you not do waste your money. It's a piece of crap. The OXO mandoline is half the price and a thousand times better designed and easier to use.
nancy E.
March 10, 2018
I use my microplane when I want to save on parmesan, to grate nutmeg and of course to zest citrus
Dave &.
March 9, 2018
I love the Ina trick - brilliant. My kitchen isn't complete, however, without at least one Microplane-brand zester. I have 4, in varying degrees of zest-width. The individual holes... I use my fine one for citrus & ginger, more of a wider paddle design. I have a medium one I use for grating parm & romano, that one is the traditional long & narrow design. And lastly, a larger one, again a paddle design, that I use to shred cheddar or other firm blocks. My 4th, is a special one, smaller, on the handle-end it has a (covered with a removable plastic shield) tool that will score & strip, along with the traditional citrus zesting paddle. I use one of them at least daily.
AntoniaJames
March 9, 2018
A strip zester is much easier/quicker to use than a paring knife or vegetable peeler, in my experience. I realize a lot of people don't like owning single-purpose tools but a conventional zester is not a high ticket item, it doesn't take up much space, and you get the benefit of being able to make pretty, uniform -- and aromatic! -- threads of citrus for garnishing. You can also make tiny cubes of zest by quickly cutting those zested threads. In the words of the late, great Judy Rodgers, "Try this." ;o)
AntoniaJames
March 9, 2018
Case in point: compare the photo of the cookies made by Food52 in this recipe, using a microplane, with the second photo, of the same cookies made with lemon peel stripped using a zester and then chopped with sugar: https://food52.com/recipes/2251-st-clement-s-orange-and-lemon-cookies Trust me, those tiny bits of citrus are magical. ;o)
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