Is it obvious that I like to cook? I’m sure it is. What’s not obvious is that I like to make my job easier. To do so, I use many kitchen tools, widgets, doo-dads and thingies. This is the list of my FAVORITES!! They not only make my job easier, but often without them, I’d be pretty useless in the kitchen.
KITCHEN TOOLS
No kitchen is complete without a KitchenAid mixer. I got mine as a gift from my mother-in-law about a decade ago and she’s used it for a decade before that. It is now 20 years old (I researched it by the serial number), it came off the production line in 1999. I purchased the food grinder and sausage stuffer (I make fresh Polish sausage before Easter every year) and got the pasta roller as a gift. I use the pasta roller attachment to roll out dough for pierogi… which makes this long process so much easier!
My KitchenAid set is complete!
I’ve gotten a bunch of questions about my pierogi cutter. This is the one I use. I also use this cookie cutter set to cut out smaller dumplings and cookies or donuts. Rolling pin and baking sheets will come in handy to speed the production also.
A good set of knives and a large cutting board is a must for EVERY kitchen. This particular set of knives is not expensive but I found them very comfortable. They sharpen easily with just a few runs of the blade through a simple knife sharpener. The set comes with a basic chef’s knife, which I use the most.
A food processor is another tool I choose not to be without. It comes in handy when mincing cooked meat for pierogi, fish for a fish paste, grater attachment grates raw potatoes for potato pancakes, apples for apple cake, carrots for carrot salad and many more.
There is a lot of stewing in Polish cooking. Stewed cabbage, pork ribs with sauerkraut or pork hocks were all prepared in one of these:
Do you make your own pickles? I use these tools to make one-of-a-kind Polish pickles and home-made sauerkraut.
Farmer’s cheese was always hard to come by. You can very easily make your own. This inexpensive cheese press will form a perfect cube. Now you can make a delicious Polish cheesecake or cheese pierogi.
Here are final few items that I use almost daily.
FAVORITE POLISH INGREDIENTS
Here, I’m sharing a few products that I was able to find while leaving in the US that reminded me of home. I wouldn’t be able to make pierogi with mushrooms and sauerkraut without died mushrooms, or poppy seed roll without poppy seeds. Products that I’m sharing below are ones I’ve used and found pretty similar to those found in Poland. Hope this makes cooking Polish food easier.
Please know that, if you find the items on my list useful and you purchase one or few, I will receive a few cents from Amazon as a “thank you” for sharing their products. I do promise however, that the products I’m sharing are ones I use or have used and am recommending them to you because I found them worthy the attention.