My Best Friend's Wedding

My best friend got married last night! That explains my 3-day hiatus from the blogosphere. I apologize to all you epicureans...but I had duties to attend to! I was the "best woman," standing up for the groom during the ceremony and I was extremely honored to be there. It was a lovely evening, complete with a delicious meal including lobster strudel, israeli couscous with sauteed vegetables, an assortment of salads and a delicious creme brulee, which they cracked instead of cutting a cake! How cute is THAT?

Enough about the wedding itself...I promised my best friend that I would write about the gift he gave me for being his "best woman." They really found me the most perfect present ever, I think. An in-laid wood, handmade cutting board! He bought it at an art fair in Salt Lake City, where he lives, from a company called Split River Designs.

Now, the tag also says that I need to oil it on a monthly basis, as well as occasional sanding...so this is going to take some care, but I'm going to be sure to actually use it. Too many times, people get something beautiful and it sits in the closet...I intend to put this to its natural use, and take the time to care for it appropriately. You'll be sure to see it in many posts to come! :)

Tip of the day: Art fairs and antique festivals are great places to find cool additions to your culinary collection. Old cast iron, vintage glassware, and handmade cutting boards like this one can make it exciting to use your kitchen. If you love your tools, you'll love what you use them for!

The Importance of Multiple Cutting Boards

When you start your mise en place, it is imperative that you have a different cutting board for meats and vegetables. There are numerous ways to accomplish this, but you MUST make sure you do it. Meats carry a lot of bacteria before they are cooked, and even if everything is eventually going into the same pot, vegetables can still be contaminated with that bacteria prior to being cooked. For this reason, I make sure to take out a cutting board for each type of ingredient I will be prepping, before I even start. You can do this with color-coded boards, which are sometimes sold in packs.


Alternatively, there are some very cute sets that even have little pictures on them. I have a set of 4, from Sur La Table, with pictures of a fish, a cow, a chicken, and a carrot on them. This set is similar to the one I have: Cutting Boards. These are only $16 and that is a small price to pay for keeping you and your loved ones healthy when you cook. 




This goes for knives as well. I have two favorite knives, so I tend to wash them if I need to cut more than one type of meat, but normally, I've got one set aside for my protein, and the other will prep the veggies and other ingredients. As long as you wash your knife with soap in between ingredients, you don't really need to have more than one. 


Raw chicken can carry Campylobacter, as well as Salmonella, the leading cause of food borne illness. Raw beef can also carry Salmonella and Campylobacter, in addition to Listeria Monocytogenes and Staphylococcus Aureus. Raw fish can carry Anisakis Simplex (or Herring Worm), and Vibrio Species. Now let me clarify - don't stop eating these proteins because of this information. These bacteria can be spread through the improper cleaning and care of raw meats. That's why, if you decide to try making sushi at home, ALWAYS make sure that you are buying sushi-grade fish. This way, you are assured that the fish was handled properly for raw consumption. This is the case with beef too - you CAN eat it raw, as long as it's prepared appropriately. On the other hand, you can NEVER eat chicken raw...don't even contemplate it. 


Finally, I'd like to give an example of a more complicated meal, just to give you an idea of how careful you need to be. Let's say you are cooking an Asian stirfry, with beef, shrimp, chicken and veggies. You need 4 cutting boards for this meal, to be on the safe side. You'll also either need 4 knives, or a sponge and dish soap, to wash the knife in between ingredients. 


Healthy and safe cooking to you all, and to all a good night!