A recent e-mail brought the latest newsletter from L’Atelier Vert — Everything French Gardening, a website from American expat Barbara Wilde, who lives and gardens in France. An author for Rodale Press, Wilde also sells gardening tools and French kitchen items on her site, including some beautiful clay pots, such as a daubière from Provence (for making daubes or stews), and marbled clay gratin dishes. Evidently, Paula Wolfert lusts after some of those traditional clay pots too.
In Wilde’s most recent Paris Postcard, she recounts the start of her long-distance friendship with the author of "Good Food From Morocco" and other cookbooks, when Wolfert wrote to ask a question about a pot she had purchased online.
This summer, the two of them met up for the first time for a short, impromptu tour of the French potters who make clay cookware. It makes for a lovely read. One of the spots they visit is Cliousclat, a tiny pottery village where ceramics have been made since the beginning of the 18th century. I treasure the one bowl I have from Cliousclat and won't let anybody else wash it after dinner.
— S. Irene Virbila
Photo of Paula Wolfert in her kitchen with her collection of clay pots by Myung J. Chun/ Los Angeles Times
 The votes are in: You love the mini-prep.
Today's Food section story about kitchen gadgets and ingredients that are worth it –- and those that aren't –- has rubbed a few readers the wrong way. They're taking issue with Times staff writers Amy Scattergood and Russ Parsons, who had the audacity to say that neither a toaster nor a mini food processor was worth the time or money.
One reader, Audrey, e-mailed to say that the mini-prep was the most used appliance in her kitchen. Ditto for Laura, who loves her toaster and said her mini-prep is her go-to tool for making, among other things, homemade meals for her dog: "I use it everyday for things such as mincing onions, making salad dressing and marinades and chopping chicken breast for my teacup poodle. It's a cinch to clean, takes up no counter space and is inexpensive."
And Chuck Z said he agreed with everything Russ said -- except Russ' take on the mini-prep: I must quarrel with Russ Parsons' "Not worth it" for mini food processors. I'm quite adept at chopping onions and other things by hand, but when a recipe calls for a small amount of minced garlic or shallots, which are more difficult to chop finely, I reach for my mini-prep, which sits on my counter right next to the full-size processor that I use for larger jobs. It's also a lot easier to clean than its big brother and takes up less space in the dishwasher. As for all of Russ' other "Worth it" and "Not worth it" choices, good call!
What about you? Do you side with Amy and Russ? Or are they out to lunch? Weigh in here.
-- Rene Lynch
Photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times
 Over the weekend, my older daughter presented me with an annotated list of the types of pasta she currently will and won't eat. With visual aids. On the yes column: penne, ziti, fusilli. No: spaghetti, fettucini, lasagna. Since I was rolling out sheets of pasta on my old Atlas machine at the time (which makes the three she doesn't like, but not of course the three she does), this was somewhat disconcerting. (For the record, Isabel ate the ravioli that I gave her.)
So last night I made garganelli, to dry for any future pasta crises -- and just because I'd never done it before. It required that I cut up sheets of pasta into 1 1/2-inch squares, roll them around a pencil and press them into a gnocchi board (right, with garganelli). Time consuming, yes, but fun in a meditative kind of way and a cool way to use an under-utilized kitchen tool (the board, not the pencil). It's a calming activity too, handy if you're watching Monday Night Football or, say, a political debate. And with Tom Brady out for the season and moose-hunting suddenly an acceptable qualification for the vice presidency, occupational therapy is going to be critical in the coming weeks.
Gnocchi board, about $6 at Surfas in Culver City, Bay Cities Italian Deli in Santa Monica and various sources online.
-- Amy Scattergood
(Photo of garganelli pasta and board by Amy Scattergood)
 Whether you use it to tell when a roast is done or to make sure that the frying oil heats to just the right temperature, a dial (instant-read) or digital thermometer eliminates part of the guesswork for the cook. With Donna Deane's Hungarian pepper salad recipe this week (from "Hungarian peppers: a walk on the lighter side," by Donna Deane and Jenn Garbee), a thermometer might come in handy as you make sure that your chicken cooks to (safe) perfection before incorporating it into this colorful salad.
Indispensable as it may be, a thermometer is only as good as its accuracy. Calibration is key. Here are some quick tips to keep your thermometer on target:
Read on »
 No, the odd-looking container on the left is not something I picked up at BCAM, nor is it a bit of haute plumbing paraphernalia: It's a salt pig. And I didn't know what one was either, until I found this pretty white Emile Henry pig at Sur La Table the other day. The earthenware pots are designed to store salt within easy reach of the stove. The unglazed interior keeps the salt from clumping. Unlike salt boxes, they don't have lids; unlike the ramekin I previously used for this purpose, they're designed to keep the salt protected from falling dust motes, culinary detritus. They're not salt cellars either, although this distinction seems fuzzier. Salt cellars can be little bowls or cruets; according to Larousse Gastronomique, they were originally hollowed-out lumps of bread. Okay, maybe these aren't absolutely necessary kitchen items--but how can you not love something called a salt pig?
Why a pig? According to a 2004 piece in Cook's Illustrated, this use of pig comes to us from "Scots and northern English dialect, where it means an earthenware vessel, specifically a 'pot, jar pitcher [or] crock.' " Think piggy banks. You can find salt pigs in various shapes (an actual pig), sizes (small ones are called, of course, piglets), and colors (check out Nigella Lawson's pretty blue pig), at places like fantes.com, cheftools.com and other kitchen supply stores. If not kosher or sea salt, try Maldon (the big flakes look really cool), or consult Mark Kurlansky's brilliant book Salt for further inspiration.
Emile Henry salt pig, $36.95 from Sur La Table; 301 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 395-0390.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo: Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times
Actually, this is a cone of cotton butcher's twine, and it's one of the the most useful (and under-rated) tools in a kitchen. Even before the economy tanked, I liked any cooking paraphernalia that I could get at a hardware store or that doubled as camping gear. (Uses for duct tape in the kitchen, anyone? Homeland Security?) String is great not just for practicing knots (see the chapter headings of Annie Proulx's "Shipping News") and cat's cradle, but for trussing chickens and tying up bouquet garnis and sachets. Wrap a roulade, tie a pork loin, section sausage links, string up a ham.
Chef Michel Richard's second cookbook, "Happy in the Kitchen,"(Want a copy? They have them at Citrus at Social.) has some awesome photographs of -- and recipes for -- what he does with string. (Richard is fantastic with plastic wrap too.) And here's a space (______________) for that string theory joke when you think of it.
Butcher's twine, 3,600 yards, $20.99 at Surfas Restaurant Supply, 8824 National Blvd., Culver City; (310) 559-4770.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo: Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times
 And not one of those dainty culinary brûlée torches, either, but a Bernzomatic propane torch. I got mine at Home Depot a few years ago, and it cost a whole lot less than the ones you can find in cooking stores — which are tiny and, in my mind, far too tame. Blowtorches are great for making crème brûlée, of course. You can also caramelize sugar on top of pies, cakes and plenty else. In last night's episode of "Iron Chef," won by Providence chef Michael Cimarusti, Providence pastry chef Adrian Vasquez took a torch to some red bell peppers — much more fun to do on television than simply parking them over a boring stove-top flame or under a broiler. You can also provide some last-minute color to a roast or gratin, quickly heat the bottom of a metal bowl to keep a frosting or meringue from breaking, or warm a chilled springform pan for quick release. (I got this trick from Spago pastry chef Sherry Yard, who does this for cheesecakes.)
But what I use my blowtorch for the most is an amazing raspberry brûlée recipe I found in the July 2006 issue of Saveur. It's insanely easy to make, a fantastic way to use seasonal berries (I've also used blackberries, strawberries, even peaches), and the only requirements are blowtorch, fruit, cream and sugar. All you do is fold fresh berries into Chantilly cream, sprinkle with sugar and torch the top. The sugar caramelizes into rivulets and, after a quick set-up in the refrigerator, forms a crunchy sugar top. It's amazing — and a very impressive party trick at twilight grilling dinners. Just be sure to get a fire extinguisher at the hardware store too!
— Amy Scattergood
Photo courtesy of Bernzomatic
I've been cooking more Asian food at home lately, but my cooking technique for short-grained Japanese rice leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, I have a Japanese friend, Sonoko, who is a wonderful cook, so I asked her how she cooks her rice. Don’t buy an electric rice cooker, she advised me. Good thing, because I wasn’t planning on buying one anyway. They’re too bulky — and ugly, too.
She uses a special clay cooker for rice called a donabe, which she carried back from Tokyo on the plane. It weighs a ton,  she said, but the rice it cooks is so beautiful! It’s made of heavy clay and has a double lid that captures the steam. And if you cook the rice a minute or two longer, it develops a delicious crust at the bottom.
Where can I get one? She didn’t know, but then generously offered to come over the next day with her donabe and show me how it worked. And since she was leaving that afternoon for a few weeks, she left it with me so I could try it and see if I liked it. Perfect.
I laid in what Sonoko says is the top quality of rice: Koshihikari from the northern rice region of Japan, about $29 for 5 pounds at Japanese markets. This weekend, I cooked my first rice in her donabe, and I’m never going back to a saucepan with a lid. I’ve got to get one of these. The rice is small-grained and firm, each grain absolutely distinct the way it is in a great risotto. It has a slightly grassy, nutty perfume, and a wonderful texture. It’s so good I could eat it plain. And I did. This rice is strictly special occasion, though: I figure it costs about a dollar and a half per person. But in the world of luxuries, that’s not so much, and absolutely worth it.
Now I just have to figure out how to get the clay rice cooker from Japan. I couldn’t find one online, at least not in English. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist somewhere. And if push comes to shove, Sonoko has offered to bring me back one on her next trip.
— S. Irene Virbila
Photo by S. Irene Virbila
 If you're tired of your pancakes coming in the usual size and shape (flat, round), consider making these glorious little cakes next time. These are aebleskiver (AY-bel-skee-ver), and unless you spend a lot of time in Solvang, California, (or Denmark) or are lucky enough to have a friend with Danish family and thus an aebleskiver pan (mange tak, Karin), you might never have had the pleasure of eating them.
Aebleskiver are lovely little spherical cakes, made by cooking a pancake-like batter in a peculiar cast-iron pan that looks like a cross between a small Lodge skillet and an escargot plate. According to legend, the Vikings originally came up with the method by cooking griddle cakes in their battle-dented shields, heating the concave metal over a hearth and then pouring in some pancake batter. (A pleasant domestic break from all that rowing and burning.) If you don't have a shield handy, you can order aebleskiver pans from Fantes.com, find them at or by mail-order from Solvang Restaurant in Solvang (a bucolic little town up the coast from Los Angeles with a large Danish population) and from aebleskiver.com, where you can also get a recipe and download a video showing you how to make the things. It's a rather tricky procedure, and involves rotating the cooking batter so that it forms a kind of popover. Hint: My friend uses a knitting needle.
Served with a dusting of powdered sugar or drizzled with syrup or raspberry jam -- you can also fill the cakes with slices of apple, which is how they got their name -- they're truly fantastic. Spherical IS a lot more fun than flat. Too bad restaurant supply companies don't stock dented Viking shields....
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos by Amy Scattergood
I stopped in at Surfas, the cooking supply store in Culver City, to shop for goodies for a convalescing friend. The first thing I saw as I stepped in the door  wouldn't fit in my care package, but it surely belongs on some committed cook's kitchen-remodeling wish list: a custom-made stockpot stool.
Store vice president Diane Surfas was inspired to have employees assemble the prototype from materials the warehouse had on hand. It's a surprisingly comfortable sit and seems super-sturdy. The stools aren't listed on the store's website (surfasonline.com) yet but can be custom-ordered via the customer service department (310) 559-4770, ext. 301 (Mitch) or customerservice@surfasonline.com.
The price is $179 for either of two sizes (short, to pull up to a table, or bar-stool-size for higher counter-top seating).
-- Susan LaTempa
Photo by Susan LaTempa
 I used to think my 8-inch chef's knife was indispensable in the kitchen. But I have small hands (I can barely reach a full octave on the piano), and always found that big a knife unwieldy. This year a friend gave me a 150-millimeter (about 6-inch) Misono UX10 for Valentine's Day (romantic, no?), and I have been in love ever since. With the knife. I love it for chopping vegetables, for boning chicken, for slicing meat. The blade is thin and its shape elegant; it fits in my hand comfortably and it's light -- I don't have to work to raise the knife. The UX10 series is made from Swedish stainless steel, and I'm not sure what exactly it is that's so special about Swedish stainless steel, but the claim is that it retains its sharp edge for longer ... mine's still sharp. And every time I see a carrot, I want to brunoise -- or at least dice.
-- Betty Hallock
Photo courtesy of Misono
 Infrared radiation cooks fast, up to 50% faster than flame. That's why the jazzier barbecues have long featured gas-fired infrared heating elements, and why a lot of restaurants have electric infrared grills. But for the home kitchen, infrared has so far been concentrated in either super-pricey high-end equipment or gimmicky as-seen-on-TV gadgets. Black & Decker is positioning its new InfraWave Countertop Oven in the middle of this gap.
For convenience and space-age aura, the InfraWave includes scores of programmed food settings. I decided to take this baby out on the road and see what it could do, so I tried cooking a hot dog, a potato, a rising-crust pizza and a whole chicken. For most of them, I can report that the InfraWave did cook much faster than a regular oven. It's sort of like a microwave that can brown food.
But those programmed settings were flaky. The potato took 40 minutes, five minutes longer than the setting (but hey, still 30% less than it would have taken in a conventional oven), while the pizza and the hot dog cooked faster than their settings -- 6 and 11 minutes, respectively, though the settings were 12 and 15. Go figure. The chicken was supposed to take 40 minutes but still wasn't done at 75.
Long story short: It cooks impressively fast, but don't blindly trust those settings, and I get the feeling you basically shouldn't try anything as big as a whole chicken. But enjoy the hot dogs -- it's terrific on dogs.
Black & Decker InfraWave Countertop Oven, $119.99-$149.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Wal-Mart stores and at various Internet shopping sites.
-- Charles Perry
Photo by Charles Perry
 I love the bleached desert landscape on the drive up to Las Vegas, a trip I make every few months to check out what’s new -- and there’s always something. On the way, I usually make one stop, at Primm -- not to gamble, but to browse at the Williams-Sonoma outlet store. I once picked up a reconditioned four-slot chrome Dualit toaster (normally more than $300) for $79 and have been happily making toast on it ever since. I also found a greatly discounted Staub cast iron mussel pot, and another time a heavy Mauviel roasting pan for the Thanksgiving turkey. Over the weekend, I took a quick look around, turned up some black rectangular charcoal chimney starters from BBQ maven and author Steven Raichlen, originally $34, discounted to $12. Nary a peek in the mall’s purported 100 other stores and I’m gone, heading straight for those raucous neon lights and the next new restaurant in Vegas.
Williams-Sonoma Marketplace, Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas, 32100 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (I-15 at Exit 1), Primm, Nevada; (702) 874-1400. Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
-- S. Irene Virbila
Photo by S. Irene Virbila
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