For me a basting brush, or a pastry brush, is an essential kitchen tool for low fat/low calorie cooking. I use it to lightly coat vegetables with olive oil and to brush oil onto my skillet or saucepan before cooking, this cuts back on the amount of oil I use which in turn cuts back on extra calories in my food. I also use it to baste long cooking cuts of meat with marinade or sauce before, during or after cooking.

A basting brush will have a long handle with bristles made of natural or synthetic fibers or silicon. Always be sure to clean your brush throughly in warm soapy water to remove any dirt that may have gotten trapped between the bristles.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services

A mortar and pestle are used to grind herbs and spices by hand.  Place the spices in the mortar (the bowl) and pound, rub, and grind with the pestle (the bat shaped wand).  A mortar and pestle are usually made of wood or stone and come in many different sizes.  In the kitchen, they are typically used to grind small amounts of spices, prepare guacamole and pesto.

I use my mortar and pestle to grind dried herbs to a powder to use as a coating for chicken or fish.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services

A Dutch oven is a large heavy casserole-type of cooking vessel.  There are two types of Dutch ovens.  One is made of cast iron and the other, a more modern version, is made of enamel covered aluminum.  The primary use of a Dutch oven is for long cooking, braising or stewing tough meats and vegetables.  It has a tight-fitting lid, so it will hold in moisture.  Most of the more modern versions are used on a stovetop.  However, the older cast-iron ones are more often used in an oven.  I love my Dutch oven, although it’s big and hard to store. I use it often, especially in the winter for soups, stews and chili.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services

Baking sheets are used for many things such as roasting vegetables or baking cookies.  They are usually made of metal and may be non-stick and come in different sizes.  I recommend having 2 or 3 different sizes on hand, but 1 large one will be fine for all you needs.

 Baking sheets and cookie sheets are almost the same thing except a baking sheet will have four sizes and a cookie sheet usually has only one.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.

As with measuring cups, when you first begin cooking it’s important to use measuring spoons.  They come in a set, usually of 4 to measure 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon.  Larger sets may come with 1/8 teaspoon and 3/4 teaspoon.  You can even get spoons that will measure a dash, a pinch, a smidgen and a tad.

When using spoons, as with cups, fill your spoon to the top and level off dry ingredients with a knife or spatula.  Spoons can also be used to measure wet ingredients.  Never pour wet ingredients into the spoon while over the bowl or skillet you will be adding the ingredient to, as you can overpour into the bowl or skillet and ruin your dish.

When baking, it is essential to always measure ingredients with your cups and spoons at all times, don’t try to eyeball measurements as baking is based on the interaction of the ingredients in their proper protions.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.

A meat thermometer is something that I believe is essential to taking the guess work and fear factor out of cooking meat and poultry to perfection.  

There are two different types of thermometers, one has a long stem with the display on top and the other is digital with a probe attached.

All meats have different temperatures that relate to their “doneness”.  To cook meat rare the temperature should register to between 120 degrees and 125 degrees, medium rare is 130 degrees to 135 degrees, etc, turkey, chicken, lamb, pork, all have different “doneness” temperatures. 

To use a thermometer insert it  into the thickest part of the meat and wait for it to reach your desired temperature.

The stem type of thermometer, can have a very large display or a small one.  They can have the temperatures printed on the display or they can be digital.  These types of themometers are not oven safe.  The way to use them is to place the meat in the oven and cook for a period of time, open the oven, pull out the meat and place the thermomter in the thickest part of the meat.  Never stick your hand into a hot oven, learn from my mistakes, it’s not fun.

I love my digital thermometer with probe.  The probe is inserted into the thickest part of the meat and the display sits outside the oven.  Some digital thermometers have all the meat temperatures preset.  Just set the type of meat you are cooking and the doneness you desire and press start, the computer will beep when the meat reaches the correct temperature.  I highly recommed these digital thermometers over of the stem type.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.

A microplane is along thin razor sharp grater used to zest citrus fruits, hard cheeses, nutmeg, ginger and garlic.  I love mine and use it all the time.  They come in many shapes and sizes, some with handles, some without. 

When using a microplane for zesting citrus fruits, be sure to only take off the colored part of the peel, not any of the white as this part is bitter.  When grating small objects, such as garlic or nutmeg, it is essential to be very careful.  As I mentioned, a microplane is razor sharp, safety is essential.  When using your microplane to grate ginger or garlic keep in mind that these spices become more intense the finer they are cut.  If your recipe calls for 1 clove minced garlic and you are using a microplane, cut back to half the clove first and taste the dish after it has been incorporated.  If more garlic is needed, then simply add more.  Keep in mind, when cooking, you can always add, you can’t take out.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.

Your sharp chef knife is the most important piece of equipment in your kithcen when it comes to getting healthy meals on the table fast and care for your knife is important.  A knife guard is a hard plastic case that fits over the blade of the knife.  If you keep your knife in a drawer where it can get knocked around, I highly suggest you get a knife guard to protect it.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.

When you first start cooking, it’s really important to measure all your ingredients according to your recipe.  As time goes on and you become more comfortable, confident and familiar with what different measurements look like, you won’t need to measure as much. 

There are two different types of measuring cups, one for measuring dry ingredients and one for measuring wet ingredients.  Dry cups are separate cups for each measurement.  These come in a set which usually consists of 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup and 1 cup.  Larger sets may include 1/8 cup and 3/4 cup.  Scoop your ingredients into the cups and level off the top with a knife or spatula and you have perfectly measured ingredients.

A wet measuring cup is usually a glass or plastic cup with a handle and a spout used to measure all liquid ingredients no matter the amount.  You’ll notice it has lines across the side with the measurments.  Just fill the cup with your wet ingredient to the line and you have perfectly measured wet ingredients.

It is possible to measure wet ingredients in dry cups, but without a steady hand you’ll make a mess.  I don’t recommend measuring dry ingredients in a wet cup as it’s difficult to get the proper measurement.

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.

If you read my blog about how to sharpen your chef knife I mentioned you need to use a “steel” and I even showed you how to use it, but I wanted to expand on this important kitchen tool.

A sharpening or honing steel is a magnetized straight piece of metal used to straighten the edge of a knife.  In my knife sharpening video I explained that you use a steel after you sharpen your knife, but in order to keep your knives in tip-top shape you should also use the steel each time you take your knife out for use.  If you do this you will rarely have to sharpen your knives.  If the knife seems dull while cutting, a few rubs on the steel should help.

How to Purchase a Chef Knife

How to Sharpen Your Chef Knife

Donna Mintz is the owner of Basil & Barbells, Inc., a NYC based personal chef and personal training service that helps busy people fit healthy meals and exercise into their hectic schedules by offering cooking classes, personal training and personal chef services.