Most Cooked Books and Best Loved Kitchen Tools of 2021
A stack of my favorite cookbooks from 2021, spines out
With the cozy season and winter holidays in full swing, I'm doing a lot of cold weather cooking and reflecting on the closing year. 2021 was full of ups (vaccines! Small in person gatherings!) and downs (COVID variants! Service industry labor shortages!), but through it all I at least had my kitchen, family, and friends to keep my company. These cookbooks and kitchen tools helped keep me fed and inspired this year.
Most Cooked Books
Simply Julia by Julia Turshen
I have one word to describe how I feel about this book: smitten. Julia wrote her self-titled book with so much love for herself and the reader, it's impossible not to reciprocate. This cozy book has many incredibly cookable recipes I have turned to again and again, yet I find that I'm still discovering new ones I missed on the first few passes.
I will forever measure headnotes against hers. She manages to tell the story of the recipe both succinctly and with heart, while also slipping in some wonderfully educational tidbits about the following recipe. I learned so many small, useful tips from this book, like dropping garlic cloves into a whirring food processor to ensure you get evenly minced garlic (from the white bean and pimenton dip recipe). Make sure to check out the spinach + artichoke dip chicken bake, the white bean and pimenton dip, and the mustardy cracker crumb fish.
Dessert Person By Claire Saffitz
For a period of time, I was only baking from this book. Claire's recipes are spot on and I always feel like I learn something from her recipes. She is precise without being needlessly fussy. And when she is fussy, she tells you why upfront. This is a delicious book to cook from and I know I will continue to use it for years to come. Some of my favorites are her chewy molasses spice cookies, the carrot and pecan cake (1/2 of the recipe makes 12 perfect cupcakes!), and the flourless chocolate wave cake.
Very Honorable Mentions
The Book On Pie by Erin Jeanne McDowell
I consider myself half mid-western, so pie has always been an important part of my pastry repertoire. Erin's book has made me a better, more confident pie baker. I love that she spares no details going into how to build the best pie crust no matter what recipe you are following.
I also appreciate that she gives her reader permission to take her recipe and make them your own by changing up the type of crust, the filling, whatever you'd like. Also, mad respect for kicking off the pi-topia with a plain rhubarb pie for her grandmother. Rhubarb is my favorite too.
Mooncakes and Milk Bread by Kristina Cho
I feel seen by this book. I’m half Cantonese and many of the baked goods in this book look like things I grew up eating at dim sum or from Chinatown bakeries. I've made both the milk bread and steamed chicken buns and the results were gorgeous (texture wise, my inability to pleat bao dough notwithstanding). I look forward to making more recipes from this book.
Bill's Quiet Revolution: A Japanese American Artisan of California Cuisine by Sam Nakahira
A short but thought provoking graphic novel about how one man's quiet influence on California cuisine through his passion for delicious produce and the author navigating their own identity as a Japanese American. Both topics felt especially potent this year as we are still dealing with supply chain issues that make local resources even more precious and Asian hate continues to rear its ugly head in our slowly evolving post-pandemic world. I snagged my copy of this graphic novel from Now Serving and recommend it if you have any interest in the farm to table movement or an Asian American's journey of self exploration.
My favorite new kitchen tools of 2021
12" Kitchen Tweezers
After reading Sohla El-Waylly's article on Serious Eats about how she loves her kitchen tweezers in the deep winter-pandemic-depression of January 2021, I decided to F-it and buy a pair of straight 12" kitchen tweezers. Did I need them? Nope. Do I use them? ALL THE TIME.
While tongs can do most of the things these tweezers can do, the sense of control and the precise grip is a game changer. This style of tweezer is hefty enough to flip a steak, but can also precisely turn roasting carrots or help me lift the edge of a tortilla so I can flip it. At this point, I don't think I can imagine my kitchen without kitchen tweezers.
A bigger salt box
I use a lot of salt, specifically Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. I have had the same salt box with no complaints for many years, until I started cooking more and regularly cooking with cast iron pans. I like to scrub my cast iron down with a generous amount of salt to remove excess oil and stuck on bits. I was finding that I would open my saltbox only to be met with salt-dust, requiring me to dig out the box of salt from the cabinet to refill my counter stash on a weekly basis.
I asked for the Zero Japan saltbox (formerly named Beehive brand) for Hanukkah. It not only holds at least one cup of salt, but has the colorful and simple yet elegant design that I identify with and love about Zero Japan. I've had it for a few weeks and I've only made a dent in the salt level and it looks lovely on my counter. Goals achieved!
A large kitchen spoon
There have been times when I'm skimming pots of lentils or fatty stocks or feeding my sourdough starter that I secretly wanted a larger, wider spoon. So when I saw a broad, large spoon in Strata while on my vacation in Portland ME, I decided to give it a try.
The Gestura 01 Kitchen Spoon is fancier and more chefy than I might need, but I love the vintage spoon look they imitated for the finish and shape. The bowl being a known volume (1 Tablespoon) is a helpful feature as is the pointed end for precise pouring. This spoon opened my eyes to the fact that I can seek antique spoons that might suit my needs, something I will keep in mind next time I see a garage sale or flea market.