In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary tools, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.
So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too. You can see the whole “set” here.
Though I’m always eager to create less waste in the kitchen, there are a few one-time-use products that I make an exception for. One of those is parchment paper. Here’s why: when I bake cookies or cakes, a sheet of parchment paper means the goodies have no chance of clinging to the pan. I don’t sacrifice my batter or my time to a confection that’s half destroyed by some old pan I used for baking. That’s how parchment paper can save stress and make you a better baker.
That’s just how it starts though. Now, when I roasted vegetables and even some meats, I give my pan a parchment lining too. That’s because fat and flavor tends to stick to the pan here as much as in sweets baking. With parchment, you get to scrape all the goodness right into your dish-plus, you save oodles of time on scrubbing off hard-to-release grime. And that kind of savings keeps you coming back to the kitchen, because when cooking and cleaning aren’t frustrating, they’re fun.
Last, I use parchment and some kitchen twine to wrap up quickbreads, brownies, and other edible gifts.
All that in a roll of paper!
Here are a few ways you’ll use your parchment:
