prep Archives - Food And Recipe

April 4, 2023

Top 10 kitchen appliances designed for quick, easy and efficient meal prep

If you’re a passionate lover of cooking, or you’ve recently kickstarted your cooking journey, and want to accelerate it even further in 2023, then you’ve reached the right place. Having an efficient and streamlined cooking process is the key to preparing dishes that simply taste excellent! And the number one aid you need in having an effortless process is an arsenal of great kitchen appliances. With the right kitchen tools and appliances, cooking can be an increasingly fun and simplified process. The right products can reduce your prep time in half, make the little cooking tasks much easier, and help you with tedious and complicated techniques. From ‘The Tesla of Ovens’ to a compact induction cooker that fits every conceivable cooking method in its modular stackable design – these innovative and exceptional appliances are all you need in your kitchen.

1. Brava

Meet Brava, an oven that harnesses the power of pure light to cook food to perfection. Unlike radiant heat, which heats the entire oven chamber, light can be precisely delivered to specific zones within the oven chamber, allowing you to cook with precise control and no energy wastage.

Why is it noteworthy?

With three dedicated zones on the cooking tray, and lights above and below it to match, Brava can cook three-part meals at three different temperatures at the same time, on the same tray, and in minutes as opposed to hours on a grill or oven

What we like

The three light zones help focus the heat into three distinct categories, letting you cook meats and veggies on one tray, but at different temperatures
A camera built into the smart oven gives you a literal window into the oven’s interiors, letting you see your lasagna bake and your meat sear in real-time

What we dislike

Some people may prefer ovens with transparent displays

2. The BlendQuik

Designed to be used on the kitchen countertop as well as on a mountaintop, the BlendQuik is the world’s first mason jar-style portable blender that can do everything from making smoothies at home and protein shakes at the gym to churning up quick guacamole at a picnic or even a frappe in your car.

Why is it noteworthy?

The BlendQuik is a nifty blender with a vessel big enough to hold your daily smoothie, and a 10-blade design powerful enough to cut right through dense ingredients like carrots, nuts, ice cubes, etc. The blender’s motor and blades are built right into its leak-proof cap. Chuck your ingredients into the mason jar, lock the cap in place, and hit the power button before flipping it over.

What we like

Makes everything from shakes to dips, cocktails, slushies, batters, emulsions, purees, and everything else you’d otherwise need a large blender for
Features a portable design, so it’s not restricted to the kitchen

What we dislike

We don’t know how durable it is, so it could get damaged when you travel

3. Pronto

Rather aptly named the Pronto, this relatively compact gadget handles every part of the cooking process, from weighing to sautéing, slow-cooking, simmering, reheating, and even air-frying thanks to its modular companion, the Alto.

Why is it noteworthy?

With its small footprint and multipurpose design, the dynamic duo of Pronto and Alto occupy a fraction of the countertop space and let you prep elaborate meals without all the messy dishes and dread-inducing clean-up. Pronto and Alto were designed to take the effort out of cooking, so you can focus on the most important part… eating!

What we like

Multipurpose design
Make meal prep easier, faster, and smarter

What we dislike

There is a learning curve involved in getting used to the design

4. The Affinitea Brewing System

Designed as an elegant tabletop device, the Affinitea Brewing System expertly makes you a fresh cup of luxury loose-leaf tea in just 90 seconds. The Clearview re-usable chamber takes care of every aspect from agitating, pressurizing, and steeping the tea brew, before straining and dispensing it directly into your cup.

Why is it noteworthy?

The patented chamber uses pressure and agitation to handle the steeping cycle perfectly, creating a brew that has fewer tannins (the chemical that creates that bitter aftertaste) while extracting the maximum flavour.

What we like

An LCD screen right above the control panel lets you view and confirm your choices
Has a subscription service allowing you to try different teas

What we dislike

Space-consuming and bulky design

5. Makit’s Portable Microwave

This cordless microwave uses the cordless XTGT system to help you heat your meals and snacks when you’re on the go. It has 40-volt rechargeable batteries and can use up to 500 watts for eight minutes and then 350 watts after that to save energy.

Why is it noteworthy?

When the batteries are fully charged, it will be able to warm up 11 meals or 20 drinks. It also has a USB port so you can also juice up your smartphone or a gadget, but of course, you’ll probably have to choose between your meal or your device. The microwave also comes with a handle and a strap so you can carry it around with you.

What we like

If you’re worried about safety, the design has safety measures in place for user’s convenience
It also deactivates when it’s tilted or when the door is opened

What we dislike

If you’re warming up frozen meals, it might take up more energy so you’ll be able to reheat fewer meals

6. The Slide Toaster

The toasting process begins in the Slide toaster with an LED ring indicating the toasting level and completion. The slide-up tray has a translucent design element to it so that you can keep an eye on the toast turning perfectly brown to your delight Level of the toast crispness can be set with an adjustment dial like all other toasters we’ve seen countless times. This is ably aided by audio indications to keep the user well-informed.

Why is it noteworthy?

Harry Rigler wants to reinvent the trusted image of the toaster with a detour to the soft form design of this household kitchen appliance. That too keeps in mind the requirements of modern users, and the present as well as future design progression of kitchen interiors. Rather than being a pop-up toaster like most out there, this is the Slide toaster which rolls the toasting grill to the side like a rollable smartphone. The tray slides out – you put in the bread and slide it back in.

What we like

Audio indications to update the user on their toast
Unique slide-out tray

What we dislike

The radically changed design may not be easily accepted in households

7. The CookMate

Designed for this new, ‘smaller than life’ home, the Cookmate is an all-in-one kitchen appliance that goes from prep to cooking to serving, in one device. Its modular design has stackable pieces that turn the cooktop into a pan, crock pot, and even a steamer. The induction coil on the inside works on electricity, saving the need to place a gas cylinder under the hob.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Cookmate looks at the cooking process as something that goes from idea to ingredient to table. Rather than focusing on just the cooking, this induction cooktop (although it seems highly reductive to call it just that) considers every aspect of the cooking process. This isn’t just clever, holistic design thinking, it also helps the Cookmate be more universally applicable so you save effort, energy, and space with other utensils.

What we like

Features an integrated weighing scale
Can be split into 6 parts

What we dislike

As we can either use one at a time or them all together, the cooking time has to be finely balanced for each layer

8. The SüpKüp

The SüpKüp is a travel mug that is not really a mug in itself but serves more as an alternative to the disposable paper coffee sleeves. It is able to hold the paper cups (medium and large at least) that most coffee shops provide, including the still pretty popular Starbucks.

Why is it noteworthy?

It is made from durable polycarbonate and has a pretty elegant and minimalist design that can still display whatever cup is snugly placed inside. This holder doesn’t need any liquid transfer or constant cleaning that’s why it’s more convenient.

What we like

Your hot drink can remain hot for longer, 50{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} longer, than when you just hold your paper cup
Has a double helix screw ejector that lets you eject the cup when you’ve finished just by twisting the rotating base

What we dislike

It helps retain your coffee drinkability rather than an alternative to disposable cups, leaving scope for future plastic-free design

9. The 4T7 Smart Chopping Board

The 4T7 Smart Chopping Board is meant to help simplify every stage of meal prep and go beyond it as well. Made up of different parts, all the components of the chopping board come together to create a rather innovative, united, and creative product.

Why is it noteworthy?

The 4T7 breaks meal prep into its different components, adding good design and tech wherever necessary. The board comes with 4 distinct parts, a main bamboo chopping board, a secondary silver-ion anti-bacterial board for veggies to prevent cross-contamination, a third heat-conducting defrosting tray that helps rapidly thaw frozen foods, and lastly, the 4T7’s base, which has its own built-in weighing scale. The only part of the 4T7 experience to exist outside the actual board is its smartphone app, which counts calories as you weigh your ingredients. Once your prep work is done, the digital display on the 4T7 can also function as a kitchen timer, while the board itself becomes a magnetic knife holder.

What we like

All of 4T7’s components are designed to be wonderfully functional as independent items
The board works equally well for fruits/veggies as well as for meats

What we dislike

It precisely counts calories for you, which isn’t always the best route to healthy eating, since many users can get unhealthily hooked on counting calories

10. Roll

Roll is an attempt to preserve not only the flavors of food but also their presentation. It eschews the traditional square or rectangular shape of food containers in favor of something round.

Why is it noteworthy?

What makes Roll different from bowl food containers (which do exist, of course) is that it wholeheartedly embraces the culture of using the lid or dish cap as a plate. That’s why the cap itself was made to look presentable, using soft and clean tones like ivory, sky blue, and terracotta. The idea is that you set the freshly cooked food on the lid itself and then later just cover it with the glass bowl when it’s time to put it away.

What we like

The next time you want to eat the food, you don’t have to rearrange the food again to make it presentable
Roll takes the food container concept upside-down, literally, by making it usable, whether as a bowl with a round lid or a plate with a bowl cover

What we dislike

Not the most shape-efficient design/shape for storage in a refridgerator

February 1, 2023

Save money with The Batch Lady’s recipes and meal prep tips

Meal prepping is the gold standard of saving money, reducing waste and keeping healthy – but have you ever made 10 meals in an hour?

It might seem like an impossible feat, but it’s a regular event for Suzanne Mulholland, AKA The Batch Lady (@thebatchlady) – and the key to success is all about making a plan.

For an example of how she does it, Mulholland, who is based on the Scottish borders, starts with a meal such as fajitas. “In the pot is mince and onions, and everything else for fajitas,” she says – and this also works as a base for two other dishes: chilli and spaghetti Bolognese.

“While the meat’s browning, I make two family portions of burgers and meatballs, which I freeze raw. Then I divide up my pot, to make two portions of the other three recipes.”

You’ve then got 10 portions of five different meals for your freezer.

This way of cooking comes naturally to Mulholland, 47, who used to work as a time-management expert. She took all the tools from her previous job and applied them to cooking when she had children. After sharing recipes on YouTube and Instagram, The Batch Lady was born (she currently has around 27.7K subscribers and 157K followers on each platform respectively).

Batch cooking doesn’t have to be an endless parade of stews, either – the recipes in Mulholland’s new book, The Batch Lady: Cooking On A Budget, are vibrant and interesting. “We’ve got churros, dirty fries, calzones, cheesecakes, koftas and ramen – all really good stuff,” she says.

Oreo peanut butter ice cream cake from The Batch Lady: Cooking On A Budget by Suzanne Mulholland Picture: PA Photo/Haarala Hamilton.

She might now be on her fourth cookbook, but Mulholland doesn’t claim to have perfected everything. When asked if she’s ever had a disaster in the kitchen, she laughs: “I had one last night! I’m always trying out new recipes… So, I was doing a Christmas dinner for a reel, and it worked perfectly. But I wondered if I could make a Christmas pasta bake… “It was not nice. Don’t chop up your Christmas dinner and leftovers and make it into a pasta bake, because it really wasn’t good.” You can’t deny the benefits of batch cooking, though – particularly in a cost-of-living crisis.

“My whole ethos is, you don’t need to cook every single night, you don’t need to cook when you want to eat – you can cook whenever you want to,” Mulholland says. And this could help save money on takeaways or last-minute trips to the supermarket, too.

If you want to save time and cash by batch cooking, here’s how to get into it…

Start small

“I always say start small,” Mulholland advises. “All you need to do is choose two meals a week that you eat regularly, and find a recipe you can freeze.

“Every time you make it, double it up – have one that night, put one in the freezer. That means, another night, you won’t need to cook, because you’ve got a meal in the freezer.” She suggests this type of cooking is “addictive” – once you’ve started, you’ll want to do it more and more.

Chicken and mushroom humble pie from The Batch Lady: Cooking On A Budget by Suzanne Mulholland. Picture: PA/Haarala Hamilton.

Plan ahead

“You don’t have to plan every meal, planning just one extra meal will save you money,” she says.

“These days, we all shop back to front – we arrive at the supermarket, then we think, ‘Right, what do I want to eat? What do I want to buy?’ – and of course, supermarkets are set up for you to pick items they’re going to make the most money on.

“So, before doing your food shop, decide what you want to eat, then see what you’ve already got in. This will stop you wasting food and save you money.”

Get organised

Unsurprisingly for a time-management expert, Mulholland has plenty of handy tips for making batch cooking as quick and easy as possible.

“When you’re going to batch cook, it’s good to be organised – lay out all your ingredients and have everything else you need ready,” she advises. “It’s also worth having an empty dishwasher, or a sink full of hot, soapy water.” This way, when you’ve finished cooking, you’re not then faced with “a huge kitchen to clean up” – potentially putting you off for life.

Oreo peanut butter ice cream cake recipe

A decadent delight you can make months in advance.

Preparation Time

19 mins

Ingredients

1 x 154g packet Oreos
60g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
200g chocolate digestive biscuits
80g smooth peanut butter, plus a little extra to drizzle over the top
1 x 900ml tub of vanilla ice cream, softened

Method

Grease an 18cm springform tin with butter and set aside.
Set aside three Oreos to use for decoration, then add the rest to a large freezer bag along with the digestive biscuits and smash with a rolling pin to fine crumb consistency. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter and stir to combine. Tip the crumb mixture into the prepared springform tin and press down into the base in an even layer. Transfer to the fridge to firm up while you prepare the topping.
Tip the ice cream into a mixing bowl (it should be soft but not runny). Put the peanut butter in a separate small microwavable bowl and microwave for a few seconds until runny, then pour the peanut butter into the ice cream and beat together with a wooden spoon until combined.
Remove the base from the fridge and pour over the ice cream mixture, levelling it out in an even layer. Dot a little more peanut butter over the surface, then use a knife or skewer to ripple through the ice cream.
Crush the remaining Oreos and sprinkle over the top, then cover the ice cream cake with clingfilm and transfer to the freezer for at least three hours to set.
If you’re serving now… Once the ice cream cake has fully set, remove from the freezer and leave to thaw slightly for around 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edge of the tin, then open the springform tin, cut the cake into wedges and serve.
Or, simply leave the cake in the freezer for up to three months. Then remove the cake from the freezer and leave to thaw slightly for around 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edge of the tin, then open the springform tin, cut the cake into wedges and serve.

Chicken and mushroom humble pie recipe

You can make this dish vegetarian by swapping the chicken for a similar meat substitute.

Preparation Time

20 mins

Ingredients

1tbsp olive or vegetable oil
115g frozen chopped onions
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2tbsp plain flour
240ml chicken stock
200ml milk
1tsp wholegrain mustard
1 sheet pre-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oil in a large, deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat, then add the onions and chicken pieces and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and the chicken is sealed. Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and stir to combine with the chicken and onions, then cook, stirring occasionally, for five to seven minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms have released all their water.
Add the flour to the pan and stir to coat the chicken and vegetables, then pour in the chicken stock and stir well. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring and thickening the sauce as you do, then bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat to low and leave to cook for 10–15 minutes, until thickened, then stir through the mustard and season well with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.
If you’re cooking now… Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4. Pour the pie filling into a large, ovenproof baking dish smaller than the sheet of pastry, then lay the pastry over the top of the filling and tuck in the edges. Brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg, then transfer the pie to the oven for 30–35 minutes, until golden and well risen. Cut into generous wedges and serve hot with mash and veg alongside, if you like.
If you’re making ahead to freeze… Leave the filling mixture to cool to room temperature, then ladle into a large, labelled freezer bag and freeze flat with the sheet of pastry alongside for up to three months.
Then… Remove the pie filling and pastry sheet from the freezer and leave to defrost in the fridge, ideally overnight. Once defrosted, preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4 and assemble, cook and serve the pie in the same way described above.

The Batch Lady: Cooking On A Budget by Suzanne Mulholland is published by HQ. Photography by Haarala Hamilton. Available now.

January 8, 2023

CES 2023 food tech exhibitors take on global issues of food waste, healthy cuisine prep

At the Client Electronics Exhibit in Las Vegas, Nevada, food stuff item know-how is rapidly rising as a key emphasis location.

“VersaWare gives an intuitive option to irritating nourishment apps and cumbersome calorie counting tools,” states co-founder Creed McKinnon.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

The brand’s automatic nourishment motor, McKinnon claims, is developed into the smooth, modern kitchen area products which, when paired with the app, allows people to tailor made-develop any food in true time to meet up with their dietary plans.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

“Here at VersaWare, we are signing up for an market-wide motion groundbreaking an entirely new tactic to the overall health and wellness house centered all-around simplicity, personalization, and smart technology,” McKinnon claimed.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

EverCase is a clever storage container that preserves food products ranging from meats and fish to greens in a soft, pliable issue as opposed to a solid, rock-hard frozen state.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

Made mostly as a B2B merchandise, the EverCase is envisioned to make its community physical appearance towards the finish of 2023.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

The Brava Clever Oven cooks with high-depth pulsating lights that can supply up to 900 degree temperatures.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

The GrowUp Cold Brew Plant-Dependent Residence Milk Maker that makes keep-excellent versions of coconut, oat and nut-based mostly contemporary-brewed milk all set to drink in 6 minutes, entire with a self-cleansing functionality.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

The award-successful X23 wireless meat thermometer from Orka, which measures main, surface and ambient temperatures while calculating the remaining cooking pace and temperatures needed for an ideal remaining product or service.
(Courtesy Kenny Fried)

Subject areas this kind of as item security, food stuff insecurity and source chain logistics keep on to make headlines, retaining really substantially alive the public’s all round recognition to the fact that irrespective of the proliferation of the world’s food items offer, world starvation and meals waste are even now significant challenges.

At the Customer Electronics Demonstrate in Las Vegas, Nevada, food product technology is quickly emerging as a main concentration spot. While organizations are definitely introducing new technology-pushed techniques to cooking, a lot of of the businesses exhibiting at CES are also having a good, really hard glimpse at healthful foods options, presenting products and solutions created to boost the all round wellness positive aspects of our diet, though also generating our solution to food planning easier and additional practical.

Choose, for illustration, Michigan-dependent VersaWare, producers of what they phone the future technology of smart kitchen area appliances.

“VersaWare offers an intuitive alternate to annoying diet applications and cumbersome calorie counting instruments,” claimed co-founder Creed McKinnon. “Our organization has democratized nourishment with our sensible mixing bowl and slicing board which are enabled with diet AI, wise cell phone connectivity, and a prolonged battery daily life that make it simple to sync data to VersaWare’s cell software.”

The brand’s automated nutrition motor, McKinnon said, is constructed into the smooth, present day kitchen area products which, when paired with the app, allows people to personalized-produce any food in true time to meet up with their nutritional objectives.

“Here at VersaWare, we are joining an industry-huge motion revolutionary an totally new technique to the wellbeing and wellness space centered all-around simplicity, personalization, and clever engineering,” he said.

The products, the anticipated selling price tag of which will be less than $200, is scheduled to strike the marketplace later this spring.

A person Korea-based mostly company has taken a distinctive tactic to the exact issue.

“The Nuvilab AI Food Scanner is an all-in-1 gadget that scans your food stuff in one second with a digicam and then right away gives you with info about the nutrients — protein, carbs and calories,” mentioned enterprise spokesperson Defne Karabenli. “If you have pre-programmed into the product allergic reactions you might have, the scanner will alert you to the presence of any these things.”

The Nuvilab food stuff scanner is presently in market in Korea with far more than 70 models in operations in hospitals, cafeterias, dining establishments and colleges. “We are not but intercontinental, but that’s undoubtedly on the horizon,” Karabenli mentioned.

Nearer to property, Vermont-based EverCase has come up with a foods preservation option they situation less than the premise that they “freeze time, not foods.”

“As we all know, just one-third of all meals in North The united states is squandered at a collective expense of a trillion bucks, and that’s just the foodstuff,” explained co-founder and CEO Chris Somogyi. “If you start off adding in the irrigation h2o, the pesticides, the human labor, it’s challenging to obtain any aspect of modern day civilization that is so inefficient and costly. We created the EverCase to assist with that.”

Formulated by way of 9 a long time of exploration at the College of Hawaii underneath Food and drug administration funding, EverCase is a good storage container that preserves food solutions ranging from meats and fish to greens in a smooth, pliable problem as opposed to a reliable, rock-challenging frozen point out. Designed mainly as a B2B product or service, the EverCase is anticipated to make its general public visual appeal toward the close of 2023.

Other revolutionary merchandise on screen at the CES Food stuff Tech pavilion include things like:

The Brava Wise Oven that cooks with substantial-intensity pulsating lights that can supply up to 900 degree temperatures via bursting blasts which — when programmed through the company’s recipe library — can prepare dinner a number of merchandise which typically need diverse temperatures and cooking durations at quicker-than-usual speeds.
The GrowUp Chilly Brew Plant-Centered Home Milk Maker that provides shop-top quality versions of coconut, oat and nut-dependent fresh-brewed milk ready to drink in 6 minutes, comprehensive with a self-cleansing functionality.
The award-winning X23 wi-fi meat thermometer from Orka, which measures main, floor and ambient temperatures whilst calculating the remaining cooking speed and temperatures essential for an ideal remaining products.

Steve Winter and Kenny Fried are WTOP contributors who perform for Brotman|Wintertime|Fried, a division of Sage Communications.