March 8th, 2011
Keramikos Knives Include Free Lifetime Sharpening
Now that you have a new Keramikos knife, you’ll need to know about ceramic knife sharpening. While a ceramic knife may look and feel like an ordinary steel knife, they are quite different. The biggest difference is how sharp your new knife will stay. Often, ceramic knives will keep their sharp cutting blade for months, even years, depending on how often you use them.
Free Ceramic Knife Sharpening
When you buy a Keramikos ceramic knife, you never have to worry about finding a reliable ceramic knife sharpener. All Keramikos knives come with free lifetime sharpening from the company. Sharpening of a ceramic knife needs to be done by a professional to guarantee it won’t get damaged during the sharpening process. Keramikos knows how beneficial it can be to have a ceramic knife in the kitchen, so they want to ensure yours are as sharp as they can be every time you want to use them.
Ceramic Knife Sharpener
Along the way, you may be tempted to buy a ceramic knife sharpener that you can use at home. While it may seem that this is easier in the short term, a ceramic blade is far more delicate than a steel one and can be easily ruined if the proper sharpening technique is not used. Since free lifetime sharpening is included with every Keramikos product, why not take advantage of the professional services they offer?
Not sure how to properly care for your ceramic knife? Check out our Knife Care post!
Tags: ceramic knife care, ceramic knife sharpener, ceramic knife sharpening, how to sharpen a knife, knife care, knife sharpening
Posted in Ceramic Kitchen, Ceramic Knives, How To | 2 Comments »
February 23rd, 2011
Cook a Perfect Roast Every Time With These Tips
With at least a few more weeks of winter ahead of us, it’s not quite time to break out the salad recipes. Instead, add a roast to your meal plan this weekend – it’ll fill the house with a delicious and comforting aroma and will provide you with enough leftovers for several lunches during the week. Take a look at how easy it is to cook the perfect roast.
Traditional Roast Beef
A traditional roast beef dinner is a Sunday staple in most English homes. Paired with tender roast vegetables, rich gravy and crispy Yorkshire pudding, it’s not hard to see why its such a favorite. Despite its simplicity, roast dinner is bursting with flavour and is relatively easy to prepare. Choose a few vegetables to place around the roast like carrots, onions and potatoes and you’ve got a hardy meal for a crowd.
Non-Traditional Roast Recipes
While beef is the classic meat to roast, many others lend themselves to this method of cooking as well. Pork loin, turkey breast or lamb shoulder can all be roasted and paired with complimentary sides for a satisfying meal. The key to a mosit roast, regardless of the type of meat you’re using, is to cook it on a low heat. Boneless roasts are the perfect food to use a ceramic knife on.
Roast Beef Recipe
Cooking roast beef is as simple as buying a roast and placing it in the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Choose a four to six pound eye round or top sirloin roast and place it on a rack in the centre of a roasting pan. Surround the roast with your vegetables of choice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven on centre rack and cook for 20-30 minutes per pound of roast.
When roast is done cooking, take out of the oven, remove the vegetables from the pan and tent the roast in the pan with tinfoil. Let roast sit, tented for about 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes has passed, use your sharpest Chef’s knife to slice roast. Serve with horseradish. Pan juices can be used to make a beef gravy.
Tags: beef roast, pot roast, roast, roast beef, roast recipe, roast turkey
Posted in Ceramic Knives, How To, Recipes | 1 Comment »
February 10th, 2011
Cook Your Valentine a Romantic Dinner
While chocolates and flowers seem to fly off the shelves this time of the year, one of the most thoughtful gifts is to cook a romantic dinner for your valentine. Staying in and cooking something special is far more impressive and intimate than the standby heart-shaped box of truffles.
What to Cook for Valentine’s Day Dinner
What you cook is entirely up to you, but it’s best to choose a meal that you are comfortable preparing. Save the culinary experiments for another day – you want this meal to be flawless and impressive. Brainstorm some of your partner’s favorite meals and try to figure out a way to incorporate those into your meal plan. Using fancy ingredients that you might not use regularly can also take an ordinary meal to the next level. Try fresh made pasta with truffle oil or a saffron rice pilaf.
Romantic Dessert Ideas for Valentine’s Day
There are so many desserts that lend themselves to Valentine’s Day. Classic chocolate-dipped strawberries are actually quite easy to prepare. As long as you’re working with good quality chocolate, you can’t go wrong. Melt, dip and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet to dry. Try making an assortment of milk, dark and white chocolate strawberries, and if you’re feeling particularly crafty, you can even stick them with skewers and tie them together with ribbon to make a chocolate-strawberry bouquet. Chocolate molten lava cake or strawberry shortcake are also easy to prepare, but are sure to get you brownie points.
Chocolate Molten Lava Cake for Two
Ingredients
- 3 oz dark chocolate; chopped
- 1/3 cup butter; cold and diced
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 Tbsp butter (for dusting)
- 1/2 Tbsp flour (for dusting)
Directions
Grease two ramekins with butter and dust with flour. Add about 2 inches of water to a 2 QT saucepan and place over low heat. Combine chocolate and diced butter in a stainless steal bowl that will fit on top of the 2QT saucepan. Bring water to a simmer and place the bowl over the pot to melt butter and chocolate. Stir slowly with silicone spoon and remove from heat when melted.
In another bowl, using a whisk beat the eggs, yolks and sugar until pale in color. Gradually add the flour. Slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture into the batter. Beat until thick and glossy.
Divide the batter equally among the pre-greased ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 24 hours. Before cooking bring lava cakes out of the fridge and remove plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 325F, place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until outside edges are cracking but centre is wobbly. Remove from the over, cook slightly, loosen cakes with small knife around the edges. Invert onto dessert plates and serve with fresh berries.
Tags: chocolate lava cake recipe, chocolate molten lava cake recipe, pasta with truffle oil, romantic dinner, romantic dinner recipe, saffron rice pilaf, valentines day dinner
Posted in Recipes | 6 Comments »
January 18th, 2011
A Ceramic Knife is a Great Addition to Any Kitchen
When it comes to buying knives, the best ceramic knife to have in your kitchen is the one you’ll actually use.
Best Ceramic Knives
If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you may want to consider purchasing a set of the best ceramic knives. A set will include all the knives you need including a chef’s knife, paring knife and slicing knife. If you’re a bit of an amateur cook, starting off with a basic ceramic chef’s knife is a good place to start. No matter what your comfort level in the kitchen, however, the best ceramic knife you can own is one that will make cooking a more pleasurable experience.
Adding a Ceramic Knife to Your Collection
A good kitchen knife should always be treated with care, and a ceramic knife is no different. The reason every kitchen should have at least one ceramic knife is because of their reliability to stay sharp and making chopping and preparing meals much quicker. Their sharp blades need to be handled with care to ensure their longevity. When considering which is the best ceramic knife for you, remember that as long as you take proper care of it, it will be a kitchen tool you can rely on for a very long time.
Best Ceramic Knife Techniques
Ceramic knives are good for many kitchen tasks, but some of the ceramic knife techniques involve precision cutting, chopping and dicing. Keep checking back at the Keramikos blog for great tips on how to use your new ceramic knife.
Tags: best ceramic knife, ceramic knife care, chef knife, cooking with ceramic knives, how to care for a ceramic knife, paring knife, sharpening ceramic knife, sharpening ceramic knives, slicing knife, tips for ceramic knife care, what kind of ceramic knife should i buy
Posted in Ceramic Kitchen, Ceramic Knives | 1 Comment »
January 7th, 2011
Easy, Healthy Dinners
It’s the same old cycle every year – the holidays roll around and we gorge ourselves on rich meals, baked goods and endless sweets and chocolates. Luckily, the New Year always promises a fresh start, including healthy recipes to get us back on track.
Easy, Healthy Recipes
While we may want to get back in shape and start eating healthier food, most of us don’t have the time to spend on elaborate weekday meals. Take a look at these easy, healthy recipes:
Healthy Dinner Recipes
A great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet is by preparing healthy dinner recipes, like chopped salad. You can use whatever you have on hand, but to make it a complete meal, add in some sort of protein. Using a sharp Chef’s knife, thinly slice a cooked chicken breast, egg or even tofu and place it on top of your salad. Homemade dressings will make your dinner even healthier. Use vegetables that have a bit more substance and nutrients, like broccoli, yams or cabbage, in place of a regular head of lettuce. And don’t forget to be creative. The more you personalize a healthy recipe, the more likely you’ll be to continue along a path of healthy eating!
Tags: apple sauce recipe, applesauce recipe, dinner recipes, easy healthy recipe, easy recipes, healthy dinner, healthy recipes, new years resolutions, turkey soup recipe, vegetable stew recipe
Posted in Ceramic Knives, Recipes | 1 Comment »
December 16th, 2010
Try Cooking a Glazed Ham This Christmas
With Christmas less than a week away, you may still be scrambling to find easy Christmas recipes that you can make for the holidays. Whether you’re serving four or forty, these recipes for Christmas will make a great addition to your meal.
Christmas Dinner Recipes
You may have settled on the menu for Christmas dinner, but do you have a game plan for how and when you’re going to cook it? Prepping in between opening presents and washing up the breakfast dishes often leads to a stressful day. During the holidays, it helps to plan ahead, especially for Christmas dinner. If you’re cooking a turkey from frozen, make sure you take it out at least the night before. Making stuffing? Chop up onions and celery, and tear up your bread the night before as well. This will save you a lot of time come Christmas morning.
Christmas Side Dishes
Christmas side dishes need to be simple and complementary to your main course. If you plan to cook a Christmas ham, consider pairing it with scalloped potatoes, a green bean casserole and maple glazed carrots. Sticking with traditional turkey dinner? Pair it with mashed potatoes, braised cabbage and roasted root vegetables. Almost all Christmas side dishes can be partially prepared ahead of time, giving you more time to spend with your friends and family on the big day. Cut and pare any vegetables you can in the days leading up to Christmas and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
Christmas Recipe for Glazed Ham
A glazed ham is a nice Christmas recipe alternative to turkey for those who still have Thanksgiving leftovers lurking in their freezer.
Ingredients
- 1 10-pound fully cooked, boneless ham
- 1 cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
- 1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
- 2/3 cup golden brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place ham in roasting pan and spread mustard evenly over surface. Pat brown sugar over mustard coating, pressing firmly to adhere. Drizzle honey evenly over. Bake until ham is well glazed, spooning any mustard and sugar glaze that ends up at bottom of pan, about 30 minutes. Transfer ham to serving platter; let cool at least 25 minutes. Slice ham with sharp knife and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Serves 10
Tags: Christmas dinner, Christmas recipes, christmas side dishes, easy christmas recipes
Posted in Ceramic Knives, Recipes | 2 Comments »
December 14th, 2010
Lasagna Makes for a Great Freezer Meal
Life can often be hectic and very few of us have time to cook up elaborate meals during the week. This time of year, comfort foods like soups, stews and casseroles are great, but they require time and planning. Instead of stressing about getting dinner on the table, why not look to freezer recipes that will keep for weeks and provide easy weeknight dinners in a flash?
Freezer Meals
Not all of your favorite meals are freezer friendly, but there are a number of recipes that are easily frozen. Think of things that often taste better the second day like chili, lasagna or soup. By preparing a large batch of something, you are instantly cooking freezer meals that will be good for lunch or dinner. If your regular recipe usually provides you with four servings, double it and freeze the leftovers. It often doesn’t take much more effort to make twice as much of something – especially when you’re prepping with a sharp, Chef’s knife – but it does save you lots of time and energy the next time you need a quick meal. Just chop up a few extra onions for pasta sauce, or peel a few more carrots for chicken stew.
Preparing Freeze Ahead Meals
How do you prepare freeze ahead meals? It’s pretty simple. If you’re making something like soup or chili, ladle it into freezer safe containers and let it cool down before putting the lid on. Once your containers are cool enough, they can go straight into the freezer. Freeze ahead meals like soup are then ready to be pulled out whenever you need them. Making a lasagna? You can either make it, cook it and then freeze it in portions, or make a whole lasagna in a Pyrex or disposable aluminum pan and freeze it before cooking. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, and then aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn.
Great Meals to Freeze
You can choose from a number of meals to freeze to add to your standard weeknight dinner lineup:
- Pesto
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Soups
- Stews
- Pasta Sauce
- Chili
Tags: christmas cooking, christmas leftovers, comfort food recipe, food, foodie, lasagna recipe, Recipes, thanksgiving
Posted in How To, Recipes | 4 Comments »
December 6th, 2010
Check it out. We were featured on This Girl’s City blog when we were at the Vancouver Home and Interior Design Show a few months back. She’s got a great photo of our 5 Piece White Ceramic Knife Set with Multi-coloured Handles and the Bamboo Cutting Board.
You can see it here. Thanks Chloe 
http://thisgirlscity.com/2010/09/15/vancouver-home-interior-design-show-2010/
Tags: this girl city blog, this girl's city, vancouver home and interior design show
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
December 1st, 2010
A Chef Knife Makes a Great Christmas Gift
Still stuck on what to get your friends and family for Christmas this year? If they like to cook, some of the best Christmas gifts for the kitchen include quality knives. No matter what a person likes to prepare, a sharp knife can make all the difference.
Kitchen Gifts
No kitchen is complete without a decent knife, but often people put off buying one for themselves because of the cost. What better Christmas gift than one they’ll use on a daily basis? If there’s one knife everyone should have, it’s a proper chef’s knife. If you want to get a kitchen gift that will cover all your loved ones cooking needs, then a knife set is probably the better way to go.
Kitchen Gadgets
Kitchen gadgets can make great stocking stuffers. They’re often something that we don’t use that often, but that doesn’t have to be the case. A good vegetable peeler makes for a practical, useful tool for any kitchen. It’s a gift that will most likely be used right away to make that big holiday dinner!
Christmas Gift Basket
If you’re feeling particularly generous this year, why not throw together a Christmas gift basket? Include the basics like a good knife or knife set, some kitchen utensils, a cutting board and maybe even some bakeware or pots. You could also theme your Christmas gift basket and include a cookbook and ingredients to help them get started. This would be a great gift for someone just starting out on their own, or who’s just starting to experiment in the kitchen.
What are some of your favorite kitchen gifts to buy? Share them with us!
Tags: best christmas gifts, chef's knife, christmas gift basket, gifts for the kitchen, kitchen gadgets, kitchen gift, kitchen gift basket, kitchen gift ideas, kitchen gifts
Posted in Ceramic Kitchen, Ceramic Knives | 1 Comment »
