Tuesday's Tech Tip: Microplanes

Yeah, I know it's Wednesday already. You'll just have to deal with it. I'm giving you a couple of simple food tech tips today.

Yes, food has its own technology. Sometimes we get clever and borrow technology from other areas. That's what the Microplane is -- something borrowed from the woodshop. And at ten-ish bucks, it should be in every cook's kitchen.

Imagine I give you a taste of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I'm talking about the real deal here, not that powdery garbage that comes in a green can. Tasty, eh? But the good stuff is kinda expensive. That's where the Microplane comes in.

Buy yourself a small block of Parmigiano-Reggiano and grate some on your food with the Microplane. It does such a nice job, you'll use less cheese than if you used an old-fashioned grater. Wrap the cheese tightly in some wax paper and then plastic cling wrap. It will keep nicely in your fridge for a month or two. It's hard to believe, but over the course of a couple months, you really aren't spending much more for a high quality cheese.

You can also pick up some real nutmeg nuts. Keep them around for any recipes that calls for nutmeg. Throw out your powdered stuff and use the Microplane to grate your nutmeg on demand. One or two nuts will easily last me a couple years.

Cinnamon? No problem. Need lemon/lime/orange zest? Look no further than your Microplane. Tattoo removal? Well. Let's draw the line there.