I had a good Christmas this year--if raking in a lot of toys counts for making it a good one. Now that I have a little time to look at all the goodies, I have to admit that Santa Claus (and My Prince) treated me very well.
Toy #1 is a Yoshi Knife (yes, as-seen-on-TV). I actually picked it up myself (Santa Claus is not a terrific shopper, so I have to help him out). I have wanted a ceramic knife for some time, but the prices I have seen have been more than I feel comfortable spending on a knife. The TV ad for the Yoshi made me want this more affordable version. When I saw it advertised at Big Lots, I stopped by on my round of errands to pick one up and saved it for my Christmas stocking.
I didn't have time to look at the thing until this past Friday when I opened the package and tried it out with Little Sister. Opening the package was an ordeal. The stiff plastic container is impossible to open without very sharp kitchen scissors. The jagged edges that crop up during the opening process are alarmingly sharp and quite dangerous in themselves. It was all I could do to get the package open. Once I managed to pry the thing open enough to work out the knife, I had to tear the paper label to do so. Not a happy experience.
I read the directions before trying the knife. Cleaning is simple. Use, however, comes with a lot of caveats that I had not expected, e.g., use the knife only for slicing, not for chopping. Most of the "rules" make sense, e.g., ceramics can be incredibly strong (and, we are hoping in this case, sharp), but they can be shattered with improper use. After all, even diamonds are "cut" to shape. Storage may be simple enough, but I am still nervous when re-sheathing the blade. Using only wooden or plastic cutting boards is fine by me.
The knife's first test was on an onion. It was not quite like slicing butter, but it was certainly easier than any previous onion-cutting experience I have had. I could also get better control over the thickness of slices, making some of them quite thin. (I need better control over my wrists before I get all of them to be that thin.) I was pleased.
When LS came over, I showed her the knife and let her play with it a bit. She was even better at making thin slices and reminded me of the tomato demonstration in the commercial. I didn't get to that test until last night, when I actually needed to slice some tomatoes. Sure enough, the Yoshi knife did a good job on them and let me get some nicely thin slices. I was surprised, however, that even this sharp blade was not so razor sharp as to get through the skin without some extra pressure. (Tomatoes are tough these days.)
Despite being less than overwhelmed by the knife, I am pleased enough to think I will continue to use it with some frequency. I also will think about getting some other knife styles with ceramic blades.
Last night I used the knife to make a side dish to go with turkey patties. I sliced one onion, two tomatoes, and some roasted red peppers (from a jar). These were sauteed in the pan used to cook the turkey, picking up flavors and the dab of oil left over from cooking the turkey. I added a little salt while I was sweating the onions and then a little garlic/herb seasoning mix while the vegetables were cooking down. I served the resulting vegetable mixture over the turkey patty for a delicious dinner. Sadly, I am not enough of a cook to know what others would call what I made. Happily, the Yoshi Blade worked a treat to make preparation easy and quick. Even better, I have another low carb dish to avert a food coma.
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