Product Review: the Rachel Ray Knife

For Christmas, I got the Rachel Ray Furi 7" Coppertail Knife. I love it. I've used it a few times so far, and every time I love it a little more.

It's nice and heavy and feels solid in the hand. The blade is super-sharp and the knife is beautifully balanced.

Last night I used it to make pasta. I don't have many nice things to say about my Ex, but he did leave me with a very tasty, simple tomato sauce recipe. The first thing I got to use my knife for was crushing garlic. The blade is nice and solid, and it just felt good to pop those little cloves of garlic. So fun!

It's a little big for mincing the garlic, but got the job done OK with no fingers lost in the process. In the future, I will probably use a smaller knife or just a garlic press, but I was so excited about my new toy I wanted to use it for everything last night.

Next I used it to chop up some onion. It sliced through the head like butter and made the whole process smooth and easy.

As I said, it's a very simple recipe, so that's actually all I got to use the knife for last night. But I've also used it for other veggies in omelets with similar joy. It's bigger and heavier than other knives I've used in the past (mostly because I buy cheap-o ones at Target and the like), so it will take some practicing to get really comfortable with it and not worry about my finger tips. But I'm looking forward to mastering my knife skills!

The rest of the recipe is super easy, if you're wondering. Here it is in its entirety. I learned to make it by watching, so I don't know any measurements, but it's hard to screw up.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Heat a little olive oil in a saute pan (low heat)
Saute 2-4 cloves of pressed or minced garlic (depending on size of cloves and how much you like garlic) over low heat
Add about 1/2 of a small onion, chopped. Saute until translucent.
Add one can of chopped tomatoes.
Season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, red peppers flakes or any combination thereof, to taste.
Let it simmer (simmer down, sauce! don't make me come back there!) to sauce consistency while your pasta boils. (I usually use penne rigate, but really any pasta will do.)
When you're ready to serve, take the sauce off the heat and grate in some Parmigiano Reggiano or other cheese that you like. Again I don't know how much...maybe 3-4 Tb? Let's just say to taste. Stir that in till it's all melty and incorporated.
Combine sauce with pasta and enjoy! Grate a little extra cheese on top if you like!