KItchen Linen

kitchen linen are not just for drying dishes; they used for handling food, too. We use them to roll up Toasted Almond Raspberry Roll the Triple-Chocolate Roulade, and Carrot Cake Roulade. When picking kitchen towels that will be in contact with food, keep the following in mind: Search for towels. Unlike synthetic fibers, linen and cotton breathe and will maintain the food's proper level of moisture by absorbing any surplus and allowing steam escape.Choose a lint-free flat weave. Since it gives off a lot of lint, terry cloth is a lousy choice for the kitchen. Though other cotton towels work well in the kitchen, linen towels are made of strong flax fibers which can withstand a great deal of washing and drying, making them worth their higher price tag.Use unscented laundry products when washing and drying kitchen towels. It's a part of the essential equipment trifecta: a sharp knife, a solid cutting board, a good kitchen towel, and you're ready to start cooking.A kitchen towel is plain, typically white, frequently with a stripe, and also very utilitarian. They are durable and absorbent and should be accessible in bulk, because you need a clean one each time you cook. A good set to buy is this one, which Rhoda, our food editor, uses at home. Many cooks I know begin with two clean towels--one sterile, the other slightly moist (for harder, stickier foods like garlic or honey ). Still other cooks slip a damp towel beneath their board to keep it. I think two towels, sitting on the edge of your cutting board and folded into rectangles, is optimal, setting you up to handle just about any cooking situation. But if you decide to start with one towel, then make it dry.The Swoosh is easy: Every time you finish a job in your cutting board, catch your dry kitchen linen and swoosh away the mess. Onion skins, rosemary stems, flour--it gets swiftly swooshed into the trash or a trash bowl, leaving a clean surface to you to work with. Got sticky garlic on your board? Don't run to the sink and clean ituse your towel. The Swipe is to your own knife exactly what the Swoosh is to your cutting board. Cake crumbs -- whatever is currently sticking to the blade, tomato seeds gets swiped clean. You can do this one of 2 manners: keep the towel and run the knife's blade against it, or Pick up the towel and run it against the knife. In any event, if you do this after each task you won't have to wash your knife. That sounds like a little thing, but will add up into something big.