So if you’re tight on space, you can skip the food processor for a good knife set, ditch the stand mixer for a mixing bowl and a couple of wooden spoons and settle in with these ten kitchen essentials.  Stock pots and sauce pans, a good cutting board and Dutch oven and, of course, a cast iron skillet.  Ten simple items for a simple kitchen

	A Scaled-down Knife Set Sure, it’s easy to fall for inexpensive knife sets (and I have – think 22 pieces for $13.99 at Ross), but if you’re serious about preparing home-cooked real food from scratch (and you are, right?  I mean why else would you be reading Nourished Kitchen), then you need a good quality knife set. In reality, while extensive knife collections are fun, you’ll only ever really use a few knifes in set.  All you really need is a good chef’s knife, a utility knife, a paring knife which can double for a peeler and a pair of kitchen shears which are particularly helpful in preparing meats for roasting and other tasks where regular scissors just don’t do.  Everything else is just fluff. Big Budget: Wustoff Classic Ikon 4-piece Chef’s Set ($249.95) Medium Budget: Wusthof Classic 4-piece Chef’s Set ($159.95) Small Budget: Calphalon 3-pc. Simply Cutlery Cutlery Set ($29.99)
	A Cutting Board And if you’re going to get knives, you need to get a good cutting board.  I’m partial to a nice, solid bamboo cutting board.  We have three actually (my kitchen is most definitely not a minimalist kitchen): a large bamboo cutting board, a very small bamboo cutting board and a teeny bamboo cutting board for our mezzaluna.  You really only need one of a decent size.  I don’t particularly care for the noisy clink-clink-thud that comes from chopping vegetables or meat on a glass or ceramic cutting board, and I love the feel and heft of a solid wood cutting board and think that bamboo makes an excellent, and very attractive, choice. Big Budget: Large Bamboo Cutting Board (149.99) Medium Budget: Mountain Woods Bamboo Cutting Board($37.99) Small Budget: Wusthof Bamboo Finish Cutting Board ($9.95)
	A Cast-iron Skillet If there is one piece in my kitchen that gets used more than any other it is, undoubtedly, my 12-inch cast iron skillet (I also have a 15-inch). Seriously, it’s sometimes used three times a day: in the morning for frying pastured eggs and bacon, at noon for grilling a sandwich and at supper for roasting meats or braising vegetables.  It is the single-most important piece in my kitchen.  I prefer to cook in cast iron (though I also use stainless steel) for many reasons but primarily because it provides superb heat conduction, is easy to clean and can go from the range to the oven without a problem making it remarkably versatile and minimizing dirty dishes.  If you can afford enameled cast iron, it certainly makes a superb choice but most of us can get by with plain, old non-enameled cast iron. Big Budget: Le Creuset 11.75-inch Enameled Cast Iron Skillet ($139.99) Medium Budget: Lodge Logic 12-inch Cast Iron Skillet ($45.00) Small Budget: Emerilware from All-Clad 10-in. Cast Iron Fry Pan($22.95)
	A Stock Pot Traditional cuisines, all across the globe, made heavy use of bones for nutrient- and mineral-rich stocks and broths, and in our kitchen we make a lot of stocks and broths (like chicken feet stock, fresh chicken broth, roast chicken stock and beef stock).  In fact we make stock at least weekly and use it daily – and in the winter time, almost at every meal. Stock pots can also be used to prepare pasta, pilafs, stews, soups, curries and other warm, filling and unctuous dishes.  I use an 8-gallon stock pot, though you can purchase large or smaller pots. Big Budget: 8-qt All-clad Copper Core Stock Pot ($444.95 … I know … what?!?!) Medium Budget: Cuisinart Classic 8-quart Stock Pot ($59.95) Small Budget: Le Creuset 6-quart Enamel on Steel Stock Pot ($39.95)
	A Sauce Pan You’ll also need a small sauce pot for making sauces, heating soups, making compotes and for preparing cooked vegetables. We make a lot of sauces in our home: reduction sauces and gravies for roast meats, custards for ice cream and other desserts.  I use a stainless steel sauce pan and would strongly encourage you to avoid non-stick cookware. Big Budget: Le Creuset 2.75-quart Precision Pour Sauce Pan ($169.99) Medium Budget: 2-quart Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Sauce Pan ($39.95) Small Budget: 1.5-quart Krona Saucepan with Vent ($24.95)
	A Mixing Bowl Set While you can potentially mix ingredients for batter, sauces and egg dishes together in a soup bowl or even a sauce pan, a 3-piece mixing bowl set can make things a lot easier. When preparing elaborate meals, they can also help to organize prepped ingredients.  In our home, we have a 8-bowl nested ceramic mixing bowl set that I love, and while 8 individual mixing bowls might be a little too much for a minimalist kitchen, certainly a set of three can help tighten the kitchen.  If you purchase ceramic mixing bowls, they can serve the dual purpose of mixing bowl and serving dish. Big Budget: All-clad Stainless Steel Bowl Set ($99.95) Medium Budget: 3-piece Stoneware Mixing Bowl Set ($44.95) Small Budget: Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls ($29.95)
	A Couple Wooden Spoons You’ll also need a couple of wooden spoons for mixing ingredients and stirring sauces.  While at the bare minimum one spoon will do, if you plan to prepare multiple dishes simultaneously as for a Thanksgiving supper, a set of three to five will certainly help.  A set of at least two will eliminate the need for salad claws, and we use our wooden spoons in preparing almost every meal.  Wooden spoons can vary in price, with the beautifully and richly striated olive wood coming in as the most expensive, followed by bamboo and then by plain wood. Big Budget: Set of 5 Olive Wood Utensils ($59.95) Medium Budget: Bamboo Tool Set ($9.99) Small Budget: 4-piece Wooden Spoon Set ($3.95)
	A Whisk You’ll also need a wire whisk for beating eggs, whisking sauces, cream and egg whites for dishes like molasses custard and hollandaise sauce and definitely for making mayonnaise without a blender or food processor. Big Budget: All-clad Stainless Steel Balloon Whisk ($21.95) Medium Budget: MIU Stainless Steel Whisk ($9.95) Small Budget: Silicone Ball Whisk ($4.95)
	A Clay Baker or Dutch Oven Excellent for roasting chickens (like minimalist roast chicken), stews or even for baking artisan-style sourdough breads, clay bakers and dutch ovens can greatly enhance foods cooked in the oven and, in our kitchen, we rely on these pieces of cookware very heavily.  Breads baked in Dutch ovens and clay bakers produce a striking crust and a wonderfully soft crumb; roasted chickens brown beautifully while cassoulets and dishes of roast meat become tender and decadent. Big Budget: Le Creuset 13-quart French Oven ($399.99) Medium Budget: Reco 4-qt. Romertopf Clay Baker ($54.95) Small Budget: Lodge Logic 2-quart Dutch Oven (39.99)
	A Baking Stone Ditch flimsy baking sheets for something more durable like a baking stone which can yield a beautiful crust to pizzas, breads, foccacia as well as baking lovely cookies like whole grain cinnamon molasses cookies.  A well-seasoned baking stone has a virtually non-stick surface without the chemical dangers associated with Teflon.  We purchased our baking stone used from a pizza joint that was going out of business and we love its reliability.  Best of all, they can be stored in the oven itself which helps to maximize space in tiny kitchens. Big or Medium Budget: Best Manufacturing 14×16-in. Professional Baking Stone ($43.95) Small Budget: 14-inch Square Baking Stone ($29.99)

Do you have a suggestion for stocking a minimalist kitchen? What are you favorite tools and essential kitchen items.  Or if you have a question for Nourished Kitchen, email me.

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