Word Of The Day: Zester

We know what you're thinking. "Zest 'er? I hardly know 'er!" (thanks for humoring us). A zester is an incredibly handy kitchen appliance used to remove the outer part of the citrus fruit peel. This adds additional flavor, or "zest," to dishes. Zesters are often stainless-steel, and look kind of like a fork that had its prongs cut too short. Its cousin, the microplane, looks like a wood rasp from shop class.

This tool produces small ribbons of fruit peel for pasta dishes, desserts, cocktails, you name it. If the zester sounds complicated, don't get too worried. This really is one of the simpler gadgets in the kitchen. Remember, if you can hold 'er, you can zest 'er.

Use today's Word of the Day: Kitchen Tool – Microplane Grater/Zester