For 6000 years, civilization managed just fine without OXO’s mango splitter. But for the modern population of mango lovers — it’s probably the most eaten fresh fruit in the world — the tool represents real progress.

I tend to rely on just a few kitchen tools but ones that have many applications. However, having sliced a finger open while trying to peel a mango, having accidentally dropped slippery, peeled mangoes into the trash can and having lost a significant portion of the flesh over the years to the mango’s clingy seed, I have to agree with people like Justin Park who, in his 4-star review of the splitter on Amazon, wrote: “I pay about $1.50 per mango, so losing flesh in cutting the things up is like a punch in the throat.”

Most super-specific kitchen tools offer convenience or efficiency; they may do a task better or faster, but they don’t save you money or get more out of the thing they service. For example, I love our juicer, but it doesn’t extract more juice from an orange than I can extract with my hands. But if the mango splitter, at $12, got you 10% more mango every time you used it, you could, in theory, recoup your expense after roughly 80 mangoes (and maybe save yourself a scar in the process).

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serves 4

Ingredients:
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 pound cremini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Put the chicken stock in a saucepan and bring it to a low simmer. Prep the onion, garlic and parmesan. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a paper towel. Pull off and discard the stems. Cut the caps into quarters. Before zesting the lemon, scrub with a brush and a little soap and water. Rinse it well and dry it. Remove the zest (yellow part only) with a Microplane grater or zester. Pull the thyme leaves off the stem and chop them.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, add the mushrooms and thyme and stir. Season the mushrooms lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms are brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms to a plate.

3. In the same pan heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, add the onions and stir. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring often, until the edges become translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until the wine evaporates, 2-4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the stock. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking, until almost all the liquid evaporates. Stir in another 1/2 cup stock each time the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the sauteed mushrooms after about 8 minutes. Continue adding stock until the rice is tender but firm in the center, 10-15 minutes total.

4. Stir in the lemon zest and parmesan and stir to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredients:
serves 4

2 large bulbs fennel, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 medium oranges
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves
8 ounces pecorino (Toscano, Romano or Sardo)

Instructions:
1. Cut off the fennel stalks where they meet the bulbs. Cut off and discard the root end of each bulb. Cut the fennel crosswise as thinly as possible. (How to prep fennel.)

2. Put the slices in a large bowl and toss them with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Rinse and dry the orange, zest it and peel it. Working over a bowl, segment the orange by cutting down along each side of the membrane between each segment. Pinch off the parsley leaves with your fingers.

3. Add the orange segments and parsley to the fennel and toss everything together. Arrange the salad on plates, and shave a few slices of pecorino over each one.

I love to cook thick pork loin chops. They’re relatively inexpensive and a good source of lean protein. But the leanness of modern pork can also be its downfall — it can dry out easily if you cook it too long. Here’s how I get a tender and juicy chop.

I like to sear thick cuts of meat over high heat in a saute pan until very brown, then finish the cooking in the oven. Searing adds great flavor and finishing over slower heat helps them cook evenly all the way through.

First, I preheat the oven to 350F and put the rack in the middle position. I season the chops well with a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper, then heat 1 T. of olive oil in a heavy saute pan until it’s barely smoking. I add the chops and press gently in the center of each chop for a few seconds to help them brown evenly. Then I leave them alone to turn very brown, about 3 minutes per side. When both sides are brown I hold the chops upright with tongs and sear the sides too.

Next, I put the saute pan right in the oven. You can finish the cooking in a baking dish if your pan’s not oven safe.

When the chops reach an internal temperature of 145F in the thickest part, I remove them from the pan and let them rest on a plate at least 5 minutes. When meat rests, the cooking process continues for 5 or so more degrees, then it stops increasing. After resting, the meat is still hot but the juices have relaxed back into the meat.

I like to slice the pork thin at an angle and drizzle it with any juices from the pan. The chops have a golden brown crust outside and evenly cooked, slightly pink inside.

To finish, I sprinkle the pork with a little chopped sage and a squeeze of lemon. I served these alongside glazed carrots.

Ingredients:
serves 4

1 tablespoon salt (for the pasta water)
2 bunches broccoli raab, rinsed and coarsely chopped (about 1 pound)
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 links sweet Italian sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pound fusilli pasta
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh marjoram
1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil over medium high heat.

2. Prep the ingredients. Rinse and shake the broccoli raab dry. Cut off and discard the tough bottom stems. Coarsely chop the rest. Cut the sausage into bite-size pieces with kitchen shears or a sharp knife.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the sausage and stir. Leave it alone to brown for 1-2 minutes, then stir again. Cook another 2 minutes, then remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon. Remove the pan from the heat.

4. When the water boils, add the pasta and stir. Cook according to the package directions, or until it’s just firm to the bite. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

4. Put the pan back over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir. Cook, stirring often, until you can smell the garlic, only about 30 seconds. Don’t let it get very brown.

5. Add half the broccoli raab and a splash of pasta water and stir. Add the rest of the broccoli raab when there’s room in the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli raab is bright green and tender and most of the liquid is gone, 5-7 minutes. Season it with the pepper and stir.

5. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce and stir to combine. Add another splash of pasta water if the sauce looks too dry (there should be just enough liquid in the bottom of the pan to coat the pasta). Stir in the marjoram and simmer the pasta and sauce together for a minute, then remove the pan from the heat.

6. Add the pecorino, red pepper flakes and a drizzle of olive oil, and stir.

serves 4

Ingredients:
4 cups water
2 cups quinoa
salt and pepper
1 medium head cabbage, thinly sliced (about 2 pounds)
8 ounces ham, cubed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves

Instructions:
1. Rinse the quinoa in a bowl or fine strainer until the water is clear. Fill a medium saucepan with the water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then stir in the quinoa. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the quinoa has absorbed almost all the water, 10-20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and set the quinoa aside to steam and finish cooking.

2. Pull off and discard the cabbage’s outer leaves. Rinse, then cut the cabbage in half through the core. Cut each half in half again through the core. Cut out and discard the cores. Slice each quarter crossways into 1-inch ribbons. Cut the ham into 1/4-inch cubes. Finely chop the sage leaves.

3. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until the foam subsides. Add the ham and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the ham browns some, 2-4 minutes.

4. Stir in the cabbage, season lightly with salt (the ham is salty), pepper and 1/2 the sage, and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage wilts some, about 2 minutes. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 4-6 minutes. Uncover the pan and stir in the remaining sage. Continue cooking until most of the liquid evaporates and the cabbage is tender, 3-5 minutes more. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

5. Uncover the quinoa and fluff it with a fork before serving.

Next Saturday in San Francisco, The Vloggies (video+blog=vlog) will recognize excellent online video content. Some of the nominees for best Cooking Vlog are:

1) The ever charming Crash Test Kitchen duo of Waz and Lenny. I love their stuff but wish they’d post more often.

2) The affably clueless guys at Control Alt Chicken, a show about cooking hosted by two people who don’t really know how to cook.

3) the YouTube offerings from KitchenArts, a kitchen equipment store in Boston that’s linked up the items in its online store to relevant instructional videos.

4) Avrom Honig and his grandmother’s wonderful Feed Me Bubbe, a vlog featuring “Jewish cooking the way it was back in the old days.”

5) My favorite: Rebecca Gerendasy’s Cooking Up a Story, whose documentary episodes zoom in on the people behind the food. Recent highlights include a visit to the only whisk factory in the U.S., one boy’s struggle with type-1 diabetes, and a behind-the-scene look at Cheese by Hand’s behind-the-scene look at American cheesemakers.

You can find other cooking vlog nominees and vote for your favorite here. The other Vloggies categories and their nominees are here.

serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 large head Bibb lettuce
1 ripe avocado, cubed
1 small shallot
1 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:
1. Rinse the Bibb lettuce and dry it well. Tear the leaves into pieces. Prep the avocado. Mince the shallot. Combine the shallot, vinegar, mustard and a sprinkling of salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes if you can. The shallot will mellow in flavor some. Wisk in the oil in a thin stream until the dressing is emulsified. Thin with 1 teaspoon of water.

2. Combine the lettuce and avocado in a large salad bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad a little at a time, tossing as you go. The dressing should coat but not weigh down the lettuce.

serves 4

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 pound white button mushrooms, stemmed and coarsely chopped
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced into 8 thin rounds
4 cups low sodium chicken (or vegetable) broth
4 cups water
2 tablespoons dark miso paste
1 serrano chile, very thinly sliced

Instructions:
1. Heat the canola oil over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onions, sprinkle very lightly with salt and stir. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms are soft and translucent, 3-5 minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms and ginger and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their liquid and begin to turn brown, 4-6 minutes.

3. Add the broth and water. Stir and bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes.

4. Ladle 1/2 cup of the broth into a medium bowl, then whisk in the miso paste until there are no lumps. Pour the mixture back into the soup pot and stir. Simmer 5 minutes more. Add the sliced chiles.

serves 4

Ingredients:
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
2 medium heads fennel (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fennel seeds

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450F and put the rack in the middle position. Put a large roasting pan in the oven to preheat. Quarter the potatoes. Cut off and discard the fennel’s stems and bottom end. Cut the bulb into pieces roughly the same size as the quartered potatoes. In a large bowl, toss the fennel with the olive oil, salt, pepper and fennel seeds.

2. Pour the potatoes and fennel onto the preheated roasting pan.

3. Roast, turning and tossing them occasionally with a spatula, until they’re tender and brown in spots, 45 minutes to 1 hour.