This episode is dedicated to ChefBud’s favorite kitchen gadgets. In this video, ChefBud demonstrates how to use a microplane, garlic press, mandolin, apple slicer, cheese plane, immersion blender and ricer. Continue Reading

Sharpening a knife sounds simple enough, but many people don’t put any effort into keeping their knives sharpened. Nothing is more frustrating to me than picking up a knife, trying to cut through a vegetable or piece of meat, and having it crush rather than slice cleanly through the flesh. Continue Reading

Ok I just finished planting a new set of seeds in my Aerogarden.  This is a great way to grow herbs indoors.  In just a few weeks I will have a whole batch of healthy hydroponic herbs.  I like being able to just clip of a few fresh herbs while I am cooking. Continue Reading

One of my favorite ways to use frozen berries is in fruit smoothie recipes. Smoothies are a simple way to get my kids to consume lots of great nutrients in one go. Continue Reading

So I am making a caramelized pearl onion and mushroom sauce. I like to use a teaspoon of dried porcini powder for a nice rich mushroom taste. I also use a few big handfuls of fresh crimini mushrooms for nice meaty mushroom texture.

The criminis I picked up were filthy.

I use no water when cleaning mushrooms because they are like little sponges. They soak up all the water and lose their nice texture and do not saute well anymore.

So, to get them clean I use a little brush and carefully brush all the dirt off. It’s that simple.

They make little mushroom shaped brushes for this. I recomend using a pastry brush. To avoid overflow in my gadget drawer, I try not to buy things I don’t need. It looks like a 1″ wide paint brush. It’s great for many other tasks around the kitchen too.