As part of FoodBuzz Daily Specials, I’ll be making a some special posts over the next couple of weeks that relate to a specific topic. Today’s special is about Non Stick Fry Pans.

Many people watching their diets think that fried food is off limits. But this isn’t so ! The act of frying is not unhealthy – it is all the oil typically used when frying something that causes a meal to become high in fats and calories.

A good non stick pan is essential and with it, you can continue to enjoy pan fried meats and eggs, sauteed veggies, caramelized onions and more.

The 2 things you need so that you can use as little oil as possible are Pam spray (or similar item) and water.

Pam is great when frying eggs, pan searing meats and fish, and when sauteing vegetables. When it comes to sauteing peppers or potatoes, some people give up because they can get dried out when you use just Pam. But I have a secret Just add a tablespoonful of very hot water when you see the food is drying out. When caramelizing onions or frying up peppers and onions, I sometimes add as much as 4-5 T of water throughout the cooking period. It is a GREAT calorie saver. And all this would NOT be possible if you didn’t have a good non stick pan on hand. I have a few in different sizes and could not live without them.

Here are a few recipes that just could not be made without a non stick pan:

Open Faced Egg and Bacon Sandwich
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Muffin
Turkey and Stuffing
Orange Ginger Chicken

As part of FoodBuzz Daily Specials, I’ll be making a some special posts over the next couple of weeks that relate to a specific topic. Today’s special is about Salt and Pepper Mills.

Salt and Pepper mills come in all shapes and sizes….they are made out of all sorts of materials, some are manual while some are electric, and prices really vary.

For years I used only ground black pepper and Morton’s salt out of the box – I never ventured beyond that. But a few years ago I got interested in using sea salt and I got a mill just for that. Then I decided to use different peppercorns and got some mills for those. And my collection has grown quite a bit.

For some recipes, there is nothing like the taste of sea salt. For some, nothing as great as Kosher salt – there truly is a difference.

And the same goes for peppers – different peppercorns definitely yield different flavors and it’s great to have a few on hand. I even have a mill to freshly grind red pepper flakes.

Grab one next time you’re out – I bet you get addicted like me

As part of FoodBuzz Daily Specials, I’ll be making a some special posts over the next couple of weeks that relate to a specific topic. Today’s special is about Mandolines.

Mandolines are GREAT tools that make slicing a cinch. You can make paper thin cucumbers for salad, julienne carrots for stir fry, thick sliced potatoes for roasted potatoes, and the list goes on and on. You basically attach your food to the safety grip and then run it up and down the mandoline which drags it across the blade and creates the cut.

You change the blade by dialing a knob which rotates and sets the blade in position for cutting.

My main pieces of advice for using a mandoline – do NOT try using it without the safety grip. It’s more comfortable to just grab the potato or whatever in your hand, but the blades is sooooo sharp and it takes but a second to loose a good part of your finger (poor Josh !!!) I go an extra step and wear a cooking glove that has kevlar in it – then you can just fly through the prep without a worry.

Try a mandoline and you’ll see why chefs around the world use them on a daily basis.

When it comes to vanilla flavor in your cooking and baking, the type you use can make all the difference in the world.

Vanilla Bean

When choosing your flavoring you have several options – - Imitation vanilla flavoring, pure vanilla extract (bargain basement), pure vanilla extract (good quality), and vanilla bean paste such as Madagascar Vanilla by Nielsen-Massey. I pretty much try and stick to good quality pure vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste – if you use the others, you really end up with a inferior product at the end. It costs more, but the results are really worth it !

Here are some of my favorite vanilla flavored and vanilla added treats…
they are recipes where the vanilla flavor really comes out strong

Toffee
Banana Cake
Vanilla Ice Cream (no ice cream maker needed)

To find out more about vanilla, check out today’s Food Buzz Daily Special !

Grill baskets are the best invention since sliced bread ! Really

Mexican Kabobs

I find threading kabobs too time consuming for the actual results. And I find cooking kabobs over the grill nightmarish as you watch great, tender pieces of onion and tomato slip off the skewer into the coals.

As part of FoodBuzz Daily Specials, I’ll be making a some special posts over the next couple of weeks that relate to a specific topic. Today’s special is about GRILL BASKETS.

And I am passionate about using grill baskets ! Just give them a little spray with Pam, throw in any of the ingredients that you would normally be skewering, toss a few times (like you would a big stir fry) and you come out with food that tastes even better because you don’t get those ‘undone’ patches from where the food was pressed up against other bits. And even better – you don’t lose pieces and prep time is a snap ! So grab yourself a nice big grill basket this season and enjoy !

Here are a few recipes I have posted in the past that recommend use of grill baskets.

Mexican Kabobs

Halibut Kebobs