Shauna on the Food Network.

Click here to see the video about me the Food Network aired in 2006.

how to break down a chicken (a video)

This first video is a long one, with no cuts or edits. It's the Chef talking you through the process of breaking down a chicken. (I realize this might be the first time that some of you hear his voice, except in writing.)

Those of you who don't eat meat will not want to watch this. It's a clear demonstration, with bones and sinews. (And I'm sorry that the static shot is one of raw meat. I don't know how to make that change. I'm new at this.)

And so, I give you: the Chef breaks down a chicken.



This next video is the same process, but close-up, more slowly, and without words. Again, the sounds are real. If you are a vegetarian, you might not enjoy this.

But we wanted to show this in component parts so that, if you are new to this, you can watch it in snippets, pause, and do this yourself. Be sure to wash your hands before you touch the computer again.



So there you go. A little sliver of life in our kitchen. There will be many more in the weeks to come.

Here's the question: what would you like to see demonstrated on video next?

how to butterfly and stuff a pork tenderloin

how to chop an onion

Long ago, Danny and I did a photo post on how to chop an onion. A number of you have said how helpful that post was to you in the kitchen. (It was for me, too. I can't tell you how many times I sneaked back to that post to look at the photos before I chopped an onion. My chopping skills are more sure now, but it took me all this time to feel confident about it.) And a number of you have written over the years, asking if we could do a video, so you could see it in action.

We listen.

This is also part of our new series for Wednesday posts: chef technique videos.

When we have done videos in the past, we have shown you how to make recipes. But now, Danny would really like to demonstrate technique. Interspersed through the essays and recipes in our cookbook, Danny teaches basic techniques that chefs know but home cooks might not. But we can't wait a year to start sharing.

So we're going to share here. We'll start with the fundamentals and move onto more exotic techniques as the year goes on. Do you have something you would like to learn? Let us know.

We'll be back every Wednesday.

So let's start at the beginning. How to chop an onion.




And if you would like to watch the entire process, without our commentary, here's a video of Danny cutting an onion in silence.

how to fillet a fish (a video)

This week's video is how to fillet a whole fish. I must admit that I have never done this by myself. The idea daunted me. But after filming the Chef doing this — and making him go much more slowly than he has in decades — I feel confident I can fillet a fish now.

So will you.

Just two notes.

1. The natural sound effects of this might bother those of you who choose not to eat meat or fish. Sorry about that. There's no other way around it. This is real.

2. We are still learning the mechanics of this tiny camera. We love it. But in shooting and editing this video, I have realized it is definitely not ready for its close-up. Sorry about the fuzzy focus on the pinbones. But you'll get the idea.

And now, away we go.....

how to make gravlax

It's salmon season around here. Wild Alaskan sockeye rests on beds of ice at the grocery store. We've been searing and grilling, making breakfast with leftovers. This time of year, we eat as much salmon as possible.

Once it's out of season, we won't be eating it again until next year.

If, by some chance, you have grown tired of barbequed salmon or king salmon with crispy skin, you might want to try your hand at gravlax.

We've been eating this gleaming home-cured salmon for weeks. And then it occurred to us: it has been a long time since we did a video for you.

And so, may I present to you:

The Chef Shows You How to Make Gravlax.

hot to make gluten-free gravy

Good gravy!

We're thrilled that so many of you enjoy the videos we have been making. We giggle so much in the kitchen when we make them that we would love to keep going.

So, this week's video is how to make gluten-free mushroom gravy.

This is a slightly longer video, only because the Chef has packed in a number of techniques here:

-- how to make a gluten-free roux (and it looks quite different than you might think)

-- how to make a cornstarch slurry

-- how to make gravy with each

-- how to sauté mushrooms with onions, garlic, and rosemary

-- how to make a red-wine mushroom gravy

This should give you plenty to do this week!

And after shooting, editing, and watching the video, we realize that we clearly have to clean the stove.


We hope you enjoy this.

how to sear fish

In this little video, the Chef shows you how to cook the snapper fillets we cut up last week. Once you see it, you might try it yourself. You'll never think of fish the same way again.

I apologize for the sound quality, at times. I don't know why I didn't realize that sticking a tiny video camera into a skillet full of sizzling fish would dampen the sound of the Chef talking, but I know it now. Also, the same focus issue as last week. (Here's a secret. We filmed last week's and this week's on the same day.)

Never mind all that. Just watch him work. And then eat a great piece of environmentally safe, delicious fish. Enjoy.

welcome to Good Bite

For months I've been keeping a little secret, something I have been wanting to share. But we had to keep quiet, my fellow food bloggers and I. Until today.

I'm happy (and honored) to announce that I'm part of the new Good Bite team.

Good Bite is a new web-based video show, with a team full of food bloggers passionate about food who are willing to film themselves with small cameras and have their faces spread around the web. (Have you ever seen Momversation? This show is produced by the same team that makes that happen.) We're talking about food, in roundtable discussions and recipe explanations. As the tagline of the show says, it's about "...delicious made easy."

See, the thing is, whenever people who love food are put together in a room, we generally don't talk about baseball. Instead, we're comparing notes on cast-iron skillets, favorite pulled pork recipes, and the best place to buy strawberries in June. That's what this show is — people gathering together (in separate rooms, bound by video) to talk about their food passions.

Here's a preview of the contributors. And, if you're watching closely, you'll see me there, in the middle.



It's quite the crew. My goodness.

Matt Armendariz from Matt Bites
Elise Bauer from simplyrecipes.com
Diane Cu and Todd Porter from whiteonricecouple.com
Jaden Hair from steamykitchen.com
Jeanne Kelley from jeannekelleykitchen.com
David Lebovitz from davidlebovitz.com
Catherine McCord from weelicious.com
Deb Perelman from smittenkitchen.com
Julie Van Rosendaal from dinnerwithjulie.com

I'm honored to be among this group, people whose ideas on food are already important to me.

And I have to tell you this — I'm especially excited to be on the show as a gluten-free blogger. It would have been easy for the production company to dismiss my presence because I can't eat a certain food. Or because they believe I would only talk about sorghum flour and substitute muffin recipes. Nope. I'm just talking about great food. And I'm doing it for all of you, too.

Here's the first video I shot, with Elise and Julie, talking about lazy dinners. What food do you make when you're tired and in a hurry, but you still want to eat well?



If you go to the Good Bite website, you can see an LA chef, Aarti Sequeira, make my chickpea and wilted spinach dish for you. (I had to laugh that she put a piece of bread to the side of the chickpeas.)

That's one of the things I love about this project — it's a collaboration with people who really love food. It will be filled with videos and recipes from the bloggers, as well as links to great recipes from hundreds of food writers and bloggers across the internet. (Many of them will be gluten-free.)

Good Bite hopes to inspire people to step back into the kitchen and start cooking. And that is something I'm happy to be a part of any day.

Egg Recipes Good Enough for Dinner

It's halfway through the week. Are you down to leftovers from the farmers' market this past weekend and a dozen eggs?

Why not have eggs for dinner?

Over at Good Bite, Julie Van Rosendaal (from Dinner with Julie) and the always-hilarious Matt Armendariz (from Matt Bites) and I had a conversation about eggs and how much we love them. (Oh goodness, do we love eggs around here.)

Actually, the video is right here:



And if you'd like to see Jesse Brune demonstrate how to make the crab and avocado omelette that I'm talking about, take a look at this:



(Jesse is very kind to me, but let me tell you — anything I know about omelettes, I learned from Danny. To be honest, what I talked about in the video is only words trying to describe what I watch him do.)

Eggs are one of our most favorite foods around here. Thank goodness eggs are gluten-free.

If you're like us, you're always looking for more ways to eat eggs. Here are some of our favorite egg recipes from this site:

Avocado and Mushroom Frittata

Crustless Quiche Cups

Frisee Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette and Poached Egg

Poached Eggs on Spinach

Poached Eggs on Toast

Scrambled Eggs with Pisto Manchego

shrimp recipes at Good Bite

Hey everyone!

We've been a little silent around here, I know. Thank you to those who have written, asking about us. All is well. We're just in the midst of a storm of recipe testing. Over 150 people, some of whom might be reading this right now, have been testing the recipes for our cookbook. And so far, I'm reading a lot of happy reports.

(Check out this post at Scrumptious Seattle, where Voracious Girl used our pie crust recipe to make a cherry pie that her gluten friends adored.)

However, when I say a lot of happy reports, I do mean a lot. A plethora. A mountain of emails under which I feel buried.

So we had to focus on what is going to print soon, instead of giving you the cornbread recipe I had planned.

(But it will be worth the wait, I believe.)

However, tomorrow there will be a special, one-time supplementary post, just for the day at hand. And there's cornbread on Thursday.

For now, check out the latest video from Good Bite. Jaden from Steamy Kitchen, Catherine from Weelicious, and I are talking about shrimp.





And here is the how-to video for making that shrimp cocktail sauce, made by David Lawrence of Forking Delicious (you have to love that).


It's perfect weather for making shrimp cocktail. I defy you to resist after seeing this.