Have you ever found yourself struggling with cutting soft ripe cheese? As soon as you start cutting, the cheese sticks to the knife. You can’t peel it of because it’s too soft, so the only way to remove it is to either eat it off the knife (not recommended!) or use a second knife to scrape it off the first one. You will run into the same problem with cheese cake and other soft foods. Here is a very simple solution to quickly and cleanly cut through the problem:
Unflavored dental floss is a great kitchen tool. It’s often better than a knife and cuts easily through soft cheese, rolled out dough, cakes, butter, and much more.
Place your cheese on a cutting board, hold the string of dental floss with both hands and simply run it through the cheese all the way down until you hit the cutting board. It’s so simple and yet so effective.
Stuffed mushrooms make great appetizers, and can be a quick way to keep hungry family members happy while dinner is being prepared. Any type of mushroom can be used to make them as long as they have a bowl shaped cap. The trick with these however is keeping them from being dried out in the oven when they are baking.
The answer to this problem is to use clarified butter. Clarified butter is very simple to make, all that is needed is a pot and a slotted spoon. Once the butter is melted the “solids” will float on the surface and can be skimmed off with the slotted spoon.
Once the butter is skimmed it can be used on the mushrooms. Using a pastry brush gently apply to each of the mushrooms generously. The butter will keep the mushrooms from drying out and burning while in the oven.
There are many options for stuffing your mushrooms. Use of spinach and cheese is relatively common, along with using mini shrimp mixed in with various vegetables , and ground beef has been used for stuffing them as well.
Cooking times and temperatures vary based on the size of the mushroom caps being used, however if you are feeling brave to attempt it the oven can be set to five hundred degrees Fahrenheit. At the high heat small mushrooms, such as button mushrooms and baby portabellas, can take as little as ten to fifteen minutes. A second method of preparation is to pan fry the mushroom caps in a skillet, which may be easier for someone making them for the first time.
