Buzzed = Chopped

Bad Cutting Skills

I have been cooking for a long time. Even after all these years of practice, I still can’t cut up a clove of garlic and have it minced in under 5 mins. My cutting and chopping skills have never improved. This is why I always looked for alternatives. I bought minced garlic in a jar. It was not good. Another case where sometimes a shortcut is not the greatest idea.

You will see in most of my recipes that as part of the Mise It!, I will often say “buzzed”. I am in no way referring to any state of mind based on using some herbal “medicine”. While I am sure that would alleviate some stress relating to cooking, I do not need the onions or carrots to be in a chill state of mind. The carrots and onions to be chopped, minced or diced. I very rarely chop vegetables. I invested in a small food chopper/processor a few years ago and it sits on my countertop, ready to be used. This machine is the hardest working machine in my kitchen!

I love my Buzzer

Any recipe that says you need to chop something, I throw it in my Buzzer. Don’t ask me why I started calling it that, it just made sense and it has stuck ever since. Chefs and recipe developers may cringe at this since I am not following the exact size called for in a recipe. I really don’t have the time to put into chopping. I do make some exceptions and sometimes do the chopping in a 2-step approach. If they call for garlic to be minced, and it’s quite a few cloves, I buzz them first, then put that on the cutting board and make another pass at it with a sharp knife. This should count as “minced” right? If a recipe called for minced carrots and celery, I confess, I buzz them all together, and that’s it. If the recipe called for roughly chopped, I still pulse them in my buzzer. A couple of taps and I’m good to go. I would rather focus on the Make It! and make sure I do that part right than worry about the size of my buzzed carrot.

I highly recommend going with a mid-size food processor and one where the container is fully sealed. Many older versions had an opening down the middle for the blade. This means that if you put in too much liquid, you have the risk that it will overflow. The one below is the one that I have and includes the grate and slice blades, which also come in handy

From making salsa (https://shopitmiseitmakeit.ca/recipe/fresh-mexican-salsa-and-homemade-taco-chips/), to grating cheese, to scallop potatoes and flaky pie crust (https://shopitmiseitmakeit.ca/recipe/chicken-pot-pie/)! This workhouse in the kitchen will save you time and back pain. It’s worth the investment.