We heart the peeps that pick the stuff that makes life better. When it comes to kickin’ it in the kitchen, it stands to reason that chefs do it better. Lucky for us, we have a healthy community of chefs here on ThisNext, and they’ve got plenty to say about what goods to get.

Take, for example, suvirsaran, executive chef of Devi in New York and Veda in New Delhi, and author of Indian Home Cooking. He opts for this very cool-looking Karahi, a wok-like pan used in Indian cooking. If you’re an avid wokker already, you may like it because it’s “more manageable in size and more stable on the stove top”

...continued: Chef's Picks

Sure, we watch the Food Network and occasionally pick up a pearl of wisdom from one of their cavalcade of perky hosts. But when was the last time Rachael Ray showed you how to bone a trotter? Does she even know what one is?

Well, a couple of chefs from the San Francisco Bay Area have launched a series of online video instructionals that are a step up in calibre from your standard food television fare, such as how to clean a monkfish, braise a lamb shank and, yes, bone a trotter. Some of the videos are currently free, but even the ones that aren’t are a relative bargain for the edification you’ll receive.

Via In Praise of Sardines. 

Before you quit your day job and pursue your dreams of becoming a professional baker, pop by chef JoAnna’s ChefBlog. That shiny new 12-quart stand mixer you want, nay need? You might be astonished to learn that it will set you back a whopping $3,200. But hey, it’s a relative bargain at the store she links to, marked down from over $4,600 retail. But sometimes, only the best will do. Perhaps JoAnna can whip us up a little big something with her new toy.

Summertime in the farmer’s market can be overwhelming, with increasingly exotic heirloom varietals of various fruits and veggies. The average home cook may not have a recipe at the ready for, say, purple kohlrabi. Luckily, there are hundreds if not thousands of bloggers who just happen to be professional chefs to come to the rescue. New York personal chef Mark Tafoya turned these crunchy cruciferous critters into a simple slaw with the addition of just olive oil, pomegranate juice and sage. We also dig his foodie podcats.

We’re smack in the middle of the grillingest week of the whole year. Every July 4 weekend, millions of coal jockies put the spurs to burgers, steaks, chicken, you name it. But for those looking for something a little different than A-1 or teriyaki sauce in a bottle, San Francisco chef Scott Youkilis shares a recipe for grilled green onion and tomatillo relish, recently published as part of a roundup of grill-friendly condiments in the San Francisco Chronicle. As Youkilis says, you can’t reinvent a ribeye, but you sure can reinvent steak sauce. Why settle for standard, when you can make a better steak?

I’m something of a magazine whore, especially when it comes to food magazines. So when I saw on Paper Palate that a new pub was hitting the stands, I was all eyes. dazzling delightful delicious is based on the Australian magazine of the same name, and will feature celebrity chefs, kitchen design and an all-around flashy look. I’ve seen the Ozzie mag, and if it comes even close, I’m subscribing right away. Just another reason why we love blogs that bring us all the print that’s fit for news.

Hey, we’re all chefs in our own kitchen, right? Even if you’re merely a master of the microwave, you’re the chef, and what says, goes. Still, a handful of techniques, standby recipes and crafty secrets can make the going that much smoother. That’s why we love DailyOlive.com for turning us on to “Kitchen Sense” by Mitchell Davis. This is a cookbook by a home cook for a home cook, and with 600 recipes for your repertoire, it’ll make you a Thomas Keller in your own home. Plus, they sneak in the recipe for strawberry shortcake right into the blog posting. Sweet!

She’s cute. She’s perky. She’s slowly taking over the Food Network … and maybe the world! If you’re a Rayophile, Everything Rachael Ray is your one-stop shop for constantly updated news on her doings, tracking other Ray-loving bloggers and, oh yeah, the occasional recipe from one of Ms. Ray’s oeuvres both on-air and in print. This is precisely what we love about blogs: Obsessive stalking in-depth research of the people and things that make life richer.