Before Kardea Brown started hosting “Delicious Miss Brown” on the Food Network in 2018, she was a social worker. And while the two jobs may not seem related on the surface, she begs to differ. “They’re both a form of charity, and you do it because you absolutely love it,” she explains. “You also need social services and food to survive. So, I believe they’re always going to intersect.”
With that philosophy in mind, the Food Network star partnered with Pepcid to support the brand’s efforts to fight food insecurity with the nonprofit?Meals on Wheels America. (The acid-reducer brand recently donated $50,000 to the organization, which delivers meals to local communities and seniors in need.)
“As a chef,” she says, “my goal is to teach others how to cook, and it’s only possible if the person I’m teaching on the other side of the camera can have access to the foods I’m preparing. Food insecurity is an issue in impoverished neighborhoods, and it’s happening to the seniors that live next door to you. Everyone needs a nourishing meal, so this is very important to me.”
Brown, who was raised by a single mom in Charleston, South Carolina, adds that she purposely cooks with basic, easy-to-find ingredients on her popular Emmy-nominated series. “After watching the show, I want you to go to your pantry and make the same meal that I did,” she says. “My mom didn’t always have the funds for certain things, so I use foods that are inexpensive and accessible but nourishing.”
These days, she resides with her fiancé in Charleston near her loved ones. “I have my dream kitchen that can fill up my entire family, so I’m thankful for that,” she says. Ahead, Brown lists her eight kitchen essentials for CNN Underscored.
Brown handles this sleek tool to grate tough-skinned veggies like carrots and cucumbers. “I make them into tiny slivers and then add it all into a salad,” she says. “It comes in handy.” The easy-grip handle is designed to work for lefties and righties and stays nonslip when wet. There’s a built-in potato eyer as well.
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“I love my mom to death, but I grew up in a house where she used a dull knife my entire life,” Brown says. “It’s actually the wrong way to cut because you run the risk of hurting yourself — you don’t want to force it and get your fingers involved.” A basic chef’s knife with a stainless steel blade always gets the job done. “You can use it for everything,” she says.
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Because of her Gullah Geechee heritage, “I eat a lot of rice and always make sure to have a good brand on hand so it blossoms and blooms,” she says. But Brown goes against the grain when prepping her beloved Gullah Red Rice dish. As the chef explains, “Instead of water, you cook it in tomato paste. Then you mix it with bell peppers, celery, onion, or smoked meat. It’s delicious, and you can eat it right out of the bowl!”
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“A good cast iron can do wonders,” she raves. That’s why she uses it for everything from searing and deep-frying meats to seasoning and sautéing vegetables to making cornbread. “I just wouldn’t put a fried egg in there!” she jokes. Her favorite skillet has a silicone hot handle holder and is pre-seasoned with 100% natural vegetable oil.??
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This easy-to-use food processor slices, dices, shreds, chops and purees your vegetables with ease. And thanks to its electric blades, which are controlled via three speed options, it also “minces your onions and garlic in little to no time,” she says. “I love using it.”
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For cleanups and everything else, “I’m constantly using paper towels, which upsets my fiancé because he’s like, ‘Man, I just put a new roll up there and how much do you need?’” The answer: a lot. “I’m always in the kitchen and do a lot of washing!” Besides, as she points out, a paper towel doesn’t sit around and collect germs like its cloth counterpart.
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This ingredient is top-shelf, both literally and metaphorically, in Brown’s pantry. “It’s very important for me to have it because I use it quite a bit — especially for coating and thickening.” FYI: While flour is essential for baking pastries, she advises that “you don’t have to coat it on everything.”
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Brown has a red one, and she uses it often. “It’s great for anything that requires a really big pot like a stew or a soup,” she says. This French-made oven — an indispensable favorite among professional chefs and home cooks — provides superior heat retention and distribution because of its construction.
