you do, whether it’s wielding a knife or tasting a salad dressing to see if it needs more salt. Your finished dishes will benefit from the extra effort.
KNIFE SKILLS
Learning how to choose, hold, and use a knife is especially important for young cooks. When selecting a knife, consider the item to be cut, then pick out a knife that is both suitable for the task and feels comfortable in yourhand.
Holding a Knife Hold the knife firmly by the handle, as if you were shaking someone’s hand. Hold down the item you are cutting with your other hand,placing the flat side of the food down to keep it steady whenever you can. Curl under the fingers of the hand that’s holding the food so your knuckles keep your fingertips out of harm’s way. With the tip of the knife pointing down, start tocut, bringing the handle up anddown and keeping the knife facing away from your body.
Chopping Grasp the handle of a chefs’knife and,with yourother hand, steady the top of theknife blade near its tip against the cutting board. Raise and lower the knife handle in a chopping motion,slowly swinging the blade back and forth across the food until the
desired texture is achieved, ranging from coarsely chopped, to chopped, to finely chopped, to minced. Coarsely chopped foods are quite chunky, whereas minced foods are reduced to small bits.
SlicingPlace the food on the cutting board and steady it with your free hand, tucking your fingertips in toward your palm andkeeping the side of the blade gently against your knuckles. With the knife held in yourother hand, cut slices of the desired thickness.
DicingCut uniform slices (working lengthwise if the item is oblong), cut the slices again to make strips, then cut across the strips to make cubes.
MEASURING
Use a set of measuring spoons (usually /teaspoon, / teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, and 1 tablespoon) to measure small amounts of liquid and dry ingredients.
Liquids Measure liquids in clear measuring pitchers with rulers printed on the side and a lip for pouring. Place the measuring pitcher on a flat surface, add the liquid, and check the measurement at eye level to make sure it is accurate.
Dry Ingredients Measure dry ingredients, such as sugar or flour, by spooning the ingredient into the proper-size flat-topped measuring cup, loosely heaping it, then leveling the ingredient by running the back of a knife flush over the rim of the cup.
Basic Techniques
8
» HOW TO CHOP
» HOW TO DICE
» HOW TO MEASURE
1 Lay the item to be cut firmlyon the cuing board, firsttrimming a thin slice from oneside if needed to rest flat.
1 Cut the item to be dicedin half. Lay each half, cut sidedown, on the cuting board.
2 Holding the item to be cut withcurled fingers to keep fingertipssafe, slice with the knife bladeperpendicular to the cuing board.
2 Cut each half into evenslices the same width asyour intended dice, workinglengthwise if the item is long.
3 Slice the food while resting the flat side of the knife blade gently against your knuckles, allowing them to guide the width of your slices.
3 Cut the long slices intolengthwise strips, then turnand cut crosswise into dice.
Spoon dry ingredients into a flat-topped measuring cup until mounded on top. Using the back of a knife, sweep off the excess level with the rim of the cup.
Check liquid measurements at eye level to ensure accuracy.
» HOW TO SLICE
1 Grasping the handle of the knife with one hand, hold the tip of the knife against the board with the other hand.
2 Keeping the knife tip steady, raise the handle up and down in a chopping motion to cut all the pieces.
3 As you move the handle up and down, sweep the knife back and forth in a slow arc until the ingredient is chopped as desired.
/ TSP
/ TSP
1 TSP1 TBSP
Breakf
ast
12 easy eggs benedict
14 nutty apple pancakes with apple syrup
15 berry smash whole-grain waffles with berry syrup
17 galaxy doughnuts
19 classic popovers with strawberry butter
20 fried egg sandwich with bacon, avocado & tomato
22 eggs four ways
24 chocolate babka
27 citrus tartines
28 fruity smoothies
30 bacon, egg & spinach muffin cups
31 leek, potato & gruyère frittata
makes4
servings
FOR THE HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
1/2 cup unsalted butter large egg yolks tablespoons fresh lemon juiceSalt and freshly ground pepper
FOR THE EGGS BENEDICT
8
