Chop like a champion

I love watching Top Chef, Masterchef, Chopped… basically any cooking show competition. I am always amazed at how well these chefs can work their knives. While I enjoy cooking and spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen, I’ve never been super confident with my knife skills.

To hone my Ginsu Ninja knife skills I enrolled in the Publix Blue Apron Cooking School’s knife skills class. Students would slice, dice, julienne, and chiffonade. All while making yummy food.

The first half hour focused only on safety. The two chefs didn’t want to use their Red Cross first aid skills to save a fingertip. I was quite confident my limbs would remain intact.

The chefs demonstrated different skills and then let us loose to practice each skill. I felt like a competitor in Top Chef’s Miso Challenge as we all tried to, with quick hands, master a perfect diced potato. My potatoes were small identical cubes, perfect for a bowl of clam chowder. Note- if food is scarce, it should not be diced- there is way too much food waste.

Next up was onions. Most of the time my chopped onions are always multi-sized. Not only did I learn how to chop them well, I also learned how to make the onion not bleed- which is what makes us cry. You can see this method from Chef Gordon Ramsey on the video link below.

Most fascinating skill I learned was a different way to chop a tomato by coring it. You unroll the tomato leaving you only with the firmest parts of the tomato. It works great for all kinds of peppers too.

The evening was full of learning proper slicing, dicing and chopping techniques. We made a tomato salsa with baked tortilla chips a vegetable broth, stir-fry and a potage au pistou. As a class we all enjoyed the product of all our chopping with a late dinner together.

As I drove home, with all my appendages undamaged, I reflected on all I learned. I’m not quite ready for Masterchef, but will continue to sharpen my knife skills at home. #3✔

Gordon Ramsey Onion Chop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwGBt3V0yvc

Check out how to core a tomato with the 2nd way she demonstrates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDt0L1-SaRg