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Showing posts with label techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label techniques. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010 | 
Posted by
Chris
When deciding on your garden, there are a few things to consider. First is how much space can you devote to your garden. This depends on the size of your yard of course. A lot of people live in town and do not have a large yard. We have some friends that only have about 1/2 of an acre for a back yard and they decided to do box gardening.
Box garden
This is done by building "boxes" to plant in. They planted 90% of their back yard in boxes and were able to eat all spring, summer, and fall and put up a large amount for later.
The second thing to consider is harvesting schedule. Most vegetables and fruits will be ready to harvest at different intervals. If you do some planning in the winter and pick out which plants perform the best in your growing zones, you should be able to harvest in all three seasons. I also recommend planting your garden in stages so you can harvest throughout the season. I would plant corn 1/3 in week one, 1/3 in week 3, and 1/3 in week five.
The third thing to consider is doing the grunt work before the day you are ready to plant. This includes building your boxes, tilling the soil, and putting down compost and/ or fertilizer. This well help you have a more productive planting day and will keep you from getting burn out at the beginning of the season.
Take advantage of this great weather and add a few more dollars to the monthly budget!
Have a great spring!
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
The techniques will be described using a chef's knife.
The first technique of using a knife is the grip. The grip is the point of contact for the knive and controls the stabilty, motion, and force of the knife. The proper way to hold
the knife is to grip the top of the blade with the thumb and wrap the rest of the hand around the bolster. Take a look at the pictures below. This will feel uncomfortable for beginners, but once you practice a few times, it will become natural. This hold gives you maximum control over the blade.
Photo © Danilo Alfaro
The second technique is learning how to hold the food with the opposite hand. You will use the opposite hand to secure the food you are cutting and using the front side of the fingers as a guide for the knife. See the picture below. Grip the food with the finger tips curled in toward the wrist. This will keep your finger tips away from the the blade and allows the nuckles to be used as a guide for the knife.
Photo © Danilo Alfaro
The third technique to learn is the most important. The proper cutting motion is difficult to put in writing so I have included this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sSSfoor6RY This short video will go over all that you have learned so far and teach you the correct cutting motion to use when cutting. This motion will become habit after practice, but will feel unusal at first. Be sure to stick with it and you will be surprised how much better you will become with your knife skills.
Be sure to see part 4 for details on specifics about the different types of kitchen knife cuts.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Photo © Danilo Alfaro
For more information about knife skills and these pictures click here Danilo Alfaro .
In order to develop your knife skills in the kitchen, you must first understand the parts of a knive and how to correctly handle them.
1. The blade - the best blades are made from high carbon stainless steel. This allows them to keep their edge for a long time.
2. The handle - if used correctly, this is the part of the knife you will have the most contact with. Make sure handle fits in your hand correctly and comfortably. Make sure the knife feels balanced.
3. The heel - the widest part of the knife. This section is used for chopping hard items like nuts and hard vegetables. This area of the knife generates the greatest cutting force.
4. The tang - a good high quality knife is made from one piece of steel. The tang is the part of the blade that is used to make the handle. The tang is what gives a knife its balanced feel.
5. The bolster - this is the thick part of steel behind the blade. This allows you to grip the knife without gripping the actual blade preventing slippage. The thicker the bolster the better.
Knife Handling Tips:
1. Never let a knife become dull. A dull knife will cause you to use more pressure, resulting in accidents.
2. Never try to catch a falling knife. Many people get cut in the kitchen trying to catch a falling knife instead of letting it fall.
3. Knives should be in only on of two places. A knife should always be kept in storage until it is being used. Knives left laying around are problems waiting to happen.
4. Always wash knives by hand. This will help the knives last longer and stay sharper. Machine washing and harsh chemicals can damage a good knife.
5. Learn Knife Techniques. It sound stupid....anyone can use a knife. Believe it or not, there is a correct way to use a knife. Knife techniques should be learned by every kitchen chef. You will be greatly rewarded in the kitchen by learning the proper knife techniques. Check out part 3 for an overview and videos of knife techniques. In just a few weeks, you will be impressing your friends and family with your chef like knife techniques.
Friday, March 5, 2010
One of the most used and important items in the kitchen is a good set of knives. If your kitchen is like mine, you probably have a dozen or more kinds of knives. I have many different shapes, sizes, and qualities. It wasn't until lately that I realized that the average kitchen chef only needs 6 kinds of knives in the kitchen to do all of the knife work in the kitchen. I have grown up like many, with mostly cheap quality knives not really understanding what they are made to be used to. Once you understand what each knife is used for and then understand how to correctly use that knife, it will save you time and frustration in the kitchen.
Here are the six must have knives that each kitchen needs:
1. Chef's Knife:
- 8 to 10 inches long
- usually the largest knife in the kitchen
2. Paring Knife:
- 2 1/2 to 4 inches long
- the most used knife in the kitchen
- ideal for peeling and coring fruits and vegetables, cutting small objects, slicing, and other hand tasks
3. Utility Knife:
- usually 5 to 8 inches long
4. Boning Knife:
- 4 to 6 inches long
- more flexible blade to make it easier to cut around bones
5. Bread Knife:
- 10 inch serrated blade
- serrated blades use a sawing motion to cut bread without tearing.
6. Santoku Knife:
- 5 to 7 inch blade
- Japanese historical significance meaning 'three virtues', with its marvelous chopping, dicing and mincing abilities
If you have these five knives in your kitchen, you will be ready and able to accomplish all of your cutting needs successfully. If you are considering purchasing a new set of knives, there are a few things to consider. First of all, you get what you pay for. I used to buy five dollar knives at the local housewares department and get frustrated when the would not stay sharp. Kitchen knives are an investment. A good set will last forever and you will be much happier in the long run. You can spend over $1000.00 on a prefessional set of knives, however you can get a really nice set with a lifetime warranty for $100 to $200. Second, go to a kitchen store and try out the knives before you purchase them. Be sure to hold them. They should feel comfortable in your hand. Do they feel balanced? Is the handle too large or too small for your hand? This is very important when purchasing a set of knives. I will be discussing knife skills in part 2, and having a comfortable, balanced knife makes all the difference.
Here is an example of a nice set of knives would make a great starter set.
Be sure to check back and/or sign up for our email post to get the part two of kitchen knife skills!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Cooking with herbs can be a very rewarding experience. I love to use fresh herbs when cooking all types of dishes. Herbs can be used to change the odor and flavor of your recipes. Some people are a little intimidated by herbs because they have never used them before and some can be overwhelming if not used correctly. I like to use fresh herbs, but dried herbs work great also. Just remember when using a recipe that you typically use a 3:1 ratio of fresh herbs to dry herbs when working with a recipe. Herbs can be grown at home and make nice house and window plants. Most herbs have two growing season. The first is leaf production and will stay in this phase as long as they are pruned and trimmed. The second is flower production. Many people will use the flowers as garnish and editable flowers in recipes. If you are new to herbs and want to experiment with different flavors and aromas, you may want to invest in a dried herb set.
There are many to choose from. The one to the left is a great all around set that comes with 20 different herbs to start off with.Here is an overview of some of the most popular herbs.
1. Chives - part of the onion family, great for dips, potatoes, tomatoes, and garnishes.
2. Thyme - has a minty, citrusy taste, great for eggs, squash, poultry, potatoes, and soups.
3. Basil - has a peppery and spicy taste, works well in tomatoes, pasta, pesto, and italian dishes.
4. Cilantro - has a lively, fresh taste, used in Mexican, Asian, and Carribian dishes
5. Dill - works good with fish, carrots, tomatoes, and for pickling
6. Mint- has a fresh taste, great for fruit dishes, teas, chocolates, and for garnish
7. Oregano - aromatic, works great in italian dishes, tomatoes, and pastas.
8. Parsley - has a peppery taste, used in many dishes and one of the most popular garnishes.
9. Rosemary - aromatic and has a pine taste, works great with poultry, lamb, fish, pork, and garnish
10. Sage - aromatic and has a woody taste, work well with pork, poultry, and stuffings
11. Tarragon - has a licorice taste, a staple for many italian dishes, poultry, fish, shellfish, and vegies.
Be sure to taste each herb to get a better understanding of the taste and aroma. Take a leaf and chew to get the taste and then spit out. Herbs are great to mix with butter and oils to use as flavorings in many dishes.
Enjoy!
Monday, March 1, 2010
In this part of Kitchen Knife Skills, I will show you several of the most used knife cuts to use in the kitchen. You will use different cutting techniques depending on what your recipe is calling for. Some of them take a little practice, but after a few tries, you will be good to go.
1. Dice - this technique involves cutting the item into squares. The can be large, medium or small. 2. Paysanne - much like a dice, expect the square are only 1/8" thick. Used for garnish.
3. Julienne - this involves cutting the item into small sticks. They are usually 1/8" thick and around 2 1/2" long.
These are just a few of the many knife cuts that may be used in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy using them.
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