Cooking Lesson #1

Part of my parents' Christmas present to me this year was two cooking lessons with Trudy! So today, after Trudy cooked for us, I had my very first cooking lesson ever. In the past, I've just read and followed recipes, but it's nice to learn the basics and essentials to cooking. Cooking is a fantastic life-long skill to have so I was really excited to learn. And today, I learned to properly cut vegetables and fruits!

Trudy first showed me the different knives which are essential, then a few different tools which help like a zester and small whisk.

Then we cut:

   ·  * onions (3 different ways, finely chopped, slices, and julienne cut – the Chinese way which looks like half-moons)

·     * red peppers (I like her technique- cut off the ends, then make a cut down a corner, then cut out the veins. Cut the pepper in thirds, then thirds again and thirds again the other direction for roasted veggies)

·     * zucchini (we made roasted veggies)

·     * carrots (quarter chop- so it’s more interesting looking and great in stews)

·     * apples (good in salads, chopped)

·     * celery (straight cut, diagonal cut- good for stir-fries)

·     * leeks- they’re really dirty, so wash the bulb first, then chop off end, then chop it the way you want it,  then stick it in a bowl of water since it will float and the dirt will fall to the bottom!

·     * cut ginger, used a spoon to peel the outside! So smart

·     * and to end the lesson, we made a tomato rose, or a “culinary snobbery” technique as trudy calls it. You use the peel of the tomato to make a rose. She says she thinks I could have a future in making roses in cooking because usually that’s really hard for people but I did a fantastic job and made a beautiful rose. I’m so happy! I'm really glad it felt natural to me-- really fun. I just concentrated on using the blade to saw the peel from the tomato just like she did and voila :) 

Trudy’s advice

Imagine the whole dish before you start cooking. How do I want this ingredient to feel in my mouth (mouth-feel) when I eat it? That will determine the cut.

Cut ingredients into lengths so it can fit in your mouth well. Never thought of that before

Baking at 350 degrees

Roast at 375-400 degrees

Chicken should be heated to 165 degrees when cooked

Beef at 130-140 or something?

Vegetable stock should be heated to higher than 140 degrees, anything between 40 and 140 degrees is in danger of having bacteria, and 220 is boiling.

Poaching is anything in liquids- very good technique because it doesn't add any extra fat or anything

Cutting/chopping- use rocking motion with knife, keep hand in “bear claw” position- thumb at back of object you’re cutting to propel it forward and fingers on top

I told Trudy that since I've gone to Harvard, I've become more vegetarian because their vegetables are more yummy than their meats. So she sent me three links about food which I thought were fantastic:

 

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

 

http://www.healthymonday.org/

 

http://www.18reasons.org/

So I learned a lot today! There are so many things to chopping that you'd never expect. It takes a lot of practice. Even still, I feel like I got better and more comfortable with the knife through this lesson. I can't wait for the next one! Thanks Trudy!