Cooking School Day 1: Knife Skills

So The Kitchn Cooking School kicked off today and I couldn't be more excited. One of my friends signed up so we can do it together. She read through all the classes being offered and told me that she once took a local cooking class that covered all the same subjects, but for a cost of $300!!! So a big THANK YOU to The Kitchn for this wonderful treat.

 Today's lesson was Knife Skills.These are my take away points:

1. Stabilize your cutting board with a towel or rubber.

 

2. Hold your knife with a full grip or with your thumb and index finger where the blade and the handle meet.

3. Claw your hand to hold the food being cut.

4. And make sure your knife is sharp!

They provided 3 options for homework, so I decided to Practice my use of The Claw for tonight's dinner. I've seen chefs do it on TV when they hold their knives at the front of the handle. It does feel odd, but I can see how this offers more control over my cuts.

Another homework option is to have our knives sharpened as we will be using them a ton through this cooking course. So I decided to tackle that one too. I've looked up a Knife Sharpening service and found one on yelp with great reviews about 30 miles from my house so I'll have to make a trip out there sometime this week. If anybody knows of a good knife sharpening service in the Chino Hills surrounding area, please let me know!! I've so desperately been in need of sharpening my knife. It's my favorite by Pampered Chef (pictured above), I love the way it feels on my hand, and it just seems to work so well for me...except that it has lost that sharpness of cutting right through a tomato as if it was warm butter.

So as I make my taco bar tonight and chop my rotisserie chicken, onions and avocado, I will continue practicing my knife skills.

Did you take today's class? Have you done your homework?

Sonia