I used to be one of the culinary assistants at Sur La Table. One of my favorite chefs to assist was
Robyn Webb. That's how I began testing recipes for her magazines and books, and eventually became freelance recipe tester, photographer and editor of her blog. Before each class, Robyn would do a mini demo on how to properly use knives. If you would wake me up at 3 am, I would be able to recite her demo word by word :)
This past Sunday I came over to my friend's AnnaS's condo (not to be confused with
my twin sister Anna) to do a knife skills lesson and to teach her how to make an Indian styled omelet.
The class went great! There were no cut fingers, and Anna kept on saying "oh, this is how you are supposed to do that!" Some of the things that I taught Anna how to do were:
* how to properly hold a knife
* how to move the knife (away from you, and in a very rhythmic motion)
* how to properly "open up" and chop a green pepper {note, this is Anna's cutting board: I advised her to get an upgrade!}
*how to chop an onion {this is an action shot of Anna}: there are two ways, and of course Anna liked the one that has a shortcut ;)
* how to chop ginger and garlic
In the end, we used some of the ingredients from the class to make an
Indian Styled Omelet inspired by one of my earlier recipes.
You basically roast in a dry skillet some
cumin seeds. Then add some
olive oil, garlic, ginger and red onions. Let everything cook until ginger and garlic become fragrant, and the onions become slightly translucent.You then add
green peppers and continue to cook for a few minutes. Season everything with
salt & pepper, add chopped
cherry tomatoes, and cook for a few minutes. Pour whisked
eggs with a touch of milk, and let the omelet cook until everything is set. Sprinkle with some
turmeric and top with
fresh basil.
Anna's fiance, Nathan, joined us for lunch, and everyone was very happy with results.
In March I'll be doing another knife skills lesson for
five people this time: Stephanie, Brian, Sylvie and Tammy.
If you are interested in a knife skills lesson and live in DC area, contact me!
P.S. A reader left a comment that some of my photographs take ages to load because their size is too huge. After double checking this fact with my Twitter followers, I decided to change the size of photographs I post (they'll still be 645x450, but be in a compressed format). Hopefully this will make your reading experience a lot faster and more enjoyable. If you have any other suggestions for my blog, don't hesitate to let me know: I promise I will consider them!