(upbeat music)
- Now, every good home cook
knows that a few knife skills
can save you a ton of time in the kitchen
and save your hands.
I'm Suzy with themediterraneandish.com.
Today in my kitchen I
have my very good friend,
Chef Laura King.
She is a renowned culinary instructor
here in the Atlanta, Georgia area,
and she's going to show
us Knife Skills 101.
You're going to want to stick around
to see how we slice, dice,
chop, and everything else.
Laura, take it away.
Tell us how to use a knife!
- Well, first it's really
important that you have
some safety tips about your knife.
- Okay.
How to hold the knife.
- Yes, how to hold the knife.
And of course, we're talking
about a chef's knife.
Which is important, because
there's so many knives out there
that people can use.
- So what's a chef's knife?
- So one of the ways you
know it's a chef's knife
because it has a right angle.
And that allows you to
do this rocking motion
with the chef's knife.
So if you don't have this right angle,
then you're going to be a
little bit at a disadvantage.
- Too wobbly, okay.
- Yeah.
- What about this, what I have here?
- So with your board also,
with your cutting board,
you want to make sure that
it is stable in some way.
Because if it's not--
- Okay, so this cheap thing is wobbly.
So what do I do?
- It doesn't really
matter that it's cheap.
You will want to put,
the best thing is to get a--
- Ah, look at you!
Wait, I got me one.
- To get a paper towel.
- I got me one, guys.
- Just wet your paper towel a little bit,
and then put it underneath your board,
and then your board will be stable.
- Oh my gosh, look at that!
Okay, perfect.
And then you've got your chef's knife,
and you've got your board nicely secured.
- You're ready.
- What happens from here?
- Yeah, let's talk
about holding the knife.
So if we're right-handed,
this is your hand that
will be on the knife,
and then you have your
guiding hand over here.
This needs to be kind of in a claw
so that you can actually do your knife
right next to your fingers
and you're not going to cut your fingers.
- And you're rocking your knife.
- That's right.
- Look at you rock your knife.
I have assembled a few
of my favorite veggies,
because you know we do a lot of vegetarian
in Mediterranean cooking,
and recipes will call for
chopping, dicing, slicing.
So let's show people
today what you would do
with some of what we have here.
So what should we start with?
- Well, why don't we
start with this carrot?
And you've already
peeled it and everything.
A couple different things to consider
with just a standard
slice of any vegetable,
and this is a perfect vegetable to use.
It would be the same if
you're going to do a cucumber
or a zucchini.
- Something long.
- Something long.
Even a celery that's long.
You can do something called a rondelle,
and it's just a round slice.
So you're holding this carrot here.
And again, we're stabling it.
Because when it rolls,
then you're going to slip.
So you're actually kind of
digging your fingers into it
just a smidge.
These two fingers are
actually on the board,
while these are kind of dug
into the vegetable itself.
- I'm going to practice, guys.
- It is a little more
challenging with nails.
- Sorry guys, I have nails.
I like nails, you know?
- And then what you're able to do is
point is always down on the board.
If I don't point, then I'm a
little more unbalanced here
and I'm trying to cut like this.
When you have this point down,
then you can steady yourself.
- So this would be a straightforward?
- Rondelle.
It's a round, symmetric slice.
- And you could obviously
adjust how thick or thin
you want your slice to be, okay.
- Okay, so maybe let's do
what is called a matchstick.
Right?
And what you will have to do,
if you have a round vegetable like this,
is you have to square it off first.
So I'm going to do my claw again,
and I'm going to come down
and all the way through
so that I have a flat surface to work with
and it's not rolling anymore.
And then I'm going to try
to make a right angle.
- Nice, okay.
- So I can make all of
these slices this way now,
and then make them even thinner.
And then I can have little matchsticks.
- Now I'm going to challenge you.
- Sure.
- I'm going to challenge
you with this guy.
What would you do with this?
I mean, it's cute, but
what would you do with it?
Because it's so odd-looking, you know?
- Well, how would you want to cook this?
I love this squash grilled.
It's wonderful, right?
It will make a nice salad.
- What if you want a little
quick ratatouille in a big pot?
- Yes, yes.
Again, you could do rondelle.
And all I would actually
do is cut this guy off here
and maybe you could cut him off,
but that's really your only,
if there's any waste on it.
- Scraps, yeah, okay.
- Yes.
And so let's just,
for the sake of making it
look pretty for the grill,
why don't we cut this guy here?
But I would use him for something else.
You could definitely rondelle.
You could do your
ratatouille slices, right?
If you're going to grill them.
You could also,
let's say we're going to dice.
Remember we have to have our flat surface.
- Okay.
- Okay?
So rondelle that.
And then when I get my
flat surface I'm going to--
- Square it up.
- Square it up.
And I'm going to go
ahead and make my slices.
- See, I'm catching on you guys.
I'm getting this.
This is working.
Now my stuff will look great.
- I'm going to go ahead
and make my slices here
out of the squash.
And then they're symmetric.
- So and then you stack
them on top of each other
to kind of save some time, right?
- And to go quicker, right.
And then we're going to make these
little small french fries again,
which are our little batonnets, right?
- And then from here,
do you do anything more?
Oh, you keep going, you keep going!
- You can.
You can turn them the
other direction, right?
And we have them all stacked up.
And then we're going to just
make what's called a small dice.
- Wow.
Now, this would work
also for other veggies.
- Oh yeah, definitely.
- Any veggie you want.
- And then you have this
beautiful little one-inch by--
- Oh my gosh, look how tiny they are.
It's perfect.
Now this guy is a little challenging
because you've got the core going on, too.
- Right.
- So how do you work with that?
- Just know how the
vegetable grows, right?
And where the seeds are.
The seeds in this are growing
right down the center,
and they actually don't go
all the way to the bottom.
So, again, back to our safety.
We're going to hold it.
- Right, steady it.
- And then I'm going
to bring my knife here,
and I'm actually going to come into it
and around those seeds.
- All right.
- And so when you see it, you can see
that the seeds are kind of coming there.
And so when I do the same on this side,
I will come around the seed.
- And you're just kind of
leaving that core part alone.
- Yep.
- Okay.
- And we can finally do that right there.
- Oh my gosh, and you've
got your core out.
Like super easy, you guys.
- And then from there you
can cut from this direction,
you can cut in, and same thing.
And then you're going to get--
- And that's your stir-fry cut.
Okay, now I'm really self-conscious
when I cook on camera
again, because I am not,
like, that's not my gift.
But I'm going to try.
I promise you, I'm going
to get better at it.
Okay, how about
I love garlic.
- I do, too.
- I use a ton of garlic
in Mediterranean cooking,
and sometimes a recipe will call for
minced versus chopped versus sliced.
What does that look like, size-wise?
I'm going to give you my garlic,
I'm going to take this here.
- Well, first the thing
is obviously knowing
what a bulb and a clove is,
which some people don't.
If your recipe calls for a bulb,
it's calling for the entire garlic.
- For the whole thing.
- Maybe a roasted clove.
- Is that the same as a head of garlic?
- Yes.
If a recipe calls just
for a clove of garlic,
then what you're doing
is you're opening this up
and you're actually pulling it apart.
This would be a great time
to use your paring knife
to come in and just open
up this a little bit.
And then you can put your
fingers in there and pull out.
And so then we have all of
these little cloves here.
But what you'll do in order to peel them,
which drives people crazy,
is you want to take the
back of your chef's knife,
you want to lay it on here.
- My favorite part!
- And you're going to
just pop it like that.
- Oh my gosh, I love it.
- And then you immediately have--
- Isn't that such a satisfying thing?
- It's awesome.
- I feel like if you're stressed
out one day you can just
grab a head of garlic and go after it.
- Clop the garlic.
And then you're kind of
halfway there already,
because it has smash.
- So now we are going to slice.
If you were just to slice it, you just--
- If you were just to slice
it, I would hold it here
and then I would just come through.
- Do your point and rock motion.
- Point and rock.
But then a lot of recipes,
most recipes call for it to be minced.
- Right, because you don't want to
bite on such a big piece of
garlic that it stays with you.
- Nobody wants that.
No, because that's--
(laughs)
- That is not good.
No kisses, no kisses.
All right, so let's dice.
- So we want it to mince.
And garlic has a lot of sugar in it.
So it starts to get really sticky.
- Yes, interesting.
That's why whenever I'm
done working with it
my hands are so...
- That's the sugar that's in it.
And that's why when we
cook it just a little bit
it brings out the amazing
flavor that it has.
- Tons of flavor, yeah.
- So you're just going to
run your knife through it.
And then this is what
we call mincing garlic.
- And you're just going to go after it
until you get to that
size that you feel is good
for your recipe.
- And I'm going to rake it back together,
and then I'm going to put my
fingers on top of my knife.
- To steady yourself.
- And do a rocking motion, right.
But just make sure you keep
your fingers out of the way,
and then keep that knife.
And then we're just raking it off,
bringing it back together.
- Okay, shall we end this
party, this cutting party,
with a little bit of parsley
to show people how this would apply here?
- Yes.
- What do you typically do with the stems?
Because I find there's a lot
of good flavor in the stems.
So I don't like to remove the whole thing.
And I certainly don't
want to spend the time
going like this, right?
So what do you do?
- So of course it depends
on what you're going to use it for,
but I am all about
using the stems of herbs
because there is a ton of flavor there.
And they're edible, and
why throw them away?
- And save time.
- I'm literally just
going to take my knife,
and I'm going to do
what's called a rough chop
and go all the way through it, right?
- And if you want to go smaller then you?
- Then I rake it back together.
Once it gets a pile though,
then you really need
to move to this motion.
Then you're able to just
run your knife through it
just like this.
- This is awesome.
Chef Laura, thank you so much.
You guys, this is going
to save you a ton of time.
I hope you watch this
video over and over again.
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See you there.
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