How to Preparer most important vegetables for the soups, chowders and stews:

Cutting vegetables is an art. The expertise comes only after many bags of onions and many stalks of celery. But it does come.

There are six vegetables like Onions, celery, carrots, garlic and shallots_ essential to the preparation of many stocks, soups, chowders, stews and more… each is cut in a slightly different way. Parsley, an equally important vegetable in the kitchen, requires no special cutting technique. Rich in vitamins A and C, parsley is used in many recipes.

Onions:

Cut a thin slice from the neck of the onion with a paring knife and remove the skin from the neck to the root end, folding the skin back rather than cutting it. Trim the root end but don’t cut deeply into it. It is the section which the onion layers are attached, and it holds the onion intact on the cutting board as it is being cut.

Diced:
Cut the peeled onion in half from neck to root end.

Place flat side of onion on the cutting board with root to your left (if you are right- handed). Holding the knife over the onion, make vertical lengthwise cuts from root end to stem end. The thickness of these slices will vary: for small dice, cut 1/4- inch slices; medium dice, ½- inch slices; large dice, ¾ - inch slices.

Hold the blade horizontal to the cutting board and cut lateral slices to ward the root end of the onion, choosing thickness of dice required. Don’t cut into the root end. The onion must stay intact.

Now cut a vertical slice across the onion, choosing the thickness desired.

Dice remaining half of onion in the same manner.

Finely Chopped:

Slices should be cut 1/8 – inch thick chopped.
For extremely fine pieces, continue chopping until all particles are no larger than 1/16 inch.

Julienne:
Cut the peeled onion in half through the root end, and place flat on the cutting board, root end to the left. Beginning at the stem end of the onion cut vertical slices across the onion __1/8- inch thick. Toss the slices with finger tips to separate slices. The slices will separate into julienne strips when stirred with a spoon.

Sliced
Cut a thin slice off one side of a peeled whole onion so that it will rest flat on the cutting board. Place the onion on its flat side, root end to the left. Make vertical, parallel slices of desired thickness.

Celery:

In most soups and stews only the outer stalks of celery are used. The small inner stalks are usually served as iced celery hearts or used in salads. Stalks should be separated, washed and scrubbed with a vegetable brush. Cut off the leaves unless the recipe calls for them. If the stalks are large and tough, peel them with a vegetable peeler with a floating blade to remove the stringy outer portion.

Diced:
With the knife point at the narrow end of the stalk, cut celery lengthwise into strips. For small dice, strips should be ¼ -inch wide; medium dice, 1/2 –inch wide, and large dice, ¾ - inches wide. Hold the celery strips in a bundle in the left hand and cut across strips to make dice of the proper size.

Chopped:
Cut the celery into large dice, as above, and chop until celery is reduce to the desire size.

Julienne:
Cut the celery stalk laterally into slices no thicker than 1/8 -inch. Cut crosswise into 1 1/2 – inch pieces. Cut pieces lengthwise no larger than 1/8 –inch.

Carrots:

Small, young and tender carrots need not be peeled for most soups, while large carrots are peeled before they are cut into various shapes. Carrots used in making stock needn’t be peeled in either case, since they will be discarded with the other vegetables used in making the stock.

Sliced:

Cut a thin lengthwise strip off each carrot. The slice should be just thick enough to permit the carrot to rest on the cutting board without wobbling. Cut the carrots crosswise into ¼ - or ½ -inch slices, or diagonally if desired.

Diced:
Cut the carrot to rest flat on the cutting board. If the carrots are large, cut into several lengthwise pieces about 3 inches long. Cut slices lengthwise into the desired thickness of the dice.
Place strips in a bundle to hold in the left hand while cutting them crosswise into desire dice.

Julienne:

Cut as above instead small dice, cut to 1/2 -inch length. Cut the lengthwise strip into 1/8-inch-thick pieces.

Garlic and Shallots:

Usually these flavoring vegetables are chopped extremely fine except for a few instances when they are lightly crushed under the flat of a knife or left a whole for a sachet or bouquet garni. Garlic comes in a cluster called bulb or head, which separates into sections called cloves. To separate the cloves, place the whole bulb on the cutting board at an angle. Holding it with the left hand, strike it solid blows with the palm of your right hand until the cloves come apart.

To peel garlic or a shallot place the clove on a cutting board. With the flat side of a French knife against it, strike the blade with a blow of the fist. The clove will be partly crushed and the skin loosened. Remove the skin and discard. Place the partly crushed garlic or shallot on the cutting board and chop with the knife tip on the board.

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As a first good cooking habit, learning to read recipes through. Think about what you’re supposed to be doing and why. Consider the time it will take and give yourself leeway so you don’t get flustered.

Taste

The only way to get the most from a recipe is to taste while you are making a dish _ that is, taste critically and taste often, at different stages of cooking. Recipe instructions frequently say “correct seasonings,” a most important piece of advice that is usually ignored. What you want to achieve is a balance of flavors. Actually there are only four possible tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter (coffee, for example, is bitter), and you won’t encounter all of them necessarily at once. To understand, think of making a glass of lemonade, where the balance between sour (acid lemon juice) and sweet (sugar) is critical. If the balances are right, the drink is pleasing. Of course, other factors are also important: the use of good, fresh lemon juice, a clean glass, and just the right amount of ice so the lemonade is chilled but not diluted.

When you are first learning to cook it is hard to know what ingredients integrate harmoniously and how to balance taste. You learn by doing; practice is the only way to develop that taste judgment. A fledgling artist expects to ruin some canvases in the learning process and knows that not every picture will be a museum piece. The same applies to cooking, so be prepared to have less than perfect results at the first. And never stop tasting, no matter how experienced you think you have become. When tasting food, move it around your mouth rather than just tasting with the tip of your tongue so that all your taste buds are working to make the proper evaluation.

Start their preparation. If there are unfamiliar techniques involved in a recipe that is new to you, immerse yourself in the entire general introductory material first so that you’ll understand the principles underlying what you’re about to attempt.

A second and almost equally important habit – one that develops with experience – is to start thinking in the market, especially when you’re planning dishes that depend on specific fresh produce, like particular cut of meat, or a kind of fish, clams, certain vegetables and fruits.

You will not only cook more economically if you look for what’s “on special” or what’s in season, but the end result will taste much better when you use ingredients that are at their peak of flavor. Try not to have your heart set on certain items and then pay an exorbitant price for hothouse versions that lack the quality of the real thing. Be flexible in choosing recipes, and be open to alternatives.

It’s intelligent and creative to think ahead, both when you’re in the market and your own kitchen. Shop for several interrelated meals at a time and do the more time – consuming preparation when you know you’re going to be around the house. For working people, as well as other cooks, it may be easiest to cook a big roast and a large stew on the weekend and then use the cooked meat in various ways on week nights when time is more limited. If you know you are having people for the weekend, pick a few hours earlier in the week to do a lot of the initial cooking so you’ll be free when your guests are around.

If you have a well – stocked freezer there is no need to buy a lot of “convenience” foods, which are expensive and usually not very satisfying. What you’re doing is furnishing your own kinds of convenience supplies. If in addition, you keep a well – stocked pantry and freezer, you’ll feel a great sense of well- being with everything at your finger tips.

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Although one is certainly able to make fish without any special equipment, there are a few that make the job much easier.

Knives

Chef’s knife: a large heavy knife with a 20 – 25 cm ( 8 – 10 in) blade, it is essential for cutting fish and steaks, as well s splitting open crustaceans.

Filleting knife: for filleting and skinning fish, this knife has a flexible blade. The blade is at least 15 cm long.

Kitchen scissors: a pair of sharp and sturdy scissors is great for cutting of tails and fins.

Fish scalar: this resembles a rough grater, and is great to have around.

Pans

Fish kettle: A fish kettle is long and deep, and has rounded edges. There is a handle at each end and a tightly fitting lid. Inside is a rack to lay the fish on. This is an invaluable pan for the cooking of whole fish. They can also be used to steam other foods.

Oval frying pan: odds are you already have one in your house. This is a very practical tool. This pan will enable you to cook whole fish instead of bending them to fit a round pan.

Griddle pan: this is a rib cast iron girdle pan that is ideal for searing and grilling fish. They may be round oval or rectangular.

Steamer: If you love to steam food, a stainless steel steamer may be perfect for you. They have a lidded deep outer pan and an inner basket. The best thing to do is to choose the widest pan you can find. You may also opt for a bamboo steaming basket that is an economical alternative. They come in a great variety of sizes. These baskets may also be stacked on top of one another so that food may be cooked at one time.

Wok: a 35 cm wok with a lid will be large enough to deal with most types of fish. This wok will also prove to be invaluable as a kitchen source for a variety of food items.

Specialty items

Barbecue grilling rack: a hinged rack as such makes cooking and turning a large fish very easy. These may be rectangular or round. They also have large handles. Some are made in the shape of a fish, and some are made to fit several sardines. Make sure you il the grilling pan beforehand so that the fish do not stick.
Smoker: this may be as simple as a lidded metal box with a rack to hold the fish. The smoke produced by placing damp aromatic wood chippings and herbs give the fish extra flavor. One may also buy an electric smoker.

Fish lifter: this represents an elongated fish slice and is curved and useful for flipping over whole fish during cooking without breaking them.

Tweezers: use these to extract small bones from fish fillets.

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