Quick Recipes and Easy Recipes for Busy Families and Kids

The best collection of fast and easy to make recipes for the busy family with kids or couple. Food on your table in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to your busy life.

Knife Skills and Knife Techniques

Using Your Knife Safely

Safety is the number one priority when it comes to preparing food. When preparing quick and fast recipes, the worst thing you can do is to hurt yourself or others when cooking. Take caution when using a knife and follow the general guidelines.

1. Think about what you are doing.
2. Use the correct knife for the task at hand.
3. Always cut away from yourself.
4. Keep knives sharp. A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one.
5. Hold the point down and parallel to and close to your leg when carrying a knife.
6. Do not attempt to catch a falling knife.
7. Never leave a knife in a sink of water. Injuries may result from anyone reaching into the sink. The knife may get damaged by cookware or other utensils.

Caring For Your Knife

Knife Sharpening

A sharp knife is a chef's most useful tool. Preparing food with a dull knife is inefficient and even dangerous. You can employ the services of a knife sharpening service or you can sharpen your knife yourself. There are a variety of different tools to sharpen your knife with. A whetstone is one of my favorites. A whetstone is a sharpening stone that is used to sharpen dull knives. It is a low cost tool that you can use frequently to ensure a sharp blade.

1. Wet the stone with water or mineral oil (not both). Do not use vegetable oil because it will get rancid and gummy.
2. Place the heel of the blade against the whetstone at a 20-degree angle.
3. Press down on the blade while pushing it away from you in one long arc. Imagine slicing off a thin piece of stone. The entire length of the blade should come in contact with the stone at each sweep. (With a triple-faced stone, arc from coarsest to the finest surface)
4. Repeat on both sides of the blade until sufficiently sharp.

Knife Straightening

Knives will aquire nicks and dents on the cutting edge making your knife less effective at cutting and preparing your cooking ingredients. A sharp knife loses it's effectiveness when the edge is not true or straight. A steel is used to hone or straighten a knife immediately after and between sharpenings.

1. Place the heel of the blade against the heel of the steel at a 20-degree angle. The edge pointed towards the heel of the steel.
2. Draw the blade along the entire length of the steel in one long arc.
3. Repeat on several times on each side of the blade.

Washing

To maintain the life of your knife, always hand wash and dry your knives immediately after each use. Do not wash knives in commercial dishwashers. Heat and harsh chemicals can damage the edge and the handle. The edge may also get damaged if it knocks against cookware or utensils. A knife is an investment and a well treated knife can last a life time.

Gripping Your Knife

There are several ways to grip a knife. Use the grip that feels the most comfortable and use the grip that is proper for the task at hand. All grips should be firm but not so tight that it will tire your hand. A proper grip will complement your cutting task at hand and make food preparation so much easier and will decrease your chance of injury.

Most Common Grip

Hold the handle with three fingers while gripping the blade between the thumb and index finger.

Most Common Grip (variation)

Grip the handle with four fingers with gripping the blade with the thumb.

Under Hand Grip (for boning knives)

Grip the handle in a fist with four fingers and thumb. This grip allows you to use the knife tip to cut around joints and separate flesh from the bone.

Controlling Your Knife

Always keep safety in mind when cutting. To safely produce even cuts, you must control (or guide) your knife with one hand and hold the item being cut with the other. Use smooth even strokes and never force the blade. A dull knife or excessive force is a significant safety risk and produces poor results. Cutting without using your hand as a guide is also dangerous.

Method A (Using the knife’s tip as a fulcrum)

1. Keep your finger tips curled back and grip the item with three fingertips and your thumb.
2. While keeping the knife’s tip on the cutting board, lift the heel of the knife.
3. Use the second joint of your index finger as a guide. Cut a slice using a smooth, even, downward stroke. Adjusting the guiding finger after each slice.
4. After a few cuts, slide your fingertips and thumb down the item and continue slicing.

Method B (Using your wrist as a fulcrum)

1. Keep your finger tips curled back and grip the item with three fingertips and your thumb.
2. Use the second joint of your index finger as a guide.
3. Lift the knife’s tip and slice by drawing the knife slightly back toward you and down through the item.
4. The motion of the knife should come almost entirely form the wrist and not the elbow. Use the weight of the knife to do most of the work.

Cutting With Your Knife

Cutting items smaller in pieces of the same size and shape ensures even cooking and enhances the appearance of your finished product.

Slicing

To slice is to cut an item into thin pieces. Slicing is used to create a variety of cuts: the chiffonade, rondelle, diagonal, oblique or roll cuts, and lozenges.

Chiffonade

A chiffonade is a preparation of leafy vegetables into a finely sliced or shredded form. Chiffonades are used for garnishes and as a base for cold presentations.

1. Wash and remove the stems from the leaves.
2. Stack several leaves and roll them tightly like a cigar.
3. Hold the leaf roll tightly and make fine slices across the leaves.

Rondelles or Rounds

Rondelles or Rounds are disk-shaped slices of cylindrical fruits and vegetables.

1. Peel the item (if necessary)
2. Make even slices at a 90 degree angle.

Diagonals

Diagonals are oval-shaped slices of cylindrical fruits and vegetables.

1. Peel the item (if necessary)
2. Make even slices at a desired angle.

Chopping (Parsley)

1. Wash in cold water and drain well.
2. Remove the parsley sprigs from the stems.
3. Grip the knife in one hand. Spread the other hand flat on top of the knife.
4. Using the tip of the knife as a fulcrum, rock the curved blade along the item.
5. Place the chopped parsley in a towel or double layer of cheese cloth. Rinse under cold water and squeeze out as much water as possible. The result is dry and fluffy parsley.

Chopping (Garlic)

1. Break the head of garlic into individual cloves with your hands.
2. Crush the cloves using the flat edge of a chef’s knife or a mallet enough to cause the peel to break.
3. Remove the garlic from the peel.
4. Grip the knife in one hand. Spread the other hand flat on top of the knife.
5. Using the tip of the knife as a fulcrum, rock the curved blade along the item.
6. (To produce paste, place the edge of the knife at an angle facing away from you and drag the edge of the knife toward you along the cutting board to mash the garlic. Repeat as necessary.)

Dicing

Cutting into sticks is to cut an item into rectangular pieces. Dicing is to cut an item into cubes.

There are several types of dicing categorized by the size and shape: Julienne, Allumette, Batonnet, Small Dice (macedoine), Brunoise, Medium Dice (Jardinière), Large Dice (Mirepoix), and Paysanne.

Julienne

Stick-shaped (1/16” by 1/16” by 1-2”) (1-2 mm by 1-2 mm by 2.5-4 cm)

Allumette

Stick-shaped (1/8” by 1/8” by 2-2 ½”) (3 mm by 3 mm by 5-6 cm)

Batonnet

Stick-shaped (1/4” by 1/4” by 2-2 ½”) (6 mm by 6 mm by 5-6 cm)

Small Dice (Macedoine)

Cube-shaped (1/8” by 1/8” by 1/8”) (3 mm by 3 mm by 3mm)

Brunoise

Cube-shaped (1/16” by 1/16” by 1/16”) (1-2 mm by 1-2 mm by 1-2 mm)

Medium Dice (Jardinière)

Cube-shaped (1/4” by 1/4” by 1/4”) (6 mm by 6 mm by 6 mm)

Large Dice (Mirepoix)

Cube-shaped (1/2” by 1/2” by 1/2”) (12 mm by 12 mm by 12 mm)

Paysanne

Rectangular or triangular shaped (1/2” by 1/2” by 1/8”) (12 mm by 12 mm by 3 mm)

Cutting Sticks (Julienne, Allumette, Batonnet)

1. Peel item (if necessary)
2. Slice into desired length.
3. Slice into desired thickness. Julienne (1/16”) (1-2 mm), Alumette (1/8”) (3 mm), Batonnet (1/4”) (6 mm)
4. Stack slices and cut them into sticks or planks of the same thickness.

Cutting Cubes

1. Peel item (if necessary)
2. Slice into desired thickness. Brunoise (1/16”) (1-2 mm), Small Dice (1/8”) (3 mm), Medium Dice (1/4”) (6 mm), Large Dice (1/2”) (12 mm)
3. Stack slices and cut them into sticks or planks of the same thickness.
4. Stack sticks and cut them into cubes. (cutting 1/2” by 1/2” sticks into 1/8” slices produces a Paysanne cut)

Paysanne

Paysanne is a classic vegetable cut.

1. Peel item (if necessary)
2. Slice into desired thickness. (1/2”) (12 mm)
3. Stack slices and cut them into sticks or planks of the same thickness.
4. Stack sticks and cut them into 1/8” slices.

Dicing an Onion

1. Use a paring knife to remove the stem end.
2. Trim the root end.
3. Peel away the outer skin.
4. Cut the onion in half along the stem and the root.
5. Place the cut side down on the cutting board.
6. Cut parallel slices through the onion leaving the root end intact.
7. Make horizontal cuts through the width of the onion leaving the root end intact.
8. Cut perpendicular slices to produce diced onion.
9. Repeat with the other half.

Mincing

To mince or finely chop is to cut an item into very small pieces.

Mincing an Onion

1. Use a paring knife to remove the stem end.
2. Trim the root end.
3. Peel away the outer skin.
4. Cut the onion in half along the stem and the root.
5. Place the cut side down on the cutting board.
6. Cut parallel slices through the onion leaving the root end intact.
7. Make horizontal cuts through the width of the onion leaving the root end intact.
8. Cut thin perpendicular slices. (Thinner than as with diced onions).
9. Grip the knife in one hand. Spread the other hand flat on top of the knife.
10. Using the tip of the knife as a fulcrum, rock the curved blade along the item.
11. Repeat with the other half.