A FEW GOOD TECHNIQUES AND TIPS

I HAVE BEEN COOKING FOR SO LONG THAT IT IS EASY TO TAKE FOR GRANTED the skills and techniques I use in the kitchen every single day—both at work and at home. This came into especially sharp relief when I began preparing family meals with Anna, who did not grow up cooking. She would ask me to slow down or stop altogether while preparing dinner so that she could really master segmenting fruit, or understand how I make randomly chopped beets look good.

What follows are the techniques I returned to over and over while creating the recipes for this book. Take the time to learn them and soon enough they will become second nature to you, too.

Chopping—Knowing how to chop properly can considerably cut down on preparation time. A sharp kitchen knife is key, of course. But there’s more to it than that. Every chef knows that presentation is wildly important—it’s the first impression a diner gets and it matters. Which is why I have always chopped vegetables in a rather organic way, turning them a bit with each chop to create irregular shapes (but not irregular sizes). I have never been a fan of tomatoes cut into wedges or beets sliced into thick rounds—neither are the most appetizing ways to present these wonderful vegetables.

A tip: If you’re a righty, begin chopping to the far right of the chopping board and work to the left so that you avoid the temptation to scrape the chopped vegetables away with your knife, which dulls it. If you’re a lefty, do the opposite.

Beets: To chop a beet into bite-sized chunks, first trim and discard the ends. Cut the beet in half lengthwise and chop into ½-inch pieces, turning the beet slightly after each cut so that the pieces are not uniform in shape.

Tomatoes: Halve the tomato lengthwise and core, leaving the seeds in. Place the tomato, skin side down, on the cutting board and chop into ½-inch pieces, turning the tomato slightly after each cut so that the pieces are not uniform in shape.

Onions: My unorthodox technique for chopping onions wouldn’t fly at Le Cordon Bleu, but it goes much faster once you get it down!

To cut onions into slivers, trim the ends and halve lengthwise. Peel away the papery skin. Lay an onion half, cut side down, on the cutting board with a trimmed end facing you. Working from one side to the other, slice the onion into ⅛-inch-thick slices.

To dice an onion, trim the ends and halve lengthwise. Peel away the papery skin. Place an onion half, cut side down, on a cutting board, with the trimmed ends on the left and right. Working from one end to the other, cut the onion into ¼-inch-thick slices. Turn the onion so that a trimmed end is facing you and working from one side to the other, slice again ¼ inch thick, creating ¼-inch dice. As you reach the halfway mark, turn the onion on its side and work from right to left again.

Peppers: All bell peppers—red, green, orange, yellow—are fairly uniform in shape. They are cut depending on how they are used in a recipe. For example, I cut them into strips to make Sweet and Sour Peppers and Onions (here) and matchsticks when serving raw with dip as in Cucumber Yogurt Dip with Crudités and Warm Pita (here).

To cut into strips, trim closely to the root and stem ends and discard. Remove the pith and seeds entirely (if you hit a seed while chopping it can cause the knife to slip) and place on the cutting board, skin side down. Cut lengthwise into the flesh side into ½-inch-thick strips. To cut into matchsticks, trim the root and stem end more generously so that the pepper resembles a cylinder and proceed as above.

Sectioning Citrus—To section oranges, grapefruits, and lemons, first trim the ends and set a cut side on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, trim away the peel and pith, making curved vertical cuts into the fruit and working around it until the sections are exposed. Then, working over a bowl to catch the juices, hold the fruit in the palm of your hand and cut into each section with a sharp knife to release it from the membrane and into the bowl. Squeeze the membrane of all its juices and discard.