Chop It, Dice It, Mince It
For our first cooking technique, we are starting with the basics: how to cut up all of those little ingredients. I always read recipes that call for “chopped onion” or “minced garlic” but ended up cutting everything the same way. Interestingly, the way we cut our food actually contributes to the overall flavor and texture of the dish. With that in mind, let’s learn the correct way to cut up all of our ingredients!
Before we cut anything, we need to make sure we are holding our knife correctly. Pinch your knife with your thumb and index finder where the handle meets the blade and wrap the rest of your fingers on the handle below.
Also, make sure you keep the hand that is stabilizing your food in a “claw” shape. Your knuckles will act as a “guide” for your knife and prevent the blade from cutting your fingers!
Now that we are all holding our knives correctly. Here are 3 popular cutting techniques that are called for in many different recipes:
Chop: Most of us probably already know how to chop, but there are a couple of tricks that can make chopping more efficient. First, move your knife in a rocking motion to utilize the full blade and get a clean cut.
Next, if you are chopping something round like an onion, start by cutting it in half. Place the flat side face down on your cutting board and make small vertical slices along the lines of the onion without separating it from the root.
Then, make horizontal cuts up the onion (the opposite direction of the cuts you just made) about halfway through the onion.
Finally, hold the sliced bits together and chop until you get to the root. The result should be perfectly chopped cubes that are ready to use! (p.s. if you keep the root on the onion until you are finished chopping, it will prevent your eyes from watering while you cut).
Dice: When dicing, it is important to try to get all of the pieces approximately the same size. It is easiest to achieve this by first cutting your vegetable in long, even strips then lining the strips up and dicing from there. Make sure you use the same rocking motion you did while chopping (moving from the tip of the knife to the base) to get a nice cut.
Mince: Mincing is most commonly used with garlic, and it is basically a very very fine chop. Before you mince the garlic, you are going to want to peel it. For a garlic peeling hack, place it in very hot water for about a minute, and the skin will peel off effortlessly.
Next, put a garlic clove under the flat side of your knife and pound a fist on it to thoroughly smash the clove.
After you have smashed the garlic, plant the tip of your knife on your cutting board and use the same chopping motion rapidly until you have achieved a very fine chop. As you cut, the pieces will spread out, so you can keep gathering it all up into a condense pile to cut more efficiently.
Time to practice! We are going to cut up the ingredients in this week’s recipe ahead of time so it is all prepped when we are ready to cook. On Friday, Sam and I will be posting our version of The Defined Dish’s “Lamb Ragu with Riggatoni.” This recipe incorporates a few of our new cutting skills and looks absolutely delicious! Here is what you need:
The meat:
4 lbs. boneless lamb leg (I have had a hard time finding lamb, so you could substitute another meat)
The produce/cheese:
1/2 of a large onion (I will be using a yellow onion)
2 carrots
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley
parmesan cheese (get a block and grate it yourself for the best flavor)
The spices:
kosher salt
black pepper
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
dried oregano
The pantry:
flour or arrowroot starch (I chose arrowroot starch)
olive oil
beef broth
red wine (optional, but if you use it get something cheap for cooking with)
28 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes
tomato paste
rigatoni or pappardelle pasta (I am going to try to find some handmade pasta)
The Recipe:
To make sure I give credit where credit is due, here is the link to The Defined Dish’s recipe for you to cook from! I encourage you to check out more recipes from The Defined Dish and pick up a copy of her cookbook! She has so many amazing recipes that include modifications to make your meals Whole 30, Keto, or Paleo compliant.
The Wine:
With a hearty, red meat/red sauce dish like this one, we definitely want to pair it with a heavier wine. Also, because it is a classic Italian dish, we wanted to have a classic Italian wine. Some recommendations would be Chianti, Sangiovese, or Barbera. I went to Total Wine this week and chose a 2013 Montemaggio Chianti Classico for $26. This will be our first time trying this wine, so take this recommendation with a grain of salt. We will see how we feel about it on Friday!
We have our technique, recipe, ingredient list, and wine recommendation, so let’s go shopping! See you all on Friday for our fabulous Italian inspired meal!
