There is a little known secret that chef’s use when chopping up all of their various mise en place. In order to ensure proper safety and avoid slip sliding all over the counter top, chefs often use a clean, wet kitchen towel underneath their cutting boards. This keeps the cutting board firmly in place, making it easier to slice, dice, chop, and julienne, all without the unnecessary risk of cutting oneself. In professional kitchens, chefs of ten use large polyethylene cutting boards, not glass. It is especially important to avoid cutting boards made of glass, as they will ruin high-quality knives. Always be sure to use a sanitized cutting board, and remember to change cutting boards (or treat the cutting board with a sanitizing solution of bleach and water. Certain types of Clorox Wipes also work well) when butchering raw meats and seafood, in combination with other foods. This is to avoid the outbreak of food borne illness, such as salmonella poisoning. Finally, remember to always keep your kitchen knives sharp. It is essential to maintain a sharp edge on cutlery. Dull knives are actually more dangerous than sharp ones. If your knife is in need of sharpening, invest in a small sharpening stone (about $14) from a restaurant supply company like Restaurant Depot or GFS and some mineral oil so you can sharpen your knives at home.

Our most common cooking class at Mirepoix is Knife Skills 1.0. Over the years, we’ve taught this class a myriad of different ways, and now I think we’ve found the best way to teach this very important topic. Our Knife Skills 1.0 class, like all of our other classes, is completely hands-on. Students learn best when they do it themselves instead of watching a demonstration-only format.

We also change our Knife Skills 1.0 class seasonally to feature ingredients that will be used in recipes that make sense for that particular time of year, so, even if you already took Knife Skills in the summer, we have something different to offer in the fall.

Knife Skills 2.0 features ingredients that are in season, but, more importantly, more difficult to prepare. We select produce and meats that people enjoy eating but may not know how to trim, slice and dice. Like Knife Skills 1.0, this class also changes twice a year to feature different seasonal ingredients.

Finally, Knife Skills 3.0 is our most advanced Knife course. This course outlines basic cuts of meat and proper “butchery” techniques. Learning how to cut and trim meat yourself is economical when money is tight.

Good cooking begins with good ingredients, but also the right tools, as discussed in an earlier post, “Tools of the Trade - Cook Like a Chef”. We recommend three knives to get you started – a chef’s knife, paring knife, and a boning knife. Of course there are other knives that you will eventually need, but we recommend starting with these three as they are the most commonly used.

Selecting a chef’s knife is important. Below you will find some tips to help you select the best knife for you.

Forged versus Stamped
The weight and balance of a chef's knife is said to depend on how the blade was manufactured. Forging, which involves pounding a relatively thick, red-hot billet of steel into shape under extreme pressure using a forging hammer and die, produces a slightly thicker, heavier blade. A forged knife also has a bolster, the thick piece of metal between the blade and the handle. A bolster adds weight, is said to improve the balance between the blade and handle, and can protect your fingers by separating them from the cutting edge.

Other knives have stamped blades, which began life as thin sheets of steel. Blade-shaped blanks are punched out on a huge press, almost like cookies being cut from rolled dough. Manufacturing techniques now allow bolsters to be attached to knives with stamped blades.

Heavy vs. Light
When you’re buying a knife, you are looking for something that feels good in your hand. It is nicely weighted, moves easily and feels balanced. We have a collection of both 8 and 10” Chef’s Knives, and each of the Mirepoix Cooking School staff has their preference for individual reasons. I prefer a 10” knife. I like the heavier weight and find it easy to use when cutting up hearty vegetables like hard squashes, melons, etc. Some others on my staff prefer the 8” because it is easier to use.

10” knives are heavier, so if that’s something you prefer, you might want to go with that. If you feel that the 10” is too large to handle, then the 8” is the right knife for you. A good knife, no matter the length, will be nicely weighted.

Price vs. Cost
A good knife is an investment. Most of my chefs have owned their knives since attending culinary school (for us that was about 10+ year ago). If you take good care of your knife, it is something you will be able to use for many, many years.

Caring for Your Knives – The 10 Commandments

1.Do NOT put your knives in the dishwasher
2.Do NOT use an electric sharpener to sharpen your knives
3.Do NOT store your knives in a drawer or in any other manner that would allow them to bump up against each other or something else
4.Do NOT put your knives in the sink
5.Do NOT take your knives to be sharpened by anyone who is going to “grind them”
6.Do NOT attempt to sharpen serrated knives
7.DO use the right knife for the job – not all knives are interchangeable
8.DO remember to sharpen your knife at least twice a year
9.DO use an oil stone to sharpen your knives
10.DO remember to use a steel on your knife at least every other time you use it

To learn more about the Mirepoix Cooking School or to register for a class, go to www.mirepoixcookingschool.

“Everything in its right place” isn’t just the title of one of my favorite Radiohead songs; it’s one of the fundamentals of proper cooking. The term mise en place, literally means “put in place”. Simply put, gathering all of your ingredients and utensils is an important step in food preparation. You could say that organization and foresight are the first two ingredients in any recipe.

At Mirepoix, I am known for being obsessively single-minded about our mission and our brand. Since our mission is to “teach people to cook and think like professional chefs”, the principle of mise en place is reinforced at every class for two very practical reasons.The first being that we are on a tight schedule; 3.5 hours isn’t as long as you think it is when you are working on preparing over 12 recipes! Secondly, being organized and neat is essential to kitchen safety.

More importantly, though, applying the basics of mise en place in your kitchen will aide in your quest to become a more competent cook, and, it makes the process much more enjoyable! After all, cooking is a lot of work; you should at least have a good time! I am often saying that people make things way too hard on themselves – don’t complicate it and don’t drag it out! Good cooking, as well as peaceable living is easy, not hard!

Here are the three basic things that working like a professional chef will do to enhance your next culinary undertaking:

Avoid an emergency trip to the pantry, neighbor or, worse – the grocery store at a critical step in your recipe
Save time
Better tasting food

Avoid an emergency trip - By gathering, trimming, dicing, and measuring all of your ingredients first, you will be able to avoid the inevitable and annoying realization that you are out of, or don’t have enough of a particular ingredient. The order of events should literally be: read the recipe, gather ingredients, wash/trim/slice/dice, measure. All of your prepped ingredients should be lined up (not combined) in small dishes or containers so that you can check one last time to ensure that you have everything you need, and in the right quantities. The LAST step is the cooking.

This is the LEAST fun part of cooking, the “grunt work”, but it is the most important part in order to make good tasting and properly prepared food. In restaurants, we spend hours getting everything cleaned, prepped and ready to go before service. When a chef begins service, everything he or she needs is right at hand, and ready to use. He isn’t peeling and dicing carrots in between meal tickets – this has been done hours before.

Save time - by doing all of the necessary prep work, you will be able to quickly and seamlessly prepare the recipe, simply because all of your ingredients and utensils will be at hand. At this point, it’s just assembly and proper cooking technique.

Better tasting food - You won’t be as likely to burn or scorch a pan because you are chopping cilantro, peeling carrots or dicing the remaining ingredients. By having everything in its place, you never have to be distracted because of disorganization or poor planning.

To learn more about the Mirepoix Cooking School, visit our website at www.mirepoixcookingschool.com and register for one of our classes!