Cooking Class : A Couple of Handy Skills I Learnt

From my recent experiences at L'Atelier des Chefs I would like to share with you two techniques I thought were rather handy and would be useful for you too:

1. Finely dicing onions (which is supposed to not make you cry!)
2. The 'Finger-to-Thumb' steak test

I have also realised that these will be quite hard for you to visualise so I have included two hand drawn diagrams to help.... hopefully!!

1. When preparing the main course for my French cooking class I had to master the art of finely dicing a shallot (a more skinner type of onion for those of you who are not aware). This was a technique I had not mastered and I was advised if done properly it also assisted in preventing the awful bout of tears that follows when one usually cuts an onion.

I was very intrigued to learn the most efficient way to finely dice an onion as they are considered a constant tear-jerker vege for me. I was informed this technique (if done correctly) is not supposed to make you cry, however I did end up crying a teeny bit so clearly I still need to master this skill at home!!

To start with you needed to cut one end off the onion, peel the skin back and discard. Slice the onion horizontally starting from one end to the other, making sure not to cut straight through to the intact end of the onion. Then turn the knife sideways and slice the onion again in about three or four layers depending on its size. Final step is to slice the onion vertically using the point of the knife and press down to slice through the onion, then slide the knife through, repeat all the way through to the intact end of the onion. One important point to note is that you do need to invest in a good quality sharp knife!

NB: A note on the whole 'onion-cryinging-thing' is that it is often when you 'bruise' or bash the onion so its own juices come out that you start crying. The onion juices are attracted to the nearest liquid which is usually the liquid in your eye (believe it or not!). Another solution to help with this is to put a glass of water next to you when you chop onions. Also a pair of sunglasses may do the trick...

2. The 'Finger-to-Thumb' technique is used to check if a steak is cooked to your liking was a very exciting idea to me. For some reason this skill had never come across my radar and I was an avid pre-meal steak cutter to check if it was cooked through to my liking whilst it was still in the pan - therefore serving a steak with a cut in it - not ideal. So basically this technique is as easy as feeling different parts of your hand to reveal how you like your steak cooked : rare, medium-rare and well-done. Touch the middle of your steak with your finger when cooking it to feel the springy-ness. The below will tell you how to cook to your liking:

Rare : Feel the piece of skin between your thumb and forefinger on your hand palm side down
Medium-rare : Feel the piece of skin on the heel of your palm when your thumb and forefinger are touching (palm side up)
Well-done : Do exactly the same for the medium-rare test but using your thumb and middle finger

And there you have it! No more cutting steak mid cooking - you can now cook the perfect steak with this great little technique!