Day 3: Slap Chop: Remix

Previously, my knife skills were limited to Vince's Slap Chop advice (I prefer the remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA).

On Wednesday, I learned the first step toward creating my own remix, better known as "Knife Skills". Our chef instructor taught us how to chop celery and carrots, medium dice potatoes (perfect cubes, or so they were supposed to be), dice parsley and cut an onion. Learning the proper way to cut an onion was the coolest part, since you make a hand full of slices, and voila, you have a completely chopped onion.

Following our knife skills lesson the advisor from career services gave us a presentation on all of the resources the career center offers. On top of helping us set up our internships, she mentioned volunteer opportunities and organizations we could join across the city. The first opportunity I am interested in is cooking in a kitchen that supplies nutritious food to individuals with HIV and AIDS. This is a really great way to give back to community while sharpening my skills. I also want to apply for the opportunity to cook in the James Beard Foundation assisting a guest chef. There are so many influential chefs that cook in this kitchen, it would be a culinary dream come true. I am so excited to have these options at my finger tips and can't wait to start taking advantage of them.

After the lecture I was so excited about my new knife skills, so I headed to the Green Market in Union Square to pick up some fresh new practice. I decided to make an Israeli salad, containing chopped cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, diced parsley, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and salt & pepper. It was a ton of fun seeing how much easier it was to prepare with my new skills.