When it comes to fruit decorating a simple strawberry is the cat’s meow for getting the job done quickly and easily. Whether you are trying to add a garnish to an individual plate or enhance the look of a large platter of foods a strawberry will do the job nicely.
The first thing you can do is the fan. Pick out 8 to 10 large strawberries from the pint you just bought. Wash them carefully and set them on the cutting board. For this garnish we will leave the stem on. Take a small tapered paring knife and make a series of parallel cuts in the berry, by holding on to the stem end and pulling the knife back toward you. You do this by pointing your knife down, inserting it just below the stem all the way through the berry to the board and then come straight back toward yourself. Move over and make another cut about 1/8th of an inch away identical to the first.
Continue across the berry, each time inserting the blade completely through to the board and pulling down and back. You will find that you can usually make at least 6 to 8 cuts. When you finish you will have several parallel slices that are all still attached to the stem. Now you simply push gently near the top of the berry to the left or right and the strawberry will flatten and resemble a fan. You can exaggerate this a little more by gently pinching it between your thumb and forefinger.
This will go great as an individual fruit decoration to a plate or it can be used to accent your fruit or dessert platter. You can sprinkle a hint of sugar on this to make it glisten and put on a lemon leaf if you want to get really fancy.
A variation of this technique will build a Mumm-like flower. Pick out the largest strawberry from the pint. Wash it and lay it stem side down. Now as you look down on it start on the outside edges and make a cut near the point of the berry as it looks up to you. Slice down with the tip of your blade staying just below the surface of the strawberry skin. You need to go deep enough to get a nice layer, but not too deep as you will be coming back to find a second layer in a moment.
For your first cut you simply want to expose a section by following the contour down until you are close to the stem. Do not cut entirely through. Next move over and make another cut; again following the contour and stopping short of cutting all the way through the berry. Each time you make a cut you are looking to expose about a 1/6th of the total circle of the strawberry. Also as your knife reaches the bottom of your cut, gently twist the blade outwards from the center to make the “Petal” drape outwards.
After you have gone around the outside with 4, 5 or 6 slices you can try to get a few more slices from the inside. The color will be changing from red to pink and then white. You can probably get four more cuts in the pinkish white area if you left your outside cuts thin enough. If I have enough left over when I get to this point I will then make two downward cuts (like an X) through the middle of the berry to expose the white center. This will yield a beautiful center piece Mumm style flower for that special place on your platter.
There is a fellow by the name of Ron Douglas, who goes around to different restaurants all over the country, sits down and orders dinner. He has a good meal and when they bring the check he mentions that he is a nationally know author in search of Americas most wanted recipes, and that he would like to interview the chef. So the waitress or manager takes him back and he talks to the chef for a while and exclaims over the fantastic meal that he has just consumed. He mentions that his business is to promote "Secret Recipes of Famous Restaurants and adds a little "you know what I mean…" Viola, Ron has managed to rescue another top secret restaurant recipe from obscurity.
We have all been there, you go into your favorite local chain restaurant and order your favorite specialty. Then one night you are at home and you decide to try that same combination of flavors that you had at the restaurant, it should be simple enough right? But lo and behold there must be some special ingredient or perhaps method of preparation that you are missing and try as you might you just can't seem to get it right. How many times have you had that experience?
Now in one sense it is going to be difficult to duplicate restaurant style foods because you will not have a restaurant style kitchen. They have the monster immersion blender, the latest Robo-coupe with all the attachments, and most probably an assortment of mixers. The huge deep fat fryer and the slow-roasting alto-sham oven, or even the steam-injected convection are not normally part of the average residential kitchen. It is still possible to duplicate the recipes, it just takes a little longer to do some of the things by hand that a restaurant has a machine or toy to finish more quickly.
The really cool thing about the cook books that Ron has assembled is that the institutional portions have been reduced to home-maker portions. I can't tell you the number of times over the years, that I have been asked for a recipe and I struggled to get it down from something that would feed 50 or a 100 people. Most chef's are so used to developing recipes for large volumes of clients that they can't just fix enough for 2 or 4. Using less than one onion or a pound of carrots, celery or whatever is an alien concept to most chef's who are used to working with 10-25 pound quantities of such items.
These new recipe books will show you the step by step techniques for preparing your favorite dishes from several national chains. I don't know how he did it, I have worked with several chef's who would keep their back to you when they seasoned a sauce or soup or stew. So Ron Douglas has done a fine job of tracking down the right person to ask and getting publishing permission. Like I said, I would like his job, dining out and collecting recipes along the way sounds like a fine occupation to me.
The collection has grown to two volumes over the years, you will find recipes from Applebee's to Starbuck desserts. The Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Chili's, T.G.I. Friday's, P F Chang's and Red Lobster are heavily represented with their recipes. You will see many other chain and famous restaurants as well. One of the real beauties of this is the fact that the whole series will be on your computer and you will only have to print out the recipe you are working with. I don't know how many chocolate or tomato stained cookbooks you have but I have a bunch. The ability to quickly print a new recipe is great versus paying $20 for the whole new cookbook.
In addition to that Ron has added a super cool weekly mailing of new recipes as he comes across them. Here is an example of one of his weekly recipe offerings.
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New Secret Recipe
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Panera Bread Pudding with Apples, Pecans and Raisins
Delight guests with this fruity bread pudding made with their
signature Cinnamon Raisin bread.
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 loaf Cinnamon Raisin White Bread torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup pecan halves
Zest and juice of 1 large orange
1/4 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or rum
8 small baking apples (about 2 pounds) such as Fuji, Gala or Granny
Smith, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple, quince, or blackberry jam or jelly
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until well coated.
4. Add the sugar, pecans, orange zest and juice, cider, and vanilla
extract.
5. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes until a sauce begins to form.
6. In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, layer the bread mixture with the
apples and dot the top with the jam or jelly.
Today I decided to take my breakfast and create a swan from it. A cantaloupe or a honeydew is a great melon to use for this kind of project. Use a long thin blade, in this video I used an 8" boning knife. You need to be able to turn the knife quickly to reverse directions. Don't be afraid to go back and enlarge a cut so that all of them connect with each other.
When it is finished this is a great center piece to use to hold melon balls with a fruit tray. You can also put yogurt or any type of cold sauce into it. Fruit salsa's or jams for a bagel display. Use it on a cheese display to hold apple slices that you have coated with lemon juice (so they don't turn brown).
When you do your first one it is probably a good idea to take a marker and draw it out right on the melon. I don't like to do this as I then have to carve on the outside of the line to make sure that it disappears from the finished product.
I know, you thought wasabi was the name for that green stuff on the side of a serving of sushi. Those cute little florettes you sometimes see that seem harmless enough until you mistakenly put it in your mouth to clean out your sinuses. Guess what? Wasabi is also the name given to a set of knives that are manufactured by the Kershaw-Shun company.
If you have ever looked into owning a set of authentic Japanese knives the the Shun Wasabi line is definetly a place to start. Designed primarily for home use this set is a great starter set to introduce you to the tremendous capabilities of Japanese cutlery. The three knife set includes the three classic types of Japanese kitchen knives with a Deba, a Nakiri and a Yanagiba. Okay, now that I have thoroughly confused you, let me explain.
First of all the blades on these knives are only 6 inches long so if you are intimidated by a longer blade these knives will not be a challenge to use. Secondly the actual styles are truly authentic to the knives used by Japanese trained chefs. The blunt tipped Nakiri shown above is designed for use with vegetables. Whether you are chopping carrots or want to try your hand at "sheet-peeling" that same carrot; this knife will do both with ease. This knife is beveled on both sides so it can be used if you are left handed.
The yanagiba is the Japanese equivalent of a traditional slicing knife, with one major difference. This slicer is single beveled and thus sharpened to a razor like edge. This knife will take care of anything you need to slice from a traditional turkey to a delicate sushi roll. Peeling the skin from fruit or fileting the skin from a small fish, this knife will do it all. Notice the gap between the heel of the blade and the actual beginning of the handle, this gives the user the ability to control the blade and turn quickly to follow the contour of the product you are slicing.
The third knife in this set is the Japanese style Deba. This is equivalent to the traditional "french knife" used in western culture. This is the knife you would use for slicing raw chicken and beef it is strong enough to go easily through most fish and small poultry bones. The single bevel insures a very sharp blade which will be easy to manipulate whether you are dicing vegetables or portioning a side of salmon.
The really exciting part of this is the fact that these blades are priced at less than $100 for the set of three which makes it a tremendous bargain. These knives are stamped rather than forged but the high carbon stainless is the same quality steel you would find in some of the Shun designer lines. The handles are made of powdered bamboo in polypropylene, they come in black or blond. The blades are "brush" finished which gives a nice satin-like shine to the set.
This is an excellent set of knives to start your kitchen collection or to add if you are expanding your current set. By the way did you know that Wasabi means harmony and tranquility. Each knife has the Japanese and English engraved on the side of the blade. You can view this set at the Chefs Catalog. These knives are also sold separately and there are also a santoku and longer yanagiba slicer available in the Wasabi line.
For a quick down and , no that is not right, for a simple garnish that spices up the look of a plate, nothing is easier than a splash of color. One of the easiest ways to get that color is a bell pepper. The french trained chef's call it brunoise it is pronounced brun wah soft u, soft a. This is just a step above a mince meaning that you slice super thin slices and then turn the pepper 90 degrees and slice the same width again into a tiny cube or very fine dice. This is easier to do than to describe.
Take a red bell pepper lay it side ways on the board with the stem pointing in the direction of the hand in which you hold the knife. Now you want to cut the top and bottom off. Next stand it up and slice through the side of the pepper all the way down. Next we need to clean out the seeds so as to get at the flesh just below it. This is done by once again by laying the pepper on its side, this time with the long cut you just made should be perpendicular to you near the board where you can insert the blade into the pepper through the cut. What we are going to do is seed and trim the pepper in one cut with the knife blade.
Just like life the bell pepper is uneven and sometimes kind of curled up. The peppers available in your normal grocery store are usually pretty straight sided. with the top and bottom removed the pepper will have a big clump of seeds in the center and this will be held in place by three or four ribs. (All you school trained chefs please forgive me, you know brunoise so this is elementary for you, but some peoples do want to know) The place where you made the cut through the side will usually be near one of these ribs.
By inserting your blade at the cut with the pepper on its side you will be de-seeding the pepper and removing the ribs at the same time. The reason this is important is so you will have a rectangular sheet to work with that is essentially flat. Okay, have I lost you yet? I hope not. One final point before we begin, we are going to be cutting sideways with the blade of the knife held horizontal to the board. To do this the pepper should be close to the front side, nearest to you so that the tip of the blade is sticking out above the top of the pepper and the heel of the blade is above the table in front of the board. This gives your knuckles clearance so that you can keep the blade perfectly horizontal.
Now with your thumb on the bottom and your middle finger on the top and the cutting edge of the blade resting sideways on the flesh of the pepper we gently unfold the pepper without breaking it. As it unfolds move the knife up to the first rib and cut through it at the depth of the top of the flesh. When you have gone through the first rib your blade should come out the other side at the level of the top of the skin. As you go, you should watch the tip of the knife blade. It should always remain level, parallel to the cutting board.
Since I am a right hander I would be moving from my right back to my left. (With apologies to lefties) As each succeeding rib is sliced through it will be easier to unfold the pepper. Once all the ribs have been removed the pepper will lay close to flat on the cutting board. the clump of seeds with the ribs attached should come off in one piece.
Next to get the pepper to lay totally flat, we want to make the same cut again. This time we are going to take a small layer of the flesh off of the inside of the skin. Go back to the right and see if you can take the blade and put it into the side of the pepper skin just below the surface of the skin. You may need to guide it with your fingers to get it under the length of the whole side. Move your blade very slowly with short up and down motions until you see the cutting edge just below the surface. The interior of the pepper is translucent so you will be able to watch as you make this next cut. I have demonstrated this manuever with a tomatoe skin in my video about how to make a Tomato Rose.
Doing this carefully the whole length of the pepper will remove any inside resistance of the pepper so it should now be about 3 inches tall and 6-8 inches long. This sounds complicated but it takes less than a minute to do once you get the hang of it. You have now completed step one.
Next we want to make some very close together cuts to make match sticks, also called juliennes. Here is where the 1/8 of an inch part comes in. First things first. Clean the cutting board. Of all the times that I have ever cut myself it has usually happened due to an errant piece of something…probably a pepper seed! Here is how it happens. As you cut, you are watching your left hand, resting your knuckle against the blade with your fingers curled under so you don't cut a finger.
Right?
The place on the blade where you are cutting (with a 10" bladed chefs knife) will be closer to the heel of the knife. The cut itself is done by rocking the blade down against the board from tip to heel.
SO.
As you cut, the tendency is to watch the place where the blade goes through, when lo and behold an errant pepper seed at the top of the board gets caught under the tip of the blade and makes it twist directly into your knuckle. Ouch! Gotcha! As I said clean the board.
Go slow and move over an 1/8th of an inch each time you cut. When you get to the last inch take your holding hand completely over to the left edge of the pepper and slowly push the pepper into the blade. If that is too scary just stop here you will have plenty for the next step. At this point you could just take these matchsticks and soak them in ice water for a couple of hours.
This cold soaking will turn the whole stick translucent and make it curl as well. Using tri colors, red, yellow and green will give an awesome set of curls to garnish the edges of plates and platters. I will add a picture the next time I make some.
To get to brunoise, the next step is to turn the whole set of matchsticks 90 degrees and carefully repeat the process of 1/8th inch cuts to yield the tiny cubes. There is on last step in this process. Peppers by nature have a lot of moisture in them. The little cubes that you have just finished are sitting there on the board just bursting with water.
When you try to use them on your plate as a garnish by sprinkling them over the whole plate or simply around the edge they will clump together because they are too wet. So, take a clean dry towel that has fairly strong fabric and pile them in the middle of the towel. Fold the towel over them and then roll it up in a spiral. Now twist the towel just like you would ring out a wash cloth, you will see the juices of the pepper appear on the outside of the towel. This will not dry them out completely but it will take enough of the moisture out of them so that you can work with them and spread them evenly where ever you want.
I decorated the rim of this plate of sliced wraps. The whole process produced enough for several platters using one of each color and took about 15 minutes.
Congratulations, only a serious student will have read to this point from start to finish. Thanks for reading.
Could You do me a favor? I am in the process of putting together a series of short video lessons on the various methods of making center of the plate and side decorations and appetizers. But there is a problem.
I don't know what my readers would like to see. You took the time to click this link. Could you spare a moment to make your suggestions in the comments?
