Good knife skills are paramount when working in the kitchen, doubly so for blind folks. Remember first that there is an eighth of an inch all along the blade that is dangerous, and the rest of the knife is mostly harmless unless you use it as a club to bludgeon someone. Give that eighth of an inch a full measure of respect, but don't fear the rest of the knife. Grasp the knife by the handle with your fingers on both sides of the blade near the top non-sharp edge of it. This gives you the most control of it. For smaller stuff like celery, green onions, or the small end of carrots place the knife tip on your cutting board and leave it there. Raise the handle end of the knife and lower it in a controlled way to sever the target item or items under the blade. Take this only as fast as you're comfortable with it -- some chefs can run things through a knife this way like a buzz saw, but don't feel you have to do this until you feel comfortable doing so. For larger or harder things take your time. Make sure your knife is sharp, as sharper knives, counter intuitively, are safer because they're easier to control. Decide where you want a slice and slice downward on a cutting board or other cleanable surface. Don't cut anything you're going to cook on a wooden cutting board -- use plastic for this to avoid health risks and always use a different cutting board for anything you're going to eat without cooking or clean the cutting board with bleach before using for uncooked items. Dicing potatoes can be tricky, as you need to make up to three cuts per chunk. I handle this by using a knife to slice the potato into rounds, then use an old French fry cutter I got from my grandmother to turn out the diced portions. You may be able to find these online, sometimes in a set with a butter cutter and an egg slicer. The French fry cutter has a cross-hatch of wires and was designed to cut a potato into long sticks. On sliced potatoes it turns out diced pieces. (It's also useful for cubing cheese, while the butter cutter can turn out cheese slices) These are handy tools to have around, both because it increases safety and also speeds workflow.
> -----Original Message----- > From: Cookinginthedark [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of [email protected] > Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 4:14 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [CnD] Potatoes > > Does anyone have any super easy recipes for diced crispy potatoes for > burritos or other things. I do not fry or broil, so baking is > preferred. Also, please suggest some ways of how to dice potatoes with > out chopping fingers off in the process. > Thanks, > Mary > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Cookinginthedark mailing list > [email protected] > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
