Day 1, Experience 2: Knife Skills

We spent the second half of Day 1 at Whisk Cooking School in Bellevue off Old Main cooking with Chef Barbara Sowatsky.  At Whisk, we learned about the basic knives including the 10" and 8" chef's knives, the paring knife, and the serrated knife. Chef Barbara helped us sharpen our knife skills as we practiced long cuts, dice cuts, onion cuts, and specialty cuts such as oblique, bias, chiffonade, and mincing. We chopped all the ingredients for Hearty Vegetable Soup and a lovely green salad. To cut to the chase, after much practice and a lot of Chef Barbara's patience, we all came away with some pretty impressive knife skills that will carry us through the rest of the week's cooking experiences.

Below you will find the recipe for the Hearty Vegetable Soup from Whisk.  Here is the website for Whisk so you can sign up for classes: https://www.whiskcooks.com/

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 medium leek, thinly sliced
• 1 medium fennel, thinly sliced
• 1 large Yukon gold potato, diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 cup tomato, diced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon thyme, minced
• 1 tablespoon oregano, minced
• 6 cups chicken or veggie stock
• Minced parsley and shaved Parmesan for garnish
• Crusty bread for serving

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a stockpot on medium heat. Add carrot, onion, celery, leek, and potato. Season with salt and pepper, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until vegetables start to soften and develop a bit of color.
2. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and herbs. Cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the stock and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover and let cook on low heat for about 10 minutes to let the flavors combine. Taste and season as needed.
4. Serve topped with a bit of fresh chopped parsley and a few shavings of cheese, along with crusty bread for garnish. *Jenni also thinks it would be lovely drizzled with olive oil or pesto.

 Lining up for name tags and aprons at Whisk.

 The stations are set up for knife skills.

 The best appointed kitchen I've visited. 

 I loved the whisk light fixtures--such a whimsical touch and so fitting for the school's namesake. 

 Liv helped Peter tie his apron.

 Knife skills practice subjects--none of it went to waste.

 Oli checks out the recipes while everyone else finishes washing hands.

 Snacks.  Because cooking takes time.  And we get hungry.

 The proper way to hold a chef's knife: place your pointer finger and thumb around the knife's shoulder, then gently wrap your other fingers around the handle.

 Before we were allowed to practice with real ingredients, Chef Barbara had us practice with Play Dough. It's non-toxic and it won't stick to the cutting board. And you can shape it into any vegetable. My green Play Dough became a green onion.

 Getting ready to practice with Play Dough.

 Jenny S. practices a proper knife grip.

 Chef Barbara gives a demo on long cuts.

 Play Dough cuts.

 Proper potato dicing.

 Sliced leeks

 How to cut a carrot: split into two halves--the skinny end and the fat end. Then, split the skinny end in halves and chop.  Lastly, split the fat end into halves, then thirds, and then chop. This results in all like-sized carrot bits.

 The makings of Hearty Vegetable Soup.

 A Cara Cara orange ready for the slicing.

 The orange without the peel.

 The orange segments arranged in a flower.

 Overhead shot of orange segments--knife skills and photography skills at play.

 Abby sniffs the lemon grass.

 An avocado cookbook came home with me.  I had to occupy myself while I waited for the soup to finish simmering!

 Hearty Vegetable Soup plated in the foreground; mixed greens salad in the background.

 Hearty Vegetable Soup from 45 degrees.

 Mixed greens salad from 45 degrees.

 Crusty bread... the essential soup accouterment.

 Jenni and Chef Barbara.

Happy campers on the bus ride home.  A successful first day!