Knife Skills: Brunoise (Fine Dice)

Brunoise (Pronunciation: BROON-wahz) is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is first julienned (cut into thin match sticks),and then turned a quarter turn and diced again, producing cubes of a side length of about 3 mm or less on each side. A brunoise should be consistent in size and shape, as this helps to create a pleasing presentation. A perfect brunoise is considered to be one of the overall most difficult knife techniques. That being said I took my shot at it on last night salad.

Cucumber-Pear Salad

~ Ingredients:

• 1 medium carrot brunoised
• 1 medium cucumber brunoised
• 1 medium pear brunoised
• 1 green onion finely sliced
• rice vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

~ Directions: 

Toss everything together in a serving bowl and lightly sprinkle with vinegar and oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

For a great tutorial on how to dice check out this video of Adia Mollenkamp I found on Chow .

 

~ Great with:  Chicken  ~ Prep Time: 10 minutes  ~ Servings: 4

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How to store fresh herbs (Chimichurri)

I love cooking with fresh herbs like chives, cilantro, basil and parsley, but often time they are going south on me about 2 days after I purchase them. They end up soggy and wilted, resembling a science experiment rather than the bright green fragrant bunch I brought home from the store. What gives!

Storage, that’s what gives. I did my research and discovered I was going about it all wrong. I would pick out the best bunch, put it into the stores plastic produce bag and then put that directly into my crisper. By day 2 the whole bunch was going bad and by day 3 it all ended up in my trash. It is a wonder people avoid cooking with fresh herbs, the dried stuff is less trouble! But a few simple steps when you get home and you can save the bunch for the whole week.

Heres how:

• When you get home you should rinse off any pesticides or remaining dirt. Fill your sink or a large bowl with water, remove any rubber bands or twist ties, and swish them around to get them all cleaned off . Remove from water and give them a little shake to remove excess water. Pat them dry with a paper towel careful not to bruise or smash them. Lastly, lay them out on a dry paper towel to finish air drying while you put away the remaining groceries. Any moisture left on the leaves will promote decay and the whole bunch will be lost. (a salad spinner can be a great tool for drying herbs)

• Herbs that come in the small boxes are usually clean and ready to use. Simply put a small piece of paper towel in the box to help keep the moisture at bay.

• Once air dried lightly roll up herbs and place in a resalable ziplock bag.

• The best place to store herbs is your crisper usually set at the correct temperature of 40 to 45 degrees

• Each time you use the herbs during the week, be sure to inspect and remove any that look suspect. Replace the paper towel if it feels moist. This will ensure that you can get a full week out of them.

Here is a great recipe to use up those fresh herbs. Chimichurri, an Argentine green sauce that pairs well with grilled meats like chicken, steak or fish. Not just a garnish, Chimichurri also make a great marinade for your meats too.

Chimichurri

• 1/2 Bunch of flat leaf parsley (about a firmly packed cup)
• 4 Cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp minced onion
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Juice of 1/4  of a lemon
• S/P to taste (about a pinch)
• Red pepper flake (about a pinch)
• 1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
• 1/2 c e-v olive oil

In your blender or food processor lightly pulse together parsley, garlic, and onion. Add vinegar, lemon juice, s/p, red pepper and if using oregano. Lightly pulse again to blend. While lightly pulsing stream in e-v olive oil just until mixed. Place in serving bowl and serve at room temperature. Sauce can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container overnight.