I know, I know, I'm SUCH a fashion plate. Vogue has been knocking down my door lately but I keep turning them down...this culinary school thing is way more my style. Heh heh heh.
Day #2 at NGI was a success! We started off by learning about all the different kitchen equipment, then in the afternoon we got our knife kits and practiced chopping vegetables using the Japanese method- carrots, onions, celery, radishes, potatoes, cabbage, scallions, leeks and garlic. It was interesting for two reasons:
1. Big knives have always intimidated me. And now I have to carry a bag of them around with me. Touche.
2. For someone who's always cooked a decent amount, my knife skills suuuuuck. I'm already 99.9% sure I'm going to cut myself at some point.
I guess those reasons are why I'm going to cooking school though, right? I definitely learned a lot. The best part of chopping everything up was that we got to bring some of it home with us.
I got some cabbage, leeks, scallions and radishes, all lovingly chopped by moi. Since the sweltering walk home made them kind of rank, I knew I had to use them immediately. A stir-fry was quick and easy! I used some Trader Joe's toasted sesame oil and Thai Kitchen roasted red pepper paste to add some fat and flavor:
Then added some roasted unsalted almonds to the mix and cooked up a batch of quinoa to go along with it.
This made a ton of food and I was expecting to have leftovers, but apparently standing on my feet all day makes me quite hungry. It was really good though. I've never used the red pepper paste and it made it super spicy, which I always love!
No plans tonight, for the first time in over a week. Time for a hot date with John Cusak and his boom box (name that movie)!
Knife skills: know 'em or not? I'm actually kind of surprised that they're not more widely used among at-home cooks in general. Hopefully I'll get the hang of things quickly!
