I am a chef. :)

Some of the wonderful things I am learning in my culinary arts class:

When you saute something, you are supposed to put in the ingredient in when the pan is already hot (yes it makes a difference).

Blanching is useful before you saute something. Blanch is to place the item into boiling water. Boil for a few minutes and remove and cool instantly. (it just partially cooks it--who knew?)

That you can poach more than eggs :)

16 T is 1 cup. 3 t is 1 T. Therefore, 48 t is a cup.

Fish stock does not take that long to make and is relatively easy (this is important because that is a goal I have in my life - to make fish stock. Weird I realize. Fish bones have a lot of calcium!)

There is a difference between relishes and chutney. relish = pickled ingredients. chutney= contains some sort of acid.

That honing you knife makes it last longer (Ellen got to see me a creeper and hone my knife. It was pretty cool).

Mise en place is french for "to put everything in its place." (in other words, have every dish for dinner ready and hot at the same time :)).

So this was a very exciting and informative post. Why I just posted about cooking? I have no idea. But I hope you enjoyed it. and now you will hone your knives and blanch your vegetables. hehe.

Goal for the day: Change someone's life today! Smile, wave, hug. Try to make another person happy instead of yourself!