Herbs
How To Cut, Chop And Mince Parsley | Video
How To Mince Parsley For Garnish
Garnishing your plate with a little sprinkling of parsley is about as old school as it gets. However, it’s still a good technique to at least know, not to mention the real purpose of this section - illustrating how to properly mince.
For a more refined mince, start by picking individual leaves off of the parsley stems. If you’re just looking for a simple minced parsley and a few stems don’t bother, you can always “shave” the leaves off of the stem using an angled, downward, slicing motion.
Next, gather the parsley leaves into a tight pile with your guide hand, running your knife though the pile, keeping your strokes as close together as possible. This initial thin slicing of the parsley leaves will give you a good start to your mince. The whole idea is to get your leaves minced to the desired size in as few blade strokes as possible. The more time you gut the parsley leaves (or any green herb for that matter), the more chance you have of the color fading with the aroma and flavor being lost to your cutting board.
Next, place your guide hand flat on the top tip of your knife. Using the tip of your chef’s knife as a pivot point, quickly move the handle of your knife up and down, using a relaxed grip, wrist and arm for great speed. Continue this up and down motion while working your knife through the parsley pile in a radial pattern.
If the parsley gets too spread out, use the edge of your knife to scrape the leaves back into a pile - continue until the desired size is reached. Your final size will rely on personal preference and final application.
To turn your minced parsley into a traditional garnish for sprinkling, pile it into a stack of strong paper towels. Gather up the corners into a little “coin purse” shape (as shown in the photos below).
Run your parsley “coin purse” under cold water for about 15-20 seconds and then wring it out vigorously. This will release excess chlorophyll from the leaves, giving you a fluffy garnish that spreads evenly. Open up the paper towels and transfer the parsley to a new, dry stack of paper towels. Allow the parsley to dry for 30-60 minutes before using. Store any unused parsley in an airtight container, lined with barely damp paper towels. Will keep for about 4-6 hours.
| This post is part of our ongoing Culinary Knife Skills Video Series, which teaches you a wide array of knife skills used in professional kitchens. For more information, you can also view our How To Cook Video Index. |
How To Chiffonade
How To Chiffonade
Chiffonade is a knife technique used to cut herb leafs and other leafy greens into very thin hair-like strips. These fine strips are then usually used as a garnish.
Begin by picking the herb leaves that you want to Chiffonade, making sure that they have no stem attached. Stack the leaves on top of each other. It’s easiest if you have the largest leaf of the group on the bottom of the stack.
Roll your stack of leaves into a tight role, but be careful not to bruise them. Using a lot of patience and your perfected guide hand technique, finely “shave” the herb leaves as thin as possible using a fluid rocking motion. Make sure that even though you are rocking your knife, you are not chopping straight up and down. Instead use the blade of your knife to thinly slice your Chiffonade. A purely up and down chopping motion will crush and bruise your herb leaves, leading to loss of flavor and discoloration.
| This post is part of our ongoing Culinary Knife Skills Video Series, which teaches you a wide array of knife skills used in professional kitchens. For more information, you can also view our How To Cook Video Index. |
Pan Fried Swai Fish Dinner | Cooking at Home
Hey everybody! This is the first video in our new series, "Cooking at Home with Chef Jacob." Since we've covered so much ground with a lot of our other technique videos, I thought it'd be fun to do a series where I am limited by my small and poorly equipped home kitchen, not to mention, my local supermarket that pails in comparison to most that you'd find in many urban areas.
In this video, I make a super simple pan fried fish with one of my all time favorite vegetable sides, roasted squash with garlic and thyme. I also make a quick lemon-tomato beurre blanc of sorts to round out the completed dish. From start to finish (once all your prep is done), it takes about 10 minutes to cook and serve and costs under $10 for 2-4 completed entrees.
What is Swai?
According to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch List, Swai (pronounced s-why), is interchangeably used with the term Basa, which is a farmed form of river catfish imported from South East Asia. Swai is commonly available in most large supermarkets, but you can also use this recipe for catfish and bass (which are basically the same thing) or a thin, mild fish such as tillapia.
Since the above mentioned fish are thin and delicate, they are best sautéed or pan fried and cook relatively quickly. Dusting the fish fillets with a thin coating of flour and cooking them in a combination of fat and oil over medium heat, will help to brown the exterior while keeping the flesh moist and succulent.
Ingredients Used
For the Fish
-
2 Large Swai Fillets (substitute basa, catfish or tillapia as desired).
-
3-4 ounces of All-Purpose or Bread Flour, for dredging.
-
Kosher Salt to taste.
-
Freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste.
-
2-3 ounces Canola Oil (or other neutral flavored cooking oil)
-
1-2 ounces of Whole, Unsalted Butter
-
Generously salt both sides of fish fillets with kosher salt and allow to sit for about 10 minutes. The salt will draw out protein rich fluids that will then allow the flour to adhere to the flesh.
-
In the meantime, heat a large, 12" skillet over medium, giving the pan ample time to heat all the way through.
-
Dust both sides of fish fillets with flour and shake off any excess.
-
Pour canola oil into preheated pan, enough so that the bottom is covered with a thin layer, and gently lay in fish fillets. Give the pan a gentle shake to ensure the fish doesn't stick.
-
After about two minutes, place whole butter in the center of the pan, gently shaking the pan as the butter melts.
-
Turn stove temperature to medium-high, and continue to cook fish on first side until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes total).
-
Gently flip fish fillets over using a spatula and continue to cook on second side for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.
-
Remove fish to plate and reserve pan for beurre blanc below.
For the Beurre Blanc
-
2 Whole Tomatoes, Seeded and Diced
-
2 Whole Lemons, Juiced
-
4 ounces butter
-
1-2 Teaspoons of Sugar
-
Immediately after removing fish fillets, return pan to medium heat, adding in seeded and diced tomatoes. Saute for about 15 seconds.
-
Add lemon juice and sugar, and reduce until the liquid has almost completely evaporated.
-
Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter until an emulsification is formed.
-
Check for seasoning. If the beurre blanc is too sour, balance with an additional pinch of sugar. You may need to add a small pinch of salt as well for overall seasoning.
-
Spoon over fish fillets and serve immediately.
For the Roasted Squash
-
2 Zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
-
2 Yellow Squash, sliced into thin rounds
-
2-4 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and minced
-
1/4 Bunch Fresh Thyme, Minced
-
2-3 ounces Canola oil
-
2-3 ounces Butter
-
Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, and once hot, add canola oil.
-
Place zucchini and squash into hot pan and sauté for about 2-3 minutes, or until some pieces start to slightly brown.
-
Add whole butter and continue to sauté until the butter melts.
-
Add minced garlic and thyme, and continue to sauté for another 3-5 minutes, or until the squash has cooked down yielding a soft texture that still has some structure (read "not complete mush").
-
Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper and serve immediately.
-
Total cooking time is about 10 minutes, so if serving this with the above fish as presented in the video, you can easily cook this on a second burner at the same time you're cooking the fish.
Related Video Techniques & Recipes
Spätzle - Basic Recipe
Spätzle is a simple egg noodle, almost resembling a dumpling, that I first fell in love with while an exchange student in Germany. My host mother would always serve the Spätzle with some sort of meat and rich gravy that these delicious little noodles would absorb like sponges.
Garlic-Thyme Emulsion
This sauce was originally developed for a summer salmon dish that was paired with some slow roasted vegetables. Garlic-thyme emulsion goes well with fish, roasted vegetables and poultry such as chicken breast and squab.
Tomato Vierge
Tomato Vierge is a simple yet flavorful emulsion of tomatoes, aromatics and oil. It is most notably missing egg, which makes this preparation much lighter then it's sister sauce, aioli.
