Kathleen
Cupcake
Okay, I feel totally silly for this, but I was intrigued enough to look into the Top Chef University advertised while watching Top Chef. What sold me for a month's use of it was that the curriculum indicated that it would show me proper ways to use my knives. Like many, I learned to cook from Grandma and Momma. When it says to chop, I chop. The veggies never look like they do in restaurants nor are they especially uniform, which can cause issues when cooking evenly is required. When presentation would matter, I would take my time, which meant that I would sometimes cube items the night before and seal them in baggies, etc.
I feel like I have already got my money's worth of information from the "university." Within the hour, I found that I was using the wrong knife to cube veggies, learned that I was holding my knives incorrectly, am storing them wrong, and also learned that I can easily pare down the drawer full of knives which we never use...because the other knives do the same job. (I did say I am storing them wrong!)
While I clearly do not feel that this program is for the serious chef, I think it is definitely helpful for the kitchen magician who wants to add to his/her kitchen skills in the terms of saving time and learning basics. The lessons are broken down into nice groupings which allow someone to pick and choose the path. It starts with kitchen organization and ends with entertaining. In between are techniques for just about everything one could think to do ...again, remember I'm an amateur. Regardless, I cannot wait to get to the seafood unit!
Today, I learned about kitchen organization, knives, basic cutting techniques and the proper way to slice, dice, and use onions and garlic - which included how to make my own garlic paste.
I expected very little from the 'Top Chef University' and am very pleased and surprised at the practical suggestions and the instruction. Dinner tonight: Something with garlic! And I know the correct knife to use! Who knew!?
The monthly cost was cheap - less than the cost of two people plus popcorn at a local theater and there is a 1/3 discount for yearly subscriptions. The lessons can be stopped, reviewed, or viewed sequentially or at one's own leisure. I like that each 'unit' is broken down by in mini-lessons. For example, the Kitchen basics Unit was broken down to:
The university is hosted by favorite Top Chef contestants and feature a lot of recipes once you get past the basics. Though I felt silly for giving this a try, I may very well end up being rather proud of my Top Chef University student status. If anyone else is giving it a try, PM me! We can start a thread to discuss what we learned.
~Kathleen
I feel like I have already got my money's worth of information from the "university." Within the hour, I found that I was using the wrong knife to cube veggies, learned that I was holding my knives incorrectly, am storing them wrong, and also learned that I can easily pare down the drawer full of knives which we never use...because the other knives do the same job. (I did say I am storing them wrong!)
While I clearly do not feel that this program is for the serious chef, I think it is definitely helpful for the kitchen magician who wants to add to his/her kitchen skills in the terms of saving time and learning basics. The lessons are broken down into nice groupings which allow someone to pick and choose the path. It starts with kitchen organization and ends with entertaining. In between are techniques for just about everything one could think to do ...again, remember I'm an amateur. Regardless, I cannot wait to get to the seafood unit!
Today, I learned about kitchen organization, knives, basic cutting techniques and the proper way to slice, dice, and use onions and garlic - which included how to make my own garlic paste.
I expected very little from the 'Top Chef University' and am very pleased and surprised at the practical suggestions and the instruction. Dinner tonight: Something with garlic! And I know the correct knife to use! Who knew!?
The monthly cost was cheap - less than the cost of two people plus popcorn at a local theater and there is a 1/3 discount for yearly subscriptions. The lessons can be stopped, reviewed, or viewed sequentially or at one's own leisure. I like that each 'unit' is broken down by in mini-lessons. For example, the Kitchen basics Unit was broken down to:
- Getting started by organizing your workspace, managing recipes, managing your workspace, and hygiene
- Pantry Organization
- Refrigerator and Freezer Organization
- Introduction to knives
- Pots and Pans 101
- Kitchen Tools and Utensils
- Kitchen equipment and small appliances
The university is hosted by favorite Top Chef contestants and feature a lot of recipes once you get past the basics. Though I felt silly for giving this a try, I may very well end up being rather proud of my Top Chef University student status. If anyone else is giving it a try, PM me! We can start a thread to discuss what we learned.
~Kathleen
