When we're sautéing potatoes alone or with other vegetables, making soup with them, or stirring them into stews, we usually cut them into cubes. It's not always necessary to peel the potato (especially smaller, waxier varieties), but sometimes you'll want to.To start the dice, cut the potato into planks lengthwise, You can vary the width of the slices depending on the size cubes you want.After you've cut the potato into planks, roll it a quarter turn and cut the planks into rectangular strips lengthwise.Holding the strips together, turn them and cut across the them crosswise to make cubes. This is a good time to use a knife with recesses along the blade, like a Santoku. The small indentions keep the potato from sticking to the knife during slicing.
Use diced jalapeños when you want their heat and flavor to permeate a dish, rather than show up capriciously in every other bite.To expose the seeds, cut each half in half again lengthwise.To start the dice, cut the pepper in half lengthwise.Next, slice the ribs and seeds out of each each quarter, and discard them. If you want to use the seeds and ribs for their heat, chop them and add them along with the diced flesh.Slice the quarters lengthwise into strips as thin or thick as you like.To finish the dice, slice across the strips crosswise.
Here's a fast, methodical way to dice a bell pepper. First, cut off the top end. (Once you're done dicing the full pepper, you can slice off the edges of the top to use.)Next cut off the bottom. Save it to slice or dice, too.Split the pepper from top to bottom with a single cut.Pull out the pepper's core, and discard it.Now just unfold the pepper like a book. Some peppers will break apart here, which is fine.Cut the pepper into sections along the white bitter ribs, which you'll want to remove. This way they're easier to get at with a knife.Hold the knife parallel to the cutting board and cut between the ribs and the red flesh below.Now you're left with relatively flat sectioned pieces of bell pepper. Slice them into thick or thin strips, depending on the size dice you want.To complete the dice, rotate the strips 90 degrees and slice them crosswise.
Chopping is probably the most common way to prep an onion. Chopped onions show up in anything that needs the basic, earthy pungent flavor that onions give. Chop them larger for longer-cooking dishes like stews and rustic soups, and smaller (call it a dice if you like) for anything from salsas to sauces to ragouts.
To start, cut the onion in half through the root. The root itself will help keep the onion together for chopping
Rotate the onion 90 degrees and cut off the papery end (not the root end). This will make the skin easy to peel away and discard.
Peel back the onion's papery skin. It's often easiest to peel away the first layer of the onion along with the skin.
Make a series of diagonal cuts (roughly 45 degrees) into the side of the onion. Keep more space between the slices for a large chop. Make the cuts closer together for a small chop or a dice.
Now make a series of horizontal cuts to finish shaping the chop or dice.
Finally, rotate the onion again and slice crosswise against the checkerboard pattern you made in the onion. The chopped pieces will fall away from the onion.
The cured italian meat pancetta comes either rolled (rotolata) or flat (stesa). Rolled pancetta is often sold thinly sliced. Flat pancetta comes as a slab. You can use it in any dish that would benefit from an underlying, mild pork flavor.
Here's an easy way to prep thin slices of rolled pancetta. First, stack 3-4 slices and roll them up like a cigar. If you want short strips (like lardons), cut the pancetta cigar in half lengthwise. Skip this step if you want the strips to be long.
Then slice the cigar crosswise. Toss the pieces around with your hand to separate them.
To dice slab pancetta, cut a few slices crosswise as thick or thin as you like. Stack the slices, then slice off and discard any unwanted tough skin.
Cut the slices into strips lengthwise.
Rotate the strips 90 degrees around and slice them crosswise to finish the dice.
How to make quinoa tabouleh-stuffed peppers
How to make quinoa tabouleh-stuffed peppers
These quinoa tabouleh-stuffed peppers can be served as a main course for vegetarians, or as a lovely addition to non-vegetarian meals. After watching this video by Handmade TV, you'll be all set to make them on your own, from scratch.
A salpicon is a French term that refers to a mixture of finely diced ingredients bound with a sauce.
A savory salcipon made with meat, poultry, eggs, offal, vegetables or fish, for example, may be used to fill a vol-au-vent or a meat pie, or to make croquettes. A sweet fruit salpicon made with fruit and syrup and macerated with liquor may be used to decorate or fill pastry.
