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Choosing the right chef's knife is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when equipping your kitchen. Your chef’s knife is the number one tool you’ll constantly and consistently use. My advise is not to skimp and try and get off cheap.

You really don’t need any number of those crazy tools and gadgets that you see displayed at your local kitchen store. Avocado slicers, tomato dicer; what’s this, a lettuce knife? Please!

I like having gizmo’s and gadgets just as much as the next guy, but when it comes down to it, you only need two knives: a 10” chef’s knife and a 6-7” utility knife.

Why Only Two Knives?

When I first enrolled in culinary school, I was ecstatic to find $2,500 of my $55,000 dollar tuition would be put towards an extensive tool kit, including about 15 different knives. A couple months later when I begged my way into one of the best fine dining restaurants in San Francisco as an apprentice, I realized I really only needed two knives; a 10” chef’s knife and a 6” utility knife.

The first day I showed up, I brought my entire knife roll with me into their extremely small kitchen. After all, I didn’t know any better, I was nothing more than some amateur who’d been watching Emeril bam all over the screen and make all sorts of money and I thought to myself, “I can do this.” So I ask the poor shlup who was assigned to baby-sit me where I could put my knives.

“You don’t. Put your knife roll upstairs with the lockers, and bring down your chef’s knife and your pairing knife,” he said with understandable annoyance.

This is how I found out the hard way, and with much embarrassment, you really only need two knives in your kitchen, a Chef’s knife (preferably 10”) and a pairing knife. As I progressed forward with my skills but still understood the importance of minimizing my knife selection, I traded in my pairing knife for a 6.5” Utility knife. Here’s why:

My 10” chef’s knife is my go to blade when I need to slice, dice, mince, julienne or batonnet, but it becomes a little arduous when fabricating meat or performing more delicate cuts. Although at first it may seem a little awkward using a utility knife in place of a pairing knife, with practice it can be done.

I also use my utility knife for all the major meat fabrication I do on a regular basis, including breaking down and de-boning chickens, fabricating beef tenderloins into filets, and cleaning and portioning fish. Quite honestly, with a little practice and proper technique, your chef’s knife and utility knife will be able to handle 95% or more of your average workload. But knowing the secret that you only really need two knives in your kitchen isn’t enough. To make this secret work, you need to know how to choose a knife that’s right for you.

What To Look For in A Knife

When I go out to buy a new knife, no matter if it’s a chef’s knife, utility knife, or just a knife for fun, these are the three main things that I take into consideration; steel, handle and weighting.

The Steel

The first thing you need to address is what kind of steel you want. This is commonly overlooked when buying a knife but it should play an important role in your decisions once you understand the two major differences.

Although there are many types of knives manufactured by different companies using numerous kinds of steel alloys, your decision will pretty much come down to two choices: German Steel or Japanese Steel.

German knives are characterized by traditionally having a little bit of a thicker blade as compared to Japanese knives. This makes them a little more sturdy and less prone to breaking off a tip when dropped (which can and will happen). German knives are also traditionally sharpened to about a 22° angle, making them sharp but also sturdy.
 

German Knife Pros:

• Sturdy and strong.

• Hold their edge for a good amount of time

• Easy to sharpen

German Knife Cons:

• Thicker blade makes delicate cuts more difficult, such as slicing sashimi for sushi, or the fine julienne and Brunoise of vegetables.

Japanese knives on the other hand have a more delicate composition with a thinner blade that is usually sharpened to an 18-16° angle. This extreme edge makes them impressively sharp, but they don’t stay sharp quite as long. They’re also a little bit more difficult to sharpen.

Japanese Pros:

• Sharpened to an extreme angle which makes them razor sharp.

• Great for more delicate cuts such as sushi and fine vegetable work.

Japanese Cons:
 

• Tend to be a little more difficult to sharpen than German knives.

• Because they are sharpened to such an extreme angle, their edge is a little more fragile and won’t hold for quite as long. (There are some exceptions to this rule).

The Handle

When choosing a knife, you want to take into careful consideration the type of handle the knife has. It should comfortably fit the type and size of your hand. If you have a smaller hand, you’re going to want to buy a knife with a thinner handle. Conversely, if you have a larger hand, you'll need to purchase a knife with a wider handle. Someone with a larger hand who uses a thin handled knife will develop pressure points in the palm of their hand. This will tense their grip, leading to poor fluidity of movement and inaccurate cuts.

The key to having good knife skills is a knife you can hold with a relaxed and comfortable grip for an extended period of time.

Weighting

Finally, the third and final aspect you need to take into consideration when purchasing a knife is the overall weighting. But remember, don’t confuse weighting with weight. Too often I hear people bragging about how nice and light their chef’s knife is. “Hey, check this knife out, it’s light as a feather!”

Who cares? It’s not like your curling a 50-pound dumb bell every time you pick up a chef’s knife! What really matters is how the weight is distributed throughout the knife, or the "balance."

For longer knives, such as the 10” chef’s knife or a long slicer, the balance point should be right where the blade connects to the handle, meaning the blade and the handle are of about equal weight. The shorter the blade gets (such as a three inch pairing knife), the more handle heavy the knife will be. This will give you greater control over the confined and intricate movements you will inherently be making with a shorter blade.

Chef Knives I Recommend

• Shun 10" Classic Chef's Knife

• JA Henckel 10" Chef's Knife

• Shun Classic 6" Utility Knife

• JA Henckel 6" Utility Knife

Further Information
 

• Watch our entire HD video series on knife skills.

• Listen to SCS 1| Basic Knife Skills

What Is Stock?

A stock is a liquid made by slowly simmering ingredients in water to extract their flavor. The French word for stock is “fond,” meaning foundation, a true testament to just how important these flavored-liquids are to the cooking process. A great stock is one of the most important assets chefs and amateur cooks have at their disposals.

Ingredients Needed For Making Stock

There are four basic components to any great stock:

Bones – The key element (unless it is vegetarian), bones with a high collegian content (such as veal knuckle bones or chicken necks and wings) are best for making a traditional stock.

Mirepoix – Mirepoix, a mixture of onions, celery and carrots, is added to the stock for it’s aromatic qualities and to deepen the flavor of the stock. The basic ratio for classical mirepoix is:

• 2 Parts Onion

• 1 Part Celery

• 1 Part Carrot

• Note: For every five pounds of bones, you will need 1 pound of mirepoix.

Water – Seems pretty self-explanatory, but there are some things to consider. The water in which you simmer the rest of your ingredients will make up a large percentage of your stock. If you live in an area with hard water, or just poor water quality in general, I would recommend using bottled water. You don’t have to go crazy, the filtered water that is dispensed into plastic jugs at your local supermarket will work just fine.

Sachet – There are no hard and fast rules to creating sachets. A sachet basically refers to aromatic herbs and spices that are tied up in a cheesecloth pouch and simmered with soups, sauces, or stocks to add extra flavor. A basic sachet for a stock will usually include:

• Bay Leaf

• Sprigs of Fresh Thyme

• Whole Black Peppercorns

• Whole Cloves

• Parsley Stems

• Note: The amount of each ingredient you add to your stock is based on personal preference and how much stock you will be making.

Basic Recipe for Protein- Based Stocks

• 5 pounds bones

• 1 pound Mirepoix

• 8 ounces tomato paste (If making veal stock)

• Sachet: 5-10 Peppercorns, 5 sprigs thyme, 5 parsley stems, ½ bay leaf, 2 whole cloves

• Water to cover

More Information

• SCS 2| Culinary Stocks Part 1 (Audio Lecture)

• SCS 3| Culinary Stocks Part Two | Audio Lecture

• How To Make Roasted Veal Stock | Video Technique

• How To Make Roasted Chicken Stock | Video Technique

• How To Make Vegetable Stock | Video Technique

• How To Make Fish Stock | Video Technique

• Veal Stock Recipe

• Chicken Stock Recipe

• Fish Stock Recipe

• Vegetable Stock Recipe

• Take The Culinary Stocks Quiz (Please Listen To Part One & Two First)

Mashed potatoes are something that we all know and love. They make a great side dish to accompany your favorite meat entrée, and are so versatile that you can serve them with almost anything. Although most people understand the underlying principles of how to make mashed potatoes, there are some techniques and secrets that restaurant chefs employ to ensure that their mashed potatoes are better than the ones you make on “turkey day”.
 

Mashed Potato Procedure
 

• Peel whole russet potatoes and cut into manageable chunks. I’ll usually cut my potatoes into quarters lengthwise, and then cross cut them into pieces roughly measuring about 2.5 inches.

• Place your potato chunks in an appropriately sized pot, add a couple large pinches of salt and cover with cold water. Starting your potatoes in cold water will allow the complex starches to cook more evenly.

• Place the pot on your stove top, turn to high heat, and bring to a boil.

• Once the water begins to boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until fork- tender.

• When the potatoes are fork-tender, strain them off and make sure that all the water is allowed to drain out.

• From this point, most home cooks would simply mash with a hand masher, add butter, salt, pepper, and possibly a touch of cream. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this method, but if you want your mashed potatoes to truly be the best that your dinner guests have ever put into their mouths, then keep reading.

Secrets to Making Great Mashed Potatoes
 

So what are the secrets that restaurant chefs use to make great mashed potatoes? Here they are, in no particular order:
 

• Use a food mill. Passing your mashed potatoes through a food mill will give them a wonderful silky smooth texture. Do this first, before you add your butter and cream. If you like your mashed potatoes chunky - fine, then don’t mill them. However, silky mashed potatoes are much harder to come by in the home, and honestly, they just taste better.

• Add enough butter to give your cardiologist a heart attack. The number one reason why mashed potatoes made by a restaurant chef will always taste better than yours is because they mix in an enormous amount of butter. A good place to start is about 1-2 ounces of butter for every large russet potato used.

• Use European-style butter. Most fine dining chefs use European-style butter because it has a higher fat content. One brand that is commercially available to the home cook is Land O’ Lakes. It should say something like “European Butter” on the box. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, fat is KING.)

• The creaminess from your mashed potatoes should come from the melted butter, not the cream. Add your butter first until the mashed potatoes reach their desired consistency, and then add a touch of cream for added body and texture.

• Some chefs believe that melting the cream and butter together before adding them to the mashed potatoes allows the fat to coat the starch granules of the potatoes more evenly, giving it a better texture.

• Season your potatoes well with plenty of kosher salt. The number one mistake that most home cooks always make is that they under season their food. If you made your mashed potatoes properly, they should contain an enormous amount of fat, which will coat the palate. To counteract this, a little extra salt is needed to really bring out the flavor.

What are some of your favorite things to add to mashed potatoes, and what secret tricks do you use to make them the best your dinner guests have ever tasted?