- holding the knife
- claw grip
- flat sides/making flat sides
- dice
- mince
- chiffonade
- julliene
- cutting board not moving
- mass not volume
- oven thermometers
- humidity
- dry food browns, wet food steams
- cook to temp, not to time
- things that are the same size cook in the same amount of time... so test everything, cut cleanly
- you cannot, no matter what the recipe says, caramelize onions in 15 minutes. It takes 45 at the least.
- mise en place is very, very important; it makes you ready to cook, able to respond quickly, and forces you to read the WHOLE recipe before starting
- don't cook with "fakes" - margarine, "lite" foods, substitutes
- thermometers
- OXO good grips tends to make the best little stuff
- knives you need
-- 7 or 8 inch chef's knife
-- a paring knife
--- anything else is luxury; bread knife, cleaver
- pans are worth spending money on
-- nonstick should only be used for some things; doesn't get fond, etc.
- knives aren't, really
- oven thermometers
- fridge thermometers
- List of key gear will be on the wiki w/ amazon links