While Julie Powell's goal was to cook every recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook in a year, my goal is perhaps more easily attainable (and quite possibly *a lot* less expensive).
Barring some major moving around, I am giving myself 60 days to master (or at least be able to complete) the following 40 sets of what I consider to be necessary culinary skills/techniques.
Just like Ms. Powell, I'll be keeping up a blog describing what I did to "successsfully" complete the tasks below. Whew, here we go. Culinary bootcamp begins at 8am.
40 sets of necessary culinary skills/techniques:
Barring some major moving around, I am giving myself 60 days to master (or at least be able to complete) the following 40 sets of what I consider to be necessary culinary skills/techniques.
Just like Ms. Powell, I'll be keeping up a blog describing what I did to "successsfully" complete the tasks below. Whew, here we go. Culinary bootcamp begins at 8am.
40 sets of necessary culinary skills/techniques:
1. EYEBALLING MEASUREMENTS I: Wet ingredients- 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/4 c, 1/2 c, 1 c
2. EYEBALLING MEASUREMENTS II: Dry ingredients- pinch, dash, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/4 c, 1/2 c, 1 c
3. EGGS I: Crack an egg with one hand, separate the yolk, hand whisk an egg to soft peaks
4. EGGS II: Over easy, sunnyside up, scrambled
5. KNIFE SKILLS I: Batonnet jicama (1/2" x 1/2" x length), alumette an apple (1/4" x 1/4" x length)
6. KNIFE SKILLS II: Julien a carrot, chiffonade spinach
7. KNIFE SKILLS III: Brunoise an onion (1/8" x 1/8" x 1/8"), slice a radish paper thin
8. FOOD PREP I: Skin a tomato, char a bell pepper
9. FOOD PREP II: Garlic- roast, mince garlic, purée a clove with a knife
10. FOOD PREP III: Citrus- zest, peel, segment, juice
11. STARCHES I: Pasta al dente
12. STARCHES II: Rice (without a rice cooker!)
13. STARCHES III: Mashed potatoes
14. STARCHES IV: Risotto
15. TECHNIQUE I: Oven roast zucchini
16. TECHNIQUE II: Blanch broccoli
17. TECHNIQUE III: Sauté mushrooms
18. TECHNIQUE IV: Baking moist chicken
19. TECHNIQUE V: Faux frying with Panko
20. TECHNIQUE VI: Pan-fried scallops
21. TECHNIQUE VII: Braise pork
22. TECHNIQUE VIII: Poached salmon
23. TECHNIQUE IX: Grilling beef (rare, medium rare, well done)
24. BAKING I: Buttercream frosting, ganache
25. BAKING II: Caramelize sugar
26. BAKING III: Pie crust
27. BAKING IV: Angel food cake
28. BAKING V: Bread
29. SAUCE I: Béchamel
30. SAUCE II: Tomato
31. SAUCE III: Pesto
32. SAUCE IV: Alfredo
33. SAUCE V: Brown
34. SEASONING I: Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper
35. SEASONING II: Paprika, fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg
36. MISCELLANEOUS I: Vinaigrette
37. MISCELLANEOUS II: Parmesan bowl
38. MISCELLANEOUS III: Breadcrumbs
39. MISCELLANEOUS IV: Beans
40. MISCELLANEOUS V: Homemade meatballs
2. EYEBALLING MEASUREMENTS II: Dry ingredients- pinch, dash, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/4 c, 1/2 c, 1 c
3. EGGS I: Crack an egg with one hand, separate the yolk, hand whisk an egg to soft peaks
4. EGGS II: Over easy, sunnyside up, scrambled
5. KNIFE SKILLS I: Batonnet jicama (1/2" x 1/2" x length), alumette an apple (1/4" x 1/4" x length)
6. KNIFE SKILLS II: Julien a carrot, chiffonade spinach
7. KNIFE SKILLS III: Brunoise an onion (1/8" x 1/8" x 1/8"), slice a radish paper thin
8. FOOD PREP I: Skin a tomato, char a bell pepper
9. FOOD PREP II: Garlic- roast, mince garlic, purée a clove with a knife
10. FOOD PREP III: Citrus- zest, peel, segment, juice
11. STARCHES I: Pasta al dente
12. STARCHES II: Rice (without a rice cooker!)
13. STARCHES III: Mashed potatoes
14. STARCHES IV: Risotto
15. TECHNIQUE I: Oven roast zucchini
16. TECHNIQUE II: Blanch broccoli
17. TECHNIQUE III: Sauté mushrooms
18. TECHNIQUE IV: Baking moist chicken
19. TECHNIQUE V: Faux frying with Panko
20. TECHNIQUE VI: Pan-fried scallops
21. TECHNIQUE VII: Braise pork
22. TECHNIQUE VIII: Poached salmon
23. TECHNIQUE IX: Grilling beef (rare, medium rare, well done)
24. BAKING I: Buttercream frosting, ganache
25. BAKING II: Caramelize sugar
26. BAKING III: Pie crust
27. BAKING IV: Angel food cake
28. BAKING V: Bread
29. SAUCE I: Béchamel
30. SAUCE II: Tomato
31. SAUCE III: Pesto
32. SAUCE IV: Alfredo
33. SAUCE V: Brown
34. SEASONING I: Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper
35. SEASONING II: Paprika, fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg
36. MISCELLANEOUS I: Vinaigrette
37. MISCELLANEOUS II: Parmesan bowl
38. MISCELLANEOUS III: Breadcrumbs
39. MISCELLANEOUS IV: Beans
40. MISCELLANEOUS V: Homemade meatballs