MasterChef

ALL NEW / 2 HR EPISODE
WED 8/7c MAY 29

MasterChef Cooking Tips

You can typically gauge the level of someone's kitchen prowess by how they wield a knife. Improve your own skills with these professional tips and tricks provided by Global Knives. Simply click on any of the foods below to get started.

Apple

Apple

Remove the stem and blossom ends with a 3.5-inch paring knife. Peel the skin off the apple by starting at the top of the fruit, and with the thumb of your guiding hand, hold the apple against the blade as you turn. Control the pressure on the knife to prevent slipping while peeling as thin as possible so there is little trim loss. Cut the apple in quarters from top to bottom with the 7-inch Oriental cook's knife.

To remove the seeds, use two slices at the midpoint of the apple where it is deepest, angling the cut from opposite directions, leaving as much fruit a possible. Cut apples into wedges and then cross-cut for a chopped look.

Avocado

Avocado

Reminder: Avocados bruise easily. To remove the skin and pit, use your fingertips to gently hold down the avocado on the cutting board. With your 5-inch Santoku knife, cut the avocado in half by turning it against the knife. This will pierce the skin and cut through to the pit. Carefully twist the two halves apart with your fingertips to avoid bruising. Cup the avocado in the palm of your hand and with the heel of your blade, carefully "chop" your knife into the pit. Twist and pull it free from the flesh. Use the edge of the cutting board or silicone pot holder to pry the pit free from the knife safely. Using the flat side of the blade, catch the lip of the skin and peel it away from the flesh. Cut the avocado into slices or wedges or cube to your desired size.

Another option: After the avocado is halved and pitted, cup it in your palm and gently score it with your knife tip into your desired dice or slice size, or leave whole. Use a kitchen spoon about the same size as the avocado to scoop out the flesh. Toss the pit away or start a tree by lightly sticking four toothpicks around the center of the pit to hold it on the rim of a glass ¾ full container of water and watch the roots grow.

Basil

Basil

Stack your fresh basil leaves on top of each other with uniformity and roll into tight cylinders. Use your 8-inch chef's knife to make very fine, parallel cuts to produce uniform shreds. This distinctive cut is called chiffonade and is used for delicate leafy vegetables and herbs.

Garlic

Garlic

To loosen the skin of the garlic clove, use the flat side of the 7-inch Oriental cook's knife and press the clove on a cutting board. Peel off any extra skin and cut off the root of the garlic. Take all skinned garlic pieces and again use the flat side of the knife to crush the garlic. Chop the clove in fine consistent pieces. In a rocking motion, hold the knife against the cutting surface and mash until it is paste.

Extra tip: Add a little salt when you start the mashing process. Salt acts as an abrasive, speeding the process and also helps to prevent the garlic from sticking to your knife.

Mango

Mango

Start at the broader end with your 3.5-inch paring knife and peel the mango as close to the skin as possible. Cut the flesh away from the pit with slightly off-center cuts from stem to tip. This will yield more of the meat of the fruit. Your knife will scrape the mango seed as you are doing this. Cut in even, narrow slices, then cube to the desired size.

For a more decorative option on the mango without taking off the skin, cut a larger piece of flesh from one of the wider sides of the pit. Be careful to follow the natural curve of the fruit. Take your 3.5-inch paring knife tip and score in a cross hatch pattern in the fruit, being careful to not cut through the skin. Take the mango, turn inside out and you should have what looks like a hedgehog. Use for decoration on a platter or cut the cubes off the skin and use in a salsa.

Whole Chicken

Whole Chicken

Using a boning or chef's knife, cut a circle around the second joint of the wing bone on the chicken. At the same time, be sure to cut through the web skin. Bend the second joint until it snaps. Remove both sides like this.

Between the thigh and the leg, cut through the skin and bend the leg backward, away from the body to expose the ball and socket joint. Make a cut along the backbone of the bird to the ball and socket joint you have just exposed. Now hold the whole chicken firmly with the heel of the knife and pull away evenly at the leg. This removes the legs cleanly from the backbone structure.

Turn the whole chicken so the breast is facing up. Hold the tips of the breast together with your fingertips. Take your knife and cut along either side of the keel bone following the length of the bird. Use the tip of the knife to delicately remove the breast meat from the ribcage. You get the best yield of meat when you run as close to the bone as possible.

Whole Salmon

Whole Salmon

The salmon should be laying on a cutting board with the backbone parallel to you. The head of the fish should be facing the hand holding the knife. Cut behind the head and gill plates on a downward angle away from the body using an 8-inch flexible filet knife. Without removing the knife from the fish head, turn it to face the tail, keeping the handle lower than the tip of the blade.

Slowly and carefully run the blade against the backbone through the length of the salmon, while trying to not saw through the fish. Once you have freed it from the bones, lay it skin side down on the cutting board. Use both hands to do this.

Without turning the filet over, insert the knife just under the bone structure. Use the same slicing motion with your hand flat on the fish for stability and run the blade again through the length of the fish.

To remove the belly bones, make small smooth strokes underneath them and they will cut cleanly away. Next, run the blade underneath the remnants of the backbone line, lifting as you cut. Now hold the tail firmly in your free hand, insert the knife between the skin and the flesh, and pull the skin taut as you cut the salmon meat free from the skin.

Lastly, if you run your fingertips lightly over the filet, you will feel the pin bones protruding up. Using your bone tweezers, pull the bones out in the direction of the head. This will cause less tearing of the fish. Use the bones and small leftover pieces to make fish stock.