The sharper your knife, the less you cry. pic Cook School Scotland

The sharper your knife, the less you cry – so says the name of a book  by American cook and author Kathleen Flinn, writing about her experience at the Cordon Bleu Cook School in Paris. It is true that you’re more likely to injure yourself using a knife that needs to be sharpened than using a good sharp knife. My knife collection has a few sharp knives but a recent knife skills class at The Cook School Scotland has made me realise that a rethink is required. Not that there’s a need to invest in a new set of expensive sharp knives, just that I learned, less is more.

The Knife Skills class is a new addition to the wide range of classes at The Cook School Scotland and although I’ve been cooking for many years, it was a chance to brush up my skills and learn some new techniques. The class was a clever mix of demonstrations from Head Chef Andy Beattie along with hands on practice and cooking. Filleting, boning, spatchcocking, slicing and chopping were all covered and each stage involved cooking the prepped produce and preparing separate side dishes using a range of different  knife and cooking skills.

First under the knife was sea bream for filleting and Chef Andy made the process look very easy. Filleting fish was one of those skills that I had let slip, preferring to leave it to the fishmonger.  Instructions also included, pin boning, skinning and scaling.  Andy also demonstrated how to fillet flat fish and this is now something I will feel confident about doing in the future.

Head Chef Andy Beattie demonstrates how to fillet round and flat fish

A sharp filleting knife and clear instructions made the task so much simpler and I was rather pleased with my effort.

Using a filleting knife makes the task much easier

After filleting the bream was cured with flavours of  fennel, tarragon and pastis to be served with a delcious fennel salad.

Citrus Cured Sea Bream with fennel and orange salad- Serves 4

2 wild gilthead bream. Cure – 2 lemons. 2 limes. 200g sea salt. 400g sugar. 5g fennel seeds. 10 tarragon sprigs. 100ml Pastis.

Fillet pin bone and skin the fish. Finely grate the zest of the citrus fruit and combine with all the other cure ingredients. Lay the fillets on a tray, pour the cure over ensuring the fish is covered, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 2 hours. Wash off the cure with cold water, pat the fish dry with kitchen paper, wrap the fillets tightly in cling film and place back in the fridge.

Fennel Salad. 1 fennel bulb. 2 oranges. 10 sprigs dill. 100ml extra virgin olive oil.

Finely slice the fennel and place in ice cold water along with the juice of one of the lemons. Segment the orange, cut into small pieces and combine with oil and dill. Drain fennel, shake dry and toss in citrus dressing.

Finely slice the fish and serve with the fennel salad.

The cure bream makes a delicious starter 

There was  natural flow to the way the class was taught with the various knife skills and cooking techniques complementing each other. For instance,segmenting an orange was so easy with the correct knife and the kofta, made with lamb mince, included finely chopping several ingredients including fresh herbs and chef Andy stressed the importance of the correct knife action to prevent bruising the herbs and leaving the flavour on the chopping board. Accompanying the kofta’s was a podina, a spicy yoghurt based sauce and again this included more finely chopped ingredients.

Lamb Kofta

 Kofta with yoghurt podina – serves 4  500g lamb mince. 2tbsp coriander finely chopped. 2 tbsp mint leaves finely chopped. 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley finely chopped. 1/2  red onion finely chopped.  1/2 garlic clove finely chopped. 1/4 tsp ground cumin. 1/2 tsp sumac. 1 egg beaten. sea salt and black pepper.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, season with salt and pepper. Take a small amount of the mix and fry to check the flavours and seasoning. Shape into the size you prefer and fry in a large frying pan on 3 sides until cooked. if the kofta’s are larger you may have to finish cooking in a medium oven – 175C.

For the podina – 200g Greek style yoghurt. 1 tsp fresh ginger finely grated. 1/2 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped.  1/4 red onion or 2 spring onions finely chopped. 3 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped. 1 tbsp mint leaves finely chopped. Juice of 1 lime. Fish sauce (optional, salt can be used). 1/2 tsp caster sugar. Freshly ground black pepper.

Drain any liquid from the yoghurt and place in a mixing bowl with the ginger, chilli, onion,  coriander and mint. The secret with this sauce is the balance, add the sugar and half of the lime juice with a dash of fish sauce, taste and adjust the seasoning. Chill until needed.

The kofta makes a great family meal and tastes much better than any takeaway. I made the recipe at home added some extra salad and pitta bread.

Pickling vegetables was also on the class agenda and again brought in a range of skills with different vegetables. They  make a great accompaniment to the lamb kofta’s and are also ideal for serving with cold  meats and other salads.

vegetables for pickling

Slicing  into similar sizes was essential before adding salt to cure and drain excess liquid from the vegetables.

Salting the vegetables before pickling

The pickled vegetables made a great accompaniment to the lamb kofta’s and are also ideal for serving with cold  meats and other salads.

Pickled Vegetables – Serves 4.

1 carrot, peeled and sliced in to batons. 1 stick of celery sliced into matchsticks. 1/2 cucumber deseeded and sliced into  batons. 1/2 red onion sliced. 1/2 yellow pepper sliced. 1/2 head of fennel sliced. 100g sea salt. 100ml white wine vinegar.

Toss all the vegetables in salt and leave to cure and drain of their liquid in a colander for an hour. Thoroughly rinse in cold water. toss the vegetables in the vinegar and place in a sealed container. They will be ready to eat in an hour and will keep for up to a week.

Being able to bone and joint meat is a great skill for any home cook and if you’re interested in saving some money on the food shopping bill, it’s an essential. As you would expect, a sharp boning knife and a good demonstration makes the task a lot easier.  This leg of lamb was quickly cut into a range of pieces, including the shank, leg steaks and chunks for casseroles. Of course, it also means no wastage as any leftover pieces can be minced and bones used for stock.

An essential skill for home cooks – boning meat.

Jointed chicken pieces sold in the supermarkets are usually sold in packs of thighs and drumsticks, with the breasts and wings being sold separately. As this picture shows, jointing your own bird gives 8 pieces, thighs, drumsticks and 4 pieces from the breasts as they are divided into 2.  The wings can also be used but Head Chef Andy’s tip is freeze the wings and after a few jointed birds, there’s enough for a plate of chicken wings. Alternatively, they can be used for stock along with any other leftover pieces. Once again, cheaper and no food waste.

A jointed chicken, eight pieces for a good family meal.

Spatchcocking was also covered and this is something I do regularly with chicken and like jointing, it’s easier to cut into pieces for serving once the bird is cooked. It’s also ideal if you’re pressed for time as the bird cooks quicker. Of course, any bird can be spatchcocked and it was poussin we prepared and cooked during the class.

This little poussin was spatchcocked and cooked in a honey and ginger marinade.

The knife skills class is one of a fantastic range of courses available at Cook School Scotland and dates for future courses are available.  Other classes include Scottish Fish and Seafood, Simply Meat, Bread and Baking various classes covering world food. All the classes are held in the state of the art kitchen with staff and chef’s on hand to assist. The classes delivered in a way that ensures all participants, regardless of ability gain the maximum hands on experience and knowledge from the day. Full details of all calsses can be found on the school’s website

Disclaimer. I was invited as a guest of Cook School Scotland. I was not paid for this post or expected to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.