Things I Can't Live Without - KNIVES

NYC is a city of tiny little kitchens inside tiny little apartments. This is not a TV show or a house in the suburbs where I have a nice spot on the counter that my giant stand mixer can stay. NO! I have no space, ok some, but not much. It is all at a premium and well thought out. I wanted to start dropping some knowledge about the things I use ALL THE TIME that does everything I need to do.

Let's start with the one thing EVERYBODY that wants to do some cooking: KNIVES.

Personally, I think you NEED 4 knives. 9 inch Chefs Knife, Paring Knife, Serrated Knife and a Slicing Knife.

The CHEFS KNIFE is your go to knife. It really can do everything you want to do in the kitchen, if you treat it right. Slicing, dicing, trimming fat, Frenching bones, breaking-down proteins, cutting cooked meats. The more you use it, the more you will realize you don't have to dirty EVERY knife in the drawer. This knife does it all as long as you keep it sharp and honed. Size DOES matter here. The 9 inch will at first seem intimidating. It will probably be at least and inch or 2 longer than any knife you have used before and it will certainly be heavier in your hand. These are all the features you will be thankful for later on. The heavier, more dense blade will keep it's edge longer and the length will actually keep you from cutting yourself. I will get into that more with some knife handling tips later on.

The PARING KNIFE is for all that "little" crap you have to do. Yes, some of what it is ideal for can be done with the Chef's knife, but this this is your ticket to some lovely presentation. This one is not for heavy cutting. Leave that, again, to your Chefs Knife.

The SERRATED KNIFE is your go to for breads and sometimes larger cuts of meat. Bread will KILL your Chefs Knife. Melons are another prime use for this knife.

A good SLICER. A long thin blade for slicing meats and fish. The long thin blade allows you to make the slices come off in one long pull instead of the SAWING you have to do with a thinker, more dense and short blade. This can often be used in fileting fish as well, limiting you need to go out and buy a flexible filet knife... for now.

There are a TON of other "specialty" knives out there and one day I will post something about them, but don't hold you breath. Most of them are a useless if you know how to use the above.