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There’s something about summer that makes you crave fresh fruits and veggies. Whether it’s a juicy mango on the beach or slices of fresh bell pepper in your salad, fruits and veggies make the long summer days oh-so enjoyable. The only thing that can ruin your blissful afternoon is a 30-minute battle with a 20-pound watermelon. It always seems like the best foods are the toughest to cut. Though these fruits and veggies can feel like they’re more trouble than they’re worth, these nifty tricks will help you enjoy a struggle-free summer filled with the freshest strawberries and other fun fruits and veggies. Tips for Every Produce ProBefore you start cutting your fresh fruits and veggies, prepare your area. Follow these tips for easy and safe produce prep:
This summer, impress your friends with these tips and tricks! Once you get the hang of these helpful hacks, sit back and enjoy your fruits and veggies with ease. Whether you’re garnishing a cocktail, whipping up a fresh salad or simply snacking on juicy goodness, we hope these tips and tricks will help you have an easy breezy summer filled with fruit and veggies. Now that you can cut your produce like a pro, don’t be afraid to get fancy. If you’re craving something a little sweeter, try your favorite berries and cherries dipped in chocolate! Sources Culture Cheat Sheet | DIY Projects | 5 Minute Crafts | Pounds to Pocket | Daniel Scott Kitchens | Solve Hunger Today | The Food Network
This week, we're gonna show you how to cut citrus fruits into slices (rounds), wedges, and suprèmes (a.k.a. fancy-pants segments). Seems like simple stuff, right? And it is, but doing it right can make a world of difference in how your finished dishes look and taste. When shopping, look for fruit that seems heavy for its size. Most ripe citrus fruit should give quite a bit when squeezed. If it's too firm, leave it on the shelf and move on. Citrus fruit will get softer as it sits at home, but don't expect a sour orange to become sweeter. Once it's been picked, it's about as sweet as it's gonna be. Ripe citrus fruit can be stored for around two weeks in the crisper drawer in your fridge, or in an open bowl on the counter if your home is relatively cool. Once it's cut open, store citrus in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to five days. One of my very first restaurant jobs, back when I worked at a Mongolian grill–style joint in Cambridge, Massachusetts (yes, I was a spatula-wielding Knight of the Round Grill), was cutting oranges into thin rounds for the bar. I got through about a half case of them before the chef, a large, scarred Colombian who preferred to wear those skinny, button-up dishwasher's shirts so he could show off his tattoos, came by and chucked them in the garbage. Apparently, my rounds weren't thin and even enough, which largely had to do with the fact that I'd never sharpened my knife and ended up crushing the oranges rather than slicing them. Rule number one of knife skills: Keep your blade sharp, and hone it regularly. Uses: garnishing drinks; layering over or under roasted, grilled, or steamed chicken, fish, or vegetables. Once you've got a sharp knife, slicing rounds is a piece of cake. Hold the fruit firmly but gently with one hand, tucking your fingers into a claw so that your knuckles extend beyond your fingertips. Slice by starting at the heel and pulling back on the blade with gentle downward pressure. Remember, you're slicing, not chopping, which means that you should try to maximize horizontal motion while pressing down just enough to get the blade to slide through the fruit. The gentler you are, the more even and pretty your rounds will be. A fresh burst of citrus at the table can liven up flavors in a way that adding it in the kitchen just can't. There are dozens and dozens of ways to cut citrus to be squeezed at the table, from simple (cut that lemon in half) to elaborate (you know, those teeny-tiny mesh skirts that they cover lemons with at upscale restaurants so you don't get pits on your steamed fish?). I personally waffle between various forms, but the one I keep coming back to is your basic 12th-of-a-lemon wedge. Uses: Any context in which you want to give guests the opportunity to add more citrus at the table, including drinks, grilled foods, tacos, fried foods, and...many, many others. Start by slicing off the ends of the fruit. You want to cut off just enough that the internal flesh is barely exposed. Next, slice the fruit in half along the equator. Place one cut half down on the cutting board, and slice it in half crosswise. Cut it in half two more times, dividing it into six even wedges. Repeat with the second half of the fruit, for a total of 12 wedges. If you're dining in mixed company and want to impress your date, here's how to get extra fancy by cleaning up each individual wedge. Start by slicing off the white pith at the edge of the wedge. Using the tip of your knife, carefully pry out any seeds from inside and discard. There are several reasons to cut your citrus fruits into pith-free segments (otherwise known as suprèmes, pronounced soo-'prems, if you want to be fancy about it):
Uses: salads, garnishes, relishes, salsas, chutneys, and eating plain. Start by slicing off the ends of the fruit. You want to cut off just enough that the internal flesh is barely exposed. Lay the fruit down on one of its cut surfaces, then insert the knife blade into the space between the flesh and the skin at an angle that matches the contour of the fruit. Work your knife around with a gentle sawing motion, following the contour of the fruit and removing just enough skin to expose the flesh underneath. Your goal is to get as high a yield as possible on the flesh. Keep working around the fruit, slicing off thin segments of the skin. Once you've removed all the hard skin, go back and use your knife to trim off any extra bits of pith that have stuck to the surface of the flesh. Holding the fruit in one hand, look for the thin strips of membrane that separate each segment. You're going to be cutting on either side of each of those membranes, as close as possible. Pick a segment, then insert your knife close to the inside of the membrane, cutting through almost to the core. Move along to the other side of the wedge, and cut along the inside of the opposite membrane, again almost to the core. The slice should release with no pith or membrane attached. Continue working around the fruit, cutting along either side of each membrane and releasing slices into a bowl as you go. Your core should look like this when you're done. Squeeze the core over the segments to release any extra juice. Store the segments in their own juice in a sealed container in the fridge. Cutting peeled slices of citrus fruit for salad is a nice compromise: It's better than using full segments, with pith, membrane, and all, but it's not quite as time-consuming as cutting actual suprèmes. To do it, just peel the fruit with your knife as you would for suprèmes, but instead of cutting out wedges in between the membranes, slice the fruit crosswise. You end up with disks of citrus that still contain a bit of membrane, but those bits are cut short enough that they're not too bothersome in a salad. |
How to slice fruits
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