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Chef’s Kitchen
Each month we bring a guest chef into our Chef’s Kitchen column to give
us a tip that elevates their cooking (and hopefully ours). They also
provide a recipe that showcases their tip. Our guest chef this month is
author Cynthia Nims.
 Cynthia Nims is a local food and wine writer, cookbook writer/editor,
speaker and professional food contest judge. Her past includes a
semester of college at the University of Dijon in Burgundy, France, and
culinary education at La Varenne École de Cuisine. She interned in the
kitchens of the Hotel Royal Monceau in Paris and was the chef at a small
bistro in the French ski town of Auron. She lives and works in West
Seattle which is, you know, way better than Paris.
Photo: Cynthia crabbing about in Kodiak, courtesy of
Cynthia Nims
No fuss bell pepper prep, by Cynthia Nims
I find the standard technique for coring and seeding a bell pepper
more time-consuming and messy than necessary. Like most people, I used
to cut around the core at the top of the pepper, pull it out and shake
out as many seeds as possible. Then I’d halve the pepper and shake and
scrape out any remaining small seeds before slicing or chopping. I can’t
recall where I picked up this alternative, but somewhere along the line
I starting using a simpler one-step alternative.
Hold the bell pepper core-up on the chopping board. Use a paring
knife (good and sharp as always, right?) to cut downward from the core,
following the curve of the pepper and cutting away a strip that’s a
couple inches wide. You should be cutting away just the flesh of the
bell pepper and what little of the pale rib may be attached, but leaving
core and most seeds still attached to the stem. Turn the pepper slightly
and repeat around the pepper a few more times until all the flesh is
removed. Toss away the stem and core, and you’re ready to go. You can
use the tip of the knife to cut away ribs from the bell pepper strips if
you like.
Note, this technique works well also with jalapeno chiles and other
peppers that have a relatively compact, even shape. I also use the
technique with tomatoes, a dreamy short-cut to seedless tomato pieces.
www.cynthianims.com
Click here to see Cynthia's chilled tomato soup with crab recipe
Fall 2006 |
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