Having been
one of four winners in The Egg Awards 2013 I was asked by Blackrock Knives to
blog about my experiences with my prize which consisted of 4 beautiful kitchen
knives and a Swiss Peeler, which I was very grateful for, as I have used one for
years. These knives are lightweight in the hand (good if you are arthritic) and
unbelievably sharp. You need to treat them with care and respect and not tap
them on the side of the sauce pan which shamefully is an old habit of
mine!
Having moved
house and unpacked them it seemed like a good idea to try them so I decided to
use the paring knife to peel a whole load of windfall apples from the tree in
the garden. I felt like it was the first time riding a bicycle, scary! These
babies are sharp! Nevertheless the knife made short work of the apples and I made
the Ozark Pie which I blogged about in one of my Pine Flat Place
posts.
The first
meal I wanted to blog about was the one I made for yesterday and consisted of
Rick Stein's Pineapple Curry from his Far Eastern Odyssey and my Sweet Red Pepper Chicken Curry.
The pineapple was deliciously ripe but the largest of the knives went through it as if it almost wasn't there, cut into bite sized chunks it took no time at all. Likewise with the onion cut with the same blade into the thinnest slices I have ever cut. So far so good.
This is one of my favourite recipes from Rick's book and I find it quite hard not to include it when I cook an Indian meal and I have to make copious amounts of his roasted Sri Lankan Spice Blend. With the addition of garlic, fresh curry leaves, turmeric, fresh chilli and a coconut milk all it takes is a gentle simmer for the mixture to turn into sweet and spicy heaven!
Next up was to tackle a whole (fat) free range chicken with the second largest, thinner blade knife. I was astounded at how easy it was to joint this bird with the knife and it took me a third of the time it has in the past even with freshly sharpened blades, I even managed to remove the wishbone in one piece which is a miracle for me. I cut the joints into thighs and drumsticks and the breasts into 4 pieces each. I was pleased with the look of the final skinned pieces and they didn't look like they had been cut with the lawn mower for once. Job done!
Next up was chopping the garlic, onions and peppers with the second smallest knife into fairly fine pieces, this really took no time, but care needs to be taken as the blades are very keen edged.
The curry is cooked quite simply with garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder, black pepper, lemon juice and home made chicken stock, a seasoning with salt is made to taste. This curry is light and delicate and is a good foil to the robust sweet and rich pineapple dish.
The dishes were served with plain Basmati and Wild Rice, with a sambal of Greek 0% yogurt, chopped spring onion and fresh coriander. I am delighted to report that I was genuinely happy with the time saved in prepping for this dish, and more so now that I have these brilliant knives to use alongside some of my old favourites. Bon Appetit!
