ArcaMax

A Sharp Knife Can Save A Finger

My father was an engineer; a smart and precise man who had his weekend rituals. About once a month, I’d find my father at the kitchen table on a weekend afternoon sharpening the kitchen knives.

He’d have a sharpening stone in front of him set on a spread of newspaper print. He had a little can of oil that looked like a miniature version of the oil can used to loosen up the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, and he’d have an assortment of knives. From paring knife to carving knife, he’d sharpen them all. It took him probably an hour to do six knives.

He’d squirt a strip of oil across the stone. He’d spread that oil out in a thin layer and begin methodically sweeping the blade of the knife along the stone. Back and forth. Back and forth. Top tip to bottom edge where the blade meets the handle. That motion would sharpen both sides of the blade. The idea was to keep the knife at the perfect angle so the edge got sharpened without scraping away too much of the blade. My father was a whiz at it. A regular wizard of knives.

When I asked him why he sharpened the knives so often he came back with an answer. He told me, “A sharp knife is a safe knife.”

That seemed counter-intuitive. Sharp knives cut more easily than dull knives. Right? Sharp knives seem dangerous.

Not really...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Related Recipes at PlanZDiet.com:

Chicken with Citrus Gremolata
Spicy Spinach Chicken Casserole Bowls

Sunday Chicken

This is a ZReduction recipe. Pierre Franey was a cooking hero of mine. He was a French Bistro chef and cookbook author. He was the original “60 Minute Gourmet.” I adapted this recipe from one of his and turned it into a wonderful diet meal.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 cup of chicken broth
½ cup of chopped onion or shallot
4 large, unpeeled garlic cloves
2 Tbl of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of minced tarragon (fresh is best but you can use dried too)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat your ovenproof pan (cast iron is preferable). Spray the chicken breasts lightly with olive oil spray. Sprinkle on salt and pepper.

Saute the chicken breasts on medium high top-side down for three minutes. Don’t move them. Let them get a nice brown crust on them.

Flip them over.

Then add the tomatoes, garlic, onion, chicken broth and cider vinegar. Stir and bring to a light boil. Turn off stove.

Take the whole pan and carefully put it on the rack in your oven. If your sauté pan is not oven-proof you’ll have to transfer the dish to a Pyrex pan or one that can handle the heat.

Let roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken no longer has any pink the middle (cut one open to check).

Bring the pan back out to your stove top. With a tong, remove the garlic cloves. Peel them when they are cool enough to touch. Then smash the garlic to a paste and add it to the chicken dish along with the tarragon. Stir. Just heat through and you are ready to serve.

I served this with asparagus. If you want to make the meal even easier you could add the asparagus to the pan with the chicken when you put it in the oven and you won’t even need another pan to cook the asparagus. It can all be done in one pan.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola