Many local businesses are being awesome and supporting those of us who are furloughed and offering free food and activities for those of us who are temporarily out of work. CulinAerie is one of those businesses. A coworker of mine took their knife skills class a while back and loved it. I have wanted to take it since then but havent taken the opportunity because of the cost. However I think that anyone who is about to spend several hundred dollars on kitchen stuff should definitely take a cooking class even if they can make tasty things. You will learn more about the tools and will be able to make more informed decisions about what you really want.
I realize that the following may not make a lot of sense without photos but it is more for me than anything else. I would suggest youtube if you want to see how to debone a chicken.
First with the chicken on its back. Cut the wings off at the first two joints. Second cut the extra skin on the front of the legs. Next make an incision close to the torso on the top of the leg. Flip the bird over. Continue to cut the leg off going up and around the medallion as far as possible. Flip the bird back over. Dislocate the leg at the hip and cut the leg off. With the meat side down separate the thigh from the leg. To debone place the thigh meat side down and slice lengthwise down the bone. Cut under the bone and then scrape the meat off downwards while holding the bone vertically. Repeat with the leg with first choping off the ankle with the heel of a chefs knife. Third slice the chest along the sternum and then make repeated shallow cuts to separate the breast from the carcass. Separate the last part of the wing from the breast.
I learned that I definitely need a fillet knife and steel. And probably a serrated knife and maybe a slicing knife. I definitely want a stainless steel pan or two (and I am still thinking bout cast iron). I have lots of non-stick, but after being taught how to use stainless I can see that it is much better for cooking. It is easy to clean as long as you deglaze, and does such a better job at browning food up.
