Dave and I spent a few hours at the Pantry at Delancey on Sunday afternoon, “sharpening” our knife skills.  The class was taught by Chef Mataio Gillis from Ciao Thyme.  After Chef Gillis inspected, sharpened and honed everyone’s knife, we reviewed types of knives and their function, proper knife care and body mechanics.  My intentions for signing up for the class, were not entirely honorable.  I wanted Dave to be more comfortable with slicing and dicing, so I do not end up doing all the “prep” work when we cook together.  Even though I am pretty efficient with a knife, I definitely learned some new tricks!   We practiced brunoise, fine brunoise, small, medium, and large dice,  julienne, allumette and batonnet cuts on potatoes, carrots and celery.  As for Dave, he is now in charge of all mirepoix prep and knife care!

The Pico De Gallo was the result of 15 students chopping tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and cilantro.   As with all classes at The Pantry, we ended with a meal of Pico De Gallo, chips, guacamole and a cold beer!  Since I had a beautiful filet of fresh Alaskan halibut on hand for dinner, I decided to take my portion home and serve it with the fish!   I served an avocado and radish salad with a cumin – lime vinaigrette alongside the halibut.  Just like the class and the beautiful spring day, the meal was fabulous!

For the Avocado and Radish Salad with Cumin and Lime Vinaigrette

For the dressing

1/3 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice

2/3 cup very light olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon honey or agave

salt and pepper to taste

For the salad

mixed lettuce of your choice – I used butter lettuce and watercress, torn into bite size pieces

about 1 Tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro per serving

1/2 large dice avocado per serving

2-3 thinly sliced radishes, per serving

for the garnish – finely diced radish and lime zest

Toss the lettuce and radishes together.  Add the dressing and toss again.  Gently fold in the avocado.  Garnish with the lime zest and diced radish

I don’t have permission to share the Pico De Gallo recipe we made in class.   Just make your favorite!  Also, when grilling a flaky fish like halibut, it is extremely important that your grill is very hot and very well oiled!  It takes just a few minutes on each side for perfectly cooked fish.  

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