Meal Preparation — Basic Skills
The nice thing about learning basic techniques like spreading, measuring, pouring, and chopping is that each technique broadens your choice of meals. If you’re learning to cook for the first time, you’ll soon have the basic skills to prepare a variety of nutritious and tasty foods.
Spreading techniques
Depending on the substance and the surface, use either grid or circular patterns for spreading. Determine the amount you need by feeling the weight of the substance on your spreading tool. Spreading soft substances like jam
- Apply the jam to a butter knife and hold it in your dominant hand while holding the toast in place with your other hand.
- Deposit the jam in the centre of the toast.
- Spread it toward the edges in spiralling circles.
- Add a grid pattern to cover to the corners of a square surface, or rotate the toast as you spread. Spreading hard substances like cold butter
- Place small chunks around the outside and spread toward the center in a grid pattern.
Measuring techniques
Making it easy
- Hang measuring cups and spoons at your workspace and always keep them there.
- Have two sets of measuring cups and spoons, one for dry ingredients and one for wet. This helps with more complex recipes.
- Measure dry ingredients first, then wet, then fats. This prevents the dry ingredients from sticking to the measuring cup.
- Store ingredients in containers large enough to accommodate a measuring spoon or cup. Dipping into a container to measure ingredients is easier than pouring them out. Dry Measuring Techniques
- Dip the measuring spoon or cup into the container and fill it to heaping.
- Balance the handle of the spoon or cup on the edge of the container to keep it level.
- Run the flat side of a butter knife across the top of the measure while still holding it over the container to remove the excess. Wet Measuring Techniques
- Use an eyedropper to transfer smaller amounts, e.g., a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Buy measuring cups that have a spout to direct pouring.
- Use a “capture bowl” to contain the overflow when pouring, measuring or breaking eggs. Techniques for pouring liquids
- Use a tray with high sides and a large surface area as a workspace.
- Use sure-grip or other non-skid material to keep containers from sliding on the tray.
- Practise with a pitcher of cool water and a mug or glass.
- Consider buying a liquid-level indicator. This battery-operated device makes a sound when the mug or glass is almost full.
- If you have functional vision that allows you to distinguish between contrasts, try using a mug or glass of contrasting colour to pour the liquid.
Technique
- For cold liquids, use the index finger of your hand holding the glass or mug to monitor fullness.
- For hot liquids, begin by using the liquid-level indicator. Later, you can learn to measure fullness through a combination of sound, weight and temperature changes on the outside of the glass or mug. Extend your free hand in front of the mug when you carry hot beverages to avoid bumping into something.
Cutting and chopping techniques
Knowing how to handle knives safely is important. If you are not confident using sharp knives, ask for help from your Daily Living Skills instructor.
Start by learning to cut something soft like a banana. Use a regular table knife or a plastic knife to minimize the possibility of injury.
Safety techniques
- Start by locating the blade. Is there a spot where the handle meets the blade and the sharp side begins?
- Is the blade serrated? Rub each side against the edge of a cutting board to see if there is any difference in sound or feel.
- Always have knives well-sharpened A dull knife requires more pressure and is more likely to slip.
- Make sure that your hands are dry before using a knife. Wet hands are dangerously slippery.
- Use the right size of knife for the food you are cutting.
- Never walk around with an open blade in your hand. If a knife isn’t being used, place it blade-first into an empty paper towel roll, leave it stuck in the item being cut or tuck it under the edge of the cutting board, blade toward the board.
- Always remove knives from your workspace when you’ve finished. Keep them in a designated safe place until washing time.
- If you keep your knives in a drawer, use a knife tray and keep the blades covered. A knife block is also useful.
Cutting Techniques
- Use your dominant hand to hold the knife and give you maximum control.
- Place your index finger along the top dull side of the blade and curl your thumb and other fingers around the handle. "Good-Grip" knives have rubber-coated handles to make gripping easier.
- Trail the index finger of your non-dominant hand along the back of the handle to confirm where the blade begins.
- Hold the food item in place on the cutting board with your non-dominant hand. Extend the index finger of that hand over the item while your other fingers and thumb grip the food. Your index finger will act as a guide for positioning the knife.
- Slide the knife across the cutting board until it contacts the index finger of the hand holding the item.
- Move your non-dominant index finger back from the edge to determine the thickness of the slice.
- Slide the knife up the end of the item and over the top until it touches your index finger.
- After moving the fingers of your non-dominant hand out of the way, particularly your thumb, begin by tipping the knife slightly forward as you push it away from you.
- Flatten the knife against the cutting board and pull it toward you with a gentle sawing motion.
- Use the knife to slide each freshly cut piece away from the item being cut.
- Use a fork to hold the item in place once it becomes too small to hold safely in your hand. Then cut the last two or three slices.
Cutting boards
- Choose the right type of cutting board for the task.
- If you have functional vision, use both a light and a dark colored board to take advantage of colour contrast.
- Cutting boards with raised edges ensure that food doesn’t fall off.
- Keep the board clear by moving food into a container as you go.
Knife alternatives
- Good quality kitchen scissors can often be used instead of knives. Some come apart for easier cleaning.
- Slicers that look like a large comb with a handle will slice an onion or tomato in one pass.
- Use a “melon-baller” in place of a paring knife to core fruits, seed cucumbers, etc.
- Use a floating peeler with a blade that moves in its frame. These are much easier to use than peelers with a solid peeling edge.