DICING, BRUNOISE, CHOPPING and MINCING

O.K. her we go, The proverbial question, what's the difference between them?

The primary difference rests with the what the final dish will look like e.g. Presentation. Cubing/dicing result in a visible element in the presentation, while chopping and mincing are intended to almost make the item disappear and expose as much surface as possible to extract the flavors into the remainder of the preparation.

DICING: The largest of the group refers to uniformly sized pieces, usually cubes. ¼" is pretty much standard size. A large dice would be anything bigger than that. However anything in the 3/4" to 1" is just "Cubing"

BRUNOISE: Is also a cubing style, but in the ⅛" size typical of French cooking.

CHOPPING: Refers to cutting into small irregular shaped. Size isn't that important. For example, chopped meat would refer to cutting it to roughly "ground" status, while chopping garlic would result in 10 to 15 pieces all irregular in shape. Here we are trying to expose the surface to the cooking method, not the presentation.

MINCING: Again we are looking for a very finely irregular cut that results in almost a paste or course powder.  Again uniformity shape is not important, just the fineness.

Tips:

This may not be the appropriate place for this, but when chopping or mincing garlic or ginger, peel it first, then give it a good whack with the side of your chef's knife or cleaver. It will quickly reduce either to a more manageable shape. However if you are too vehement with the "whack" they do tend to spatter.

Lemons

The Lisbon is the most common variety

Lemons have so many wonderful uses, especially in cooking. The juice, the zest, peels, slices, wedges and disks are everywhere. From the simplest wedge squeezed into your tea or over fish to grating the zest into an Epicurean delight.

Well you might ask, why spend so many words on this lowly yellow orb? I'll tell you, simply that I have found so many uses for them that I planted a Lisbon Lemon tree in my yard several years ago. Now I have fresh lemons from mid-November through the early part of June, depending on the temperature.

Take a gander at the picture, The two in the back were picked an hour ago fresh from my tree. They weigh in at a pound each and about 4-1/2 inches long. The two in front were purchased at a local grocery. Though by some standards they may seem huge, but not all of them grow this big.  My point is, they are there when needed. These two will become a "from scratch" Lemon meringue pie tomorrow.

Another use I have found is making garnishes for drinks. I fashioned a sort of peeler from a stainless steel tube many years ago, and with it I can remove a long strip of the outer skin leaving the bitter white pulp behind. I enjoy tying the strips in a knot and dropping them in various drinks that call for a "twist" as the garnish. 

OTHER USES:

Mixing a spoonful of lemon juice into boiling water will prevent rice from clumping up and sticking to the pot.

A teaspoon of it will also keep boiling potatoes and cauliflower from turning brown.

Adding a teaspoon of lemon juice into the water when boiling eggs will make them much easier to peel them.

To transform limp greens to their previous more palatable state, simply squeeze a halved lemon into a bowl of cold (but not freezing) water. Then, refrigerate the lettuce in the bowl for about an hour, dry it off.

Grating some of the rind into marinades adds a surprising zip to sometime bland preparations. Try it with Sautéed  asparagus.

Cutting Parsley from Stems

Parsley, how to easily cut curly parsley from the stems:

First rinse it well and shake off the excess water. Then, using a sharp chef's knife, hold the crown of the sprig against a cutting board at about a 20 deg. up angle. With the tip of the knife, first cut the crown just behind the leafs, leaving the smallest of stems still attached. Follow down the stem cutting the leafy bunches from the stalk.

With proper manipulation, the lower bunches on the stem can be cut in multiples, speeding up the process. When you get familiar with this technique, you'll have it done in no time and be ready to chop the leaves as necessary.

This certainly is not the only method, some just pull off the leaves (bruising them) and of course there are those who use sheers (another tool to wash).